Upper Deck is re-tooling its Yu-Gi-Oh! league program for the hobby channel, and is suspending new Yu-Gi-Oh! league kit releases in that channel for six months as those changes take place. 

 

The hobby channel Yu-Gi-Oh! league program will re-launch in late August.  Until then, Upper Deck has promised to continue to support organized play in hobby stores in other ways, including tournament packs and official sanctioned play, as well as shipping some older kits that have proved popular until new ones are available. 

 

The new Yu-Gi-Oh! organized play program for the hobby will include 'parallel rare' foiling technology that has previously only been used in Japan, and the card list being negotiated with Konami '...will make players happy,' according to a spokesperson. 

 

The first kit released under the new Yu-Gi-Oh! program, in late August, will not be tied to a specific release, but instead will be timed to the back-to-school season.  The plan is to get new kits to stores two weeks in advance of their use so retailers can market the event with kit elements. 

 

The changes are being made because of 'strong feedback' Upper Deck received from its hobby accounts about the Yu-Gi-Oh! organized play kits that were distributed since last September.  Hobby retailers were not happy with the prize cards, which were not getting good response from players; they were also perceived as less desirable than the cards being distributed through the Duelist League in mass merchant venues.  

 

Of 1,500 Upper Deck hobby accounts in North America eligible for organized play, there are around 400 active league locations.  A decline in the number of participating retailers was another factor leading to the decision to re-tool. 

 

The delay between the suspension of the current program and the re-launch was  established to launch in a stronger season, and to allow time for the 'logistics of doing a good launch,' according to the spokesperson.

 

Upper Deck's long term strategy is for the hobby leagues to be for the more experienced player, who will be a dedicated singles and organized play customer.

 

Versus

Upper Deck's Versus System organized play program is continuing with tweaks rather than a major re-tooling.  Kits will be matched to the current set release in the future.  For example, the Green Lantern Expansion release in May will be followed by three months of Green Lantern-themed organized play kits. 

 

Another change is that kits will be set up for accounts running weekly as well as monthly events.  And Upper Deck promises that card quality in the kits will go up, while the price will remain stable.