TWO NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED AT Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PITTSBURGH – AARON FURMAN & DRAGON DUEL WINNER JUSTUS LONG WIN TOP SPOTS

El Segundo, Calif.  (May 15, 2017) – Pittsburgh, well-known for its championship professional teams, welcomed two new champions this past weekend as hundreds of passionate fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME (TCG) competed for the top prize at Yu-Gi-Oh! CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (YCS) Pittsburgh. Hosted by Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. (KONAMI), this premier-level event featured many of the top Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG players and enthusiastic newcomers. Duelists met their peers and displayed the skills and strategies necessary to win prizes and make lifelong friends.  YCS Pittsburgh crowned two new Champions, Aaron Furman and Dragon Duel top finisher Justus Long.

Participants of every age and ability displayed spirited Dueling in the early rounds of Swiss Format Dueling on Day One. On Sunday, Furman, from Linwood, NJ, learned that his Zoodiac Deck proved its worth as he triumphantly marched toward a Finals showdown. Starting with several rounds of Swiss, followed by more Single Elimination rounds, he squared off against Wen Tong Xiang, from Montreal, Quebec, using a Zoodiac Speedroid Deck in the final playoff.

In addition to bringing home the title of YCS Champion, Furman received a special set of prizes that included the new YCS prize card, an Ultra Rare Number 93: Utopia Kaiser, a YCS Championship Trophy, the new YCS Top Cut Game Mat, a PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, 32 World Qualifying Points*, and an invitation and paid travel to his 2017 World Championship Qualifier (WCQ) tournament!

*The number of World Qualifying Points is awarded based on the final standings. For example, if there are 32 WCQ invites, the Duelist who comes in 1st place will earn 32 points, the 2nd place Duelist will earn 31 points, and so on.

Additionally, there was a tremendous amount of excitement in the Dragon Duel tournament (an event for Duelists born in 2004 or later) where attendees witnessed an exciting series of Duels between Long, from Xenia, OH, using his Metalfoes Deck against Connor Perrotta, Lee Center, NY, in the finals.  Long displayed great sportsmanship and a winning combination as he beat Perrotta to snare the title of Dragon Duel Champion. He picked up some great prizes too, including a Dragon Duel Championship Trophy, a Regional Deck Box, a Dragon Duel T-shirt, a 2017 Regional Game Mat, and an invitation to his 2017 Dragon Duel World Championship Qualifier.

Duelists can watch a new episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V every Sunday on Nicktoons - check local listings for times. In addition, all-new Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL episodes every Tuesday as well as all of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s can be seen on www.yugioh.com in the United States. In Canada, Duelists can watch episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V every Friday and Saturday on Teletoon! For more information on KONAMI or the Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, please visit www.yugioh-card.com or call 310-220-8630 to speak directly with a Yu-Gi-Oh! customer support team member.

About The Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG

The Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME is the #1 trading card game in the world with over 25 billion cards sold. It is a game of strategy, where players create individual Decks of cards collected from Structure Decks and Booster Packs. Two players engage in a Duel while using cards that represent powerful monsters, magical Spells and surprising Traps. Duelists with well-constructed Decks, dominating monsters, solid strategy and good fortune are the victors in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG.  Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is the exclusive licensee and rights holder to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG in North America and Latin America.

About KONAMI

KONAMI is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties and traditional trading card games. KONAMI's software titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, DanceDanceRevolution and Castlevania, among other top sellers.  KONAMI is also the manufacturer of the wildly popular Yu-Gi-Oh! TRADING CARD GAME, which has sold more than 25 billion cards worldwide.  The latest information about KONAMI can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. KONAMI HOLDINGS CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiaries, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment B.V. in Windsor, the United Kingdom. Details of the products published by KONAMI can be found at www.konami.com.

###

Media Contact:
Fernando Bustamante
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.
BF58980@konami.com

Don Williams
Williams Group Public Relations
(760) 707-4589
don@williamsgrouppr.com