Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: All the YCS Champions in 2025

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series, or YCS events, are a series of high-level tournaments that take place mostly in the U.S.A. and Europe. Sometimes they happen in South America, Central America, and even in other countries in North America. These events are quite big, and usually take place over a weekend. They also feature parallel tournaments, such as Win-A-Mat and ATTACK OF THE GIANT CARD!.

In 2025, there were 20 YCS events: 2 featured the "YCS Team (3x3)" modality and 2 featured the "YCS Remote Duel" modality. Throughout these 20 editions, 22 different players became champions, and only 2 of them won 2 events in 2025. Furthermore, 15 different decks won YCS titles in 2025.

Below, check out every 2025 YCS champion!

2-Time 2025 YCS Champions

Steven Trifunoski

Steven Trifunoski, more popularly known as "Trif Gaming" or simply "Trif", is a Canadian YGO player and content creator. They became a 3-times YCS champion when they won YCS Vancouver 2025 with Yummy and YCS Lima 2025 with Yummy Misturugi Nouvelles 60 cards. Their first title was at the 2024 YCS Anaheim with Ryzeal Fiendsmith.

"Trif" gained notoriety on YouTuber because of their unique personality, but, now that they've won two major titles in 2025, they have become, once and for all, one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh players today.

Kamal Crooks

Kamal Crooks is a YGO player based in the U.S.A. as well as one of the biggest YCS champions ever. They have conquered 6 titles, 2 of them in 2025:

> the 2018 YCS Memphis, with Pendulum Magician.

> the 2022 YCS Remote Duel North America, with Lyrilusc Tri-Brigade.

> the 2023 YCS TEAM São Paulo, with Purrely.

> the 2024 YCS TEAM San Jose, with Snake-Eye Sinful Spoils.

> the 2025 YCS TEAM San Salvador, with Mermail Atlantean.

> the 2025 YCS Anaheim, with Crystron K9.

Kamal is a YCS TEAM 3x3 specialist in particular, as they have won 3 titles at this type of event. Furthermore, they were one of the first players to conquer 2 YCS TEAM 3x3 titles in the same team, next to Ruben Penaranda and Pakawat Pamornsut.

1-Time 2025 YCS Champions

> Tayveon Crowley - YCS Orlando (February 1st).

> Dinh-Kha Bui - YCS Birmingham (February 8th).

> Carlos Mejia - YCS Remote Duel Latin America (February 8th).

> Freddy Cammell - YCS Sydney (March 1st).

> Cameron Neal - YCS TEAM San Salvador (March 1st).

> Cristian Urena - YCS TEAM San Salvador (March 1st).

> Jesse Kotton - YCS TEAM Las Vegas (March 15th).

> Dominic Couch - YCS TEAM Las Vegas (March 15th).

> Mike Albanese - YCS TEAM Las Vegas (March 15th).

> Luca Garcia - YCS Buenos Aires (March 29th).

> Pascal Manigat - YCS Houston (April 5th).

> Rene Ybarra - YCS Mexico City (April 19th).

> Charley Futch - YCS Providence (May 3rd).

> Josue Becerra - YCS Quito (May 31st).

> Diego Zilia - YCS Lille (September 27th).

> Joaquin Pojaghi - YCS Sao Paulo (October 11th).

> Aditya Dharap - YCS Pittsburgh (November 8th).

> Pierre Burgals - YCS Bologna (November 22nd).

> James Markowitz - YCS Merida (November 29th).

> Sabit Zada - YCS Remote Duel North America (December 6th).

Ryzeal

Ryzeal was the most important deck in Yu-Gi-Oh! in 2025 and dominated YCS events in the first semester of the year. It won more YCS titles out of any deck in 2025, as it won 6 of them. At its peak, it was extremely dominant, besides versatile, considering both its pure form and its Fiendsmith and Mitsurugi forms won titles in 2025.

> YCS Orlando (February 1st) Tayveon Crowley - Ryzeal Fiendsmith.

> YCS Remote Duel Latin America (February 8th) Carlos Mejia - Ryzeal Mitsurugi.

> YCS Sydney (March 1st) Freddy Cammell - Ryzeal.

> YCS TEAM San Salvador (March 1st) Cameron Neal - Ryzeal.

> YCS TEAM Las Vegas (March 15th) Jesse Kotton/Dominic Couch/Mike Albanese - Ryzeal Fiendsmith; Ryzeal 2x.

> YCS Providence (May 3rd) Charley Futch - Ryzeal Mitsurugi.

Yummy

Yummy might not have been as dominant as Ryzeal, but it was the main deck in the second semester of the year and is considered the best deck in the format to this day. The Yummy variant that most stood out was the Mitsurugi one, which makes is a lot more powerful.

> YCS Vancouver (August 16th) Steven Trifunoski - Yummy.

> YCS Lima (September 27th) Steven Trifunoski - Yummy Mitsurugi Nouvelles 60 cards.

> YCS Merida (November 29th) James Markowitz - Yummy Mitsurugi.

Mermail Atlantean

Mermail Atlantean was never dominant, but it certainly enjoyed its stay in the meta throughout March and conquered 2 titles. It was quite aggressive when you go second and could FTK the opponent when you go first. That's part of what made it so successful at the beginning of the year.

> YCS TEAM San Salvador (March 1st) Cristian Urena/Kamal Crooks - Mermail Atlantean 2x.

> YCS Buenos Aires (March 29th) Luca Garcia - Mermail Atlantean.

Memento

Memento also benefitted from players focusing too much on other archetypes. It was interesting against Ryzeal at a certain point and eventually became one of the best options in the meta mid-April. Besides the pure version, one variant that used the Goblin Biker engine (which is quite strong against XYZ monsters) became quite popular in the Ryzeal meta.

> YCS Houston (April 5th) Pascal Manigat - Memento Goblin Biker.

> YCS Mexico City (April 19th) Rene Ybarra - Memento.

Dracotail Branded

Dracotail Branded is one of the best decks right now because it counters Yummy, the most victorious deck in the second semester of 2025. Its two YCS titles came when Yummy Mitsurugi became quite popular, as this made it an excellent choice in big tournaments.

> YCS Sao Paulo (October 11th) Joaquin Pojaghi - Dracotail Branded.

> YCS Pittsburgh (November 8th) Aditya Dharap - Dracotail Branded.

Vanquish Soul K9

Vanquish Soul K9, at its peak, nearly became the best deck in the game, but it disappeared after several bans made it a lot less consistent. However, after Dracotail Branded became the popular pick to counter Yummy, Vanquish Soul K9 once again gained some popularity because it is great against Dracotail.

> YCS Bologna (November 22nd) Pierre Burgals - Vanquish Soul K9.

> YCS Remote Duel North America (December 6th) Sabit Zada - Vanquish Soul K9.

Fire King, Live☆Twin Fiendsmith, Odion Primite, and Crystron K9

To finish, these decks won 1 YCS each in 2025:

> YCS Birmingham (February 8th) Dinh-Kha Bui - Fire King.

> YCS Quito (May 31st) Josue Becerra - Live☆Twin Fiendsmith.

> YCS Lille (September 27th) Diego Zilia - Odion Primite.

> YCS Anaheim (October 4th) Kamal Crooks - Crystron K9.

Check out below the full list of all 2025 YCS winning decks and players:

> YCS Orlando (February 1st) Tayveon Crowley - Ryzeal Fiendsmith.

> YCS Birmingham (February 8th) Dinh-Kha Bui - Fire King.

> YCS Remote Duel Latin America (February 8th) Carlos Mejia - Ryzeal Mitsurugi.

> YCS Sydney (March 1st) Freddy Cammell - Ryzeal.

> YCS TEAM San Salvador (March 1st) Cameron Neal/Cristian Urena/Kamal Crooks - Ryzeal; Mermail Atlantean 2x.

> YCS TEAM Las Vegas (March 15th) Jesse Kotton/Dominic Couch/Mike Albanese - Ryzeal Fiendsmith; Ryzeal 2x.

> YCS Buenos Aires (March 29th) Luca Garcia - Mermail Atlantean.

> YCS Houston (April 5th) Pascal Manigat - Memento Goblin Biker.

> YCS Mexico City (April 19th) Rene Ybarra - Memento.

> YCS Providence (May 3rd) Charley Futch - Ryzeal Mitsurugi.

> YCS Quito (May 31st) Josue Becerra - Live☆Twin Fiendsmith.

> YCS Vancouver (August 16th) Steven Trifunoski - Yummy.

> YCS Lille (September 27th) Diego Zilia - Odion Primite.

> YCS Lima (September 27th) Steven Trifunoski - Yummy Mitsurugi Nouvelles 60 cards.

> YCS Anaheim (October 4th) Kamal Crooks - Crystron K9.

> YCS Sao Paulo (October 11th) Joaquin Pojaghi - Dracotail Branded.

> YCS Pittsburgh (November 8th) Aditya Dharap - Dracotail Branded.

> YCS Bologna (November 22nd) Pierre Burgals - Vanquish Soul K9.

> YCS Merida (November 29th) James Markowitz - Yummy Mitsurugi.

> YCS Remote Duel North America (December 6th) Sabit Zada - Vanquish Soul K9.

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