A small but vibrant community of Yu-Gi-Oh! enthusiasts in Guyana is ready to get their game on with hopes of participating in a World Championship someday.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is an exciting universe based on a card game played with Monsters, Spells, and Traps. The Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise includes manga series, television series, several video games, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game (TCG), and more.
The Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, which has aired in more than 90 countries, has shown itself to have a broad cross-cultural appeal.
The card game is played around the world, but mostly in Japan, North America, Europe and Australia. It is considered one of the most popular trading card games in the world, with over 25 billion cards sold.
In Guyana, there are about 50 active members partaking in duels, most of which are hosted by Cosmic TCG and Electronics – the only official Yu-Gi-Oh! store in the country.
It is owned by 35-year-old Goswami Parmesar, who has been a fan of the universe since 2003.
“Since then, I’ve been collecting, playing, buying and selling cards and Yu-Gi-Oh! decks, trading with friends which has spanned 21 years in the Yu-Gi-Oh! scene. This interest is still very strong today with a desire to play at a competitive level,” Parmesar told this publication.
In his mid-20s, the young man had migrated to Canada, where he observed just how big the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom can be.
“Attending store events and tournaments in Canada while living there was where I learnt the structure and business of Yu-Gi-Oh! as well as how tournament card shops operate,” he explained.
In 2019, he returned home and upon observing a small community of enthusiasts like himself in the country, he decided to start importing products to host tournaments.
Eventually, Parmesar took it upon himself to seek out the official Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise owned by Konami, to have what is known as an Official Tournament Store (OTS) established in Guyana.
“In March 2023, I signed the official deal with Yu-Gi-Oh! partners and finally got Guyana registered. It was through the partnership, I was able to bring to Guyana all benefits of being a partner store for Yu-Gi-Oh!. These benefits include exclusive prizes and special Yu-Gi-Oh! products that cannot be accessed anywhere except in an OTS,” Parmesar explained.
The store, Cosmic TCG and Electronics, has an upcoming tournament on August 3, for which persons are encouraged to sign up to duel or simple spectate.
Parmesar is hopeful that one day, Guyanese can participate in a World Championship.
He explained, “The upcoming World Championship Qualifier (WCQ) has different tiers and we have been selected to host a regional event. Most of these WCQ – OTS Championship, Regionals, Nationals & finally YCS (Yu-Gi-Oh! Champion Series (ranked from lowest to highest) – are part of an ongoing tournament season where players can attend, enter tournaments, and depending on the tournament placement, earn points.
“As you earn points, you can level up your world ranking and once you have earned enough qualifying points, you can be invited to the main stage to play in a World Champion tournament to be crowned best in the world.”
Parmesar added the goal is to have his store selected from the Yu-Gi-Oh! partners to host as many events that allow players to earn these qualifying points.
“While all players can travel and attend tournaments worldwide, having it accessible in our own backyard can benefit a lot of people, especially those who can’t freely travel overseas to attend a tournament for the weekend,” he explained.
Currently in Guyana, tournaments are held weekly or bi-weekly for a variety of prizes and occasionally, every few months, the official Yu-Gi-Oh! partners would request that the store hold special events on their behalf where the prizes are provided by them.
Apart from that, duellists would meet up at various locations for casual fun duelling or practice matches.
But the community is more than just Yu-Gi-Oh!-focused, Parmesar noted.
“We have members who are also actively involved in the Pokémon TCG card game, members who play Magic The Gathering and, recently Disney’s very own Lorcana TCG card game,” he explained.
He added that for the anime fans, “we have started to research One Piece TCG card game to eventually introduce this”.
Meanwhile, Parmesar noted that the following and upkeep of the Yu-Gi-Oh! game and culture was not only on his shoulders.
“Over the years, there have been many important individuals who have kept the game alive, and kept the community very much alive after I left for Toronto. It has always been a dream for players in Guyana to experience these special events and many have often expressed interest, I’m just happy I was able to facilitate this.
“And with an OTS registered in Guyana, more members are making an effort to be a part of it, as they are rewarded with perks and exclusive products among other things. Outside of tournaments, there is still a large community of collectors who seek to have the ultimate collection of the rarest cards, many who I believe are right in Guyana, but just haven’t heard of our store as yet,” he added.
Parmesar admitted that there were challenges in trying to access new players and bring younger folk into the community.
“Some of these challenges still exist, but are becoming less and less, as I do spend a decent amount of time getting the word out there and having friends try to get their friends in the game,” he noted.
“I eventually plan to have the tournament store more well-known in Guyana and hopefully pass down to future generations the game of Yu-Gi-Oh!, especially to new players who are looking for a hobby. After all, Yu-Gi-Oh! and other trading card games are meant to be a hobby, to have fun among friends, and if the desire is there, compete at the highest level,” he added, with much optimism.
