Monday, October 17, 2011

Intelligence and Skills aren't Enough for Children's Card Games

Just so all my readers know, I'm typing this blog post to brainstorm multiple ideas for multiple assignments. Nonetheless it is related to Yu-Gi-Oh. I apologize in advance if this post is all over the place.

As an introduction I will state the results of my Pulsar FTK deck on Dueling Network. I won 33 games and lost 5 games. Not bad statistics. I will come back to this later.

Currently, at my university, I have the highest marks in all my classes. I'll admit not too much has happened yet; only a few minor and major assignments. The real test for me is approaching swiftly. I have 1 midterm tomorrow and 4 next week. My goal is to get perfect grades on every single one.

I have numerous other skills as well. I'm a pretty good athlete in terms of specific sports. I have excellent business and detective skills. I have computer skills in certain areas. I'm also able to multitask excellently (I can do it better than anyone I know). For example, a few days ago I was texting with my left hand, typing an essay with my right hand, chatting with my girlfriend on Skype and playing on Dueling Network all at once (of course while I waited for my friend to text me back both my hands were on the keyboard typing away).

I hate to appear like I'm gloating but that's not my intention. I'm simply stating the facts about myself. I have fucking amazing skills and work habits which push me to excel in all my serious work-related affairs (university being a splendid example). Trust me though, my life is farther than perfect than you might thing (I'm not 100% happy with my life right now, putting it simply). Excluding the previous sentence what does all of this have to do with Yu-Gi-Oh? Simply put, intelligence has some bearing on how you perform but, at least this format, the biggest deciding factor is chance.

I'll talk about the intelligence factor first. It usually plays significant roles in how games can unfold. Activating Monster Reborn at the right time, for example, can either win or lose the game for you immediately.


That’s self-explanatory though. Luck is the biggest factor and sometimes it’s too much to handle. Opening with a garbage hand or a broken hand makes a difference. I will now discuss Pulsar FTK. This deck is absolutely luck-based. It is a very consistent deck but if you open poorly you will lose. You don’t even need the FTK sometimes if you can beat down your opponent quickly with Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. You can be the smartest person in the universe but if your opponent has the cards for the FTK, and you don’t have Veiler or Crow, you lose.

I’ll be honest. If I put the same amount of effort into this game that I do with university work, I would be a much better player (even though luck can still dominate occasionally). However I never will do that. I hate university because of the amount of work I have to put in to achieve the best results. If I put that same effort into Yu-Gi-Oh I would hate the game, therefore I will never do that.

As a side note, I’m starting to enjoy Pokemon more and more. The game still has a luck factor but it is nowhere near as ominous as the Yu-Gi-Oh luck factor. Pokemon is more based on skill and carefully-executed plays will reward the player. Yu-Gi-Oh had this a long time ago, but that horse long left the barn…

In conclusion, luck plays a large factor in Yu-Gi-Oh. It is completely possible to get better by learning not to make certain misplays and performing actions at the correct times. Skill and intelligence will only go so far though. Being the smartest person around won’t win you every tournament you attend.

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