WHY DO I QLIPHORT???

I wake up this morning and start my preparation for Regionals tomorrow. I'm finishing my Nekroz deck, and I'm fairly comfortable in what I plan on playing...

Then Qliphorts come into mind. All the appealing thoughts start coming to me: Skill Drain, Mind Crush, giant swarms of mechanical monsters stomping people in the face... I try to suppress this thought as best as possible.

I end up going into work for a few hours. Sure enough, I start thinking about Qliphorts again. Before I leave work, I have a decklist printed off, ready to go! WHY???

After all this playtesting with Nekroz, I'm still considering going back to Qliphorts. I'm quite convinced Nekroz are the best deck, so why am I thinking about Qliphorts? It might be my interest in playing decks with traps. I have always enjoyed decks with traps.

If I decide to play Qliphorts, I'll have to accept that my plays will be obvious. Sure, I can try to outplay my opponent and such, but the deck doesn't have very many play combinations. The deck is too shallow: Setup your pendulum plays, make a big normal summon and pendulum summon, then back it up with traps. If any of that falls apart, of I brick, I know I lose. However, the deck is good because it doesn't brick all that often, and even when it does brick, you might have traps to stymie the opponent.

Oh what do I do? Nekroz are the best deck, and I've invested all this time and money into it. I never had a problem with Qliphorts until last week's tournament I attended. Then again, I only lost because I didn't have a timely response to the floodgate. That's why Qliphorts are floating around in my head. It's the better matchup against the current best deck, and floodgates prevent the opponent from playing. A win is a win, even if you lock the opponent with Emptiness all game...

I have to make a decision, like ASAP. This is ridiculous.

/End rant

*Sorry for the lack of posts this week. It's been a busy week at work...

Cheating in the Competitive Card Community

This is definitely a topic I’ve wanted to discuss since my return to blogging. Clearly, there would be no better time to discuss it then now, after the events of ARGCS Florida.

First of all, I’ll start with the technical definition of cheating, from Wikipedia:

“Cheating is the getting of reward for ability by dishonest means or finding an easy way out of an unpleasant situation. It is generally used for the breaking of rules to gain unfair advantage in a competitive situation. This broad definition will necessarily include acts of bribery, cronyism, sleaze, nepotism and any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate criteria.^[1] The rules infringed may be explicit, or they may be from an unwritten code of conduct based on morality, ethics or custom, making the identification of cheating a subjective process.”

What exactly does this definition include? The obvious cheating maneuvers in card games include stacking, drawing extra cards, marking cards and sleeves, and making illegal plays during phase. This definition will be stretched as my post continues.

At the ARGCS this weekend, a player named Travis Smith was disqualified on the premise that he was stacking and making illegal plays. The examples that have been public are using Gagaga Cowboy’s effect for game when a Unicore was on the field, and activating Effect Veiler while Majesty’s Fiend was on the field (so he can summon BLS). He was so close to winning the event as well; what a shame. I’m sure the accusations were obvious, and that’s why he was disqualified.

The above example is a clear-cut example of cheating, and the punishment that followed. Other plays have faced the same fate when doing similar maneuvers in the past. However, here’s another one for you, the one that probably stemmed today’s post:

At the ARGCS this weekend, Patrick Hoban and company were playing Nekroz, and this example is relative to their Nekroz mirror matches. Once game 1 concluded, he would ask the opponent if they wanted to both side out Djinn Releaser of Rituals. If the opponent agreed (which they probably did, because who likes to lose to the Djinn lock), Patrick would just remove the Djinn and place it on the mat, so the opponent knew he sided it out, and probably extended the same courtesy. What the opponent didn’t know was Patrick sided in a copy of the Djinn, until it was played, and probably won him the game because the opponent likely sided out Book of Eclipse and the like.

This event has been disputed ever since yesterday, when people started to find out. Some people consider it cheating, straight-out. Some people consider it “dirty play”, and unsportsmanlike conduct. I’ll attempt to break down the definition of cheating to determine whether or not this is actually cheating, or not.

Patrick Hoban is clearly smart, and based on his ARG articles, has a good enough command of the English language. He probably worded the question something like this: “Did you want to side out a copy of the Djinn?” Wording it like this would set a few distinctive rules. All he’s asking was to side out a single copy of this card. By setting this established question, he doesn’t directly reveal that he’s maining 2 copies or siding an addition copy. Technically, if he worded the question like this, he isn’t directly lying. All he did was propose an offer to the opponent, and the opponent accepted with proof that the terms of the offer were being met.

According to the definition I provided earlier, is this cheating? I’ll provide the first bit of the definition: “Cheating is the getting of reward for ability by dishonest means or finding an easy way out of an unpleasant situation. It is generally used for the breaking of rules to gain unfair advantage in a competitive situation.” On first glance, it would appear it is cheating. He wanted to win his reward by finding an easy out of the situation, by making the Djinn lock to win the game when the opponent sides out their counters.  However, he is not breaking the rules, even though he is gaining an unfair advantage.

Next, I’ll provide the other relevant part of the above definition. “The rules infringed may be explicit, or they may be from an unwritten code of conduct based on morality, ethics or custom, making the identification of cheating a subjective process”. I don’t believe this has ever happened before, so I suppose this could be considered “unwritten code”. However, if we apply by this final statement, then the question of whether or not Patrick Hoban was cheating or not would be considered subjective, otherwise known as opinion-based. As such, here’s my final opinion on the matter:

Patrick Hoban and friends did not cheat. They were deceptive, and they fought dirty, but they did not cheat, and as far as their thought process is concerned, it was a valid strategy. They played mind games with their opponent’s in the mirror match. I’m sure that they will face a good amount of disrespect from the card playing community, but they made it quite clear they’ll do everything they can to win, barring obvious cheating (I don’t think they’ve ever been accused of stacking or similar)… Now for the fun part of today’s post:

How far will you go to win a card event?

This can be as small-scale as Locals, to as grand-scale as Nationals. Every once in a while, somebody will be caught cheating, and then disqualified almost immediately. In the case of Travis Smith, he was disqualified right before the finals. If only he was playing properly, he could’ve won the entire event, potentially. If not, at least he would’ve been defeated with honour. Once you’re caught cheating, your reputation is ruined. If it’s done in your local community, you’ll be isolated as a cheater in your community. If it’s done at a larger tournament, you’ll be called out all over the Internet.

If Travis Smith was asked and forced to honestly answer the above italicized question, he would answer stating he’ll stack and make sloppy, illegal plays to gain an advantage. Usually, people that are identified as a cheater have a history that creeps up as time progresses (this isn’t just related to card games, I assure you). Travis Smith has other credentials, but now all those credentials will be questioned for sloppy play. His name will never be cleared, and he won’t have any respect from the larger population of the community.

If Patrick Hoban was asked and forced to honestly answer the above italicized question, he would answer stating he won’t cheat, but he’ll use any mind games to his advantage. Fortunately, he doesn’t have a history of this behaviour; he would’ve been called out on it a long time ago. However, he will lose respect from a good chunk of the community, and others will respect him for being a strategic genius. I’m sure he’ll write an article defending (or justifying) his actions, and I’m sure people will read it and base their own subjective opinion. His reputation will never be the same, but he doesn’t care, because all he cares about is winning, which is respectable in its own sense.

If I was asked and forced to honestly answer the above italicized question, I would answer stating that I don’t cheat, and I don’t engage in sloppy play. If I make an illegal play, it’s because I don’t know it’s an illegal play. I always try to remain up-to-date on rulings, and I’m not afraid to ask if I second-guess my own ruling. The point is I don’t intentionally cheat my opponent by making things up. As well, I would never stack, mark cards, or anything of the sort. There have been a few times where some butt-hurt people have accused me of cheating, but it’s never been proven, because it’s never happened. I also have not stooped as low as Patrick Hoban and friends, in regards to his decisive, dirty strategy for the Nekroz mirror match. I’d rather fight clean and honestly; it feels good winning the honest fights.

Also, just an aside, but why would you agree to side out the Djinn lock? I understand it makes the mirror match more skillful, but really? Why would you side out a win condition? Sometimes, you need a little luck on your side, and if you lucky enough to hold the Djinn lock in the Nekroz mirror match, you have a free win. On the opposite side of the coin, it sucks when it happens to you, but whatever, welcome to card games. To win an event, you need every advantage possible, and siding out a win condition goes directly against that. If I would’ve played Patrick Hoban or one of his friends, I wouldn’t have fallen for his trick because I wouldn’t have agreed to side out the Djinn lock. In my opinion, that’s just plain stupid. If you play an Exodia deck with only 4 of the 5 pieces, you deserve failure, and that example illustrated how I feel on this subject.

When I start topping more Regionals and other events, I want to make sure that I do it honestly and properly. If I ever cheated, and got called on it, my reputation would be tarnished forever, making my dreams and goals impossible to reach. Feel free to share your opinions, and thanks for reading!

Nekroz: Reflecting on the Weekend

I spent some time debating how I wanted to format today's post. Inevitably, I decided to just jump right in and start writing.

On Saturday, I attended a Locals in another city, since they were hosting a prize of a somewhat-complete Burning Abyss core. The prizes for 2nd-8th were packs of the Secret Forces. I realized it would be a good experience to travel there for the experience, and hopefully the prize. The tournament was 5 rounds than top 8, and I played Nekroz for the event.

Round 1 vs Yosenju (2-1) - I lost game one because I never drew an answer for his MST.
Round 2 vs Yosenju (2-1) - I lost game one because I didn't have enough MSTs for his multiple floodgates.
Round 3 vs Burning Abyss (2-0)
Round 4 vs Qliphorts (1-2) - I lost games one and three because I had the MST for Skill Drain, but I couldn't answer the Emptiness he would draw a turn or two later.
Round 5 vs Satellarknights (2-0)

Top 8 vs Yosenjus (0-2) - I lost game one because I bricked (no ritual monsters, nothing to search ritual monsters, and I had a bunch of ritual spells). I lose game two because he had Dimensional Fissure and Emptiness, and I did not draw MST until he had other traps to back him up.

It was disappointing that I went all the way to Top 8, just to lose because I couldn't play. I took my few packs of Secret Forces and left.

Today was our regular Locals (which is usually on Saturday but was today for some reasons). There were only 8 people, so it was 3 rounds and no finals. Store credit went to 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Round 1 vs Nekroz (2-0)
Round 2 vs Blackwings (2-0)
Round 3 vs Yosenjus (2-0)

Now that I got this report out of the way, I'm going to provide the main deck I used at both of these tournaments:

Main:

3 Nekroz of Brionac
3 Nekroz of Unicore
3 Nekroz of Valkyrus
2 Nekroz of Clausolas
1 Nekroz of Trishula
1 Nekroz of Gungnir
1 Nekroz of Decisive Armor
3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands
3 Senju of the Ten Thousand Hands
2 Shurit, Stretegist of the Nekroz
1 Djinn Releaser of Rituals
3 Preparation or Rites
3 Mystical Space Typhoon
2 Nekroz Kaleidoscope
2 Nekroz Mirror
2 Nekroz Cycle
2 Book of Eclipse
1 Book of Moon
1 Raigeki
1 Dark Hole

Side:

1 Effect Veiler
2 Maxx "C"
2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Dance Princess of the Nekroz
3 Twister
2 Shared Ride
2 Royal Decree
2 Vanity's Emptiness

After my OTS experience last weekend, I realized Dance Princess was not worth it in the main deck (I moved it to the side deck), and I re-included my 2nd Clausolas for the extra consistency. I enjoyed how my deck flowed, and having the second one was really nice.

Now that I got my deck list out in the open, it's time to share another one. An ARG Circuit Series took place this weekend, and Ben Leverett made the Top 16. Since he's Patrick Hoban's friend and follower, I'm assuming they played the same deck because they convinced themselves that their build is superior (after much testing I'm sure). Here's the list, taken right off the ARG website:

Main:

3 Nekroz of Brionac

3 Nekroz of Unicore

2 Nekroz of Valkyrus

1 Nekroz of Trishula

1 Nekroz of Gungnir

1 Nekroz of Clausolas

3 Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands

2 Senju of the Thousand Hands

2 Phantom of Chaos

2 Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz

1 Djinn Releaser of Rituals

3 Preparation of Rites

3 Forbidden Lance

3 Upstart Goblin

2 Nekroz Kaleidoscope

2 Nekroz Mirror

2 Nekroz Cycle

2 Reinforcement of the Army

1 Book of Moon

1 Book of Eclipse

Side:

2 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer

2 Maxx "C"

1 Djinn, Releaser of Rituals

3 Mystical Space Typhoon

3 Storm

1 Twister

3 Vanity's Emptiness

I really enjoy this list for a few reasons:

- It's a 37 card deck. I originally wanted my build to be like this, a 40 card deck with 3 Upstarts, but never found the room.
- Phantom of Chaos is a nice trick. It could turn into an out to anything, depend on what's in your graveyard.
- Forbidden Lance is also nice tech. I foresee multiple application where this card can be useful against all of the current tier 1 decks.
- He sided a second Djinn. From what I understand, Patrick and friends asked to side out the Djinn, and keep it revealed to the opponent so he could side another one. It's a dirty move, but clever. I wonder how many games were won with that trick...

I have only a single beef with this list:

- Not enough answers to floodgates and the Djinn lock. Forbidden Lance can sometimes be an out to Emptiness, but other than that...

In regards to consistency, this deck list is the most consistent out of all of the ones I've seen and played. However, I'm pretty sure this is the only list I've seen that does not play MST and does play Upstart. I believe I understand how their tournament was planning to go:

- Completely beat Nekroz because their deck is more consistent, and build the deck to help this match-up.
- Lose game 1 to decks like Qliphort and Yosenjus, then side game 2 and 3 and hope for the best.

It's interesting that I lose all my game 1s to Yosenjus and Qliphorts because I didn't have the MST. It's almost like I could've removed the MSTs and put in Upstarts, because it really didn't matter.

For now, I'm going to conclude this topic. There is a Montreal Regionals on Saturday that I'm probably going to attend. Ideally, I would like to achieve Top 8 and win a decent-looking mat, as well as sell some bulk I picked up today.

I'm going to continue playing around with my Nekroz build. I really enjoy my build so far, but now I'm convinced the deck could be a little more consistent. I'll work around with the list and hopefully determine a better list. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Money... the Implications

Back in 2012, I wrote about money and it's importance in this game. If you have no idea what I'm referring to, here's the post: http://skilloverluck.blogspot.ca/2012/11/money.html

For the TL;DR version of that post, here are the key points:

- Money has depressed people from playing this game.
- Players with money are more powerful than players without money.
- Spending money foolishly in this card game can be dangerous.

Since the rebirth of this blog, my posts have been inclined to the pure, competitive nature of this card game. Obviously, money is necessary if you want to become world champion, or if you want to generate brownie points. Today's post will explain this game's dependency on money and suggest ways to help provide additional to funds to support your competitive wishes for this game.

First, I'm going to start with a story from the recent past...

When the Secret Forces was released, I knew immediately that Nekroz was going to be the strongest deck in the format. Obviously, I had to obtain everything for the deck, and I knew it wasn't going to be cheap. I started by buying a few boxes of the set, and I didn't start off too terrible.

That Saturday, there was half a box left on display, and I knew that the cards pulled from that box so far were garbage. Mathematically, I felt I would have better odds of pulling something to complete the deck, and it would be less expensive. If I did not pull anything useful, then it wouldn't be as horrible as buying a full box and pulling nothing. Sure enough, I bought the remaining packs and pulled a Brionac. The weekend after, I did this again and pulled a Valkyrus. Then I proceeded to split a box with Raymond, and I pulled my 3rd Brionac.

Unfortunately, the worst was over, but I still didn't have the complete deck. I had to purchase 2 Valkyrus, and I know I spent $100 for both... In the end, the deck was complete about $500 later.

Was the way I went about this the smartest decision? Depends on how you look at it. If my boxes were all garbage, I would've been a sad panda. Fortunately, I got a little lucky with my boxes and half-boxes I purchased. Also fortunately, I already had everything I needed for the extra deck, so I didn't have to spend any resources obtaining those cards.

Now why did I use this story as my example? I'll explain...

Essentially, my maximum amount of money I set aside for this deck was $600. That number was determined based on an estimate of how much the individual singles would be (and it turns out my estimate wasn't too far off). Originally, I wanted to purchase the singles only and not the boxes (since the ratios of pulling the expensive cards was ludicrous).

In regards to this set, I decided to start investing in the deck by purchasing boxes. Occasionally, Konami provides with a set where you can purchase boxes and strike gold. With reprints like Emptiness and Abyss Dweller, as well as releasing the deck skeletons for Yosenjus, Ritual Beasts, and Nekroz, purchasing boxes was a worthwhile investment. I was able to complete my own Ritual Beast and Yosenju deck, and have spares of these skeletons to trade and sell away. I also got rid of quite a few Emptiness while they were above $10...

Ultimately, this was still nothing more than a gamble. Honestly, I was fortunate enough to pull all 3 Brionacs, and save a lot of money. If I pulled one less Brionac that I did, then I would've exceeded my budget to obtain one, and revert to sad panda stage. However, i would've resorted to selling off some of my pulls from the boxes so I can purchase or trade for that Brionac. That's why I decided to purchased boxes of this set. In simple terms:

- Best case scenario was I pulled all the deck, or at least most of it, so my additional expenses wouldn't have been outrageous.

- Worst case scenario was I pulled garbage, and traded off other pulls to get the rest of the deck, and I'm almost 100% sure that would work.

Typically, the best deck of any given format will be the most expensive deck. Burning Abyss used to hold that title until Nekroz were released. Mermails and Dino-Rabbit are examples of past tier 1 decks that were the most expensive because they were the best decks.

Players on a budget may have to settle for second-best, or lower. If you can't afford Nekroz, you can focus your spending on Burning Abyss and Qliphorts (these decks currently cost between $200-$300 to purchase, if you purchase all of the essential singles). These two decks are second-best, so they are the second-most expensive. If money is really a problem, then you'll have to settle for the worst of the best. Currently, those decks are Yosenjus, then Shaddolls, Satellarknights, Volcanics, and then everything else. These decks are solid (particularly Yosenjus if I had to pick one) but they are not the decks that provide the greatest chance of winning a large-scale tournament. In my opinion (and I've learned this the hard way), you need to do everything possible to guarantee yourself the best chance of winning, if you dream of winning competitive events. Obtaining the undisputed best deck of the format is the first step to increasing your odds, and this will always be expensive.

Unfortunately, the spending of money doesn't stop after you finish obtaining your deck. In order to win large-scale events, you'll have to do some travelling. Gas, food, tournament entry and sometimes hotels are factors you'll have to include in your competitive gaming budget.

Am I saying you should travel to every event possible? Not necessarily. Should you try travelling if you've spent a good amount of money into your deck you want to use? Probably. What's the point of spending $500 on your deck if you're only going to use it at Locals? Spending $500 on a deck you take to multiple higher-level tournaments is much more gratifying, and a proper use of money. Inevitably, the more you decide to travel, the more money you'll have to spend. I know I want to travel as much as possible because the best way to win events is by attending those events, so i'll have to budget accordingly.

Now... In relation to this wonderful card game, are there effective methods of building resources? Honestly speaking, after paying for life and bills, my paychecks are not enough (at least to me). There have been ways I've used this card game to build up resources. Here are some examples of what you can do:

1. Self Vending (AKA ripping people off) - Vendors buy and trade cards from players at half the value, then sell or trade them at full value. Clearly, this is a fantastic way of making money. This works really well in bigger communities. Unfortunately, my community is not big enough for something like that to be successful.

2. Store Credit - If your community has a tournament store credit system, this comes in handy. You can use this credit to purchase boxes, packs and singles. Years ago, I would use my store credit to purchase Effect Veilers, Maxx "C"s and Pot of Duality (this was when they only had one reprint, and they were over $10). All the buying/selling of those cards brought me raw profit.

3. Getting Cards Before they Increase in Value - Before the Secret Forces came out, Book of Eclipse was under $5, and now it's about $10. A smart idea is to do some research and pick up cards that will become expensive, while they are cheap. Sometimes, this is a gamble, but it takes practice until you get it right.

Once you use these methods to build resources (cards and money), you can use these resources to trade and buy cards, and set money aside for travel expenses. This is something that needs to be done in the pursuit of competitive glory.

One final comment: This post is not meant to convince you to drop your life's earnings on cards. Survival is obviously important if you want to play card games. Some people even play this game while raising a family. Just bear in mind that the more money you can properly invest, the better output you can expect.

That's all for today. Let me know your opinions, and thanks for reading!

Burning Abyss: The Darkest Horse of the Format

Hello everyone! As you probably know, Burning Abyss won a YCS in Europe last weekend. Although there were several accusations of cheating and whatnot, we cannot deny Burning Abyss still has potential. Unfortunately, I don’t like the build that the champion used. My opinion is that the build is missing a lot of key factors that I wouldn’t be comfortable without. If I were to build Burning Abyss and participate in an event with it, this is the rough draft of the build I would utilize:

3 Tour Guide

3 Scarm

3 Cir

3 Graph

2 Farfa

2 Rubic

1 Alich

1 Libic

2 Vanity's Fiend

1 BLS

2 Mask Change 2

2 MST

1 Dark Hole

1 Raigeki

1 Book of Moon

1 Allure of Darkness

1 Beginning of the End

1 Foolish Burial

1 Snatch Steal

2 Phoenix wing wind blast

1 fire lake

2 mind crush

3 emptiness

Extra deck:

3 Dante

2 Virgil

2 Downerd

1 Giga Brilliant

1 Nightmare Shark

1 Acid Golem

1 Zenmaines

1 Angineer

2 Dark Law

1 Koga

Side deck:

2 Enemy Controller

3 Maxx C

2 Monarch Stormforth

2 Majesty's Fiend

1 MST

2 Fire Lake

1 Fairy Wind

2 Threatening Roar

I believe Farfa is crucial for overcoming the Djinn lock, which Nekroz can consistently establish. Alich is necessary for negating Unicore if it becomes a problem. Otherwise, these two monsters are easy Allure of Darkness targets. The other intriguing monster choice is Vanity’s Fiend. This card is another form of the Djinn lock. Against Nekroz, the deck cannot play until it is dealt with. And of course, it’s annoying against the mirror match.

Mask Change 2 I feel is necessary and mandatory now. Dark Law is a meta call that is powerful against Nekroz, and just as powerful against most other current decks. I’ve also adopted to play Masked Hero Koga, and this is due to a few reasons. First of all, it’s just a nice out to huge threats, like Apoqliphort Towers. Secondly, I might be attacking a Nekroz player with a Dante… If they activate Valkyrus to negate the attack, I can change Mask Change to dodge it, summon Koga and attack again. I’ll also get to add something back to hand with Dante. In regards to the other spells, I feel only 2 MST are needed now. Nekroz don’t play many reactive spells and traps. I can work around other deck’s spells and traps (which is why I like Burning Abyss so much) without a need for MST, though sometimes it does simplify things. I feel the rest of the spell and traps are self-explanatory…

I don’t think I need to discuss extra deck choices either… In regards to the side deck, I sorted it out based on match-up. Against the mirror match, Maxx C, E-con, Stormforth and Majesty`s Fiend will all go in, based on whether or not I`m going first or second. Against Nekroz, Stormforth and Majesty’s Fiend definitely go in, and maybe Maxx C if I’m going second. Against Qliphorts, MST, Fire Lakes and Fairy Wind go in. Finally, Threatening Roars are for those matches where I go into time…

Of course, this build is a draft right now. To be honest, I want to try to fit 3 Upstart Goblins in the main deck... That would be the only change I would make.

Anyway, let me know what you readers think about this build, and thanks for reading!

Looking Back and Looking Forward

As explained in my previous post, I attended an OTS this weekend, piloting the Nekroz deck I spent an exuberant amount of time creating. The events this weekend, specifically the day of the OTS, can be summarized with one single word: Ridiculous.

I spent the majority of the weekend thinking about this ridiculousness and I’ve been intending to write this post, once I had a full-fledged thought process. This post will be a reflection on recent events, and a general insight on how I think about things. This writing might be all over the place, because that’s just how my thought process works, but I’ll do my best to explain my thoughts in a logical order.

The Free Victory

I’m beginning with this subject because it sprouted this entire post. As I mentioned in my previous post, I gave one of my friends the victory because he wanted to try and get an invite. This is the question I still ask myself about this: Why did I do it?

I immediately kicked myself after I made this decision. I spent about 3 minutes sitting at the table weighing the pros and the cons of doing this, before making the decision. Here is the list of Pros:

-          It makes me look like a nice person.

-          I’m giving him a chance to retry.

Those are the positives. There aren’t very many positives… Here are the negatives:

-          Only some X-2s were making it, but only a few. By sacrificing my victory, I had to win Round 6 and hope to be lucky with pairings.

-          Additional stress added to my day.

-          I spent a lot of time working for this event. Essentially, my preparation could’ve been all in vain.

-          I couldn’t say with 100% certainty he would win the next two rounds required for the invite.

The Competitive Outlook

My goal of the event was to win the OTS, and that’s it. 1^st place got the mat, and the brownie points of the event, and that’s all I wanted. Knowing this, why did I give away a victory that was crucial to my success in the event? It completely contradicts my views on the competitive atmosphere of the game.

All throughout my life, I’ve been a competitive person. In school, I always make sure I have the highest grades. At work, I ensure people understand who I am, and I make sure I can meet the criteria of the position (even though it’s semi—luck based). In card games, I want to be the very best, that no one ever was.

I’ve planted my roots in a few competitive card games over the last few years. Vanguard and MTG were the least fruitful. Regarding MTG, I was looking to slowly increase my skills by building a stronger and stronger deck, then testing it at the Friday Night Magic’s, and I wanted to eventually enter higher tier events. I was seeing the progress and was getting better, until my deck got stolen by someone in the community. That put my MTG career on hold (for now, since I intend on coming back soon). Regarding Vanguard, our community was too small to do anything. Sure, we could travel to other Locals, but that would be inconvenient. As well, the number of competitive events Bushiroad hold in Canada is depressing. There was no point continuing.

Pokemon allowed me to go a little further. I went to one event (don’t remember exactly what it was) and I played 6 or 7 rounds and went undefeated and came in 1^st place. However, the community is really small, like Vanguard, so it got boring… If I were to pick a 3^rd game to possibly invest in, it would be Pokemon. Unlike Vanguard, Pokemon requires more complex thinking, and it’s similar to MTG. There are also a lot more competitive Pokemon events than Vanguard, and I’d have no problem spending $300 to build an amazing deck to take to a few events. Eventually, I’ll have to do that on MTG…

Now, I’ll come full circle with my point. When doing anything in life, I fight to be on top of everyone else. I’ve worked on Yu-Gi-Oh, and I’m pretty sure my competitive drive for success is greater than anyone else in my community. However, within my community, it’s gotten dull and boring. Believe it or not: Coming in Top 4 every week gets boring after a while, and now I’m thirsty for more. This is one of the reasons why I’m more willing to attend greater events (Regionals and related events). I want to start crushing everyone I play against in any event I go to. If for some reason I lose to someone, I will take the most out of the experience and apply it so (hopefully) it doesn’t happen again.

If the above is true, then why did I give that person the win on the weekend? Ultimately, I think it just came down to me being nice, and feeling bad for defeating him. I can admit with 100% certainty that letting him have the win was a moment of weakness on my part: I let my emotions get the better of me, and that was that.

The Game of Life

I’m not exactly referring to that crappy board game that was released years ago. For those that don’t know what I’m referring to, it’s the game where you started as a character in school, then slowly developed your character, and the end goal was to end up with as much money and success as possible when retirement occurred. I recently had a thought that related to this game, in reference to my competitive card career. Life is one big game, and everything you do unfolds a new part of this game. Here’s a simple and straight-forward example: I went out of my way to build Nekroz. If I didn’t, then it wouldn’t have been an option for the OTS; I probably would’ve played Burning Abyss or Qliphort. The fact that I obtained the deck unlocked the part of the game where I used a Nekroz deck to fight my way through a tournament.

I believe every tournament, every match, and every game I play, will dictate the course of action I follow through this “game”. As well, the preparation and deck-building that occurs will dictate the course of action throughout the tournament. If I had changed 1 card in my deck, by taking out something else instead of the 2^nd Clausolas for the 3^rd Valkyrus I obtained, it could’ve change the entire tournament, since that card would’ve been something else and had a different effect on the games I played where I drew that card.

"If you can't win the game, if you can't solve the puzzle, then you're nothing but a loser."

This quote comes from the anime, Death Note. This expression came from the detective that inevitably solved the murder case that the series revolved around, with the data from the previous detective who died, and help from his acquaintance who discovered a critical piece of the puzzle.

This expression is nothing but true in my eyes. Flat out, if you don’t win, you lose. When I lost to Burning Abyss this weekend, I lost. When I defeated my friend, and gave him the win, I lost. You know what I realized about this weekend’s tournament? I realized that this weekend, I was a loser. You know what’s worse? I openly allowed myself to be a loser by giving up a win during the tournament. Quite frankly, this behaviour is not acceptable. I know for a fact that I spent more time preparing for this event than anyone. Throughout my life, I’ve realized that (statistically) the people that work the hardest reap the benefits, usually. I worked harder in preparation of this event, and I essentially tossed my reaped benefits aside to help someone else. I defeated myself, and no positives came out of it…

The conclusion

I was able to realize how badly I screwed myself over by releasing a win that I worked hard to deserve. I realized how strong my competitive drive is, and what happened this weekend was completely against what my principles should be.

Here’s the final point to take out of this: I will no longer let anyone have the win, period. I don’t care who you are. If I defeat you, and it’s the final match that will determine whether or not you get your invite, I don’t care. If you defeat me, then I’m the loser, and I’ll accept it. If I defeat you, then you are the loser, and you’ll have to accept it.

If I’m striving for credentials, top results, and brownie points, then I can’t go easy on anyone. I have no problem being a nice person, and friend, to those close to me. I enjoy working with certain members of the community that I trust, to further increase our strength as players. I also enjoy helping in any way I can, by lending out cards, writing these helpful provides, and offering advice to those who ask. But on the battlefield, everyone is an enemy, and whoever I play is the obstacle I must destroy. This will take place anywhere; Locals or higher tier tournaments. This is the way it has to be, if I will ever see success. This is the attitude I suggest to those who want to see success of their own.

Let me know what you readers think, and of course, thanks for reading!

OTS Tournament Report and Nekroz Deck List

Hello readers! This post is a tournament report regarding an OTS I just attended (AKA a Mini-Regional), and I will provide the decklist I used today. I believe I could've made top 8 today, but because I was being nice, I completely blew it (i'll talk about that later). Anyway, here were my six rounds of today's tournament.

Round 1 vs Harpies (2-0)

He won the die roll and chose to begin, starting with regular Harpie combos. I ruined his field with a Trishula, amongst other monsters, then I made the Djinn Lock. That effectively made the Chaneller in his hand useless, and I won next turn. Game 2, I'm pretty sure he bricked, but I would've won regardless. His only play was using Icarus attack, but I had Gungnir for protection.

1-0

Round 2 vs Nekroz (2-0)

He won the die roll and started with the Djinn lock. I was able to break it on my first turn, but he made it again next turn. I drew Book of Eclipse on my next turn, but chose to keep it a little while longer. I summoned Manju to search another card, maybe did something else, and ended turn. Then, he was going to OTK me but I had Valkyrus to protect myself. Next turn, I used Eclipse to flip his field face down and flip my Manju down. I flipped it immediately and searched, then I summoned Senju and searched again. I don't remember how exactly I did it, but I cleared his field and made my own Djinn Lock. On his next turn, he didn't draw an out to the lock, and I won on the following turn. Game 2, he started off strong enough, drawing cards with Valkyrus, and establishing a position where I couldn't take away cards with Trishula. On my turn, I made the Djinn lock. My opponent never drew an out, and I won a few turns later.

So yeah, that mirror match consisted of Djinn Lock control. It's kind of ridiculous, but whatever, that's Yu-Gi-Oh!

2-0

Round 3 vs Yosenjus (2-0)

I can't remember who won the die roll. Game 1 was very close, and went back and forth. Eventually, he Snatch Stole a Lavalval Chain and stacked a Fire Fist Bear on top of deck, with a live Tenki on the field, obviously. At that point, he had one unknown trap. My turn consisted of baiting out his trap (CED), and breaking his board, while adding Trishula to hand so Bear couldn't destroy my monster. He drew Macro on the following turn and scooped. Game 2 he didn't open too optimally. The only real trap he drew was CED, which I destroyed at his end phase (I could've used the MST on his Tenki, but I knew he couldn't OTK me regardless). On my next turn, I'm pretty sure I OTKed him.

3-0

Round 4 vs Burning Abyss (0-1)

Basically, he won the die roll and opened strong. We went back and forth, and eventually, we hit time and game 1 wasn't concluded. I had game on my next turn, and that would've wrapped up the match in my favour. However, he top-decked Raigeki, and I no longer had enough damage to win in time, so I lost.

3-1

Round 5 vs Qliphort (2-0)

I played against a local from Belleville, who didn't have his invite yet. He won the die roll and chose to go first. He bricked really hard, and I finished him immediately. Game 2 he opened up playable, But I crushed him regardless.

Now, this is the point that doesn't make sense to me. Because he didn't have an invite, he asked if I could let him have the win. He really wanted his invite so he could attend Nationals. For whatever reason, I agreed to let him have the win. I believed in his ability to win the following two rounds (Round 6 than Top 8, since Top 4 received their invites), and he proceeded to lose round 6, even though it wasn't really his fault...

3-2

Round 6 vs Nekroz (2-1)

Some X-2s were going to enter Top 8, so I fought for this victory. He won the die roll, and couldn't establish the Djinn Lock. Unfortunately, I couldn't either, but I made a good position for myself. On his next turn, he had the opportunity to make the Djinn Lock, but he misplayed and didn't, and he realized this afterward. I still couldn't make the Djinn lock. We went for a few more turns, and I eventually overpowered him with multiple Trishula resolutions, thanks to Cycle. Game 2 he remained dominant for most of the game, and the 40 minute clock was almost up. I was judging the situation as he was continuing his turn, and I decided at this point to scoop and proceed to game 3. I didn't want to risk a potential draw, since I had to go X-2 to have a chance of making top 8. Anyway, I started, and I opened a set Shared Ride, without committing any other cards to the field for Trishula to banish. On his turn, he summoned Manju and I chained Shared Ride. He let me draw a few cards that turn, and wasn't able to deplete my life points. On my next turn, I finish him with Trishula, Unicore, Valkyrus and Kycoo.

4-2

Unfortunately, I did not make Top 8, but I was comforted in the fact I only lost 2 games out of 12. I probably would've made Top 8 if I didn't forfeit my win during round 5; I do have that much confidence in myself... Anyway, here's the decklist I came up with:

3 Brionac

3 Unicore

3 Valkryus

1 Clausolas

1 Gungnir

1 Trishula

1 Decisive Armor

3 Manju

3 Senju

2 Shurit

1 Dance Princess

1 Djinn Releaser

 

3 MST

3 Preparation or Rites

2 Cycle

2 Kaleidoscope

2 Mirror

2 Book of Eclipse

1 Book of Moon

1 Raigeki

1 Dark Hole

Before the event, I obtained my 3rd Valkyrus and took out a 2nd Clausolas for it. I didn't regret playing 3 Valkyrus, but I did regret playing only 1 Clausolas. Against Burning Abyss, I know I would've won Game 1 if I had another Clausolas in my deck. There were other opportunities where my victory would've been simpler if I had the second Clausolas.

After much deduction, Dance Princess seemed to put in the least work today. Honestly, something has to be cut for a 2nd Clausolas. I feel it would've made the deck as perfect as possible.

Let me know what you guys think. My next post will likely explore the deeper roots of why I forfeited a win today. My goal today was to win the entire OTS, yet I forfeited a win for someone else, even though I knew it would potentially be a useless sacrifice, which it was...

Until then, thanks for reading!