It was one of the most wonderful exhibitions of sportsmanship, gamesmanship, and pure stamina that I have ever seen.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
After having played all day Saturday in the swiss rounds, and all the way through the top eight on Sunday, I’m sure that nearly all of us would have been Pokemon’d out, but not this young man. Yamato (the 2004 15+ Pokemon TCG world champion) showed up at the pavilion I believe as early as 4:00 PM, and began to take on competitors. Before he could even start to shuffle his deck another player would sit down across from him, but he would almost always finish shuffling before his opponent. We were stacked up five to six players deep at times with never less than three. There was a constant crowd of fifteen to forty huddled around trying to get a glimpse of the master and potentially grab a spot in line. I’m guessing an average of fifteen minutes per game (it could have easily been ten or less), and considering that he was still there playing at 4:00 AM when I left, that’s a minimum of 48 games. The number was probably closer to 60 games or more. I stepped out a couple of times through out the night so I did not see every game, but I saw him lose only two and could only confirm three others. One of the loses that I saw was to a Medicham EX deck that Yamato was beating severely in the beginning of the game with only a single energy in play. In the end though his deck just couldn’t maintain such an incredible feat and he was narrowly defeated. The other loss that I witnessed was the one win of the four games that my son played against him. It was somewhat of a mirror match that was well played on both sides. This win record is made even more amazing by the fact that his competitors were watching all of his previous games, memorizing his decks, and trying to learn his playing style (which would vary from game to game to an incredible degree). I saw him make zero mistakes! His disposition remained light and cheerful through every game!
Now you may be saying to yourself, stamina? O.K. That’s obvious! Gamesmanship? O.K. that is an impressive record! Sportsmanship? He did remain cheerful all night long! But how does this fit the true definition of a goodwill ambassador? Well I noticed that early on in the night he was using a Pokemon Company issue plastic coin and flipping it high in the air. I believe that he was doing this intentionally to dissuade the rumors about the Japanese coin flipping “techniques”. I also noticed that he would lay out his opening hand on the table before looking at it to demonstrate that there were only seven cards. But I noticed in my two games against him that he was taking his cues on whether or not to do this and whether or not to cut his opponents deck from his opponents. It seemed as if the entire night was dedicated to the display of the wonderful Japanese temperament, dedication, and sense of fair play. I am beyond impressed!
Oh, one more thing about this young man. Earlier in the day (shortly after his loss in the top 8), I was so bold to disturb him a little. I knew that he had played Ludi/Cargo, which was also my deck of choice so I really wanted to show him a trick that I had built into mine. I pulled a Slugma from my deck and asked him if he used this one (Dragons/Lure Burn). Both he and his friend wrinkled their nose a little, and said “no” in a polite but disapproving manner, then Yamato made a flipping motion and said “Burn“. I held up an index finger and said “Wait, just wait.” I searched through my deck and flipped a Magcargo on top of the Slugma and slid a Double Rainbow Energy under the Slugma. Then started searching my deck again. When I got to the Meteor Falls and pointed it at the Magcargo they both, with an approving nod, and in unison said “Ohhh!”. I don’t say this to brag (well O.K. it did feel a little good to show the master a trick) , but really to say that during this process Yamato, with out having any idea that he might be playing against this deck in a few hours, had noticed that I ran a Crystal Shard. I did not point it out, but he put that little nugget of information away just on the off chance that we might battle. We did, and he intentionally did not play his Rayquaza because he recalled that fact.
After his win in 2004 I was duly impressed. After his display this year I am nothing less than a true fan.
If anyone can translate this and has Yamato's contact information I would be honored to know he has read this.
Thank you for reading,
Dave II
Sunday, August 21, 2005
After having played all day Saturday in the swiss rounds, and all the way through the top eight on Sunday, I’m sure that nearly all of us would have been Pokemon’d out, but not this young man. Yamato (the 2004 15+ Pokemon TCG world champion) showed up at the pavilion I believe as early as 4:00 PM, and began to take on competitors. Before he could even start to shuffle his deck another player would sit down across from him, but he would almost always finish shuffling before his opponent. We were stacked up five to six players deep at times with never less than three. There was a constant crowd of fifteen to forty huddled around trying to get a glimpse of the master and potentially grab a spot in line. I’m guessing an average of fifteen minutes per game (it could have easily been ten or less), and considering that he was still there playing at 4:00 AM when I left, that’s a minimum of 48 games. The number was probably closer to 60 games or more. I stepped out a couple of times through out the night so I did not see every game, but I saw him lose only two and could only confirm three others. One of the loses that I saw was to a Medicham EX deck that Yamato was beating severely in the beginning of the game with only a single energy in play. In the end though his deck just couldn’t maintain such an incredible feat and he was narrowly defeated. The other loss that I witnessed was the one win of the four games that my son played against him. It was somewhat of a mirror match that was well played on both sides. This win record is made even more amazing by the fact that his competitors were watching all of his previous games, memorizing his decks, and trying to learn his playing style (which would vary from game to game to an incredible degree). I saw him make zero mistakes! His disposition remained light and cheerful through every game!
Now you may be saying to yourself, stamina? O.K. That’s obvious! Gamesmanship? O.K. that is an impressive record! Sportsmanship? He did remain cheerful all night long! But how does this fit the true definition of a goodwill ambassador? Well I noticed that early on in the night he was using a Pokemon Company issue plastic coin and flipping it high in the air. I believe that he was doing this intentionally to dissuade the rumors about the Japanese coin flipping “techniques”. I also noticed that he would lay out his opening hand on the table before looking at it to demonstrate that there were only seven cards. But I noticed in my two games against him that he was taking his cues on whether or not to do this and whether or not to cut his opponents deck from his opponents. It seemed as if the entire night was dedicated to the display of the wonderful Japanese temperament, dedication, and sense of fair play. I am beyond impressed!
Oh, one more thing about this young man. Earlier in the day (shortly after his loss in the top 8), I was so bold to disturb him a little. I knew that he had played Ludi/Cargo, which was also my deck of choice so I really wanted to show him a trick that I had built into mine. I pulled a Slugma from my deck and asked him if he used this one (Dragons/Lure Burn). Both he and his friend wrinkled their nose a little, and said “no” in a polite but disapproving manner, then Yamato made a flipping motion and said “Burn“. I held up an index finger and said “Wait, just wait.” I searched through my deck and flipped a Magcargo on top of the Slugma and slid a Double Rainbow Energy under the Slugma. Then started searching my deck again. When I got to the Meteor Falls and pointed it at the Magcargo they both, with an approving nod, and in unison said “Ohhh!”. I don’t say this to brag (well O.K. it did feel a little good to show the master a trick) , but really to say that during this process Yamato, with out having any idea that he might be playing against this deck in a few hours, had noticed that I ran a Crystal Shard. I did not point it out, but he put that little nugget of information away just on the off chance that we might battle. We did, and he intentionally did not play his Rayquaza because he recalled that fact.
After his win in 2004 I was duly impressed. After his display this year I am nothing less than a true fan.
If anyone can translate this and has Yamato's contact information I would be honored to know he has read this.
Thank you for reading,
Dave II
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and yeah I was gonna request a game with each of his decks, there were like 6 people infront of me, they didn't let me infront of the line like Seena, o well whatever.
