yugioh duelist
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im a dencent player i usually go 3-1 to 4-0 at events but resently ive been in a slump
The Best in the Game
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DarthPika
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Amazing post Chris. You sir have won the thread.
I would argue that picking the right deck for a given event is probably the most important and hardest decision a player can make. I can't begin to tell how many times I've missed the cut or not done nearly as well as I should have due to using the wrong deck. When I do pick the right deck, I'm a suprisingly good player. lol For me I've really never had a problem with any in game strategy, or the deck building process. Its picking the right deck that seems to be the hardest.
Something to add to that... If your playing in a tourney and you lose against a random atoloss, DON'T let it discourage you form keeping up with your deck. This just happens, and it happens to the best. There is NOTHING you can do about the 1 guy that will decide to use what ever the heck beats the snot out of your deck. What you can do is not let it get to you. Letting something get to you is a very good way to mess your self up for the rest of the tourney.
As to what SuperWooper said: You don't have to be ACTUALLY confident. Just don't let your opponent know your concerned, and don't let it influence your game play. I go into a number of games where I know if I win, it'll be out of luck or by outplaying an opponent. Acknowledging when a matchup is extremely difficult can be useful. It may mean you need to take more chances. Example: In a matchup that is say, 60-40 vs you, you can feel comfortable just setting up and playing your game. If your opponenets start seems weak, there is no reason to overextend to punish them if you win if you set up right. Now, at the same time, if you seem risky, aggressive gambles in bad matchups, the decision to make them is much more favorable. An example would be with Kingdra, this format.
Say your playing against Tyranitar, a very favorable matchup. Your hand is Water Energy, Roseanne, Warp Point, Unown G, Kingdra, Plus Power, Claydol. You open Unown G, obviously. Your play is to get a Horsea and a Baltoy. As long as you get the t2 Claydol and a reasonable start, you win the game. So your Roseanne choice is simple.
Now say you are playing against Regigigas, and they have an active Mesprit. You go 2nd. Your incentive to take an Uxie, and fish for that Rare Candy is much higher. You know that much more often than not, if the game progresses, you lose the matchup. Compare the percentages. Say your a 20% chance to win an extended game. Than say you have a 33% chance to hit a Rare Candy ( odds are tough...do you get another uxie? A super scoop up to try and re-use uxie to keep fishing? A Speed Stadium? Thus more flips? Its never a stagnant number ) Notice if you wiff the Rare Candy, your start suffers greatly. You may draw dead even. In a good matchup, play conservatively. In a bad matchup, you may have to take more gambles and risks.
So don't let a bad matchup be an excuse to play poorly. That doesn't mean it shouldn't influence how you play. As for a difference in player skill? Never bank on an opponent playing poorly as a game plan. ALWAYS assume your opponent plays flawlessly, based on what information they likely would have. Of course, there will be positions where if your opponent plays correctly, you simply lose. At that point, if there is any misplay they make that can let you stay in the game, play towards that situation, and try and lure them into making it. It gets rather complex.
Say your playing against Tyranitar, a very favorable matchup. Your hand is Water Energy, Roseanne, Warp Point, Unown G, Kingdra, Plus Power, Claydol. You open Unown G, obviously. Your play is to get a Horsea and a Baltoy. As long as you get the t2 Claydol and a reasonable start, you win the game. So your Roseanne choice is simple.
Now say you are playing against Regigigas, and they have an active Mesprit. You go 2nd. Your incentive to take an Uxie, and fish for that Rare Candy is much higher. You know that much more often than not, if the game progresses, you lose the matchup. Compare the percentages. Say your a 20% chance to win an extended game. Than say you have a 33% chance to hit a Rare Candy ( odds are tough...do you get another uxie? A super scoop up to try and re-use uxie to keep fishing? A Speed Stadium? Thus more flips? Its never a stagnant number ) Notice if you wiff the Rare Candy, your start suffers greatly. You may draw dead even. In a good matchup, play conservatively. In a bad matchup, you may have to take more gambles and risks.
So don't let a bad matchup be an excuse to play poorly. That doesn't mean it shouldn't influence how you play. As for a difference in player skill? Never bank on an opponent playing poorly as a game plan. ALWAYS assume your opponent plays flawlessly, based on what information they likely would have. Of course, there will be positions where if your opponent plays correctly, you simply lose. At that point, if there is any misplay they make that can let you stay in the game, play towards that situation, and try and lure them into making it. It gets rather complex.
Yea, it is painfully obivous who net decks and who doesn't. Expecially last season there is reason some GG decks went 7-2 while others went 2-7. For all the hating of last season it was a season that most certainly infacised skill.
Chris: About Mario although I do agree there was little syrgency with Machamp and Lucario outside of trying to use Lucario to set up easy Revenge kills with Machamp. The decks sheer speed (Lucario) and strength(Machamp) was very strong with such a limited card pool we had at the time. It steem rolled most of the other decks in the format. So it was a viable choice.
yoyofsho16
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Ha, when Flygon Ex was in popularity?
It was a lucksack with Mario as to whether or not you did well at a tournament.
The point being that both Machamp and Lucario were great cards. The ONLY reason they performed well was because they were from the D/P generation of cards: They were at the start of the new power creep. The change in weakness, coupled with the higher HP and stronger attacks did quite a bit to overshadow the fact that the czrds lacked any real synergy. Like I said, Machamp was a good card. Lucario was a good card. BOTH would have performed BETTER if paired with other Pokemon. Lets say on a scale of 1-10 that Machamp is a 6, and Lucario is a 6. You want to find two cards that when put together have a sum greater than their two wholes. They would still average out to a 6. You want cards that augment each others strengths, when really, Lucario was used for when you couldn't get Machamp up fast enough 
I'd have rather seen it even paired with Banette than Lucario. Pairing a stage 2 and a stage 1 of the same type runs into numerous problems. It isn't space friendly. You have to run say, a 4-2-4 line, 4 rare candy, and a 4-4 ( or 3-3 ) stage 1 line. Toss in the fact that deck has no real engine.
The deck was bad against Infernape, Speed Spread, Flariados, Metanite, and Flygon, to name a few. A subpar deck slightly overshadowed by how much stronger the DP cards were than those in the EX series ( Also notable by the performance of Empoleon...the card isn't really THAT good. Yet it was strong compared to the other cards, and easily the best water type. The lack of any viable delta water types really made Infernape that much harder to combat )
I'd have rather seen it even paired with Banette than Lucario. Pairing a stage 2 and a stage 1 of the same type runs into numerous problems. It isn't space friendly. You have to run say, a 4-2-4 line, 4 rare candy, and a 4-4 ( or 3-3 ) stage 1 line. Toss in the fact that deck has no real engine. The deck was bad against Infernape, Speed Spread, Flariados, Metanite, and Flygon, to name a few. A subpar deck slightly overshadowed by how much stronger the DP cards were than those in the EX series ( Also notable by the performance of Empoleon...the card isn't really THAT good. Yet it was strong compared to the other cards, and easily the best water type. The lack of any viable delta water types really made Infernape that much harder to combat )
Alazor
Active Member
"Ha, when Flygon Ex was in popularity?
It was a lucksack with Mario as to whether or not you did well at a tournament. "
Riolu needed only a coin flip to KO Holon's Castform, which was the main drawing engine at that time.
That and the ruling changes about only the person going second being able to play trainers.
It was a lucksack with Mario as to whether or not you did well at a tournament. "
Riolu needed only a coin flip to KO Holon's Castform, which was the main drawing engine at that time.
That and the ruling changes about only the person going second being able to play trainers.
vanderbilt_grad
New Member
This is a fantastic post and contains a lot of very good advice.
Knowing when to take risks and what risks to take is one of the keys to higher level play. As a practical matter the only way you can accurately asses this is to know your deck inside and out and understand how the other deck works. You have to practice, practice, practice to get to that point.
As for Mario ... it's been nearly TWO SEASONS since the deck hit the playing field. It's not played now. IMHO everything that needed to be said has been said. Nothing good is going to come from rehashing this yet again.
How is that any different than the Kingdra/Machamp decks at tournaments now? I was judging a Cities recently, and saw someone win their Top8 match in 3:27 by donking on the first turn both times. I played in a Cities with Kingdra and donked my opponent for the win 75% of the time, and even once in the Top 8.
Alazor
Active Member
You see the ruling change after Diamond and Pearl, before you were allowed to play supporters like Holon Mentor and Holon Transceiver if you went first. Before Diamond and Pearl, it was a little harder to T1 someone and the Power Creep wasn't as great. I think the Power Creep will slow down after Stormfront... and is slowing down...
ilikegengar
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kristi;1287171 said:
JandPDS
New Member
Go slow and do not let yourself get too excited so that your rush your turn and forget to do something. I have lost two city championships due to making a crucial misplay. And I have lost countless other games by doing stupid stuff like attaching the wrong energy, or attaching the energy to the wrong pokemon or completely forgetting to attach any energy at all in a turn. To searching your deck for a card and not finding it, then assume it prized only to draw it from your deck a few turns latter when it is no longer needed. Heck I even made a brand new never been done by me mistake this year, I worked really hard, to get theese four cards into my hand to make a play. Only when the time came to make the play I could not find one of them in my hand of 8 cards, that was actually 9 cards) and then I convinced myself that I was wrong about having all of 4 of them, Only to not make the play I needed, and then realize after my turn was over that the 4th needed card was in my hand the entire time just underneath a different card) To attacking before using a crucial pokepower. or benching and or evolving a pokemon. Or playing my cards out of turn, (ie you ned to play warp point to bench a cestation crystal so that you can use a coming into play power to win the game, but you bench the pokemon first before playing the warp) and even some really, really stupid mistakes like playing the correct trainer, but then selecting the wrong pokemon and not catching the fact that you did so until after your opponenet has cut your deck. The one mistake I hate making the most to loose games is when you have everything set up right to KO your opponets pokemon, but then you say the wrong attack name by mistake, Gaaaa!! I hate loosing that way.
Also if your opponet surpises your with a particlary lucky or out of left field move that KO;s your active when youwere sure it was safe, dont compound the problem by lossing focus. I lost at T8 states match due to my active getting KO'd thanks to my opponet flipping three heads in a row on trainer cards that allowed him to do multiple damage spreading powers in one turn befoe rhe attacked and KO my active out of no where with his attack, Just one tails would have ment the game for me as I only needed two pizes left to win the game and I could have KO's his active EX the next turn. But I let myself get so flustered that I did not pay any attention to the benched pokemon that I brought up and just threw one up without looking at my choice. It wss my only Pokemon in play that was an attacker, and it was not powered up yet, and I did not not a switch or warp do it sat up there and got KO'd the next turn, So in two turns I went from winning the game 6-0 to allwing it to be tied 2-2 and have all my power removed from the game, If I had kept my head and sent up a proper sacrificial pokemon, I easily could have built up that benched EX so that he could have attacked and won the game in just two more turns,
It all comes down to just keeping focused and concentrating, Do not get to high or to low, extream emotions while playing are the cause of most of my misplays and one misplay can lead to a snow ball of mistakes that can take your from a path of sure victory into a crushing defeat, Also know yoir cards and yoru opponents.
I lost a game at at State championships once where I took the 1st 4 prizes becuase I did not know my opponents deck, My opponents had a Pokemon that healed 2 damage each turn via a pokepower, Now this pokempower could only be used once a turn no matter how many powers they had in play, My opponents was useing two then 3 powers a turn and I could no longer do enough damage to KO pokemon for my final prize. Now my opponents was a new player, so I know she was not cheating just mistaken, And I if I was more prepaired I would have known that the power could only be used once a turn and I would have won that game, But Idid not so I lost, Also pay attention to your opponets set up, I lost in game one of annother states becuase I was late to my seat, and I was so intent on getting my cards randomizedbefore the start that I did not relalize tat my opponents was not randomizing his deck, I got one basicand he had an 1-2-3 evolution line with 3 energy and beat me on T3. I commented on how lucky a set up he had, and he looked at e and said :"Luck has nothing to do with it!!" I asked him what he ment and he smiled and shoed me his deck. "See I set it up this way!! He proudly exclaimes. And he went through his deck, Basic, stage 1, stage two energy energy trainer, Basic, stage 1, stage 2 energy, energy trainer. He stacked his deck so that no matter where I cut it he would have a good start. I of course grabbed a jusge and had him explaine that stacking was against the rules, and his deck needed to be randomized befoer every match, but it was too late for that game I lost because I did not pay any heed to my opponents actions prior to the match,
Also if your opponet surpises your with a particlary lucky or out of left field move that KO;s your active when youwere sure it was safe, dont compound the problem by lossing focus. I lost at T8 states match due to my active getting KO'd thanks to my opponet flipping three heads in a row on trainer cards that allowed him to do multiple damage spreading powers in one turn befoe rhe attacked and KO my active out of no where with his attack, Just one tails would have ment the game for me as I only needed two pizes left to win the game and I could have KO's his active EX the next turn. But I let myself get so flustered that I did not pay any attention to the benched pokemon that I brought up and just threw one up without looking at my choice. It wss my only Pokemon in play that was an attacker, and it was not powered up yet, and I did not not a switch or warp do it sat up there and got KO'd the next turn, So in two turns I went from winning the game 6-0 to allwing it to be tied 2-2 and have all my power removed from the game, If I had kept my head and sent up a proper sacrificial pokemon, I easily could have built up that benched EX so that he could have attacked and won the game in just two more turns,
It all comes down to just keeping focused and concentrating, Do not get to high or to low, extream emotions while playing are the cause of most of my misplays and one misplay can lead to a snow ball of mistakes that can take your from a path of sure victory into a crushing defeat, Also know yoir cards and yoru opponents.
I lost a game at at State championships once where I took the 1st 4 prizes becuase I did not know my opponents deck, My opponents had a Pokemon that healed 2 damage each turn via a pokepower, Now this pokempower could only be used once a turn no matter how many powers they had in play, My opponents was useing two then 3 powers a turn and I could no longer do enough damage to KO pokemon for my final prize. Now my opponents was a new player, so I know she was not cheating just mistaken, And I if I was more prepaired I would have known that the power could only be used once a turn and I would have won that game, But Idid not so I lost, Also pay attention to your opponets set up, I lost in game one of annother states becuase I was late to my seat, and I was so intent on getting my cards randomizedbefore the start that I did not relalize tat my opponents was not randomizing his deck, I got one basicand he had an 1-2-3 evolution line with 3 energy and beat me on T3. I commented on how lucky a set up he had, and he looked at e and said :"Luck has nothing to do with it!!" I asked him what he ment and he smiled and shoed me his deck. "See I set it up this way!! He proudly exclaimes. And he went through his deck, Basic, stage 1, stage two energy energy trainer, Basic, stage 1, stage 2 energy, energy trainer. He stacked his deck so that no matter where I cut it he would have a good start. I of course grabbed a jusge and had him explaine that stacking was against the rules, and his deck needed to be randomized befoer every match, but it was too late for that game I lost because I did not pay any heed to my opponents actions prior to the match,
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TheDarkTwins
Active Member
I had one match at my final Battle Roads. I made a mistake at the beginning of the finals in G2 after I won G1. It was the second time this season I made once mistake that almost cost me the tournament. A good tip is to make sure before doing any move that it is the correct move, because sometimes something that could seem small (both were VERY small mistakes) turn into something that can make the game unwinnable. One of the two games did just that. Each move is important, your not going to stop making mistakes, but as others have said playing so you force the other person into tough choices can help you win games.
Drew
Drew
DarthPika
New Member
Wait... the judge seriously didn't give you the game for that??? I would say something like that calls for a DQ on your opponents part, and a win for you. :nonono:
If your opponent really didn't realize that stacking your deck is against the rules (I find this hard to believe) then I would STILL think that a rematch would be called for.
JandPDS
New Member
Well I did not discover the stacking had taken place until after I signed the match slip indicating that I lost, so I suppose the judge felt it was too late to remedy the situation, The other player was warned to not let that happen again.
DarthPika
New Member
Even then, for something as HUGE as that I really think that something more could have (and should have) been done. I would have talked to the HJ about something like that, and possible even complained directly to POP. Stacking your deck falls under cheating, and we all know what penalty that gets...
JandPDS
New Member
Well the HJ there was the HJ of HJ's so whats done is done. The moral of the story is just make sure your opponents deck is randomized before you start your match.
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