Saturday, 15 June 2013

The Heart of the Game

I'd say I learned a pretty good lesson yesterday at the Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament, and for once it had nothing to do with Lady Luck's mental unbalance. No, yesterday I learned that there is more than one way to enjoy a game, and just because someone enjoys one particular way it doesn't mean that it's the only way.

You see, yesterday marked the first outing for my Harpies in quite some time and I've been anticipating it for a while. The decks I tend to play aren't considered top tier when compared with archetypes like Dragon Rulers and Prophecy, but I like to think I can play decently well even if I don't expect to win all the time. For me, that is how I enjoy the game. That doesn't mean that someone who plays a top tier deck doesn't enjoy the game any less than I do, just that they do so in their own way.

However the icing on the cake for me at yesterday's tournament was that I got to play against several decks that I normally wouldn't play against. Given that there are thousands of cards in the game, variety in what I play against definitely makes the game even more fun. It means that each opponent plays differently, and that I have to think about my moves even more to suit each situation, which in turn helps to make me a better player.

Because I'm terrible with names, I'm just gonna list off the deck types I played against and say that I enjoyed playing against my opponents regardless of the result because each of them were truly great to play against. The first game of the day was against Elemental HEROes, an archetype I'm all too familiar with as I have a friend in England that plays against me on Dueling Network and the E-HEROes are his favourites. That may have been detrimental to me as I kept fretting about hearing the words "Super Polymerization" - words that have been the bane of anything I can play from Harpie Lady 1 all the way up to Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Even though I lost, I always enjoy playing against this opponent for his sterling attitude towards the game.

Game 2 saw my Harpies tackling the inedible Gadgets, which I found to be quite an interesting challenge to face. Another loss, but once again another very great opponent to play against. Then, for the first time I can remember I had a bye! De fault! De fault! Game 4 had the lovely ladies stand up to the ancient might of Exodia, and I had to really think about my moves to try and get around the various stalling tactics of the deck. In the end it didn't pay off, Exodia was whole again and I got OBLITERATE-d. Given that this was the first time I can remember facing off against Exodia, it was an interesting game with another great opponent.

The final game carried the threat of fried chicken, with my Harpies taking on the brightly burning Hazy Flames. This opponent was also one I've played against before, and I enjoy each game against him. This round went to me, though I have a feeling next time won't be the same. All in all it was probably one of the best Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments I've attended and I'm glad I got to go this time. By the same token this could be called the spirit of the Card House, and while I haven't played in too many other places the Card House crowd by far demonstrates this attitude the best.

So thanks to everyone who attends these events as well as those who just come in to play from time to time, for making the best of a bad situation The Card House such a great place to go. I hope to have many more games against you all, and also that I start to remember names instead of sounding like an idiot on the blog.

There is one other thing to mention, and that's the upcoming school holidays. Being that I'm not in school I don't remember the exact dates, but given that there are a few upcoming Pokemon tournaments I'm gonna mention it here and say that I hope to see some good attendance for them! While the Plasma Steel deck serves me well, I may opt to play Dragons or even a whole new deck if I can get the cards I need (a psychic deck has my interest, as well as starting up a Team Plasma deck). It would be great to play against more people, and there's also the possibility of more regular tournaments on Sundays if attendance is up. So come on, get out your poke balls and have a go!

Signing off, Professor Troy (I can see you, and you shouldn't be riding your bike there).

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