Hello Yugioh Community! I am back this week to talk about something that a lot of players should consider if they want to be successful at any type of larger tournament. There are many factors that a surprising amount of players do not think or care about when trying to do well at a regional or YCS. In my opinion, mastering these few factors will greatly increase ones chance to top an event! The factors I am going to address are some fundamental characteristics that most top level players in any card game possess. I am going to try and give the players out there what I think are the first steps everyone should take into becoming a better overall duelist!
Question of the article: Have you ever received a silly penalty that could have been avoided?
Don’t forget to answer the question at the end of the article!
“Excuse me sir, but you have a deck list error and we are going to have to issue you a game loss...”
Oh the countless times I have heard a judge tell that to my opponent or players dueling near me at a major event. Deck list errors are the silliest things that can really jeopardize a player’s chance at doing well at an event. To be given a game loss is to have a win taken away from you and more than likely cost you a whole round. In many tournaments players can only have 1 or 2 losses total before they would be knocked out of contention of topping which is why it is pretty serious to avoid this penalty.
As a player, when you are preparing for your tournament take the time to write out your deck list slowly and go through every card in your deck as you do it. You want to make sure you write legibly and don’t let anything look like it might be something else. Always write out the full name of the card you are using. I have seen player’s receive a game loss because in their Extra Deck they wrote “Elemental Hero Shinning” as opposed to “Elemental Hero THE Shinning”. A player would more than likely receive a game loss for this simple mistake because there are other cards out there such as “Elemental Hero Shinning Flare Wingman”, so it could be mistaken that you were writing out his name and forgot to finish it. These silly mistakes can be easily avoided and cost many players their whole tournament.
Any and all deck list errors can be avoided by just slowing down and taking your time when filling it out. When I fill out a deck list for any event I not only triple check it I will also have a friend look over it to make sure I did not make any obvious or silly mistakes. You can never be too safe. As simple idea as this may seem many players continue to mess up on their deck list and receive penalties for it. Avoid this mistake and you are on your way to being a little bit more successful.
“Judge, I didn’t know that ruling, I would not have done that if I knew that!”
Another common issue I see is many players not knowing their rulings and will make plays that will leave them devastated when the ruling falls against them. For example, at the WCQ in July I pilots a TG deck with three copies of TG1-EM1 and had this situation occur multiple times.
I would control a Face-up T.G. Warwolf and my opponent would control a face up Stardust Dragon.
I activated my Trap card TG1-EM1 and upon activation targeted my face up T.G. Warwolf and my opponents face up Stardust Dragon.
My opponent would then chain Book of Moon: Targeting my Face up T.G. Warwolf.
The chain would resolve backwards, my opponents Book of Moon would turn my Warwolf to face down defense position. Then my TG1-EM1 would still resolve switching control of both monsters.
Effectively, my opponent would have wasted their Book of Moon in thinking if my T.G. Warwolf would no longer be face up on the field then TG1-EM1 would not be able to resolve, but they were wrong. My T.G. monster only has to be face up at the time of activation of TG1-EM1.
This error and ones similar to this end up costing many players cards and sometimes the game in the long run. These mistakes are ones that don’t need to be made and can be avoided with a little bit of research on part of the player. There are many online forums that have ruling sections where you can go and read up on other player’s questions, and questions of your own. These sites are free and if you want to be a better player utilize them to their fullest extent! If you want to become a better player make sure to put in the time and effort to make sure you know everything about the game that you want to master!
Conclusion: In preparing for a major tournament there are a couple of things that you, as a player, can do to help make sure you are ready for success. Avoiding deck list errors and taking your time when writing it out can be a key way to make sure nothing impedes you on your way to the top! Make sure you take the time to look up all rulings you might have questions about. Be sure you have a good grasp on what a majority of cards that are being played at a competitive level do and how they work. If you play test a lot then questions are bound to come up so the two go hand and hand. If you want to be successful at a major event it takes some time and effort. No one became a master of anything without investing part of their life and giving it their all!
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions feel free to comment below! Don’t forget to answer the question of the article!
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