What the “Pro Players” Fail to tell you Pt.1

July 11, 2011

Categories: Featured YuGiOh! Articles, Free Articles

by Kevin Silva

Hello Yu-Gi-Oh! Community, it’s me again. I’m ready to tell you stuff that other “Pro” players wouldn’t tell you. This article isn’t for the players who think they are pro but for the people who are aiming to get better at the game, and it takes a lot. So here it is, the steps it takes to become “Over Average”. I’m not sure if you watch my youtube videos or not, but I promised on my video I would write an article on something that pro’s would never tell you and it’s not only basic knowledge but it’s also what they do all the time. So if you do this as well, you are on a whole new level of Yu-Gi-Oh!. I also want to include that there are 2 parts to this article, this only part 1.

1) First you have to build the correct deck, which would be something that you like doing in yugioh. There are many different play styles in this game and a lot of approaches you can take to see what you like. If you like summoning a lot of monsters quickly run something such as Six Samurai or Fableds. If you like stopping your opponent’s plays use something like Anti-meta or Dimensional Eatos. If you like combo plays use something along the lines of Plants or X-sabers. Once you have decided what you like to use,you are on your way to becoming “Over Average”.

2) Time is key. Spend it wisely and even though it takes a while to do this, spend time looking through cards and studying what combos the best with your deck. For example, a plant deck can use One for One very nicely because they have cards such as Glow-up Bulb and Spore to use for the one for one’s effect and since it’s a special summon you can still normal summon a Reborn Tengu or a Junk Synchron to bring a monster back and summon Doppel Warrior down along with it for big plays. Researching cards is a smart idea when constructing a deck. You can always look at the Alter Reality Games' website for the cards that you are looking for, they have nearly ever card for sale. If you need a website to look at all the cards I suggest using duelingnetwork.com. You can sort every card in Monsters, Spells, Traps, and type in what type of card you are searching for.

3) One thing you must do is study the rulings of the cards. You think you might know the rulings but they either change frequently or they aren’t as you think. Sometimes, when a chain link happens the chain link becomes 5 or higher and it becomes more difficult to see what happens before they all resolve. It’s good to know how the chains work and the rulings of the cards in order to successfully become better than average.

4) It takes a lot of play testing, which is another word for practicing. Competitive players always assume you suck and that you will fall into the bait of their trap. After you’ve practiced a ton they won’t be able to fool you anymore or cheat you. Another reason why I feel play testing is important is because you will see situations and scenarios that are new to you. Once you know what to do in those situations and scenarios you can be ready to take them down on the competitive level of regionals, ycs, and world championship qualifier (nationals).

5) After you’ve selected your play style and chose a deck, looked at the cards that combo well with the deck, learned your rulings, and play tested quite a lot you’d think you’d be ready for anything. Believe or not there is few more things you have to master and that is the body and hand motions your opponent makes. As well as what they say, you can read or can tell what they have face down or in their hand when they get really nervous, but it doesn’t apply to people who are completely silent and show no emotion. Reading their body emotions and facial expressions can go a long way in deciding your next play or activating the trap that could change the game.

Those are some things you can do to become “Over Average” at any Yu-Gi-Oh event in the future! I will explain part 2 in my next article, but now for some opinions.

I think in this game people have taken the word pro out of context and warped it into whoever they like is considered pro or whoever tops an event is pro. Well, unfortunately no matter how hard you try you’ll never be a pro because a professional player was not Konami’s intentions for this game. They want everyone to have a chance and that’s how the formats are fixed for, not for a “Pro” player to have a great format. I don’t see that changing in Yu-Gi-Oh anytime soon at least. On top of that, the pro player has the best connections and gets paid to play and does well each and every event or makes much more money off the game then what they spend. Most players either become a hard core vendor or a hard core player, never both.

So if someone is such a good player what are they? They are just “Over Average”. Anyone claiming to be pro isn’t, but they are most likely better then all of the average players who play on a local level. The reason someone cannot be a pro player is because the luck factor in this game strongly outweighs the skill. Now this may change in the future but as of July 8^th, 2011 this game is much more luck then it is skill. Hopefully that does not disappoint you in wanting to play, it’s still very fun, and I highly suggest you play Yu-Gi-Oh to your heart’s content. One thing to add to “Over Average” players, they tend to think whenever they lose it’s because of luck, to a certain extent, that is correct. They shouldn’t be complaining about that. If you complain about luck in this game you must realize it is a card game and bad draws can and will happen to you at any moment. I’ve sadly lost to some of the worst average players in history and some people can’t even believe it, although that is because I don’t cheat or soft cheat. Speaking of average players this brings me to the another type of Yu-Gi-Oh group. I’ll explain to you how I see an average player.

This is not a bias thought that I’ve just produced. I’ve talked with many of my friends before writing this article, so everything is viable. The definition of an average player is someone just getting into the game but does not know very many rulings, usually gets taken advantage of in trades, and when playing/dueling gets rule sharked (which is when someone uses the rules for an advantage). The definition could also mean a player who has been playing the game, but only plays it for fun, and sees no need to get better at it. My youtube channel aims to help you become a better player and I have fun discussions on my channel, produce extremely helpful content, and I’m proud to help anyone out as long as you’re a good decent person. You’ll never catch dull moment on my channel and I never waste your time. ( The link for my channel will be below ).

One last thing I just want to let you know about. No “Pro” would help you unless they benefit by getting cards and money from it. Those “Over Average” players have taken an identity that would make them seem better than you as a person, Yu-Gi-Oh player, and just a better nerd! Don’t worry about these “Over Average” players, as they don’t have much else to keep their self-esteem up other than this game. Many people assume I am that way, but unfortunately they form a bias thought process that I’m helping you because I’m just that mean “Over Average” type of player who benefits from it. I admit I do benefit, I get the satisfaction of helping you become a better, which is one of the best things I get out of it. And when you top a regional, a YCS, or a World Championship Qualifier because of a few tips I told you, I’ll be smiling because I was able to help! Thank you so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it and God Bless. Remember, Play Hard or Go Home!!!

Alter Reality Games Article Writer

Kevin Silva

Contact Details:

Facebook ygosource@Hotmail.com

Youtube: www.youtube.com/iamkevinsilva

Email: Tsukuyomi777isKevinSilva@Hotmail.com

I will reply to any questions or concerns just give me a day or two.