[bluespike74]

This is my first attempt at writing an article on this site. If I have posted in the wrong area, please move. If deemed inappropriate, please delete.


As I surf the web today, I am shocked by the amount of doom and gloom many people have about life in general. I am even more shocked by the discussion of how Konami or Upper Deck will be the death of the American Yu-Gi-Oh trading card game. Having been involved with Yu-Gi-Oh in some form or another since 2004, I have to say that people need to take a step back and think about things as a whole.

Whether you blame Konami or Upperdeck for the current situation is entirely up to you. It is your opinion. The pro-Konami's and pro-Upperdeck's are neither wrong or right. They are simply opinionated. Both are companies seeking to keep themselves profitable during a time when the economy is uncertain.

During surfing, I noticed that three trains of thought emerge from a majority of the Yu-Gi-Oh community and I would like to talk about all three without overwhelming my readers.

1. America will not see cards after Crimson Crisis. This line of thought is completely wrong. Americans spend more money, above the basics, than any other country on Earth. Everyone likes to have Americans as customers. Americans may gripe about the price of Dark Armed Dragon and Judgment Dragon, but still people are willing to pay the price for it. Ending the card game in America would be a very dumb move. People love this game. They have flown and driven cross-country to play. You want to keep your loyal customers happy and I am certain that whether Konami or Upper Deck has the distribution rights, the game will continue here in America.

2. Without high level tournaments, many people will quit the game. This has already been proven untrue. How many of you are reading about CCV tournaments on this web site? Do you think Konami or Upper Deck is putting on these events? It is your local card shop owners that are banding together to provide these events to you. Local card shops are the ones that provide the judges, locations, and prizes for these events. Those SJC Gold Sarcophagus and Gold Series CCV's were not given to them for free. These are the people that have worked hard to provide fun, fair, and exciting tournaments in the past. I say that we duelists owe them by continuing to show our support and playing the game that we love. I believe most of the people that will quit, because there is no SJC, were simply in it to have their names posted online and become "famous". Play the game because you enjoy the game and have fun doing it. Quit the game only when you are no longer having fun. Notice that the characters on TV and comics seem to be the happiest when they are having fun playing the game and not when they are saving the world from evil.

3. The game is going to become stale. The game was stale because people were not willing to try new deck ideas on a large scale. We read about the latest SJC winning deck and did everything in our power to recreate it and win with it. Last format, we saw Tele-DAD, Lightsworn, and Gladiator Beasts. What about the guys that were going x-2 that were playing Geartown Demise, Six Samurai, Oppression Gadget, Oppression Monarchs, Gravekeepers, Exodia, Rainbow Neos, and city variants? Many of these guys (and girls) kept some of the 80% of Tele-Dad duelists from making top 16. The last event I went to, I took my friend's Tele-DAD deck. I tested this thing for weeks to master the Tele-DAD mirror match and the Lightsworn decks. The first deck I faced was Six Samurai, I lost. Next, Lightsworn, I won. Next, Oppression Gadgets twice, I lost. I was even obliterated by Exodia twice. The people I lost did not make tops because they were playing against Zombies and Macro. I want to see more decks like these being talked about on this forum because these are the true heroes of Yu-Gi-Oh. They are trying things because they don't have the mainstream cards but still love the game enough to give it their all. Yet all I heard about on Day 2 was Tele-DAD and Lightsworn.

The future of the American Card Game is what we the duelists decide it should be. This game is a great deal of fun. It has given you the opportunity to make friends that you wouldn't have otherwise made. You have a local card shop that you can go to play and have fun with your friends everyday if you like.

Don't look to Konami or UpperDeck to create your fame. Become the local, hometown hero. These are the people that are forgotten the least. My friends call me the Dark Master Zorc (and Dark Master Dork) because I was owning my local with a Dark Master - Zorc Beatdown for a month. We all know that the newer duelists look to the older duelists for advice not only in the card game but in school and life.

This game will not end or become stale. It is more than a picture on a piece of cardboard. It is a network of global friends that enjoy competition in a safe environment. We have rivals, friends, allies and foes. We enjoy winning and we learn from losing. The weirder you are, the more likely you are to succeed in this game. I still hate facing the one guy that plays the triple Jinzo with 20 traps deck. It works for him and he uses it constantly to wreak havoc on whatever I play. He'll probably become a doctor and cure countless diseases because he doesn't think mainstream ever.

Enjoy this game and have fun. It goes away when we the duelists decide it goes away. Playing for a CCV, a Gold Sarc, or even a DAD will be enough to get plenty of duelists to regional events. Bring those fish decks, those Dino decks, and 20 trap Jinzo decks while you're at it. If you see the goofy guy wearing MMA shirts, ask him if he is Dark Master Dork.

[slowwalker]

The truth is finally spoken. Besides a few grammatical errors this is by far the best article I have read to date. Great job, hope to see more from you.

[Casey]

I still hate facing the one guy that plays the triple Jinzo with 20 traps deck. It works for him and he uses it constantly to wreak havoc on whatever I play. He'll probably become a doctor and cure countless diseases because he doesn't think mainstream ever.

This reminded me of Linkster. I bet he becomes a doctor.

On topic though I agree with wut ur saying. Nice job.

[SEPHIROTH360]

you definitely got it right man i agree with you 100% really good article hope to see more from you

[Silas]

Agreed.

[Trumpcard Ace]

Very good article. I agree 100% with what you stated.

[Blacker]

100% agreed with this article. I love how metagame is down again and the netdeckers wont have anything to build for a while.

[Guerrilla]

yup. nice read. i love experimenting

[YourMama]

^^All I have to say about this article.
Great Job. Well written. Write more please.

[inaba420]

totally agreed. i am one of those duelists that run fun decks. i have a competitive blackwing deck but i only use that for big tourneys. lately at locals i've been running samurai/glads it kinda works. i am the best ranked duelist in my area but i dont care cause the game is too fun. great article by the way

[DSS]

Don't look to Konami or UpperDeck to create your fame. Become the local, hometown hero. These are the people that are forgotten the least. My friends call me the Dark Master Zorc (and Dark Master Dork) because I was owning my local with a Dark Master - Zorc Beatdown for a month. We all know that the newer duelists look to the older duelists for advice not only in the card game but in school and life.

So true.
Heck, I've competed at some of the smaller tournaments around TN and NC.
At first they thought I was just some noob until they saw me play and sweep with GBs.
After that, they all want to challenge you to see how they stack up.

[4gotmyotherpw]

Playing and Sweeping with GBs isn't really that impressive. Anyone who knows anything about GBs can win, and it's not like it's a creative deck.

As for becoming the local hero, I completely agree. I'm the one who turns up with a new deck every weekend and still makes top 4 with anything I create. So it always gathers people's intrigue.

[[banned idiot]Chief]

Get good cards
Duel in high stake tourny's
When/if you win then say why people run these cards

[Waffles]

I love this article and completely agree. Heck, I took a skull servant deck to the last tournament I went to, haha. Having fun is the most important aspect of the game to me.

[Boy Wonder]

Nice read, man. Keep it up.

[telerak]

I agree, i am trying to make a Macros Catapult turtle deck i thought of on my own. if it works as it's supposed to then i'll be happy.

This post has been edited by telerak: 28 May 2009 - 01:35 PM

[ddland45]

I agree, i am trying to make a Macros Catapult turtle deck i thought of on my own. if it works as it's supposed to then i'll be happy.

Absolutely right! Creative competition over competition for competition's sake any day! I love my Frog-burn, Dino-Alien and Skull Servant, Cat Synchro and Barbaros Drain decks. They're all competitive in their own way and all 100% FUN!!!!

[Christopher Moosman]

Absolutely right! Creative competition over competition for competition's sake any day! I love my Frog-burn, Dino-Alien and Skull Servant, Cat Synchro and Barbaros Drain decks. They're all competitive in their own way and all 100% FUN!!!!

Are you trying to imply that Cat Synchro is original and not a top tier deck?

[Blackwing- Boxxy the Queen]

Very good read. I think that Yugioh will be around for a long time. With all the newer decks coming out, like bw, and koa'ki, it will keep the game from dieing.

[yugioh master]

Very good read. I think that Yugioh will be around for a long time. With all the newer decks coming out, like bw, and koa'ki, it will keep the game from dieing.

your right more decks i have a couple of the new x-sabers x-saber urbellum