37 replies to this topic

[Love. Hate. Cherish.]

When were you in your prime? Why are you not in your prime now?

[PowerCrazy]

I'd say I haven't had my prime yet. I'm possibly on the verge now

[Love. Hate. Cherish.]

For me I'd say my prime was mid 2010 since I topped 3 events back-to-back-to-back. I don't really know why I'm not in my prime now since I feel like I know more now than I did then and I play around the same amount.

[Ex-Creations]

I'm hoping to come into it soon. I've been playing and reading articles and trying plenty of decks and different styles of thinking. Hoping it'll pay off, I'll find out in March.

[Fallen]

Still don't think I've hit it yet.

[ichigo]

Fallen, on 01 February 2012 - 11:45 PM, said:

Still don't think I've hit it yet.

[Krizz]

First: PCM
Second: I'm old

Haha.

[Tyrant]

I'm not in my prime yet.

[Anonymoose]

Dunno when my prime actually is, but what comes closest in Yu-gi-oh terms would be roughly around STON, when Six Samurais first came out. I wasn't all that great, but I wasn't so bad, and felt very comfortable playing the game, and I didn't play nearly as badly as I do now.

Now? Now, I have college and a girlfriend. So time just drains away.

[Twitter]

i don't think I'm in my prime yet

too busy to focus on the game atm i guess

[Ice King]

Tele-DAD format. Topping back-to-back regionals in a format when prizes didn't suck.

I haven't played in a highly competitive scene since Nationals.

[drew]

probably 08 nationals. back when I had time for the game

now I have no time at all.

[Apollo]

Tele-DaD format. I kicked ass during that format, mostly because I practiced constantly and I played with people who were better than me, like Ryan TLD, Steve, James, Greg, Pat, etc.

I got bored of the game after that format and a lot of my playing partners left, so I never played as much. I was still decent, but I was never at my full potential, and never really wanted to put in the time to be at my full potential. Now, I just have no time. Even if I do find myself to have some time, I'll most likely find something better to do. The game doesn't appeal to me anymore.

The best way to hit your prime is to play constantly, and hopefully against players better than you. I use to play with Ryan for 5-6 matches a day, on a slow day. That's why I find it funny that people don't play online, because they think locals are more productive. It doesn't have to be a choice of one or another. Playing online AND playing at locals is better for you than just playing at locals, it's simple logic. The three keys to hitting your prime are:
1. Time: If you don't have it, or don't wish to spend it on yugioh, then you will not reach your prime. The people who are willing to use their time towards yugioh are those who want to win, who find the game fun, and who have friends that they can play with.
2. Playing Partners: You need a group of people that want to grow just as much as you do. When you want to practice, they're ready to play. When they want to practice, you're ready to play. This is why warring was so huge back in the day, because your team was YOUR group of playing partners, as well as anyone else you became friends with.
3. Confidence: Most of the time this comes as a byproduct of winning, but confidence is a more important factor in yugioh than most people give it credit for. When I was in my "prime" I was confident not because I was winning at a ridiculous rate, but because I knew I was prepared. I had practiced endlessly, tested different main deck/side deck options, I knew my matchups extremely well, etc. It did not matter to me who I was playing, whether it was Ryan, Achilles, Skully, Kiet, whoever....I always felt like I was going to win. It's very key.

Edited by Apollo, 02 February 2012 - 12:57 PM.

[Krizz]

You're dead on, Ryan. I had all three of those things back in 06-07/8.

Now I have one. The confidence. Haha.

[Negative One]

Probably winter break, I didn't get a chance to compete in a Regional, but held my own against the few YCS champs and good players that come to my locals. Obviously not now because I'm not playing, I'm at college.

[Nomad]

Love. Hate. Cherish., on 01 February 2012 - 11:33 PM, said:

For me I'd say my prime was mid 2010 since I topped 3 events back-to-back-to-back. I don't really know why I'm not in my prime now since I feel like I know more now than I did then and I play around the same amount.

You know, I really feel the same way because while I'm more than confident that the me of today could defeat the me of a couple of years ago on a consistant basis (one of the reasons being that like you, I know more than I did back then), I can't help but cite the fact that formats & whatnot aside, I was growing a lot more back then, and I also had a lot more money & drive than I do now. Mentally speaking, it just feels like a case of others growing more than I have recently, and that with all of the uncertantly going on in my life right now, focusing on myself in regards to Yugioh hasn't been able to be a top priority anymore.

The irony is that one of the reasons I got better when I was improving a lot was because I had a lesser understanding of the game, which lead me to experiment a lot more instead of just dismissing things as much as I do now. There's probably a better way of saying it, but I think that's true for many of us.

[Love. Hate. Cherish.]

I don't know, maybe I'm still in my prime. The more I think about it, I was doing well until they banned Heavy Storm. That entire year just promoted bad play. Then when it comes back we have a pretty skillful format and I topped again. I guess I'll see for myself over the next couple of months.

[Nomad]

Well, I'd probably argue that a lot of matches were more skillful with it banned (and now that I think about it, I enjoyed yugioh a LOT during that time, even if for unrelated reasons), but that's an argument that'll probably get as far as fighting about religion, politics or star trek & star wars haha.

In either case, I think our prime is a very good subject to reflect on.

[Krizz]

The reason we say the Storm-less format was lacking in skillful play was because people could just set and play whatever willy-nilly without fear of the opponent getting huge advantage off of Heavy.

[Love. Hate. Cherish.]

Summon Tengu/Thunder King and set 5 was clearly a skill-based format.