Hello Pojo, it's been a long time. I just checked my old articles here on Pojo.com and I actually started in 2004! Going back and reading those articles is like a weird hop into a time machine. In those eight years, I've grown up right on these pages, from a hotheaded high school kid to a lazy college student to a law school graduate and professional!
 
It keeps luring me back.. Every time I think I'm done with Yu-Gi-Oh! the beautiful game keeps drawing me back in. I'm currently in Seoul, South Korea right now, playing poker professionally. But even though I love poker as a job, nothing can match the competitive thrill of Yu-Gi-Oh!
 
And while I produce training videos and write strategy articles for poker, it's not quite the same. For me, nothing quite stirs the soul like a good Yu-Gi-Oh strategy article (and no Youtube either, not a fan).
 
My last stint here did not go too well. It actually ended kind of disgracefully, with a mild cheating scandal followed by a two year ban. I think during that period, I lost track of why I've been writing for Pojo for 8 years. I was so concerned with monetizing my blog and becoming a “pro” Yu-Gi-Oh! baller that I felt enormous pressure to succeed at premier events.
 
At a certain point in my Yu-Gi-Oh! career, I grew slightly uncomfortable with my name input. When I typed a thought, a lot of people just agreed with me and I never really felt challenged. I said some pretty outlandish things in the past as well :P. I took hidden identities to instant messenger and other forums to try to post thoughts anonymously but it didn't work!
 
(I'm not going to go back and dig up every dumb article I wrote, but for the record I am not proud of a lot of the ego-driven stuff and financial plugging I did in the past).
 
I'm hoping now I can go back to my roots. Instead of seeking blog hits, or ad revenue, or creds, I just want to help people get better at Yu-Gi-Oh! I'm going back to my roots. Unfortunately, there's one problem.
 
I actually haven't dueled once since my ban. But I've followed the event coverage with a lot of interest.

It's funny, the match that inspired me to start writing articles again was the finals of YCS 2012, where the poor duelist played Solemn Judgment to resolve a Pot of Avarice, then attacked into Dimensional Prison to lose the game. (On further review, he was in a pretty bad game state so maybe the Avarice resolution was necessary).
 
This first article, “Timeless,” refers to the timeless qualities of strong Yu-Gi-Oh! play. Hopefully, by mastering some of these concepts, you can strengthen your game in case you ever get deep into a premier event or regional.
 
Because I no longer play the game, my articles are going to be more focused on succeeding at top level Yu-Gi-Oh! play. While certain mechanics may change from set to set, the core mechanics of winning duels have not changed since 2004.