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Mofox’s journey from Newbie to the UK National Tournament.
Response to Dark Maltos recent Article called Tears
July 24, 2006 

Note: I don’t believe in openly slating someone in the public domain without consulting them first.  This has been sent to Dark Maltos first for him to digest and comment.  He has agreed for this to be posted on this site.  This is a description of my initial reaction to Dark Maltos’ article.  While seeking his approval, we have discussed the intentions of his article and it would seem that my initial interpretation below is not what Dark Maltos intended.  Dark Maltos’ article is no doubt thought provoking, honest and depicts the opinions of many duellists out there.  However my personal opinions on writing for Pojo, and the state of the game are discussed here.  I would just like to reiterate, this was my initial reaction and since talking with Dark Maltos I would not go along with some of the comments I have made here about his arrogance towards writing and his readers.  He has the best intentions for his articles and readers, so please don’t interpret my comments below as my true opinion towards him as a writer.  Since he has started writing for Pojo I have great respect and admiration for him and still continue to do so now.  However I do disagree whole heartedly with his opinions on the state of the game and as such I am in discussions with Dark Maltos about possible 2 way debate-style articles talking about the perceived obstacles of this great TCG.

You may therefore be wondering why I still wish for people to read this article.  Well as I have said above Dark Maltos’ opinion is also shared by many other duellists.  There are people out there who do complain about the banlist, do complain about the booster sets, do complain about originality and cookie cutter deck building, this is then therefore aimed in their direction and of course to prevent the discouragement of new players taking up the game.

Yu-Gi-Oh! for some is a journey.  My own journey is quite clear.  All journeys have a beginning and an end.  We’ve recently come to read that for Dark Maltos his journey as an article writer for Pojo has come to an end for now.

As a featured writer for the past 5 months I have come to realise the privilege I have.  Readers do listen, some take on board very seriously what you have to say, you receive praise, respect and influence upon others.  I have also come to realise that this means you have a serious responsibility to others.  This responsibility overwhelms some people; they can’t control themselves and begin to feel like they have a clear mission to rectify the wrongs of this TCG.  It becomes their responsibility through the medium of their writing to change the whole TCG & players in the way that they see fit.  They are further fuelled by those readers who support them blindly, further filling the writers ego.  The writer continues to write obscure articles about banlists, originality etc eventually culminating in the typical “Rant” article.  They claim to be annoyed by the lack of support for the game, the poor management by UDE/Konami, the lack of innovation from players.  When in reality they are frustrated by their lack of influence from their articles.  The misconception here is that what they write can actually make a difference… wrong!  All you can do as a writer is stimulate, entertain and inform.

However as much as I appreciate those who read my articles and turn-by-turn duels, I make it very clear to those people who email me and I reply to that I will by all means give them my opinion but I do not and will not take responsibility for the cards they choose, the decks they play, the tournaments they decide to enter, whether to play a card in the main phase or the end phase etc.  It is all up to them to decide, it is not up to me to try, or even believe I have the power to, influence in anyway, another duellist or the general Meta of this TCG.  Readers will ask and I will say the same you play whatever will make you enjoy the game more.

Unfortunately Maltos you have fallen into a trap where you feel too responsible for this game and those that read your articles.  You have become overwhelmed by your status as a featured writer as becomes quite prevalent in your opening paragraph.  Writing for others is not about gaining rapturous applause nor is it about creating that defining article/deck that will forever change the way people play this game.  That in my opinion is a very conceited and arrogant attitude to have about your articles.  Your sole purpose as a writer is to entertain and inform, not to influence.

You state that the article would be your finest ever when in fact in my opinion it is your worst.  You have essentially regurgitated continuous (and somewhat boring) debates about banlists, booster sets, and originality v CC debates.  These will forever be a permanent fixture of this TCG.  Your negativity towards the game is discouraging and unnecessary.  In fact so poor was your article that I can summarise it in just 5 points for all those who have not read it:

1. Yu-Gi-Oh! is dying
2. There is an over banning of cards
3. The newest Booster sets are all full of crap
4. Nobody is producing original decks any more
5. I’m not influencing readers or receiving the praise I expect from my articles so I am stopping writing them.

You tell me which of them points is actually worth reading or offers something new that people have not read before?

Here is some advice:

• Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Game!

• You are not responsible for it in anyway whatsoever.

• You are also not responsible for the attitudes and opinions of other players.

• You had a privileged position in being a featured writer for one of the most visited and popular YGO sites in the world, and now you have decided to discard your position in a disrespectful way towards those people who spend their time and effort reading and digesting your articles/decks.

I for one take the time and effort to read and absorb your articles, as a fellow UK based Duellist I have always had a certain admiration towards you.  I was actually intending on suggesting a 2-way article in which we analyse the same duel/match (between ourselves) from both a newbies perspective (mine) and a more seasoned players perspective (yours), to see how our views would differ on exactly the same duel/match.  Needless to say, that respect that I had for you has diminished slightly now and I regrettably feel let down by your current attitude towards the game and also your position as a featured writer.

My personal opinion is the exact opposite of yours:

1. Yu-Gi-Oh is not dying, we are getting new cards on a regular basis, some great new structure decks that will boost under-used deck types and more availability of useful cards for all players new and old
2. The banlists are part and parcel of this game so get over it and adapt to it.
3. The newest booster sets are not full of crap in fact they are creating new deck types by themselves, Macro Cosmos Decks, Counter Trap Fairy decks, Dark World Decks are all decks that have only come into existence due to the new boosters that have been produced recently.
4. As for original decks I don’t think I have seen Jason Grabher-Meyer as excited as in the last SJC coverage about all the new decks and tech.  In fact this influx of new original decks has been going on since US National Championships.

You may feel that my comments are harsh; in fact I would wholly expect a few Maltos fans to be bashing down my email address with retorts to this article.  My intention is not to raise attention to myself by discussing a fellow writer of this site.  I merely feel that Dark Maltos’ article will have no positive effect on the readers or players of this game.  I have an obvious affinity to the newbies of this game (being one myself) and it would disappoint me greatly if any new players are put off playing because of another writer’s poor interpretation of the state of this game.

So to conclude Dark Maltos, if you want to leave, then leave.  But do you really want your send off article to be such a negative one?

My apologies readers for my absence but I am currently celebrating the birth of my 2^nd son.  As soon as things have settled down I will be back on the turn-by-turn duels.  The next one being about the day a superior player schooled me.  I also have more and more in store over the coming months.  My introduction to trading, one of the biggest parts of any TCG will be commencing soon.  I’m currently drafting my haves and wants lists so that I can put them onto Pojo’s trade boards.  I’m also going to attend my very first sneak preview event so I will tell you all about that.  I will be entering my first real-life tournament over the next few months also.

I also have an idea for a new set of articles called Deck Evolution.  Rather than just creating new original decks over and over.  I’m going to be showing you the 4 decks I plan on creating from my trades.  Over time I will show how they gradually evolve and improve up until the UK National Tournament 2007 (that I hope I will qualify for this season).  It will then be that a decision will be made which of the 4 decks I will use in the National Championships.  The 4 decks will be along the following lines:

• V. Lord/Kycoo monster lockdown (V. Lord remove monsters from deck and Kycoo then remove from gy.  Opponent has hand full of spells and traps, maybe add Royal Decree or Jinzo to negate all the traps as well making spells the opponents only option)
• Spiritual Fire Art (focusing on either Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi, wipe hand and then tribute for 2800 damage, or focussing on Horus Dragons making Spiritual Fire Art hit for 3000 damage for LV8 or 2300 for LV6 or focussing on Sacred Phoenix or focussing on Thesty or a multiple of all those monsters)
• Ben Kai OTK (maybe another type of OTK but I would like to use one that is not being used at the moment so Ben Kai seems like a good choice)
• Rescue Cat/GGP Beastdown (using cards like Beast Soul Swap, Ojama Trio, Enraged Battle Ox, Pitch Black Warwolf, Bazoo, RFTDD and maybe Spiritual Earth Art to produce some very twisted and sudden changes in game tempo and numerous ways of quick and large amounts of piercing damage)

I will be collecting the cards for these decks during my trading on Pojo, I will then evolve them over time with the help of the Pojo readers to improve the performance of each deck.  I will then post turn-by-turn duels using each of these decks so that we can analyse their performance on a practical basis rather than on a theoretical basis.

My email address is mofox9@hotmail.co.uk email me for any help or advice or even your opinions on my articles.  I would love to hear your opinions and if you have any suggestions to improve them then let me know.  I will reply to all emails that are sent to me.  Remember newbies no question is a stupid question.

Until next time fellow duellists!