From: Anteaus44@aol.com [mailto:Anteaus44@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 1:04 AM
To: yugiohcrew@pojo.com
Subject: Teams...or, more specifically, the Death of
YuGiOh!
Hello
I know I skipped the classic intro, but whatever.
Today's article is about something that is really
serious: teams. And how teams are destroying the
great game of Yu-Gi-Oh!
In the beginning, there were no teams. There was one
duelist on a mission to become the greatest duelist
that has ever played the game. Only a handful of
people have been awarded this prestige, and,
unfortunately, none are American. But alas, I
digress. Now then, back to the point: in the
beginning, there were no teams. Then, three big
teams came along: Team Savage, Team Overdose, and
Team Comic Odyssey, followed later on by Team Scoop,
Team Superfriends, Team Hustle, Team Fallen, and any
other major team that I failed to mention because I
didn't do my homework.
With teams comes innovation. With innovation comes
change. And with change comes a new era in Yu-Gi-Oh!
Team Scoop pioneered the Bazoo/Return. SandTrap (a
member of the team name that escapes me...Savage?)
pioneered Soul Control. Chaos died, and Teams
thrived. This is the fate of Yu-Gi-Oh!
But the team era has been coupled with the
"Advantage" era, where 1-for-1's dominate the duels
and where people don't run Swords of Revealing Light
or Jinzo because they do not provide immediate
advantage. And thus has the format of both October
1st, 2005 and April 1st, 2006 become stagnant.
But how are these two linked?
Teams were first formed because friends realized
that they could become better duelists by getting
together and sharing cards. They became better by
coming up with new, innovative deck ideas and trying
them out in local tournaments, then regionals, and
then Shonen Jump Championships. They became better
by making each other better. Now, however, that
comraderie is gone, lost in the world that is
competitive dueling. It has become all about the
winning and not about the building. Building is how
teams were made famous: building decks, building
reputations, building friendships, building skills.
But what is it now? Sure, decks still factor in, as
do friendships, but rarely do we see teams
progressing beyond what the metagame currently is.
Decks are dominated by Mobius, Cyber Dragon...you
know, I don't have to even list them.
There was a time when teams were good. Now, with the
huge surge in their numbers, teams are becoming
increasingly hostile to the common player. There is
no chance to get ahead because a team member can
drop with a 7-2 record to give his teammate with an
8-1 record a better shot at Top 8, while the lone
duelist is stuck with his 7-2 record and loses his
tiebreaker because a guy dropped. The rankings
change, too, dropping him below 8th on day one to
lose his spot in Top 8. Teams compete for glory only
now, not the experience.
I have a team. We've been a team a week, maybe two,
and we dominate. Not because we're greedy, but
because we spend every day of the week helping each
other get better. We analyze the metagame and come
up with good ways to stop the CC, and then we
side-deck against the anti-CC so we can stop that
too when it comes up. We focus on beating each other
because we know that when we can beat each other we
can beat anyone. We focus on making ourselves the
best damn duelists we can be. Can your team say the
same thing?
The answer is probably yes. I realize that a lot of
teams--in fact, almost all teams--do that same
thing, and when their players are good enough they
go and dominate at a Regional tourney or at SJC
whatever. But the problem I have with teams is the
cockiness. That's what is all boils down to. Teams
are cocky.
There are no rules, really, and this is what truly
gets me. Teams are out to help only each other, and
not other duelists. Do you see a team with a n00b?
No. Why? Because that team wants to win at all
costs. And that's what separates my team from
others: the fact that we aren't top-notch duelists.
We're just kids enjoying the game, and we share all
our secrets because we want to see the game
continually change. We want to see new people and
new ideas in an old format, a concept that few have
grasped onto. And it is this comraderie that I am
talking about when I talk about friendship, because
the ability to teach and the ability to learn are
the two most basic fundamentals of Yu-Gi-Oh! But
more on that later.
Cheers,
Anteaus
E-mail: Anteaus44@aol.com
