Hey all, thank you for being patient with me these past couple of weeks. I know that my Looking at the Past series has lagged behind; a new one should be up today. I also realize that I missed last Friday’s deadline for my Friday Deck Fix, and for that I’m sorry, but the truth is that I’ve had this terrible flu and haven’t been able to write at all this week, and work…well, if anyone out there works for a living, they’ll know that it can get pretty hectic at times. I’m not trying to make excuses, I’m just saying that it’s been crunch time at work and I’ve been sick, so it’s been hard to find the time to write for this beloved website. For those of you who are expecting a deck fix this week, I apologize, and I also haven’t gotten around to grading the create-a-card contest. Expect it sometime during the week next week, as I need some more time. By the way, thank you all who submitted cards in the contest, they’re all great!

Now then, speaking of excuses, a lot of people – when they lose a match – tend to blame something. Whether it’s their deck, their opponent’s deck, bad top draws, bad luck, or the ice cream truck that’s blaring rap music at 2:00am, they always blame something other than the bad decisions they make. Duelists always make excuses for not winning a game. How many times have you heard this phrase: “Oh man, if I had drawn that last turn I would have won!” It’s easy to get lost in the sea of blame, and many, many of us do. I myself have blamed everything and everyone for a loss – I blamed my dog for making me lose once. That’s how far in denial I was at the time.

Because when you make excuses for losing, blaming it on something else, that’s all you’re doing – you’re denying yourself the ability to get better as a duelist and grow. I know it can be difficult for you to get out there time and time again and work on what you need to work on, but if you want to get better at this game you need to practice, practice, practice. You’ll never get anywhere making excuses.

Some of the most common reasons why people make excuses is because they didn’t draw the card they needed. Well, the main reason why you didn’t draw the card you needed is because your deck needs some tweaking. I’ve stated this before: your deck needs to be able to win at least 75% of all games before sidedecking to make it viable. This is tested through what’s called a gauntlet, which is simply a series of three-game matches against a slew of different decktypes. If you’re building a Plant deck, you need to run it against Gladiator Beasts, Teleport Dark Armed, Lightsworn, Beasts, Warriors, Burn – this is what it takes. If you only win 25% of your games after considerable testing, improving, tweaking and switching, it’s time to stop making excuses and pick a different decktype. End of story.

Too many duelists become attached to one type of deck – and that’s completely fine. I myself love the Warrior builds, from the basics to the insane. I love a good Burn deck as well, because the ability to drop an opponent down to 3000 LP in one turn – without attacking – is really cool. But I know that certain decktypes just can’t work in the current metagame, and I do my best to run a deck that can compete. Your deck is your lifeblood in this game, and without it you’re pretty much running on empty. If you have a deck that can’t perform well, or underperforms too often, it’s time to change your strategy, pick a new decktype, and roll with it.

But your deck can only bring you so far. If you’re running the best Gladiator Beast build you’ve ever seen, and you’re slaughtering your friend’s Light build (not Lightsworn, just plain old Light), maybe it’s time to take that deck to a regional tournament and see how it stacks up against other, similar builds. When it comes to mirror matches, always remember that the better skilled duelist will win. It doesn’t come down to luck; it comes down to who can do what with their cards at the right time to guarantee victory. End of story. Your excuses in that match can range from the obvious to the insane, but it still doesn’t change the fact that you got beat by pure skill. And that’s something that you can’t have an excuse for.

If you want to play Yu-Gi-Oh! at the semi-pro or the professional level, you need skill. Just like in any other sport, if you to succeed, you need to have the skill to do so. Excuses won’t take you there. So if you find yourself losing matches to your friends, try changing it up. Analyze your playstyle, or have someone who is better than you do so. Record your moves in detail in matches with your friends and see what your opponent would do in that situation, then reverse it. Try to see from your opponent’s point of view, and always read decklists, articles, and tips and tricks on Pojo.com to get the most out of what you read. Always strive to improve, and stop making excuses.

As always, you can reach me at anteaus44@hotmail.com. And, just to let you all know, I will have your create-a-card submissions rated soon, and I’ll get back on track soon enough.

Thanks,

Anteaus