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Cloudstrife 189 on Yugioh
Becoming a Pro
October 2, 2009

Special note: After much consideration, I don't think that this article should fall into my "secret of dueling" articles so the title will be changed to simply "Becoming a Pro" instead of having my complete usual header. I just have to contact the mods now and have them change it.

As always, here’s a quick list of all my past articles(also remember that they're posted on the main site as well):

The secret to dueling: A Direct Correlation
The secret to dueling: Deck Cycle Theory
The secret to dueling: Soft Cheating
The secret to dueling: Win without Playing a Card
The secret to dueling: Identity Crisis
The secret to dueling: The Forgotten Art
The secret to dueling; A Fight against Time

*Everything in my article only refers to people in the United States because I am not familiar with tournaments in other countries.

This article is going to break down the impossible goal of becoming a “pro” in the game of YGO and why you should no longer strive for this goal. First, let’s define the word “pro.”

Pro, defined by the dictionary, is simply a skilled or well trained individual. However,the word “pro” has a more conventional definition of someone who does his/her trade for money as opposed to the word “amateur” who does it for love.

Now,the so called “pro” players of this game are only interested in the money aspect of this game. So, lets break it down and see what money aspect these tournaments can really offer you.

Top 16 of an SJC

1st place: A SHONEN JUMP Championship trophy, paid travel and accommodations to the winner’s 2010 National Championship, a copy of the SHONEN JUMP Championship prize card “Dark End Dragon,” a Top 16 SHONEN JUMP Championship Game Mat, a one-year subscription to SHONEN JUMP magazine, and an Invite to the 2010 National Championship tournament.
2nd place: A 32GB personal music player, redemption codes for Konami Mobile games, a music player docking station, a copy of the SHONEN JUMP Championship prize card “Dark End Dragon,” a Top 16 SHONEN JUMP Championship Game Mat, a one-year subscription to SHONEN JUMP magazine, and an Invite to the 2010 National Championship tournament.
3rd place: A video game console with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Wheelie Breakers, a copy of the SHONEN JUMP Championship prize card “Dark End Dragon,” a Top 16 SHONEN JUMP Championship Game Mat, a one-year subscription to SHONEN JUMP magazine, and an Invite to the 2010 National Championship tournament.
4th place: A video game console with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Wheelie Breakers, a Top 16 SHONEN JUMP Championship Game Mat, a one-year subscription to SHONEN JUMP magazine, and an Invite to the 2010 National Championship tournament.
5th – 8th place: A video game console with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator World Championship 2009, a SHONEN JUMP Championship Top 16 Game Mat, a one-year subscription to SHONEN JUMP magazine, and an Invite to the 2010 National Championship tournament.
9th – 16th place: A copy of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator World Championship 2009 , a SHONEN JUMP Championship Top 16 Game Mat, a one-year subscription to SHONEN JUMP magazine, and an Invite to the 2010 National Championship tournament.

Top 16 at the National Championship

• 1st place – Travel and accommodations to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship 2009 Tournament held in Tokyo, Japan on August 8th-9th; US National Championship Trophy; Complete set of Raging Battle and Ghost Rare Cards; “Dark End Dragon” Prize Card, Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Tokyo, Japan; DSi with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator 2009 World Championship game, National Championship 2009 Game Mat; Player Profile on www.yugioh-card.com; National Championship 2009 Card Binder; Set of 4 Ultra Rare Token Cards
• 2nd place – Travel and accommodations to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship 2009 Tournament held in Tokyo, Japan on August 8th-9th ; US National Championship 2009 Trophy; Complete set of Raging Battle and Ghost Rare Cards; Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Tokyo, Japan; DSi with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator 2009 World Championship game, National Championship 2009 Game Mat; Player Profile on yugioh-card.com; National Championship 2009 Card Binder; Set of 4 Ultra Rare Token Cards
• 3rd place – Travel and accommodations to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship 2009 Tournament held in Tokyo, Japan on August 8th-9th; US National Championship 2009 Trophy; Complete set of Raging Battle; Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Tokyo, Japan; National Championship 2009 Game Mat; Player Profile on yugioh-card.com; National Championship 2009 Card Binder; Set of 4 Ultra Rare Token Cards
• 4th place – Travel and accommodations to the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG World Championship Tournament held in Tokyo, Japan on August 8th-9th; US National Championship 2009 Trophy; Complete set of Raging Battle; Digital Camera; Day of sightseeing in Tokyo, Japan; National Championship 2009 Game Mat; Player Profile on yugioh-card.com; National Championship 2009 Card Binder; Set of 4 Ultra Rare Token Cards
• 5th – 8th place – US National Championship 2009 Trophy; Wii Console with Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Wheelie Breaker video game; National Championship 2009 Game Mat, National Championship 2009 Card Binder; Set of 4 Ultra Rare Token Cards
• 9th – 16th place – DSi and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Stardust Accelerator 2009 World Championship game; National Championship 2009 Game Mat; National Championship 2009 Card Binder; Set of 4 Ultra Rare Token Cards


Next, let’s only look at the total amount of money you can win if you win first place at either one of these events.

First place at an SJC and/or Nationals: $0

Nowhere on this prize list can a player even win money, thus meaning that no one can ever qualify to be a “pro” in the first place. However, I understand that a majority of these prizes go up on Ebay, so lets see how much Ebay can offer you.

First place at an SJC: $1000-1200 (approx.)
First place at Nationals: $400 (approx.) + The World’s travel package.

Now, lets fun some numbers:
-Number of people who have won multiple jumps, less than 5.
-Number of people who have won multiple nationals, none.
-Number of people who have won Nationals and an SJC, 1.

(I apologize if any of my statistics are slightly wrong. There’s no way to verify the actual amounts ever since metagame got taken down but my point will be proven regardless).

Now there have been over 60 SJC’s and just over a handful of National Championships. There have been no more than a maximum of 6 people who have ever won a pro event more than once. The odds of winning a pro event in the first place are extremely low, and the odds of doing it consistently are between zero: none.

Now, lets focus on all the stuff that you have to spend in order to try to become a “pro.”

- Countless packs of booster packs/boxes/sleeves/deck boxes/binders/dice/calculators/etc = X
- Countless travel fees of gas/plane tickets/hotel fees/food/car repairs/etc = X
- Countless hours of training and research and going to competitions instead of spending extra time at school or work = X.

X =an amount higher than the prize in which you can possibly win

The pros all spend 3X. The maximum you can win is X. So even if you do win a pro event, you are still at a loss of 2X. Because only 5 people have won a big event multiple times, it proves that it’s almost impossible to even win multiple X’s to even begin to break even, much less actually profit. In result, all “pros” are playing at a loss!

Now, who is not playing at a loss? The people who this game was intended for, people who play for fun! If you play for fun, you are always at a “+1” because even if you do lose, you at least had a fun experience. All the cash you spend, hours your train, and places you travel always end up breaking even because you are having a good time in the process. It makes little difference if you win or lose because you have already gained something regardless. If your only motivation to compete in these tourneys is for the potential prize of “X”, then you will only be happy if you win “X”. Because only one person can win “X”, only one of these “pros” can be happy. Even if we consider the 2nd – 15th place prizes, they are just a fraction of “X” and don’t even amount to much in the scheme of things.

Wrap-Up:

In conclusion, I can’t understand why so many people choose to play only to win. It’s not worth it. As that being your only motivation, you can’t help but to be driven to win at all costs whether that be by lying, cheating, stealing, or just from over obsessing/training for countless hours. Then, if you don’t win, you end up having a horrific experience with all your time, energy, and money being a complete waste. However, if you always have fun in the process, then you will always walk away with a “+1” and even the potential of an “X+1.” I have come home from many trips where all anyone does is complain. They tend to talk about how this was a complete waste of time and issue a plethora of excuses on why they lost. As they complain I just tend to smile and drift away, losing myself to the nostalgic experience.

Thanks for reading,
Cloudstrife 189