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Mofox’s journey from Newbie to the UK National Tournament.
The hunt for the next Cookie Cutter is on!!
October 10, 2006 

So we have had now a few major tournaments since the banning of everything “remove 1 light and 1 dark” and we have seen some varied decks.

I must admit the latest Gearfried Deck that top 8’d at SJC Austin interested me only because I duelled with a Gearfried Deck in my 10/11/12^th turn-by-turn duels against Ilya.

However after every single SJC or other major tournament we have seen so far there has been this continual negativity towards the top 8 decklists.  Common statements are:

“This must have been a rubbish SJC if a Gearfried Deck made the top 8”

etc. etc. etc……..

Well I have been thinking that perhaps it is not that the decks are terrible it’s just that the format is so open now that if played well lots of decks can make top 8.  Now my predictions about the top decks were somewhat accurate.  Monarch and Warrior Toolbox decks are certainly the most commonly played and consistent decks in this format (so far) plus we are seeing a lot of the cards I predicted we would, field simplifiers such as Smashing Ground.

But the point I’m trying to get to, is that the reason why people are making comments like the one above is that they are hunting.

They avidly read about the SJC top 8 decklists etc looking for the deck that will “break” the format.  Essentially they are looking for the next CC.  So when they can’t find it they exclaim that the decklists are janky and that it was a jank tournament with jank players.  This comes from their frustration that a hugely dominant decktype (i.e. the next CC) has not yet emerged.  This will continue on and on while we still keep getting varied decklists placing highly in major tournaments.

It’s the mentality of these players that intrigues me.  Why spend your time waiting for someone else to create the next top deck and then netdeck and go out winning tournaments with it.  To me that seems lazy.  Part of the fun of this game is trying out new cards, experimenting with new combos and creating new decks.  Why these people don’t do this I don’t know.  They are probably the players who whenever a banlist is released claim they are quitting the game… “my CC deck has been torn apart by the banlist”… boo hoo! Go play something else then!!

My message to those newbies out there finding their feet in this game, don’t fall into this trap… mentality… whatever you want to call it.  Have fun, experiment with new cards, combos and decks. 

We will ever get a deck that “breaks” the latest format, I don’t know.  Personally I don’t think we will.  It is gonna take someone with a deeper understanding of the one core principle of this game, getting your opponents life points to 0, that will “break” the format. 

Until then people will continue on their hunt, hungrily searching for the CC deck.

I would to apologise to readers for my current absence from writing particularly after all the efforts you made towards my Deck Evo series.  All I can say is that work is extremely busy.  When you’re the sole expeditor on a £150million project looking after 100+ orders and working 50 hour weeks, your spare time starts to decrease and as much as I love this game my wife and 2 son’s take priority.

I have though taken some steps to ensure that I’m still actively duelling.  What have I done?  I have got myself a Nintendo DS Lite and purchased the latest games, Nightmare Troubadour, GX Duel Academy and World Tournament 2006.  Although the computer AI is no match against real-life duellists I’m still managing to get about an hours duelling time in while I lie in bed each night.

Plus I have now dedicated my 30mins lunch break each day to write some more for this site, hopefully (fingers crossed) I can get 1 article a week out.  Listed below are some of the articles that you can expect coming soon:

• Continuation of the Deck Evo Series, the team has been selected and I will be introducing the individuals to you soon
• The 2^nd part to my Aggro v Control article set
• Game reviews of the 3 computer games I have for my DS Lite
• Some selected turn-by-turn duels
• More on my journey which is explained in more detail below

In regards to my journey, I mentioned a while back that I tried to attend a sneak preview event but missed out due to a family commitment, well the next sneak preview is 4^th November 2006 (according to current information) and although my son’s christening is the next day I can confirm that I will be attending this sneak preview for Cyberdark Impact.  My current information (and I’m checking on this almost every day) is that the event will be held at Fanboy3 in Manchester, home of the current UK Champion, Wayne Pinkney.  Now as much as I am excited about this I am also hugely nervous about attending, as I will be going on my own.  So if there is anyone out there who thinks they will also be attending and wants to provide me with a friendly face to look out for, then just email me using the link below and we can arrange to meet on the day.  I will be trying to get in as many duels as I can, so if you specifically want to duel with me let me know.  Plus if you have any tips or advice for me in preparation for this event then please email me and let me know.  I can’t wait for this!

My email address is mofox_@hotmail.co.uk click here to 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!