Pook

• Pojo Home Page
  
• Message Board
  
• Contact Staff
  

Pook's Place
The Itch
By Pook
July 11, 2008 

            I know what you’re thinking – where have you been?  Well, I’m going to lay some hard truth on you all – I haven’t been dueling.  What I have been doing is working (mostly), and I’ll tell you what; being a grown-up kind of stinks.  As for your second question – what are you doing here? – well that’s a whole different story.  Allow me to elaborate. 

            It has been 18 months since my last article.  That’s a long time.  I’ve all but (semi-)retired from our beloved Yu-Gi-Oh, but three weeks ago, something funny happened.  Something I wasn’t expecting.  I got the itch.  You all know this itch.  It’s the kind of feeling you get when you start to miss something that at one point was a major factor in your life, but has since been absent.  Perhaps you get the itch from not partaking in your favorite food, or missing out on a sport.  Maybe you get the itch to call up an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend.  But for me, my itch was dueling. 

            The funny thing is that it came out of nowhere.  I was in front of the computer one day, and for no particular reason, it hit me.  It was almost physical reaction too.  You see, for me, I’ve always needed to keep my hands busy.  Maybe that’s one of the reasons that attracted me to writing.  Even during my school days, if I wasn’t taking notes in class, I’d be doodling in the margins.  And card gaming is one of those things that slaked my thirst.  They say that idle hands are the devil’s playground – I wouldn’t go that far, but it is something to keep in mind. 

            Anyway, back to my itch.  It just hit me without warning.  I still have all of my old cards (and believe me, they’re quite old now), but I’ve fallen so far out of the game, there really would have been no hope to rejoin the fold.  On top of that, it would cost me a small fortune to dish out the money on the countless sets I’ve missed.  How long has it been since I’ve bought a pack?  Let’s just say the concept of “Hero” cards had made their debut (however I did make an exception to pick up the Spellcaster structure deck about 2 years back).  Not only that, but I’ve even fallen so far as to be out of the loop as to the kinds of cards that are out there now.  Yes, that means I haven’t been reading my beloved Pojo!  The only news I’d get would be the 3 or 4 pages in each month’s Shonen Jump, and their promo cards are the newest cards in my collection.  That’s it.  So what was I do to?  I’d be jumping headfirst into a landscape that would swallow me whole!  Then it hit me. 

            I embarked on a quest to find the latest Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship game.  Sure, the game has been out for at least 6 months, but it would still offer me the access I need to get back into this world.  One small problem – the game is out of print.  Ever vigilant, I went to Best Buy.  They were sold out.  I figured, oh well, it was a nice idea…that is, until I remembered there was a GameStop in the same shopping center.  Off I went.  They too, were sold out.  Once again, I thought, it’s ok, it’s just a game.  That’s when the itch really kicked in.  Wait a minute, there’s another GameStop not that far from here, perhaps they’ll have it.  They did not.  So what did I do?  I drove across town to another Best Buy.  My salvation – they had it.  It was weird holding the DS case.  It was like rediscovering an old friend.  I drove home and popped it into my system. 

            Friends, it’s like riding a bicycle – you really never forget.  The nice thing about this game was that it did start me at square one – weak little starter deck, nothing too fancy in the opponent department, and it all came flooding back.  Slowly but surely, the natural progression of the game introduced me to decks I had never faced before, as well as characters from the GX series that I otherwise had no idea about.  It’s been a nice way to ease me back in.  But for all that has been good about this experience, there has been some downside.  For one, I will probably never be able to fully get back into the game, having been out for so long.  Like I said before, my lack of cards and knowledge is a serious hindrance.  Additionally, I’ve popped online, and the gaming landscape hasn’t changed.  Not one bit.  It’s still Monarchs and Remove-from-Play decks that dominate the field.  It was this lack of creativity that drove me away from the game for so long.  So I’ve pretty much dueled CPU opponents exclusively, because at least I can go up against a well-crafted Fire or Neo Spacian or Gemini deck from time to time.  I’ve made a nice home for myself, one I’m not to eager to fully step out of.  In some ways, I’ve become a dueling hermit.  But at least I’m dueling once again. 

            On a closing note, I hope it won’t be so long until the next time I feel like expressing my thoughts, and you can help in that.  Create interesting decks and feel free to add me in World Championship 2008.  My friend code is 0860-4472-2280, so feel free to add me.  Also, I’d like to plug a hilarious site my friend turned me on to – it’s the Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged Series - http://www.yugiohtheabridgedseries.com/ - just a heads up, it’s pretty PG-13, so might want to keep an eye on the kids.  Well, until we meet again – it’s been a long time, but happy dueling!