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Preparation and Planning is the First Step to Success: Part 1
by Bryan Camareno a.k.a. DeathJester
October 27, 2006 

Hello everyone! This week I’m here to talk to you about the power of Planning and Preparation in YGO. Planning and Preparation is important to many aspects of this game including: deck building, tournament play, casual play, test-playing, traveling, etc. No one who does well in this game does so without any kind of significant planning.

Tournament Play

Planning and Preparation in reference to tournament play is where it all starts. There are a few ways you can enjoy this game to the fullest and the most popular route is to compete in tournaments. What is the primary objective in entering a tournament? The goal is to win; period.

You are there to win. You’ve got to be prepared to win if you want to win. I always place a lot of emphasis on this concept with my teammates and my personal friends that play this game: “Plan, Plan, and Plan some more.” Here a few questions to ask yourself to help you decide if you are ready to compete in the upcoming tournament:

·        Why is this tournament important enough for me to attend?

·        Am I financially capable to attend this tournament?

·        How many hours of test-playing have I committed in preparation for this tournament?

·        What is the metagame like?

·        How does my deck compare to the metagame standards?

·        What results do I expect from this tournament?

Those are just a few questions you must ask yourself before even thinking about going to a tournament.

Your First Question

First, you have to decide why the tournament you are going to is important enough for you to get out of your house for. Let’s face it, going to tournaments costs money. Your local tournament costs you about $5 in tournament entry or more. Plus, you figure in food and perhaps product that you may buy. In addition, if you are old enough to drive you may want to consider if the trip is worth wasting your gas for. I ask myself this every time I go to my local tournament. The nearest local tourney to me is 20 minutes away (by car) minimum. Going there and back costs me 40 minutes or more on gas. If I’m going to go all the way out there, I want to be sure that I will do well or not go at all. I could use that gas to go to work on the weekdays.

Your Second & Third Questions

Second, you have to ask yourself if you are financially capable of attending this tournament. This question ties in with the first question. You’ve got to think about this. If you are going to spend your money to do something, it better be worth it to you. Money poorly invested is money easily lost.

Third, you must honestly ask yourself: How many hours of test-playing have I committed in preparation for this tournament? If you just haven’t prepared for a tournament, why bother? Unless the local area’s competition is just THAT bad (Which is rarely the case; people learn.).

A local tournament with decent competition requires, at a minimum, 2-3 hours of test-playing. These hours must be spent testing the right match-ups. By right match-ups I mean the current Top 8 decks from the latest Regional Qualifier in your area or Shonen Jump Championship. That is the metagame you should expect. Be wary though, your local tournament is a prime place for people to test off-the-wall ideas with their decks. Most people don’t take their local tournament too seriously; you shouldn’t either. Your local tournament is designed for you to experiment with new ideas in a live setting. Don’t pidgeon-hole yourself (as my friend Paul Sanchez would say) by preparing for your local metagame’s top decks. Remember the saying: Garbage in, Garbage out.

Next, you ask yourself: How does my deck compare to the metagame standards? When you build a deck, this is the common sense question you should be asking yourself. I get lots of deck submissions per day and easily 80% of them look as if they didn’t take into account this imperative analysis of their deck. If your metagame shows that 3 Thestalos and 2-3 Zaborg are massively popular, shouldn’t you prepare for that?

It’s easy; pack some My Body as a Shield and some Bottomless Trap Holes or something. Problem solved. This simple question also makes you think about what cards from the metagame give you the most trouble. The aforementioned cards give everyone trouble, they’re extremely good cards.

The last question you should ask from this list is: What results do I expect from this tournament? If you don’t ask yourself any other questions, but this one; you are on the right track to winning your next tournament. This question leads back to those other questions. Ask yourself honestly: What results do I expect from this tournament? It’s simple really. Do you expect to win? OK. Now what will it take for you to win this tournament. THINK. Ask yourself questions. It’s not that hard. Don’t avoid it because you’ll be asking yourself these questions AFTER the tournament when you’ve already gotten kicked to the curb.

If you honestly expect to lose, then why are you going in the first place? What obstacles do you feel that are getting in the way of your success: Lack of test-playing? Lack of cards? Don’t ever blame the format. You can adjust to the format. Adjusting to a format is common sense. Ask yourself:

• What cards/decks are popular right now in the national metagame?
• What makes them so powerful that they would be played above all other cards/decks?
• If I make a deck that is different from these decks, what can I do to combat their strengths and exploit their weaknesses in a way that doesn’t leave me in an extremely vulnerable position?
• After testing, does my deck at least go 50/50 with the most popular decks? If so, how can I improve my deck to make the most out of the percentages? (Even that extra 1% will go a long way.)

These are simple and practical questions you should ask yourself. They aren’t hard to answer. Just answer them truthfully. Don’t pidgeon-hole yourself: The format is something you HAVE to grow accustomed to. It’s something that you cannot directly control after it is implemented.

What you should go do right now…

ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS!

Again, don’t make the mistake of not asking these simple questions or any other questions that will challenge the way you think about the game, prepare for the game, or play the game. It’s helpful to find testing partners that aren’t afraid to ask you questions to challenge your way of thinking.

Until next time, remember to play hard, think about your moves, and most importantly…have fun!

P.S. I do answer my e-mail, but you have to be patient. Recent demand for my advice has gone through the roof this week and I ask that you wait at up to 2 weeks for a response. E-mail me any decks you readers may have to: deathjester86@gmail.com. I don’t care if those decks are ‘cookie-cutter’ or not. This gives me time to completely focus on your e-mail and give you the best response. I am responding to e-mails in the order they come. The sooner you e-mail me, the sooner I can get to your deck or answer your question. I’m usually pretty good about answering e-mails.

P.P.S. Don’t forget to visit my Yugioh Blog: The BEST Yugioh Blog; by typing www.thebestyugiohblog.blogspot.com into your Web browser. If you are to leave a comment on my blog, just leave your first name, last name, your email address, and your UDE#. I WILL REQUIRE some help on upcoming projects and leaving that simple information enables me to get into contact with you without any trouble. I’m still working on the template design, but any questions that are there I will answer and give out some tips. Check it out.

P.P.P.S. If you want to get an even faster response to your deck e-mails, include as much information as you can about your deck, your play-style, your philosophy on the game, information about your local metagame, your first name, your last name, and your UDE#. When I work on decks I like to know as much as I can about how you think about the game and what the metagame is like in your area. I like to work with you “one-on-one” on your deck. I don’t want to give you a simple +1 “This” and -1 “That” response. I can help you better if you help me out with just that smidge of information. Also, ask yourself some of the questions you read in this article. This will help you determine what needs to be fixed with your deck and how I can help you best.