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Hey
everyone! Before I get to the interview, I’ve got
some news for you all about Fire & Ice (The team I’m
on). Team Fire & Ice has got a new Team website up
with Pics, Bios, and where we qualified and such.
This website will be constantly updated with news
about our team progress at events and updates on our
info. If you would like to find out more about my
teammates and I, go check it out at:
http://www.fireniceanime.com/teamindex.html
I’m back this time with Kris Perovic. He’s another
member of Team Overdose from the New England area of
the U.S.; like Mike Pianka. This time around this
interview features a lot more insight than previous
interviews; through reading his info you’ll find
that he and I are very alike in some ways. It’s an
interesting read and I encourage you all to read it
and email me with your opinions.
Bryan [10:21 PM]: Where are you from originally?
Kris [10:22 PM]: Jersey, been here all my life.
Bryan [10:22 PM]: jersey?
Bryan [10:22 PM]: I'm a new yorker :D
Kris [10:23 PM]: I spend a lot of time in NY, and I
like it, no doubt…but Jersey is home, and you can't
really substitute anything for home.
Bryan [10:23 PM]: No doubt man :)
Bryan [10:23 PM]: Where do you go to school?
Kris [10:24 PM]: For the time being, Clifton High...
Bryan [10:24 PM]: for the time being...? Not liking
it huh?
Kris [10:26 PM]: School's a touchy subject right now
-- problems and whatnot, with getting sick this year
and missing a lot of days, I won't be able to
graduate with my class. I'll probably wind up with
something else besides my Clifton High Diploma
before moving onto college in the fall.
Bryan [10:27 PM]: oh wow dude, that sucks...and I
thought college was bad lol
Kris [10:27 PM]: Yea, it REALLY does…but it's a LOT
better then graduating with my brother’s friends.
Bryan [10:28 PM]: yea true so don't sweat it man, at
least you're gonna graduate anyway :)
Bryan [10:28 PM]: for the fans...what's your ranking
in NJ?
Kris [10:29 PM]: Bleh -- I've got a problematic
account…one without a name, an email, a password, a
state affiliation.
Kris [10:30 PM]: If I WERE to have a state
affiliation, I'd probably be, I THINK, 9th…maybe
8th, in NJ…but unlike all the higher ranked people,
I don't play in a regular local tournament. I
reserve myself for serious competition, if even at
the sacrifice of points…
Kris [10:30 PM]: It's more competitive IMO, and more
worth my time.
Bryan [10:31 PM]: very true, i find that you have
that same trait in common with Mike
Bryan [10:32 PM]: I've gotten a couple emails about
that, some say it's weird and some say it shows your
real competitive nature
Bryan [10:33 PM]: :)
Kris [10:33 PM]: Yea, but Pianka does his own
thing... I just think those 'smaller' tournaments
are boring, like I walk into it knowing that in a
few hours, I'll win, but not really have
accomplished anything…when I could've been at the
movies or something with my girl, and well.. I'd
have a better time.
Bryan [10:34 PM]: lol well put. I see you like to
make constructive use of your time. Looks like we
share something in common after all lol; Gotta talk
to you about that later.
Bryan [10:35 PM]: Next question...what are your
credentials? Top 8 finishes, qualifications, etc...
Kris [10:35 PM]: This season?
Bryan [10:35 PM]: yes
Kris [10:37 PM]: Well, as you know, I qualified this
past weekend…finally. After it being my 6th out of 7
Top 8s in a Regional, it was a relief to finally get
my invite.
Bryan [10:38 PM]: nice, 7 Top 8s...I only have 2 lol.
Bryan [10:38 PM]: How long have you been playing
YuGiOh?
Bryan [10:41 PM]: I'll beat 7 by Nationals you'll
see :)
Kris [10:42 PM]: I've got 6…out of 7 Regionals…I
think it was the first or second regional of the
season that I got 9th and just missed the cut.
Bryan [10:42 PM]: ouch...bummer man
Kris [10:43 PM]: Meh, I'm not disappointed…Don't
really care right now…an invite kinda turns your
frown upside down.
Bryan [10:44 PM]: lol
Bryan [10:44 PM]: What's your favorite card?
Bryan [10:44 PM]: and why?
Kris [10:45 PM]: Without a doubt, it would have to
be Dark Magician.
Kris [10:47 PM]: It's the card that convinced me to
play this game. It was the card that made this game
fun when I used to play with my brother, Yugi
Starter Deck vs. Kaiba Starter Deck…It's probably
the only LOB card that I own that I have had since
the beginning...
Bryan [10:48 PM]: lol that's awesome, that's
definitely the most original response for that
question to date :)
Kris [10:49 PM]: Well, I was going to say Ookazi,
but I can't miss an opportunity to give props to the
DM…
Bryan [10:49 PM]: lol
Bryan [10:50 PM]: Favorite deck archetype?
Kris [10:51 PM]: Chaos…I guess…and mixed variants of
it. From Machines to Polymerization, I’ve put that
Soldier in anything.
Bryan [10:51 PM]: lol Soldier is a beast man
Kris [10:52 PM]: Yup…He's been my main man since he
was released… I was one of the few people that ran
him, alone, over the Dragon back in the day.
Bryan [10:53 PM]: I've always thought Soldier was
better in terms on control, but I like Dragon
because he deals ENORMOUS amounts of damage for
almost nothing.
Kris [10:55 PM]: Oh, don't get me wrong…I'm not
saying the Dragon wasn't a beast either...It's
just…I'm a considerably conservative player…I hated
to blow away everything I've kept in my hand, etc,
just for LP damage.
Bryan [10:55 PM]: That LP damage meant game 90% of
the time lol
Kris [10:58 PM]: Meh…I guess...but I'm infamous for
my bad luck, and running both the Dragon and the
Soldier led to a lot of draws without fodder…and if
I had to choose between establishing control, and
eventually getting my opponent to hit 0 from that
control…or just hoping that there was enough cards
on the field and in the hand to pop for game…I
choose the control.
Bryan [10:59 PM]: Geez; am I the only one who plays
aggressively these days? lol
Kris [11:01 PM]: I've found that an aggressive play
style can lead to top decking kinda easy…mass
removal, especially with Vortex released and Mirror
Force back, can really screw a aggressive player
up...and rather then screw myself by top decking
with my bad luck, I'll conserve my resources until I
get that opportunity, even if it's 15 turns into the
game, to either win or get such a grasp of control
on the game that my opponent can't do anything but
lose.
Bryan [11:02 PM]: well playing aggressively doesn't
necessarily mean playing your cards like an idiot
Bryan [11:03 PM]: some conservative players conserve
too much and leave themselves open for a big push
Kris [11:03 PM]: I know, I know…and I don't mean it
like that.
Bryan [11:05 PM]: well of course not :)
Kris [11:05 PM]: Like I said, most things in this
game are based on preference...
Kris [11:06 PM]: I was an aggressive player for the
longest time, but I tried altering my play style, to
you know, get a better understanding of this
game…and it's paid off every time.
Bryan [11:07 PM]: that's good, I originally started
as a conservative player and moved more towards
aggressive; I think the conservative style is so
easy to break in serious competitions.
Kris [11:09 PM]: I think most players are aggressive
by nature, can't help but attack if they can…I'd
rather exploit that then conform to that…play head
games with my opponent, make them think they've got
something against me when I'm just baiting them in,
making them waste their resources and whatnot.
Bryan [11:11 PM]: that's easily a part of the head
games. Wasting resources is something a player
should never do at all. However, I do feel that
conservative player’s construct their decks way
fitted to their conservative style, hence the 3
goats, controllers, and all that nonsense these
days...
Bryan [11:15 PM]: K let's get a bit more
serious...What sets you apart from all the other top
players in the world?
Kris [11:21 PM]: Well, what do you mean, 'top
players'? CO players, Nats qualifiers, people who
played at Worlds?
Bryan [11:21 PM]: the big boys man, CO, Nationals
Qualifiers...whatever :)
Kris [11:26 PM]: That's a tough question... I
understand that a match is more then summoning and
attacking, setting and defending, and using the
cards simply as they come to me…Most 'good' players
I've run into are on a lucky streak, such as with
Nationals last year -- IMO, at LEAST 3/4 of the
players there didn't deserve to be there. I look at
those that did and I say to myself, "That's my
competition." I expect the same for this season --
qualifiers who think they're part of the 'big boys',
but really aren't.
I look at all of this and more, and I consider my
realizations about this game, the players in it,
somewhat unique to me and that factor is what
separates me from them…but at the same time, makes
me one of the 'big boys'..
Kris [11:27 PM]: I don't know if that made much
sense, but hopefully you get the idea.
Bryan [11:27 PM]: I got the idea.
Bryan [11:28 PM]: Give me a little detail on your
insight about the game.
Kris [11:29 PM]: Er…I've got a lot to say on such a
general subject -- any way you can be more specific?
Bryan [11:29 PM]: k for example: Your strategy, are
you conservative or aggressive, mindset,
attitude...along those lines.
Kris [11:38 PM]: Like I said, I'm leading towards
the conservative play style…I walk into a Regional
and see so many aggressive players, because like I
said, people play aggressively by nature. When two
people come into a duel playing the same way, it's
just who draws the better cards first... which
means, the winner is whoever's luckier. And every
time, at every Regional, it's the same Top 8 with a
fluke 1-2 people…It always winds up being me and my
teammates from Team Overdose, who, for the most
part, play conservatively. I look at CO, too, for
example, and have had people tell me they play the
same way -- play defensively until turn 12 if they
need to. I look at all that, the coin-flip-like
results from the aggressive play style, as opposed
to the consistency of the conservative play style,
and I can't help but be attracted to the latter.
Kris [11:44 PM]: My mindset during a match is,
basically, to know what I'm doing. Self-awareness is
key for any good player, IMO. Know what you're
telling your opponent by your actions, by your
movements…like poker, kinda, in that you have to be
in your opponents head and make them think what you
want them to, and, at the same time, know what they
thinking. Check the graveyards, count cards. If
you've been summoning for the last 10 turns, and he
hasn't used Snatch, chances are you can summon BLS
without worry he'll have it in his hand. If you've
been setting for the last 10 turns, and he hasn't
used NoC, chances are, you can set that MoF without
worry.
Kris [11:45 PM]: Given, ANY player can lose to the
dreaded lucky top deck, and that's how the better
players DO wind up losing…
Bryan [11:48 PM]: You can't help the top
deck...that's the beauty of this game really. Luck
is a part of the game and part of being a great
player is dealing with that accordingly lol. I've
seen TOO many "good" players go on and on about how
"lucky my opponent is"... I say "It happens...deal
with it man" :)
Kris [11:50 PM]: It's true -- Don't hate the player,
hate the game…lol. You go into a match knowing every
draw is a mystery…No need getting upset over it,
especially when that doesn't change anything.
Kris [11:50 PM]: As for my attitude during a match
-- stay positive. Don't be hateful, don't be
disrespectful. Be courteous. Also, don't be sad,
even if you're having the worst day of your life.
Like I told you before, at Nats last year, not only
was every hand of mine Heavy, HFD, MST... but
family, relationship, and friend-wise, that day, I
was having a terrible day…Your opponent will be a
LOT less scared to make a move against you if you've
got a sad face on. Intimidation probably won't work
unless you're consistently intimidating. You
probably won't psych your opponent out; you won't
have a mental edge over your opponent, if you've got
a frown on.
Bryan [11:52 PM]: Good point. Positivity is
definitely a concept I try to teach. It's not easy
mind you. There are things that people just can't
stand or seem to deal with in a positive way.
Kris [11:53 PM]: It's very true -- sometimes when
you lose to a top deck, when you want to stay
positive, it's like smiling when you've just stomped
your toe.
Bryan [11:55 PM]: Yea I hear ya.
Bryan [11:55 PM]: How often do you practice? How do
you practice and with whom?
Kris [12:02 AM]: Well, YVD is my best friend… (Not
really, in case my real best friend reads this.) I
duel friends from time to time via YVD, but that's
usually just with fun decks. For serious decks,
well, I use them in serious competition for
practice. (For example, the deck I qualified with
this weekend never saw itself played in a tournament
other then that very Regional.) Because I only duel
on the serious level, I feel that's the best place
the practice. On the side, between rounds and
whatnot, I'll usually play against other Team
Overdose members like Mike Pianka (#1 in CT),
Anthony Alvarado (#4 in NJ), etc…as they are the
best kind of practice around here.
Kris [12:04 AM]: For the most part, Regionals are my
practice ground to prepare myself for more serious
competition later on, like the SJC that comes here
in June or Nationals or something.
Bryan [12:06 AM]: A good philosophy, I can see why
you do it. Mike does the same thing lol. That
strategy seems to work for you guys but personally I
prefer to practice with any deck I make before I
take it to a tournament. That way the deck will be
in shape to compete with the meta-game. Well…then
again if you’re playing a deck that you know
instinctively how it works because you’ve been
playing it so long, then it doesn’t really matter
how much you practice outside of major tournaments.
Kris [12:09 AM]: Well, I'm an Administrator of a
well-populated site, with members from all around
the country. I get some good insight of the
meta-game from there, from other sites, from friends
I've made in this game all over the country... I
mean, IMO, there's no point in testing a deck
against someone else at a local tournament who's
probably never stepped into a Regional…when you're
planning on going against your meta-game…so what
better practice then the meta-game itself?
Bryan [12:10 AM]: "Luck favors the well-prepared" :)
Bryan [12:10 AM]: Okay. Next question…
Bryan [12:10 AM]: How do you prepare for major
tournaments; both mentally and physically?
Kris [12:15 AM]: I don't have any defined rituals or
anything, but, oddly enough, I don't sleep the night
before a major tournament. (I don't really plan it
to work out that way, it just usually does.) Other
then that and a small breathing exercise before I
leave my house in the morning, I don't have any
other preparations.
Bryan [12:17 AM]: Do you get nervous or anxious at
serious tournaments?
Kris [12:28 AM]: Well, I get more anxious then
nervous…can't wait for the next round kinda thing…I
mean, at first, I was nervous, but after playing in
this game on the serious level for as long as I
have... it's something I've definitely become more
comfortable with.
Bryan [12:29 AM]: I know exactly how you feel.
You’ll see me at Nationals impatiently waiting for
the next round to start lol.
Bryan [12:29 AM]: What deck will you be using at
Nationals?
Kris [12:32 AM]: I've got quite a bit of time to
prepare, but as it is now, I'm a bit undecided. I'm
almost sure, though, it will have the Soldier in
there…
Bryan [12:32 AM]: lol whos deck won’t have that guy
in there?
Kris [12:32 AM]: The last place guy.
Kris [12:32 AM]: lol
Bryan [12:32 AM]: What are your predictions for
Nationals? What will dominate?
Kris [12:39 AM]: Well, Warrior/Chaos was the cookie
cutter during the last ban…and with CO taking the LA
SJC with Zombie/Chaos, I think that will inspire a
lot of net-deckers, enough to make that the new
cookie cutter...but we've still got a few SJCs
between now and Nationals, and that's all it takes
to reshape the meta-game. I do expect, in any case,
"/Chaos" to be a part of the deck archetype that
wins it.
Bryan [12:40 AM]: lol I feel the same way.
Bryan [12:05 AM]: What direction do you see this
game going in; a good one or a bad one?
Kris [12:08 AM]: A good one, actually -- the Shonen
Jump Championships really lit a spark under this
game, convincing the 'n00bs' to try to turn
'pro'…which has made this game more competitive and,
frankly, fun.
Kris [12:10 AM]: I think we've still got plenty of
years of worthwhile game-play ahead.
Bryan [12:11 AM]: I agree, the competitiveness has
increased since Shonen Jump debuted a couple months
ago. Also, what do you mean by convinced? I think
newer players were initially intimidated by such
large scale events, why the sudden change?
Kris [12:17 AM]: Who knows…I mean, I think newer
players are getting into the game to get their names
on Metagame.com or something, as opposed to the vets
who didn't have that kind of original inspiration.
Maybe that's why I think there's a change from 'fun
competition' to 'serious competition', but I don't
think I can say for sure.
Bryan [12:19 AM]: K here's the big one...
Kris [12:20 AM]: Uh oh…
Bryan [12:20 AM]: Would you like to have cash prizes
offered at Regional events and National tournaments
as well as at Shonen Jump Championships?
Kris [12:24 AM]: Oh, well, that's an easy one --
most definitely. I've picked up VS on the side in
hopes one day I'll be really good at it, and
hopefully, make a couple of dollars off of it. Don't
get me wrong, laptops and uncut sheets are alright,
I guess, but money can go a long way to helping out,
say, someone looking at college in the near future…
Bryan [12:25 AM]: No need to be modest lol, you're
telling me that college comes to mind first when you
think of a prize of $5,000?
Bryan [12:25 AM]: We're not here to be politically
correct ;-)
Kris [12:26 AM]: WELL.... I'm sure SOME money would
go to college…:-D
Bryan [12:26 AM]: lol
Bryan [12:26 AM]: nuff said…
Kris [12:26 AM]: lol
Bryan [12:26 AM]: k last question for the
interview...
Kris [12:26 AM]: Dun dun dun...
Bryan [12:27 AM]: Do you have any advice for
newcomers and beginners looking to bring their game
to the next level?
Kris [12:32 AM]: Actually, I do… (To anyone that
reads this who IS a newcomer, I have this to say to
you…) Know what you're getting into -- the game has
a way of making you commit to it. Just don't forget
to smell the roses every now and then.
Bryan [12:34 AM]: Interesting advice Kris.
Kris [12:35 AM]: I just tried to think of what I
wish someone would've told me when I first got into
the game…
Bryan [12:36 AM]: morbid...
Bryan [12:36 AM]: lol
Bryan [12:36 AM]: But true nonetheless.
Kris [12:36 AM]: lol
Bryan [12:37 AM]: well Kris, despite all the IM tag
we had to play we've finally finished, it was a fun
interview and I learned a lot from you as a player.
As serious as you take this game I would expect
nothing less than a great match from you when we
play at Nationals this year.
Kris [12:38 AM]: Oh... most definitely… I wouldn't
expect anything less then sweat beads on my forehead
during that awaited match.
Kris [12:38 AM]: I enjoyed the interview, and I look
forward to reading what other interviewee's have to
say…in fact, I think YOU should be interviewed one
day.
Bryan [12:39 AM]: Me? Interviewed?
Bryan [12:39 AM]: :) I guess I can find somebody to
do that.
Kris [12:39 AM]: Well, you dip into the pool that is
the psyche of other duelists, I think it's only fair
they do the same to you.
Bryan [12:40 AM]: lol it's only fair huh? We'll see
about that, I'll leave it up to the readers to
decide.
That’s Kris Perovic everyone; a very serious player
with an extremely competitive nature. These are the
type of guys you watch out for at major events
because they will be winning almost all of the time.
Don’t let yourself get caught off guard because Kris
will catch you and capitalize on your slip-ups. He’s
got a lot of insight on the game, as mentioned, and
his words come from an extensive experience in the
game.
If you would like to read more about his opinions I
encourage you to go read www.militate.com. It’s a
forums site with members from all over the country
speaking their minds about everything involving
YuGiOh and anything else you may want to talk about.
Also, you will find him there and his teammates from
Team Overdose. As this game gets more serious higher
quality teams are beginning to put up on the map, be
sure to watch out for any well-known teams at any
large-scale events; make sure you bring you’re
A-Game with you or you’re going to be sent home
packing.
That’s it for the interview; how did you like it?
Email me with your opinions and we’ll talk about it.
Until next time everyone, remember to practice, stay
focused, and most importantly…have fun!
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