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Welcome back to DeathJester’s Dojo.
This week I’m interviewing Douglas from
Queens, NY. I hear
he’s an excellent player in his metagame and he has
quite a bit on insight on the game along with
information about his experiences. You’d do well to
read what he has to say. Without further delay…here
is the interview. Enjoy!
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DeathJester: What's
your full name?
Douglas: middle
too?
DeathJester: yes
sir
Douglas: Douglas
DeathJester: how
old are you Doug?
Douglas: 16
DeathJester: Where
do you live currently?
Douglas: Queens
Douglas: NY
DeathJester: Really?
That’s cool, I was born in Queens.
Douglas: 
DeathJester: nice
to meet a fellow New Yorker lol
Douglas: yup
DeathJester: Alright,
now tell me Doug...what is your current Rank in YGO
constructed in New York?
Douglas: 12th
DeathJester: Wow
that’s not bad at all.
Douglas (9:40:55 PM): Its
ok…could be much higher; if
I played in a sanctioned tourney every week like
some others.
DeathJester: Lol,
yea I hear you. So give me a run down of your
tournament credentials (Top 8s at Regionals, Top 4s
at Regionals, etc)
Douglas: Three
Top 8s and One Top 9 lol. Of
the Top 8s I
got Top 4 twice; 5th
the other time. Of the two Top 4, I
won both times.
The Top 9 happened
because of tiebreakers, lol.
DeathJester: That's
pretty impressive. Is that all in this season?
Douglas: No,
it’s over time.
DeathJester: When
did you start playing YGO?
Douglas: Before
Metal Raiders,
I think that’s rather
early.
DeathJester: Go
figure, that’s around the same time I started lol.
Douglas: My
friends
got the starters and stuff and
started out playing.
I decided to pick up the Yugi starter and
played about 20 games against my friend’s
Beast-Warrior/Sogen deck. I
lost them all; I was discouraged especially when we
switched decks and he beat me then too!
DeathJester: Lol
Douglas:
I practiced and what not, got better cards and started
playing in locals after
a few months.
DeathJester: Cool,
cool.
Douglas (10:10:17 PM):
Then, H
Team or Team Hurricane was created. The
store we used to play at was Hurricane Collectibles.
DeathJester: Nice
name.
DeathJester: Tell
me a little bit more about your team, how many
members do you have and what are your goals as a
team?
Douglas: We
have nine players on our team right now. Most
important team goals are to have fun, get some top
8's, get qualifications, fairly standard stuff. I
think the thing that sets the team apart is how long
we have played and tested together.
DeathJester: How
long have you guys been a team?
Douglas: For
two and a half years. We
first started to click at the original place we
played, but
then we branched out and started playing at other
stores, and picked up a few more members.
DeathJester: Which
leads you to your 9 members in total correct?
Douglas: Yes,
would you like their names?
DeathJester: Yes
definitely, I was just about to ask lol.
Douglas: Kenny
Chang, Joe Arecchia, David
Datashvili,
George, Ethan Nardone, John Ryding, Ian Ryding,
Allen Lin
DeathJester: What
style of deck are you most accustomed to? (Aggro,
Aggro/Control, Control, Combo?)
Douglas: Definitely
Control-oriented decks
DeathJester: Any
particular reason why?
Douglas: I
feel like straight Aggro back in the day was rather
luck based. It
was like throw out Gemini Elf and “HAH! My monster
is bigger!” It
was like 1900 vanilla vs. 1900 vanilla.
Of course Aggro has changed, but the idea of
throwing out a beat-stick seems ridiculous to me. Control
cares more about card advantage; it’s more about
choosing when to attack, not using every single
battle phase religiously. Control can generate a
lock and it uses some effects to generate advantage,
but whatever it is about Control, it’s not SIMPLE.
For example: Bash
your face in, my turn I drop a bigger monster etc. That
is sort of why i like battle searchers so much.
DeathJester: In
your opinion, what deck is the favorite to win at
SJC Orlando?
Douglas: I
hear that Florida is a bit more Aggro based.
DeathJester: It
is.
Douglas: If
that’s the case, I think
definitely a hybrid of Soul Control with Flip Flop will
have a huge impact. Flip-Effect oriented decks will
do better than Warrior Toolbox and such. No
doubt though, a good part of the field will stick
with what they know; Toolbox.
DeathJester: You
may be right, but I think that the Aggro variants in
this format are much faster than the Control
decks. Anyone running a pair of Brain Control will
probably do very well.
Douglas: Well,
they may be faster, but once you give the more
passive deck an opening, they will capitalize. However,
I agree that the Brain/Flip decks can drop a monarch. Aggro
can end the game faster.
DeathJester: That’s
true. Aggro has the ability to have a stronger
opening and keep the game in their favor.
Douglas (10:22:25 PM): I
suppose if you drop Cyber and a Reaper/Beat-stick.
You will indeed be ahead in board presence, but a
simple Sakuretsu Armor will actually set you worse
off.
DeathJester: Probably,
but a single clear and decisive shot at the LP is
all Aggro needs to secure the game in this format,
in my opinion.
Douglas: Well,
I can't argue that. If the more passive deck is
behind 3000-4000 LP, it is an uphill battle. Especially
if they don't have a combo or 2-for-1 play ready.
DeathJester: I
will level with you a bit, once Control it gets a
foot-hold on the game it will win. It’s mostly all
about how well the Control deck deals with Aggro's
early to mid-game.
Douglas: That
is usually the plan lol.
DeathJester: I'm
certainly anxious to see what wins. You don’t
usually find very many Aggro players in any place
but FL. This SJC should be very interesting.
Douglas: Yea,
to be honest, no one really goes more Aggro than
straight Toolbox here. Except
for Bazoo/Return, but that is seeing a decline in
play.
DeathJester: I
agree, Bazoo/Return a solid Aggro deck with really
nasty quick-kill capabilities.
Douglas: It
is.
DeathJester: Now,
have you taken a look at the new OCG Ban List?
Douglas: Yes,
I have.
DeathJester: What
are your opinions of it?
Douglas: I
find it rather troubling
DeathJester: What
do you think they could have done with it?
Douglas: There
were quite a few things that shouldn't carry over to
the North American list. In
Japan, people were playing Victory Dragon, abusing
Drop Off, and Time Seal, basically a totally
different metagame. Drop Off and Time Seal are not
even widely used by anyone but them. They are not
problem cards in our game.
Victory Dragon will also be a mistake to ban; it is
not a good idea to ban something as before it comes
out over here. A
Cyber Dragon restriction or semi would actually
impact our game. Other changes on the OCG list will
have no effect.
DeathJester: What
do you think UDE will do with the Ban List on our
end?
Douglas: I
truly believe Cyber Dragon wil be limited to 1. I
think Mirror Force may come back.
Treeborn Frog and Pot of Avarice will likely be
restricted to 1.
DeathJester: I
think so too. What about DDA?
Douglas: Ah
yes, Assailant. It
very well will be next on the chopping block.
DeathJester: lol, I
think it deserves to be limited to 1
Douglas: If
we look to the past to try to predict the future, it
likely will go down to 1, as Warrior Lady has. Maybe
it doesn't deserve the restriction as other cards
do, but it may inject a bit more of a sense of
originality and diversity into the game.
DeathJester: It
might.
Douglas: Toolbox
Warriors may actually have to search out something
else...It won't be the end of the world lol
DeathJester: lol
Douglas: Zombyra
might be looked at twice if
the person is determined to stick to Warriors.
Douglas: I
think reaper is also on the OCG list.
DeathJester: No
he's not.
Douglas: Not
at all?
DeathJester: Nope.
Douglas: Well,
he may warrant some
sort of restriction here if Tewart thinks it is
getting out of hand.
DeathJester:
Spirit reaper IS pretty damn good after all…
Douglas: Agreed
lol. I would say as of last month, pre-frog, it
was the defining card of the format; more
so than Cyber Dragon. That definitely says something
if we will all look
back and remember the era as Cyber AND Reaper, not
just Cyber.
DeathJester: How
will Treeborn affect the format, in your opinion?
Douglas: Greatly...
I feel it will single-handedly launch Brain
Control/Monarchs (I saw Brain rather than Soul
because Brain is used in multiples and more
frequently) into the most played archetype for a
couple weeks.
DeathJester: I
think Monarch Control will be stupid good with Frog
in the format.
Douglas:
I agree, it will be stupid good with the monarchs.
The popularity will explode much like the
Bazoo/Return.
DeathJester: Frog
kind of replaces Soul Exchange.
Douglas: In
a way, it does. It
also adds a HUGE new tool to Merchant Pot Turbo. I
feel like the card by itself will make people change
their decks to include it. To
be honest, there hasn't been a card like that, that
is splashable for quite a while.
DeathJester: It
is pretty splashable, but it conflicts with a lot of
the Spells and Traps we use right now.
Douglas: Sometimes
a card is made for a deck, but sometimes a card is
so good, a deck is made just to abuse it. Frog is
definitely the latter. I
feel like it is splashable for a couple of reasons: 1)
People are playing multiple Merchants. With
that, it could definitely bring back Metamorphosis.
DeathJester: if
it was ever unrestricted lol
Douglas: 2)
if it gets hit by a Reaper, it simply won't matter. Also,
it seems like it conflicts with Sakuretsu, but not
necessarily.
DeathJester: That
really depends on the opponent
Douglas: If
they don't summon and attack, then you don't really
need the frog to protect you. If
they do, then it’s kind of like an extra bonus.
DeathJester: You’re
right, good point. However, I think Sakuretsu and
Widespread might get replaced by chainable traps
instead to increase the reliability of Frog’s
Effect.
Douglas: They
WILL…in
a deck that is suited for the frog
DeathJester: True.
Douglas: But
people will splash it all around. That
card will probably fetch quite a lot at that event
lol.
DeathJester: I'd
say at least 10 dollars.
Douglas: For
the rare? It’s possible. It’s
sort of like Exarion just when it came out.
DeathJester: yea
lol
Douglas: 10
dollars for a rare is excessive, but it should have
been a higher rarity/
DeathJester: Yea
true, but I'm glad it was a Rare.
Douglas: I'm
not sure that is so great though. Morphing
reprint is like 15 bucks and
not easy at all to obtain now.
DeathJester: You’re
right, we'll see what happens
DeathJester: Well
Doug, that's all the questions I've got for you
today, thank you for participating in this
interview. I've learned a lot from your insight on
the game and I hope to see you at Nationals this
year
Douglas: Likewise,
I will be there, I hope to see you there. Thank you. Shout
out to Ratbox lol.
DeathJester: Alright
Doug lol, thanks again.
I would like to thank you again Doug
for your time and effort to conduct this interview.
I’ve learned a lot from your experience and your
insight. In my opinion, you’re a player that is
worth talking to. Watch out for Douglas at
Nationals 2006, I’m sure that he’ll do very well in
the next format.
Next week’s interview will feature
Aaron McNeely from Arlington Texas. If you are
interested in getting a spot my interview series,
read the criteria I set in my previous article:
“Burn/Stall: A New Type”.
Until next time everyone, remember to
think about your moves, play hard, and most
importantly…have fun!
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