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Before the interview begins I like to thank Pojo for
taking his time out of his busy schedule to put this
on the main website.
Pojo Screen Name:
http://www.pojo.biz/board/member.php?u=1639
Ally: First of all I like
to than you for taking your time out of your busy
schedule to help me do this interview. For my first
question what is your full name?
Chris:
Chris "WangPirate" SoRelle. Everyone just calls me
Wang at events though. It's just stuck over time.
Ally:
Ok, that's a very interesting nickname. I'm afraid
to ask why :P. Um next question, how old are you and
where do you live?
Chris:
I’m 17 and I live in Houston, Texas.
Chris: And actually, I had to explain the back story
to my name just yesterday to Ricky.
Chris: To make a long story short, it was a joke
account, and people started recognizing me more by
this name than others, so it just kind of stuck.
Ally:
Oh ok haha. How old were you when you first started
playing Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Chris:
Oh wow... I was probably around 13 when I first
started playing.
Chris: Runnin’ four years strong now, and I can't
believe I've played this long.
Ally:
Wow that was a long time ago lol. How old were you
when you topped 8 your first regional?
Chris:
I had just turned 16, My first top 8 was in October
of 06’. For most of the time before then I wasn't
really that great of a player to be honest.
Chris: I actually didn't consider myself a good
player as much as I might have stated so on forums
for a LONG time.
Ally:
Eh, matter of opinion really. What deck, regional,
and format were you playing when you first topped 8?
Chris:
It was just a standard warrior toolbox in the
October 06’ format. David Simon had helped me build
the deck the night before the event, and I never
really had a chance to play test it much.
Chris: Speaking of David, shout out to him, because
he's one of the best players this game has ever
seen; but nobody seems to remember him =p.
Ally:
oOo I see. Was he like a role model to you in
anyways?
Chris:
Not really; I don't really look up to many people in
this game. I'm not trying to be arrogant or
anything, but that's just the way I see it. David
has always been one of my best friends though; I
still talk to him on a daily basis.
Ally:
That’s still good! Anyways just to make sure you
said you topped 8 with a warrior toolbox deck right?
Chris: Yeah, but I've had many more regional top 8's
since then. That was just the first of many.
Ally:
Was that regional top 8 a "boost" to do better in
this game for you?
Chris:
I don't think it was much of a boost to do better
for me, it was more of a confirmation that I could
be as good as I thought I was.
Chris: The biggest "boost" I've had in this game to
get better has had to be Jae Kim.
Chris: I met Jae at the 05’ Houston SJC. We started
talking online afterwards, and that summer we tested
TONS for nationals. I'm talkin’ like running five or
six matches at a time MINIMUM.
Chris: Then changing decks and running more and more
matches. We would get in so many sets a day that it
would be ridiculous.
Chris: Before every big event, both of us would just
play test tons with each other to make sure we got
everything perfect. Through all of this play
testing, Jae helped me learn almost everything I
know about this game. He's also another one of my
really good friends that I've met through this game.
Defiantly the biggest boost I've ever had.
Ally:
Thats amazing! Whoops! I almost forgot his question,
you did get your invite that day the first time you
topped eight?
Chris:
Oh yeah.
Chris:
I've actually won every regional I've top 8'd in,
except one where I scooped in the top 8 so another
guy could get his invite.
Ally:
That’s great! A lot of accomplishments I see you got
goin’ there. Speaking of accomplishments, please
tell the Pojo readers a little bit about them. Like
what are some of your credentials?
Chris:
I'm on Team Hpnotiq (HPQ REPPIN BABY!!), and I've
got multiple regional top 8'd and wins. I top 8'd
SJC Houston 07’, which was only my fourth big event
ever. I went x-2 at USA Nationals 06’ and SJC
Houston 05’. I've only scrubbed at one SJC, which
was Arlington, but a deck I helped make (the one
Jake Mcnealy used), got 2nd at the event, and we
both ran it; so I was satisfied with that.
Chris: Though lots of the players out there might
not know me, I'm widely known for being one of the
best internet players in the game.
Chris: I've been on online teams with players like
Max Suffridge, Matt Peddle, Dale Bellido, Kyle
Duncan, Wilson Luc, Dwayne Nunez, Kris Perovic,
Anthony Alvarado, and TONS of other top tier players
that everyone knows of.
Ally:
Wow that’s a lot of online teams O.O, but we will
come back to that shortly. First, please tell us a
bit about your team.
Chris:
Oh man Team Hpnotiq! What more is there to say? We
party hard the night before every event and they're
some of the best players out there. Most of us have
top 8'd SJCs before.
Chris: I don't think we get the recognition we
really deserve but then again we don't get out of
Texas too often because most of us are still in
school and have other priorities in life.
Chris: We placed three people in the top 16 at the
most recent Houston SJC, those 3 being Myself, Brad
Poth, and Harry Anderson.
Chris: All 8 of us should be at nationals this year,
barring some stupid event happening. Expect a HUGE
showing from us because we've all got a few tricks
up our sleeves ;].
Chris: We're also open to lots of team wars, time
providing, and playing for cash or cards. We love to
gamble.
Chris: We're easily the next big thing in Yu-Gi-Oh!,
and we hope to prove that in the upcoming months.
Chris:
full roster and info, we have a page in the team
section of the pojo forums. All questions and
comments can be said there :].
Chris:
AND WE ARE THE BEST TEAM IN NORTH AMERICA!! HAR HAR
HAR TAKE THAT SPICER!!!
Ally: Well good luck with
that! You mentioned team wars in one of your
previous comments. Have your team ever teamed war
people and won?
Chris: I
personally have never team warred at all, minus the
online wars. So I'm really looking forward to
getting in on some action soon.
Chris:
I should probably start calling myself "The Broom"
soon since I'll be sweeping everyone. Just joking
lol ;]
Ally:
I'll make sure I bring the dust pan. You mentioned
you wanted to get a team war active soon. With which
team do you and your team want to war?
Chris:
You defiantly had to ask this one didn't you? Haha.
Ally:
Yes I did so :P.
Chris:
Well, lately there's been TONS of talk of a war
between Team Outphase and us.
Chris: Lots of... naughty words have been exchanged,
egos have flared, and theres been a considerable
amount of hype around this.
Chris: Of course I'm not going to claim innocence on
our part; we've done our fair share of the above
mentioned along with trash talking.
Chris: They have "beaten" us before. By "beaten" I
mean they played us in a 4v4 with 2 of our main
players playing and 2 more that don't play too often
against 4 of their main players.
Chris: They say they beat us, and we don't deserve
another chance. We say we didn't have our full
roster in use. Of course, I wasn't on HPQ at the
time that all of this took place, so I didn't care
about it all until now.
Chris: Though it really does frustrate me to be a
main part of my team and hear other people yell and
talk about how they've already beaten us before;
especially, since I didn't have anything to do with
the war at all.
Chris: No disrespect to Outphase though; they know
that I love all of them and that they're on really
chill guys.
Chris: But yeah, I think there's going to be a team
war between us at nationals this year, so there's a
little something for all the fans to look forward to
=p.
Ally:
All is fair in love and war and when I mean by love
I meant friendship ;x. Good luck with the team war
and may the best team win and when I mean best I
mean HPQ ;). Back towards the beginning of the
interview you topped 16 Houston SJ this year and
then you topped 8. How did both of those
accomplishments feel?
Chris:
They felt AMAZING. Reaaaaally amazing....There's not
much else to describe about it haha.
Chris:
I mean I've been working at top 8'ing and winning
major events since I've been in this game you know?
Chris: So to finally get my name out there like that
is really a load off my shoulders.
Chris: Props to Dale Bellido for the deck I used
though.
Chris: It was his deck and I made some personal
changes to it. Oh, and props to Kris Perovic too...
he'd kill me if I didn't give him any, because he
made a last minute fix for me that worked out great.
Ally:
I bet it is and lol we don't want you dead right in
the middle of the interview. Can you describe the
deck you ran in Houston SJ Please?
Chris:
Emon, and I both had the same idea before the jump.
We both went very different ways with it though.
Chris: My deck was mostly aimed to simply take
advantage of the conservative plays that most people
make.
Chris: With such an aggressive deck and so many
cards that can't be hurt by defensive traps, for the
most part it worked out amazing.
Chris: Matt Peddle wrote a VERY in depth article
about my deck on
metagame.com under his champions section.
Chris: If you want to get a better look at the idea
and concept, I suggest you check it out.
Ally:
Alright, I forgot to ask who is on your team?
Chris:
Chris SoRelle (me), James Naughton, Harry Anderson,
Brad Poth, Russell Jessen, Ryan Cerda, Kyle Fisher
and Brandon Crutchfield.
Ally:
Very impressive team you have there. On a different
subject, what do you think of the current banned
list?
Chris:
The current banned list isn't bad at all, even
though ring and snatch are unbalanced cards. I don't
think they are THAT bad. There will always be
unbalanced cards in this game.
Chris: The thing I have the biggest concern with is
the amount of OTK's in the metagame
Chris: I think it's terrible for the game as a
whole.
Chris: Even when siding, you're basically just
hoping you can draw card X or card Y before a
certain combo goes off and you lose.
Chris: I wish they would update it more often with
smaller changes but the list itself is fine for now.
Ally:
Eh I guess it is. I just wish they stop adding more
cards and taking off less cards. What you think of
that?
Chris:
I think you're right; it limits the amount of cards
that can be played.
Chris: But also, if they continue the way they're
doing things, I wish more playable cards would be
made.
Chris: Nothing ridiculously broken, just cards that
can actually compete in todays metagame instead of
the usual trash we get.
Ally:
Do you consider Samurai Decks Good?
Chris:
Haha... I probably know why you asked this, but I'm
not gonna ask.
Chris: No, I don't consider them good at all.
Chris: I think they're absolutely atrocious.
Chris: From what I've tested so far through a few
samurai builds I just despise the way the play and
how draw dependent they really are.
Chris: I don't think they're consistent enough to
ever win a major event, and I consider the deck very
lucky to even top 16 one.
Ally:
What if I told you two sets from now (after Force Of
The Breaker and Tactical Evolution) in Gladiators
Assault there was more Samurai support and it was
GOOD would you have a different opinion?
Chris:
If it was good... maybe.
Chris: But for now, I think they're trash.
Chris: My opinion is always subject to change based
on what’s going to happen in the future though.
Ally:
Ok, I see. What do you think of this if there was
two of each of the following cards for the next
banned list: 2x Torrential Tributes, 2x Mirror
Forces, 2x Scapegoats, and 2x Swords Of Revealing
Light. I been seeing many made-up banned list like
this so what’s your views on it.
Chris:
More Torrential and Mirror Force would be pretty
bad; we don't need more mass removal. Too much would
make it to where just anyone can play them, too
little would make it to where you can overextend
every turn; I think that's fine where it is.
Chris: I don't see a single reason for goats to not
be back at 3.
Chris: Swords doesn't need to be at 2 at all. We
have Steelcage, G-bind and LLAB. Tons of stall is
already there.
Chris: So if those changes were on the list, I would
think they were terrible, except the goats, which
should be at 3.
Ally:
I see. What do you want to see put on the banned
list and if you had to take one card off the banned
list what would it be and why?
Chris:
I'd like to see Snatch put back on the banned list.
It can turn the tide of a game way too easy. Plus we
have brain control.
Chris: If I could take one card off it would
probably be Time Seal.
Chris: That card shouldn't be banned at all, not to
mention its one of my favorite cards out there.
Chris: With Tsuki banned, it's nowhere near ban
worthy.
Ally:
What about getting it back with Mask Of Darkness?
Chris:
Even with mask at 2, Time seal isn't broken at all.
Chris: I just really don't see a point of it being
banned with tsuki banned as well.
Ally:
Hm, Konami doesn't like all those locks, OTKs, and
FTKs that’s one of the reasons why. Whats a more
annoying game ender: Ring of Destruction Or Snatch
Steal?
Chris:
Ring has more of a potential to be a game ender.
Chris: But the more annoying one to me is snatch.
Chris: No real reason why, I just hate losing to
snatch.
Ally:
I can name one reason most probably, because when
people are about to lose and they top deck it and
snatch steal your monster and then your opponent
wins with it. Well to me that’s an annoying game
ender. Do you play any other card games other then
Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Chris:
I don't play any other TCGs. I'm an avid poker
player though. I play online and in real life tons
for all sorts of stakes. Speaking of playing cards,
I'm also getting into learning how to do magic
tricks! It's exciting.
Ally:
oOo with cards or other items?
Chris:
I'm starting off with cards for now. If I enjoy it
enough, I'll move on to actually trying to learn
real tricks haha.
Ally:
That is great! What are your future goals regarding
Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Chris:
I'm looking forward to attending a few events this
summer that are mainly Nationals and SJC Indy. After
that I really have no clue; only time will tell.
Ally:
I wish you the best of luck in Nationals and sadly
the interview is almost over :<. What advice can you
give to any new player that is now starting
Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Chris:
Thanks for the interview. To all new players, the
best advice I can ever give you is to just play A
LOT with players that are better than you as much as
you can. It's the only way to get better.
Chris: I'd like to give a shout out to everyone I
know personally, but it would take up a lot of space
haha; so if I know you SHOUT OUT TO YOU!
Ally:
Thanks for the interview Chris! Well since you
already gave a shout out is there anything else you
like to say for a closing statement?
Chris:
Hrm.
Chris:
Yes.
Chris: WE'RE GONNA GET IT BACK!
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