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Before we begin I'd like to thank
Pojo for putting this up for me!
Tomas' Pojo Screen Name:
http://www.pojo.biz/board/member.php?u=50444
Ally:
Let's get
started! What is your name?
Tomas:
Tomas D.
Mijares
Ally:
How old were you when you top 8ed San Jose 2006 for
the first time?
Tomas: 16.
Tomas:
At Shonen Jump San
Jose, was my first non LCR top 8.
Ally: What deck were you running at
the SJC?
Tomas: Chain Burn, which I give the
credit for the main deck to Raymond Ye of Team Junky
Spot.
Ally:
Why would
you give credit to Raymond?
Tomas: Well, I noticed that Shonen
Jump San Jose was coming up, and I just came off of
a Vs System Pro Circuit Day 2, and I was looking to
play at the Shonen Jump. I had a fun idea that I
wanted to play Exodia burn at the SJC, but then
people told me he had a burn deck that was good, and
he showed me the main deck, and then we proceeded to
make the side deck.
Tomas: So at the SJC he let me borrow
the deck, and said I should be able to top 8 with it
because people wouldn't be ready for it, and luckily
I did.
Ally:
Can you
give me the basic concept behind the deck you ran at
SJC San Jose?
Tomas: It was a speed burn deck,
which utilized a new card at the time, Chain Strike,
with many spells and chainable traps to make Chain
Strike do some big damage. Also I had monsters for
stability and more damage and some defense. Morphing
Jar was a key monster in the deck and Lava Golem as
well as those two cards clinched many matches for
me. Mecha Dog Marron won me my round 9 match which
got me into top 8. Although I did play many
defensive traps with 3 Threatening roar, 3 Waboku
and 2 Thunder of Ruler, I was still able to do a lot
of damage with the variety of burn cards I played.
Ally:
I see. How
consistent was your deck?
Tomas: It was consistent enough to go
8-1 in Swiss, though a lot of my games ended with
both me and my opponent with 1000 life points or
less.
Ally:
Were there
times you thought you never win but came back and
won anyways at the Jump?
Tomas: Yes, in round 7 against Ryan
Hayakawa, in game 2, he had 2 monarchs on the field,
I had Threatening Roar face down and a Dimension
Wall, and I topdecked a Dimension Wall and set it.
He attacked with both monarchs and I was able to use
both for game. If I didn’t draw the other Wall, I
don’t know if that last Threatening would have saved
me the next turn. Ryan played great though, he got
close to winning that game 2.
Tomas: I guess his teammate
Mario Matheu got revenge for him when he beat me in
the featured match in top 8.
Ally: Ouch.
Ally:
What you
think about the limitation of Chain Strike in this
format?
Ally: And
how badly did it hurt your deck?
Tomas: It hinders the Chain Burn deck
for sure, it was a powerful card and especially when
you could chain a Chain Strike to another Chain
Strike it created so much damage, but it hurts other
builds than the one I ran. I only ran 2 of them and
losing 1 isn’t as devastating as 2 in the other
versions that were out there.
Ally:
That
stinks for you! Were you mad when Chain Strike was
limited to one?
Tomas: Yes, it's not always great to
see a card get such little playtime and then hit the
restricted list. Well, I guess the same can be said
for Neo-Spacian Grand Mole which saw pretty much no
play except at the prereleases and then it was at 1.
Ally:
I know and
it stunk too when that happened. Tell me though why
you decided to side Gate Guardian in your side deck.
Tomas: Well funny story about the
Gate Guardian, I met up with friends at a store when
I was playing Vs System, and one of the kids there
had a Gate Guardian and he gave it to me when I
asked for it because when I stopped playing Yu-Gi-Oh
before I went to Vs System I traded all my Yu-Gi-Oh
away for Vs System cards. So that was the only card
that was really mine, and because I went to the SJC
just to have fun, I told Raymond Ye that I was going
to side deck Gate Guardian just in case because it
would be really cool to be the only one to ever top
8 a SJC with it in my side. I was able to and it
stands that I am the only person in SJC history to
side deck Gate Guardian in a SJC. It was also a way
to prove to myself that I was all about fun, because
that Gate Guardian could've been another better side
decked card.
Ally:
I like
your attitude about this game because you don't take
it all seriously. You like to have fun as well which
some people don't know the definition of "fun" in
Yu-Gi-Oh! Is there a time where you thought
Yu-Gi-Oh! wasn't about fun but about "Serious
Business"?
Tomas: Yes, this was before I got
into Vs System, I had a few x-2's and always wanted
to get into top 8 in a regional and qualify. I was
really serious at those times, and got close but
never into top 8. After so long in a serious game Vs
System, it was good to have just fun in Yu-Gi-Oh!
again, and it was fun, even when I made mistakes I
was having fun. For some players, Top 8 at the time,
now Top 16 is all they cared about and my carefree
and fun tactics helped me not have to feel any
pressure like other would because I was there to
have some fun, and I had more fun than I ever
thought I would.
Ally:
That’s
great! I'm glad you learned something out of all
your experiences. Besides top 8ing San Jose what was
the best YGO! experience of your life?
Tomas: Well it was two things at that
Shonen Jump that made my Yu-Gi-Oh Experience great.
I have another story about it. The day before I went
to the SJC, I talked to my good friend Jae Kim and I
asked him what he wanted for Christmas, as Christmas
was only a couple of weeks away, and he replied to
me, for Tomas to Top 8. At the SJC we talked more
and I kept updating him on how I was doing, and
after I believe round 6 he was hanging out with Evan
Vargas and Adam Corn and I told him I’m trying to
get him his present. Adam said to me "You can't try
to get someone a present, it's either you do or you
don't." So I said I will get him the present and I
was able to in the end.
Tomas: The other one would be that
final round of swiss, which got me into top 8
because my sister is currently in Iraq, and when I
woke up that morning I told myself I would top 8 for
her because I’m proud of her for fighting the war in
Iraq and I want her to be proud of me as well. So
when that game 3 ended with me doing exactly 6600
LPs to bring my opponent to zero I screamed out and
I looked up to the sky and said this is for you,
thinking about my sister and I was just really happy
knowing I achieved my goals of the SJC, which was to
Top 8 for my sister and give Jae Kim what he wanted
from me for Christmas.
Ally:
That’s
amazing! Not many wishes like that come true like
yours did; that was a real blessing.
Ally: What team are you on currently?
Tomas: The Syndicate.
Ally: Who is on the team?
Tomas:
http://www.pojo.biz/board/showthread.php?t=362930
Tomas: lol they are there, I didn’t
wanna list them all, I know it's gonna take you some
time to copy and paste but the team is there =] lol.
Ally: Have you and your team been in
any team battles?
Tomas: I recently joined the team, so
I haven’t been in any since I joined.
Ally: What’s it like being on The
Syndicate?
Tomas: It's really good, my teammates
and I talk quite a bit and many of us will be going
to SJC Anaheim. There are so many ideas we have and
we try to incorporate them and we all help out each
other with decks and whatnot. I'm happy I joined The
Syndicate
Ally: That’s great! Random question
time! What’s your favorite drink ^_^?
Tomas: I would have to say the Jolly
Rancher drinks I make, I won't tell the secrets but
I was able to use chemistry to make them. I had many
of my friends try it and they all like it, it's
probably my favorite drink (cherry flavor rocks).
Ally:
Um ok
that’s a new one to me XD. Anyways! Do you have any
helpful tips for the new duelist out there?
Tomas: That just go out there and
have fun, everyone starts off and though you may not
be good right off the bat, a lot of practice and
patience with this game and you can learn to play
better and make better decisions. Winning isn't
always everything, as this is a game, have fun and
if you win that's a plus. Never give up in matches,
one card can change the game so don’t give up hope.
Ally:
Nice.
Thank you for your time Tomas! Would you like to
make a closing statement?
Tomas: My closing statement would be:
This is a game, it isn't always all business, go out
there and have some fun, try out ideas and if they
work then your time was well spent and if not go
back to the drawing board, you never know when
you're gonna come up with the next best thing in
this game. I wish good luck to all duelists out
there in any event they play in. Also that I have
major respect for those in the armed forces fighting
overseas and if you have a loved one out there
fighting I hope that they return home safely.
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