• Pojo Home Page
  
• Message Board
  
• Contact Staff
  

Three Time Shonen Jump Winner
John Jenson
By Tony Mera
6.11.07
 

Mera: What's your name? Jensen: John Jensen Mera: Where do you live? Jensen: Coral Springs , FL Mera: How old are you? Jensen: 18 Mera: What made you start up Yu-Gi-Oh? Jensen: I watched the anime when it first came out, then I wanted to know if there was a card game, then I was hooked Mera: Can you tell us your credentials you achieved in this game? Jensen: I am Co-Champ Orlando SJC 2005, 1st place in Atlanta SJC 2005, 1st place in Indianapolis SJC 2006, and 2nd place in Boston SJC 2006. I also was qualified for 04-07. Mera:What team are you on? Jensen: Team NeXus Mera: How did team NeXus come together? Jensen: We were at our friends house, and we saw Team Comic Odyssey and Team Savage on Metagame and we saw how it would be a good idea, if a bunch of us would create a team to travel to events and to just have a good time. Mera: Can you explain the success of your team? Jensen: We always won the local tournaments we attended and the Regional Qualifiers and we felt confident we can also be an impact on the National Level if we were just able to travel. Once we traveled and earned respect on our accomplishments, It felt really nice to be part of something that you know is doing well. Mera:How many members does NeXus currently have? Jensen: 15 members are currently on Nexus. Mera: Who from your team will be representing Team NeXus at Nationals? Jensen: All of us, besides Miguel because he couldn't make it to any regionals. He had to work a lot, which kind of sucks. He would of been attending nationals with us. Mera: What do you plan on accomplishing this year? Jensen: To get my Worlds invite and hopefully another SJC win. My main goal is to win Nationals. Mera: Does NeXus plan on team battling with any teams at Nationals? Jensen: None as of yet, but who know until we actually get their. Maybe will have a team battle against Overdose. Mera: That would be a great team battle. Jensen: Yeah. Mera: What are your views on the current banned list? Jensen: I feel that the bringing back of Snatch Steal and banning Breaker was terrible, plus limiting Mind Crush to one and semi-limiting Meta was also big mistake. They made OTK's better which is really not that good. They should of brought Scapegoats to 2 and I'm kind of missing Chaos. I feel their the only way to punish over-extenders that use Monarchs. Mera: Who do you think is the best team? Jensen: I think Overdose has the most success so far because they can get a lot of their members to the SJC's in which most other teams can't. They have a lot of power hitters on their team, such as Emon and Anthony which makes their team really good. Mera: Has this game changed you in any way? Jensen: The game really hasn't changed me at all, but it had boasted my spirit, because now I know that I'm really good at TCG's. Plus the money that I get off this game from the SJC's is nice too. Mera: How much have you made off Yu-Gi-Oh? Jensen: 3 Laptops, $6,000, and a bunch of cards. Mera: Wow, that's really good. Do you have anything to say, to the people who say you can't be a Professional in Yu-Gi-Oh, because you can't make that much money off it? Jensen: I would say you could be a Professional in Yu-Gi-Oh, you just need to practice really hard to try to be consist at major events. I'll take T for example, he is a Pro at the game because he has Top 8'ed a whopping 8 times and won numerous prizes and won 2004 Nationals. The key to being a pro is to be consistent. Mera: What was your best Sjc experience? Jensen: My favorite tournament experience will have to be Orlando SJC. It was my 2nd major tournament (First Nationals 2004) and I was doing really well and all my friends were there supporting me. I knew most of the players in the Top 8. I reached the Finals and I had to face a friend, Andrew Fredella. We decided to Prize split top 2 meaning there was no Champion to that SJC but we played out a game for fun to see who would have their picture taken with the card and so Metagame.com could have a Finals match-up to write about. Both Andrew and I both consider ourselves to be Co-Champions instead of No Champion, even though he was the one that got credit for it on Metagame. Mera: What was your favorite feature match? Is it the one where you beat Brent Yetter in the finals with a nice cyber dragon? Jensen: LMAO. I felt bad in that one, luck sacking him. Mera: Yeah, that was broken. Jensen: Well, I would say another funny one was when at the Boston SJC. When I faced Robert Ackerman and game 2, he went first and just ended his turn. I was confused and drew for my turn and found cyber stein and Ring in my hand. That was my easiest match because all I did was summon stein, pay for twink, attack and attack, then ring for game. I found that one funny. Mera: Was Ackerman upset? Jensen: Well the thing is, if he would of just set one card as a bluff I wouldn't of summoned the stein, and won. In fact he would of won because he had the OTK in his hand at the time but couldn't attack because he went first. So if he would of set anything he would of won. That's why I was surprised, because he didn't want to bluff. I believe he had Cyber Dragon, Cyber Stein, Last Will, Heavy Storm, and Exiled Force. He should of just set his stein because he was just going to wipe the field next turn anyways for the win. He already had another Stein in his deck he could of searched out with last will. So basically he had the game. Mera: Yeah that was bad for Ackerman. Jensen: I told him after the match that he should of bluffed but he still said he still like his play. What ever floats his boat. Mera: Can you explain to everyone how you do so good? Jensen: I stick to the decks that suite my playstyle. I DO NOT net-deck because most of the time when someone who net-decks, they are using an aggro deck when their play style is conservative or vice-versa. And you have to know how to change up your game a little bit against certain players too. Mera: How do you prepare for events that make you so prepared and ready unlike many others? Jensen: Me and my teammates pratice against all the current decks that are being played in the meta and find certain weaknesses against it. Mera: Can you tell us about your self outside of Yu-Gi-Oh? Jensen: Well, right now I have kind of a boring life. I just finished High School and about to start college in the Fall. I've been working at PetSuperMarket for the past 2 painful years because. I need another source of money. My friend got me hooked to playing World of Warcraft (WoW) and I'm regretting playing it, because it takes up my life. LMAO. And I chill with my friends all weekend. Mera: What is your favorite thing about Yu-Gi-Oh? Jensen: Meeting new people at events and hanging out with friends I haven't seen in awhile. Mera: Who is your favorite player in Yu-Gi-Oh and why? Jensen: My favorite Yu-Gi-Oh player would have to be Jae Kim because the guy is a clown in real life. He's fun to hang around with and how he tells you his story's and how someone just sack'ed the hell out of him in the weirdest ways. Plus he's a great deck builder and player too. Just waiting for him to win an SJC already. Mera: How long do you plan on still playing this game? Jensen: As long as I could hopefully. I like this game a lot, and I get to chill with my friends too. Mera: Do you have any advice to new players, and to players who are trying to get to the next level to be just like you? Jensen: I would try to create a meta-breaking deck and do really well with it, that would probably be your best bet to becoming known player. Just keep on playing the game, practice makes perfect, and the more you practice playing the game, the better you'll become. That is how i did it. Mera: Anything else you would like to say? Jensen: Team NeXus is sponsored by Ultra Pro and B.R.A.D.'s Sportscards & Collectibles. Rich Brody and his wife Denise Brody, the owners of B.R.A.D.'s have been willing to sponsor us and allow us to maintain full control of our team; in return, we have given Rich a vote whenever we hold our team meetings. Our team votes on any major thing that will affect the team and by giving our sponsor a vote also he can contribute to the overall success of the team. Also, Through Rich we were able to acquire Ultra Pro as sponsors. This definitely lightens the load whenever we need supplies or when we travel. Rich has a lot of things planned to help out our team. During Hurricane Wilma when Most of South Florida was without electricity the Brodys still had power. They attempted to contact the entire team to offer us to stay with them until we each got power back. We don't consider Rich and Denise sponsors; they are more like family, friends and honorary team members. Expect to see Team NeXus at more events