Tolerance

I’ve been reading a bit too much of Edo’s essays and such, so this will probably sound quite a bit like he does. This is not, at all, taken from his essays, or from any other sources. It is, surprisingly from my own head.

Now, I used to write to Pojo quite often, and have unsuccessfully applied for a “job” rating the cards at the site. Of course, I would not call myself a professional, but I do know a good card when I see it. I also know the potential of a “bad” card, which is where tolerance kicks in. In the words of a Pojo card rater, not every monster can be an effect monster, and not every card can be good. This is completely true. What fun would the game be if every card was as good and broken as Raigeki, Harpie’s Feather Duster, Pot of Greed, Fiber Jar, etc.? It wouldn’t be very fun, that’s for sure.

Take Little Winguard, one of the cards that were rated last week. This card is actually quite a nifty little creature, as its effect allows you to switch it to defense mode at each of your End Phases. It was given, as its best rating in Constructed, 2/5, with an average of 1.45/5. That isn’t exactly a good rating. However, I’m pretty sure that you could make a deck out of this little guy. Equip cards, which are used less and less in the environment nowadays, could increase his ATK and DEF points. So you attack, switch to DEF, ATK, DEF, etc. Of course, this is best-case scenario, so I wouldn’t necessarily expect it to really happen. I like this card though…

Just a little earlier in the night, I was searching through old Top Tens, looking for the ones that I had sent in long ago. Little did I know, I was horrible at writing anything. And I thought I was such a big shot because I used detail. My experience in RPing has taught me differently. I read one of my Top Tens, and stopped searching for more. However, I did find a very enlightening article there.

This article included quite a bit of put-downs and insults, thrown vicariously at random people with whom the writer in question had a beef. As I read the list, I began to wonder that people could be this narrow-minded to believe that certain decks and certain cards were worse than others. In reality, it depends on who plays these certain decks and cards. No card, barring those broken cards mentioned before, is good on its own. Do you think that by putting Jinzo into a deck, all by his lonesome will win you a duel? I think that anyone would be joking if they said yes to that. You must create a deck around a card or a combo.

One of the decks put down in said article was the Thousand Eyes Restrict deck. Now this is a card that many people probably don’t remember all too well. I think they need to look it up, then. Go, I’ll wait. Back? All right then, let’s go. This deck can be very powerful when it has the correct cards to support it. You cannot just put this card into a deck with Relinquished and Thousand Eyes Sacrifice, and expect to win. I find Edo to be a master in Yu-Gi-Oh, and therefore I will cite him again. This is one of his favorite cards, which he does not keep a secret. There are different ways to bring this guy out, although I don’t quite know what all of them are. I do not play this deck, although some do. Those who play this deck in a religious sense, meaning that they treat it with care and update it constantly to make it quicker and more powerful, win tournaments with this deck.

Currently, I’m trying out a Lava Golem deck. In my eyes, Lava Golem is actually quite a weak card, outside of burn decks. In the deck that I have now, I summon Lava Golem using its effect, then try to either destroy it and send it to the Graveyard so that it can be revived, or I try to take it from the opponent. Both of these work wonder, although they each take 1000 LP from me each turn. It’s really nothing; comparatively with the 3000 points of damage I can deal to my opponent, not including other monsters I have on the field.

I personally treat every deck and every duelist with the respect that everyone should get. Just last week I got too cocky with my Exodia deck, filling my hand up with the pieces. I then lost my revival, search, etc. cards to get the last piece, and lost. My opponent was using outdated cards, such as Curse of Dragon, and some magic cards I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. After this match, however, I updated my deck. I made sure that it was quicker, and held more defensive cards to help me out a bit more. I also made sure to put more sacrifice-worthy cards into the deck, to get my Jinzo out onto the field.

Another thing I like to do while duel is to view my opponent’s cards, and see which effects, monsters, spells, and traps work for them. In doing this, I can utilize their ideas and strengthen my deck even further. For example, Drop-Off was a common card when it was released. I never thought that it would be worth a spot in my deck. However, after I sent one, two, or even three cards from my Deck to my Graveyard, it soon became apparent that this could be an asset. I was losing Draw Phases left, right and center, and later caused others to lose Draw Phases. This is a skill that few duelists have, and many overlook.

I would also like to talk about one of my favored cards, Injection Angel Lilly. This is an excellent card, as, for the small price of 2000 LP, you can increase her ATK strength by 3000 points, making the base-ATK strength of a Level 3 monster 3400 points. I’ve used this effect time and time again, sometimes mixing it with equip cards, such as Axe of Despair, to make this card a 4400 ATK strength Level 3 monster. I’ve also received a certain amount of criticism for liking this card so much. When people tell me in the message boards that IAL is the worst card out there, I feel quite sorry for them. Tolerance is a virtue. IAL is a nifty little card, and a deck can easily be built around her and other level 3 and below monsters. It is called the Gravity Bind Deck, with an IAL Twist. Of course, the purpose of this deck is to get IAL and Gravity Bind onto the field at the same time, so that she is able to do big damage quickly.

I also have my opinions of cards, such as the Twin-Headed Behemoth. I personally don’t see a point in it, but that does not make me automatically hate anyone that plays one. I do not think of them as thoughtless, boneheaded, or without strategy. I respect them for coming up with creative combos for cards that I would never think to even use. If you are able to use this card for something constructive, I would actually like to hear it, because as it stands, I would not use it.

Hopefully, my little article makes it onto the board, and hopefully you learned a little about tolerating cards. I think that I will write more after this, perhaps rating cards or accepting decks or something of the sort. Until next time!

Mike

Frieza_00@hotmail.com