September 2006
From: jjlake8@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 7:16 PM
To: yugiohcrew@pojo.com
Subject: What players should bring to
tournaments-Dreading Night
What players should bring to tournaments (big and
large)
I am a very competitive player. I enter small local
tournaments almost every Saturday and Sunday. And
whenever a regional or a shonen jump comes around I
go and enter. Although only two have come around as
of late I still had a valuable learning
experience...especially with what all the pros use.
The necessities for all competitive players will
come first.
Pen and Paper. Why? To keep score and other notes
you can quickly scratch down (for example to
remember cards used during a confiscation).
Calculator. An alternative way to keep score if you
have bad handwriting such as myself. Also can be
used to help you think (I even saw one player use it
to figure out probability of a face down card being
Torrential Tribute but that's more advance math than
Yu-Gi-Oh should have). But when I mean it can help
you think, I mean, what if you have a big plan to go
for game but it ends up not being game by only a few
points. A calculator handy can do your addition
before it actually happens, and be accurate.
Your deck (very obvious). Side deck (optional but
almost always necessary).
Fusion deck (optional but 99 percent of the time
will be no problem towards you unless Memory Crusher
begins to be played in the metagame).
A copy of your deck list. I am only one of my
friends who types up and prints out my deck list. It
isn't usually necessary for a small local tournament
but during regionals and shonen jumps it is a very
key tool for those who use a side-deck but can't
often remember what they sided out. You can also use
it to make sure you have everything in your deck so
you won't get a game loss later.
Extra copies of cards that are in your deck. This is
a weapon against thieves. Yes you will be angry if
some cards get stolen, but it won't be the end of
the world if you are lucky enough to have extra
copies of cards lost.
Another good tool is to have generous friends incase
you lose a card or it gets stolen and they just
happen to have a copy of the card.
Money. Money is a tool for in-between matches.
Players need to keep their energy up to play at
there best. Even though sometimes food can get a
little expensive, if you get a good meal around
lunch time and dinner time and sometimes even
breakfast time you'll have the fuel to play at your
best.
Money can also be used to buy cards you need to
touch up your deck prior to tournaments and even
replace stolen cards.
Now I have covered the essentials. Now it is time
for the good but not necessary tools.
A play mat. A play mat will keep you organized and
your cards a bit cleaner.
It can be the paper thin one out of a starter deck
or an expensive one that go for about 15 dollars
usually but they are nice to play on, usually have
cool art. Mostly at regionals and shonen jumps do
they sell the more expensive play mats.
Sleeves. Players who play without sleeves make me
cringe. Especially when they play an expensive card.
A deck box. I'd hate to carry around all my decks,
side decks, fusion decks, deck lists and what not in
my hands. That'd be a real pain if you ask me.
Now this is what players need to play Yu-Gi-Oh
effectively. It will help tremendously.
Any comments or questions of any sort email me at:
jjlake8@comcast.net
I check my email once a day so don't be afraid to
send me some emails with comments or questions to
this article.
