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Before we begin, I like to thank Pojo
for putting this up on the site.
Ally:
First of
all I would like to thank you for taking your time
away from your life to do this interview with me.
For my first question what is your name?
Anthony:
Ricky Bobby
Anthony:
Nah just kidding.Anthony Alvarado
Ally:
Lol, ok
the Pojo viewers are going to be asking you
questions. The first question is from
Supreme_Warrior, what made you start playing
Yu-Gi-Oh!?
Anthony:
Back in high school (2003) I use to
brag about being a collector and a great player. I
was neither. but what got my foot in the door was a
drug addict who stole a few boxes from a local card
shop. I said “Hell I can get into this game at a
fairly cheap price.” so I bought six starter decks
and four full boxes for about $12 I think. I
started like anyone else with bad cards, but I like
a hustle; so I made it work. BEWD turned into five
holos which two of those turned into another BEWD
which got me 5 more holos….making a long story short.I
made a dollar outta 15 cents
Ally:
Wow, you
made worthless cards work with money! Haha, next
question is by yugimovie, how do you do so
consistently good at events?
Anthony:
This is a tough question; I wrote
like 4 responses and wasn’t happy with any of them
so gimme a minute to think about it
Anthony: it’s hard to answer without
seemin cocky, too easy going, or avoid the obv
response like “yeah right u guys cheat!”
Anthony: I would personally say that
my record at SJCs is not all that hard to achieve. I
avg finishin every event with a x-2 record but that
IMO isn’t that great.
Anthony: I see it as failure, and I
believe it’s in any players’ ability to top 8 a SJC.
Anthony: Well these days top 16, I
think, that as long as u come to an event prepared
and u have a guideline to what u want to accomplish.
u should be fine.
Anthony: It’s not hard to be prepared
and don’t enter an event you’re not sure of what ur
runnin. It’s fine to tune ur deck the night b4 but
don’t just throw together a new idea, also it’s good
to have an idea of what to expect in certain areas
in the nation.
Anthony: It helps to have a great
network of friends; I make friends all over the
country and even the world. I get inside information
from all different countries and players. I get
information about play trends and styles. My team
and I discuss all that was stated in the previous
sentence together, and I owe a lot of this to our
success.
Ally:
Alright,
that’s rather interesting and no you weren't cocky.
You're a great player that’s respectful. Anyways,
BlueD asks a very random question, Pepsi Or Coke?
Anthony:
Pepsi, because it’s just way better!!
Anthony: But I prefer smoother drink
with less acid. like iced tea or something.
Ally:
Ewww tea
X-x. Hehe well at least you have SOME taste J/k :P.
This question is kind of long but Jembob asks, When
you first started getting into the competitive
playing of Yu-Gi-Oh!, did you have any idols or
players that you looked up to? Like was there ever
someone you knew from a local tournament or from
word of mouth that through what you seen/heard, made
you think of wanting to better yourself in playing
the game?
Anthony:
Like brisk but not the ones u get at
like a diner or something.
Anthony: Yeah like everyone who
aspires to be good. u need some kinda inspiration
and mine came in the form of two players at my card
shop. I was always itching to be better then they
were. They just seemed to be two levels above
everyone else. I was always the type to wanna be the
best, so I watched them worked hard, asked
questions, and they were great ppl and friends.
NAMES were JOEY ARROYO and FRANK SCHIFANO, Sorry if
I spelled it wrong guys, but soon the students
became the teachers. Along side Bryan Coronel and
Rhymus Lizo we formed Team Overdose to become the
best players in our region. They always say there
were someone out there better then you and we were
on a mission to find out who. Then we heard about
SJCs and my new inspiration was to be like Team
Comic Odyssey. They proved to be the next level in
skill. U be the judge on deciding whether or not we
reached that next level but we personally believe we
have.
Ally:
Very
impressive! Well our next question is by
DarkFableOfChaos, What is your favorite deck type
ATM. And if you do have one got a deck-list we can
net-deck? :D.
Anthony:
Well although I have made a career
outta takin conventional decks to SJCs and having
great success. I enjoy playing those fun decks
everyone else does. I tend to play trick decks a
lot, speed decks, and Exodia but just weird stuff
outside of SJCs. Ppl at my local card shops can
attest at SJC; it’s a higher scale tournament that
I spend money to travel , participate, and feel
safer with a traditional good deck build. I feel bad
that I never show my creative deck building side at
SJCs but don’t get the impression that I cannot be
innovative. as for my favorite deck type ATM. I
will be boring so I don’t give away too much info
and say Monarch Control. U can check out my teammate
SHANE SCURRY's list for a "net-deck."
Ally:
Lol, ok
will all make sure to net deck you ^_^ j/k! Adam999
asks, where you been all this time?
Anthony:
I am sure ppl are refferin to my lack
of top 8s in the recent SJCs and to be honest IDK.
For the first time ever I have hit a streak of bad
luck. Everyone calls us lucky anyway but yeah I have
hit a streak of bad luck. All of last format post
Canada SJC, I lost to Stein and finish tournaments
x-2. Then SJC Orlando I lost to a return deck that
mained two level 2, freed (such a bad deck decision
considering the release of gadgets.), and Chimera
tech otk. then SJC Houston I lost to Bazoo Return
and Chain burn that sided into DW (makes no sense
to me considering I didn’t run Thestalos but most
importantly what he plan on DWL, my decrees?? he won
becuz morphing jar on my side flipped for what was
supposed to be a plus 4 for me but then he shows me
a Broww , Goldd and Silvia! OUCH + I think 9 for
him. gg), and at ohio demise was all over the place.
Enough said for now; I finishing x-2 at all these
events. What gets to me are that all these losses
were with me in complete control, but I don’t go cry
about it; so I have been around; just some bad bad
luck.
Anthony: But I will mention that I
have been a key ingredient to my teams recent
success.
Ally:
Hopefully
your bad luck will run out. Next question is by
Arkontikastios, do you like chocolate milk
Anthony:
who doesn’t .lol 
it’s not something I drink often. When I was little
I drank a lot of chocolate and strawberry Quik.
Ally:
Chocolate
Milk is yum hehe. Well Green says, what Made You
Play As Long As You Have Been?
Anthony: Ahh Man. Yu-Gi-Oh! is
probably as addicting as cigarettes or drugs. I cant
let it go lol. Its too much fun, and i enjoy the
glory and excitement of the game. I’ll admit to
enjoying this game like a little kid does. It’s too
much fun and not to mention I make money off of
this. I mean how many ppl workin can say they love
their job well I love mine. and yes u can put off
the game. Honestly the biggest thing keepin me in
the game is my friends and the fact that I get to
travel. I always wanted to travel growing up and
Yu-Gi-Oh! gives me reason to travel to different
states and different countries. The best part is
it’s usually free. I mean this game has given me so
many reasons to love it. Nothing more to say but
that I LOVE THIS GAME.
Ally: Allin asks, what’s your
preferred deck type and if you had to make a theme
deck what would it be?
Anthony: A mutant themed deck. brand
new theme for yugioh.
Ally:
My own
question lol what’s a mutant themed deck?
Anthony:
what’s left; it’s like they used all
the elements and creature types.
Anthony: Iunno! Reprints of all the
regular cards with an addition effect similar to how
the battle ox became enraged battle ox.
Anthony: But hey maybe we can have
an anti six samurai themed deck. like u know how
E-Heroes have D-Heroes.
Anthony: That could work.
Anthony: Give the whack normal
monster some effects by makin them mutant.
Ally:
Well good
luck with the deck building! The next question comes
from Shadow The Unborn, do you have a favorite card?
Anthony:
My favorite card in the gm was
Breaker the Magical Warrior, but UDE/KONAMI decided
to ban him.; so I have been searchin for a new
favorite card. When I come up with one, I will make
a thread in the gossip thread for the world to know
hehe.
Ally:
Haha, I
like Red Eye Black Dragon but Breaker is still cool
but not as GREAT as the ALMIGHTY DRAGON o.o ~coughs~
nevermind Breaker is God. Anyways,
JustBoughtACadillac just asked, why do you do so
much for your team?
Anthony:
So much can be accomplished as a team
in this game. Everyone can agree that
different minds work differently when u have some of
the greatest minds in the game working together in
one room so much is accomplished. I do as much as I
do becuz I know that my teammate on the left and
right are me are doing the same and if they aren’t
then I will pick up the slack. We don’t call
ourselves a TEAM because it’s the cool thing to do
these days. We worked hard to achieve what we
have. I take this TEAM thing serious like many
other groups out there. We are a band of friends
with a team name uniting and representing us, but I
don’t consider just any group of ppl with a team
name to be a team. A team works together to
accomplish goals; unless, this is happening. All I
see is a bunch of solo Yu-Gi-Oh! friends trying to
do the cool thing.
Ally:
This is
true. I wish more "teams" were like this. Next
question is by iDomino, which Yu-Gi-Oh! player would
you least want to meet wandering down a dark
alleyway late at night?
Anthony:
Obv jeff jones! Just kiddin! Jeff
knows he is my buddy. I would honestly have to say I
wouldn’t be scared of any Yu-Gi-Oh! player. Well at
least not any known players. I have gone toe to toe
in the streets a few times with some tough guys and
the biggest Yu-Gi-Oh! player after me that I can
think of is Quincy, and he got smacked up at a few
hotel room and at a NJ pre-release already. I even
hit him in the face with a phone book. My bad
Quincy!!! Had to tell the world this is ur shout out
hehe
Ally:
LOL, poor
Quincy. You big bully j/k XD! Next question, A.S.
Funch asks, what is it like being a famous player?
Anthony:
Hmmm there is no approach to
answering this question without seemin fake, too
humble, or conceited; so I will do my best to avoid
all of those. I love the attention entering an
event. I love the intimidation factor I can possess
over opponents during a match. I love being liked by
everyone. I love signing mats. I love knowin that
ppl look up to me and aspire to be as good as me,
but I don’t let these things get to my head. I dont
show up at local shops sayin bow down to me, for I
am the great duelist Anthony Alvarado! I try to tell
ppl to treat me like any one of there friends. I am
human. U can approach me, talk to me, and I wont
look down u. I am a fairly nice person and fun to be
around.
Anthony: It’s just sad to say there
are players who let a lil fame gets to them, and
they can be jerks. I am not one of those.
Ally:
Wow, I
love your sense on things and no you're not being
cocky, fake, or anything like that. Well this is an
interesting question; REDMAN RB asks do u currently
play any other card games? if so why do u like them?
Anthony:
Well other then traditional card
games and I haven’t gotten into any other trading
card games. I have always enjoyed playing
cards. Games like Spades, Pity Pat, and Casino
preferably. They were always games with the ability
to turn a dollar into a lot of money in a short span
of time but as for TCGs Yu-Gi-Oh1 will be the only
one.
Ally:
I see. I use to play Poker but not as
much. Well were almost done, dub_hater asks, d?o you
watch Yugioh the Abridged Series?
Anthony:
U know what, if u had asked me that
question a month ago I wouldn’t know what the hell u
were talkin about, but one day while discussing
Yu-Gi-Oh! with Kris online, he sent me a link to
youtube. It had Yu-Gi-Oh! on it, so I was like what
is it. He was like watch it., so I opened the link
and began to watch episode 12 I believe. I found it
very funny, and I was familiar with the
actual episodes; so it was very funny to me.; so
that day I sat there and watched all the abridged
episodes I found. Don’t know if they finished makin
all the episodes yet, or if they will finish; but I
found every bit of it entertaining.
Ally:
Last
question from users, Eswin asks Six Samurai or
Crystal Beasts?
Anthony: Well I am not too familiar
with individual effects of the gem beast. Just that
they pile up in ur spell trap zone and have nasty
combos for card adv. Plus they have that wicked
field card, but I don’t know about the true speed of
the gem beast nor am I familiar with any of its
support cards. I don’t usually know all the info
about upcoming sets till I ask Kris about them., but
six samurai I have dealt with.; and I know the ins
and outs of the six samurai mechanic; and I think
it’s a very good deck type. It’s very fast and
swarms with very good monsters. A well built samurai
deck with decent draws is tough to beat, so I am
scared to play it when it draws godly combos. I
think for now I give the thumbs up to both but
advantage to the samurais.
Ally:
Interesting, if you heard about the new set after
Tactical Evolution there will be MORE Six Samurai
support. The new set would be called Gladiator's
Assault. Anyways, thank you for answering the Pojo
viewers’ questions. Now it's time for my questions
;) (if there’s any left), what’s the next SJ your
attending?
Anthony: Well…it’s hard to say ATM.
Ally: Oh I see. ^_^ Bah, I'm almost
out of questions. Oh! How does it feel winning SJ
Charlotte 2005?
Anthony:
The next SJC I plan on attending is
hopefully SJC Montreal. We are still settin up our
ride. We have three options right now and none are
for sure but all three are alive. We find out by
Thursday night what our plans are gonna be but one
that I can say is for certain is SJC LA. I have
already purchased my plane ticket and plan on
spendin a week with Emon.
Anthony: Winnin SJC Charlotte was
probably one of the most exciting things of my life
and having my team cheering me on to victory. I mean
after Bryan and Rhymus made top 4 at SJC NJ. I felt
left out. I mean myself Bryan and Rhymus been
through everything together; and I sorta fell short
losing to T on the bubble at SJC NJ, so I made up
for it and took home the first championship for Team
Overdose. I also was the first SJC champion from the
tri-state area (North East). It was such a great
feeling. I felt that a lot of practice and hard work
in general paid off, and I can leave the game with a
sense of accomplishments. I am one of only 30-35
players that can say I won a SJC. I would hate to
have played this game for yrs and never accomplish
anything worth while.
Ally:
I see.
Well I'm glad you accomplished a lot in YGO! What is
your current goal for the year?
Anthony:
I have one main goal this year. I can
care less about all the bad luck i am experiencing
now as long as it doesn’t carry over to this
summer. I really wanna do well at Nationals just to
say I have a Worlds invite like teammate Bryan
Coronel (we grew up together in this game) and
represent my team at the Worlds Championships.
Ally:
I see. I
hope you accomplish your goals and have more fun in
YGO! You have any advice for the new YGO players?
Anthony:
Don’t get addicted lol. Nah just make
sure u surround urself with the right ppl.
Anthony: Make sure u hang around the
better players; esp, if ur lookin to be a success in
the gm.
Ally:
This is
true. Well Anthony I would like to thank you for
taking the time to do this interview with me. You
have any closing statements for the people reading
this?
Anthony:
I see a lot of ppl get into the game,
and I help out as much as I can for example at my
local shop less experienced players, newer players
(ex Hector Nunez and Jose Mendez) tend to hang out
with me so they can get insight into the game. I
like the fact that they are willin to learn and ask
questions. They remind me of when I first started to
play. Lookin up to Frank and Joey for advice and
help!!!
Anthony: I just wanna make a general
statement to all the ppl who don’t believe that
certain players can be better then other players. I
hate when ppl on these forums go on ranting about
how the better players must be cheating because in a
card game that involves so much luck, its impossible
to be so much more consistent than the avg player.
Those who believe in this theory are totally wrong.
I know many players in this game and all of them
have many different skill levels. I know a lot of
the better players personally, and I can attest that
they are just levels above the avg player attending
any given event. so when u see myself or any other
known player get a 4th or 5th top 8. Plz don’t go on
ranting about how we must have cheated. Accept the
facts and don’t under estimate us because of our
fame level in the Yu-Gi-Oh! community. Use that as
inspiration to be better and to achieve more then
just fame at a local tournament or regional. Take
the chance to travel to an event and compare urself
the larger field and sit behind one of these "pro"
players and understand why we are successful as we
are. Don’t just sit home accusing us of anything so
plz just stop that non sense.
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