The glory days of Duel Masters are definitely in the mirror for this “old man.” Maybe it’s that there just isn’t  enough time to practice and test thanks many professional commitments. Perhaps it’s that today's players raised on Pokémon and Yugi-Oh are simply a better grade than those we had back in the days of Duel Masters and I don’t make the grade. I believe the truth lies somewhere in-between.

Here’s the thing…I don’t care.

Now, this isn’t a table flipping caused by anger, “I don’t care.”

This isn’t an I’m going to emotionally distance myself from my many losses, “I don’t care.”

Nope. In fact, the kind of “I don’t care” this is belongs in a category that says, “Just hanging out with this community is so awesome that I’ve not once been to an event that wasn’t something to write home about!”

That’s the environment that has developed in this game. Sure, you still have your ultra-competitive types who can’t handle the losing and kind of sour things for other players. However, for the most part Kaijudo doesn’t have that. Maybe it’s simply the size of the community not being as large as some other games, however I recall the community for Duel Masters was rather similar. While we didn’t have the two excuses to come all together from across the continent a year back then, when we did smiles abound…and so they did this past weekend. Is it something to do with this game? Does the game itself draw an overwhelming degree of simply good-natured people or is it the “community leaders” who set the tone and thus even the most previously hardened gaming competitor can’t help cheering on their own competition.

During champs weekend alone I found myself…

·         Audioably cheering for and high fiving my opponent as he destroyed me with back to back to back triple The Hive Queen (I believe this was Jon Johnson if I’m correct).

·         Happily losing to our wintery friend, Rob Gruber as he handed me a pack for playing him and I open a Cassiopeia!

·         Barely being pushed aside by Gordon Hunt in the first round of the 1^st LCQ after a tough back and forth match for the two of us in which he managed to just barely come in under the wire and secure from me. This also allowed me to really cheer for him as he took it all the way and secured his invite!

·         Taking my opponent down with nothing on the board other than turns 3, 4 and 5 Tricky Turnip and my opponent shaking my hand and saying, “Not a bad way to be defeated if there is one.”

·         Not making the cut in the 2^nd LCQ as my opponent ousts me from securing an invite in the top 4 match. However, what do I walk away with for my 4^th place finish? One box of Invasion Earth, Ninja Pumpkin Artwork (which my wife promptly had signed by the artist on hand the next day), four Kaijudo binders and a signed Sparkblade Protector.

And this last mention brings me to a lesson truly learned. Frankly, I don’t think I would have learned it anywhere else…

I’m playing in the 2^nd LCQ.

My first opponent is Bryan Starner who is playing Rot Worm evos. The decks rips into me fast game one, but doesn’t prove to have the stamina to take my last shield as I recover and take the game. Game two goes very poorly for him as he plays out turn 2 and 3 Fanged Horror and doesn’t want to swing back against my Manapod Beetle as it plucks away at his shields unhindered.  This grants me far too much momentum and he is not able to recover.

Second round I lose to…I don’t even recall, but I lost – period.

Third round I believe I’m playing Jon Johnson (but not in the match mentioned previously). We have a rather long match that goes all the way into game three. Game three is grueling. He gets in some early swings putting me on the ropes, but I stand back up, clear his board and start amassing an army that will be able to secure my win. Only problem is…Squallice Scourge. He drops it and I go straight into auto loss mode.

So now I’m 1 – 2 and pretty much ready to drop. I mention it to my wife and she encourages me to keep playing since packs go up to top 16 and packs also turn into points on the Spoils of War wall. I agree and stick it out.

I sit down for round four and…my opponent doesn’t show. Okay…fine. I guess I’m now 2 – 2.

Alright, time for round five. The final round. In order to stand a chance of getting something out of this from the prize pool I NEED to pull this into victory lane. I sit down and start shuffling up. I look at the match slip to see if I know who the opponent is. Alright, it’s Rob Gruber  - self professed scrub! Surely I can topple him, right? Wait…where is he? Everyone else has started. I stand up, “Gruber? Gruber? Where’s Gruber,” I call out. Then I see him. He’s sitting playing in LCQ 3.

“Hey, Rob. We’re supposed to play.”

“O’, man. I actually dropped,” he says apologetically in his thick Canadian accent.

“Oh…okay.”

Hhhhmmm…well, I guess I won. I turn in my slip and I am officially 3 – 2. Surely that should secure me 2 packs and a token reward from the Spoils of War wall.

I hang out for yet another full round as the rest of LCQ 2 plays out their matches. The wife and I talk about going to Texas Roadhouse for a steak right after they post the final standings and I snag my meager swag. Finally the standings are posted. I walk up and…uh..I don’t see my name. “Where are you?” my wife questions. I look more closely and…8^th? Really? “Sorry, I guess that steak will have to wait, “ I tell my wife, “ I made top 8!”

This would move into the scenario I described above after I defeat 1^st seed Shelby Jeffers in quarterfinals I wind up being ousted in  top 4. This truly was a lesson learned. In 20 years of playing TCGs I’ve not once encountered the situation in which I made top 8 after only truly winning a single match. Then again, I don’t think I’ve ever really allowed for the opportunity as just like many others, after achieving a  certain record of defeat I would normally pack it in and call it a day. On this day, for once, I did not and that persistence paid off in a top 8 entry along with an opportunity to go for an invite into the Champs that I would not otherwise have had.

Lesson learned.

And now for some great visuals…

     

Hanging out with the Canadians Thursday night at our Duel Day.

Legends Tournament Center

    

LCQ 1 Fires off!

      

Ryan Miller Mans the “Spoils of War Wall”

    

Carl Reddish and Ryan Miller Commentating on Matches