July 2006

I remember a great amount of my yugioh "Career", it starts simple, I got hooked on the cartoon and the video game Dark Duel Stories ( I even got the original promos! ). Regardless how absurd the different representations of the game were on the T.V. show and especially the game I felt like I learned alot from them. Of course you can understand as soon as I saw a Yugi starter deck I had to beg my mom to borrow $12 so I could get it. From there my fondness for the game, collection, and deck grew. Eventually I had a whole group of friends I could play with at school. I was usually the only one that wanted to play by standard rules, you know, 8000 life, tributes, and no drawing because of a low card amount.

I continued to conquer (lol) and enhance my collection. I eventually went to a Toys R Us (because of a shonen jump magazine and preview of the rare card Kanan the Swordmistress) and saw they were indeed having a gameboy tournament for the 2004 world championship. I was extremely excited, I practiced playing on my gameboy and got to the final levels with the ban list that the toys r us tournament had set up. Jinzo, Yata Garasu, and Dark Ruler Ha Des were some of the cards banned from your digital deck. I wish I had the whole list I am pretty sure it is one of the firsts. March 22, 2004 I got a new pair of batteries and walked into the store with confidence. I played through 4 or 5 grueling matches and a future friend was playing in the last game allowed to start, if he won he would have more star chips then me by 2 or 3. He wasn't able to grab the win giving me the greatest amount of star chips! I stood proudly with my yugioh case prize, gameboy, and a stuffed Jeffery (Toys R Us mascot) as I got my picture taken and hanged by the stores exit. The TO called someone and reported my star chip number (23 even though I have lost 6 since them, the pogs make great tokens and conversation starters) he also had to tell him my win percentage against the games different A.I.s, he was surprised because each game character had not beat me once ( a record that was continued in the tournament). This has become very symbolic and maybe show a reason for any real success I may have. It shows my determination to win. Know why I had no losses against the computer? Before I ever was about to lose I would turn off the game. I am not positive why, maybe I felt unbeatable, maybe it was a disgrace to me. Either way I was learning alot regardless of false wins and soon to be a major turning point, epiphany, for me an upsetting loss that could not be undone or properly explained. It arose to me from 2 soon to be friends. One of which is a very good friend I still play cards, and talk with, 1 that quit the game when Chaos Emperor Dragon was banned along with 2 of his torrential tribute copies. Oddly the friend that quit has, truly, faded out of my life and from what I have been told has followed a path of poor decisions. These 2 new acquaintances (mainly wanting to see Kanan) told me of tournaments that Toys R Us had every weekend. I was excited and eventually a week or so later able to persuade my grandma to take me weekly. There are several things I recall to be important from the times of going to Toys R Us. The first was actually my first. In other words my first tournament using my 90 card. How about a small tournament report...

Round 1, Me and a kid using a "Joey Deck" consisting of many cards and some Japanese cards.

Basically I lock him down with swords of revealing light and some magician of faiths until I can take advantage.

More importantly to point out is that I saw he was aggressive with his copies of garoozies (Japanese), tiger axe, and Sogen. Regardless how new I unknowingly was, I was able to create an effective strategy that let me obtain something I had no knowledge of, advantage.

1 - 0 through to next round

Round 2, Me vrs my mentioned friend that quit ( Shall go nameless).

He used an Exodia deck and beat me because of his gravity bind, lucky. The last game I had Sanga of thunder out and had equipped it up to 6000 attack, just before I could attack he played gravity bind, AGAIN!!!

1 - 1 Not through to next round

This is very important, "The Loss", I was done in the tournament because of what I thought was his luck. Obviously I was wrong, he was a better player and had a better deck, but I did not want to accept it and made up excuses. I am glad I eventually learned from this. Another thing from the match is that my opponent played a cyber jar, and commented it helps him alot, game two it was like I gave up because guess what I set, my own cyber jar. Also that day another good friend of mine I play yugioh and magic with today pulled a 1st edition copy of the new Black Lust Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, it was from a pack given out in the tourney, both the first time I had seen the card and first time I had not experienced winning. Odd that both of these things would effect my yugioh career greatly.

After attending Toys R Us on several more occasions ( losing and learning, feeling plagued by lucky opponents) I learned of a place that had real tournaments, a place that cost money to enter, a place with extraordinary prize support. Within another week or 2 I was able to go to this tournament site, a place called Killinos C and C. It is here that I had an amazing day I still remember. It was my first time again, all of my friends from Toys R Us and their friends were at killinos I was acquainted over time as my skills approved and I became better known. I was in an amazing match, I had finally learned to accept losing, I had finally won a match that has became very important to me. I knew that this match I was an underdog. My opponents friend that I disliked partly because of his yugioh ability, partly because of his attitude also was watching, joking around about playing a NOOB like me. Time for another tournament report.

Game 1- I think I play Fong ( A soon to be freind that I have not seen for at least a year, pushing 2) I don't remember mutch of this match but I win

1 - 0

Game 2 - I play my friend Phil ( The one that introduced me to Toys R Us Tourneys and Killinos, the one that I still talk to and saw a couple weeks ago at Killinos). Again not sure how but I win

2 - 0

Game 3 - I'm not sure who I played but I won

3 - 0

Game 4 - The Match (mentioned before the report) - The kid plays a legendary ocean deck, well made for the time. First game It seems like he draws poorly and I am able to overwhelm him. Game two he easily overwhelms me with Legendary ocean and Gaga Gigo. Game three I set a m/t a monster and let my opponent go he plays legendary ocean which I quickly chain Imperial Order to, he continues to summon gaga gigo and attacks my Slate Warrior, I am able to play michizure to kill his monster. My turn I pay, summon Yata Garasu attack I end. He sets 2 magic and traps. My turn I see he is clearly upset after I pay for imperial order and summon yata against what the m/ts tell me to do. It is successful at attacking. Again he gos and does nothing. My turn I draw pay and look at the call of the haunted I drew with glee I continued the yata/Imperial assault and was able to get the Slate warrior before I lose too much life to imperial order. I win. His exact words were "Freaking Yata Sh**"

4 - 0 There is no game 5, it is time for the final bracket but my grandma comes and I have to leave. Upset but victorious, regardless my tournament ranking.

Look at this me, a kid with a 90 card deck wins against a player that looked down upon me, that made me think I was going to lose, he had won the mental game easily but the Imperial Order (I got from Toys R Us For 75 cents), Yata Garasu which I got from a friend ( For a launcher spider, boy am I the Hustler), Call of the Haunted (card I got from the first pack of cards I bought), Slate Warrior ( Card I got from the World Championship game I practiced on frequently), and Michizure ( Card that others insisted I not use regardless how useful I found it) led me to a win. Regardless of how much of a "Lucksack" this appears to be every decision I made in and before the game led me to the win, it wasn't just the cards. Almsot as if everything I had done in the yugioh card game led me to this important win.

I became a better and better player, got the good cards, became a more experienced player, most importantly made many new friends. Then I found Metagame and read the first shonen jump championship. This is what I saw, something that at the time I didnt know would inspire me to become a better player and make me a better player through learning about card advantage and about all the different cards. It is also to know that at this time I had the 40 card deck, I had good cards, I was surprised at the good cards people in this sjc used that I didn't even know about. Competitive play had led me to be a far better player in 3/4 of a year.

John Umali

Monsters: 16

1 Air Knight Parshath
1 Dark Magician of Chaos
1 Fiber Jar
2 Magician of Faith
1 Jinzo
1 Blade Knight
1 Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning
1 Tribe
2 D. D. Warrior Lady
1 Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer
1 Magical Scientist
1 Breaker the Magical Warrior
1 Reflect Bounder
1 Berserk Gorilla

Spells: 18

2 Scapegoat
1 Book of Moon
1 Mirage of Nightmare
1 Confiscation
1 Mystical Space Typhoon
1 Emergency Provisions
1 Change of Heart
1 Creature Swap
1 Premature Burial
1 Pot of Greed
1 Heavy Storm
1 Swords of Revealing Light
1 Snatch Steal
1 Nobleman Crossout
1 Forceful Sentry
1 Painful Choice
1 Metamorphosis

Traps: 6

1 Raigeki Break
1 Bottomless Trap Hole
1 Ring of Destruction
1 Torrential Tribute
1 Call of the Haunted
1 Sinister Serpent (Obvious Typo)



Look at this, a work of art. Straight from Metagame, Side and Fusion deck excluded. Some other names in the top 8 of the first SJC that are big now are Miguel Flores, Hugo Adame, and Juan Cardenas. If you read Umali's and Flores' match for the tournament you will notice amazing and some pretty bad plays too. It inspired me to be a better player through experimenting with cards like DD Warrior Lady because others had been successful with them.


Learning about tournaments through metagame is still important to mine and many others playing. Also at this there were 3 players at Killinos that I was learning to compete against. Their names are Erik, Hank, and Mark. Everything I have learned from them is definitely deserving of at least a sentence. Erik was to me a great player. He might not have used all of the best cards but he always brought a competitive interesting deck like Spellcasters or legendary ocean. I learned from him to follow my judgment and to try new things, I still talk to Erik online, he went to college and he might come back instate sometime during vacation to visit everyone at killinos. Hank is also an amazing player. I haven't gotten to see him in close to a year. He was a player I never had seen before. He had a deck that countered mine, he forced me to think, he used an amazing focussed deck, he used Grave Keepers. From his focussed play and intricate moves I learned more about playing and how to play better maybe more importantly how to side deck. Finally Mark. Mark I still see every week or so and converse with frequently. The first time I met Mark I saw how to be professional. He had a side deck, fusion deck, play mat, dice, and calculator. I was excited to play someone so knowledgeable about how to play. Today I learn from him about having fun while playing.

From Killinos I eventually moved on. I was curious about a local store (Killinos is about 20 miles away) and I also began to have trouble getting a ride to Killinos. The store is called Mind Games this is were I have become the player to do the teaching. Obviously I still learn tons of things at this store, just now I can help pass the learning on.

My first experience at mind games was great I went x - 0 and split the prize in finals. The split was for two reasons, my mom came, and I was scared to lose against the other finalist. He had a good reputation I know him as wavy, only saw him about two more times before I consistently began going to Mind Games, then I didnt see him at all. Just one more time at Mind Games, and once at killinos. I never got to play him, I missed out the night I split. I think he lives in an area about 40 miles away called Syracuse even if he does play still I don't expect to ever play him. Im sure it would be fun though.

My friends Cole (Matthew) and Alex (and his brother)are basically the players, alongside me, that play competitively at Mind Games. I eventually got my UDE # (108-432-356) from an Elemental Energy sealed pack event at a game shop called Millennium Games in Rochester, a good 100 + miles away. As the first sealed pack event I had played in (Besides in the Magic the Gathering game) I was very excited. See I never buy packs often (I do win a substantial amount) because I pull bad cards, well at least undesirable cards. My rare pulls that day were

- Ultimate rare Sillva
- Goldd
- v - z dragon cannon
- Pot of avarice
- Ultimate Chthonian Soldier
- Additionally I got a dark world lightning and about 7 of the 1850 attackers (MVP of the day)

I can only remember the match I lost, the last game in the match I was up on everything except life. I had and 1850 attacker, Goldd, and a defense mode monster with 1800 defense ( Tiger something). I didn't want to attack my opponents chthonian soldier because I had only 600 life, and I didn't attack his facedown monster because I thought he might of drafted a chthonian blast. Well, he didn't. Next turn he tributes for bladedge and attacked for game. Very skilled player. I lost because of my own poor judgment. Realizing this definitely taught me a thing or two about bluffing and seeing a bluff. In the end I got 4 more packs of EEN and pulled another sillva and Goldd I traded for a couple mad kings and in one day successfully got everything I wanted from the set.

The storry is getting closer and closer to today. The last major thing I find important is the last regionals I attended. I had began to work extremely hard and gained massive amounts of determination both several months before the sneak peek and the months before the regionals event. I realized that from playing with the good players at Mind Games and from reading and studying the game online I was becoming a very good player. My first regionals ( and only, it happened a few months ago) is something that has taught me so much about both yugioh and myself.

Regionals tournament report

My friend Alex was aloud to bring Cole, some of our other friends, and me to Millennium games. We got there a little early and I made sure everyone had a decklist. I was well rested, I ate breakfast, and had playtested.


Game 1

Me vrs Alex

In a cruel turn of events I play my friend and team mate (Even though no one said it we were a team) Alex. I win the match. Though it did upset him I think it helped him alot.

1 - 0

Game 2 - I played against a Horus/control deck. I was surprised at this persons ingenuity. I even lost a game to an on field horus lv 8. I never thought I would end up seeing these decks regardless of the metagame prediction made by Alex. The last game we played he tried to play horus lv 8 again. His aggressive attempt failed to my mirror force and I won

2 - 0

Game 3 - I played a kid that would become my friend. He was younger than me by a couple years, probably 13 or 14. I underestimated him. He ended up being a skilled and very aggressive opponent. In our last game he tried to take me down with aggro and jinzo but I was able to win due to smart side decking and a concept i like to call monster monster removal. i ended up hanging out with him later in the day. It was his first regional too.

3 - 0

Game 4 - I played a very skilled player. I think he is about 20th in state. I caught on to his defensive play in game one which I wasn't accustomed to, he totally took control and won. Game two I was more accustomed to his hand conservation and defensive moves. I had him on the ropes he set 2 cards giving him a total of 3 m/ts on the field and 1 card in his hand. I had clear card advantage. I summoned tsuk to flip my reaper down then it went back up and swung to remove his last card. It was Goldd. I am glad I made the move. It was poor on several levels, it cost me a game and was upsetting mainly because a blind man could have seen it coming. Good Game!

3 - 1

Game 5 - I play an opponent that looked good and professional he never got the chance to open up and be aggressive. I won no problem. Maybe he had poor hands?

4 - 1

Game 6 - Oddly I move up to the top tables again I play a good player. I forgot to unside deck though and suffered a loss. Then poor playing by me led me into loss two. I feel I could have won and the outcome was an unfair representation of our playing abilities. He was a very nice player. I am glad I got to play him.

4 - 2

last round of the day a win could mean i was in top 8

Game 7 - I play another opponent that just dosn't seem that great. He was teched out and I still lost even after he had taken a minus 1 from monarchs and his own soul release. He obviously was more skilled than I imagined. Game three we ran out of time. I think I would have won ( I forget if there was a 5 - 2 player in top 8, maybe 1. I might have taken it from the kid.) The fact that I didn't win is because of another error I made, we had in total 4 lengthy rulings, I should have exercised my right to ask for more time because of it. Regardless if I got more time or not I should have played defensively instead of overextending, trying to deal the last damage to him.

4 - 3 I ended up around 26

This gave me alot to reflect on. I learned that I have the ability to win if I try hard enough and thing about the game situations. I also learned that I am outgoing and fungoing because I got to know 3 of the people I played, found a couple of friends from the draft, and made like 3 friends there.

Basically ever sence the regionals I have gotten alot better, learned tons of stuff from playing and reading about cards online. Also ever since regionals I have been practicing for regionals that are coming in 2 weeks. I believe I have a serious chance of making it to top 8. I cant wait to get my playmat and Invitation to Nationals (hehe). I am trying to incorporate a theme like the monster monster removal in my deck again. I was using zaborgs, sorcerers, dda, ddwl, and exiled all as means to swing games in my favor by using strategy. This sounds cookie cutter but it's not in general how you make your deck but how you use your deck.

Over all the most important lessons I have to share about the game are, you create your own luck through preparation, you have to be able to understand both your opponents and your own strategy, you have to use cards that you think work, and you have to have fun playing.

Additionally it seems that most of you I have gotten tired of the whole GX thing. It hasn't brought many good cards and is, well, lame. A big problem I have with it is it teaches kids to play wrong. In the GX world you play a fusion monster first turn and hope the opponent doesn't play their monster that takes several cards to get out. Also they play with 4000 life points and all the cards regardless how situational the effects are in the game you and me know, they are great in GX world. I bet if there is a ban list in GX world it deals with monsters being facedown because that never happens on the cartoon, no facedown mons ever. It also seems like the game, the cards have lost something. To me they used to be special. Not even because of all the reprinting. That is a good thing, regardless how much of a collector I am, reprints let people get copies of snatch steal and torrential, staple that previously were ultra rare. Maybe they lost something because, like you wrote, the majority of the cards being made now aren't good. Now I understand that the majority of the cards out are not that great. Also it probably has to do with me not connecting to the show from which they came. In the old yugioh episodes there was alot of symbolism, and regardless how ridiculous a game might get ( which is nowhere near as bad as GX games) it was still fun to watch. Even with the weird stuff like the shadow realm, I liked the episode were yami yugi played weevil on top of the train and plaid the cool combo with breaker at the last moment possible. . Not only did it show determination, but it also showed the side of Yami that was more dark. I also recall episodes that explained the chain and how giant trunade interacted with premature burial. Plus in the old episodes the cards were things I had, not only are half the cards shown in GX E-Heros that are ultra rare and not desirable anyhow, but half of the cards haven't even been released. Thats another turn UDE could take in the right direction, release all Japanese cards in English. We are missing out on entire archtypes like gadgets. Marshmallon, magic shard excavation, metal reflect slime, caliber knight, dandelion, the gadgets, and satellite amongst others would be excellent additions to the game. Regardless of how much control the have over the cartoon, the ban list, and cards released they can do something. If anyone wants Ill write to you about the next regionals I go to, this time all of my friends that are serious about the game from killinos and mind games are going. I hope we can unite into a super group.