July 2006
From: Anteaus44@aol.com
[mailto:Anteaus44@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 12:28 AM
To: yugiohcrew@pojo.com
Subject: Talent-Some have it, others don't-Anteaus
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another rousing
edition of Anteaus' [insert cool name here]!
Today, I'm going to branch off of DeathJester's
article about the secrets of the pros and talk a lot
about talent. Talent is something that people aren't
born with; they acquire it through lots and lots of
practice. Sure, you can be born with traits that
make talent easier to acquire, but still, you need
to acquire it, and this is true everywhere. From
baseball to Yu-Gi-Oh!, talent must be taught and
learned, and the easiest way to gain talent is to
watch people and capitalize on their mistakes by
finding them before capitalizing on them. What the
f***? You're all asking me, I'm sure, so let me
elaborate:
It's easy to say, "find mistakes and capitalize on
them," but what does it mean? Now, the answer might
be common sense to a lot of people, but many of you
will be surprised. Mistakes are often hidden
throughout the course of a duel, so picking them up
can be a challenge. Usually the easiest way to spot
a mistake is by reacting to it. If a move by an
opponent puts you in an advantageous position, then
obviously it was a mistake. Like, say, setting down
a Dekoichi when you have a Nobleman of Crossout in
your hand from a flipped Magician last turn. That's
pretty obvious. Or another, say, may be when your
opponent summons Cyber Dragon but doesn't follow up
with an attack.
Early game is when many mistakes happen because it's
in the early game where duelists are still learning
the styles of one another. Duelists are blind,
really, during the opening turns of a duel because
they can't see how the duel is developing because
not enough hands have been played to see a trend.
This is where you need to be especially cautious
when exploring because a big mistake early game can
cost you dearly late game. Like a spent Magician of
Faith early game when it's the one card that can
help you. Many times duelists will over-extend too
early and end up digging their own graves, and by
over-extending I mean setting down a Mirror Force
and a Sakurestu Armor and a Scapegoat "just in
case." Don't laugh, we've all done it. This is where
those cards aren't necessairly expendable because
even though you have 3 Sakuretsu Armors in your
deck, that's only 3 monsters you're gonna kill.
Resource wasting early-game is killer, and that's
really where the last paragraph was leading to. You
need to conserve, and talented players do this with
exceptional skill. Some early life-point damage is
acceptable if it means preventing more later, and
here I'm talking about holding onto your defensive
traps as long as possible. Trust me, that Cyber
Dragon you killed first turn is nothing compared to
an Injection Fairy Lily against an open field. You
need your traps, so don't be afraid to keep them in
your hand.
Talented players will absorbe losses in order to
capitalize on how those losses got there. Many times
weaknesses are seen by talented players who just got
hit by a Cyber Dragon, and they are quick to exploit
that by using their resources. Think of a duel as a
boxing match: if one guy swings, an area is
vulnerable, if only for a short time. Talented
duelists can utililze this opening and swing for
some major damage, but what this vulnerability is I
can't tell you. It depends on the duel, the duelist,
the circumstances; only experience will teach you
when and where to strike.
These swings are seen late-early-game, usually. It's
only a jab or two, by maybe a Spirit Reaper or a Don
Zaloog, but often times it's that gut-shot that
hurts the other player so bad that they don't
recover...only they don't know that. Talented
players can see when the other player is winded, and
that's when they open up to a more of an open play
style. They are more liable to make bolder moves in
an effort to push the opponent further against the
ropes, and more often than not the ropes aren't
enough for the opponent to make a comeback.
Talent isn't born, it's made, like I said. It takes
a lot of focus and determination to see the mistakes
and the mis-plays that you've just read about, as
well as the techniques. There are many more, but to
be honest I can't think of them right now, so feel
free to fill them in for me.
Cheers,
Anteaus
E-mail me at anteaus44@aol.com
