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From: Anteaus44@aol.com [mailto:Anteaus44@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 1:04 AM
To: yugiohcrew@pojo.com
Subject: Teams...or, more specifically, the Death of YuGiOh!


Hello

I know I skipped the classic intro, but whatever. Today's article is about something that is really serious: teams. And how teams are destroying the great game of Yu-Gi-Oh!

In the beginning, there were no teams. There was one duelist on a mission to become the greatest duelist that has ever played the game. Only a handful of people have been awarded this prestige, and, unfortunately, none are American. But alas, I digress. Now then, back to the point: in the beginning, there were no teams. Then, three big teams came along: Team Savage, Team Overdose, and Team Comic Odyssey, followed later on by Team Scoop, Team Superfriends, Team Hustle, Team Fallen, and any other major team that I failed to mention because I didn't do my homework.

With teams comes innovation. With innovation comes change. And with change comes a new era in Yu-Gi-Oh! Team Scoop pioneered the Bazoo/Return. SandTrap (a member of the team name that escapes me...Savage?) pioneered Soul Control. Chaos died, and Teams thrived. This is the fate of Yu-Gi-Oh!

But the team era has been coupled with the "Advantage" era, where 1-for-1's dominate the duels and where people don't run Swords of Revealing Light or Jinzo because they do not provide immediate advantage. And thus has the format of both October 1st, 2005 and April 1st, 2006 become stagnant.

But how are these two linked?

Teams were first formed because friends realized that they could become better duelists by getting together and sharing cards. They became better by coming up with new, innovative deck ideas and trying them out in local tournaments, then regionals, and then Shonen Jump Championships. They became better by making each other better. Now, however, that comraderie is gone, lost in the world that is competitive dueling. It has become all about the winning and not about the building. Building is how teams were made famous: building decks, building reputations, building friendships, building skills. But what is it now? Sure, decks still factor in, as do friendships, but rarely do we see teams progressing beyond what the metagame currently is. Decks are dominated by Mobius, Cyber Dragon...you know, I don't have to even list them.



There was a time when teams were good. Now, with the huge surge in their numbers, teams are becoming increasingly hostile to the common player. There is no chance to get ahead because a team member can drop with a 7-2 record to give his teammate with an 8-1 record a better shot at Top 8, while the lone duelist is stuck with his 7-2 record and loses his tiebreaker because a guy dropped. The rankings change, too, dropping him below 8th on day one to lose his spot in Top 8. Teams compete for glory only now, not the experience.

I have a team. We've been a team a week, maybe two, and we dominate. Not because we're greedy, but because we spend every day of the week helping each other get better. We analyze the metagame and come up with good ways to stop the CC, and then we side-deck against the anti-CC so we can stop that too when it comes up. We focus on beating each other because we know that when we can beat each other we can beat anyone. We focus on making ourselves the best damn duelists we can be. Can your team say the same thing?

The answer is probably yes. I realize that a lot of teams--in fact, almost all teams--do that same thing, and when their players are good enough they go and dominate at a Regional tourney or at SJC whatever. But the problem I have with teams is the cockiness. That's what is all boils down to. Teams are cocky.

There are no rules, really, and this is what truly gets me. Teams are out to help only each other, and not other duelists. Do you see a team with a n00b? No. Why? Because that team wants to win at all costs. And that's what separates my team from others: the fact that we aren't top-notch duelists. We're just kids enjoying the game, and we share all our secrets because we want to see the game continually change. We want to see new people and new ideas in an old format, a concept that few have grasped onto. And it is this comraderie that I am talking about when I talk about friendship, because the ability to teach and the ability to learn are the two most basic fundamentals of Yu-Gi-Oh! But more on that later.



Cheers,

Anteaus



E-mail: Anteaus44@aol.com
 


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