Skill and Brains

[RobK990]

Skills and Brains

An Article on Metagame Decks by RobK990

Before we get off on the wrong foot, this isn’t another rage-article on how playing meta decks is bad yugiohs and people should play the game to have fun. People play a game to win, and that’s that at the end of the day. No one plays to lose, unless they bet on themselves losing and threw the match, in which case they’ve won anyway. This article is on an event which occurred in the second round of my locals the day of the prerelease, and for the subsequent prerelease.

I’m not an exceptional player. I misplay a lot an often, but I’m getting better about that. I work hard to get better at something because, hey, we all got to have a hobby. So, as anyone who knows me or reads my sig knows, I run X-Sabers. Not because they win, but because I’ve wanted to run them as a winning deck since they were a hand-control deck back in Ancient Prophecy, right after Faultroll hit the game but LONG before Darksoul, Emmersblade, or Hyunlei (all the big cards we see today) were even thought of. Yes, I ran Rescue Cat, but its targets consisted of a Des Koala, Neo-Spacian Dark Panther, a single Ryko, and yes, three Airbellums. It was a happier time, despite the fact that I topped almost never and won only about half my games. But I digress.

That day I was doing particularly well; I’d just beat out a Machina deck in Game 3 thanks to good sidedecking and careful timing. For the first time since I moved, I was doing well. Round 2, I was up against some guy (I forgot his name and I don’t care to try and remember) who was running what I assume was Quickdraw with a Plant engine, though only saw the Plant engine part of it. I’ve always had trouble with that deck, so I was on my game as best as I could be.

My guardedness seems unnecessary, in retrospect, since he wasn’t very…how best to put this?... he wasn’t very good. He opened on his Turn 1, game Turn 2, by using Foolish Burial on a Lonefire Blossom. He then proceeded to Monster Reborn said Lonefire, Tribute it for a second, then on into Tytannial. I’d had a minor stint with QD some months back, trying to find a deck after I got tired of Blackwings, and I knew this was a very bad play; usually one reserves Foolish Burial for Dandylion or, in crisis situations, Plaguespreader Zombie. Anyway, his Tytannial ran headlong into Mirror Force. He set a backrow and a monster, and that was it. I proceeded to get out Boggart Knight, Airbellum with Boggart’s effect, and then go into Faultroll (a lucky topdeck) and flip Darksoul. I made the right moves and wound up with Hyunlei, which popped his set Mirror Force, and a faceup Aribellum off Faultroll’s effect. I swung for big number over his Spore, ripped a card from his hand, and he scooped. On to Game 2.

This time he set a monster and ended. I summoned an Emmersblade, swung over his Spore, set 2 backrows, and ended. At the draw, he MST’d my Solemn Judgment, Foolished a Dandylion, then summoned Lonefire Blossom, used a Token to get his second Lonefire, and tribute the second token for Tytannial- who ran headlong into Bottomless Trap Hole. He let the turn go at that. The game progressed with me stealing a Lonefire via a Goyo (yes I hit the attack position one) by summoning a Boggart, Fulhelmknight, and Faultroll. So, with a faceup Goyo, Faultroll, Boggart, and his Lonefire, I let the turn go. He then decides to Set a monster and was about to say go when he gets this brilliant idea that he’s going to take back the Set (yes I gave him grief about it, so he goes on about me being cool for sharking at locals and I tell him likewise for blatant cheating), use his Monster Reborn on my Fulhelmknight, summon Dandylion, and turn it into a Goyo. Using the 2 tokens Dandy gave him, he then removed one for Spore (now LV4) and made it into Brionac. He bounced my Goyo with Brionac, ran over Boggart with Brionac and Faultroll with Goyo (which he could not get back) and said go. I’m now staring down the barrel of a Brio lock and- Hallelujah!- top into another Faultroll with a Fulhelm and Goyo in hand. With an empty backrow, I get Boggart, summon Fullhelm and Faultroll, and- using his Lonefire, still on my side of the field from Goyo- turn Fulhelm, Emmersblade (thanks Faultroll), and his Lonefire into Mist Wurm for game after bouncing Brionac and Goyo.

At this point the game should end with a lot of groaning, but it should be in good-natured fun. I offer my hand as a courtesy, and he does this “wicked cool” shake-your-hand-oh-no-wait-brush-back-my-hair move popular in the 1980’s and says that he enjoys losing to a deck with “no skill.” His friends proceed to hassle me for the rest of the day, which causes me to misplay in Rounds 3 and 4 and lose, but the 4-0 GB deck I lost to carried me into top 8 anyway, so no big deal (I’ll also point out the guy I beat in Round 2 went 1-3 the rest of the day). The hassling continues in Top 8, where I lose to an Infernity deck because I was dumb enough to leave out my Consecrated Lights from the sideboard.

The point of all this, aside from regaling you all with an account of my wild and daring escapades, is to say this; You can gripe all you like about a deck not having any skill, but you have to consider the time and effort put into doing this. Sabers, unlike Lightsworn, Infernities, Glads, and Blackwings, weren’t a regional-topping deck overnight. From Airbellum’s release in the 2009 5D’s structure deck to Emmersblade’s and Darksoul’s printings this year, Sabers were a deck pursued by those seeking a good hand-control toolbox deck, and those with an unhealthy sword fetish, but NOT those seeking to top regionals and win nationals. Since then, the deck has been machined to near-perfection (I say near-perfection because X-Saber Souza’s not out yet), despite some roadblocks and a LOT of hate, and is now a top-tier deck. Consider the man-hours spent fine-tuning the deck, figuring out good builds for those of us with and without three of each Pot of Expensiveness and XX-Saber Emmersblades, and rejecting or approving various techs like Reinforce Truth and Debris Dragon. The point is this; deck may not take a lot of skill to win, but it takes a lot of skill to build and design.

And it’s better to have skill and not need it than to need brain and not have it.

[HighonPie]

I agree with most of your points. However, I disagree with your defense. The issue to me is the rudeness of that particular player and not the viability of decks. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's common courtesy to treat the opponent with respect, no matter what deck one plays. After all, are the same cards not available to all players? Not to say that X-Sabers are necessarily more competitive that Quickdraw, but if he took winning that seriously, he should have played the more powerful deck. You see, when you choose a deck, you are choosing your goal in the game. The player you faced played Plants because he believed it's a more skillful deck. However, in doing this, he should have conceded that he may lose more than if he had played a supposedly better deck. He took it for granted that he could play a less reliable deck and still win games. To say "playing a better deck and winning means that you don't deserve my respect" is absurd. I understand that X-Sabers are important to you. However, you don't need to defend yourself to these players, who are cocky, rude, inexperienced (judging from his misplay), and disruptive to the enjoyment of others.

[RobK990]

I agree with most of your points. However, I disagree with your defense. The issue to me is the rudeness of that particular player and not the viability of decks. In Yu-Gi-Oh!, it's common courtesy to treat the opponent with respect, no matter what deck one plays. After all, are the same cards not available to all players? Not to say that X-Sabers are necessarily more competitive that Quickdraw, but if he took winning that seriously, he should have played the more powerful deck. You see, when you choose a deck, you are choosing your goal in the game. The player you faced played Plants because he believed it's a more skillful deck. However, in doing this, he should have conceded that he may lose more than if he had played a supposedly better deck. He took it for granted that he could play a less reliable deck and still win games. To say "playing a better deck and winning means that you don't deserve my respect" is absurd. I understand that X-Sabers are important to you. However, you don't need to defend yourself to these players, who are cocky, rude, inexperienced (judging from his misplay), and disruptive to the enjoyment of others.

Well thank you. My point was that this (let's not mince words; I believe you and I can do better than that) Real-Life Troll (henceforth, RLT) and his issues with my deck belie a larger issue in the game, namely, that people don't play on even terms insofaras respect for one another. As a personal code of ethics, I treat everyone with the same respect until they prove they no longer deserve it; I had an issue with another person some time back when Blackwings was still getting started where in game 3 he went to Return from the DD 3 monsters and I dropped Burial from the DD since it was my turn and followed through with the attack for game with Caius (he had 100 lifepoints left to begin with and was topdecking; it should have been clear he wasn't winning) for easily the most epic win I've ever pulled off. He ignored my handshake, and I declared his conduct to be bovine fecal matter, in not so many words. He convinced the head judge- at a locals where he was showing up for the first time, no less- that he should get the win because my own conduct was unsportsmanlike since I cussed in front of his kid. My win became a loss, and his idiot friends hassled me the rest of the night.

My issue is there's not enough common goddamn courtesy in this game anymore. To quote Mark Hamill, "[Their] overconfidence is their weakness."

[Epicake]

I also agree with many of your points, but nowadays the yugioh has turned into a game of money and luck. The sad fact is people who build the most consistent decks still get beat by the people who just happen to top into Monster Reborn.

[RobK990]

I also agree with many of your points, but nowadays the yugioh has turned into a game of money and luck. The sad fact is people who build the most consistent decks still get beat by the people who just happen to top into Monster Reborn.

Both statements are largely contradictory.

[Epicake]

okay what i'm trying to say is you can buy the best nicest blinged out deck and still lose to a lucksacker

[RobK990]

okay what i'm trying to say is you can buy the best nicest blinged out deck and still lose to a lucksacker

Well yeah, that possiblity exists, but that wasn't really my point.

[Epicake]

I'm just saying it happens a lot.

[RobK990]

I'm just saying it happens a lot.

Ok, I'll give you that, but what we've got here is a guy losing badly and being stupid about it. My point is, it's a game, so play it like you would any other game- with repect for your opponent.

Unless they've, say, taken a loved one's soul and fused it with a card and are now forcing you to play against that person's body/flesh puppet/empty vessel type thing. Then all bets are off and you gotta keep yo pimp hand strong.

[Epicake]

Ok, I'll give you that, but what we've got here is a guy losing badly and being stupid about it. My point is, it's a game, so play it like you would any other game- with repect for your opponent.

Unless they've, say, taken a loved one's soul and fused it with a card and are now forcing you to play against that person's body/flesh puppet/empty vessel type thing. Then all bets are off and you gotta keep yo pimp hand strong.


Respect your opposition.
then slaughter them.

[RobK990]

Respect your opposition.
then slaughter them.

Yes. This is basically the same approach with Bushido, Chivalry, and so forth Sig, if you will, the following rules, and spread this message:

If you must fight, do it with respect and integrity for your opponent.
If you slay your enemy, do it without unnecessary gloating.
And if you are destined to lose, don't play like a dog and you won't have to die like a [female dog].

[mvidmaster2]

He ignored my handshake, and I declared his conduct to be bovine fecal matter, in not so many words. He convinced the head judge- at a locals where he was showing up for the first time, no less- that he should get the win because my own conduct was unsportsmanlike since I cussed in front of his kid. My win became a loss, and his idiot friends hassled me the rest of the night.

My issue is there's not enough common goddamn courtesy in this game anymore. To quote Mark Hamill, "[Their] overconfidence is their weakness."

How incredibly rude of you. Instead of having empathy for your opponent and realizing that he was just frustrated because the deck that he put a lot of time and thought into wasn't performing the way he hoped and just letting him sulk, you swore at him because he didn't give you the handshake you thought you deserved? That definitely was NOT the mature thing to do.

Just because you think your opponent is rude does not mean you have the right to do or say whatever you want to them. Having good sportsmanship doesn't mean only being a good sport when your opponent is being a good sport as well, it means being polite and respectful no matter what your opponent does.

Also, I thought most kids learned by the time their out of preschool that it's the kid who hits back that gets punished, not the kid who hits first.

[RobK990]

How incredibly rude of you. Instead of having empathy for your opponent and realizing that he was just frustrated because the deck that he put a lot of time and thought into wasn't performing the way he hoped and just letting him sulk, you swore at him because he didn't give you the handshake you thought you deserved? That definitely was NOT the mature thing to do.

Just because you think your opponent is rude does not mean you have the right to do or say whatever you want to them. Having good sportsmanship doesn't mean only being a good sport when your opponent is being a good sport as well, it means being polite and respectful no matter what your opponent does.

Also, I thought most kids learned by the time their out of preschool that it's the kid who hits back that gets punished, not the kid who hits first.

Seems I should elaborate. I offered my hand, he shuffled his deck. My hand stays there for 2 minutes. He does nothing and starts to play with his kid. A judge tells him to shake my hand. He says, "I'm not shaking that punk's hand." That's what was the precursor to my swearing, which I agree was out of line, but given the situation, you can see how this ground my gears a bit.

He was an *******. Mine wasn't the only problem with him.

Later in the same night, he tried to make a blatantly-bad call on one of my firends playing a Sam deck, basically arguing that a card in the Graveyard could be destroyed, despite the fact that 4 judges told him otherwise.

After three months of not coming to the shop, he tried to charge a 16 year old kid "interest" on a trade they didn't complete BECAUSE he hadn't shown up (bear in mind, he's in his mid-20's and has a wife and kids he drags with him to the tournament). I stepped in because the kid happened to be a not-so-good-off-financially friend of mine and he was basically going to take his ENTIRE GB DECK over maybe $5 in cards. I told him to leave the kid alone, at which point he asked me if I "wanted to go" and "take this outside." I told him to sit down, he was making a fool of himself over childrens' card games. He called me a string of profanities I don't think will make it through the filter on this site. The judge, another friend of mine, asked him to sit down. He threatened the judge, me, and subseqently the shop owner.

I'll also point out he's doing this IN FRONT OF HIS CHILDREN. What kind of example does this guy set for his kids?

That was the night Jamal got banned from Stillpoint. These are just the instances I was there for, and does NOT include the horror stories I heard about the nights I wasn't there.

[-SF-]

nd says that he enjoys losing to a deck with “no skill.” His friends proceed to hassle me for the rest of the day, which causes me to misplay in Rounds 3 and 4 and lose, but the 4-0 GB deck I lost to carried me into top 8 anyway, so no big deal (I’ll also point out the guy I beat in Round 2 went 1-3 the rest of the day). The hassling continues in Top 8, where I lose to an Infernity deck because I was dumb enough to leave out my Consecrated Lights from the sideboard.

Switch the decks around a bit and this is almost exactly my story.

[RobK990]

Switch the decks around a bit and this is almost exactly my story.

Which proves my point; a lack of repsect between opponents is endemic in this game. Something's got to change.

[Gougou]

Sometime this actually happens,before I had lose some matches against structure deck with my black/white chaos deck

[Neurotica]

While I agree with what you say, you're never going to convince people that Sabers aren't noob. You say that they didn't become a regional topping deck, well... They did. Once they had their searchers, it was basically GG every deck. It really doesn't matter that you've been playing since they first came out, they're still broke as **** now. Same could be said for Six Sams. And to say that people didn't pursue them to win is a lie. People pursued them because they saw POTENTIAL to win, which leads to them pursuing them to win.

My 2 cents.

[RobK990]

While I agree with what you say, you're never going to convince people that Sabers aren't noob. You say that they didn't become a regional topping deck, well... They did. Once they had their searchers, it was basically GG every deck. It really doesn't matter that you've been playing since they first came out, they're still broke as **** now. Same could be said for Six Sams. And to say that people didn't pursue them to win is a lie. People pursued them because they saw POTENTIAL to win, which leads to them pursuing them to win.

My 2 cents.

You're not listening. The issue is not Sabers, it's common goddamn courtesy between opponents.

I don't care what people think about Sabers, because, well, it's damn hard to argue with success. I'm merely pointing out that there's a huge deficit of respect between players.

[Neurotica]

I talked about the courtesy. Everyones still going to call you a noob. I guess I could have made it clearer. :L People get angry that they run a budget ass deck and can't beat the noobs that have been playing decks for forever and don't think they're noob because they've been running it forever. It's never going to matter to anyone that you've ran it forever, they'll still think you're the biggest ******* in the world for running a tier 0 deck.

Say Yubel gets some random ass level 1 that says it's treated as Yubel the Ultimate Nightmare and gains its effect. No summoning restriction. Everyone who runs a Yubel deck, regardless of whether or not you've been running it since Yubel first came out. There's no avoiding the idiots that are bad at their yugiohs and hate that they're poor, or didn't think about some card being really good. They'll rage at their friends, their friends will go, wow, that ******* is running that really broken Yubel deck. Let's try to make him lose!

It's not really avoidable in yugiohs. There's a portion of the players that are so absorbed in yugioh that they haven't learned common courtesy, and there's the jerks who just hate you for being good. It's just how the world is. >_<

[RobK990]

I talked about the courtesy. Everyones still going to call you a noob. I guess I could have made it clearer. :L People get angry that they run a budget ass deck and can't beat the noobs that have been playing decks for forever and don't think they're noob because they've been running it forever. It's never going to matter to anyone that you've ran it forever, they'll still think you're the biggest ******* in the world for running a tier 0 deck.

Say Yubel gets some random ass level 1 that says it's treated as Yubel the Ultimate Nightmare and gains its effect. No summoning restriction. Everyone who runs a Yubel deck, regardless of whether or not you've been running it since Yubel first came out. There's no avoiding the idiots that are bad at their yugiohs and hate that they're poor, or didn't think about some card being really good. They'll rage at their friends, their friends will go, wow, that ******* is running that really broken Yubel deck. Let's try to make him lose!

It's not really avoidable in yugiohs. There's a portion of the players that are so absorbed in yugioh that they haven't learned common courtesy, and there's the jerks who just hate you for being good. It's just how the world is. >_<

Yeah usually I don't let it get me down, because like I said, it's tough to argue with success, and I know one little Internet thread isn't going to change the world, but it still made me feel better to say this.

[Neurotica]

Personally... I think X-Sabers can go to hell. But I'm diehard BWs and Lightsworns. No, I didn't play when Lightsworns were broken. I didn't really start ACTUALLY competing again until this format. Sure, I played, but just with random fun decks. I think Infernities are still insanely fun to play. To me, it's not how good a deck is, it's whether or not it can win, and still be fun, but not be so broken that you just get tired of it after a month. Ya know?

[RobK990]

Personally... I think X-Sabers can go to hell. But I'm diehard BWs and Lightsworns. No, I didn't play when Lightsworns were broken. I didn't really start ACTUALLY competing again until this format. Sure, I played, but just with random fun decks. I think Infernities are still insanely fun to play. To me, it's not how good a deck is, it's whether or not it can win, and still be fun, but not be so broken that you just get tired of it after a month. Ya know?

Well maybe they can. Personally I think Sabers are still nowhere near as broke as Infernities, a deck that can turn 1 topdeck with no hand and no field into 7 cards off the same stupid loop, but hey to each his own. I raged against LS and BW a lot back in the day, and then I built a serious BW deck and topped locals every week. Either you choose to improve or you act like a toddler and whine about it.

[Neurotica]

Well maybe they can. Personally I think Sabers are still nowhere near as broke as Infernities, a deck that can turn 1 topdeck with no hand and no field into 7 cards off the same stupid loop, but hey to each his own. I raged against LS and BW a lot back in the day, and then I built a serious BW deck and topped locals every week. Either you choose to improve or you act like a toddler and whine about it.

Yeah. Sabers aren't tier 0 yet. Infernities aren't out of the picture to me either though. The deck just changed what it did, if they get the random ass not-supposed-to-be-support-but-really-was in the form of Stygian some more (At least I don't think it was intended support), then they could really be a good deck again.

Honestly the limiting of important Lightsworn stuff kinda opened the door to other types of LS, like Kristyasworn, which I kinda like. Limiting stuff is more of an opportunity to find fillers that work, and be original with a once originally broken deck.

[RobK990]

Yeah. Sabers aren't tier 0 yet. Infernities aren't out of the picture to me either though. The deck just changed what it did, if they get the random ass not-supposed-to-be-support-but-really-was in the form of Stygian some more (At least I don't think it was intended support), then they could really be a good deck again.

Honestly the limiting of important Lightsworn stuff kinda opened the door to other types of LS, like Kristyasworn, which I kinda like. Limiting stuff is more of an opportunity to find fillers that work, and be original with a once originally broken deck.

Unfortunately there's not a lot of room in the game to do that with Sabers right now. LS had a door because it was a Light deck and therefore just needed a few Darks to become Twilight and needed a few more fairies (Shire) to become Kristiyasworn. Sabers have no out, no other support.

[Neurotica]

Nope. They'll probably get some more in a while though. I'm thinking MAYBE a card or two in Extreme Victory, or whatever pack comes after. It probably won't be as broken as something like Faultroll (Which btw, better get limited in March >_>), but at the very least something. Here's to hoping they don't turn into Blackwings as far as support goes. Well. Scratch that. Here's to hoping they DO. ^^

[RobK990]

Nope. They'll probably get some more in a while though. I'm thinking MAYBE a card or two in Extreme Victory, or whatever pack comes after. It probably won't be as broken as something like Faultroll (Which btw, better get limited in March >_>), but at the very least something. Here's to hoping they don't turn into Blackwings as far as support goes. Well. Scratch that. Here's to hoping they DO. ^^

Faultroll's not the issue. I've been following a few threads, and the smart folks all say the same thing; Fault's fine, Cold Wave is the issue. Frankly I think this is correct. People keep comparing it to JD, but frankly it's nowhere near that level of broken.

Aslo, Souza's going to put a steel toe on Saber's ass-kicking boots.

[Neurotica]

Cold Wave needs to be banned regardless. Once it gets banned, or regardless, Heavy will come back. Then they'll still have Heavy and Trunade, and Hyunlei to nuke backrows. To me, it's either do something to Faultroll, at LEAST Semi, or errata Darksoul so that it has to stay in the graveyard at the end, and can only be used once per turn, or something.

Herp derp, I has facedown Darksoul, summon Boggart, SS Fullhelm, SS 2 Faultrolls, synchro into Hyunlei, bring back Darksoul and Fullhelm, and synchro for Goyo or something.

Every time I've played against Sabers, they always seem to have multiple Faultrolls due to Darksouls from prior, and just wait. Then, if ANYTHING goes wrong, like Fader -> Dark Hole, their 2 searches, or 1, if they only had one Faultroll, allow them to basically bounce back as if nothing happened.

Idk. I still think that Infernities were incredibly more broken, as was every other tier 0 deck. Sabers will never have the broken combos that give you 6 synchros in one turn on top of 3 Barriers. It's just that some of Sabers combos with Cold Wave or any other backrow removing cards are kinda ridiculous. But that can be said with any combo that wins games.

OH WELL. I CANT MAKE UP MY MIND. >_>

[RobK990]

Cold Wave needs to be banned regardless. Once it gets banned, or regardless, Heavy will come back. Then they'll still have Heavy and Trunade, and Hyunlei to nuke backrows. To me, it's either do something to Faultroll, at LEAST Semi, or errata Darksoul so that it has to stay in the graveyard at the end, and can only be used once per turn, or something.

Herp derp, I has facedown Darksoul, summon Boggart, SS Fullhelm, SS 2 Faultrolls, synchro into Hyunlei, bring back Darksoul and Fullhelm, and synchro for Goyo or something.

Every time I've played against Sabers, they always seem to have multiple Faultrolls due to Darksouls from prior, and just wait. Then, if ANYTHING goes wrong, like Fader -> Dark Hole, their 2 searches, or 1, if they only had one Faultroll, allow them to basically bounce back as if nothing happened.

Idk. I still think that Infernities were incredibly more broken, as was every other tier 0 deck. Sabers will never have the broken combos that give you 6 synchros in one turn on top of 3 Barriers. It's just that some of Sabers combos with Cold Wave or any other backrow removing cards are kinda ridiculous. But that can be said with any combo that wins games.

OH WELL. I CANT MAKE UP MY MIND. >_>

Well maybe it has something to do with my unhealthy, nonsexual sword fetish, but I love them and won't stop running them until they become utterly unplayable.

[Neurotica]

;) I'll run Lightsworns even after they're unplayable. I feel cool looking at my 3 cards compared to their 30. XD

[RobK990]

;) I'll run Lightsworns even after they're unplayable. I feel cool looking at my 3 cards compared to their 30. XD

Hey, as long as one is JD...

[Neurotica]

But I'd lose that turn! D:! *Enter Avarice!* *Wins* *Gloats*

[RobK990]

But I'd lose that turn! D:! *Enter Avarice!* *Wins* *Gloats*

Whatever, all I'm saying is Sabers need to have at least 3 or 4 cards to do anything, most other decks people compare them to can just topdeck and win. JD, Infernity Archfiend...

[Neurotica]

That's not really true though. Sabers could topdeck their balls off with Cat around. They only need 3 cards now. ;) Sabers play conservatively anyway though, so unless they **** up, I don't really see them topdecking. Ever. Yeah, other decks topdeck better. Infernities were a deck BASED on topdecking though, so that isn't really fair. They were just REALLY good at it. With Warnings and such all over the place, topdecking a JD really isn't as effective as it used to be. Sure, it's kinda fun. It still works a lot. But more removal effects makes topdecking worse.

[StrikeCommander000]

Which proves my point; a lack of repsect between opponents is endemic in this game. Something's got to change.

I feel the lack of respect is more geared towards who cannot afford the best cards, tbh.

[DunnoBro]

There is all sorts of respect problems, the dumbest of which is rich v poor duelists.

I mean, i can understand you need to invest a decent amount into a deck. But just like 50-100, some people seem to make it seem like someone should quit playing because they wont pay 300 for three cards.

[HighonPie]

Yet some "poor" duelists hold great contempt for some "rich" duelists who only want to make their decks the best they can be. There's nothing wrong at all with saying to maximize the potential of X deck, you should add Y expensive card.

[Pinkrzrh]

I agree really Cant stand the lack of respect in this game. When i play against other people and win or lose they want nothing to do with me cause my i didnt spend 300 dollars for my deck. Ive always respected my opponent regardless of the deck they use.

[Vanguard Veteran]

I love when scrubs hate on me playing meta decks and winning every week. Some stopped playing because they knew they had no way of winning.

[RobK990]

I love when scrubs hate on me playing meta decks and winning every week. Some stopped playing because they knew they had no way of winning.

Thank you for providing a shining example of what I was talking about, you asshat.

[Vanguard Veteran]

Hey its not my fault plants and formula monarchs are so fun to play.

[14robinli]

yea i realy don't have to deal with to muchbecause im canadian+ all the people at my locals are somewhat friends or at the least friendly

easy solution move to canada.

[Falco Breeze]

We all have had rude, annoying, ect, people for opponent's. But we have to know that every person was raised differently. Some kids were raised to believe that being rude will make you cool or something. Some believe that money makes the world go round and that it will solve everything. Some just believe in having a good time and being a good person.

Anyway, this might not be helpful to some people, but realize what people might pick up and you don't.

[The zombie guy]

Hell, I've spent almost a year now perfecting my zombies which are tier 1 hands down at this point and I can trade decks with my friend using and beat him using his Gks that he barely edited from the time that he pulled it out of the marik deck.. only thing he really did was added 2 more descendants and some other stuff.

[katamura]

Like you, dear OP, I am not a very experienced player and I run what I like, what I feel most comfortable with and what suits my playstyle and budget. That is Fiends.

Because I don't get enough practice, I will invariably lose some of my matches. I don't see this as the fault of the deck I run, it can only be attributed my own lack of 'skill and brains'.

Often, those I lose to will say 'no wonder you lost, you are running a bad deck'. I sometimes wonder that with my own lack of experience, whether running a 'better deck' would lead to a different result.

When they start going on about how I should run a 'meta deck' to be 'pro, I usually thank them, but inform them I will consider my options after I become 'better at the game' and completely exhaust all possibilities with my current deck.

I know for a fact that it's not my deck...it's me.

Then they go and call me a 'stubborn noob' and whatnot...I just ignore them after that because life's too short to argue with such morons.

Sometimes I will win against poorly built meta decks though and when I do, those losers will have a good old whinge....my philosophy when I win is 'I won, so wot?'...when I lose, it's 'I lost, so wot?'

I learn from my losses...working out what misplays I might have made....what cards did not work for me....what my opponent did to 'mindscrew' me...all that stuff...I don't go 'geez, my deck sucks...I better run something else'...I just personally feel I will be no better off anyway.

I play to win as well, but the deck I run to achieve it is more important than any 'hollow victory' I would achieve otherwise.

There are those who tell me 'a victory is still a victory, no matter how empty it is'....check my sig for my Empty Jar preference...I kinda know all about that already...but it still does not alter the fact that some decks are just auto-pilot and I only run them when I am in a 'I cannot be arsed using any grey matter whatsoever' mood. This is still a 'cop-out' though and I fully realise that.

As for the 'shaking hands' bit. I will shake my opponent's hand whenever he extends it, but I will not extend my own first.
Having others not shake my hand can be attributed to 2 things 1: Germophobia (which a lot of duelists are totally obsessive about) and 2. Arrogance (which a lot of duelists are, by nature).

I really don't worry anymore though. Those who have taken the time to get to know me, also know that they are wasting their time trying to 'convert' me or pull any kind of wool over my eyes...so now, they either ignore me or have become my friends and have a good old joke with me.

This process takes a lot of time though.

I think the "Winning is winning and losing is losing" philosophy is a great one.
But i think the whole shaking hands thing is a matter of courtesy. Whether you really think the duel/match was a good one, it's a matter of politeness to do so.

[Sazandora]

Ehh.

i can see where this thread is going so pretty much everyone pojo is a "vet", "experienced", or "elitist" and pwn n00bz 4 yugioh cards take your pick.

[No One Special]

Meh, I'm not a big fan of how Gravekeeper's went from a fun deck to a netdeck. Sure, people play to win, but I really don't like it when I put time and effort into a deck, and someone else just grabs a similar build off the Internet, and I am suddenly a netdecker because I play an archetype that topped the YCS.

[Aarikku]

OP, you probably could've saved yourself a lot of trouble around here:

He then decides to Set a monster and was about to say go when he gets this brilliant idea that he’s going to take back the Set (yes I gave him grief about it, so he goes on about me being cool for sharking at locals and I tell him likewise for blatant cheating), use his Monster Reborn on my Fulhelmknight, summon Dandylion, and turn it into a Goyo.

Here's how I handle a similar situation:

Opponent: "I set a monster. Oh, wait, can I take that back?"
Me: *shrug* "Sure."

Sometimes you don't see the best move right away. If I'm going to win, I want it to be against my opponent's best moves, not their mediocre ones that I forced them to stick with. And people really appreciate it; unless they're huge asshats, they'll even let you take back moves yourself.

[Pyrrhus]

Sabers, unlike Lightsworn, Infernities, Glads, and Blackwings, weren’t a regional-topping deck overnight.

Sirocco, Bora, Gale and Armour Master were released the set before Black Whirlwind; they came out in Crimson Crisis, Whirlwind and co weren't released until Raging Battle. They failed to top that format as they didn't possess enough cards for an actual deck until Whirlwind and the other Blackwings caught up.

Gladiator Beasts were considered a casual deck by many upon their initial release in Gladiators Assault. Gradually they amassed tournament showings and results as time progressed. Gaining cards in PTDN (Darius), LODT (Gyzarus) and TDGS (War Chariot, Equeste).

Infernitys were first released as Game promos; existing solely as Infernity Guardian, Archfiend and Dwarf. They were mocked for being absolute garbage. Even upon the release of Necromancer in SOVR they were still ignored. It took until TSHD before they took off.

Lightsworn topped but failed to secure tournament winnings at a SJC/YCS level until the release of Charge of the Light Brigade which came with the advent of Synchros in TDGS.

Every deck you sited has followed the same progressive train of gradually amassing support to become a tier deck. Do your research next time, X-Sabers are not the first deck to crawl their way into stardom.

[RobK990]

Sirocco, Bora, Gale and Armour Master were released the set before Black Whirlwind; they came out in Crimson Crisis, Whirlwind and co weren't released until Raging Battle. They failed to top that format as they didn't possess enough cards for an actual deck until Whirlwind and the other Blackwings caught up.

Gladiator Beasts were considered a casual deck by many upon their initial release in Gladiators Assault. Gradually they amassed tournament showings and results as time progressed. Gaining cards in PTDN (Darius), LODT (Gyzarus) and TDGS (War Chariot, Equeste).

Infernitys were first released as Game promos; existing solely as Infernity Guardian, Archfiend and Dwarf. They were mocked for being absolute garbage. Even upon the release of Necromancer in SOVR they were still ignored. It took until TSHD before they took off.

Lightsworn topped but failed to secure tournament winnings at a SJC/YCS level until the release of Charge of the Light Brigade which came with the advent of Synchros in TDGS.

Every deck you sited has followed the same progressive train of gradually amassing support to become a tier deck. Do your research next time, X-Sabers are not the first deck to crawl their way into stardom.

Yes but it only took them a set or two. Sabers started off in a structure deck with two cards (four, if you count Galahad and Anu Piranha and I don't) and didn't get any more support until Ancient Prophecy. After that they waited until Absolute Powerforce and Shining Darkness to get anything else, and haven't gotten anything since.

LS came out in one set, and there's no doubt it rocked the local circuit hardcore. GB's exploded the second Gyzarus came out. Infernities perhaps waited a bit longer, and Blackwings got good after two sets, then just got better and better (which explains their position as a tier-1 deck today).

Even if you had a point, it has no bearing on the rest of the article.

[Vanguard Veteran]

I play Tier 1 or don't play at all. Non-meta decks are usually not as powerful or consistent as meta decks. I honestly can't play plants because its not consistent enough for me.