I was super excited and at the same time, super nervous. As I'm listening to Keep Ya Head Up by 2Pac, I'm reflecting about how thankful I am with such great judges around me. My friend's judge from Ecuador came up to help with judging and he was my supervisor for the event. It was great because I could tell people if they were right or wrong, catch people trying to cheat and to create a fair and enjoyable time for the players. Even though I don't know 100% of the rulings, it was good to help people to understand why certain cards interact the way they do. I did mess up on one ruling, but it was forgivable since it was mid rounds and at the last tables (x-2) so they wouldn't make it to the tops, especially with the decks they were running... Sorry, but it's the truth. I saw a dude run a Tour Guide From the Underworld Inzektor build and was in the last tables for the 11th and 12th round.
What I've learned from this YCS judge event is that, there are a lot of players, but it really is up to the players to read the card text, read the opponent, judge the circumstance, and figure out what the best option is for the hand that was given to you. That is if you want to win/top the YCS events. If you were there to have fun, by all means, do so. I had a blast judging and I hope as a player, I get that same enjoyment. Although my legs were super tired and wanted to do nothing but sleep after the first day, it was great. One thing that Konami has started to do is Problem Solving Card Text, PSCT as some judges call it. It helps the players understand from previous card texts by rewording punctuation and misleading card text. I give a round of applause to Konami for that. So it's less work for the judges. The only/bigger issue is the certain card interactions, (e.i. - Neo-Spacian Grand Mole vs. AoJ Catastor.)
For the first round, I was given a situation where one player drew an extra card, he was honest enough to tell me that he drew an extra card, but he shuffled his hand. I asked him if he could verify what card it was, but he "believed" it was this card, but the game state was irreversible. He already used Pot of Duality, normal summoned a Barbaros and set one card. So, I give him credit for telling me, but without verification of what card he drew extra into, I can't help him. Game Loss. As much as that sucks, it is what it is. Worst part, he could have beat his opponent from what deck he was playing. What can I say, if you try to cheat, you're cheating yourself. Later on, same instance happened, again, game loss, irreversible game state. *sigh* Please stop doing that...
After the YCS, I ran into some "locals". Not sure if you can call them that especially if they're about 30 miles from the city. I approached them and asked if they were going to the airport and wondered what time their flight was. 930pm and 1130pm, I look at my watch, 10am... LOL I asked them if they wanted to join me to go to the local Long Beach Aquarium. They said sure, we went to eat brunch first, at Hooters (normal burger restaurant, just some eye candy for the guys). Then we went on an adventure at an arcade and a hunt for the aquarium... apparently I led them to the wrong place and eventually, we found it. We had a blast as nerdy as we already were, we found ourselves enjoying our time in the Aquarium. After the Aquarium, we went to the Airport, found our flights and that was it for that. I made new friends and met new people this entire weekend. It was great. I can't wait to do it again if I could :]
Thanks for reading!
Allen Fung
A novice Yu-Gi-Oh! player throwing out ideas and thoughts about the current meta game. Updates every Tuesdays!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Judging in Long Beach
Wow, I didn't think I would be a judge for such an important event. Even though it is a normal YCS (Yugioh! Championship Series), I think it will be a huge event because of the things that are given out to the players and after all, it is the 100th one being set out in the YGO community. I've talked a lot about being a judge with my local TO (Tournament Organizer) and other various RC-1 qualified and other judges around my locals. It was interesting. Not only that, people started noticing me that I was a judge and a reliable source of information. That is not how I wanted it to go since I did get back into YGO last year (2 formats) and I have just gotten back into YGO from a 4 year break. I think I need to get myself accommodated to the huge database of cards out there before I can do something about it.
From the current experience in locals, I've learned that a lot of casual players do not read the card text that is in front of them and that aggravates me. The problem solving text is right there in front of them. There are game mechanics that a lot of people don't know like how optional effects and mandatory effects fall in a chain (e.g. Catastor vs Grand Mole) that I can understand, but where as can I special summon this from my hand, that's a different story, that is based on text and what was activated on the field.
Hopefully, this will carry over into the Judging experience in Long Beach because if I can see a YCS as a large locals rather than any thing else. The only thing I feel sorry for is the amount of people that might be playing Inzektors or Wind-Ups because their opponent will cry a lot because they might as well lose first turn to Wind-Up or lose turn 2 to Inzektors. The Inzektors are an aggressive type of deck and the wind-up as well, but they thing is that if the wind-up goes second, it can hardly make a come back if they have some sort of back row. With wind-up out, it really depends on who goes first that will determine who wins the match rather than who has more skills.
Until another post about my YGO adventures and blogging. Hmmmm, maybe something that will help you guys out next time. :P
From the current experience in locals, I've learned that a lot of casual players do not read the card text that is in front of them and that aggravates me. The problem solving text is right there in front of them. There are game mechanics that a lot of people don't know like how optional effects and mandatory effects fall in a chain (e.g. Catastor vs Grand Mole) that I can understand, but where as can I special summon this from my hand, that's a different story, that is based on text and what was activated on the field.
Hopefully, this will carry over into the Judging experience in Long Beach because if I can see a YCS as a large locals rather than any thing else. The only thing I feel sorry for is the amount of people that might be playing Inzektors or Wind-Ups because their opponent will cry a lot because they might as well lose first turn to Wind-Up or lose turn 2 to Inzektors. The Inzektors are an aggressive type of deck and the wind-up as well, but they thing is that if the wind-up goes second, it can hardly make a come back if they have some sort of back row. With wind-up out, it really depends on who goes first that will determine who wins the match rather than who has more skills.
Until another post about my YGO adventures and blogging. Hmmmm, maybe something that will help you guys out next time. :P
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