Blog Revamp: Welcome back Card Players!

Hello everyone! 

 

I’d like to welcome you back (or introduce you) to the Competitive Card Playing blog. It’s undergone a bit of a transformation and is now the hub of the “Belfast Yugioh” group! 

 

We’ll be producing and posting (hopefully) weekly articles on various topics that we hope will help you improve your game at a competitive level. 

 

This week you have me (Adam) producing the first new article for the group -

I hope you enjoy it! 

 

So without further ado, let's dive in:

 

Going on Tilt: Causes, Avoidance and Recovery

 

If you're not familiar with the term 'tilt', let me give you an explanation of what it means; 

 

 

 

 

"Allowing the circumstances to affect your judgment, causing you to play sub-optimally."

 

Tilting plays a part in all kinds of gaming, be it video games, cards, or even professional sports. When your judgement is affected you enter a downward spiral - which in turn leads to more anger and frustration. It’s hard to think perfectly when the pressure is on - believe me, I've been there. Having been a reasonably good player from a pretty young age, people used to watch me play a lot.

 

And I HATED it.

 

I use to despise when people watched me play my games. I couldn't stand the pressure of people watching me play and criticising me. It used to throw me off my game and cause errors that I’d never have made when playing by myself.

That is, until I realised that criticism is a fundamental part of growth as a player, and as a person. Thinking back on it now, it was kind of ridiculous and if anyone can tell you about tilting and how to overcome it, I’d like to think it’s me.

You have to cool down, take a deep breath and play your game. 

 

In Yu-Gi-Oh! you’re most likely to go on tilt when you get "sacked". – for example,  when victory is snatched from you by a freshly drawn “Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning”, or when your opponent happened to have that second (or even third!) copy of “Bujingi Crane”.

The most common result of this is misplaying, or taking a line of play that is incorrect for the current board state. We all do it - its human nature, and no one is perfect (regardless of their claims).

 

So what's the problem if everybody does it?

 

The problem is that you get embarrassed and angry at yourself – which causes you to stop thinking altogether. You need to avoid this at ALL costs, it’s not helpful in any way, and causes you to crash and burn in games you should rightly have won.

 

The key is to slow down, acknowledge your mistake and begin to evaluate the current situation. That’s the current situation, not the one you just left – the situation AFTER the misplay has taken place. Take a look at the available options, the way in which the game has changed, and determine the best play you can now make. Reassessment of the situation is your best (and often ONLY) option, I don't think I can stress this point enough. 

 

I remember in school, in run up to Exam Season, one of my teachers would always say in class; 

 

"Read the question, underline the key words, and plan your answer." 

 

Although it isn't exactly the same, the base meaning is highly relatable:

At any time in a game, when the board state complicates, you must evaluate all of your options. Barrelling in with no forethought often only serves to create the kind of horrible situation that your opponent was planning all along. This is extra important when you’re on tilt.

 

Let’s look at an example:

 

You summon a “Coach Soldier Wolfbark” and use its effect to special summon a “Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Bear”. You know you want to summon a Rank 4 Xyz monster, and have narrowed your decision down to” Diamond Dire Wolf” or “Castel, the Skyblaster Musketeer”. You go through several scenarios in your head and decide that “Diamond Dire Wolf” would be more advantageous to you - allowing you to safely conduct your next play and secure a dominant position.

Sounds easy, right?

 

But as you’re reaching for your Extra deck, you’re distracted by one of the spectators making a remark. You turn you attention back to the game, and confidently place “Castel, The Skyblaster Musketeer” onto the field.

 

Oh Dear.

 

So instead of the originally intended “Diamond Dire Wolf” you realise that you’ve made a mistake. How do you react? Do you begin to panic and continue to mess up? Maybe they’re just better than you… I mean, you might’ve just thrown the game away!

OR do you stop and think? 

Stop, relax and reassess the board state. Ask yourself some questions:

 

How does your Castel advance your position?

Can you remove another problem card your opponent controls?

Can you turn your opponent’s monster face-down to avoid a potential 'Honest'?

 

What can Castel do that Diamond Dire Wolf cannot, and how does it help you win now? These are the kinds of questions you need to ask yourself when you find yourself in these situations. 

 

Remember that your opponent makes misplays too, and capitalising when they do can help to take you off tilt – it makes them feel that maybe you’re just better than they are, and that level discrepancy can really put you at an advantage. Much like in poker, your opponent’s mental state is an incredible resource if you can use it correctly, effectively allowing you to reverse the tilt back onto them!

 

That’s not the only way to tilt though - let’s look at some of the more common ones, and ways to avoid them: 

 

When your opponent draws ideally

 

This can happen once, or a few times in a row. It’s irritating, believe me -VERY irritating. That's a part playing cards though, the element of luck and variance. It sucks when they work against you, but do remember that for ever bad beat there’s a good run. I'm pretty sure I've won entire regionals with just incredible openers and huge topdecks. I’ve also played in events in which I drew nothing and my opponents had all the answers.

There are certain things you just don’t have control over, and you need to be prepared for that. Sometimes there’s nothing you could have done (though this is rarely the case). Sometimes you couldn't have changed the outcome no matter what you did or drew.

 

Personally, I try to calculate my opponent’s possible draws before passing my turn – that way if they get one, I’ve already considered it and prepared myself.

 

"May the odds be ever in your favour" - Yeah, Right

 

Carrying over a loss from the previous round

 

So it happened, your opponent drew Shaddoll Fusion and you lost. You want to go cry in a corner?

This is one of the easiest ways to throw rounds away. You simply cannot let go of the loss or stress, and you carry it over to the next round.

Unfortunately, you’ve got other things you need to be thinking about in the next round – your current game for example. Considering how you lost the last game isn’t going to help you there.

It’s especially dangerous when your opponent ripped something off the top. If you lost your last match to a freshly drawn Shaddoll Fusion, what happens if you encounter the same situation again? Are you going to make a different move because you lost last time?

That’s a dangerous road, and thoughts of previous rounds are better left until the event is over. Put them in a box and open them once you have time to work out what went wrong.

 

“Judge Rules… No Foul!”

 

I am a large advocate of knowing your card interactions, especially if they are cards that you’re playing. These minor interactions are often key in winning obscure situations.

Unfortunately, you just can’t know everything. Sometimes you’re going to be wrong, and sometimes your opponent’s going to call you on it. Having this happen at a critical time can be devastating to your mental state, leaving you questioning just how well you understand your own deck.

It’s important to understand that this happens to judges too. As much as you would like to believe that all judges are perfect bastions of knowledge, not all floor judges are well equipped to answer your questions. That’s why we have the appeal system in place in order to guarantee a fair field. 

If you’re certain that you right, but the head judge rules against you, ask if they can take some time outside of the game to explain to you how the interaction works. They may not have time (Head Judges are busy people) but can often find someone to run you through it, and your friends can probably help if the judges are busy.

 

Trash Talk

 

This is an easy way for an opponent to get under your skin and affect your play during a game, and is incredibly common among testing and/or friendship groups. Sometimes it’s a bad day, or you’ve lost too much, or you ate something bad for breakfast… but whatever the reason, it gets under your skin and affects your mood, which in turn affects your gameplay.

You don't want to let this type of unsportsmanlike conduct to affect your game, it will tend to make you more aggressive, less strategic and more prone to overextension. This allows your opponent chance to capitalise on these mistakes, stealing games that should’ve been yours.

 

The first point to make here is that if it becomes extreme, call a judge. That’s not to say that you do so if your opponent calls you silly names, but being overly aggressive towards your opponent is a violation of Konami’s Tournament Policy, and can result in a penalty.

For this reason it’s important not to become aggressive back in this situation, as you may bring said penalty on yourself.

 

For minor things though, try to drown out the external noises when you are playing at tournament level, whether this be 'getting into the zone', listening to music (if your TO/opponent don’t mind), or training yourself to focus on what’s important..

One of my friends that’s incredibly well-versed in this Luke Smythe. It’s difficult to throw his concentration mid-game, and that’s one of the things I admire and respect about his card playing abilities. 

 

You’ll notice that most of these involve how you’re feeling and your general mental state. Find a method of keeping your composure even when things go wrong - not everything goes as planned.

 Remember, you‘re not aiming to win every game, you’re aiming to play every game perfectly. Accomplish that and the wins will follow.

 

So how can you stop yourself tilting?

 

Understanding that feedback and criticism are helpful and useful tools helps you overcome your tilt. 

In order to test effectively and prepare optimally for an event, you need to be playing your best. Receiving feedback and criticism from your testing group is incredibly helpful, being one of the best ways to improve your game, feel less pressured when being watched, and generally be more comfortable playing.

Please note though, that “Hurr durr, you’re terrible” is not very helpful. Constructive criticism is preferred.

 

For the same reasons, having people praise your game play is a great way to prevent tilting as it improves your confidence. Remember that as far as tilting is concerned, knowing you’re playing correctly is just as important as actually playing correctly.

 

Remember, tilting can happen to anyone - from new players to the most hardened veterans, and learning to overcome tilt is imperative if you want to advance your game.

 

I hope you enjoyed the read and can take something away from it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at yugiohbelfast@hotmail.com or contact me via Facebook. 

 

Remember, assessing the situation is the key to success.