Post by Thunder_Struck on Aug 14, 2014 12:03:26 GMT
Good Lord. Its been a while.
I thought i'd provide an update in my world of yugioh and life, as I hope for whatever reason (however unlikely) some of you still take a look from time to time at the old days.
I'm going to take it from the beginning, nothing too elaborate, just a little summary.
First of all, I cant believe how incredibly arrogant I was back in the old days lol (I'll peg it to being so young and competitive) but I look at the posts I made and cringe at some of them!
So with regards to Yugioh it has gone something like this:
2004 - Started playing competitively, found the shop on Montague Street and became even more engrossed in yugioh! won my first City Championship and qualified for National in April 05
2005 - Spent alot of time at the shop, attended Tim's tournaments/Close Encounters/Some regionals (x1 with the BMG boys, <3 the t-shirts). Finished 4-3 at my first nationals in London, got increasingly obsessed with yugioh as a result.
2006 - This for me was when I felt I was the most into the game, when i enjoyed playing it the most and feel that I was at my best (had my best showing at nationals (23rd) topped multiple regionals, travelled around the country etc) couldnt get enough.
2007 - This year was sortve my twilight year for yugioh, Nationals was at the emirates that year and I didnt do too well (wasnt playing anywhere near as much) I think the shop closing and sortve becoming anti yugioh reduced the amount i played (i didnt qualify at any regionals/city's and got in via a handed down spot). The highlight of the year was the european championships in Turin, one of the best weekends for yugioh ive ever had.
2008 - By this point i'd really eased off of yugioh (my interest was now in MLG and competitive Halo 3), I remember buying alot of singles from the Phantom Darkness to be able to get back into it in time for nationals (held at the MCM Expo that year) didnt have the best showing, just made sure I made day 2 to get free entry into the expo lol. My heart and dedication werent in it anymore, after nats I sold up and quit (something i never thought i'd do).
2009 - This was a comeback year for me personally, MLG was getting a bit boring with the addition of Halo Reach (a very subpar competitive game) and i had some old friends convince me to return. It was around March that i started playing again (went with gladiator beasts) and managed to qualify for Nationals via the Milton Keynes City Championship. Nationals was held in Sheffield that year at a very strange venue (we were playing on the inner circle of a racing track...), I had another so-so performance finishing X-4. Lightsworn dominated the tournament. But it felt good to be back. Later that year Jamie Stafford and I went to the world championship in Tokyo (thanks to Jamie winning the DS National Championship in Birmingham) it was an amazing trip and I cant detail how fantastic japan was and immense the gaming scene there is.
2010 - After worlds I felt that the mecha of yugioh had been experienced and the only thing left in it for me was the money making side of things, this ultimately spoilt the game for me, and playing and competing just didnt do it for me anymore. I attended 1 regional to qualify for nationals that year but didnt get anywhere (went in untested and with a really questionable deck) but strangely didnt feel bothered, nats was being held at the mcm expo again this year and I had already made arrangements to attend. I played casually for a while but this was easily the low point for me. My time playing was easily down to 2-3 times a month. Not good. By October i had sold up and quit again.
2011/2012/2013 - I didnt touch yugioh, seen some old faces but didnt have my own cards, was focused on other things in this time (mainly Gears of War 3, Monster Hunter and Street Fighter) due to a large group of local friends all playing the same games together (we still do now and its easily the best way to spend free time lol).
2014 - So its April and i feel a niggle in my mind, something i hadnt thought of in a while and suddenly i'm looking at event coverage and old deck lists... I speak with Matt Black (who I've grown close to along with his brother Ross since the old days) and he convinced me to come to nationals in May as its no longer qualification to enter. After much deliberation I went along and had a suprise result I must say. I hadnt played properly in pretty much 4 years, didnt know any match ups and went in with a deck that people considered to have a low chance of winning. I finished X-3 and finished 98th out of 473 players, I was so chuffed! Since then its been casually playing with Matt and a couple of lads from kettering (sometimes ross too, he's going for MMA and looks super cereal) and a tournament once a month. I'm gonna keep it this way as I still enjoy playing and doing tourney play every now and then.
So thats me. Theres alot more to those years but theres only so much wall of text people want to read (if they do at all).
I hope you're all well, and sometimes look back on this wicked little slice of time we all had.
Take Care Chaps!
Louis
I thought i'd provide an update in my world of yugioh and life, as I hope for whatever reason (however unlikely) some of you still take a look from time to time at the old days.
I'm going to take it from the beginning, nothing too elaborate, just a little summary.
First of all, I cant believe how incredibly arrogant I was back in the old days lol (I'll peg it to being so young and competitive) but I look at the posts I made and cringe at some of them!
So with regards to Yugioh it has gone something like this:
2004 - Started playing competitively, found the shop on Montague Street and became even more engrossed in yugioh! won my first City Championship and qualified for National in April 05
2005 - Spent alot of time at the shop, attended Tim's tournaments/Close Encounters/Some regionals (x1 with the BMG boys, <3 the t-shirts). Finished 4-3 at my first nationals in London, got increasingly obsessed with yugioh as a result.
2006 - This for me was when I felt I was the most into the game, when i enjoyed playing it the most and feel that I was at my best (had my best showing at nationals (23rd) topped multiple regionals, travelled around the country etc) couldnt get enough.
2007 - This year was sortve my twilight year for yugioh, Nationals was at the emirates that year and I didnt do too well (wasnt playing anywhere near as much) I think the shop closing and sortve becoming anti yugioh reduced the amount i played (i didnt qualify at any regionals/city's and got in via a handed down spot). The highlight of the year was the european championships in Turin, one of the best weekends for yugioh ive ever had.
2008 - By this point i'd really eased off of yugioh (my interest was now in MLG and competitive Halo 3), I remember buying alot of singles from the Phantom Darkness to be able to get back into it in time for nationals (held at the MCM Expo that year) didnt have the best showing, just made sure I made day 2 to get free entry into the expo lol. My heart and dedication werent in it anymore, after nats I sold up and quit (something i never thought i'd do).
2009 - This was a comeback year for me personally, MLG was getting a bit boring with the addition of Halo Reach (a very subpar competitive game) and i had some old friends convince me to return. It was around March that i started playing again (went with gladiator beasts) and managed to qualify for Nationals via the Milton Keynes City Championship. Nationals was held in Sheffield that year at a very strange venue (we were playing on the inner circle of a racing track...), I had another so-so performance finishing X-4. Lightsworn dominated the tournament. But it felt good to be back. Later that year Jamie Stafford and I went to the world championship in Tokyo (thanks to Jamie winning the DS National Championship in Birmingham) it was an amazing trip and I cant detail how fantastic japan was and immense the gaming scene there is.
2010 - After worlds I felt that the mecha of yugioh had been experienced and the only thing left in it for me was the money making side of things, this ultimately spoilt the game for me, and playing and competing just didnt do it for me anymore. I attended 1 regional to qualify for nationals that year but didnt get anywhere (went in untested and with a really questionable deck) but strangely didnt feel bothered, nats was being held at the mcm expo again this year and I had already made arrangements to attend. I played casually for a while but this was easily the low point for me. My time playing was easily down to 2-3 times a month. Not good. By October i had sold up and quit again.
2011/2012/2013 - I didnt touch yugioh, seen some old faces but didnt have my own cards, was focused on other things in this time (mainly Gears of War 3, Monster Hunter and Street Fighter) due to a large group of local friends all playing the same games together (we still do now and its easily the best way to spend free time lol).
2014 - So its April and i feel a niggle in my mind, something i hadnt thought of in a while and suddenly i'm looking at event coverage and old deck lists... I speak with Matt Black (who I've grown close to along with his brother Ross since the old days) and he convinced me to come to nationals in May as its no longer qualification to enter. After much deliberation I went along and had a suprise result I must say. I hadnt played properly in pretty much 4 years, didnt know any match ups and went in with a deck that people considered to have a low chance of winning. I finished X-3 and finished 98th out of 473 players, I was so chuffed! Since then its been casually playing with Matt and a couple of lads from kettering (sometimes ross too, he's going for MMA and looks super cereal) and a tournament once a month. I'm gonna keep it this way as I still enjoy playing and doing tourney play every now and then.
So thats me. Theres alot more to those years but theres only so much wall of text people want to read (if they do at all).
I hope you're all well, and sometimes look back on this wicked little slice of time we all had.
Take Care Chaps!
Louis