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Post by Matt Hirama on Sept 13, 2009 13:53:34 GMT -5
It was yet another dull day at Duel Academy for Matt. He had wanted to duel someone, but many of the Obelisk students had been "busy" and many of the other dorms' students avoided him because of the bad rep of the Obelisk students being stuck up. This, obviously, had made it hard for Matt to find someone to duel. In the end, he hadn't found anyone willing to fight him, so he was forced to put the duel on hold.
Until he could find someone to duel though, Matt had taken temporary control of a table in the Academy's card shop. The table was piled with neat stacks of cards and indavidual cards that Matt was examining. In the center of it all was a smaller stack of cards, representing Matt's deck. Since he had not been able to find a duel, Matt had taken to editing his deck to make it more efficient. With the new banlist out, he had taken up the chaos decks, minus the envoys due to them being banned. But, he was still sort of new at the deck type, so the decks he had made weren't exactly the best they could get. Matt was still working on that aspect, as the stacks of cards on the table in front of him made obvious.
Behind the stacks of card, Matt was staring intently at the individual cards he had laid out in front of him, seeing if any of them would fit in. His right hand hovered over whatever card he was staring at while in his left hand was a massive cheeseburger with cheese, bacon, and the other usual condiments put on a burger. Taking a bite of the massive cheeseburger, Matt picked up a card and examined it. The card, Legendary Fiend, wasn't the best dark monster he could choose, but the fact it could be special summoned by Mystic Tomato made Matt curious. He put the card on the top of his deck and continued looking, obviously zoned out from those around him. |
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Post by DJ Reilty on Sept 14, 2009 0:11:23 GMT -5
DJ shuffled into the card shop quietly, looking around at the fairly empty scene with complacent eyes. The faint smell of food made his stomach rumble and made him remember that he hadn't eaten yet today. He was so ditzy at times that he'd even forget to eat for periods of time. He stepped lightly around the shop, taking in the images of cards and equipment from cases and shelves, wondering if he could use any of them within his deck. God knew his deck could do with some improvement after all.
The reason he had come in here was to look for some Dragon-type Synchro Monsters for his general Dragon Beatdown deck since he was only just learning how to use them and figured he'd need some cards in order to help better incorporate them into his deck and theme. His mind played through the data of cards he saw, scanning for the white background of the strange extra deck monsters. He had a fair grasp on how they worked but he wasn't masterful with them by any stretch of the imagination and didn't want to use them too much if he was going to screw them up or mess with his deck chemistry. However since Synchro Monsters didn't take up actual deck space it would be safe to get a fair variety of some of them so they wouldn't clog his deck as long as he was okay with only having one or two tuner monsters accompanying them.
His thoughts continued to race as he picked a few cards out to look out and headed to a table to try and think things over a bit. He spotted a fellow student, although of a higher rank, sitting at said table (again his ditziness kept him from noticing this until the last moment). He also noticed that this person was holding the burger that made the smell that made him hungry earlier. He shook off the feeling and decided to stay on track. He looked to the boy and pulled up a chair. "Mind if I sit here?" He smiled friendily, keeping ahold of the few cards he had picked out, prepared to find someone else if this person would rather be alone.
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Post by Matt Hirama on Sept 14, 2009 20:37:10 GMT -5
Matt only vaguely acknowledged the young man entering the shop, instead decided to take another bite of his burger and continue his work. Unless whoever entered actually approached him, which Matt found to be unlikely unless they were Obelisk rank, Matt would continue to concentrate on his work. After gulping down his bite, Matt picked up another card off of the table in front of him: Dark Armed Dragon. Against, possibly not the smartest choice in the book, seeing as he had very few ways to control his graveyard, but it could come in handy. In fact, it already had a few times in previous versions of the deck.
The minutes afterward only seemed like a few moments to Matt, because before he even realized the time had gone by, a young man had addressed him. He looked up and noticed a Ra yellow talking to him from above the piles of cards in front of him. Matt blinked a few times, not exactly knowing ho to respond to something that wasn't an extremely biased tone. Still, it was rude of him to remain silent after being addressed.
"Not at all." Matt said.
He took several stacks of his own cards and placed them back in the bag by his feet to make room for the young man. He had already gone through them before the other young man had arrived, so he didn't really need them present at the moment. Looking back up, Matt noticed his new table partner was holding freshly purchased cards, piquing his interest.
"Oh, new cards! You tuning a deck, or building a new one?" Matt asked. His tone of voice gave off a hint of excitement as he asked his question, obviously revealing his love of the game. Perhaps the young man would like to duel later, or so Matt hoped. |
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Post by DJ Reilty on Sept 14, 2009 23:57:32 GMT -5
DJ nodded his thanks and chuckled lightly as he grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the table, trying not to make too much noise in the process in case he missed someone else around who was trying to concentrate. "Thanks." He smiled lightly and sat down. He glanced over the cards in his hand again for a brief instant before hearing the other person speak again. He didn't mind conversation at all, aside from him usually saying something stupid, it was harmless and much better than sitting in silence.
"Yeah, I guess I'm 'tuning' so to speak." He laughed a little at the duelist pun on his new Synchro monsters. "More of learning how to use this new type in my deck, make it more versatile, ya know?" He held out the handful of Dragon-type Synchro Monsters he had picked out including Trident Dragon, Exploder Darkwing, and Ancient Fairy Dragon among others. "They're for one of my oldest decks I ever built a long time ago back home." He chuckled lightly and rubbed the back of his head a bit.
"Though I can't say I'm sure if they're any good, still learning about the more recent cards though. I'm building other decks too, they don't use Synchros much though." He laughed a little, hoping he wasn't gushing in front of the new person. He didn't mind giving his duel strategies away, he figured he was in a roster somewhere and if someone dueled him they'd find out anyway. He looked over the small stack of cards, stealing a glance at the other boy's large mounds as well, wondering what he could possibly be doing with all those unless he was working on multiple decks at a time.
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Post by Matt Hirama on Sept 15, 2009 11:52:04 GMT -5
Matt nodded in a 'you're welcome' sort of way before finishing off of burger. After tossing the wrapping of the burger into a nearby trashcan, Matt picked up what was apparently his deck and tapped it on the table gently a few times. With the cards all straightened and aligned, Matt put the deck back in the deck case on his belt, which already had cards in it. He had only been working on the monster line-up, with the thoughts that his spell and trap make ups were just fine.
"An old dragons deck, eh? I've been seeing more and more of those around lately." Matt said after examining the cards DJ held up, then mumbled to himself, "That reminds me."
With unerring accuracy, Matt's hands shot forward and picked out a card from the stack in front of him. He placed the card, Yubel, on the table in front of him and stared at it for several moments before looking back up. He had had Yubel for far longer than he remembered, but he could never think of a way to use it properly in the newer formats. But perhaps that was about to change...
"Just keep practicing, and don't be too afraid to ask for help. Those decks will get better and beyond before you know it." Matt said. It was the same advice he had taken a while back, and he had gotten pretty good at deck building. |
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Post by DJ Reilty on Sept 15, 2009 22:17:35 GMT -5
DJ chuckled a bit, he wasn't expecting to be getting such advice upon coming here. He was used to trial and error by himself but he wasn't beyond asking for help by any stretch of the imagination. He was surprised to hear that his deck type was so common, not that he had much delusion of being so unique, he just thought people would stick to tighter archtypes that worked better together than general themes.
He blinked again as he watched the Obelisk boy pick a card out of his deck, wondering what it was and if it had some special meaning or if he was just looking for something to do with his hands. "Thanks for the advice." He smiled and nodded a little, looking over the cards he had just gotten, he figured it wouldn't hurt to put them in his deck after all. He pulled his deck out of his own belt holster, looking over it for a brief moment and sighing nostalgically. Some of the cards looked fairly new, however some were so worn they looked like they went back to the beginning of the game.
He shuffeled the new Synchro Monsters into his Extra Deck with the classic Dragon Fusion Monsters, Five-Headed Dragon, King Dragun, Dragon Master Knight, the usuals. He had Debris Dragon to bring out the Synchros based on what the situation called for so he didn't feel too worried about sticking them in since the size of the Extra Deck didn't matter as long as it was below 15. "How's your building or modifying going then? Having any luck?" He asked politely, hoping he wasn't intruding.
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Post by Matt Hirama on Sept 16, 2009 21:49:30 GMT -5
"Yeah, no problem." Matt said, raising an eyebrow when he heard the other guy chuckle. Was the advice he just gave really that cheesy or something? Shrugging it off, he looked back down at the Yubel card he had set in front of him. After another moment's thought, he shook his head. Yubel just wasn't good in this format when one thought about all of the card remove put into decks these days. Dark Armed Dragon, Fissure, various synchro monsters, and King Tiger Wanghu all took care of Yubel, especially the tiger. Matt's eyes perked up for a moment as he put Yubel into the bag by his feet. He pulled out the very card he had been thinking of a second ago, King Tiger Wanghu.
"My Chaos decks are done for now. I just need to make my last deck an I'll be ready..." Matt answered, almost in a whisper. Yet, despite him answering the question, it seemed like he was talking to himself just as much as he was talking to the young man seated across from him. As he stared at the King Tiger, a few combinations ran through his mind. Burden of the Mighty would help greatly with the Tiger's effect, as would other attack reducing cards. But a two card strategy was dangerous, as it relied on only two cards.
Although his eyes were on his card, his mind was far from the table and the stacks of cards upon it. Different cards and combinations ran through his mind, any that would help with the new deck idea he had planned. Still, Insects had a strong hold on his mind, so if Wanghu ended up biting the dust, he would still have a good backup plan. |
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Post by DJ Reilty on Sept 17, 2009 1:23:51 GMT -5
DJ smiled and looked over his own cards and deck as he listened to the other boy speak about his own constructs. He moved away from the individual cards theories for a moment and tried to see how his deck worked as a whole. It didn't have the cohesion and absolute connectivity of archetypes that were meant for each other like Six Samurai, Volcanics, or Blackwings, but it did have some flex to it so that almost anything could be made into a decent hand if not a great one. Of course ultimate deciding power in what was a good hand resided in the duelist more than the cards anyway.
He snapped out of his thoughts as the other one seemed to be talking again, he nodded faintly to the information. It was always difficult to pick and choose single cards to put in a deck since all cards had a usefulness in some situation and you didn't know when you'd face that situation until you were knee-deep in it. "Well that's good, there's always more work to be done though, I've been working on this deck on and off for about four years." He laughed a little, looking through his dragons.
"I'm DJ by the way, it's nice to meet you Mister." He smiled lightly, still thumbing through his cards a little. With all this talk of cards he had forgotten that he hadn't properly introduced himself and didn't even know the name of the person he was talking to. Sometimes things like that didn't matter, but they were still usually nice to know.
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Post by Matt Hirama on Sept 17, 2009 14:42:48 GMT -5
DJ's statement was true enough. Matt remembered back when he was still in Slifer, before the current ban list. He had no idea what his man deck type was going to be back then, and even when he eventually ended up focusing on monarchs, he worked on improving it constantly. Had the new ban list had not come out recently to open up Chaos to him, he could still be working on that Monarch deck. To him, deck building never true ended. It could pause for a time, but in the end, you would end up working on it again.
"The name's Matt." Matt said shortly, pulling out three copies of Burden of the Mighty from the stacks in front of him. No ideas came to mind about how he could work the combo into a viable deck. Maybe he was already worn out because of the work he put into his Chaos deck. He didn't know, but he did know his work with he King Tiger was done for the time being. Instead, he pulled out 2 copies of the Cyberdark cards. It was like he couldn't make up his mind, but that would soon change... hopefully. |
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Post by Ethan Spenser on Sept 20, 2009 13:25:29 GMT -5
Ethan walked into the card shop, which probably looked a lot more cramped than it should at the time given all the stuff strewn about. The boy was wearing a pair of thin glasses, since it helped him read the fine print on some of the cards. That was his Rule #5: Always read the card before assuming you know how it works.
Regardless, he was looking around and saw two other students animatedly discussing...something. Whatever it was, it would be nice to get to know some other people here.
"Hey guys, you mind if I join you?"
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Post by DJ Reilty on Sept 20, 2009 16:40:11 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you Matt." DJ smiled as he watched him fiddle through his cards, wondering exactly what he was working on. He jumped slightly, surprised by the arrival of someone else, although it wasn't out of the ordinary for students at a dueling school to frequent the card shop, it was far from what he was expecting to happen. "Uh... sure, it's fine with me if it's okay with you." He blinked as he turned back to Matt.
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Post by Matt Hirama on Sept 20, 2009 19:49:48 GMT -5
"Likewise, on both accounts." Matt said. He figured he'd kill two birds with one stone with his response. The only difference in anything he was doing was instead of the Cyberdark cards, there were Elemental Heros. And this time, instead of just a few cards, a deck was starting to form. It wasn't going to be like a normal Hero deck, oh no. Several builds of different archetypes inspired this Hero build, combining Solidarity and Burden of the Mighty to allow his Heros to stand without fusion. Although, he was going to add fusion monsters in anyways, just in case the two aforementioned cards ended up failing.
Again, he cleared a portion of the table for Ethan to sit down. It wasn't really awkward as it was crowded now, in Matt's opinion. While the tables could seat four people at a time, Matt's stacks of cards still took up a large portion of the table.
"So, new guy. What's your name?" Matt asked, now sounding more lively than before. The progress he was making on this new deck was getting him anxious to try it out, though he knew he still had to follow his own, self-placed protocol before he could. He'd finish the deck here, and then review over it tonight. Then the next day, he would test it against some of the students and make changes according to any weaknesses he found. |
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Post by Ethan Spenser on Sept 20, 2009 23:17:06 GMT -5
"Ethan, Ethan Spenser." the boy acknowledged the others as he sat down, looking at the group of cards piled before the others. It didn't take long to get an idea at what the other Obelisk was building, though. It was very interesting though.
"Burden and solid for control while you fuse heroes, it looks like?" One of the skills he had picked up in Las Vegas was the ability to analyze things with a quick glance. You rarely had too long to see cards as they were flying, so you had to be able to identify them with a flash.
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Post by DJ Reilty on Sept 23, 2009 23:43:28 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you Ethan." DJ grinned, he seemed to be meeting people left and right lately. That was probably to be expected with any social activity in a place where he knew no one. He looked over to Matt's cards as Ethan mentioned them, trying not to pry before but honestly curious now that they had been brought up.
He nodded lightly, agreeing for the most part with Ethan's assertion, he didn't know a lot of strategies outside of his expertise but he knew a trick or two. He wondered what kind of strategies these two used and what other people he had met lately preffered as well, it was puzzling but best not to worry oneself too much about. There was always an easy way to see someone's strategy in action.
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Post by Matt Hirama on Sept 25, 2009 16:45:41 GMT -5
Matt only nodded to Ethan's inquiry, though the nod really only came from the back of his mind. He was more interested in forging the deck in front of him now than he was than the other two at the table with him. Anything the other two said after his nod was either not heard or just slightly registered in the back of him mind before he continued his work. It wasn't anything against the other two, but there were very few things that could tear his attention away from a deck or a duel after he had gotten focused on it.
"Darkbright, Wildedge, Wild Wingman, Plasma Vice, and Gaia. Staple fusion cards, Solidarity and Burden of the Mighty. Fissure, Smashing Ground, and Heavy storm for some control...
The words came out under his breath as he thought aloud. Whether he was in his own world or not wasn't debatable as he pulled card after card out from the piles of cards in front of him. It wasn't long before he had a forty cards stack in front of him, along with a smaller fifteen extra deck beside it. Even after it had been finished, he began looking through the deck quickly, looking for anything out of place. |
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