Yu-Gi-Oh!
Road to Champion
Hey Guys it is Frisby Moonsong here! I want to start by saying thank you to all of you who have supported me and my channel through this journey and I am extremely Humbled by this experience and the time I have had building up to this.
I started Yu-Gi-Oh! at the end of 2015 in Cape Town.
I loved the anime and had the cards when I was a kid but I thought it had all disappeared but as soon as I jumped into the local scene I got obsessed almost right away. I even remember the first deck I took to my first regionals in 2016 was Aquaactress Graydle. That was when the Monarchs structure deck and just come out. I ended up coming 8th from last but I still remember really enjoying the tournament and that is when the competitive bug started to kick in.
My first nationals was in 2017 where I played Yang Zing Metalfoes.
This was during the Zoodiac Tier 0 format which as we can all remember – Was pretty insane. I ended up coming 18th just not making the top cut but even still it was a lot of fun. That was the year Lungi Takane won. I remember on that day saying one day I am going to take that title.
It really has taken a long time of building up.
Getting the Altergeist deck was a good start to it all and was the first deck I topped a regionals with.
It brought me a lot of success and every year I got closer and closer to making it. It was then at the release of the main set Burst of Destiny where my hope for winning was at its highest.
When I moved to Johannesburg I thought 2020 would have been my year with adamancipator but unfortunately it was the deck that never came to be due to covid. I ended up building Swordsouls with my good old Baxias screaming at me in the file to let them out once again.
I remember the first regionals with Swordsouls it was so insane, ended up going X-0 in Swiss and before I knew it I was actually in the finals and eventually winning the entire event in November 2021. My first regionals. An entire 6 years of hard work to finally realize one of my goals of winning one of these events.
My next focus was nationals.
Or states as it now was changed to. The event I had bubbled at every year. But even on that road I surprisingly ended up going for more than I had bargained for with winning the next regionals as well. I didn’t expect that one and there didn’t feel like as much pressure as the first time and after coming third at the last regionals before the big states championship. The following weeks I started to feel a bit of the pressure of people expecting me to do well at states.
It eventually became a feeling of as much as I want to do this for myself and it’s a goal I have always had. This is also an opportunity. I have always wanted to go to European championships and show the places that have the publicity that South Africa has some really really good players and we can compete with people that are really good. I have always believed that.
I wanted to create a space for players in South Africa to know that this is something that they can do as well and they can also make it there and possibly the publicity of the Yu-Gi-Oh community in South Africa that can be brought to South Africa may even influence the world community to look at us more and recognize us more and even grow our community and the support we get and the recognition we deserve.
In the last week before states..
After making my final decisions of my deck list depending on what I thought I was going to face. I played less and less to calm myself for the event. One helpful tip is to keep true to your own ideas and dont always be influenced by what others think, but do take their advice. Sometimes your own thoughts and plans might be just the right ones for that time and remember the format is constantly changing.
It was only around the final round of Swiss..
At state championships where I realized that I could possibly win this whole thing but it wasn’t until top 4 where I felt the pressure because I got so much closer. The thing about Yu-Gi-Oh! is that anyone can play a Yu-Gi-Oh! game. The strong players are the ones who can consistently play optimally even through the exhaustion of going more than 10 rounds of Yu-Gi-Oh! and it getting more and more difficult every single time. That is where the strength lies. Mental stamina is a really strong factor in this game and people underestimate that. The only thing is to enjoy the journey and focus on the current game every time.
That’s how you make it through each step of the way. You need to have fun with it.
The real intense moment is in the finals where you have the crowd around you and everything is so quiet you could hear a pin drop and it is you and the last person standing. Honestly that is one of the thrills I live for in Yu-Gi-Oh! and what I enjoy.
By the time I had stood up after the final
I was so dizzy and drained, that was when the fatigue hit me. Even now I am still in a bit of disbelief that I finally did it. Now the next goal is to go to European Championships and show them what South African players can do. I hope one day I can get there soon. I want to thank everyone who has helped and supported me once again on the road to state championships, and all the banter to go all the way just to humble you, I absolutely love it.
Thank you to all those who have supported me through my channel so far and I hope we can grow and make a name for South Africa’s Yu-Gi-Oh! community. If you choose me to lead the charge I shall gladly do so!
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