Rolling With The Top Dogs, 16

We had Oliver Parle as a guest yesterday. Today I would like to introduce yet another World Championships representative. Coming all the way from Greece and doing well in his first major tournament debut, let us welcome Michail Paraschos! He is a deserving player and also an interesting individual to talk to. This is to all the readers who have been requesting for Michail’s appearance in Digital Mortal, here is to you guys. Now without further delays, go ahead and enjoy yet another interview from this duelist.

MICHAIL PARASCHOS

1.Let's start of by introducing yourself. Please tell us a little bit of who you are.

Well, not much to say, I’m a 19-Year old university student from Thessaloniki, in Greece, and I spend a big part of my free time playing CCGs like YGO and Vanguard, I might even pick up Magic The Gathering, lol.

2.Before going into serious business. Do you've a favourite deck, which deck(s) is it?

I don’t really have one particular favorite deck, there are decks from different formats though, that I really like, the “French Twilight” of Vincent Ralambodiana, the one with the 3 copies of Tragoedia, the “Quickdraw” deck of Jeff Jones (and generally many Plant variants but this one was my favorite, Drill Warrior ftw :D) and the X-Saber deck, for every format it played, with or without Rescue Cat. But there’s a deck that holds a special place in my heart, one of the first decks I used in this game, a “Hopeless Dragon” deck, which was indeed hopeless (I ran stuff like Dark Horus and Prime Material Dragon!).

3.This is a 'lil something everyone wants to know. Are there any YGO cards you especially like? I mean, favourite card(s).

Hell yeah! Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon! The reason I had built the “Hopeless Dragon” deck, back then, was that I really loved this card. I sure miss my 3 ultra rare copies! L The thing with the deck was that REDMD was a good card but it didn’t really have any good targets. Lightpulsar Dragon was like a gift from the gods for me, it changed everything.

4.First of all, congratulations for qualifying as Greece’s representative in the upcoming World Championships. How do you feel about it and in your opinion how do you think the Meta will be like in Worlds?

Well, there’s a little pressure, because Greece has won the World Championship in the past and suddenly people expect a lot from me. At European, I wasn’t nervous because no one was expecting anything from me! But of course, despite all that, I feel great about it. I mean I get to travel to Tokyo, the capital city of the country that produces all of my beloved anime series. It’s like a dream come true. Now about the worlds meta, with the lack of TCG-exclusives there’s going to be a lot of diversity, granted if Inzektors and are probably the big favourite, but so far everything, I mean literally EVERYTHING,  can take this. Heroes, Final Countdown, Hieratics, Dark World, Gravekeepers, even decks like Six Samurai or Karakuri, everything is relevant. It’s going to be a hell of an event, that’s for sure!

5.Okay, going into business. How long have you been playing YGO and what is your personal opinion on the state of the game right now?

I’ve enjoyed playing YGO ever since I was a little kid, I started playing at my locals though in 2008, when “The Duelist Genesis” was released and the Synchro era began. It took me some time though to actually start messing with the top tier decks, I mean everything was so expensive at that time, and I guess most of us started in this game playing a random (you can’t even call it rogue :P) deck. But I worked hard, learned from my mistakes, I was also taught a lot of things by good players from my locals and I eventually reached a satisfactory level. 

Now about the game itself, I won’t deny it, YGO pretty much sucks right now, Inzektors can OTK, Wind-Ups can take your hand away and under some circumstances they are also able to OTK, Chaos Dragon can OTK, Dino Rabbit suffocates you with walking Solemn Judgments and Divine Wraths protected by multiple back-row cards and a couple of hand traps too :P, hell, even Heroes, once a slow paced control deck, can OTK right now. But I’m still optimistic, I believe the banned list is going to make things better, I mean, after one of the worst banned lists of all time, this has to be at least a better list, I sure hope so at least.

6.Apart from improving skills, being competitive means understanding the current situation of the format. What do you think of the format as of now and how is the Meta in your country performing at the moment?

So true. The understanding of the current Meta-game is crucial if you want to perform well at big events. Right now, there are three decks which are prevalent, Dino Rabbit, Chaos Dragon and Wind-Ups. To be honest, I rarely ever use it because I don’t really like it, but I think Dino Rabbit is the best deck. Sure it has a tough time against Chaos Dragons, but it can still win against almost any match up. Laggia and Dolkka are that broken, and the deck has a really flexible side deck too. 

About the Meta in my country, unfortunately, in Thessaloniki, the city I live in, most people can’t afford the top tier decks or they are just casual gamers, so you can’t really gain any valuable information about the Meta-game for the TCG, by watching the Meta-game in Thessaloniki. In Athens though, the capital city of Greece, there’s actually a very healthy and competitive Meta-game scene. Since I don’t live in Athens, I don’t know that much about what decks they’re using right now, but I’m pretty sure it’s mostly Dino-Rabbit, Chaos Dragon, Wind-Ups and Inzektors.

7.What deck are you running at the moment and how is it performing in the format, in your opinion? And, just out of curiosity, why do you choose that deck as your weapon of choice?

I don’t play that much right now, just waiting for the banned list, but I when I play, most of the times I use my Chaos Dragon deck. I just use it, because it’s my favorite from the current top decks, and it performs quite well, you just have to make a few adjustments, depending on the Meta-game of your local area.

8.This is a personal interest of mine. Do you think TCG exclusives are capable of making an impact in the OCG competitive scene by the time they arrive? Will they be positive or negative changes?

Well, we have some pretty powerful TCG exclusives. So yeah, they can certainly impact the game when they get released in OCG but unfortunately in a negative way too. If Tour Guide, for example, isn’t hit by the September banned list, I think that we are going to see many OCG players running a full play-set of these little bitches. :P

9.YGO is serious business nowadays. Are there any specific preparation taken by you to get yourself ready for major events? How does it help you?

Well, first of all, play-testing is a big part of my personal preparation. Then it’s what I’d like to call, “Meta-game Research”, hours of surfing on the net and reading things in forums, like “Duelistgroundz”. You have to know what you’re up against, so that you may optimize your Main and Side deck according to the Meta standards.

10.Side-decking has always been an important part of the game and many players still aren't familiar with it. What does you focus on in your side-deck and how do you decide on which card is effective enough to be included?

Side-Decking is crucial especially in a format with so many different decks. I believe the trick here is to find cards that can be used against multiple match-ups that have a certain level of versatility. Then you have to take in account your own deck too, which matchups are you afraid the most? You don’t have to over-side for a match-up that may be relatively easy, save some space for cards that can be good against your hardest match-up. Fifteen precious card slots, use them wisely. ;)

11.Continuing from the question before. Side-decking sometimes reduces the synergy in your main-deck. Do you side in a specific order to prevent that from happening, is there a formula you apply while side-decking?

Well, what’s important with Side-Decking is to keep the general consistency of your deck. You try to side in cards that are useful against your current opponent, and of course side out cards that aren’t that useful, and sometimes you also have to side in cards to deal with cards that your opponent will side against you. This might sound a little bit tricky at first, but if you practice different combinations you will eventually find what works best for you and your deck. Play-testing, serious play-testing, will help make your choices. One last thing, try not to overdo it! For example, I’ve seen players side out a lot of their monsters and end up with a really awkward hand in Games 2 & 3. 

12.I'm sure a lot of players are interested in your methods of seeking improvement as a competitive player. What do you do exactly to be a better player?

Learn from your mistakes and try not to make them again. That’s what’s most important for me. At the end of each game, regardless of the result, I always go back and think about my plays, and try to figure out if I made the optimal moves or not, so when a similar situation may occur in another game, I will be ready to make the best choices. In the end though, I believe that everyone knows their own weaknesses better than anyone else. Self-criticism is important.

13.The banned list has always amused us. So, let's say Konami gave you the right to ban a card, which card(s) would it be? Why?

Right now there are actually some worthy candidates for the ban-hammer in the Advanced Format, but I’ll focus on two specific cards: Wind-Up Hunter and Future Fusion. Playing with no hand is just hideous; any combos like these have no place in this game. Future Fusion on the other hand, enables so many combos, many of them leading to OTKs or a huge card advantage. Both of these cards are IMBA and I’m sure lots of players would love to see them go.

14.By banning a card, what if Konami again gave you the chance to unbanned a card, which card(s) would it be? Why?

If a card’s in the banned list, there is or at least was a good reason for it to be there. I guess I could bring back a card which I don’t consider a serious threat that would affect the game in a negative way, but to be honest, if Konami ever gave me that right, I wouldn’t use it. I just can’t take that risk!

15.Apart from the banned list, if you given an opportunity to change a part of YGO, what would it be and why?

Card design. YGO has become a game about super special awesome herp-derp OTK combos. A balanced format with balanced cards would be nice for a change. :P

16.Last question, are there any players out there that you think should be in this section? Who do you think Digital Mortal should interview next?

Simon He, Vincent Ralambodiana, Peter Gross, Michel Gruner, Stephan Sluis, Claudio Kirchmair and many more, so many names come to my mind, an interview with any of them would be really interesting to read.

We come to the end of another interview. Before anything else, I would like to thank Michail Paraschos for his participation and contribution in Rolling with the Top Dogs segment here in Digital Mortal. Thank you very much! Best of luck in Worlds! This has been a good and fun interview. I hope readers enjoyed today’s interview and if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comment box. At this point, there isn’t much to write about and the most important parts of the game relies almost entirely on the September banned list. Will Konami give us another surprise? Good or bad, no point thinking too much about it. Top players adapt and that’s all to it. So, once again, remember to play smart, fight hard, or go home a loser! Thank you for dropping by!