Rolling With The Top Dogs, 17

Back with another segment of Rolling with the Top Dogs, I’ve been interviewing with a lot of foreigner players and it is about time I include some local top players into the list of Top Dogs. Time to give Malaysia more love. This time please welcome Shahmir Roshidi from Malaysia! Shahmir is one of the most consistent top players in Malaysia that has been making it to the top tables in every major tournament we have in the country. Currently ranked as the number 2 player in the country, he is an aggressive duelist with skills to back up his words. So, without further ado, please enjoy the interview!

SHAHMIR ROSHIDI

Notable Achievements:

Malaysia Top 16 for World Championship Qualifier 2010

Malaysia Top 8 for World Championship Qualifier 2011

Malaysia Top 8 for Top Shop Championship Qualifier 2011

Malaysia Top 8 for Asia Championship Qualifier   2012

Malaysia Top 16 for World Championship Qualifier 2012

Malaysia Ranking Number 2 2012

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

Hi, my name is Shahmir Roshidi, I'm 21 years old and from Penang in Malaysia. I’m taking "Computer Science-Programming" and work as a Free Lance Web Programmer at the same time. I like to travel, meet new people and enjoying my life I've been playing Yu-Gi-Oh! since 2007 and I'm a proud member of the "Team Ragnarok".

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

Oppression TeleDad and Dad Returns

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

My favourite card would be Dark Armed Dragon as I’ve been using "him" since its first appearance in Phantom Darkness.

4.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 been playing ygo competitively since 2008 and the game state now is freaking fast as there’s a lot of combo based decks and OTK decks. I love Aggro decks especially TeleDaD, DaD returns and Chaos Dragons.

5.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?

Mostly its full with insects! But in OCG we do have a lot of decks running around such as Dino Rabbit, Heroes, Hieratics, Wind-Up etc.

6.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?

Currently I’m running Chaos Dragons, it suits my play-style well. The deck is just way too good as there’s a lot of ways to toy around with opponent's card as the deck is full with bosses.

7.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?

Absolutely, it will shift the current Meta a step ahead and I can’t wait for the Girl from the underworld =)

8.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?

Before going into any events especially big one such as WCQ, I’ll do research on current meta and ways of countering them. Seeking advice and criticisms from teammates and good players is damn important as it will widen our way of thinking.

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

For Side Decking, I will just side in 3-4 cards as I don’t want side decking destroy the stability of the deck. Usually, I’ll try to read what opponent will side against me and counter it.

10.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?

By having cards that is good against multiple deck is very important Eg:Electric Virus-U can just ditch it to take control of opponent's Machina fortress or Dragon. I’ll side out anything that doesn’t work much against that particular deck.

11.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?

I believe "In order to survive, one must strive to be the best." That is my method to better myself. 

12.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?

Windup Hunter, as that card is ruining everything either OCG or TCG. Without Effect Veiler or Maxx C, you can say Hello To Next Game.

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

Obviously it will be Dimension Fusion. I've been abusing that card in DaD returns and it should come back for Chaos Dragon too and there’s no DMOC/Magician of Faith to spam that card again and again now.

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

I would remove those OCG and TCG exclusives as its unfair for both sides. Especially for us(OCG),we need to wait for a year for tour guide and 2 years for Tengu itself, and when it arrive in OCG Land, its already been limited or semi.

15.Before we head to the last question, being a Malaysian duelist yourself. What do you think the Yugioh community of this country needs in order to reach a new level of competitiveness? What improvement does the community need in your opinion?

A lot of improvement should be made on the big event itself:

-Single Elimination should be change into Swiss Round, as Malaysia got a lot of good and potential players. Even with skill and experience, a good player might lose due to unlucky match-up.

-By applying Swiss format, qualifier is not needed as it seems to be unfair for players that is far from the local itself.

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?

Jerry Wang, Adam Corn, Paul Levathin, Shane Scurry from Team Overdose as they are epic! Thank you for sharing my thoughts and best regard to everyone!

Here comes the end of another interview. I hope readers have found this post interesting and have enjoyed it. The banned list has been confirmed and maybe I’ll do a review of it tomorrow in a few days time. Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to write about and that’s all for today! Remember to play smart, fight hard, or go home a loser. Thank you for spending time here!