My name is Jin Kazama, and I am going to make a case as to why the first tournament a duelist should play is a battle pack event.

#1 - it is sealed. You don't have to construct and learn a tier 1 deck. You just have to read your cards and make a deck with them. There's a little bit of luck involved but nothing too drastic. You take 10 packs, and have to have at least 30 cards.

#2 - it is linear. It teaches you the basics of the game in a nutshell, with regards to the damage calculation (in which many of these cards are meant to use). You don't have to contend with XYZ or Synchro Summons in Battle Pack 2.

#3 - it isn't as competitive as weekly tournaments are. You're normally playing for fun or much smaller prizes than usual.

#4 -it helps you learn about more advanced concepts such as card advantage, implied advantage (protecting your monsters by using 1 card to your opponent's card), and using minimal resources to put yourself in a better position by not overextending.

Today I attended a Battle Pack tournament. The prize for first prize? A box! And if there's anything today has taught me, it's that I know the fundamentals of the game. I ended up going 5-0 and I split the 1st/2nd prize with another player, altogether spending $25 for 37 packs of Battle Pack 2. I pulled a Slifer and an Abyssmegalo, so I more than made my money back off of it.

I will say that the games were pretty boring. Most of the time if I protected the big monster I won. If I didn't, I lost. If I had a way of destroying their big monster, I won. Scapegoat put in a lot of work today, as did Enemy Controller.

I will say that of the matches I played, 3 went to game 3 and 2 didn't. Given this was my first 'major' event in a bit, things are looking bright for my future in the game of Yugioh.

Every duelist has to start somewhere, and I suggest kids start here. It's an inexpensive way of learning the game, and if I can do it, so can you!


Tokugawa Ieyasu