David Dryen taught me about the Broccoli Rocket.

Let me explain that one. I first met David on a mall tour—I can’t remember if he beat me, or if he even played me, but I do remember one thing. He taught me that Fiber Jar is way more fun when you call it the Broccoli Rocket. He was right, and to this day I call it that.

That’s the kind of person David Dryen is. He’s a witty fast-talker with a sarcastic edge, he has his share of premier level performances under his belt, and he’s met with a great deal of success. He’s a cool guy who really knows his stuff.
Born in the suburbs just north of Philadelphia, he’s a student studying psychology, as well as a part-time lifeguard and a shipper. He was feeling good about his performance, but he did admit to feeling the effects of an event of this size.

“Without the whole fatigue factor, I’m still performing at the level I should be. But it’s definitely presenting a problem. I never played in a tournament that was ten rounds. Even if you get into Top 8, that’s gonna be like, 13 rounds total. Especially after driving up here last night at eleven o’clock for seven and a half hours.”

“The only times that I lose are just when I get stuck with my tribute monsters. I don’t make mistakes, I know how to play my deck, and I know what to side deck for. I could start making mistakes, but really how to play my deck is imbedded in my brain. Granted, my brain isn’t working too well right now . . . I’m playing Chaos Control, but for me, it’s my modified regular deck where I’ve put in cards that I don’t like but apparently need to win. Like Mirage of Nightmare and the Broccoli Rocket.”

His favorite card? “Mokey Mokey. I love that little chiclet.” Oh, man, Dave plays me like a fiddle. “I had one personalized once. He was holding a marshmallow, had his nose pierced. Pretty sweet.”

“I saw one deck today that impressed me. It was made entirely of traps. I beat him, but he decked me out in game one. I respect a guy who has the guts to play a deck like that and do relatively well with it.”

Like most topnotch players, David had some praise for the Advanced format. “I love the Advanced format. It’s bringing out more skill in a game where luck is still involved. The main thing I don’t like are the structure decks and the reprint sets, as the collectors are kind of getting screwed. But it is leveling the playing field and getting kids into the game. It’s cool though, that it will now allow us to de-holo-ize our decks and play without sleeves, so people would think we don’t know what we’re doing. We were gonna do that today.” There was something about the dry way Dryen said that which made it particularly amusing.”

David Dryen is a smart, quick guy. His wit is often biting, but he’s got a great, positive insight on the game and probably has one of the best senses about the state of Yu-Gi-Oh! in North America. He’ll often make some negative comments, but he always seems to note the positives as well, and vice versa. The tendency to think through things so completely is an asset as a card player, and David’s one of the more unique and talented individuals the American tournament scene has to offer.