Part 1

 

 

Yes, for those not in the know, Anthony always manages to have opponents who believe that they’re going to steamroll him. Challengers to Overdose always think he’ll prove to be the weakest link, and it’s something that’s always boggled me. Why on Earth would someone underestimate a Shonen Jump Champion?

“It seems that a lot of my opponents underestimate me, for many reasons. Some feel that my fame is unwarranted. Some players’ egos are just that high. They see that I am human and can lose, and that most of my losses were to unknown players and they feel that they, as unknowns themselves, have a great shot in beating me. They don’t respect me because of the rumors that have been spread about me cheating and being a sub-par player. Some feel that as a Hispanic player, I can’t be as good as them, because I can’t be as smart.

“I’m one of the few people in the country who can claim the title of Shonen Jump Champion. Don’t get me wrong—many players walk up to the pairings board and see my name next to theirs and ask God why he does what he does to them. I plan on continuing my move up the ranks [until I get to the point that] when you hear my name, you’ll see it in the same sentence as one of the best players in the game. I want people to wish they could be as good as me. I’m going to try to continue to my winning ways and hope to grab another Championship to add to my accomplishments.”

One person who isn’t underestimating Alvarado is the man himself. “Yu-Gi-Oh! is becoming a game where the veterans and top players are being out-numbered by the newcomers who are taking their claim to fame, similar to the World Series of Poker. I hope I’ve earned the title of veteran and top player in the game, and I can say it’s hard to win again and again and again. In my opinion, making the final table of our game, making the Top 8 on a consistent basis, is a show of how good of a player you are. Some people are lucky to do it once, but to repeat great performances is the real challenge to prove yourself. When your name is forgotten after one Top 8 finish, it’s probably because you got lucky. I hope my name is never forgotten and is known throughout the country.”

One thing that will contribute to the legacy that Alvarado is looking to build is his performance at December’s East Coast vs. West Coast Battle. Held at Shonen Jump Championship San Francisco, this battle was the result of extensive planning and the long-standing debate between which coastal metagame is superior. Anthony explained more to us.

“The East Coast vs. West Coast Battle took place at Shonen Jump San Francisco. It’s the main reason I spent the extra cash to make the trip. I wanted to give the East Coast a better shot of winning the battle and I felt that if Rhymus [Lizo], Bryan [Coronel], and I all attended, we would ensure a better shot for the East Coast. I’m proud to be from the East Coast and I wanted us to come out on top.

“Anyway, the challenge had been put out by the West Coast to the East Coast because the West Coast players thought that they were being disrespected by East Coast players (namely Team Scoop). There’s no doubt that the East Coast had been dominating every Shonen Jump Championship since my victory in North Carolina. That’s cool. I pioneered the East Coast streak!

“The West Coast posted a challenge to the East Coast players on a forum on Pojo. The East Coast players accepted the challenge, but the lineup was still suspect. We had no idea who would be representing the East Coast. Many people put out their names as representatives, many whom would not be the best, but when it came down to it, it was going to be Team Overdose and Team Scoop against the West. We felt we were the best players on the East Coast and would represent the East Coast just fine.

“The West Coast was growing impatient since they had already posted their lineup and were still waiting for our lineup. We finally posted our acceptance and the players participating, and it was going to be as follows:

East:

1. Paul Levitin

2. Shane Scurry

3. Rhymus Lizo

4. Anthony Alvarado

5. Jeffrey (Ogarro?)

6. Carlos Santiago

7. Bryan Coronel

West:

1. Hugo Adame

2. Wilson Luc

3. Ryan Hayawaka

4. Dwayne Nunez

5. Emon Ghaneian

6. David “Foob” Simon

7. Jae Kim

“On Sunday, we found out the battle was going to be in Survival format, and our lineup needed to be decided.” Survival format is where both teams open with their first duelist, and each duelist continues playing until defeated. Once a duelist goes down, the next in line for the team steps up. “I posted the order above.”

Anthony recalled how it all went down.

Paul Levitin vs. Hugo Adame: “Paul was looking for an excuse, in my opinion. He played a [sub-par] deck, and that made me unhappy, seeing that we were playing for high stakes. Paul got swept 2–0 very fast, I believe. Hugo moved on.”

Hugo Adame vs. Shane Scurry: “Shane ran exactly what they expected him to run. A Return deck was maybe not the best selection for this battle since the West Coast prepared very well for the matchup. To make a long story short, Shane [started] losing because he feared getting aggressive, figuring Hugo might have the answer. Hugo eliminated Shane and moved on.”

Hugo Adame vs. Rhymus Lizo: “Finally, an Overdose member gets in there! Making a long story short, Rhymus cleaned house, eliminating Hugo with plenty of card advantage, and moved on.”

Rhymus Lizo vs. Wilson Luc: “Wilson eliminated Rhymus as I predicted, due to the advantage of the deck types involved. Rhymus was using the Pot of Avarice Flip Flop deck, and had no chance against Wilson’s Strike Ninja Control. Wilson moved on.”

Wilson Luc vs. Anthony Alvarado: “Shonen Jump Champ versus Shonen Jump Champ! I felt I had a tough matchup in front of me. Wilson was one of the best players in the country and I had never played him, so I knew nothing about his play style. I took advantage of expected great plays from both players and swept Wilson 2–0 to move on.”

Anthony Alvarado vs. Ryan Hayakawa: “Two times, back-to-back Shonen Jump Champion vs. a one-time Champ. I felt a little nervous after coming off a win against Wilson, and I was eager to see how I would fare against Ryan. It was three tough duels, where I came out the winner from what the West Coast calls a match that should have been Ryan’s, but a few costly errors by Ryan gave me the win. They blame the rustiness. I won the match 2–1 and moved on.”

Anthony Alvarado vs. Dwayne Nunez: “[Dwayne is] the main player I feared in the West Coast lineup. I feel Dwayne is maybe one of the most underrated players in the game. He is so good. Anyway, I beat him in three duels. ”

Anthony Alvarado vs. Emon Ghaneian: “Emon was playing a Soul Control deck, and he dominated game 1 with a Tsukuyomi lock that gave him a commanding advantage. I got very upset with Emon about his gloating with so much advantage over me. I can say he was beating me both in the game and psychologically. His head games were getting to me and I exploded. Emon and I are friends, but this battle was serious and I didn’t take his gloating lightly. I quieted him down and regained my composure, and took game 2. In game 3 I lost control and Emon seemed to have an easy win set up. I topdecked and finally I got away with one . . . I played Mystic Swordsman LV2, which shut down Emon’s entire hand. When I summoned Sangan next turn, I pecked away with 1900 damage and took game 3.”

Anthony Alvarado vs. David Simon: “Many believed Foob didn’t deserve this spot, but the West Coast players were confident they wouldn’t get this deep into the lineup, expecting Team Odyssey to finish us off. Anyway, the hopes of the West Coast were on Foob’s shoulders. He drew very bad hands and had a bad deck to add to it, and I took him out very fast and easy. I moved on to attempt to single-handedly dismantle the last member of the West Coast team.”

Anthony Alvarado vs. Jae Kim: “Jae Kim and I have seen action against each other in the past. We played in the finals of Shonen Jump Charlotte (which I won), and later on that very day, Jae Kim prevented me from winning a second Cyber-Stein in the side event. We had to settle the score and see who would take the third match between us.

“Much confusion to begin the match, with Jae not having a complete deck and a 16 card side deck. I could care less. I figured I did my job and even if Jae took me out, I doubted that he would get past Bryan, who was seventh. He might have gotten past Jeffrey with his Pot of Avarice deck, and Carlos’s Return deck. The West Coast scouted those decks very well and anything could happen. Anyway, Jae and I began and it was soon clear that Jae was playing some shifty tech in Sasuke Samurai #4. After a grueling match, it was I who claimed victory for the East Coast.”

Anthony went on to discuss the entire event in more detail. “The irony of the situation is that Dwayne had claimed the East Coast vs. West Coast would end at four, suggesting that when he was up he would finish us off. The irony is that I was number four [for the East Coast] like he was [for the West], and Dwayne was right—the battle ended at four. I ended the chance for the West Coast to claim the glory of best coast in the country. I had knocked out what many would call some of the absolute top players the West Coast could supply, and I look forward to a rematch. Hopefully the lineup I expected to show up will. To prove we are the best, I think we have to get past the machine we know as ‘T,’ Theerasak Poomsombat. I have beaten him plenty of times in casual ‘for fun’ play, and I look forward to trying to do it again in another East Coast vs. West Coast Battle.”

I asked Anthony what he attributed his performance to, and like most Overdose members, he was fast to give credit to his teammates. “I definitely believe it was the hugs and kisses from Rhymus Lizo, Inspirational Leader of Overdose! He believes in us so much and his presence beside me let me know that someone else in the room believed in me just as much as I did. He kept me calm and cool between each match. Everyone had to know how tired and drained I was, and Rhymus kept me focused through it all. A lot of thanks definitely goes out to him. Good looks, Bro!” With all the talk of tech, decks, matchups, and quirks of the format that players often get wrapped up in, it’s sometimes hard for duelists to remember that often moral support is the best function a team can perform.

When it comes down to it, a big part of competing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG comes down to head games, and often just a handful of duels between two veteran players can be intellectually exhausting. To take on six of the greatest duelists in North America takes an immeasurable quantity of intestinal fortitude. I mean, think about it in the context of a Shonen Jump Championship. If you make it to Day 2, you’ll be playing some really superior duelists. But at the same time, even if you win, you’ll only be playing three of them, total. Taking down six top-tier competitors has to be draining beyond belief, and while duelists like David Simon might’ve taken a bit of flack, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that he knows how to throw down. Anthony Alvarado’s domination of the West Coast was one of the highlighted performances of 2005.

Changing the focus of our talk, I decided to ask about Team Overdose’s relationship with Team Scoop. I thought one or two of Anthony’s comments about Paul Levitin seemed to have a bit of an edge, so I was curious. Anthony set the record straight for me though, showing a huge amount of respect for Team Scoop.

“Team Overdose and Team Scoop are great friends. We all have so much respect for each other. They were like us, a team looking for a start, and they got one in Atlanta. They posed a threat in Boston, but they finally made their mark when Paul Levitin began his climb to stardom. I take nothing away from Team Scoop. We knew each other before this whole team concept began. We were taking over their territories. Team Overdose would ride into New York and dominate everything. We knew we were the best in the East.

“Team Scoop’s success has raised them to our level, and along with our help and help of their own, they have managed to make a big name for themselves. Although their success has been more recent, they know that we are what got this thing moving for the NJ/NY area. We constantly argue the case of who is better and no one wins the argument, so maybe the world can decide. But our top five players are, without a doubt, better and more accomplished than their top five players. We quietly are consistently putting someone in the Top 8. Because we don’t go on forums all the time to brag about it, it’s slipping off the radar that we are still dominating. With the exception of the Shonen Jump Championships we haven’t attended, we’ve only missed out on making the Top 8 at Indy and San Francisco.”

He elaborated a bit. “I have made Top 8 in the past two Regionals at KG, and one I went on to 9-0 in the Swiss rounds. Those tournaments, although not as important, are the backbone to proving your consistency. I mean, we have a very tough field. We play against all the top East Coast players, at least four or five Shonen Jump Champs attend that Regional tournament. It’s not an easy feat to make the Top 8 there. The better players know that and take the Regional tournaments seriously, because it marks the start of your greatness.”

In a sea of duelists who are all clamoring for their moment in the spotlight, and all declaring that they deserve their moment, it can be hard to create an identity in this game. That said, Anthony Alvarado has distinguished himself as a true individual that stands out from a massive field of players, most of whom are far more vocal about their favorable self-perceptions. I asked Anthony what he thought made him a stand-out player. “As you stated, there’s a huge sea of duelists who are all claiming to be the next big thing. I stand out simply because I can back up what I say. I can do anything. My potential has yet to be fully reached, and I’ve already accomplished more than 98.9 percent of all Yu-Gi-Oh! players. Not many duelists can walk around saying they can out-skill me. Not many have, and if they did they can only recall one or two occasions. Many will admit it takes a great deal of luck to beat me. I have simply run amok through the game and all the duelists that I play. Many of these ‘top duelists’ can’t perform in a pressure-filled environment, and many would crack. I thrive on pressure and I cease to crack. I get stronger, I feed off the tension that builds up in the room. I believe I have the skill and luck that it takes to be the greatest. I’m a shark whose appetite has no limits, and I’m hungry enough to eat my way to the top.

“My reputation and resume speak for themselves. Many would agree that I’m clearly one of the top players in the game, but that’s not enough. I need everyone to agree. I am going to keep working hard until I achieve my ultimate goal: I will go to U.S. Nationals 2006 and attempt to continue my consistency, and this time not get hit early, and make it to the Top 4. I look forward to qualifying for Worlds and from there, taking that too. I know that if I give myself the opportunity to do it, there is no force that can stop me. I have remained humble for far too long. When people run through their thoughts of the top players in the world, I want my name to be one of the first to roll off their tongue.”

At this point, I’d just let the Big Shark go, and I invited him to speak out on whatever he felt like talking about. “Another thing I want to comment on is the format. I mean, a format is a format. The players have no control over the changes to the Forbidden and Limited lists. I suggest people honestly stop complaining about how this format is ‘blah blah blah.’ I mean, for goodness sake, you weren’t happy when Yata-Garasu was around. You’re not happy when they take away the Dragon and Soldier and limit the annoying Goats and Metamorphosis. You’re not happy because you’re not winning. So I want everyone to just stop complaining.

“I mean, seriously, every tournament has one winner and plenty of losers. And the first thing the losers who praise themselves too highly do is say, ‘It’s the format, it’s the format.’ Cut out the whining. If you’re a good player, you adjust to the changes in the format. Every person who has dealt with adversity or a little competition has had to deal with adjusting.”

With that said, we finished up the interview and Anthony returned to being his normal, smiley self. With an aggressive set of goals for 2006, the next eleven months could be huge for the once-quiet duelist from New Jersey. It’s funny, because there are literally hundreds of duelists who would make similar comments to the ones he made about his own skill level and track record. The difference is that if anyone but Anthony Alvarado said those things, I wouldn’t bother writing them down.

Anthony is easily one of the top ten duelists in North America right now, and though he’s spent a lot of time being humble, the gloves are now off. Will his head ever get too big? I don’t think so. It’s not really about what other people think—he’s just finally ready to give himself the credit for being as good as he is. That confidence, plus the support of one of the tightest-knit teams in the game, could carry him to a record-breaking year.

With the first of many Shonen Jump Championships just a few weeks away, Anthony Alvarado is gearing up for another year of intense competition. Little fish beware—the Big Shark is hungrier than ever before!

—Jason Grabher-Meyer