One of my biggest fears in writing a column like this one is that I might make mistakes I’ve actually advised against in my own writing. That includes not making plays that I claim are good strategic maneuvers. In my last installment, I talked about how the key to victory is baiting your opponents into making moves you can punish them for. Usually this means baiting your opponent into over-committing, but sometimes you can simply scare the opponent into handing you the duel. Baiting opponents into making mistakes is how you win Championships, so I’m going to go through my examples with a lot of depth and analysis. Unfortunately at Shonen Jump Championship Nashville I made one such a mistake and it cost me a spot in the Top 4. On the other hand, I also made a correct read in the same match that illustrates how to recognize the bait and avoid it.
I’m speaking of course, of my match against Fili Luna in Day 2. This has to be one of the best matches I’ve ever played, and all three games were won and lost on reads and great plays. After losing a match, I always try to see if there was a way it could have been won. Doing so allows me to see how moves that seemed poor earlier on could have panned out in the long run. I try to take special note of recurring "mistakes" like those that would have led to wins and see if using them in other duels produces the same ending.
I originally wrote off my match with Fili as a loss to a better deck. Fili’s Light and Darkness Dragon build was far better prepared for the mirror match, and his superior draws in our games dictated that it would be an interesting uphill battle for me. Sure enough, our match did not play out as most Light and Darkness Dragon mirror matches would, and the match was lost by me because of one mistake in game 1 that let Fili take the duel. Most of his good cards were gone, and I knew the only way Fili was going to win was to clear my field with Destiny Hero - Plasma and attack for the win, or to tribute for Dark Magician of Chaos and win with Enemy Controller.
The concern of Enemy Controller is why I wasn’t summoning Treeborn Frog during the standby phase. Since Fili had simply set a spell or trap card in the face of impending game, I was positive he was trying to bait me. I had Jinzo on the field which meant he must have had quick-play answers. That meant either Fires of Doomsday or Scapegoat, and since Fili would only lose one Token if I was able to muster up an attacker (which I wasn’t drawing anyway), he would still be able to summon Destiny Hero - Plasma. This made going aggressive a bad decision, as I’d simply lose all my stuff to a Plasma I couldn’t deal with. On the other hand, if I sat back I risked losing the game to end-phase Fires or Goats followed up by the same monsters.
Not returning the Frog had kept me alive for a couple of turns and allowed me to draw into answers. How I lost was a combination of bad timing, Fili’s bait play, and my own mistakes. After Fili set a third spell or trap card, I was almost certain he was holding a way to win the game. In an attempt to survive, I made a few mistakes.
The first was not returning my Treeborn Frog on a turn where I planned to set some spell and trap cards and play Allure of Darkness. I didn’t think the chances of drawing into a Dark to remove for Allure’s effect, and a tribute monster were too strong. Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened and I couldn’t capitalize.
I still had the game, but Fili’s play made me over-aggressive. Whether or not that’s what he intended, his move was a complete bait play. I felt obligated to act, and acting on that turn is why I lost. You see, I had set Crush Card Virus and Trap Dustshoot before playing Allure of Darkness: just in case I lost Jinzo somehow, I’d still be going strong. I drew into Raiza the Storm Monarch and saw my opening. I could get Jinzo off the field and open up the chance to remove his win conditions.
I played Raiza that turn because I was so afraid of Fili’s extra spell or trap, and how it might get him the win. Fili had Torrential Tribute though, which meant I lost not only my Raiza, but the much more important face-down D.D. Crow that would have been used with Crush Card. I had just set the Crush, so I couldn’t activate it that turn. My mistake was not waiting so that I could use Crush Card Virus on the chain immediately after tributing Jinzo. Doing so would’ve meant eliminating both Plasma and Dark Magician of Chaos from the picture, allowing me to take the duel.
Baiting is very important when you need your opponent to play a card so that you can deal with it. If you read my article on the Clean Sweep, you’ll recognize the example of Paul Levitin vs. Anthony Duke in this context. Duke revealed a Plasma with Elemental Hero Stratos and Paul knew Plasma ultimately trumped his deck. Winning meant getting Plasma on the field early so Paul could deal with it. Fortunately Paul was holding a pretty good hand that was able to deal with multiple monsters at once, and Duke was overly aggressive in thinking Paul couldn’t mount a comeback without monster effects.
The way Paul forced Duke into playing Plasma was by telegraphing Morphing Jar: he played a face-down monster with a bunch of spell and traps, making Duke think he either had to play Plasma now or lose it to the Jar. While Paul had only tried to bait him into playing Plasma, his defenseless act also convinced Duke to commit even more monsters to the field. He simply swept the field up and Duke was out of answers. Paul would win a few turns later.
If you want to become a better player, my advice is to watch feature matches and take a look at how good players can bait their opponents into wasting cards or making mistakes.
—Matt Peddle