I’ve written about many practical and simple techniques that you can use to improve the quality of your game. It’s also important that you be aware of your strengths and weaknesses as a player. No one is good at everything and you don’t have to be in order to succeed. This week, we’ll discuss how you can evaluate yourself and work with your strengths so you can stop focusing on your weaknesses. When you improve in one area, the other areas will improve as well.

Contrary to popular belief, self-evaluation is not about finding your weaknesses and then doing everything you can to improve those weak areas. When you focus too much on your weaknesses, you lose focus on your strengths. At the end of it all, you might find that your original strengths are not as developed as they used to be. You have to find a balance.

Self-Evaluation

First, we start with a little introspection. This won’t be your favorite part, but it’s definitely worth the trouble later on. As my favorite speaker, Jim Rohn, says: “It’s time to have an ‘I Will Not Kid Myself Anymore’ day.” Everyone knows what they’re good at and what they’re not good at. Believe me, you really do know. Most players won’t admit it to themselves, but you’re not that type of player are you?

If you hope to have a chance in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG competition, it is imperative that you are keenly aware of the extent of your abilities. Nothing will sabotage you more than being in denial about what you are currently capable of. You can be the best player this game has ever known, but you’re not going to get there by lying to yourself in the process. You have to ask the tough questions.

Begin with these:

—What am I really good at in this game?

—What am I not good at in this game?

—What have I done in the past that has brought me my present success?

—What are my personal beliefs about winning and losing in this game?

—Why do I play?

Sorting It All Out

For some people this may be a walk in the park, while for others it may be difficult and will require some thought. The first question—“What am I really good at in this game?”—is your basic starting point. Be honest: what are you really good at? It could be deckbuilding, research, mind games, playing out of bad hands, performing great under tournament pressure, making excellent trades, being good with rulings, etc. What is it?

There are many facets of this game, not just the competitive side. If you’re mainly good at judging, that’s good. You’re excellent with rulings. You can start with that. If you’re really good at playing the game, but no good at deck theory, that’s good too. You can start from there. Keep these strengths and weaknesses in mind.

Work hard on your strengths, and your weaknesses will naturally improve along with them. It won’t be as quick as your strengths, but you’ll see how they improve as you become more aware of them.

Past Successes and Failures

A good exercise is to remember your successes. Everybody has had successes, no matter how small. Maybe you got an “A” on a term paper or you won a local tournament. That’s good. Remember how you felt when you accomplished that particular feat. Superb performances at major tournaments depend on your attitude at the time. If you have a lousy attitude, you just won’t do well.

Use your past successes when you’re facing a tough challenge in the game or when you’re just feeling like you can’t do any better than you are now. Remember that feeling and use it to your advantage. Your past successes prove to you that you can do it, even when you thought you couldn’t.

Winning and Losing

Your personal beliefs about winning and losing influence your results in this game. When you duel, one person will win and one person will lose. That is an inescapable fact. You will lose one day: it’s inevitable. You have to come to terms with that first. The more afraid you are of losing, the more “losing” energy you’ll attract to yourself. You’ll start to think negatively about yourself, you’ll question your own plays, and you’ll just plain lose more often than you normally would.

Be wary: these beliefs about winning and losing are deep-seated and you should examine them carefully. The player who says, “I always lose when I’m on the bubble,” honestly believes that his or her skills account for nothing when that player is close to achieving a Top 8 or Top 16 at a major tournament. Can you imagine the self-imposed limitation that comes from that? I imagine that must be very frustrating to lose every time you are so close to victory. Under the circumstances, it may seem like plain-old losing to the player . . . possibly because of his or her deck or skills. In reality, it is that player and his or her beliefs about winning and losing. I can go into detail in future articles, but be mindful of the overwhelming power of false beliefs, especially the ones about luck.

Why Do I Play This Game?

The most important aspect of this game is the fun factor. If you’re not having fun, then you’re entirely missing the point of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. Competitive or not, games are created for the enjoyment of the participants. If you’re not having fun, don’t play. It’s hard to “play” if you’re bent on not having fun.

You should ask yourself why you play. Is it because of the competitions, the friends you’ve met, the traveling, or do you just like to sit around and play a good card game? Figure it out. It’s good to remind yourself of why you still play. That’s important. Stay true to your purpose. When you veer off course from your purpose, you tend to get frustrated, angry, and confused. It’s almost as if you’ve lost your road map and you don’t know where you’re going.

When you’re staying true to what you originally intended to do, then you’ll find that the rest will come to you very easily. You can work on improving your game.  

—Bryan Camareno