Expert Card Reads

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PerfectZelgadis

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Recently I rejoined my old team, The Wolfpac! We went to SJC Durham, and most of us took a first round loss taking us out of contention. (Although one of our players pulled the upset of the day, but thats all i'm going to say on that) After round 4 we only had one person undefeated. He norrowly missed the top 8 (Finished 16th). He had an intangible feature in his play that I still don't fully understand. In the feature match, Jason Grabher-Meyer reffered to it as Expert Card reads.

At the upper tables i noticed players were reading moves, knew what was set down, and were able to know ahead of time before they used thier cards, and knew when to hit with what. For example, I saw people holding Exiled for some face downs, and then Using Exiled at the perfect time.

Basically i want to know how to develop this. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about, and knows how to develop this.
 
Yeah... I've found that you really have to play much more than once a week, and SERIOUSLY play. Don't bring a deck you just want to use because someone else is playing something you know you can beat.

In a "for real" tourney, you are hoping to beat at least 9 or 10 other people; not just one.

Knowing whats out there also helps. What are the odds that your opponent is going to have a monster with higher than 1600 defense face-down?

If you have a 1900 attack monster, it's almost safe to say that you could attack and maybe take 100 to 300 damage at best if you are wrong.

What's the chance your opponent is setting a Morphing Jar if he suddenly puts all his S/T's on the field from hand on his turn?

Knowing your own strategy helps to anticipate how your opponent may counter.
 
Card reads have a great deal to do with knowing a number of things:

1. Studying the group likely to be at the tournament. If you attend the regional in the same area often you likely know the competitive players and what type of deck they like to play. You may even have seen them post their deck online.

2. Keeping count of what has been played. Example...If you know that your opponent already has Torrential and Dark Hole in the graveyard you're not as leery about swarming the field.
If your opponent already has two copies of BTH in their graveyard as well as Torrential then you can feel reasonably safe with your summon (unless you know your opponent is playing a pair of Trap Holes as well)

3. Watch your opponent's hand. Has he/she been saving one paticular card for 5 turns then when it's the last card sets that monster? It's likely a Morphing Jar, Magician of Faith, or some other tide turning flip effect. If it looks like your opponent has been saving a paticular card now would be a good time to go ahead and put your Spirit Reaper or Don Zaloog out on the line and try and rid them of it.

4. After the first game it you should have a pretty good idea what your opponent's deck consists of. Keep mental notes as you progress through the first game. How many Spirit Reapers did you see? Nimble Momonga? Giant Rat? A lot of recurrsion? How many trap cards? Is your opponent's deck heavily laden with monster destroyers? What's the win condition of your opponent's deck? What cards does your opponent rely on to get them out of a jamb?

5. Body language. Depending on the experience level of your opponent you may be able to read them like a book just off of the way they posture themselves. Did their shoulders slump after that last draw? Did his eyes light up and he quickly set a monster? Was their a sigh? Did your opponent just reach for their pencil in preperation to take damage even before you attacked?

This is obviously a partial list but a good topic and I'd like to see the comments and suggestions keep coming....others?
 
Sometimes you can also figure out how to have a clue of whats going to happen with the first moves your opponent does, you can have an idea of what kind of deck he/she's playing and go along different strategies.

Playing a lot with different decks and building different decks also improves this quality.
 
Heh, shameless plugs indeed.

In terms of face-downs, we have so many now that pose some sort of a danger. Dekoichi, Spirirt Reaper, Magician of Faith, Morphing Jar, Gravekeeper Spy and a couple of others. Keeping track of when Torrential Tribute has been activated would help you in determining whether or not to go for the Exiled or Mystic Swordsmans Lv2.

Sometimes, its just a gut feeling but most of the time, the players are playing cautious and careful by not allowing you to have a face-down.
 
How I Read Duels.....

Okay when i go to a tourney, during a match i do this:
Round 1:
Play my hand but a little reckless to see what is in my opponents deck, if its obvious that they are saving something for the right moment (i.g Torrential Tribute) and the have no monsters and i havent summoned i probably wait for trunade or storm if i have a big monster out

If i take risk i can read what kind of deck they are playing and what cards they have waiting and be ready to counter should i lose round one, then i can access my side deck to make changes if i can modify my deck better to suit the conditions

-most of the time ill lose round 1 but that also makes my opponent a little ****y so they will become reckless
Round 2:
Now i know what my opponents is holding so i know what to watch out for so now i use my deck to its fullest extent, instead being parinoid like my opponent.

But now my opponent also thinks that he/she has read my deck and knows how to counter it (the easiest way would be tribe but thats banned ^_^) but i havent really played my deck so they dont know what to expect.
-this situation could work in reverse but that hasnt happened to me yet until it does ill use a new system
- okay so you win round 2 so now your opponent will switch their strategy (most likely) but you so the same to ensure a victory

Round 3: This will be the hardest fight because both players will know each others decks. All i do here is use my intuition about what to play when and how to play it by then 70% of the decks have been played and both players are cautions, so then bluffs will come in handy..Keep a poker face and cycle your cards if need be....


Thats how i do it its fullproof..sorta, it also helps if u can read people in real life, most of the time i can read how a person plays while observing them before the tourney

For Example:
If they speak with a lackluster vocabrulary most likely they run a deck full of 1900+ 4 star monsters and 2400+ monsters and a lot of equip cards

While if they seem to know what they are talking about they will run a deck that is more of a challenge with a theme
 
John Danker said:
Card reads have a great deal to do with knowing a number of things:


3. Watch your opponent's hand. Has he/she been saving one paticular card for 5 turns then when it's the last card sets that monster? It's likely a Morphing Jar, Magician of Faith, or some other tide turning flip effect. If it looks like your opponent has been saving a paticular card now would be a good time to go ahead and put your Spirit Reaper or Don Zaloog out on the line and try and rid them of it.
Click to expand...

......to discard a Goldd and cry like a little girl? Some players that tech the Goldd keep it there to BE hit by Don/Reaper.
 
Being an expert player, having the best dueling instincts is easier said than done. Practice makes perfect. In order to do that you have to go out there and experiment. Get familiar with different decks. Go against them. Always edit your Deck to make it better than it was before. No Deck will ever be perfect, but when you put yourself into it then you can count every win and loss as your own instead of piggy-backing off someone else's ideas and strategies. Having the divine knowledge in the heat of the duel to execute the perfect move is not something one can tell you how to do. It happens at the right time when everything is in placed. You paid attention to the cards you played, the cards your opponent played, what is on the field, in the Graveyards, in your hand. You will act without thought and act in a expert manner. Also, knowing the game mechanics, rulings, and being respectful to each player you face is also a sign of your character and expertise. Nothing is worse than mocking someone's Deck or calling them a noob and then losing to them. No Deck is perfect and every Deck can be beaten by another Deck.
 
roadhouse007 said:
......to discard a Goldd and cry like a little girl? Some players that tech the Goldd keep it there to BE hit by Don/Reaper.
Click to expand...

If you're an "expert" read you'll know right? <soft chuckle>
Obviously there is always a chance of making the wrong move. More often than not making an opponent discard is a good thing rather than something that will work agaist you.
 
Certain cards work well together. Here are a few examples:

Attacking a face down Tomato that searches into a Sangan. The opponent likely has

A) A tribute monster
B) monster removal

The opponent sets a monster each turn without doing any attacking. You find out they are cards such as Dekoichi, and Merchant. From this, you can infer that the opponent may also be using:

A) Pot of Avarice
B) Chaos

The opponent leaves his/her backfield open, but has monsters to defend him/herself. This could mean:

A) The opponent wishes to use Treeborn Frog's effect the next turn for a tribute summon
B) The opponent does not have any protective magic/traps
C) The opponent is holding key cards in his/her hand until later.

If you play many many games, you will begin to see common patterns. Once these patterns are engraved in you, it will become easier to predict what the opponent's possible next moves may be.
 
Honestly, it just takes time and practice. Also, never Exiled a first-turn set monster. 85% of the time, you'll regret it.
 
John Danker said:
If you're an "expert" read you'll know right? <soft chuckle>
Obviously there is always a chance of making the wrong move. More often than not making an opponent discard is a good thing rather than something that will work agaist you.
Click to expand...

Hehe, if its any consolation. In an intense duel last night with my brother-in-law, I actually tactically "nuked" myself with my own Giant Kozaky! We were both biting our nails so much since we were both close to losing that we each missed chances to finish the other off about 3 times. How crazy was that! We had a good laugh.

...not that I'm an expert duelist or anything, just that it happens 8^D
 
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