A group of Bundaberg men are taking their childhood passion for Yu-Gi-Oh to the local gaming community with the introduction of weekly trading card tournaments.
The concept came about after Indi Watts, Wyman Tyne and Mark Watson realised their shared love for the Japanese manga series and wanted to create a space for others with the same interest to play.
Yu-Gi-Oh is a card game, made popular by a television series of the same name, in which two players attempt to defeat each other by decreasing their opponent's Life Points (down to 0) using a collection of monster, spell, and trap cards.
“We all loved Yu-Gi-Oh when were young, it was a great part of our childhood,” Indi said.
“Upon talking about it one day we realised that there was actually no place for others with the same passion, or for those wanting to know more about the card game, to meet and play.
“That's when we thought, well what if we start our own group?”
In the three months the Team Card Titan Bundaberg Yu-Gi-Oh TCG had been operating, Indi said the Saturday tournament games had attracted more than 20 players each week.
“We meet at The Game Store in Bundaberg each Saturday and every three months we plan on having bigger tournaments for players to participate in,” Indi said.
“We didn't realise how successful this would all be- we knew there was a small community interested in the game but every week we are getting more new players.”
Indi said the local Yu-Gi-Oh community ranged in age, from player just 10 years old to 28 years old.
“It's a game that is for every one,” he said.
“The younger kids love it because of the TV show but may not have any one to play with at school, so that's where we come in.
“The older ones, like us, it's nostalgic, it's something we grew up with.”
Indi said there were many benefits in participating in the card game, including being part of a community and building certain skill-sets.
“It's a place to hang out, to make new friendships,” he said.
“We spend a lot of time teaching new and younger players the ropes of the game before a tournament which helps them build skills.
“It all comes down to how you want your play style to develop which depends on what skills you need- resourcefulness is one as well as logic and more.”
Indi said there was always more room for new players who wanted to join in on the fun and the group had event set up a Facebook page and Youtube Channel to assist.
“That is all with the help from Ben Greco, who was the first person to join the team outside of the three founders,” he said.
“Ben took a lot of stress off the team's workload because we are a non-profit team at the moment. He is very good at editing and was able to do a lot of our photoshop and thumbnails for the page and You-Tube Channel.”
For anyone wishing to participate, message the Team Card Titan Bundaberg Yu-Gi-Oh TCG on their Facebook page.
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