My name is Jin Kazama. Today, I am going to present to you the difference between RL and KCVDS dueling, and why it is important that there is a difference.

First off. KCVDS provides you with all the cards you need. If you want something in your deck, you have no problems obtaining it because you *have* it. You can't 'lose' cards, you don't have to worry about trading. You can also tell what other people are going to play, because chances are they've done deck testing with you and a lot of other people. You know what to expect. You know what strengths and weaknesses you have, and you know exactly what weaknesses your opponent has, because you and that person have done countless decktesting to get a 'perfect' build.

KCVDS is much more simplified, and arguably, you don't have to play well to be considered great. If you take a decklist from the last SJC and tweak it a little, chances are you can win even if you make some minor misplays.

Real life, however, is much, much different. You have to know what cards you have, you have to use those cards to the best of your ability, you have to deck test and deck test and deck test against *many* different people before you can say with certainty if your deck will stand up in any given format. And even then, some people don't use the deck that they use for more competitive play until two weeks before a Regionals. Why? To surprise the other players, and spread uncertainty.

Before anyone takes me wrong, let me explain. There are groups of people who deck test in other places with their prime decks. Therefore, they get supplementary testing. I personally got lazy, and I suffered a shocking upset last week. I played Chaos Monarchs, however I did not change my side deck to reflect the two problem decks I have: Machinas and Quickdraw. The result was my worst performance of the year, two weeks before Regionals. Surprisingly, a deck that averages 3-1 and 4-0 went 2-3 at a locals. Why? Completely improper side deck. The average really didn't change (Still averaging 3-1 since I've had two flawless tournaments) but it raises suspicions and doubt about tournament performance. Since then, I have completely changed my side deck, and am completely prepared to side deck once I know what my opponent is running.

However, this is where another difference strikes true. In KCVDS, you can guess what's going to get into the Top 8. In real life, you can't guess what's going to make it unless you have played the opponent, or someone you know has played the opponent.

Also, the chances of playing random decks in KCVDS is much less, because everyone has access to the perfect card pool. STUN is practically useless in real life because of the diverse meta, and I certainly believe that the meta is more diverse in real life than KCVDS because of the limited card pool.

I'd love to hear other peoples' opinions, but this is from someone who has done both.

-Jin Kazama

good article
different than what i used to read.

i liked a lot, and is true what u said i can notice the difference too when i play in real life

keep going with your articles

Interesting one, keep it up.

Good to read ) make a more interesting one next