How old are you and where are you from?

 Right now I am 16 years old and I'm from Carson, California

How old were you when you started playing Yu Gi Oh?

 I believe I was 10 years old, not positive, but I believe so.

When did you start playing Yu Gi Oh card tournaments?

 I think I started playing right away. When I started playing Yu Gi Oh it was at a local card shop.

Can you explain a little to those not familiar with it, what Yu Gi Oh the card game is and briefly some rules?

The Yu Gi OH card game is based on a television show where there are creatures and they just fight each other. In the card game though there are monsters, spells, traps and you can summon one monster per turn. Each person starts off with 8000 life points, which is your health and you basically just try to get your opponents life points from 8000 to 0. You play best two out of three.

How do you go about building a deck?

Building a deck takes a lot of thinking and strategy.  Or you can net deck which is just copying the last champion’s deck that gets posted online. You need to find something that has synergy which means the cards work well together. 

How much research and where do you research the cards?

You can just go to some forum sites and just read what people talk about or at the big events you can see what other players are using. 

Where did you learn specific strategies you used?

 Some strategies I get from testing decks and seeing what works and what does not work or I talk to some other pros around that I know and see what they run and I test out whatever they are using. 

What is the competition like?

The competition is very intense and it gets very serious because everyone wants to win. Who wants to lose right?

How are your opponents, how old are they usually?

Some opponents are cool, some are mean, it just depends who you play. The people that play actually don’t seem like they play. The really good ones that play don’t look like they play but the ones that look like they play aren’t that good. Yeah I know…weird stuff. Most are actually older then me, ranging from little kids to seniors but like the ones that travel a lot are maybe high school or college students.

Do you get nervous during the tournament?

 I get nervous at times but more especially when I’m on the bubble and deciding if I’m going to make the playoffs or not.

How did it feel to win the championship? Did you get any prizes or prize money?

When I won the championship it felt great because it was my first big event and I was the underdog. I won the last duel in one turn to win the whole match. There is no prize money but you do get some pretty good prizes. I won a laptop a Dell XPS which is a great laptop. I also won some cards and the card I won I sold for about $1,000 dollars but if I waited a week I could have sold it for $2,200.  The prizes are worth a lot.

How was life after you won the tournament?

Life was the same because I did not really like to try mixing Yu Gi Oh with my life, like none of my friends knew I really played…

What do you want to be when you grow up?

 When I grow up I want to go out of the country and play basketball or go pro in videogames or like Texas Hold Em’.

How do your parents feel about you playing in these tournaments?

 My parents their very supportive and when they saw I was successful they became even more supportive of it.

What do you plan on doing next?

I haven't played in a big tournament for awhile because I have been busy with basketball and traveling costs a lot of money, but if I could get a sponsor I would start playing a lot more again.

What’s the most fun moment you had playing, either in a tournament or with your friends?

I think the most fun I have is in the tournament because I have my eye on the prize and it feels great when I win it.