Goat Format Championship 9 Coverage

The GoatFormat Championship 9 tournament was held on August 22nd and saw fifty-seven players battle it out for a chance to play in October’s world championship event. The Challonge bracket for the event can be found here. If you want to see the action yourself, take a look at the Youtube video. GoatFormat.com would like to thank all participants, and everyone that helped to run the event. Congratulations to Prowaite for his first place finish and qualification for the world championships. Additional congratulations to Zazzles for getting 2nd place and his own spot at worlds! ​

Prowaite Interview

GoatFormat.com: Hello! Congratulations on the win at GFC9, now securing your place in the World Championships later this year! Please introduce yourself to our readers.

Prowaite: Hello! My name is Carl Waite and I was piloting my Turbo Chaos Beatdown in Goat Format Championships 9. I went undefeated (7-0) in matches, which were the following:

1st round: Blue-Eyes Ritual 2-0
2nd round: Goat Control 2-1
3rd round: Warrior Control 2-1
4th round: Mimic Chaos 2-1 (skin of my teeth)
5th round: Chaos Control 2-1
6th round: Gearfried Control 2-1
Finals: Gearfried Control 2-1

I played some pretty tough matchups and I was pretty lucky that day with my draws. Thankfully, Dueling Book gave me some amazing hands. XD


GF: You have topped some big events in the past. How do you get yourself ready and in the mindset for tournaments?

Prowaite: I only topped three events sadly, and all of them were with Machina Gadgets!! Each event, I worked hard to get there and even though I never won, I always looked forward to the next one with a wider and more hopeful vision. Well, first thing’s first, you must be positive. Going into an event with a negative and toxic attitude will be your downfall 100%. Second, you got to know what you’re going to play that matches your playstyle, and practice with the deck vigorously until you know it like the back of your hand. Communication with your teammates or local players are a huge help as well. They can reveal rulings you might not know or interesting techs you may want to use in the event. And last but not least, for me I listen to a lot of motivating music that would hype me up for the upcoming matches. Win or lose, I put my headphones in and focus on how I am going to defeat my opponents in the following rounds and also it gives me a lot of confidence.


GF: Do you feel as though Chaos decks, such as the one you piloted, are the better picks for Goat events? Did you consider playing anything else?

Prowaite: I believe Chaos decks have the highest ceiling in Goat Format 100%. The deck has a great top-deck flow, busted opening plays with Thunder Dragon (TD), Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, etc. Raigeki Break is free because of Night Assailant, Sinister Serpent, and also dead TD’s. Bricking is extremely rare unless Dueling Book really doesn't want you to win that match (JK).  I really wanted to play Goat Control because I love the grind of Yu-Gi-Oh. However, I like winning, and since Mimic Chaos is a huge wave right now, I’d rather fight fire with fire my own way than trying to outplay a broken Chaos play.


GF: What do you feel was the MVP for you in your list?

Prowaite: CYBER JAR WAS A BEASTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!! The card was unreadable and no one was able to stop it. In all honesty, I give partial credit to my friend Matthew Gibson for explaining the unfair power of Cyber Jar. Like I said before, I want to win so why not play the best/underrated cards available?


GF: Is there anything you might change to your list in the future?

Prowaite: Yes. I am currently talking to my teammates and other pro players from different countries to strengthen the power and consistency of the deck. I don't have change, but for sure I need to add Tribe-Infecting Virus because my teammate Jonathan Labounty gave me a lecture about it, lol.


GF: The Kinetic Soldiers in the side deck seemed to be an inspired choice. Did you feel that you had a worse matchup against the warrior decks? 
 
Prowaite: YES! WARRIORS ARE A BAD DECK AND DESERVE TO BE BURNED TO THE GROUND! I CONSIDER IT AN ANNOYING DECK AND THE DECK DOES NOTHING EXCEPT BEAT YOUR FACE IN UNTIL YOU PERISH. I do not like the deck and was very scared to face it in the tournament. Chaos has a bad match up with it, especially if we open slow.


GF: Following on from the last question, what do you think are the deck’s best/worst matchups? Were there any decks or players you did not want to face?

Prowaite: Okay, I'll be honest.  I DISLIKE CALVIN TAHAN AND HIS STUPID WARRIOR DECK EVEN THOUGH HES A GOOD GUY AND SOMETIMES AN INSENSITVE JERK. PETER WERTHU IS A FACELESS CHAMPION AND SHOULDA NEVER HAVE THOUGHT OF THE WARRIOR CHAOS DECK! These decks take the fun and skill out of the format in my opinion. So, instead of just getting beat up by beaters while I try to gain advantage, I will side deck hate for the deck that out paces me, and even the playing field.


GF: Do you have any advice to players wanting to play in these events, or even start playing Goat Format in general?

Prowaite: Playing Goat Format isn’t hard, yet it’s also not a simple task. Be opened to criticism from experienced players and keep up on your rulings. Being conservative is key and highly rewarding if done correctly. Misplaying isn't avoidable because you're not a robot. However, playing your best in these types of events is all you can do, really. Most importantly, learn what the meta is! I cannot stress that enough! The best way to prepare for the meta is to know it inside and out.


GF: Finally, are there any shout-outs you’d like to make? 

Prowaite: Well, first I want to shout-out my daughters Janelle and J'lynn! Daddy loves you both!
I want to give a shout-out to my team Rampage 2020 (Jonathan Labounty, Christopher Ivan Flores, Nick Palermo, Daniel McNelis, George Saavedra, Alex Saavedra, Mark Field and Saad Ramadan)! I love these guys! They made me laugh and just gave me great vibes throughout my time as a goat player. 
My IRL team, Team Fat Guys: Jeff, Mike, Bruno, Lopez, Allene, and Hebrew.
I want to give a shout out to team Ranx for all the support and love they gave me over the quarantine. Big ups to Peter, DB, Phil, Matthew, Skinny and Ariel. 
I want to shout-out Luxury Gaming because they put me back on the map and gave me my competitive spirit back, especially Hani, Nicholas, Anthony Tyler, and Brian Hayward. 
I want to shout-out Goatformat.com for giving me the opportunity to win this prestigious title.  I am very grateful. Them, along with Format Library, I give the biggest thanks for making me who I am today. This includes people such as MMF, WGM, Silver, Brandon, Noelle, and others. Without you guys, I would be stuck thinking Dark Magician of Chaos is good in chaos turbo, LOL.
Additional shout-outs to Barry, Robert Dimartino, Kion, Isaiah, Steffon, and Jeka. Thanks to calvin Tahan for the intense matches and for beating me every time, lol 
Lastly, I want to give a shout-out to my idols Kris Perovic and Dale Bellido. These two guys always give me positive vibes and I will always have respect for them. Shout-out to Rhymus because I’m always ducking him, and big shout to James Kim and his team because they bully me, lol.

If you want to hear more from Prowaite, check out the video interview he did with Jinzo & Tonic!

Zazzles Interview

GoatFormat.com: Hi! Congratulations on your 2nd Place finish at the latest Goat Format Championship, securing your place in the World Championships! Please introduce yourself to our readers.

Zazzles: Thank you and to goatformat.com. I am a 22-year-old Italian guy, who used to play as a child with my older brother. I discovered this format a year ago and joined the discord in April. I have just finished my Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy.

GF.com: This is now your second consecutive top place finish, with a 4th place at the last Format Library Championship (FLC). How do you feel reaching these achievements?

Zazzles: Very lucky, but I felt very confident in my deck choice.

GF.com: Gearfried decks have not really made much of an impact in these tournaments before your tops. What made you decide to play the deck? Was it because you felt the most confident using it compared to other decks?

Zazzles: I discovered the list by browsing the deck on goatformat.com and I thought it was very cool. Besides that, it was the deck I have played the most on the ranked ladder on Duelingbook. About the metagame, I think the deck itself is an anti-meta choice that can remove crucial combo pieces. The general thing about Gearfried is that it can weaken every hand, which is very strong.

GF.com: How did you prepare for GFC9? Were there any other decks you thought of playing before you were set on Gearfried?

Zazzles: No, I have played Gearfried a lot since the last tournament I took part in. I think I have always played some sort of Warrior deck

GF.com: Is there anything about your list that you might change in the future?

Zazzles: It totally needs side cards for Chaos, for sure. I was thinking about D.D. Assailants which I was playing in a previous Warrior deck, but I think Necrovalley could work. I think the main deck is fine.

GF.com: Mind Control is often a debated card that has been in and out of a lot of decks recently. What were your reasons for playing it in this tournament?

Zazzles:  I think the card has more pros than cons. If you can read your opponent very well, it does a lot of things; from stealing or at least stopping a flip monster, getting rid of Chaos monsters, wiping board for direct attack, etc, and it's nice when you also have Gravekeeper's Spy in your deck if you steal a set one! I would say the main reason is having more options to answer flip monsters, since they usually warp the game with their effects. 

GF.com: What do you think are the best and worst matchups for this deck? Were there any decks, or players, you did not want to play against? 

Zazzles: Riclar91 – he has beaten me twice in past events. The worst matchup is against the current best deck, which is Chaos “Turbo” or Control, where in both cases they play thunder Dragons and double Night Assailants, which make it hard to hinder their hands and just become overwhelming with their Chaos monsters. I don’t know what the best matchup is. Really, the list feels like it can handle other decks, especially if they rely on single cards.

GF.com: Do you have any advice you would give to players wanting to compete in these events?

Zazzles: The best thing is to play as much as possible and always ask yourself what you could have done differently and get experience from it. You'll eventually become a faster and a more efficient thinker. That way, you get less stressed out of every match, since these tournaments can go on for a long time.

GF.com: Finally, are there any shout-outs you would like to make?

Zazzles: Yea if riclar91 is reading - I hope that I only face you on the ranked ladder and not in tournaments, otherwise I won’t get past the rounds! I joke every time I encounter him, saying that, “I have already lost” (which in most cases is true).

GF.com: Thank you for your time! A final congratulations from me for your well-deserved place in our World Championships!

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