World Championship 2023 Top 16 Player Interviews (Part One)

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
I practiced with the Safari team. 

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
I played Chaos Turbo with Phoenix Wing Wind Blast and Trap Dustshoots. I think that this is the best deck in the format and I am experienced with this deck.

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
I was looking forward to playing the mirror match.

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
I did not want to play against Reasoning or FTK library. 

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
Mind Control

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
JDZ talking smack about my mystic tomato :D 

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
That the Berserk Gorilla comes in clutch

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
I would like a third Wok in my deck.

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
It is one of the last accolades I need to achieve in Goats.

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​Team Safari and Team 519 (minor shout out to Team Cedar).

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
N/A

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
N/A

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
N/A

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
N/A

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
N/A

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
N/A

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
N/A

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
N/A

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
N/A

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​N/A

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
I didn't really practice much. Just played Warriors at the end of the season and did well. I'm on team formula.

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
I played Warriors. I switched to the Warrior deck late in the season and it paid off good. I won a pwcq and the lcq. 

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
Turbo

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
Control or Warrior

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
Zombyra

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
Going 5-0.

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
I think kit is going to win.

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
I would probably cut a monster for another Saku

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
Would have been great.

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​​Shout to my team Formula. Shout out to Dylan Moreland/Mostunclean my friend. Shout out to JDZ and the whole goat format team for running a great tourney.

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
I practiced a lot with UI, specifically Splevin, Shaggy, and Puy

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
I played Flip Warrior because testing before the event went poorly, I felt comfortable falling back on this without testing it, and because I wanted to avoid Turbo mirrors.

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
Turbo and weird rogue or offbeat strategies

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
Goat Control

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
Seven Tools

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
Topdecking my way out of an awful situation in game 3 vs Moxies

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
Turbo will finally make it to grand finals of Worlds, and will dominate top 8 in terms of representation.

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
I would cut a Mobius for an Amazoness Archer in the side

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
The culmination of the hard work I've put in over the past year

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​Alison, Indy, Claire, Nate, Shaggy, Splevin, and all of UI are what made my run possible. Also shoutout Birdcage for helping us prepare for the event.

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
I had a lot of help mostly from Team Bones members as well as Riksaah, Bluetooth NovaEthos and Perovic. My preparation started a couple of weeks before the event when I approached everyone I know in the community to get feedback on my deck. The list was mostly done about a week before the event and I tried to practice as much as possible to iron out the last flex spots which didn't really help. I decided on the final deck the day before worlds.

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
Thunderclap! Because it preys on a lot of current meta trends. Gravekeeper's Spy turned into a meta defining card during this season and the deck can both make great use of it while having an easier time clearing it out than other decks. The gameplan isn't as linear as other aggro decks which makes siding against this deck much harder. The deck has a good matchup versus Turbo as well, which is the dominant deck in the meta right now.

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
I wanted to clear out as much Turbo as possible and prepared the main deck for it. The warrior matchup is a bit more even but I still consider it do be slightly in my favor.

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
Goat Control and Burn are very rough matchups but I wasn't expecting a lot of those. Triple Solemn Judgement means Burn will have an easy time in game 1, and Control can stall you out much easier than Turbo and just beat you later in the game.

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
Xing Zhen Hu was nutty. Everyone is playing around Trap Dustshoot right now which causes players to set a lot of backrow. Xing Zhen Hu punishes that behavior and ensures your attack wont be interrupted.

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
Securing my advancement to day 2.

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
Earth Aggro will win because Shifty is an amazing player and those Turbo players are not prepared to stop aggro at all.

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
I might play a Dust Tornado in the Main Deck instead of Jar of Greed to make room in the side for inclusions like Kycoo or a second Zombyra.

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
Winning would have been insane as this is my first season.

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​Don't Copy told me I should play my Return decks without return months ago. I brushed it off back then but that is essentially what this deck is. He was not the only prophet because Dingosig pretty much told me the same thing a little later.
Perovic for putting this deck on the map and helping me with my build.
Riksaah for making me play Xing Zhen Hu.
Don't copy for suggesting D.D. Assailant.
NovaEthos and Bluetooth for being my guys.
Team Bones for teaching me how to play.
Osnabrück Goat locals. We are the best irl goat community in Germany and play every Friday in the local Comic Planet. Come play with us.

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
I would like to thank Mark Field (yatayata), Nick Palermo (Skully). Yatayata helped me build the list helped discuss every match up giving me the leg up for day 2. Skully for being the Vince McMahon of Goat (minus the allegations, lol) and straightening me up to be a better person in the community. I spent weeks testing every list with the thought in mind that aggro would be meta call for worlds. i had to make sure my deck could win vs warriors with no effort.

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
I played Turbo with techs.

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
I wanted to play warriors all day. I wanted to play Alephya cause I love his decks and skills and GeistD cause I love to make him tilt. 

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
I didn't want to play vs any Goat Control, unfortunately I played every deck in goat except deck out, i even faced Puy last turn deck. I didn't want to play Labounty or Carl...played both.  

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
Reaper is King!

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
Tilting GeistD and playing all these great players.

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
That an American wont win it :(

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
I would made side changes: I was stupid for removing asura and the goat package. Those five cards in side would of made a big difference.

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
Everything. I wanted to retire after this event.

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​Shout out to YataYata, Skully, and GF.com Staff. 

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
As usual with my team GCI-Goat Community Italia

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
Chaos Recruiters

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
Turbo and Warrior

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
Chaos Control

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
Spirit Reaper

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
Winning g1 in top32 vs turbo after my opponent started with full trinity t1

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
I just lost again vs Earth Aggro (as yesterday). But I want that belt

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
Probably another Scapegoat in the main

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
The best achievement for not be able to play Worlds in 2005

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​Italy (we are so good at this game) and GCI of course

How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?
I practiced with team nemesis and Day 2 in particular, with Zoggler.

​What deck did you play in this event and why?
Chaos Turbo. Because I believe it is the most powerful and competitive deck in Goat Format and because I've only played with it all this time.

What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?
I wanted to play against pure Warriors because I was feeling that I could easily counter them with my deck (and my side deck).

What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
Ι was not looking forward to playing against Chaos Turbo because I find those mirror matches very difficult and tiring. 

What card had been overperforming for you during the event?
Black Luster Envoy Of The Beginning. He helped me to get rid of many strong monsters and to win with his two successive and destructive attacks.

What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?
When I chained Threatening Roar to Return From Different Dimension to a very difficult game for me and I managed to win it after that.

What predictions do you have for the rest of the event?
I don't have a prediction. I never had pridicted that I would be here now.

If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?
I would not change my Main Deck. As for my side, I would remove Jowgen, The Spiritualist from it and I would put + 1x Sakuretsu Armor. The one I got already, helped me a lot against aggressive decks. The second would make things better, while Jowgen was for Reasong OTK Deck, a deck that is not very usual. 

What would winning the world championship mean to you?
It would be the fulfillment of a big dream!

Any shout outs you would like to make?
​I would like to thanks the Goatformat.com for organizing these awesome events!