At this point, I do not really think an introduction is in order, but here I am.
TheonlyrealBeef, current master of Darkness and Grandmaster. If that by themselves is not enough to prove me worthy, I do not think anything else I have to say would do. Still, I will answer questions asked, regardless. Because it is rather impolite to not respond to questions directed at me, yes?
As a retrospect on war, I was only second in activity, by a rather wide margin. Mostly just being a tyrant on which decks I found unacceptable. If nothing else, at least the (blind) auction went pretty good! But that does not really have much to do with Darkness, I guess.
Previous phase 3 questions and answers:
Some viewpoints may have changed significantly since especially the older trials, though. It's been like 8 years and the lone tournament trophy I had for the first three trials has gained some company. So feel free to restate any questions you are interested in, even if they were answered during one of them olden trials.
Spoiler for questions and answers:
Spoiler for DoubleCapitals:
To everyone who isn't playing STANDINs, who would you have liked to trial against?
A Darkness enthusiast that can actually beat me in trials final battle. There's not a lot of active Darkness enthusiasts, from the looks of it, so Joey is the best I can ask for.
To everyone who isn't playing in their favourite element/have ever trialed in a different element, why should I pick you over someone who loves the element more?
Does having trialed for Aether once count as having ever trialed for a different element? I still win in the Darkness trials/other elements' trials ratio compared to Joey, though
Spoiler for TheonlyrealBeef:
I guess I might as well answer my own questions as well.
Is the element you have trialed for your favorite?
Yes.
If not, why have you chosen to trial for this particular element over your favorite?
Not applicable.
What does the element you trial for represent to you?
Deception and using your opponents' power against them. Absorbing them, draining them devoid of energy. In some contexts Darkness tends to represent hatred, too. Dark side of the force and stuff. But I do not really associate the Elements the Game Darkness with that. In EtG, I mainly see it as the element that specializes in complete denial.
What does being a Master mean to you?
A respected pvp veteran whom lives by their element, ideally. I do not really care about non-pvp aspects, but having your personality match an aspect of your element is what differentiates memorable Masters for me.
What qualities do you expect from a Master, and do you aspire to live up to?
The answer to the previous question has pretty much already answered this, though to add to that: acting respectfully towards others is important to me, too. Acting high and mighty is the worst thing you can do. Thinking oneself some kind of hotshot because one imagines oneself being good at some insignificant card game? How pathetic.
As for the living up to part: just no. I am me, that's all there is to it. Darkness just happens to suit me in my current state of mind.
Spoiler for Ginyu:
Do you plan to participate in War and/or Brawl if you have the time?
If I have time... sure for War. Will I have time? Who knows... Brawl seems irrelevant with it being discontinued last time. Not motivated to make time for Brawl, regardless.
Do you consider being a Master to be mostly PvP-related, or should they also represent their element in competitions?
This seems to align with my own question somewhat, but I'm mostly just focusing on PvP stuff nowadays. It's not that I do not enjoy the other aspects at all, it's just that I can no longer be bothered to make time for them. I am not one to take half measures, so I would either go all out or ignore it altogether. I think my supposedly casual previous war proved as much...
Spoiler for dawn to dusk:
What is the sleeper card in your element
Sleeper meaning unpopular card that you think is strong
Cloak is probably the best fit for this. It is not a staple in any deck, nor is it central for any strategy. But it is a perfect sideboard kind of card that can turn matchups around while using only one or two copies (two to four in deck to ensure drawing them when you need them, probably).
So even though it will never see a lot of use, it can still be a powerful card. Just situational. Far less situational than something like Flooding, however.
Poll
