◆American team ideals and Japanese card evaluation. Asking about the secret to hybrid strength

――eureka, I know you’re from America originally, but when did you start playing FFTCG?

eureka：One of my friends introduced and got me hooked on FFTCG while I was still in America. I’ve been in trading card games and have played in quite a few titles over the years, but I was surprised at how much I liked FFTCG upon trying it, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that I liked the FF series beforehand as well

――I don’t really know much about the card game scene abroad myself, is it much different from the one in Japan?

eureka：In most of America the distance to a local card shop is usually pretty far, and you have to go out of your way to participate in events most of the time. At the launch of Opus I there was little product and very few players, and those who would gather are usually participating in events for other card games on their days off. I would usually participate in the weekly FFTCG at my local store on Mondays, and play online most other days.

――And so you’ve continued to play since coming to Japan.

eureka：I came to Japan for work, and originally was located in Karuizawa in the Nagano prefecture, where there is essentially nowhere to play. As such, I’ve only really been able to play since I changed jobs and moved to Tokyo. Since then I’ve mostly been playing around Kamata, which is close to where I live.

――I see here that you participated with the deck name “Team Flat Jeff”. Is this the name of the team you’re a part of?

eureka：Our team is called “Team Flat Earth”. I have a teammate named Jeff, and I decided to mash it up with the team name for this event’s deck name.

――This sort of thing isn’t limited to FFTCG, but sometimes hobby groups refer to their communities as <Area Name>-zei. Something like that?

eureka：Acting closely with one another is a similar point, but the kind of team I’m referring to is much more closely related with the game’s competition. There are seven people on our team, about half of them in Australia and the rest scattered throughout the globe. I’m the only in Japan.

――What do you mean by “the game’s competition”?

eureka：This is something I’ve come to feel since coming to Japan, but a lot of Japanese players are very reserved and hold back when talking about the game with other players. Of course, that isn’t a bad thing, it’s just that it’s much harder to get someone’s actual thoughts and opinions about anything out from them.

As a quick example, if I asked someone from my team a question like “do you think this card is strong?” or “do you think this archetype is good?” I can expect to get straight and informed answer from them. I can bounce my thoughts off of their experiences and opinions, and get feedback on my decks and playing. Of course, this leads to disagreements sometimes, but those are never born out of negative emotions and are well worth having an echo chamber so valuable. We all trust each other.

――Because you get along so well, you’re able to say everything upfront. How does this impact things like deckbuilding for you?

eureka：Everyone on the team has their strengths, like being really good at limited (tl note: love you Jeff), being particularly good at certain elements, or things like that. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can just limit ourselves to what we’re good at, as players. I played Wind/Water this event, but I’m actually much better at developing Ice. I’m able to build off of the knowledge and experience of other players and use my time more effectively; I think that’s the real “competitive game” advantage of being part of a team.

――From your point of view, what do you think the differences are between foreign and Japanese players?

eureka：I think there’s a fairly large difference in how they evaluate cards. Japanese players tend to look at things from a cost perspective while foreign players tend to look at things from a performance perspective.

Reaching way back to Opus III, 2-097H Al-Cid was a widely popular and very powerful card, and as a result a lot of Japanese players tended to play cards and decks that didn’t incur a large loss when 2-097H Al-Cid was played against them.

On the flip side of things, a lot of foreign players widely disregarded the strength of meta cards and played cards weak to it, such as 2-147L The Emperor. It wasn’t uncommon to come across decks attempting lockdown strategies with 2-3 copies of him. Of course, given the right circumstances 2-147L The Emperor was a very powerful card, but it’s glaring weakness to 2-097H Al-Cid made it a tough choice to play. That didn’t prevent it from being played abroad, though.