Goat Format Championship 16: Top 8 Interviews | Goat Format
Goat Format Championship 16: Top 8 Interviews
Interviews from the top eight duelists at the Goat Format Championship 16, discussing their deck choices and tournament experiences.
Goat Format
·10 min read
124 players came together to battle for glory. Eight rose to the top. Come see what each of these master duelists had to say about their experience in the Goat Format Championship 16 event!
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?I practiced a lot with my teammates on Ultra Instinct. We talked about the current meta, and which cards perform well against the top four most represented decks. This was a win for Ultra Instinct; I would not have made it here without each and every one of them.What deck did you play today and why?I played Bazoo Return. The deck has been a favorite of mine ever since I read WGM's article and watched Cam's video on the philosophy of Return. I reached out to WGM a couple of weeks ago and we had a conversation about where the deck sits in the current meta, and what it has to do to be competitive. He shared a list with me that ditched the Thunder Dragon engine and replaced it with warriors. I tweaked the build with further input from my teammates and went undefeated in testing. I got top 16 in FLC 22 with the deck and felt it was a really strong meta call. I entered this tournament with the same main and a slightly changed side. I feel the deck has all of the strengths of regular warrior, with the added benefit of a much stronger late game thanks to Return. The shorter answer is that I just love the dopamine rush of flipping Return for game.
What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?People who drew bad.What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?People who drew good.What card had been overperforming for you today?Dustshoot. Being able to see my opponent's hand made setting up a Return play much easier. Also, shoutout to Solemn Judgement. Sometimes you just wanna say "no."What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?Flipping Return for game in the grand finals after Ghost Solemned my top-decked Pot of Greed. Then watching the stream back the next day and hearing Mascis and JDZ's reaction to it. Magic.If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?I wouldn't change anything. I think the deck did exactly what I and my teammates wanted it to do.
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?I used an alt account on ladder because I didn't want any players to film my matches. I also practiced with my teammates from Team Rampage and with user Alisae. What deck did you play today and why?Chaos Turbo because it's the best deck. I was looking forward to playing anyone challenging. Panda Burn, Library FTK and Empty Jar.Cipher Soldier was broken all tourney.
What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?When I top-decked Cipher Soldier for game against my teammate Sdlkilla. That top deck sent me to Grand Finals.If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?I didn't side for Burn in this event because I saw the worlds hype slowly wearing off. I prepared much more for warrior this time. My bracket only had one Panda Burn deck, but it was difficult to beat without any side. I'll have to find space in my side again for Burn.
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?Talked to my team and other players about certain matchups and what to not use or use in my side deck.What deck did you play today and why?Warrior are the best deck in my opinion.What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?Chaos Turbo.What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?Burn or Library.What card had been overperforming for you today?Trap Dustshoot.
What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?When I won my winners semis to get my first invite.If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?None.
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?Team: Chaos Kings. Practice pals: IAMZ1, Ptranxp, Lodachoose25, Shades4, Agent-007, Cloud-00.What deck did you play today and why?Panda Stall Burn. I anticipated a large amount of Solemn decks. Burn has an inherent advantage. What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?CT, Warriors, Burn.What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?Reasoning Gate Turbo, Tiger King Wangu with Light of Intervention.What card had been overperforming for you today?Solemn Judgement and Magic Jammer.
What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?Top decking Barrel to beat Dale (D3o).If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?I'd cut the one Magic Jammer for Giant Trunade.
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?No real prep - first time I was actually able to sit down and play a tourney not at work.What deck did you play today and why?Thunder Dragon CC - familiarity with the deck.What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?Nothing in particular.What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?Anthony Alvarado.What card had been overperforming for you today?Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer.
What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?Match vs JCVD.If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?The last minute change was the second Spell Canceler over the second Mobius - Definitely missed the second Mobius.
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?I played a lot with my friend Peraz.What deck did you play today and why?SteinGate. I think I can pilot this deck at the best and I like to bring another different deck into the top eight- different from the classic Chaos.What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?The deck I would have preferred to find the most was Chaos Turbo, because I have a good match-up against it.What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?Warriors, because I think it can be an hard match-up. also, Delinkquent PandaBurn. What card had been overperforming for you today?Jinzo and Cyber-Stein are for sure the best cards of the deck.
MattUber
Name:N/ALocation:ItalyOccupation:StudentAge:23
What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?Finally going to bed at 2:30 am.If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?Monster reincarnation and Chaos Sorcerer worked really bad, so I think I'll change those cards
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?I played some games on the ladder and made two test matches with my brother Delinkquent on Friday. After that I felt quite optimistic about my deck.What deck did you play today and why?I guess one can call it Emissary Chaos Aggro.What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?100% lots of matches vs Chaos Turbo. I specifically built the deck to counter it. Decrees main to block their traps, aggressive self- replacing monsters to put on a clock, and Abyss, Zaborgs & Creature Swaps to hinder their flip game and be further aggressive.What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?Warriors are a bit tough since they have the slightly bigger
monsters most of the time. Luckily, I had the Giant Soldier of Stone in the Side (haha). And, as usual, I hate playing against my brother in tournaments (didn‘t happen this time fortunately).What card had been overperforming for you today?What can I say? Emissary it is. It often resulted in card advantage plays by crashing a 1600 monster or eating a removal. It also almost always replaces itself where other Vanillas go for a sad -1. Abyss Soldier worked very well, too.What has been your favorite moment of the event so far?Me almost blundering a match away by forgetting that my Abyss Soldier can also target S/T cards and only realizing that in BP. Fortunately, I didn‘t get punished for it this time and could still set up for a game-commanding field position in M2.If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?Definitely quite a few. two Zaborgs probably work better than three, they were a bit clunky. Also, the Creature Swaps did underperform. I‘d switch them for one Mind Control & one Smashing Ground. The Brain Control was also not super great and I‘d definitely run Tribute to the Doomed over Back to Square One the next time.
How did you prepare for today's event? Did you practice with a specific person or team?I decided to continue to pilot the deck I have been using for many months. I practiced with Team Bones and consulted my teammates Shifty, The Nano, Manic Lord, Goatvio, Ron Swanson, Funky, Kotsosv, Filtrofiore, Giammy, Godot, and Not So Fast.What deck did you play today and why?I played Chaos Control because the amount of different interactions the deck presents is powerful and explosive.What decks or players were you looking forward to playing against?The decks I was looking forward to playing against were Chaos Turbo, Warrior, and Burn. I didn't scope out the dueling field for certain players that I looked forward to play against. I prepared for each specific matchup instead.What decks or players were you NOT looking forward to playing against?
The decks that I did not look forward to play against were Royal Magical Library, Empty Jar, and I would add Reasoning Gate variants. The reason is because sometimes the different variation of monsters with different star levels are played which makes the deck even harder to beat, when calling a number from Reasoning. Matt Uber would be the duelist who I would not look forward to play against since he performs well with his deck.What card had been overperforming for you today?JinzoWhat has been your favorite moment of the event so far?When I beat the 2021 Goat Format World Champion Delinkquent.If you could go back, what (if any) changes would you would make to your deck today?My main deck performed fantastic, and I would not change it. In my side deck, the second Asura Priest needs to be dropped for one Mystical Space Typhoon. I decided to remove MST last minute because of hardly siding it in, but it is absolutely needed against Stall cards.
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