Kevin Cavanagh
6/28/2006

Click here to discuss this thread!
When you think of consistency you can think of a lot of things. Some people think of the Atlanta Braves, being able to win 14 straight division titles. Some people think of getting a 4.0 GPA average throughout high school. However, when it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh!, Robert Morgan has proved to be one of the most consistent players ever.

It was a pretty typical Sunday for me. I got up at 10 and got prepared for work. Work for me is characteristically awfully boring. Small kids scamper up to me in the arcade with 10 tickets and ask me what they can get, you know the usual.

"What can I get," they ask.
"You can get 1 Twizzler, 1 Necklace, or 5 Tootsie Rolls"
*Weird look from the kid*
"Can I get handcuffs?"

Just one time I want to reach across the counter and strike some 6 year old. Then I could be like "ROFLPWNED you little Noobl3t!" Unfortunately, I have principles and I also don't use leet speak. =)

Regardless, at about midnight I head home and impatiently go up to my computer to check out what happened at Shonen Jump Atlanta. I look at the top 8 bracket and I'm disillusioned (and stunned) to find out that Robert Morgan wasn't able to break into the semifinals, despite making his third top 8 in a row.

I made it my goal after last week's article to try and find Robert Morgan to talk to him first hand about the events that transpired in Atlanta. This is what I found out...

Introduction-

Robert Morgan is 19 years old and comes from "The Great Lake State" of Michigan. He started playing Yu-Gi-Oh! when Flaming Eternity was first released and has constantly improved his skills since then. Nowadays, he spends most of his play testing time using online components while also keeping in close touch with Team X-Treme.

The Interview-

Me: From the man himself, what happened at SJC Atlanta? What happened that forced you to arrive late for the Top 8?

Robert Morgan: I was informed at the player meeting that the decklists would take approximately an hour to be printed and handed out to us. When I informed the people I was staying with that I wanted to wait for the lists, they decided to leave me at the event to find my own ride back to the hotel. Also note that my cell phone was dead and I didn't remember to get back to the hotel. So I met up with Max Suffridge and he told me he was staying the night with Team Betrayal, so I decided I would room with them. I later came to find out they were staying in a Motel 6, which for some odd reason didn't have an alarm clock. With all of our cell phones being dead we were forced to call for a 7 a.m. wake up call. Unfortunately for me, the call never came and I ended up showing up 17 minutes late for the Top 8.

Me: When I hear that I think back to when Scurry was late for SJC Baltimore, being 10 minutes late of the time everyone was supposed to arrive. I also remember Emon's game loss in a Shonen Jump for being late as well. Do you think the head judge was fair in issuing a match loss to you? Or do you think he could have resolved the situation in a better way? If so, what would you consider fair punishment for arriving 17 minutes late?

Robert Morgan: A game loss would have actually been fine with me, though I wasn't too thrilled with the match loss. Even being down a game would have allowed me somewhat of a chance to play. With the match loss I was forced to just sit back and watch someone else win the Shrink that I felt could have been mine.

Me: All over the forums people have begun comparing what you have done to Paul Levitan. I’ve heard people say "Morgan is doing what Levitan did a year ago," referring to Top 8'ing 3 Shonen's in a row. Do you like being portrayed next to someone else or do you feel like you should be breaking out on your own?

Robert Morgan: It's the nature of people to compare ones success to that of another. Kobe to Jordan, Woods to Nicklaus ETC. Though I have no choice but to feel honored that people would make such a comparison. Levitan is a great player and what he did was no easy achievement; so being put in the same breath with him is quite the accomplishment in my opinion at least.

Me: Let’s jump back to Atlanta. A lot of "unique" and "innovative" decks and trends came out of Atlanta. What did you think of the deck Suffridge and his team created? Do you think people should be worried about it? Or is it a one hit wonder that will never see play again?

Robert Morgan: To be honest I was poking fun at this deck when he showed me it prior to Atlanta, but it wasn't the deck itself I was laughing at. It was more or less his poor sideboard choice that I was laughing at. Clockwork control is a deck that in theory should go to time every game, so under this assumption someone using logic would side into burn. Unfortunately Max was apparently looking at things from an altered perspective and chose to side into Stein. In regards to the deck itself, I'm relatively sure it’s a very solid and playable deck. However, the thing I see hurting its mainstream popularity is the skill required to play it correctly and efficiently to have success with it. Most cookie cutter decks pretty much play themselves and require little or no thought process at all to make the correct plays at any given time. Clockwork Control requires careful planning and execution, which I don't feel will appeal to the mainstream.

Me: What about what you did at Atlanta. You were the only member of the Top 8 running a Cyber-Stein in the sideboard. Looking at Denver’s Top 8, 1 person ran it in their sideboard and 1 in the main. What makes running 1 copy of Cyber-Stein so appealing? When did you decide to run Stein in Atlanta and Why?

Robert Morgan: Stein, Limiter Removal, and Jinzo all came in part to the same theory: Beating the mirror match. I was relatively certain I would win game 1 every time, due to the stability of my build and my personal skill. However, being relatively certain and sure are two different things. Keeping this in mind I wanted to side something in to give the deck a little extra spice. To sort of seal the deal against another Standard Chaos Return player. Stein seemed like the optimal choice for this task considering its counterpart Limiter Removal fit so nicely into the monster lineup (after side boarding the deck contained 8 viable limiter targets).

Me: What do you think is the best deck in the format right now? Do you think it is Chaos Return? Anti-Return? or something different?

Robert Morgan: Chaos return seems to be the most stable deck at the moment. Mainly because Chaos Sorcerer is broken, but also in part to Return being such a viable win condition.

Me: Because of the great success you have had, the cheating rumors have already begun on some sites, Pojo being the main one. People say you stack your deck and that’s why you can’t ever "win the big one". Given the chance, the opportunity, what would you say to those people?

Robert Morgan: I would say, thus far I haven't won the big one due to a string of bad luck. In my first Top 8 Emon drew excessively lucky in game 3 against me. Late game Graceful Charity into Tsukuyomi / Faith. My hands were extremely unplayable against Dale in my second one, something to the extent of double Chaos, Return, Last Will, double Nobleman game 1. Game 2 was something like Heavy Storm, double Dust Tornado, MST, double Return, and Asura Priest. And we all know what happened in Atlanta of course.

As far as the cheating rumors go, I just think people don't like that I have gone to three jumps and top eighted all 3. When they waste time and money traveling to countless jumps only to find themselves x-2 or worse every time. They don't accept the fact that I'm possibly better or luckier than they are and they look for something else to blame. Unfortunately in Yu-Gi-Oh! that blame goes to cheating. It's a shame that if you are successful you’re automatically labeled a cheater...

Me: Let’s say Nationals had no influence on who went to Worlds. Let’s say you, Robert Morgan, got to pick the 4 individuals who represented the US at Worlds. The best 4 players in the game you could say. What 4 players would you pick and in what order?

Robert Morgan:
1. Paul Levitan
2. Jerry Wang
3. Anthony Alvarado
4. Emon / Me

Me: A lot of people would consider you and Emon the best in the game right now, why is it a tie for 4th in your mind?

Robert Morgan: I really haven't seen him play enough to really decide whose better. When we played it came down to luck. I'm not just going to jump out and say "I'm better than Emon" or vise versa.

Conclusion:

Robert Morgan has proved he is not only one of the preeminent players in the state of Michigan, but one of the greatest players in the United States today. Robert Morgan defines everything you expect out of a consistent player in this game. His next Shonen Jump will also be my next Shonen Jump, SJC Philadelphia.

Next week I take a look at one of the most novel decks since Soul Control, Max Suffridge + teams Clockwork Control.

Until Next Week,

-Kevin Cavanagh
CREW!!

Click here to discuss this thread!