Bryan Samuel has just been crowned our new North American National Champion and joins the ranks with Jordan Markle. He is no stranger to the lime light. He has the Las Vegas regional under his belt, has topped multiple others including two separate Celebrations events. Today you will get to know how Bryan prepares for events and his favorite set 8 leader. Let’s dive in on this player interview.
How was your overall National experience? ” Overall very positive experience. Bandai, Core TCG and TAK ran an awesome event”.
How did you prepare for the event? ” To prepare for the event I tested against all META decks with teammates and played against a lot of rouge decks online. Also made sure I had a lot of rest the night before and ate throughout the event. (honestly that was the key)”.
Was the deck you played your first choice? ” The Broly U/Y deck I played was my first choice. I had a lot of practice with it and felt that deck mastery would play a crucial role in how I performed. I went back and fourth with Broly and Shenron for a while but about 2 weeks prior to the event I made my mind up on Broly and just teched it up a bit for the META.”.
What was your mindset during the grand finals? ” During the final match I kept telling my self to stick to the game plan and remain calm. No mistakes and think things through. I knew the matchup well and knew exactly what I would need to do to be successful”.
What advice would you give to players who want to top or win their first event? ” While testing is very important prior to playing in a major event, sleep and food before and staying hydrated at the event is crucial. Don’t overthink your plays and stick to your game plan. It doesn’t matter if you opponent is a big name or someone just starting don’t get rattled or overconfident. Don’t let your opponent get in your head or beat you before the game has even started”.
How do you overcome a misplay? “Don’t let a misplay keep you down. Figure out a way to dig yourself out and swing the game back in your favor. Never give up”.
Who is your favorite set 8 leader? ” As of right now my favorite set 8 leader is Red Beerus. I love his ability to go aggro or control and I feel he is an overall very balanced leader and will make an impact in the near future”.
With the 2020 season just around the corner, what goals do you have set for yourself? ” My goal in this game is to win Worlds in 2020″.
What are you thoughts on the recent errata list? ” Hitting Shenron so much will open the door even more for other decks. People will resort to decks like Janemba in the beginning but it will be put in check with set 8 coming up”.
How did you celebrate your victory? ” To celebrate the victory I Had a very good dinner with my wife and teammates at an all you can eat Brazilian steak house. Was expensive but definitely worth it”.
What are your thoughts on the community? “ A lot of people will say the community isn’t very good but I feel the complete opposite. If you actually meet the players in the community in person they are awesome. Events are so cool because everyone is so cool with each other and helpful”.
Bryan, thank you for your time. Any last words or shout outs? “I want to thank the Doods for having me on this blog they have always been very helpful and supportive of me and they some of the coolest people in the community. Shout out to Supah Playaz and all of the other players in the community that reached out and messaged me it means a lot, got mad love for y’all. Remember peeps STAY SUPAH”.
Bryan is a personal friend of mine and I can truly say that he is a real down to earth guy. I can expect big things from him this coming season. With that, we end this entry but stay tuned for more content.
Sincerely, Krash.
The Doods
The Doods 