Interview with Claudio Kirchmair

My first interview post will be an interview with Claudio Kirchmair. Claudio is know as one of the best players in Europe and agreed to sit down for an interview: (I will write my own comments in brackets like this)

Hi Claudio. For the people who don't know you, tell us something about you.
Hello everyone, I'm Claudio Kirchmair, I'm 22 years old and I'm living in Austria. I'm the present Austrian National Champion and member of the United Gosus Team ;)

How did you start playing Yu-Gi-Oh?
I started to play after one of my best friends bought the 2 first starter decks (Yugi and Kaiba). As he didn't want to play alone, I wa allowed to take the Kaiba deck and then became addicted to the game.

What are your records?
My most successfull year was 2008, I made the second place at European Championship and reached the semi-finals of the following World Championship. My last success was the long-wished titel of the Austrian National Champion.

How much time do you spend in Yu-Gi-Oh each week and how does your environment react to your hobby?
I don't have much time for my hobby. I maintain an online-shop and manage the buy and sell actions. In the evening, I write my blog every now and then and surf through different forums.
Apart from that, I play a local tournament in Graz almost every weekend. I also like to travel longer ways to larger tournaments like Shoen Jumps or Fortune Tours.
In my environment, everybody knows about my hobby. I realy don't make a secret of it. I also don't hesitate to explain the difference between the childish TV-show and the real card game.
(I like this attitude!)

Why did you start your blog?
I started to blog beacuse of several reasons: Konami took over the control over the card game. Because of that, Metagame was shut down and also the articles on eTCG were reduced. I always was a fan of YuGiOh Blogs I found on the internet and so I decided to start my own blog.
I also was annoyed by some articles because the author didn't explain something correctly and I thought I could do it better.

What do you think about the current metagame?
Our Metagame is quite similar to the one in the last format. The big diference is the upcome of new themes like Blackwings an X-Sabers and the lower OTK-potentialy. At the moen, you can clearly see that Lightsworn is the best deck because the banned list didn't affect it.
According to that, it is much harder to prepare for the meta, because there are many strategies you have to think about. (Also check his blog to see his current decks and thoughts)
I like the meta, but I didn't find the right deck yet. The release of Hidden Arsenal will change very much.

So you think Brionac and his friends will strongly influence the meta?
Brionac I one of the best Synchros ever printed. He is the reason for many OTK-Decks and his discard effect brings the potential of some crazy combos with it. He can kill every Synchro and, because of that, he is one more out to Stardust Dragon and Colossal Fighter. (check one of my next articles for more information about Brionac)
Next to him,there is Catastor, which is very strong against Lightsworn and strenghendes the Cat Synchro deck. Of course, you can't compare him to Brionac.

You already adressed the overtake of Konami. What do you think about the Organized Play and COSSY, and what do you think the future will bring us?
I realy dislike COSSY. They expect every shop to have an internet connection, what of course is not the case. I miself didn't manage until now to arrange a tournament. I realy like Mantis better because you could use it offline and report the outcome later.
I and surely many other players want large events like the Shoen Jump Championships in America.
We only got the Nationals ,the European Championship (which was a disaster) and Sneaks, so only the minumum. I think Konami should realy get things going here in Europe.

Any aims for your future?
At first: Have fun! Then, I'd like to take part in a world championship again and I want to win a Shoen Jump Championship. I also want to keep my title as National Champion.

Do you have a favourite card?
Elemental Hero Stratos. He has everything what a card has to have: He creates card advantage, he has good stats and a very cool artwork. He was included In every deck I made a big success with,exept at Worlds, because he was forbidden =/

Do you have an idol?
(*thinks very long*) Hmm... I don't think so.

As well-know player, there are many people for which you are an idol. What do you want to say those players?
Have fun with playing and always be fair. Don't give up if it doesn't work as you wish in the first place, life is long and isn't just made up of one weekend. Don't listen to people who never played Yu-Gi-Oh and judge about it cusorily. You hobby should make fun and you shouldn't be ashamed of it.
And of course read my blog ;) (And mine!)

Do you have any last words to say or du you want to greet someone?
I want to greet my team United Gosus, especialy Besnik Kajtazi, who just convalesced from his illness. Also,greetings to all of you who read all this.

Thanks for the interview ;)
No problem, I hope you liked it.