For the first time in Grand Archive history, East Malaysia was able to host a Grand Archive Regional! Inviting a total of 100 players to attend this fierce competition. A total of 23 players from Sabah competed in this event. One player that stood out was Neville a.k.a Dean.
While Dean was one short win away from Top 16, his performance left Sabahan players confident about their chances of success in the upcoming Ascent Kuala Lumpur this April.
(Dean competing on stream table against Fayyad from Brunei)
Chapter 1 Background and Journey
(To Dean) What inspired you to start playing Grand Archive?
Dean: The thing that inspired me to play grand archive was the gameplay. I feel like there's just something unique about paying the cost of a card with the cards in your hand. It dictates your decision making in a game, you put 1 wrong card down and it just might cost you the match.
(To Dean) How did you prepare for the East Malaysia Regional? Was your current deck the first deck you think of?
Dean: Choosing my deck wasn't hard, since my first deck was a slime deck. It was my most comfortable deck to play. So yeah, it was definitely the first deck I thought of with a few minor tweaks. For the preparation part, I didn't prepare that much actually. It was just training once a week and mostly just brainstorming ideas on how to counter some decks and doing research on some of the decks that I might encounter.
Chapter 2 Tournament Experience
(To Dean) I believe this would be your first ever feature match in your Trading Card Game career. Is the atmosphere different than playing on the big table next to other players?
Dean: I wouldn't say the atmosphere was different, just needed some time getting used to it. At first there was definitely a bit of pressure, knowing that some people might be watching the match, but I think halfway through the first match it just felt like we were playing a regular game.
(To Dean) From round 1 to Round 7, which match stuck with you the most and why?
Dean: Definitely Round 6. It was just an intense match. That match was actually so close, I think it could have gone either way. Even though I ended up losing that round, I definitely learnt a lot from that match.
Chapter 3 Community and Growth
(To Dean) How do you plan to improve and prepare for future tournaments like Ascent Kuala Lumpur?
Dean: Since my working hour is 'odd', I don't have much time to play the game. So, I think on how I plan to improve, it will mostly be on gameplan wise, maybe preparing a better gameplan for future tournaments and mostly researching more on past and future tournaments.
(To Dean) As a relatively new players yourself starting from middle of 2024, what advice would you give to players who wish to try Grand Archive?
Dean: The only advice I can give is why not give it a try, don't worry too much about having a deck to use or getting the cards, we have lots of players that are willing to borrow you their deck or cards for you to use. You'll never know if you'll love it or not unless you try it.
The player level in Sabah is getting fierce! Ascent Kuala Lumpur will see a lot of Sabahan players which was unheard of from previous Ascent. It is only a matter of time before we have a Sabahan representative in Grand Archive Worlds.
We want to thank Neville a.k.a Dean for sharing his time and allowing us to interview him. We wish all the best in his Ascent Kuala Lumpur Run this April.
