AwkMuds

## Kyle Pham

Everyone’s favorite local short king :D. Before joining UCR’s Highlander Duelists, This vertically-challenged duelist has had little to no experience playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with anyone in-person despite being obsessed with the game since the age of 5 due to the lack of interest of others in his hometown. Now as an active member of the club however, you’ll often find him dueling fellow club members at the UCR HUB on an almost daily basis (basically whenever he has free time) in an attempt to create a fun atmosphere for his and others’ enjoyment for the game. He is one of the more easier people to talk to due to his dorky, yet easy-going nature.

 Bystial DragonLink
 Branded Despia

## 2022-2023

### Fall 2022

Having just joined the club as a 17 year-old first year in college, he was a bit shy at first as he hasn’t had much experience with other Yu-Gi-Oh players. His competent deck of the time was his anime-favorite Raidraptors.

His first in-person interaction within the club started with Nathan Caridad (aka “Edison”) participating in the Edison format event of the time. That very day, Kyle was able to meet a lot of new friendly faces within the club (Ashley Fitchpatrick, Tabito Sakamoto, Peyton McDowell, and more). Over the course of the quarter, Kyle’s wishes had come true as he got to make so many new friends that shared his love for the game.

On a Saturday around week 3 of the quarter, Kyle noticed other members mentioning a card shop in the discord server. He was curious and decided to check it out. So he attempted to travel there via razor scooter from his on-campus dorm. Google Maps indicated that it was a ~2hr distance, but that didn’t deter Kyle…at first. He gave up at the 45min mark at the Mcdonalds where he ate lunch and scooted back to his dorm.

On November 02 (the day before his 18th birthday) Kyle visited the club’s sponsored local card shop Top Choice Gaming for the first time with other befriended club members. This was his first time being in a card shop (having obtained cards from Walmart/Amazon/etc) and he noticed that his companions were pulling boxes of the newly released “Darkwing Blast” set. Out of curiosity, he decided to buy a box himself and to his luck pulled the heavily desired “The Bystial Lubellion”. He cherished the awesome card he pulled very deeply to the point where he eventually built his Branded Despia Deck around that card.

### Winter 2022

After the end of the Tier 0 format (Ishizu Tearlament), Kyle decided to begin dabbling into the competitive format with his Branded Despia Deck. Slowly gaining experience of how the meta works and how to better his playstyle from a casual player.

Kyle participated in the club’s ongoing quarter-long Number Hunter event. Just kidding, he ended up not playing a single official match due to a few circumstances.

Kyle also participated in the casual Highlander Progression Series. Known for playing the most janky and based decks. (i.e Skill Drain Beatdown, Chain Burn, Library Exodia, etc)

This quarter was also the start of Kyle’s side-hustle as “The Branded Lost & Found” where people seem to keep leaving their belongings in his presence in which he’d hang onto them and return them the next day. Some examples include: playmats, a skateboard, a trade binder, and a kashtira deck. XD.

### Spring 2023

During this quarter, Kyle became infamous as the guy who consistently locks opponents from special summoning by using Branded Expulsion to give his opponents Gimmick Puppet Nightmare.

Participated in the quarter-long Crew Battle club event as the Leader of the Link-Summoning Dimension piloting the formidable Bystial DragonLink. He and his team showed promise after an impressive victory against the Synchro Dimension team in round 1, but was overall screwed against everyone else due to the buffs towards the Xyz and Fusion Dimensions.

UC Summit 2023: Kyle piloting Branded Despia made top 16 at UC Summit (14th place), but not before making a quick 5 minute pit-stop to the local Frank & Sons that very morning. Sangar Kannan currently had borrowed custody of his copy of Gimmick Puppet Nightmare due to its scarcity within the area and wanted to use it in a locals tournament that week for playtesting; however, Sangar had overslept at the morning of the UC Summit (Branded Curse) and consequently missed his ride there all while still having Kyle’s card. As a result, Kyle and his ride companions decided to make a trip to Frank & Sons around half an hour before entry in a successful search for another copy of the card.

Kyle ended the year strong being assigned as the new Vice President of the club. He also made top 4 at his first-ever locals tournament at Top Choice Gaming not long after.

## Trivia

* Currently the Vice President of the club.
* Currently suspected to be the next victim of the Branded Curse.
* Has been known to travel through campus on a razor scooter during his freshman year and even utilized an HDMI cable and combination lock store said razor scooter on the campus’ bike racks (scooter has yet to have been stolen).
* Rumor has it that he will eventually do a fundraiser event where he scooters to the local sponsored card shop Top Choice Gaming.
* Will likely say something along the lines of “What is uP duelists?!” upon entering a room.
* Openly admits to being a Hololive EN fan.
* Often mistaken for a lost middle-schooler.
* Has been lifted by Tristan Klein like 3 times.
* Often seen bracing for impact when activating Branded Fusion expecting for his opponent to end his entire career by chaining a certain handtrap.

## Tournament Results

 Top Choice Gaming: Locals
 Top Choice Gaming: Rivalry of Warlords