I remember once when I was like 14-15, I was into Yugioh and even joined a very loosely regulated local tournament they were having at a local community college.

The strategy I used was what I called "death by a thousand cuts" where I would just summon a bunch of slightly weak monsters and then directly attack life points while also using trap cards that took away life points.

With that strategy, I was able to win up to the semi-finals until my opponent fucking Exodia'd me into the shadow realm…