[X][Deck] "Ah, nah, not really. Really, I'm into dinosaurs, I just didn't draw any of my best ones for that duel! Kinda sucks, but trust me, my dinosaurs rock!"
You can't help but pump your fist in excitement as you describe your deck to Koyo. Maybe it's a bad idea to talk so frankly about the composition of your deck with someone who could be your opponent in the finals, but it's fun! You love to discuss deck builds with other duelists who have a knack for the game, it's part of what makes it so engaging for you. But it doesn't take long for you to wander off the trail of your dinosaur cards, and more into why you focused so hard on your dinosaur deck.
"I just really am into dinosaurs, you feel me? As a kid I remember so clearly flipping through some of those cheesy books from the 70s and seeing all the art of these big powerful creatures, and at the time life was kinda hard for the family so I really escaped into those books, I guess. I wanted to be big and strong like the T-Rex, tough like the ankylosaurus and protective of those around me like the raptors I read about and their pack hunting, and I never lost sight of that feeling as I grew older."
"I know I'm not the smartest guy, and I'm pretty bad at being a dino nerd because I suck at remembering all the new ones scientists keep digging up, but I just wanna keep channeling those feelings of strength and a time long ago when things were different, when they weren't so… not what I hoped for?"
You shrug apologetically as you struggle to find the words to explain why it is that you like dinosaurs so much, but you're relieved to see Koyo nod thoughtfully and smile warmly at you. Even if he doesn't totally
get it get it, you feel like he has some idea of what you're trying to say, at least.
Maybe that's good enough.
[X][Family] "Oh, it's okay I guess. Dad took off a long time ago so it's my mum, my older sister and myself. Sis mainly looks after mum, since she has trouble getting around, but she insists I enjoy my time at high school before I grow up. But don't get me wrong, we're not looking for sympathy or anything!"
You've never been shy about your homelife, and you're not sure if that's a bad thing or not, but whatever, who cares? You have no issues talking about crap that bothers you, especially stuff that bothers you for reasons you don't really understand (which you grudgingly admit is a lot of things, feelings are stupid and dumb and your teenage brain kind of hates them a bit).
That's why your sister rocks, you explain blithely to Koyo as you plod along the dirt path under the star-speckled sky. You can talk to her about all kinds of things, and she always helps you to make sense of it all. Your mother is pretty good for that sort of thing as well, but the age gap between you and Himari is small enough that your sister still remembers a lot of what it was like to be a teenager, and what she does remember isn't horrendously outdated, culturally.
You know a lot of fifteen year old boys would rather choke on poison than admit to caring for their older sister and their mother, but you've never been that way. The three of you have always been super tight-knit ever since your father took off almost a decade ago now, and you're not gonna kid yourself, it's only been two nights now since you departed from Domino City, and you already miss them a bit. Tracking down a phone line that can make long-distance calls is going to be one of your priorities once you get inside Mr. Crawford's castle, that's for sure.
All the more reason for you to make sure you get inside that castle as soon as you can.
[Side Objective Unlocked: Call Home]
[X][Ante] Accept the challenge as it stands.
Seeing that Cedar Mill has six Star Chips on his gauntlet, you pause for a moment when he offers up two of them for the stakes of the duel you're about to have. If you could convince him to offer up four, then winning this duel would mean you had all 10 chips needed to qualify for the finals already. You think about getting a chance to call your big sis again, and you almost jump at the opportunity to up the ante, but you hold back a little. You've already made one big dumb wager today, and boy, did that ever backfire on you.
If you play for four chips, then yeah, you can qualify for finals immediately. But Cedar has the same number of chips as you, so if you lose then he'll qualify instead, and one of those four finals slots will be lost to you. And he's already stated outright that he's studied your duels and your deck profile before coming along to this tournament. Someone like that is a real danger, even if you start to come at him with new strategies you cook up on the fly.
Most importantly though, he announced his status when he met you, and you know that being the Canadian Championship Runner-Up is a big deal. Magic & Wizards, being a game from the United States, spread through Canada almost as soon as it did in the US, long before it hit your shores. They have all the most recent set releases, access to many more promo cards, and most importantly the duelist pool in Canada is just that much bigger than Japan. While the numbers are definitely trending upwards over here, particularly now that KaibaCorp has started throwing its weight behind the game's marketing and promotion in the Asian market, the number of skilled and powerful duelists Cedar must have faced in his career simply has to be greater than your own record.
You have to take him seriously. Offer up a direct line to the finals, and you know he'll come at you with more than he's ever shown before, and you're in the dark here. Okay, yeah, literally it's nighttime and it's dark, but also you mean his deck and his dueling style. You're familiar with the US circuit and the household names that duel within it, but Canada is something you haven't paid as much attention to.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
You sigh, having no realistic choice, and place your own two Star Chips on the table beside your deck. A loss here, while a setback, won't be too devastating. You're just gonna have to do your best!
[X][Duel] Plan: The Past makes the Present!
-[X] Bait Mill out with Upstart King Rex, set Fossil Excavation and Reinforcements.
-[X] Next turn discard Sword Arm of Dragon for Fossil Excavation, revive Upstart King Rex, Summon Two-Headed King Rex.
-[X] Wildcard fuse Two-Headed King Rex with Upstart King Rex
Cedar's first turn was unremarkable, but hardly an unusual sort of play for the very first turn of a duel. As for your own turn, you've definitely got some workable options in your hand. You could overpower the defenses of your opponent's mechanical Gatekeeper with Sword Arm of Dragon on a Wasteland tile, but there are other longer-term plays you can make as well. With Polymerization in hand you can start setting up for a Fusion, which might be the better option in the long run.
There's even a very clear combination of monsters you have in hand to use your fusion with.
"What's the matter Ryuzaki, my machine guardian got you hesitating?" Cedar drawls casually. His eyes, however, betray his casual speech. They're intense and searching your face for any hints of what you're thinking.
"Nah, not really," you announce as you place a monster onto the field. In front of you, a young looking tyrannosaurus rex adorned with jewels and gold appears on your Wasteland tile, hunkered down defensively.
"I'll summon my
Upstart King Rex in Defense Position, and then I'll set two support cards face-down to protect it!"
Upstart King Rex (1000 DEF > 1300 DEF)
You could have put down your Two-Headed King Rex instead, but for now you'll play defensively. With
Fossil Excavation and
Reinforcements in the backrow, you have some insurance policies in your back pocket.
Cedar stares inquisitively at your small tyrant, before grunting dismissively and drawing his card. You notice his eyes widen for a fraction of a second as he glances at his card, then he stops to think for a moment.
Perhaps it's just the tension of the deepening night, but you swear that you feel the hackles rising on the back of your neck. Any doubt you have about the feeling vanishes as it builds, cementing your certainty that Cedar has just drawn something very good.
In a duel between comparative Regional champs and National Top 2 duelists, that honed Duelist instinct is going to be the lifeline that keeps a win and a loss clearly separated, you think.
"I'll start by summoning
Puppet Plant, I think."
In front of Cedar, partially obscured in the forest tile it manifested over, is a twisting coil of thorn-adorned vines and cactus-like flowers. The tendrils whip and crack back and forth menacingly, as the field power bonus it receives from the forest seems to stir the plant into life.
Puppet Plant (1000 ATK > 1300 ATK)
A plant and a mechanical security guard? There's no clear link between the two just yet, but you doubt Cedar is the sort of duelist who just shoves 40 good cards together into a deck and tries to utilise it as a "toolbox" in serious competition.
Cedar takes a second card from his hand, and as he places it down on the field you can see the orange frame indicating it is another monster. Is it some kind of self-summoning monster? Those are pretty rare, but he has the credentials to potentially have access to them.
Cedar laughs quietly as a jointed wooden doll appears, with glowing strings dangling down from its fingers, one attached to each digit.
"Now we start the fun. By revealing my
High-Tech Marionette monster from my hand and then shuffling it into my deck, I can Special Summon a
Puppeteer Token to my field as well!"
Puppeteer Token (700 ATK)
A Puppet Plant, a Marionette and now a Puppeteer token? So it's a puppetmaster deck then, you suppose. It's not something you're very familiar with at all, so even though none of his three monsters are stronger than the Two-Headed King Rex in your hand you can't help but stay on guard.
"Oh, scary! A couple of puppets, that's very spooky Cedar!" you snark confidently. Just because you're on guard doesn't mean that this is actually a bad situation for you, so you're happy to toss out a barb or two.
Scowling, Cedar holds out another card from his hand, a Spell card that you don't recognise.
"Shut up, your ancient dinosaurs are no match for the complexities of my high-tech puppet deck!" he snaps as strings burst out of the ground and completely ensnare Puppet Plant and the Puppeteer Token, beginning to drag them down into the broken earth.
"I activate the Spell card
Puppet Ritual! By tributing two monsters I control, I can forge a ceremonial link to other worlds using a DARK Machine monster as the medium! And happily, Gatekeeper fits that bill just perfectly," he declares confidently as the machine starts to glow and warp.
Shit, a Ritual Summon. Whatever is about to emerge is probably going to be a real headache for you. Across the table from you, Cedar begins to intone a grim mantra, and you hold your breath in anticipation of what is to come.
"Spirit of manipulation, inhabit this artificial shell! Transform the shape offered to you into a marionette fit for your wicked soul! Come forth,
Psycho-Puppet!"
The purple mechanical humanoid twists and warps painfully as the channeled spirit settles into its body, molding its form into something more appropriate to the inhabiting soul. In this particular case, the form is that of a wickedly-grinning wooden puppet, similar in appearance to that of the Puppeteer Token that has just vanished. However, it bears upon its stomach a symbol for death, deadly razors appear to tip the puppet's fingers and the grinning mouth is filled with a veritable armory of jagged sharklike teeth. The puppet moves jerkily as it appears, a high-pitched keening giggle emanating from its head.
Psycho-Puppet (2000 ATK)
"But that's not all, Ryuzaki! Now I'll activate my Trap card,
Armory Call!"
On the field behind the demonic puppet appears a glowing portal, and from it a series of neon green strings of light start to flow out and coil around the Psycho-Puppet, attaching to it from every angle.
"This card allows me to add an Equip Spell from my deck to my hand and immediately activate it, and I've chosen
Virtual Puppet Strings" Cedar continues. His spooky wooden puppet creaks as it jerks about while the strings attach to it, and then a glowing form begins to appear at the other ends of the lashing strings. To your eyes, it's best described as a mechanical woman, with pale blue metallic skin and copper highlights.
"When I equip my puppet strings to a monster, it allows me to Special Summon
High-Tech Marionette straight out of my deck in Attack Position! And my cybernetic puppet has a special ability, since it's controlled by virtual strings attached to another monster I control, it gains Attack power equal to the ATK of that monster!" he exclaims excitedly as the vivid green strings connecting Psycho-Puppet and the new marionette monster start to pull taut and pulse with digital energy.
High-Tech Marionette (2300 ATK > 4300 ATK)
"No way!" you can't help but exclaim as you slam your hands on the table, eyes wide with shock. "There's no way you can just summon a monster as powerful as that so casually!"
Cedar's eyes glint with steely resolve as he grins widely at you, taking in the scene portrayed in miniature in front of him.
"Gotta say, I don't think I've ever had the good fortune to summon both of my ace monsters in a single turn during high level competitive play! Looks like fortune favours my speedy modern techniques and tactics, Ryuzaki! Your dinosaurs are about to go extinct once more!"
The cybernetic marionette does a pirouetting spin as it launches towards your little dinosaur in an instant, shattering it completely. You exhale raggedly, realising that putting out a monster in defense mode to probe Cedar's skills is the only thing that kept you in the game. Between Reinforcements and a field power bonus you would have survived the hit if you'd had Sword Arm of Dragon or Two-Headed King Rex in Attack Position, but only by the skin of your teeth.
So this is the power of Canada, huh?
You barely even notice as Cedar sets a card into his support tiles and ends his turn with a single card left in his hand, as your mind is working away on ideas of how to deal with that monstrously strong marionette. Cedar stated that it is strengthened by the power of the monster equipped with
Virtual Puppet Strings, so does that mean that destroying the equipped monster, or the equip card itself, will destroy the High-Tech Marionette? If not, would it at least deprive it of the power up it's currently receiving?
As if responding to your musing about the weak point behind his powered-up puppet, your draw for the turn is
Dust Tornado. That's good, very good actually!
But it can wait for now. You won't be able to activate it until your next turn, so you might as well make the play you were initially working towards, the Rex on Rex fusion.
You glare daggers at Cedar, ferocity in your eyes, and he seems momentarily taken aback by the fire in them, but then he responds with his own strong grin. A proper duel of high power and skill, this is promising to be an intense battle!
"First I'll activate my
Fossil Excavation trap! By discarding my
Sword Arm of Dragon, I can revive one dinosaur from my graveyard, and I'm choosing
Upstart King Dragon!" you announce boldly.
On the holographic wasteland tiles, you see four monochromatic men in hardhats pull out tools and begin a careful excavation of the land, uncovering the bones of your King Rex, and to your surprise also the bones of a different dinosaur. The bones revitalise in a flash of light as the men in hardhats vanish, leaving you with two monsters on your field.
Upstart King Rex (1000 DEF > 1300 DEF)
Sword Arm of Dragon (2030 DEF > 2640 DEF)
"Huh? My card is only supposed to revive one dinosaur? How come I ended up with two?" you wonder aloud. "Not that I'm complaining!" you add quickly.
Cedar rubs his chin as he looks at the two monsters you've called back in an instant.
"I can only presume that by discarding a dinosaur you added some bones to the pile to be excavated on site," he muses, more to himself than to you. "Must be some of these Kingdom Lore effects coming into play."
Well, you're certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Fine, whatever! Now I'm gonna summon my
Two-Headed King Rex in Attack Position!"
On the field a scaly purple dinosaur with a pair of wings and two snapping, gnashing lizard heads appears in a threatening posture. There was no space to place it onto a Wasteland tile, but it's not going to hang around long enough to matter.
"Next I activate
Polymerization, fusing my Two-Headed King Rex and my Upstart King Rex together into a superior King Rex!" you explain, as a whirling vortex of energy pulls the two monsters in, and a brand new one emerges.
The new monster on your field is a fearsome sight to behold, a truly massive T-Rex with two heads, its body all scaled ridges and mottled blood red coloration. It even looks like it has four upper limbs, rather than two, tiny and non-threatening though they may be. Stomping and growling as it takes its position, you get a sense of great power from it as it gains strength from the Wasteland tile it resides upon.
Plutarch King Rex (2000 ATK > 2600 ATK)
An indicator on both sides of the table lights up, and you look at it as you read the data for this Wildcard Fusion.
"Looks like when I Fusion Summon my
Plutarch King Rex we both get to draw a card, and then I can send 1
Upstart Goblin from my deck to the graveyard to activate that card as well!" you explain, dutifully drawing your card and sending Upstart to the grave to draw another.
Cedar LP: 3000
You look at the two cards you have drawn,
Element Saurus and
Ekibyo Drakmord, but are surprised to see an indicator light up once more. Checking it out, you can't help but grin.
"Oh hey, when I draw a card by any card effect except Plutarch's own, it allows me to draw one more card! Sweet!" you cheer as you add another card,
Threatening Roar, to your hand. Scoring 3 new draws off a single Fusion Summon is just ridiculously good, you're definitely going to have to keep that combination in mind as you move forward in this tournament.
A beeping sound occurs as your Plutarch King Rex roars and seems to get even more worked up, looking distinctly menacing and powerful.
"And it looks like my monster gains 200 ATK for every card I draw as well. With the Field Power Bonus, my Plutarch King Rex is super strong now!"
Plutarch King Rex (2600 ATK > 3380 ATK)
You lock eyes with Cedar across the table, and your dueling intent surges as you point at his Psycho-Puppet.
"If I take down your Psycho-Puppet I bet your marionette won't be able to function anymore without a puppeteer to yank its strings, so let's crush that Psycho-Puppet, Plutarch!"
Cedar grimaces, his mouth a thin, hard line, but he reaches for the card that is set in his back row.
"I've observed your games before Ryuzaki, and I made some plans for your strong Dinosaurs."
He tosses a card from his hand, and a ghostly image of a puppeteer with glowing strings appears above your King Rex. The strings lance out, wrapping around your dinosaur, and the ghostly puppetmaster violently jerks the tyrant lizard into a different location on the field.
"By sending
Wattkinetic Puppeteer from my hand to the grave, I can move one of your monsters to a different Main Monster Zone," Cedar explains as your monster is forcibly relocated.
"Uh, okay…. But why does that matter?" you ask. You can see that because of the positioning of his Psycho-Puppet against the boulder in the middle of the field, your dinosaur's attack is now partially intercepted by said rock. Is he hoping for some Kingdom Lore effect that reduces the effectiveness of your monster's attack if his own is hidden behind partial cover?
"You're thinking it's the boulder, right?" Cedar asks conversationally. You start, a little creeped out that he could so easily read what you were thinking.
"Let me put it this way, on my last turn I very deliberately chose to summon my High Tech Marionette in the same column as one of your backrow cards, and then chose to set my facedown card in the same column for a reason as well."
You see it now, clear as day. Now that his psychic puppetmaster has yanked your King Rex into a new spot, there's an obvious line of cards on the field. Reinforcements, Plutarch King Rex, High-Tech Marionette and a hidden card lurking behind his cybernetic mistress. A very deliberate formation of cards.
"Okay, yeah, but why?" you ask dumbly. Just because you can see what he intended, you still don't understand why.
"Because my
Blasting Fuse can only activate if every zone in the column is filled, that's why! But in return it blows up your cards alongside my fragile Marionette!"
As Cedar flips his card over, a series of explosives linked together snakes out through the legs of his Marionette and whips around one ankle of your menacing tyrant before latching on to your set Trap card, and immediately all of those explosives detonate in a crack of light and smoke.
The smoke clears and almost nothing remains except for some charred debris scattered across the ground, but some insistent chirps from the data displays on the table attract your attention. With each of you losing a monster to a card effect, you both suffered from Destruction Damage, heavily damaging you both.
Cedar: 850 LP
Ryuzaki: 310 LP
Damn! If your Upstart Goblin hadn't boosted his Life Points Cedar would have been unable to activate his Blasting Fuse without losing the match!
Looking at the field, his Psycho-Puppet and your Sword Arm of Dragon, you consider your next move carefully. Since you've already played 1 Spell card this turn, you'll only be able to set 1 card in your Spell/Trap zones for this turn.
You could equip his Psycho-Puppet with Ekibyo Drakmord to prevent it from attacking if he somehow powers it up, but currently it cannot get over your defensively-buffed Sword Arm.
In the end, you opt to set
Threatening Roar rather than Ekibyo Drakmord. It's chainable, whereas being an Equip Spell makes Ekibyo more susceptible to removal.
Cedar draws his card, and you suppress a groan as you see him smirk at the card he has drawn. Goddamnit.
"I'll activate the spell card I just drew,
Monster Reborn! Using this, I can revive the
Wattkinetic Puppeteer in Attack Position!"
Wattkinetic Puppeteer (1800 ATK)
The ghostly image you'd just previously seen returns to the field in a solid form, tucked behind the rock and the Psycho-Puppet, and immediately it snakes its glowing strings over to intertwine with the loose strings hanging off of the Psycho-Puppet, and the demonic puppet glows a violent purple, the death symbol on its chest lighting up.
"When there is a "Puppetmaster" or a "Puppeteer" monster on the field, my Psycho-Puppet gains 1500 ATK, bringing it up to 3500!" Cedar crows.
"Now, destroy that Sword Arm of Dragon!"
[ ] Activate Threatening Roar to protect Sword Arm of Dragon
[ ] Don't activate Threatening Roar, allow Sword Arm of Dragon to be destroyed
Cedar takes his last card and sets it in his backrow, and this time you pay attention enough to realise it is in the same column as your empty Wasteland tile. A bluff or another column-based effect?
With his Puppeteer in Attack Position, you realise that there's a chance to take a shot at Cedar's remaining Life Points now, but he still has his set card ready and waiting, so you have to play your next move just right.
Okay, your turn, let's go!
If you do not activate Destiny Draw, your card for this turn will be Monster Reborn.
If you wish to Destiny Draw, it is your third turn so you can spend up to 225 DP to draw a card.
Ryuzaki Life Points: 310
Ryuzaki Hand: Ekibyo Drakmord, Element Saurus, Dust Tornado
Ryuzaki Field: Sword Arm of Dragon (2640 DEF) (depending on vote), Threatening Roar (depending on vote), Fossil Excavation (no target)
Ryuzaki Graveyard: Sword Arm of Dragon (depending on vote), Threatening Roar (depending on vote), Reinforcements, Two-Headed King Rex, Upstart King Rex, Upstart Goblin, Polymerization
Cedar Life Points: 850
Cedar Hand: None
Cedar Field: Wattkinetic Puppeteer (1800 ATK), Psycho-Puppet (3500 ATK, Gatekeeper attached), 1 set S/T card
Cedar Graveyard: Monster Reborn, Blasting Fuse, High-Tech Marionette, Virtual Puppet Strings, Armory Call, Puppet Ritual, Puppet Plant
What do you want to do for your turn?
[ ] Write-in
(Remember that per the Duelist Kingdom rules, you can either play 1 Spell from your hand and set 1 S/T card, or set 2 S/T cards, in a single turn. You cannot do more than this in a single turn.)
So it turns out that Cedar Mill plays to win. He got a very explosive hand, but because you didn't decide to play for 4 Star Chips his deck wasn't at its most deadly. Had it been you'd have already lost.
It's interesting to work with Cedar's deck, since both of his ace monsters are fragile, in that they need another monster on field to be at their strongest. HT Marionette literally dies if the monster equipped with Virtual Puppet Strings leaves the field, and Psycho-Puppet is expensive to get out and without one of his two "Puppetmaster" / "Puppeteer" monsters (or a Puppeteer Token) it's just an okay 2000 ATK monster.
Being able to mess around with column cards and field positioning is fun, that's for sure.
Plutarch King Rex is all about making back that card advantage you lost on the Fusion Summon, lol.
Just for planning, please note that since Ritual and Fusion monsters are not physical cards as yet they don't exist in the graveyard, so you can't revive them with Monster Reborn. I'm fairly certain this is never contradicted in the manga, but if it is I'll change it and open that option up for you guys. And no, Kaiba reviving his BEWD head on his rotting BEUD doesn't count, it explicitly had the 3000 ATK of BEWD, not the 4500 of BEUD.
Oh, and I shamelessly stole the bonus Duelist Kingdom effect of Fossil Excavation from Arkanian and Nothing is Sacred, it just feels very "right" as a lore-based effect.
