Chapter 134. Special Victory Cards Explained (Middle)! A Multitude Leaves the Old Guard Stunned!
As the duelists across the various worlds launched into heated debate about this Exodia card,
in the GX timeline,
Aster Phoenix suddenly remembered something and his expression turned grave.
"I've seen this card before."
"If I'm not mistaken, it was used by Adrian Gecko."
Aster Phoenix's words immediately drew the attention of the nearby students and faculty.
So this card had appeared in their world too?
"Mamma mia! Adrian Gecko?"
"I remember he's a third-year from Duel Academy's East Academy, the adopted son of the Gecko family!"
"I see.
So he's connected to this card."
At that, Dr. Crowler's doors of memory swung open.
The image of Adrian Gecko surfaced in his mind.
In the short video,
the explanation and lines of play for this card quickly got underway.
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "After learning this card and its win condition,
the next question is: what kind of build can actually pull off this card's special victory?"
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "Honestly, it isn't hard!"
"In many builds, you can't get away from a few key cards!"
"The first is the Field Spell Black Garden!"
"One of this Field's effects is: each time a monster is Normal or Special Summoned face-up (except by the effect of 'Black Garden'), that monster's ATK becomes half its current ATK,
then its controller Special Summons 1 Rose Token (Plant/DARK/Level 2/ATK 800/DEF 800) to their opponent's field in Attack Position."
"That's right, what we want from this Field is the ability to Summon Tokens to the opponent's field."
"Next, pair it with the second card, Diffusion Wave-Motion!"
"That lets our 'Old Exo' make five attacks, thereby triggering its second effect five times to mill five 'limbs' and claim victory!"
"So the build's idea is: use Black Garden to fill the opponent's field with five Tokens on their turn,
then, when it's back to us, end the turn sequence and activate Diffusion Wave-Motion for five consecutive swings to finish the Duel!"
"To boost the success rate, we can also include the Link-2 Honeybot as an escort!"
"Because Honeybot's Link Arrows are left and right!"
"And its effect makes the monsters it points to unable to be targeted by card effects and unable to be destroyed by battle."
"So as long as 'Old Exo' is next to this robot when it attacks, we're set."
"This kind of specialized, for-fun deck has high entertainment value, so I give it a 7 out of 10!"
Genius 667!
Holy crap!
The duelists from every world had been racking their brains for how to achieve this card's special victory condition.
After hearing the video creator's explanation,
they suddenly felt enlightened.
Black Garden!
Diffusion Wave-Motion!
Just what kind of genius thought to pair those with Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord for a specialized fun build?
Yugi Muto: "As expected, the higher world is full of talented people!
I thought of Diffusion Wave-Motion, but I never considered giving the opponent five attackable targets like that!"
Akiza Izinski: "Mm-hmm.
It's pretty interesting that my Black Garden can be used like this."
Yusei Fudo: "But after hearing it, it's also clear the success rate isn't that high."
Yusaku Fujiki: "That's normal.
If the success rate were near one hundred percent, there'd be no room left for other decks."
After the short-video explanation, the group chat burst into sighs and exclamations.
At this point,
they had gained a clearer idea of "special victory."
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "Okay, having covered 'Old Exo,'
let's look at other special-victory cards."
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "First, the universally acknowledged Holactie the Creator of Light and the Egyptian God Cards!"
"As long as the three Gods—Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and The Winged Dragon of Ra—are gathered on the field,
and we have Holactie the Creator of Light in hand,
then upon a successful Summon, we win the Duel!"
"Trying to set up a one-turn Holactie, though, isn't exactly easy!"
"A common build is the Morphtronic Telefon into Holactie line."
"The idea is to assemble two Morphtronic monsters, then go into Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon to generate Tokens and Synchro Summon like crazy!"
"Pair that with T.G. Hyper Librarian to draw cards!"
"When you run low on fodder, use two copies of Gaiarmor Dragonshell to loop each other back!"
"Because Gaiarmor Dragonshell can tribute itself targeting three other Synchro Monsters in your GY to return them to the Extra Deck."
"Running two creates a pseudo-perpetual engine."
"Then you gradually assemble the three Gods and Holactie."
"Another route is blind milling—like using Dragonmaid, Tearlaments, Agents, etc., to load the GY—
then figure out how to bring out the three Gods one by one; if Holactie hits the GY, use Herald of the Arc Light–type recovery effects to get it back!"
"As for Holactie's special win condition,
I rate it a 6 out of 10!"
"It's not hard, but it isn't easy either!"
"It passes because it's cool!
Card-meme value!"
"As long as it's card-meme, it's enough!"
They had already witnessed Holactie's special victory when the Future Dragon Emperor showed it off,
so the duelists of the six worlds simply looked thoughtful.
But hearing that even Morphtronics could assemble Holactie
made the 5D's duelists lose their composure.
"Huh? Morphtronics?"
"Isn't that my deck theme?"
Leo froze on the spot.
He never imagined his Morphtronics could be used as toys for Holactie.
"Uh, so my T.G. Hyper Librarian is just there to draw?"
"Good grief, who came up with this ridiculous line?"
Bruno nearly spat up a mouthful of old blood.
T.G. Hyper Librarian, his ace Synchro!
Reduced to a tool, only used to chain Synchros and draw?
Come on!
It has 2400 ATK, you know!
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "Beyond Holactie, there are many other special-victory cards!"
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "For example, Final Countdown!"
"Pay 2000 Life Points.
Twenty turns after activation, you win the Duel."
"The modern idea is simple: pair it with Number 59: Crooked Cook to stall and keep drawing."
"Go full stall—nice and easy!"
"But actually, beyond the stall-only plan,
there are other ideas!"
"For example, running a pile of battle-phase stoppers!"
"Battle Fader, Swift Scarecrow, Zero Gardna, One Day of Peace, the Trap Threatening Roar, and so on!"
"That style is different from straight-up Crooked Cook stall!"
"Of course, stallers can still run those as emergency buttons—why not."
"This Final Countdown special-victory route is easier than the previous ones."
"So my rating is around 8 out of 10!"
"Granted, the entertainment value is a bit lower."
"For stallers, just stall.
Go do something else while it counts down."
Indeed.
Final Countdown seemed much simpler than the last two.
But this also made many old-guard duelists twitch at the corners of their mouths.
So many battle-phase-skipping cards existed in the higher world!
Battle Fader needs no introduction—
they had seen it already.
One Day of Peace is heavyweight.
If it weren't Limited,
decks would shamelessly run three.
The rest are similar in function.
And Crooked Cook stall really does just… stall.
Make Number 59: Crooked Cook that can't be destroyed by battle,
and then just stall it out.
In terms of spectacle, Final Countdown
really doesn't compare to Holactie or "Old Exo."
But—
it's easy!
It's easy to achieve!
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "Next up is Ghostrick—10 Materials!"
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "The key special-victory card is Ghostrick Angel of Mischief!"
"Simply put, you Summon Ghostrick Angel of Mischief; it has a first effect that helps it gather materials itself."
"But it's gated to 'Ghostrick,' and it needs to activate, so it's easy to get negated."
"It also lacks protection, so it's not used that often."
"Even so, there are many builds around the Ghostrick win!"
"For example, Lyrilusc Ghostrick, Pure Fairy Ghostrick, Six Samurai Ghostrick, etc.!"
"For Six Samurai Ghostrick,
the important cards are Number 75: Bamboozling Gossip Shadow and Number 69: Heraldry Crest!"
"The idea is quite simple!"
"Keep piling up materials."
"Then use Number 75 to transfer all materials onto Number 69!"
"After that, use Number 69 to copy the card name of a Ghostrick Xyz, and then climb into Ghostrick Angel of Mischief."
"If you're short on materials, use Ghostrick effects to replenish!"
"As for Lyrilusc Ghostrick, you use the Link Reprodocus in concert with a Nightingale to set up the line."
"The rest are mostly the same idea."
"So my composite rating for Ghostrick is 7 out of 10."
"One, 'Ghostrick girls' cards."
"Two, the conditions aren't that harsh."
"Three, the assisting shells are real decks."
"It's entertaining—I personally like it."
They had already seen the Ghostrick victory formula in a previous short video.
So the duelists of the six worlds quickly grew animated and nostalgic.
Ghostrick's performance in Team Tag Duels was still fresh in their minds—
especially Lyrilusc's explosive lines,
the ever-growing pile of GY resources,
and the final Reprodocus + Lyrilusc combo that moved materials around.
For the old guard, those memories were vivid and irreplaceable.
At the same time,
the veterans realized a frightening point—
that special-victory cards seemed to be far more numerous than they had expected!
And just as expected,
the short video immediately moved on to other special-victory cards.
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "Heh heh heh, what we've covered is just the tip of the iceberg."
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "You thought we were done already?"
"No, no, no!"
"There's plenty more!
Like the next few special-victory cards!"
"The first one: Number 88: Gimmick Puppet of Leo!"
"Its special win condition is: when this card has three Destiny Counters placed on it, you win the Duel."
"It has an effect, once per turn, if your Spell & Trap Zone is empty, you can detach 1 material to place 1 Destiny Counter on it—
but the turn you activate it, you can't enter the Battle Phase!"
"The Rank-Up version is Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo!"
"Its special win condition is: during your End Phase, if your opponent's LP are 2000 or less and this card has no materials, you win the Duel."
"These are unique one-card victory methods."
"So for the combo shells that assemble them,
you see Utopia lines and Trains helping complete the setup."
"You also see Morphtronic Telefon lines for the 'Leo' route."
"For burn support, there's the Continuous Spell Galaxy Wave!"
"Each time you Xyz Summon, it deals 500 damage to the opponent."
"For example, Disaster Leo itself can also burn!"
"All these can help you complete the special win."
"But c'mon—if I'm already on Utopia, why rely on this?"
"So overall rating, 5 out of 10!"
Exactly!
That's the point.
If you're already playing Utopia,
why not just ditch Leo and play the pure, invincible Number 39 line?
Why give yourself such a headache just to run Leo?
That said, since Leo is part of Thomas Arclight's cards,
it's a different story in the ZEXAL world.
After its real-card nerfs, its power took a big hit.
So for the likes of Yuma and his friends,
this card only earned a wry smile.
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "Next card!"
Yu-Gi-Oh Appreciation Hall: "The Continuous Trap Destiny Board!"
"The win condition is: when this card and four different Spirit Message cards are on your field, you win the Duel."
"How do you get those four Spirit Message cards?"
"Don't worry.
During your opponent's End Phase, this card's other effect automatically places 1 'Spirit Message' card from your hand or Deck in the proper order of 'I,' 'N,' 'A,' and 'L.'"
"So you can see how weak this is."
"It basically asks you to sit through four opponent turns!"
"With those conditions, I could finish Dark Magician of Chaos setups faster!"
"So speeding it up is difficult."
"My composite rating is 4 out of 10."
In the DM world,
Ryou Bakura twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Destiny Board special victory
was one of his proud trump cards.
But in the higher world,
this win condition didn't seem very popular?
Really?
Doesn't this victory condition look way cooler than stuff like Dark Magician of Chaos, Ghostrick, or Leo?
A dark duel that slowly unfolds.
A countdown to defeat you declare piece by piece.
Let the opponent feel the creeping encroachment of Destiny Board.
Isn't that more satisfying?
What's more,
pair Destiny Board with the Field Dark Sanctuary
and you can do a few neat combos
to drag the game out!
The success rate shouldn't be low, right?
"Heh heh heh, that's what people who don't understand Destiny Board say."
"My Destiny Board is invincible!"
Ryou Bakura smirked at the thought.
Yugi Muto, standing nearby, simply smiled without comment.
Destiny Board?
Didn't it fall to his miracle top-deck back then?
And in comparison,
Destiny Board truly does lag behind the earlier special-victory cards.
In the group chat,
for duelists from the other worlds,
the sheer variety of special-victory cards already had them at their limits.
They had thought special-victory cards were a niche.
But now it was clear
that they had vastly underestimated it!
Even worse—
the short video seemed only halfway done!
Which meant there were still many more special-victory cards to come!
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