Chapter 179. Yu-Gi-Oh! Cheating and "Rules-Lawyering" Exposed! Bathroom OTK and the "Network Dragon"!
Duelists from every Duel world looked at each other as the short video ended.
They never would have thought it!
That Mekk-Knight Deck that had originally looked just so-so… turns out it actually had a bizarre combo line like that so-called "Heavenly Sweep" built into the archetype!
That's ridiculous!
You can play it like that?!
But it seems the success rate isn't very high.
Otherwise, these cards would've been Forbidden by now.
Looks like it's one of those "pull it off once and feel great for a day" casual builds!
MD Mekk-Knight player: "Okay, that's the end of my video."
MD Mekk-Knight player: "That last 'Heavenly Sweep' Mekk-Knight combo is at least a 2-card combo."
MD Mekk-Knight player: "With Girsu, the Orcust Mekk-Knight plus World Legacy's Memory, you can do the 'Heavenly Sweep.'"
"But it's easy to get interrupted—once they stop you, you're done!"
"And it's extremely dependent on going first!"
"So it's high on fun factor!"
"But when it goes through, you'll be on cloud nine all day!"
"All right, see you next time."
With that closing summary, the Mekk-Knight video ended.
In the main world, Sei Yuki finished watching and couldn't help getting interested.
"Heavenly Sweep Mekk-Knight, huh?"
"If it really works, it'll feel amazing for a good while… but if the opponent's monsters all trigger in the Graveyard, I'm basically helping them extend."
"Sigh."
"If only it banished everything instead."
After murmuring to himself, Sei Yuki turned to the next short video.
After a bit of searching, his eyes landed on a short about cheating and 'rules-lawyering' in Yu-Gi-Oh!
The title was: "A Compilation of Yu-Gi-Oh! Cheating and 'Rules-Lawyering'! Can We Please Just Play Fair?"
That title immediately grabbed Sei Yuki's attention.
Cheating and 'rules-lawyering' in Yu-Gi-Oh.?
Honestly, the only one he knew was the post-match "inspect the Infernity backrow" cheating trick. Could there really be many more?
With that thought, Sei Yuki clicked the video without hesitation.
And soon enough, that title popped up across every Duel world.
Yugi Muto's heart tightened, Yuya Sakaki's face grew solemn, and Yuma Tsukumo's expression shifted.
Yusei Fudo stayed calm, while Yusaku Fujiki and Jaden Yuki looked thoughtful.
Strangely, in the DM world, a lot of Duelists looked uncomfortable when they saw this title.
Weevil Underwood, Bandit Keith, Arkana, Marik Ishtar, and Espa Roba all looked tense!
No way… don't tell me the "higher world" also has a full 64-0 catalog of cheating tactics?
With questions in mind, the short began to play!
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "Hello! Hey there, fellow card players!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "Today we're counting the various cheating and 'rules-lawyering' methods that have appeared throughout Yu-Gi-Oh! history."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "I'm sure you'll get a lot out of this!"
"First up is the famous Bathroom OTK tactic. This is a kind of cheating 'strategy' that once had Duelists living in fear of their opponent going to the bathroom."
"To understand Bathroom OTK, you need to know the tournament rules of the time."
"Point 1: The match time is 40 minutes."
"Point 2: If time is called and there's no winner yet, the Duel is decided by remaining LP."
"Okay, with those two in mind, the Bathroom OTK idea should be clear."
"For example, a Trickstar player who wins the die roll and goes first immediately indicates they need to use the bathroom!"
"Nature calls. Your opponent won't feel good about refusing, right? So they nod 'okay'!"
"And with that 'okay,' they've walked right into the Bathroom OTK trap."
"So what does the Trickstar player do? Stay in the bathroom for 39 minutes, then return to the table with 30 seconds left!"
"What play do they need? Just Normal Summon Trickstar Candina, then end the turn."
"—As the video frames it—while she's on the field, each time the opponent adds a card to hand, they'd take 200 damage."
"Then, on the opponent's Draw Phase, they draw a card, the effect triggers, and their LP drops by 200!"
"And right then—ding!—the 40 minutes are up. The final result is 8000 vs. 7800, and the Trickstar player wins!"
"Yes, that's the Bathroom OTK!"
"An absurd 'win' achieved by exploiting a loophole in tournament procedure!"
"The requirements are dead simple! If you pack your Deck full of burn—like Hinotama or Final Flame—and you win the die roll, you can go to the bathroom and come back to a victory."
"What was the result?"
"At a proper Yu-Gi-Oh! event venue, the bathrooms were jam-packed! Plenty of male players even started using the women's restroom!"
"Have you ever seen a card game tournament where the bathroom is so full people are taking 39 minutes to pee, and there's still a line?"
"...…"
"???"
"What the heck?"
"What is this?!"
"You can Duel like that?!"
Every Duel world fell into shock and confusion after that Bathroom OTK explanation.
No one imagined that a Duel would result in bathrooms overflowing with people.
Is this still a Duel?
Are they sure they came to play cards?
DM world—Seto Kaiba felt downright ill after hearing this!
"Outrageous! Pure nonsense!"
"Those third-rate Duelists are only fit to scour for loopholes to steal wins!"
"Could they really feel at ease with a victory like that?!"
"Damn it! From now on, every tournament hosted by KaibaCorp will be untimed!"
"I want to see who dares try Bathroom OTK then!"
The CEO's domineering declaration and fierce glare instantly deflated the Duelists in the DM world who'd gotten ideas from the OTK.
Yugi Muto was secretly alarmed.
If an opponent used that on him, even the heart of the cards wouldn't help!
Joey Wheeler: "Interesting! If I run into one, I'll just drag him outta the bathroom!"
Joey had already clenched his fist.
Weevil Underwood cursed to himself. "Someone's even slimier than me?"
To think a cheating tactic like that even exists.
And the bathroom trip by itself isn't technically against the rules… but causing a disturbance like that? That's not okay!
GX era.
The kindhearted Duel Academy students, still naïve to the cruelties of the world, had never encountered tactics like this.
After listening, Jaden Yuki, Jesse Anderson—even Professor Crowler—were all stunned!
"What is this?"
"Go to the bathroom, come back to burn a little LP, and the opponent's turn starts—ding, time, you win!"
"That's just gross!"
"How could such Duelists appear in a major tournament?!"
"Hateful!"
"And the worst part—it got popular, and tons of Duelists copied it!"
"Intolerable! There's no soul in a Duel like that!"
"Duel Monsters themselves would cry!"
"My HEROes won't Duel people like that!"
"So the higher world's Duelists include the underhanded, too."
Jaden exhaled slowly.
He'd figured it out. Where there are Duelists, there's good and bad.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "You thought that was it?"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "Online play is better, since the system enforces rules."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "It's hard to cheat online."
"But in many offline settings, you'll often see Duelists who'll stop at nothing to win!"
"Their methods vary, and some will break your worldview."
"For example, the cheating method 'shuffle magic.' Anyone who's played poker knows about card-sharps."
"Yu-Gi-Oh! uses cards, so you can use sleight-of-hand to cheat!"
"Using magician's technique to arrange your Deck in a specific order."
"For example, the '8–5 shuffle': deal your pre-stacked Deck into 8 piles and combine, then again into 5 piles!"
"At a glance, it looks like two shuffles, but the order you wanted stays on top!"
"Using this cheat, there are frequent videos of players 'opening with the five pieces of Exodia,' getting called out on the spot, and disqualified."
"Because this method is fairly obvious!"
"It's easy to get caught."
"But if your opponent isn't paying attention, you might just get away with it."
"And that's why, in offline Duels—you watch the shuffles like a hawk."
"…That's a thing?!"
Duelists from every world were baffled and at a loss.
They truly hadn't expected Duelists to use something like that to fix a bad hand—or to stack the perfect opening.
DM world.
Seto Kaiba gave an awkward chuckle.
What can he say?
He does often open with three Blue-Eyes White Dragon and a Polymerization. As if it were the perfect hand.
As a result, Duelists who'd faced Kaiba were giving him very dubious looks.
"What are you staring at?"
"That's called bond with my Deck!"
"My bond with Blue-Eyes is not something third-rate Duelists like you may profane."
Kaiba coolly regained his composure.
The others thought it over—no way the CEO would rely on such tricks just to draw three Blue-Eyes.
Of course, if you also add Polymerization, well…
Arkana twitched all over. His odd reaction drew everyone's attention.
"Heh, Arkana! Remember our Duel?"
"If I'm not mistaken, you used a similar 'shuffle magic' routine, right?"
"So your Dark Magician would be in hand."
Yugi's words exposed Arkana on the spot.
"You—you're lying!"
"It's bond! The Deck's response!"
"What do you know?!"
Arkana grew flustered.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Your monster is crying."
"And your Dark Magician cards… their edges were neatly trimmed thinner."
Yugi smiled wryly.
After that exchange, the old guard—and Duelists from other worlds—committed that name to memory.
Arkana, huh? So their world really had cheating Duelists like that.
Disgusting.
Duel Academy.
Those who'd dueled Jaden before wore thoughtful looks.
"That explains how Zane Truesdale always drew Power Bond!"
"And how Jaden always had Elemental HERO Flame Wingman plus Skyscraper!"
"Wait, so… you guys weren't shuffling your Decks?!"
"No way! Are Duelists really that dirty?!"
Students immediately recalled weird post-duel situations—like so-and-so always top-decking the burnout card, or always opening Polymerization.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "Next is a cheating method that's two sides of the same coin with shuffle magic."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "It's called 'stash-a-card in your pants.'"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Classics Collection: "The idea is you pre-hide a specific card somewhere on your body and slip it into your hand—or swap it—when your opponent isn't looking!"
"For example, at a domestic 2019 Yu-Gi-Oh! CNC event, a Duelist 'accidentally' dropped a card under the table during the match!"
"Then, while bending down, he pulled a card from his crotch—the card was 'Network Dragon.'"
"This was extremely risky, and the kindly judge caught him red-handed."
"According to the opponent on site, the card was still warm, giving rise to the meme 'dragon from the pants' and 'Network Dragon,' which spread across forums."
"Of course, it doesn't have to be the crotch—shoes, clothes, pants, whatever, you can hide cards there!"
"Even sleeves are an option."
"So if you're playing offline and your opponent suddenly has some strange new card in hand—watch out! They might be using the 'stash-a-card' cheat!"
After that explanation…
DM world.
Bandit Keith's face went pale!
And in that instant, every DM Duelist turned their eyes to him.
Yes—Bandit Keith used exactly this kind of cheating! Though his version was the sleeve stash—cards hidden in a wristband and swapped in.
"Keith! You hear that?!"
"They're talking about third-rate Duelists like you!"
"You lose a Duel and can't take it, so you cheat with that Equip Spell 'Seven Completed'!"
"Felt good cheating for +700 ATK, huh?"
Joey coldly exposed Keith's past.
At once, eyes shifted from Arkana to Keith.
Keith tried to argue back… but everyone's disgusted faces said it all.
Keep arguing—you can't change that you cheated.
Jaden Yuki: "Huh? Never thought so many of your seniors cheated, Yugi!"
Yuma Tsukumo: "Yikes! Keith and Arkana, right? I'll remember them!"
Mai Valentine: "Actually, I cheated too— I marked each card with a different perfume so I could identify the top card by scent."
Yusei Fudo: "? Looks like Duelist standards in the DM world are… worrisome."
Yusaku Fujiki: "Mai's isn't as bad—her attitude's honest, and she owns up to it."
Joey Wheeler: "Mai, you've changed for the better. They're different! The worst is Weevil Underwood!"
Weevil Underwood: "??? What'd I do?"
Tristan Taylor: "You got no shame? You threw Yugi's Exodia into the ocean! Otherwise Yugi would've…"
The chat exploded with discussion!
As for the DM world, Duelists from other eras had seen enough.
The DM world really is full of 'talent'… turns out there truly were a bunch of cheating Duelists!
And the most infuriating— that Weevil Underwood could be that disgusting?
Worse than cheating!
He threw his opponent's five Exodia pieces into the sea…
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