Chapter 227. Chaos Three-Peat Commentary! The Peak and End of the Chaos Era!

Seto Kaiba understood and couldn't help but smile to himself.

He lacked many things.

But money wasn't one of them.

So he could collect powerhouse cards from all over the world.

As for the Chaos engine's price, status, and "gold content" back then.

He could more or less understand it.

Just think of "Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End" as his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" of that time.

Ordinary people couldn't play it.

And even if they could, they couldn't run it in large numbers.

In the ARC-V world.

Declan Akaba adjusted his glasses.

He could also understand why nerfing Chaos Emperor Dragon.

Would instead spur more players to use it.

As a fellow company president.

He could grasp that point.

When something expensive.

Becomes affordable.

It naturally goes mainstream.

Cards are no exception.

In the short video, the YGO commentator continued his breakdown.

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "At this point, all you duel-heads already know."

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "After Chaos Emperor Dragon was Limited, the Chaos engine actually spread even more widely!"

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "So the question is this!"

"What happened to the Chaos engine after that?"

"If the beginning was the first descent of Chaos and Darkness."

"Then the next era was the 'Age of Chaos Shrouding Darkness!'"

"The time is October 2003, three months after Chaos Emperor Dragon was Limited in July."

"In just three months."

"It was enough for the Chaos engine to show its full 'gold content!'"

"In July 2003, the un-errata'd 'Dark Magician of Chaos' released."

"The Chaos 'family' welcomed another right-hand helper!"

"The effect was simple."

"On Normal or Special Summon, it retrieved a Spell Card from the Graveyard!"

"That effect was the crux."

"Nowadays, this card only retrieves during the End Phase."

"So its 'gold content' has dropped sharply!"

"In September, the Trap Card 'Sixth Sense' went on sale!"

"It gave Chaos another strong way to load the Graveyard!"

"And thanks to Emperor Dragon, 'Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning' could be run at three back then without issue!"

"And the meta only had a handful of decks!"

"For example, the Anti-Chaos (Kycoo Lockdown) list that ran two copies of 'Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer!'"

"Then there were Magical Scientist Catapult OTK, Dark Scorpion, Exodia, and so on!"

"But the environment was still led by Chaos!"

"Which Konami absolutely couldn't tolerate!"

"So they slammed a massive wave of restrictions onto every meta deck!"

"Whether Chaos or Chaos's counters!"

"All were heavily hit!"

"For example, 'Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning' was Limited!"

"'Dark Magician of Chaos' Limited."

"'Morphing Jar' Limited, 'Magical Scientist' Limited!"

"In short, it was a big swinging list!"

"But that didn't mean Chaos was finished."

"On the contrary, Chaos was headed for a celebration…"

With the explanation of the second "dark age" wrapped up.

And after hearing that final sweeping restriction list.

Duelists across all worlds were stunned for a beat.

Then they all showed relieved smiles.

These combos!

Which one wasn't degenerate, suffocating, and miserable to face?

Hitting them with limits made perfect sense!

Magical Scientist Catapult—Catapult Turtle firing for an FTK in one breath!

And Morphing Jar hand-shred solitaire—this wasn't Dueling at all!

It was pure unfun degeneracy!

Chaos, for its raw power and dominance.

Could not escape the axe either as a super-tier meta.

But what duelists didn't expect was.

Even after all that limiting.

Chaos somehow wasn't dead?

It could still party?

What cards could it still rely on?

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Next is the celebration period."

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "I call it Chaos and Darkness's final madness."

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Cutting the chatter—let's go straight in."

"The window is from October to March 2004!"

"Although Chaos took a heavy cut!"

"That didn't mean the Chaos engine was done!"

"On the contrary, Chaos became the absolute ruler of the environment."

"Its only opponents were itself—Chaos mirrors—and a Magical Scientist deck barely hanging on."

"Then Pack 308 released!"

"It had one card that gave Magical Scientist new hope!"

"The card was 'Monster Gate!'"

"Its effect tributes one of your monsters to activate."

"You excavate from your Deck until you hit a monster that can be Normal Summoned/Set, Special Summon it, and send the rest to the Graveyard."

"Bingo!"

"With this card, the previously Limited Magical Scientist effectively gained a form of search!"

"That pushed Magical Scientist Catapult's consistency to a level even Konami couldn't stand!"

"Great—now the meta was truly rotten!"

"How rotten? Basically no deck could counter Magical Scientist."

"Especially going second—if Magical Scientist went off, you were just done."

"And so the meta formed a three-way standoff."

"The third deck to surge was the 'D.D.' deck that could really only counter Chaos!"

"So that format had exactly three decks."

"D.D., Chaos, and Magical Scientist."

"And why do I call that period Chaos and Darkness's last madness?"

"Because the stench of that format made Konami realize a truth."

"They had to activate a real Forbidden List."

"Before March 1, 2004, lists had no Forbidden section."

"But after that day, the list welcomed true Forbidden status."

"Let's see which cards Konami swung the axe at!"

"#1 'Injection Fairy Lily,' #2 'Fiber Jar,' #3 'Cyber Jar!'"

"#4 'Yata-Garasu,' #5 'Change of Heart,' #6 'Raigeki!'"

"#7 'Harpie's Feather Duster,' #8 'Imperial Order,' and so on!"

"Konami didn't axe the core Chaos engine, but rather the support cards Chaos could use!"

"Unfortunately, Konami underestimated Chaos's power!"

"The most direct impact of these bans wasn't on Chaos."

"It was that the non-Chaos 'test takers' all died out completely!"

"Yes—every other deck died!"

"That, ironically, further promoted Chaos's development!"

"Until they finally swung at Chaos itself and ended it!"

"Hard to keep a straight face, right?"

… … …

This banlist.

What kind of move even is that!

It really is hard not to keep a straight face!

When everyone heard the banlist had swung.

And it basically chopped every other deck to death in one go!

They were dumbfounded!

What was Konami thinking?

Granted, many of those cards are still Forbidden to this day!

But.

They didn't touch the root problem at all!

Yet on second thought.

Duelists also felt it made sense.

As the Chaos engine, its usage rate was too high back then.

If they'd also Forbidden the Chaos core at that moment.

The environment that followed.

Might have regressed to a single, boring monoculture again.

So they could only keep stalling.

And wait for something stronger to appear and replace Chaos!

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "I've basically covered the Chaos era!"

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Now we move into the Chaos deck's three championship runs I mentioned at the start."

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Once we finish those, the Chaos summary is done."

"First championship window: March–September 2004."

"As I said, the new list barely scratched Chaos!"

"If anything, it let Chaos and Magical Scientist keep ruling and poisoning the meta."

"When Worlds began in July—obviously!"

"In a meta of only Chaos and Magical Scientist!"

"Do I even need to say who won?"

"Ten out of ten players running Chaos wouldn't be surprising, right?"

"I don't even want to belabor it!"

"In this period, if Chaos didn't take the title."

"I can only say the duelists fumbled."

"Sure enough, the world's top three were all Chaos."

"In Top 8, only one player wasn't on Chaos."

"Chaos Emperor Dragon's year-and-a-half of practice proved just how terrifying its 'gold content' was!"

"Of course, the good times didn't last."

"Chaos performed so well at Worlds!"

"How could it keep living?"

"In September, Konami Forbidden 'Chaos Emperor Dragon,' 'Sangan,' and 'Witch of the Black Forest.'"

"Chaos took a heavy blow."

"When Konami thought that would solve Chaos."

"Chaos players answered again."

"'Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning' hoisted the banner and led Chaos to its second championship!"

"Protecting Chaos's glory—'Envoy of the Beginning' did it without hesitation!"

Not dead yet?

What the—?!

No mistake!

At first.

Duelists across all worlds assumed.

That once Chaos Emperor Dragon was Forbidden, Chaos was basically finished.

But after hearing the short-video host's later points.

They slapped their foreheads!

They had almost forgotten!

Yes!

"Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning" was still alive!

As long as other Chaos monsters and pieces still lived!

How could Chaos die off that quickly!

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Let's continue!"

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Second championship window: September 2004–September 2005!"

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "In this period we need to spotlight Chaos's key helper cards!"

"In November 2004, 'Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys' released!"

"Thanks to 'Hand of Nephthys!'"

"Summoning 'Sacred Phoenix of Nephthys' wasn't too difficult!"

"The effect was simple and brutal—if destroyed by a card effect and sent to the Graveyard, it revived in your next Standby Phase."

"And on revival, it destroyed all Spells and Traps on the field!"

"Great—pseudo-undying body plus Feather Duster!"

"That power immediately caught Chaos's attention!"

"And so!"

"Chaos Phoenix became an unholy alliance of the day!"

"With Phoenix's boost, many degenerate decks were struck on a lower axis!"

"Those anti-play decks at the time were getting physically ill!"

"And in March 2005, Magical Scientist was Forbidden!"

"The formerly swaggering No. 2 of the meta, Magical Scientist, was done!"

"Along with many other cards being Limited or Forbidden!"

"The environment slowed down massively!"

"In such a format, what more needs saying?"

"Chaos's power climbed steadily."

"Secondly, in such a slow, dull format, lots of cards found new applications!"

"Most importantly, the Spell 'Metamorphosis!'"

"It tributes one of your monsters."

"And Special Summons a Fusion Monster from your Extra Deck with the same Level."

"Metamorphosis into Thousand-Eyes led to 'Metamorphosis Chaos' joining the fray!"

"And in May 2005, 'Cyber Dragon' released!"

"Giving Chaos another sizable boost!"

"So—Worlds. Need I say it?"

"No doubt, the champion again was a Chaos build!"

"Runner-up was a Jar mill."

"Konami fumed!"

"In September 2005, they finally Forbidden 'Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!'"

"The twin Chaos gods—the two titans—said farewell."

"But Chaos players still didn't give up!"

"I think you can already guess which card hoisted the banner next, right?"

'Chaos Sorcerer'!

That's right! It had to be 'Chaos Sorcerer'!

Yugi Muto, Jaden Yuki, and Sei Yuki all immediately pictured the long-overlooked 'Chaos Sorcerer!'

And in that instant!

Everything in the short video from start to finish.

Finally clicked into one continuous thread!

And at that moment.

Duelists across all worlds finally understood why those three cards were called the Chaos "big three!"

So that's how it was!

For the third time, the banner of Chaos was raised!

Leading the Chaos "family" toward glory!

By the previously underplayed Chaos Sorcerer?

Thinking it through!

Chaos Sorcerer's raw power fell short of the two Chaos "twin gods" before it!

But its Special Summon condition and removal effect were still very much there!

Making it absolutely fine for the "third brother" to carry the banner!

But relying on Chaos Sorcerer alone.

Wouldn't be enough—it needed help!

With that in mind, all duelists turned their eyes back to the video.

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Correct—it's 'Chaos Sorcerer!'"

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "In this period, Chaos began to rise from the ashes again."

Yu-Gi-Oh banlist commentator: "Let's begin the third championship window."

"September 2005–September 2006!"

"In this period, the most famous was 'Dark World Chaos!'"

"Dark World provided the explosive damage Chaos lacked!"

"And being DARK Attribute also satisfied Chaos Sorcerer's requirement!"

"Crucially, 'Graceful Charity' gave Dark World Chaos extra gas!"

"I covered that before!"

"So I won't dwell on it here!"

"As a result, at the third Worlds!"

"Chaos still held a 'can-win' power level!"

"And why 'can-win?'"

"Because 'Gadget' was not legal for that Worlds."

"In my view, Chaos's championship there benefited from that factor!"

"Meanwhile, Cyber Dragon was being teched against by Chaos, so this third run still went to Chaos!"

"As expected, Konami promptly Forbidden 'Chaos Sorcerer!'"

"And with that, all three Chaos bosses were Forbidden!"

"Everything about Chaos ended here!"

"Even when those cards later got out of jail, only 'Envoy of the Beginning' flickered for a moment."

"After the meta shifts in 2015, even 'Envoy' bowed out."

"And with that, Chaos withdrew from the top tables."

Finally over?

After hearing the end of the three-peat.

Duelists across all worlds were floored!

Especially at the one-two-three of winning Worlds over and over!

Then getting Forbidden—then contesting again.

Forbidden—then contesting again.

Until finally Forbidden and gone from the format!

What they saw.

Was the sheer might of the Chaos engine!

Or rather, the faith in Chaos that defined that era!

If not for the diehard Chaos duelists continuing to plumb the engine's depths!

There might not have been any Chaos left afterwards!

But the crazy part was!

After all that deep work, it really could still be a world-championship-level deck!

That was too much even for hardened duelists!

Chaos!

Did it really have to be Forbidden to death to truly die?

Not even sparing 'Chaos Sorcerer'? …

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