"I don't get it," Yang said as she stared at the cards laid out before her.
"It's not that complicated," Blake reminded her. "If Ruby can learn how to play, then you can too, Yang."
"Yeah! Even Weiss figured it out!" Ruby declared.
Weiss cleared her throat. "I had some help from Ren on the matter, but I feel confident enough in my abilities that I shouldn't need to check the rulebook."
Yang shook her head, gazing lazily at the mound of cards that were lying on the table. "I still don't get it."
Ren, who was standing nearby, had agreed to act as a sort of judge for when they actually started playing; apparently he had some victories under his belt. And not just Friday Night Magic either; he apparently went to the Vale Grand Prix and came up to the top eight before being eliminated; anyone who knows anything about a Grand Prix knows that getting to the top eight is a bragging right in and of itself. He approached Yang. "Do you like being quick in battle, or slow and decisive?"
"Quick. I like to punch them in the face!"
"Okay. Do you want an army of weak things, or would you rather have a few strong things?"
Yang stared at him confused. "Can't I have an army of strong things?"
"Not for the pace you want."
Blake shook her head. "Can't you just rush build a beck for her and tell her how to use it as she goes along?"
Ren shrugged. "I suppose. I won't tell her what to do, though. Any and all play decisions will fall onto her." He grabbed a box of basic land and the stack of cards before Yang and built, as far as the remainder of team RWBY could tell, a mono green deck. He handed the deck to Yang, saying, "This is a mana ramp deck. Basically you get as much land as possible as quick as possible so you can play the biggest creatures you can."
"I didn't understand that, but it sounded awesome, so thank you!" Yang flashed a smile that made Ren groan.
"How did I get dragged into the this?" he whispered to himself.
"Okay, so first match up is Ruby VS Weiss," Ren said, consulting a bracket. "Second matchup is Blake VS Yang, and the winners of those two games will go against each other."
Ruby and Weiss nodded as they sat down at the folding table that was currently sitting in team RWBY's room. Ruby had began to shuffle her cards roughly, while Weiss opted to take better care of her deck by using the table shuffle method.
"My Hive will beat you Weiss!" Ruby declared.
"Hive?" Ren asked.
"That's what I call my deck. It's a Sliver deck!"
"You know we aren't playing Standard Legal, right? It's casual, so you can use any cards you want."
Ruby shrugged. "I only just bought these cards, though. These are the oldest cards I have, so Standard is all I can play."
Yang looked even more confused. "Standard?"
"Doesn't concern your deck, Yang," Ren said. "You fit more into Modern than anything else. You would be Extended, but three or four cards have passed from Extended and into Modern recently."
"I still don't understand."
Blake put a hand on Yang's shoulder. "Depending on which format we play determines the rules we use. Since we're playing Casual, most of the format specific rules don't apply."
"Back to the subject at hand," Weiss said. "You named your deck?"
"Yup! What do you call yours?" Ruby asked energeticly.
"It doesn't have a name."
"It needs one! What would you call it if it did have a name?"
Weiss gave in, knowing Ruby wouldn't let up until Weiss picked a name. "I suppose Holy Orders is fitting enough." The pair finished shuffleing, and played rock paper scissors to determine player order.
"Isn't that for Yu-Gi-Oh?" Blake asked.
Ren nodded. "Yeah, but it can be universal." Blake shrugged.
Weiss won the mini game, and decided that she would be on the draw, meaning she would play second.
Ruby drew her hand of seven cards, and being the first to go meant that she had to skip her draw phase. She placed a Mountain and tapped it, placing a Striking Sliver. "Striking Sliver grants all Sliver Creatures (including itself) the ability of First Strike! Your go, Weiss."
Weiss nodded, holding her seven cards. She drew an eight card and looked at her hand carefully. She repressed a grin as she looked over her fantastic hand. Perfect, she thought. She played a Plains and waved her hand to indicate that her turn was over.
Ruby grinned as she drew and played a Plains of her own, and then played Sentinal Sliver. "They have Vigilance and First Strike now! I hit you for 1 with my Striking Sliver!"
"I'll take it," Weiss said, marking her loss of life. Her turn began again. She played a second Plains and passed turn.
Yang watched in confusion as the Heiress looked confident, in spite of not being on the board with any creatures. "Why are you so smug, princess?"
"Oh, you'll see," she teased as Ruby attacked for 3. Weiss drew, placed an Island, and played a Search Warrant. "You reveal your hand, and I gain life equal to cards in hand, putting me back to 20." She looked at Ruby's hand; it held a Mountain, Plains, Shiv's Embrace, and Aurelia's Fury. The last card concerned Weiss, but she had a plan around it eventually. "Your turn."
Ruby played Shiv's embrace, and then attack Weiss for 5. "Go, Weiss!" Ruby declared, not concerned that Weiss saw her hand; Weiss had nothing on the field, after all.
Weiss nodded as she drew and played a Serra Avenger angel card and ended her turn. Ruby drew and played a Plains. She was about to play a card, but Weiss moved her hand to hover over her open Island, making Ruby feel nervous. Ruby gave in and passed turn, and Weiss smiled.
Weiss placed an Island, followed by her central card. "Call to the Kindred placed on Serra Avenger. At the beginning of my upkeep, I may look at the top five cards of my deck. If any creature matches type with my enchanted creature, I may place in on the battlefield."
Ruby furrowed her brow, not liking the sound of that, but then she thought, It's not like my Sliver deck. It can't be tribal! Then the thought clicked. "Oh dear God, that's a tribal deck isn't it?" She drew a land, and didn't know what to do; Weiss still had an open blue mana, and that worried Ruby. "I pass," she said.
Weiss nodded, and looked at the top five cards of her library. "Bruna, Light of Alabaster enters the battlefield. Draw phase, and I play another Call to the Kindred. Your turn."
Ruby drew, and passed again, letting Weiss go. Weiss couldn't fight back her grin. "From the first five cards, Angel of Serenity enters, exiling your two creatures."
"Damn it!" Ruby exclaimed, placing the cards to the side.
"From the second five, Goldnight Redeemer enters, bringing my life to 21. Draw phase," she drew and smiled. "Angel of Jubilation."
Ruby cursed under her breath before beginning her turn. "So that's why you called it Holy Orders. It's full of angels! Well, I'll play Sliver Construct, and Hive Stirrings to get three creatures and pass turn."
Weiss nodded, looking at the top ten cards of her deck. "Two more Goldnight Redeemers; my life is at 43. I tap five mana to play Gilded Lotus, which I tap to play Chalice of Life. My life is way beyond 10 more than starting total, so it transforms into Chalice of Death, which I tap to take way 5 life from you. I pass turn."
"Why are you passing so much! You can beat me!" Ruby declared as she drew her next card." She played Megantic Sliver and passed.
Weiss's Call to the Kindreds gave her the card she was looking for; Avacyn, Angel of Hope. "You're boned," Ren declared with a smile.
Weiss nodded in agreement. "Everything I control is indestructible." She then played Planar Cleansing, which would have destroyed all nonland permanants, but Avacyn kept Weiss's creatures and Enchantments alive, leaving Ruby with a bare board. "Your turn, she said casually."
This kept up for several turns before Weiss decided to end the game. On the field she held over twenty angels, and attacked at once for a total of 166 damage. "I believe the game is mine," she said with a smug grin.
Ruby was furious, wanting desperately to flip the table. The only thing that kept her from doing so was the knowledge that if she flipped said table while Weiss was on the other side then her life would be forfeit and she would die a slow and painfully cold death. So, instead, she opted to just sulk on the corner.
Yang stared the entire time. "I still don't get it," she said. "Can I, you know, get familiar with the rules before I play?"
Ren nodded. "Yeah. We can do this some other time if you'd prefer. Nora wants us all to play Borderlands 2 together in a few minutes, so I should get going."
Blake nodded. "Understandable."
"Well, I guess we'll invite you back over in a few days when we're ready. Happy New Year, Ren," Weiss said.
"Happy New Year," he replied as he left. He paused. "Hmm, I may have to borrow Weiss's deck for the next Extended Constructed I play."
AUTHOR'SNOTE
So, some of you asked for it, and here it is. I don't really get why you guys wanted this. Don't get me wrong, I'm a die hard M:tG fan, and I love to watch Grand Prix games as well as Pro Tours on YouTube and stuff, but I don't see the fun in reading a game. Oh well. I split it up this way for feedback purposes. If you want to see how Yang VS Blake turns out, then I'll write it and post it at a later date, and from there we'll get Weiss VS (UNKNOWN) after that if people still want it.
FUN FACT: Holy Orders is actually my real deck! Well, technically I have all of the decks mentioned in this story, but Holy Orders is THE DECK that I run. It may have left standard legality, but i don't give a damn. Avacyn has saved my but a few times, and gave me a top eight at an FNM once...though that was close. I was 8th. Also, next chapter we're going off the beaten path...maybe. I'm thinking we'll see some Team JNPR Plays Borderlands just to switch things up. Idk. You guys tell me what you want.
As always, leave suggestions. As made perfectly evident by this mess of a chapter, I do read them and take them seriously. Somebody recommended Dark Souls, and to you sir I say one thing: F(bleep)K! I played maybe one hour of that game before I rage quit, and that makes it the perfect candidate for a Team RWBY Plays! So, it's probably gonna happen sometime. G.N. Over-Kite requested that the girls play an OLDER fps, and I seriously agree with this. I love the games he suggested, but to me there is only ONE classic FPS that should be played as a group; Doom II!
Till next time!
