Tournament Stories part 17

Linda soon returned with a hat and a bottle of sunscreen to make the rest of her day more comfortable. Christina and I were casually chatting to one another about this and that, not really making any kind of connection. We were just wasting time until Linda showed up.

She looked at both of us and said, "Okay, duelists number 1 and number 4. Each of you have won your first round of the final five. But one of you are about to lose and win $500. The other will win and win at LEAST $500. So shuffle each other's decks now, because there's something wrong with that card machine thing we've got.

Christina and I smiled briefly at each other as we shuffled the decks. Then we decided right there who would go first, and it would be Christina.

"Okay, I'm summoning Kabazauls (1700/1500) in attack mode!" A huge purple dinosaur that looked like a bloated hippo emerged from her center monster zone. It had snot hanging out of its nose, which I thought was gross...

"Alright," I drew my sixth card, Cyber Jar. "I'm summoning Opticlops (1800/1700) in attack mode and attack your dinosaur!" My fiend monster focused its only eye on the water monster and attacked it with a huge red beam of destructive light. Her monster was destroyed, and she lost 100 life points.

"Very well," she said as she drew a card. "I'm setting one monster face down and activating the field card A Legendary Ocean. From now on, its name is treated as "Umi" and it downgrades all water type monsters in our hands and on the field by one level, meaning that a level five monster is now a level four monster- easily summonable. Also, the attack and defense of such monsters increases by 200 points." When she activated that field card, water seemed to fall from the sky in massive amounts. As it continued to fall, a huge ancient underwater complex rose from the bottom of Christina's field. As the water continued to fall, the arena was filling up with water, completely submerging my Opticlops. For a second, I thought he'd drown. But he wasn't real and the water wasn't real. So I got rid of those foolish thoughts. My monster was fine. And I could still see him because when the water finished falling, it became clear giving both of us perfect visibility. "That's it for now, your turn," she said as I pondered what the set monster could be.
I'm thinkin' it's a monster with relatively high defense. So I probably shouldn't attack it. Then again, if she has a level seven monster in her hand, she can treat it like a level six monster and tribute that face down monster, and then I'll really be in trouble! I looked at my deck and remembered that I hardly had any water type monsters as I drew my next card, Fear from the Dark. Two cards from the far left, I noticed that I held a particularly good card. It never hurts to have it on the field. So, "I'm sacrificing my Opticlops to summon MY Jinzo (2400/1500) in attack mode!" Below me and to my left, I heard Andre say, "I shoulda guessed that Jinzo wouldn't be too rare of a card, " And off in the distance, I could have sworn I heard someone say, "Come ON! Summon a monster I HAVEN'T seen before!" I got angry at the guy, even though I'm not too sure who it was. Although I wouldn't have been surprised if it was Jon.

"Jinzo, attack her face down monster!" I thought, for a second that Jinzo wouldn't be able to survive down there since he was a machine monster. But again, I forgot that none of this is real, so the rules of nature can be bent, here. So anyway, he obediently focused his eyewear on the face down card and unleashed his trademark attack, blasting away the Serpentine Princess (1600/2200). The redness of his attack looked pretty cool as it was amplified by the clear water. "Your turn now," I said.

She quietly drew a card and smiled politely, "First, I'm activating the continuous magic card Convulsion of Nature! It forces us to continue this duel with our decks upside down. I flipped mine over revealing one of my Gagagigos! That's cool, since its a water type monster. I also saw that her top card was a Waboku. "Next, I'm increasing both of our life points by 1000, by activating Rain of Mercy." A light holographic shower sprinkled on both of us, generously increasing our life points. "Now I'm removing my destroyed Serpentine Princess from play in order to special summon my Aqua Spirit (1800/1400) in attack mode. Then I'm normally summoning one monster face down in defense, your move now," she informed me.

I drew my Gagagigo revealing the Bait Doll underneath it. Christina interrupted, "It's your Standby Phase now. That means that my Aqua Spirit can change one of your face up monster's battle positions. So your Jinzo is obviously being switched to defense. And he must remain this way for the rest of your turn. Okay, continue," she said as I had a flashback of when she used that same card's effect on Jack's Dancing Fairy.

"Alright, I'm summoning Gagagigo (2050/1200) and attacking your Aqua Spirit with him!" My Gagagigo swiftly swam forward and used its arms' spikes to slash at her aqua card, destroying it, and bringing Christina's life points down to 8650. Mine were still strong at 9000.

"Oh, that's unfortunate..." she said as she drew her Waboku. Underneath was her Crab Turtle. Crab Turtle! I haven't seen that monster in such a long time! I thought as she continued her turn. "I'm setting one card face down and then removing my Kabazauls and Aqua Spirit from play to special summon my Fenrir (1600/1400) in attack mode. And now it's attacking your Jinzo." With lightning speed, even underwater, this wolf-like beast lurched forward and slashed away at Jinzo. Since it was in defense mode and not a water monster, its 1500 defense couldn't hold up to the beast's 1600 attack and therefore destroyed my Jinzo. "Now its special effect activates!" Her almost monotonous voice perked up for the first time since Jack and I dueled her and Alex. "When Fenrir destroys a monster, you must skip your next draw phase!" I looked at my hand of five cards not caring for the recent effect just activated. SHE, on the other hand, had something to worry about. She had zero cards in her hand and a weak 1600 attack monster on the field.

"You may have stopped me from drawing at my DRAW PHASE. But that doesn't stop the effects of certain cards like my Painful Choice! I select any five cards from my deck and show them to you. Then you choose which one goes into my hand. And the card doesn't even say that I have to shuffle! Here I go..." I said as she waited for me to select five cards from my deck. After I selected them, I put them on the special card image readers at the bottom of my field. "I've chosen," I put the cards on the spaces, "Jowls of Dark Demise, La Jinn, Giant Germ, Offerings to the Doomed and Wall of Illusion. Which one goes into my hand?" I asked. Almost immediately, she responded, "La Jinn!"

Suprised by this sudden answer, I added him to my hand and went on with my turn by setting one card in defense mode.

She drew her Crab Turtle which was covering her Giant Trunade. "Now Fenrir attacks your defense monster," her voice leveled out again as the beast made quick work of my defending Big Eye (1200/1000). "My Big Eye's effect activates- I get to see the top five cards in my deck, arrange them however I like, then place them back on top of my deck." "It's a shame that Fenrir keeps preventing you from drawing, though," she joked, almost laughing herself. I kept the Bait Doll on top, only rearranging the bottom four cards. "I end my turn, and you cannot draw," she reminded me as I yanked my hand away from my deck.

Okay, so I can't draw... AH! Why don't I just attack and get rid of that damn thing already?! I yelled at myself. Going straight to my battle phase, I declared, "And now my Gagagigo will attack your Fernrir!" He swam forward, and almost slashed at the beast. But as I predicted, Waboku was activated, and clear bubbles that were stonger than they looked appeared around both of her monsters.

"My turn," Christina said softly, almost as if she were falling asleep. She drew her Giant Trunade which revealed her Piranha Army below it. Seeing this, she commented, "Oh! I don't wish to draw that card yet. So I'm going to activate my Giant Trunade now and return all magic and trap cards to their owner's hands." With that, a massive windstorm stuck the holographic ocean and wiped clean her magic/trap zone. But it wasn't for long because as soon as she got it back, she activated Legendary Ocean again, and the water filled the place up once more.
"I'm confused," Doug said who was standing behind Andre, "If Giant Trunade is a magic card that returns ALL magic and trap cards to the hands of their owner, then why doesn't Giant Trunade itself get returned?"

I was about to answer, but Andre stuck up his right hand's index finger at me and said, "Just win. I'll handle this kid." I was about to laugh at what he said. But, judging by the look on Andre's face, it wasn't meant to be a joke. "Once a magic card is activated, it is immediately destroyed after its effect has taken its course, unless it is continuous or a field card. So even though Giant Trunade is a magic card, it's been ACTIVATED, which means it's, for this conversation's purposes, dead as soon as it's put on the field, unless it's chained. Got it?" Andre explained as simply as he could. After a few seconds, Doug replied, "Actually, yeah!" And Andre just chuckled to himself silently.

Oh crap! Now that Convulsion of Nature isn't on the field, I'm drawing from the TOP of my deck instead of the bottom! So that means that my Big Eye's effect was for nothing! I suddenly realized as Christina finished her move, "I'm switching my Fenrir to defense mode, and ending my turn."

From the top of my deck, I drew my other Giant Germ. But I decided to do something different, "I'm summoning my La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (1800/1000) in attack mode!" She looked a bit worried when she looked at the field. Two of my monsters in attack mode with high attack. And two of her monsters in defense. "La Jinn, attack her Fenrir!" Being a genie and not really needing to breathe, he quickly drifted up to the beast and turnd himself into an underwater cyclone, catching the Fenrir in it's torrential force and destroying it. "Gagagigo, attack the face down card!" After another show of swim and slash, her defending Weather Report (1150/1700) was destroyed. "Your turn," I said happily. To be honest, I wondered how she got this far in the tournament...

"This is more like it," she said calmly. "I'm summoning Terrorking Salmon (2600/1200) in attack mode." From the ancient underwater city appeared a strong-looking bony fish with two glowing orange eyes. It's fins and mouth looked extremely dangerous, not to mention sharp. "Attack his Gagagigo, please," she asked her fish card. "Please"?? I mentally made fun of her. But being more agile in the water than my reptile, her Terrorking Salmon fiercely swam to my Gagagigo. And with one quick swipe of its tail, my monster was destroyed, bringing my life points down to 8450. Hers were 200 points higher. I wondered how much longer this would take if she and I kept getting in chinsey hits like this...

I drew my next card, Nobleman of Crossout. It's so rare and so powerful. But I set my Giant Germ and switched La Jinn to defense mode, ending my turn.

Christina drew her next card, set one monster in defense and attacked my La Jinn, easily destroying it.

On my next turn, I drew one of my Summoned Skulls. Slightly angry knowing that even if I did get it on the field, it wouldn't be strong enough to defeat the fish card out, I thought, It's a shame that there's no field card (that I know of) that lowers dark monsters' levels... "Alright, I'm activating the magic card Nobleman of Crossout. It destroys one face down monster and removes it from play. If the card destroyed has a flip effect, we both search our decks for cards of the same name and remove THEM from play as well. Then we shuffle our decks, no matter what. So I'm destroying the only face down card you have," I said as she revealed her hidden monster. "It's my Gale Lizard (1600/900)! And it DOES have a flip effect. I get to return one monster on your side of the field to your hand! So it'll be the only monster you've got, there," she said as we then carried out the rest of my magic card's effects.

After I shuffled my deck, I looked at my hand with the recently returned Giant Germ. With nothing to lose, I decided to set my Cyber Jar face down, and hoped for the best from my deck.

She drew a card and immediately summoned it, "I'm summoning Deepsea Warrior (1800/2000) in attack mode. And he attacks your defense monster!"
"HA! That'd be my Cyber Jar (900/900)! Say goodbye to your fishies!" I taunted as the Cyber Jar exploded. The resulting shockwave vaporized all the other monsters.

We followed the Cyber Jar's instructions... (It seemed like the Cyber Jar was appearing more often than not in this whole tournament...) I picked up the cards Last Will, Archfiend Soldier (level 4), Man-Eater Bug (level 2), Sangan (level 3) and Infernalqueen Archfiend (level 4).

AUTHOR'S NOTE... Perhaps one of the most controversial monster cards out there is the Infernalqueen Archfiend. The card reads: "The controller of this card pays 500 life point during each of his/her Standby Phases (this is not optional). When this card is specifically designated as a target of the effect of a card controlled by your opponent, when resolving the effect, roll a six-sided die. If the result is 2 or 5, negate the effect and destroy the opponent's card. As long as this card remains on the field, during each Standby Phase, increase the ATK of 1 Archfiend monster by 1000 points."
This is what many people call a "broken card" because its English translation was so indecesicive from Japanese that such a kick-ass effect managed to break free. After conducting a bit of research, I've discovered that the card was originally supposed to boost 1 archfiend's attack by 1000 only until the end of that turn. Obviously, that's not what it says on the English version. And not only that, but this card isn't even that rare! That means that such a powerful card could gain strength quickly. It's even safe from Trap Hole due to its initial attack amount. Plus, if it is targetred by a card effect, you've got a 1/3 chance that the effect will not take place. Further more, you could even choose to boost up the queen's attack power for each Standby Phase, meaning it'll increase very rapidly for sure. I'm just tossing this out there, making you all aware of interesting oddities among the cards; look at Sanga of the Thunder's effect for another interesting effect. Now back to TS17...

She picked up the cards Collected Power, Koistu (level 10), Cold Wave, 7 Colored Fish (level 4) and Island Turtle (level 4).

I summoned my Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500), my Infernalqueen Archfiend (900/1500) and set the other two.

She summoned her 7 Colored Fish (2000/1000) and set her Island Turtle (1300/2200).

"Gee, I wonder if you're a fiend duelist?" Christina almost sarcastically said. I wondered why her voice sounded so bored and boring all the time.

"Yeah, I guess I am!" I politely replied as I rolled my mind's eye.

"Well now, it's still my battle phase. So, 7 Colored Fish, attack his face down card next to his Archfiend Soldier!" The multi-colored fish swiftly swam toward the hidden card and skewed it with its fangs.

"That was my Man-Eater Bug (450/600). And his flip effect allows me to destroy one monster. I choose your fish, there," I said as my insect card exploded as soon as the fish destroyed it, taking them both out. "Oh my," was all Christina could say.

"It's my go, now." I said as I drew my Master Kyonshee. It was then my Stnadby Phase, I paid 500 life points to increase my Infernalqueen Archfiend's attack to 1900. I gave my hand another look. Then I spotted my Last Will AND my Summoned Skull, Perfect! I thought. This duel's almost over!

"I'm now activating one of the most looked over magic cards in the game, Last Will. During the rest of my turn, if a monster of mine is sent to the graveyard, I can select a monster from my deck with 1500 attack points of less and play it as a special summon. It doesn't specify face up or face down. Then I shuffle the deck. So here I go! I'm sacrificing my other face down monster, Sangan, to summon my Summoned Skull (2500/1200)! Since I sent my Sangan to the graveyard, I get to special summon a monster with 1500 or fewer attack points from my deck onto the field. I choose my Witch of the Black Forest (1100/1200) in attack mode. And Sangan's also got a special effect of his own. When he's sent to the graveyard, I get to bring a monster with 1500 attack points of less from my deck to my hand. Then I shuffle it." I paused to breathe after that long speech. I even heard a few "Wow!"'s out in the crowd as I moved all these cards everywhere, not to mention my strong team on the field. So I flipped through my deck and added Magician of Faith to my hand, under the paranoid suspicion that Christina was planning something under that permanently calm exterior.

Then I began my assault, "Summoned Skull, attack her only defending card!" With a jolt of bight blue lightning, beautifully amplified by the conductivity of the water, the Island Turtle was quickly destroyed. "Attack her life points, Witch of the Black Forest!" A strange black force gathered around the witch's eye in her forehead. Then she suddenly tilted her head toward Christina's platform and opened her eyes, releasing a violent green and black attack, bringing her life points down to 7550. "You're up, my Archfiend Solider! Show her why fiends are the best!" With a skillful combination of speed and strength, he whisked through the water right toward her dueling platform, took a huge gash at her platform and fell back down, splashed into the water. Her life points were now 5650. "Your turn, your majesty. Attack her now!" My Infernalqueen Archfiend happily complied with an evil smile, bearing her fangs and glowing her red eyes. Then she focused her vision on Christina and attacked her with a concentrated beam of power, sinking her life points further to 3750! I was now winning by a full 4200!

"I'll end my turn now. And so my Last Will is now destroyed," I said. Behind me, I heard Andre say, "I want that card!!" I'm sure you've got it stashed away somewhere... I thought as Christina drew a card with despair. It was her Standby Phase. I increased my Infernalqueen's attack by another 1000, reaching 2900. But then she smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile, either. No, this smile was more like a "It's time for you to eat your own words now" smile.

"I summon Tribe-Infecting Virus (1800/1200) in attack mode." Many gasps were heard, mainly among Andre and a few of the rare hunters in the stands. I looked toward the spot where she summoned the monster, but all I saw was some glowing green gas that floated freely about the square it was summoned in. I felt uncomfortable not knowing what was in store for me. Surely it can't just be the 1800 attack points...

"And now I activate its special effect!" she announced, actually ANNOUNCED! I was nearly toppled over as I heard her voice boom for the first time ever. "By discarding one card from my hand, I declare and destroy all face up monsters of the declared type on both sides of the field. So I'm discarding Convulsion of Nature to declare and destroy all FIENDS!" She slapped her one magic card in the graveyard, causing the green gas to expand to all five monster zones on her side of the field. Then it came toward me like a huge wall. It came into contact with all of my monsters. But if they were a fiend card, they struggled and suffocated as a result of coming in contact with this toxin. My one spellcaster card remained, the other three fiends were wiped off my field.

"And now I'll get rid of my Collected Power to get rid of your spellcaster!" Again, the one single virus spread out into a wall and toppled over my witch, sending her to the graveyard, enabling me to take a monster with 1500 defense or less and adding it to my hand. And it was kind of distressing because I was apparently running low on monsters. I have too many cards that allow me get monsters straight from my deck. I should probably do something about that. But I ended up choosing my Berserk Gorilla. "Attack him directly," she commanded. The green gas drifted up towards me and surrounded me. It got so thick that I couldn't see my own cards. Apparenty, that was supposed to be its attack, but I guess it's hard to think up ways for holographic germs to not hurt someone, ha ha ha. Anyway, my life points went down to 6150.
I drew one of my most reliable cards, Poison of the Old Man. It's got such good effects to choose from. And, no matter which one you choose, it will always end up helping you. So I set that quick play magic card face down. Now, what to do about that germ card thingy... She MUST discard a card from her hand in order to activate the effect. And it only works of face UP monsters. So I'll toy with her and set monsters for a while, I thought as I set my Giant Germ again.

"That's all? My turn, then," she said with confidence and drew a card. "Now I'll summon GIGA Gagagigo (2650/1700) in attack mode.CRAP! I thought as the mechanical reptile took form on the field, powerfully signaling its arrival.

"Tribe-Infecting Virus attacks your defending monster," she said. "AFTER I activate this, Poison of the Old Man.I'm increasing my life points by 1200." I bumped my life points back up to 7350. The virus made quick work of my Giant Germ, which brought her life points down by 500. Since the only other Giant Germ I own was already in the graveyard, I just shuffled my deck and prepared my the direct attack.

"Giga Gagagigo," she perfectly pronounced his name, "Attack his life points directly!" With a single jump, he rocketed toward me like a rocket. Then with his numerous spikes and claws, he took a 2650 size chunk of my life points. The score was 3250 to 4700.

I can't be sneaky anymore, I thought as her smile slightly faded. I've got get rid of both her monsters, or at least that virus thing. I drew my Rush Recklessly and almost cried tears of joy. Well, not really...

"I summon Berserk Gorilla (2000/1000) in attack mode! Then I'll set this one card face down. Berserk Gorilla now attacks your Tribe-Infecting Virus!" Even though he was a mammal completely surrounded by water, that didn't stop his fiery breath attack from steaming up the sea and evaporating her formidable aqua card. Her life points went down to 3050. Her life points bar was still yellow. Heh, I guess it turns red at the 3000 mark... I thought the obvious.

"Hmm..." Christina was considering the situation as she drew a card. "You're expecting me to attack your gorilla, therefore allowing you to activate whatever card that is. Well I'm not going to let you destory my powerful reptile with such obvious tactics. I'm setting one card face down and ending my turn."

Crap! I forgot about my gorilla's effect. It MUST attack every time it is able, whether he'd lose the battle or not! Luckily, she set that other monster for him to attack... but I'll bet it's just bait with some killer effect. I considered my options before I drew a card. Then I drew none other than the Dark Necrofear. It's art is so cool. And I love how rare it is. But then it hit me, Oh man, his attack is LOWER than her reptile's!... Waaaaiiiit! And I smiled evilly, That's exactly what I need, isn't it? "Heh heh heh," I quietly laughed to myself, proud of the plan I've just come up with.

"Consider this your Atlantis, Christina! I'm about to sink your chances of winning this duel!" I triumphantly announced. "Ugh!" "Oh man, can it with the lame metaphors!" "I definately want to duel HIM next!" I heard random voices say. Come to think of it, perhaps I did take it over the top...

"First I set one card in defense," It was my Magician of Faith, as a safegaurd. "And now I remove the Giant Germ... Opticlops... and Jowls of Dark Demise in my graveyard from play to special summon my Dark Necrofear (2200/2800) in attack mode! Now I'll use my Berserk Gorilla's effect and have him attack your face down monster." With that flame attack, he burned up and sank her Yomi Ship which destroyed my gorilla, in turn, by its effect. "And now my Dark Necrofear attacks your Giga Gagagigo!" With an unchanging face or body language, my evilest of fiends pointed its right hand at the machanized reptile and infested the water with darkness. But Giga Gagagigo wasn't dying, exactly how I planned. Eventually, the darkness tried to concentrate around him, but wasn't strong enough to take him out. Her reptile, tired of this reverse light show dashed through the water to my Dark Necrofear and sliced in in two, destroying it, brining my life points down to 4250. I then smiled and calmly, clearly stated, "I end my turn."

As soon as I finished saying that, a bight black sphere emerged from my graveyard. It hovered in the air in front of my for a second or two and then whizzed straight into her Giga Gagagigo, possessing it. Then the darkened reptile dragged its feet making its way over to my side of the field, mindlessly facing his previous conrtoller, now shocked at the sudden turn of events.

"H-how! What just happened?" Doug asked aloud. I didn't even turn this time because as soon as we heard the question, Andre began answering the question, explaining the Dark Necrofear's effect.

"I have very few options," Christina began speaking in her regualr tone again, "That was a great, well-planned move, though!" She congratulated me. "But I'm afraid you shall win next turn," she said, trying to stall as much as she could...

"? Are you surrending, Christina?" I asked, wishing she wouldn't.

"No... I'm here until you beat me," she rebelliously stated.

"Very well, it's your move," I reminded her as she looked at her deck.

She drew a card and did a double take at it. Everyone noticed and some even laughed at the expression of disbelief she revealed towards her newly drawn card.

"Here we go!" she almost announced. "I'm activating Turtle Oath!" she said as I looked at her, not believing it. "Do you actually have a monster with 8 level stars?" I asked. "I do. Have you forgotten about the Koitsu that I picked up because of your Cyber Jar?" she asked as she sent her level 9 monster to the graveyard in order to summon the powerful Crab Turtle (2750/2700) in attack mode. "With this, I shall take control of this duel. Crab Turtle! Attack the Giga Gagagigo!" As soon as she commanded her aqua card to attack I flipped over my card in wait, Rush Recklessly which increases any card's attack by 700 for the rest of the turn. "Oh darn..." she commented as her reptile absorbed a cyclone of dark green energy emerging from the ocean's floor. His attack soared to 3350. It defended itself against the Crab Turtle's aggressive assault and struck back with his spikes, destroying it, lowering Christina's life points to 2450. All that remained on her field was her one field card and whole bunch of air bubbles where her Crab Turtle used to be. "...Good duel!" she smiled as I drew my final card, my other Gagagigo and attacked her directly with her own monster.

Our duel platforms lowered. Linda met us on the side of the arena and congratulated both of us on a well-played duel. To Christina, Linda awarded her with $500 in a sealed envelope. I took Christina's Tribe-Infecting Virus and put it with the other cards I've won so far that didn't go in deck... Empress Judge, Mr. Volcano, Spiritualism, Numinous Healer and De-Fusion.

"I hope to see and duel you again!" Chistina kindly smiled in a quiet and sincere tone of voice.

"Yeah! I'm looking forward to that," I said as I walked back over to my friends. They couldn't wait to see which card I'd won, even Andre!