Chapter 184: The Ice Blade Sorcerer
Chapter 184: The Ice Blade Sorcerer
【Android - Psychoshock, ATK: 2400】
In his first appearance since coming under You Xuan's ownership, Soga seemed determined to make a grand entrance and showcase its might.
Mists swirled in the arena, and the crimson glow emanating from its eyes pierced through the haze. Its metallic body strode forward, arms crossed, exuding an aura of dominance as if looking down on all beneath it. Electric sparks crackled across its form.
Its gaze, sweeping across the other monsters, seemed to declare, "With my powerful master and I combined, we are invincible."
With my arrival, Soga, victory is all but assured!
Xiaoyuan's face twisted in displeasure.
He actually sent out an Android. Doesn't that render their strong backline useless?
"I activate the magic card, 'Sudden Mutation,'" You Xuan announced calmly. "By tributing a monster on my field, I can special summon a Fusion Monster from my Extra Deck with the same Level as that monster.
I tribute 'Android - Psychoshock,' Level 6, as the tribute!"
The Android, who had been gearing up for its debut performance: "????"
What?! You're sacrificing me?!
Boss, this is my first time! How could you do this to me?!
But the magic card had already materialized, and Soga's body shimmered, turning into golden specks of light that dissipated.
Dayuan and Xiaoyuan were both stunned.
He sacrificed Soga?!
This is too good to be true!
No matter what monster shows up next, their backline traps will be useless!
"Due to the effect of 'Sudden Mutation,' I special summon from my Fusion Deck in face-down defense mode—
—'Cyber Blader,' Level 6!"
In the physical card game, Cyber Blader's Level was adjusted to 7, though it was originally a Level 6 monster in the anime. This is why Asuka often equipped 'Metalmorph' to Cyber Blader in the anime, a magic card that could only be equipped to Fusion Monsters of Level 6 or lower. Naturally, this combination was no longer feasible after the transition to the physical card game.
【Cyber Blader, DEF: 800】
Asuka: "???"
What just happened?
She wasn't surprised that You Xuan had his own cards. As a researcher herself, she was aware that he had quite a few electronic cards.
However, who could've predicted that amidst his disruptive lockdown strategy, he would suddenly unleash something so drastically different in style?
But then, as she recalled the effect of her own Fusion ace monster, she seemed to understand something, her eyes widening in shock at the possibility that had just occurred to her.
"It doesn't matter what monster it is, as long as it's on their field, it's the same!" Xiaoyuan exclaimed. "Dayuan, activate your trap!"
Dayuan: "I activate my trap card, 'Bottomless Trap Hole'! Destroy all your opponent's monsters with 1500 or more ATK and remove them from play!"
The Bottomless Trap Hole appeared beneath Cyber Blader's feet. However, Cyber Blader merely glanced at it through its visor and swept its blade across the trap, causing it to close and vanish without a trace, as if it had never existed.
"Why?!?" Xiaoyuan exclaimed in shock. "It should've been destroyed by your trap!"
"Cyber Blader is a monster that gains different effects depending on the number of monsters your opponent controls," You Xuan explained calmly.
"When there are only three monsters your opponent's field, all Spell, Trap, and Monster effects your opponent controls become invalid!" (Old effect)
"What?!?"
The two brothers almost jumped out of their seats, their eyes wide with shock.
All effects are invalid? Then what's the point of even playing?
The new effect of Cyber Blader in the physical card game only negated effects that were activated, while continuous effects like those of Continuous Spells were not affected.
However, in the anime, Cyber Blader retained the old effect, rendering all Spell, Trap, and Monster effects the opponent controlled completely invalid, creating an absolute lockdown that was nearly impossible to break through.
This was why, despite Cyber Blader's mediocre performance in the anime, it once became a core component of one of the most vicious lockdown decks in the history of the physical card game.
The concept behind this lockdown strategy was simple: utilize disruption cards common in lockdown decks, combined with the three effects of "Cyber Blader," to create an absolute lockdown.
Executing this strategy was equally straightforward. Send three disruption tokens to your opponent's field to satisfy the condition of having "three monsters on the opponent's field." Then, use "Submerge" or the effect of a disruption Fusion Monster to seal the remaining two zones. With Cyber Blader on the field, an ultimate sealing formation is formed.
Moreover, the seniors who invented this strategy were even more devious than You Xuan.
Upon discovering this combination, the seniors of old exploited a loophole in the rules of the early Duel Monsters tournaments to create an ultimate self-locking deck known as TOD (Time Over Death).
By employing disruption lockdown strategies alongside Cyber Blader's effect to achieve an absolute lockdown, once the lockdown was established, the opponent would have nothing to do but draw a card each turn and stare helplessly at their impending defeat.
At this point, some might ask, "How do you win if your opponent can't do anything?"
The answer is simple: outlast your opponent's deck.
In the early days of Duel Monsters, there were no rules for surrendering or conceding. Additionally, in a best-of-three match, there was a time limit of forty minutes. If the total time of the match exceeded this forty-minute limit, the player with the higher Life Points at the time of the timeout would be declared the winner of the entire best-of-three match.
This rules exploit was so vile that even the Victory Dragon, a card that had been banned for countless years, would have to concede its top spot. And it went without saying that any player bold enough to use such an extreme lockdown deck, forcing their opponent to sit through a forty-minute stalemate, would have already steeled themselves for a physical duel.
"Damn it," Xiaoyuan grit his teeth.
Dayuan, in despair: "All Magic, Trap, and Monster effects are permanently invalid. What are we supposed to do now?"
"Wait, hold on," Xiaoyuan interrupted, his teeth clenched. "Cyber Blader's effect only works when there are three monsters on the opponent's field. It should only be effective with exactly three monsters."
In other words, as long as we summon any monster next turn and increase the number of monsters on their field to four, the lockdown will disappear."
"That's right!" Dayuan exclaimed, enlightened.
At the same time, he couldn't help but admire Xiaoyuan's quick thinking, finding a loophole in such a dire situation.
You Xuan smiled. "Then, the effect of the Trap Card 'Troublesome Duo' in the graveyard. By removing this card from the game, I can Special Summon two 'Troublesome' monsters from my deck.
I Special Summon 'Troublesome Yellow' and 'Troublesome Green' from my deck, the same ones I sent back earlier."
【Troublesome Yellow, DEF: 1000】
【Troublesome Green, DEF: 1000】
"Then I activate the Magic Card 'Polymerization' to fuse 'Troublesome Yellow' and 'Troublesome Green' on the field. Fusion Summon—”
A silver-armored knight with snail-like eyes and a shield appeared in the fusion vortex, his green cloak billowing as he spun down.
"Fusion Summon, Troublemaker Knight!"
【Troublemaker Knight, DEF: 2500】
"The effect of Troublemaker Knight!" You Xuan explained, "As long as this card remains on the field, I can designate up to two Monster Zones on the opponent's field, rendering those zones unusable.
Thus, I seal the remaining two Monster Zones on your field!"
Dayuan: "."
Xiaoyuan: "."
What are you talking about now?
The Troublemaker Knight waved his large hand, and two more clones leaped out. The images of Troublesome Yellow and Green sat in the remaining two zones on the opponent's field, sealing them directly.
The two brothers froze.
At this moment, there were exactly three monsters on their field, and the remaining two zones were sealed. Moreover, they couldn't use the effects of any of their cards.
Dayuan couldn't help but ask, "Xiaoyuan..."
Although he didn't finish his sentence, his implication was clear: Are we just going to be carried out of here now?
"Damn it, it's not over yet," Xiaoyuan gritted his teeth, his eyes fixed on the Material Dragon on their field.
They still had the Material Dragon! There was still a chance!
Even though "Giant Turnaround" was invalidated, reducing the Material Dragon's ATK back to 2400, it was still enough to break through the opponent's lockdown core, "Cyber Blader." As long as they could break this lockdown...
"Change the Submarine Robot to Attack Position," You Xuan instructed. "Direct attack."
Another torpedo hit their faces, and the 3D projection of the explosion left Dayuan's face covered in dust.
【Dayuan, LP 2700 → LP 1900】
"Then, due to its own effect, the Submarine Robot returns to Defense Position."
You Xuan drew another card.
"I'll set one card. End turn."
"Draw!" Xiaoyuan shouted.
Dayuan drew a card and immediately followed instructions: "Attack 'Cyber Blader' with 'Material Dragon'!"
"That won't do," You Xuan snapped his fingers. "I activate my set card, the Continuous Trap 'Super Gravity Net,' which prevents both players from attacking with monsters of 4 stars or more."
Xiaoyuan spat out blood.
Damn it, this was maddening!
The moment their attack was sealed, their death sentence was practically signed.
There was almost no counter to the seal of Super Gravity Net. Under the suppression of "Cyber Blader," any attempt to use Whirlwind, Heavy Storm, or Hurricane would be invalidated, so they couldn't remove this attack seal.
And as long as they didn't take down Cyber Blader, they couldn't activate any card effects.
Even if they drew another high-level monster and sacrificed the Material Dragon to summon a new one, it would be meaningless. With three monsters, Cyber Blader's lockdown would still be in effect.
Moreover, the Troublemaker Tokens couldn't be used as Tributes for a Tribute Summon, so trying to reduce the number of monsters by Tribute Summoning a higher-level monster using the two monsters on the field was also impossible. All the opponent's monsters were in Defense Position, so crashing their own monsters into them for suicide attacks wouldn't work either.
Some people were alive, but they were as good as dead.
"My turn, draw," You Xuan revealed his hand. "I activate the Magic Card 'Monster Reborn' to revive 'Crossbowman' from the graveyard in Defense Position."
【Crossbowman, DEF: 1000】
Everyone: "."
[At the beginning of each of your opponent's Standby Phases, inflict 600 damage to your opponent.]
Obviously, it wouldn't be long before Crossbowman pierced Dayuan and Xiaoyuan to death with its arrows.
A slow and painful death.
However, they didn't have to wait that long.
Seeing that Xiaoyuan was on the verge of losing control, Daoyuan quickly surrendered while he still had the chance, fearing that his teammate might do something crazy.
Otherwise, he was afraid his teammate would go insane.
(End of Chapter)
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