Chapter 85. Seven Emperors Seafood vs. Marincess! Full-Immunity Crooked Cook, Great Bubble Reef, and Ultimate Falcon!
The situation in the Higher World has already told the six Duel Worlds one thing.
If you want to play Yu-Gi-Oh! going second, you must run hand traps.
It is at this moment that all the old-guard duelists finally realized the importance of hand traps.
It is at this moment that all the old-guard duelists finally realized why so many builds earlier were running Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and Maxx "C".
It is at this moment that all the old-guard duelists finally realized why a deck would pack so many hand traps.
If you don't run these standard hand traps, then when you're forced to go second, you don't deserve to play Yu-Gi-Oh!
Basically, you can only watch the opponent go off, storytelling through a massive combo.
Then they set up all sorts of negates to stop you.
Or you just watch them make an unbeatable end board.
And you can't break it.
This is Yu-Gi-Oh! in the Higher World!
Main World.
Sei Yuki had already noticed in the group chat that, after watching this round's Kushan Nuwei deck, the old guard across the worlds had awakened to a new dueling mindset.
Yugi Muto: "Hand traps! In this spot you either stop them with a hand trap, or you need Dark Ruler No More, or Nibiru, the Primal Being!"
Jaden Yuki: "That's rough. If your five Spell/Trap Zones are locked down, it's really hard to say whether going second can break through."
Yusei Fudo: "Which is why you need monster hand traps. You have to stop them early."
Yuma Tsukumo: "Yikes. This is terrifying. Is this still the Duel Monsters I know? It's too wild!"
Yuya Sakaki: "It's changed. It's all changed. Stop! This isn't even a duel anymore!"
Seeing the protagonists of each world fully awaken to the role of hand traps, Sei Yuki felt gratified.
In the old-guard era, not needing hand traps was normal.
But in the Higher World's environment, hand traps truly are your ticket to enter a Duel.
Realizing this makes watching so many combo videos worthwhile.
"Whew, alright, let's find another interesting deck."
"Right—ZEXAL's number two, Reginald Kastle, might be a good entry point."
"Seven-Star Seafood, huh?"
"Got it."
Sei Yuki's eyes lit up, and he quickly pulled up a video he'd seen before: Seven Emperors Seafood vs. Marincess.
Once it was set, the title appeared.
"Versus Marincess! Ultimate Barian Seven—Seafood!"
As the title appeared across the Duel Worlds, the first to be drawn and stirred up was ZEXAL's Reginald Kastle.
Seafood?
Seven Emperors Seafood?
At long last, we've come to Shark's fish deck?
Reginald Kastle showed a faint smile.
This was the moment he'd been waiting for.
Inside the short video, the duel info popped up.
RS Seven Emperors Seafood vs. Marincess rb.
First to play: Marincess rb.
Going second: RS Seven Emperors Seafood.
Both Life Points, 8000 LP.
Marincess rb: "My turn."
Marincess rb: "I Set 1 card."
"My turn is over."
One card and pass.
No extra plays.
Seeing this, Seven Emperors Seafood was baffled.
So were the old guard.
Is that… a very strong Set?
Is it bricking and posturing, or is there real power there?
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "My turn! Draw!"
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "Normal Summon Buzzsaw Shark!"
"Activate its effect to Special Summon Right-Hand Shark from the Deck!"
"Two Level 4 monsters!"
"Construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon!"
"Number 59: Crooked Cook!"
"Right-Hand Shark gives Cook battle destruction protection!"
"You Set 1 card? As if I'd be afraid!"
"I'll attack directly!"
The back row didn't respond.
Number 59's attack connected for 2300 LP.
Marincess rb now at 5700 LP.
Turn passed back.
Marincess rb: "My turn! Draw!"
Marincess rb: "Activate the Spell—Numbers Eveil!"
"It can be activated only if only your opponent controls a monster that was Special Summoned from the Extra Deck."
"I select 4 'Number' monsters from my Extra Deck (at most 1 of each Rank), then treat the Summon as an Xyz Summon and Special Summon a 'Number' monster from my Extra Deck, attaching all the selected monsters to it as materials."
"My final Xyz choice is—"
"Number 86: Heroic Champion — Rhongomyniad!"
"And then I flip my Trap! Pinpoint Dash!"
"We each choose a card from our Extra Deck."
"If they are the same card type (Fusion/Synchro/Xyz/Link), I Special Summon mine, and you send yours to the Graveyard."
"If they are different, I send mine to the Graveyard, and you Special Summon yours."
Pinpoint Dash?
What kind of Trap is that?
Choosing card types?
Gambling?
No wonder they opened by Setting just that one card and passed with no other action.
They were waiting for Seven Emperors Seafood to commit.
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "I choose Number 105: Battlin' Boxer Star Cestus."
Marincess rb: "I choose Raidraptor — Ultimate Falcon."
Marincess rb: "Same type—Xyz! I Special Summon mine directly!"
"Raidraptor — Ultimate Falcon!"
"Then I enter the Battle Phase!"
"3000 ATK Rhongomyniad attacks your 2300 ATK Crooked Cook! You take 700!"
"3500 ATK Ultimate Falcon attacks your 2300 ATK Crooked Cook! You take 1200!"
"End of turn!"
At last, the first explosive clash.
Only three monsters stood on the field.
But none of them were pushovers.
Just these three monsters already left the old-guard duelists across the worlds stupefied.
Yes.
Utterly stupefied.
Number 59: Crooked Cook? If it's the only card you control, it's unaffected by other card effects.
Raidraptor — Ultimate Falcon? This card is unaffected by other card effects.
Number 86: Heroic Champion — Rhongomyniad? With four materials, the opponent cannot Normal or Special Summon monsters.
What the—?
What kind of monsters are these?
Each more ridiculous than the last.
Each more obnoxious than the last.
ZEXAL World.
Seeing these cards, the whole world fell silent.
Since when were there so many "unaffected" monsters?
Two of them on the field at once, and a four-material Rhongo on top of that—absurd.
Gauche, the duelist who uses Heroic Champions, almost coughed up blood.
He had worked so hard, thinking up countless ways to make a four-material Rhongo.
And now this guy?
One single card to pull out a four-material Rhongo.
What kind of double standard is this?
ARC-V World.
Seeing that sequence, Shun Kurosaki was completely numb.
Huh?
What deck is this guy playing?
Why does his Extra Deck have so many baffling, out-of-archetype cards?
He even packed my RR boss, Ultimate Falcon?
With the old-guard duelists in all worlds wearing complicated expressions, the duel continued.
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "Alright, alright! My turn!"
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "You've got a full-immunity boss?"
"My Crooked Cook is also full-immunity!"
"Then I'm going straight into stall mode!"
"My turn is over!"
Marincess rb: "At this moment, Rhongomyniad detaches 1 material."
Marincess rb: "My turn to draw 1!"
"In Main Phase, I Set 1 Spell/Trap!"
"And Set 1 monster!"
"End of turn!"
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "My turn! Draw!"
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "Here we go! My unbeatable stall plan!"
"Activate the Spell—Final Countdown!"
"I pay 2000 LP! At the end of the 20th turn starting from this one, I win the Duel."
"You're finished! Hahaha!"
Win the Duel at the end of 20 turns.
In other words.
If the opponent can't completely answer Crooked Cook,
Then victory will go to Seven Emperors Seafood.
And this two-card combo appearing once again left the old guard dumbfounded.
They hadn't even recovered from the double full-immunity bosses on board,
And now they were transfixed by this combo.
Thinking it through carefully,
The old guard couldn't sit still.
Who came up with this disgusting combo?
No wonder it's called the "stall cook."
So that's what this is.
And just when everyone thought the card would resolve—
Marincess flipped the back-row Trap.
Marincess rb: "Oh? So you've got that card?"
Marincess rb: "I activate the Counter Trap—Solemn Judgment!"
"I pay half my LP!"
"Negate your Final Countdown!"
One for one.
Marincess rb to 2850 LP.
RS Seven Emperors Seafood to 4100 LP.
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "Seriously, bro?"
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "No worries, I've got two more in my Deck!"
"I'll keep on stalling!"
"I switch Crooked Cook to Defense Position!"
"My turn ends!"
Marincess rb: "Rhongomyniad's effect—detach 1 material."
Marincess rb: "My turn, draw 1!"
"I Set 1 monster!"
"End of turn."
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "My turn, draw 1 card!"
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "End of turn."
Marincess rb: "Rhongomyniad's effect—detach 1 material."
Marincess rb: "My turn, draw 1!"
"I Set 1 monster."
"End of turn."
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "My turn, draw 1 card!"
RS Seven Emperors Seafood: "End of turn."
Marincess rb: "Rhongomyniad's effect—detach 1 material."
Marincess rb: "My turn! Draw 1!"
"You like stalling? You love stalling, huh?"
"I activate the Field Spell—Marincess Battle Ocean!"
"I'm going to Tribute Rhongomyniad right now!"
"Tribute Summon!"
"Marincess Sleepy Maiden!"
"I flip all three of my Set monsters!"
"Flip Summon!"
"Marincess Blue Tang! A second Marincess Blue Tang! And finally, Marincess Springirl!"
"..."
After both sides kept stalling for ages,
Marincess rb had clearly had enough.
One player was waiting for a way to answer Crooked Cook.
The other was waiting to draw another Final Countdown and be a menace.
If this kept up,
Who knew how long the duel would drag on.
Eventually, someone had to snap first.
Marincess rb: "Use the first Blue Tang to Link Summon Marincess Sea Angel!"
Marincess rb: "Sea Angel's effect adds the Spell 'Marincess Dive' from the Deck!"
"And Blue Tang's effect mills the top 3; I add 1 to my hand."
"I Link Sea Angel and the on-field Marincess Springirl into a Link-2!"
"Link Summon—Marincess Coral Anemone!"
"Activate Coral Anemone to revive Blue Tang to its link arrow!"
"The revived Blue Tang makes a Link-1—Marincess Blue Slug!"
"Blue Slug adds Springirl back to hand!"
"Activate Marincess Dive to revive Blue Tang again!"
"Link Blue Tang with Blue Slug into Marincess Crystal Heart!"
"Crystal Heart plus Coral Anemone—confirm Link-4!"
"Link Summon!"
"Marincess Great Bubble Reef!"
"Field effect! Equip Link-1 Sea Angel, Link-1 Blue Slug, and Link-2 Crystal Heart to Great Bubble Reef to boost its ATK!"
"Coral Anemone, when sent to the Graveyard, adds Blue Tang back to hand!"
"..."
With this flurry of plays,
The board had reached a very frightening state.
Using Marincess Crystal Heart as Link Material to make the Link-4 Marincess Great Bubble Reef.
This combo fits perfectly with the Field Spell, Marincess Battle Ocean.
Which means—
Right now, Great Bubble Reef is unaffected by your opponent's card effects.
At this very moment—
On the field—
Marincess rb was already holding two full-immunity bosses.
Raidraptor — Ultimate Falcon at 3500 ATK, and Great Bubble Reef at 4600 ATK thanks to the Field.
VRAINS World.
"From the title I thought it was Marincess."
"Then I saw Rhongo and RR and thought it was a memer."
"But in the end, how is it Marincess after all?"
"This person's Marincess runs so many bizarre Extra Deck choices!"
"And the kicker is, they're piloting Marincess better than me?!"
Aoi Zaizen completely tilted.
Marincess is her deck, okay.
So when she saw someone running Marincess more smoothly than herself,
How could she not tilt?
Forget everything else—just making a 4000+ ATK, fully "unaffected" Great Bubble Reef with various effects
Was enough to shock Aoi Zaizen.
Marincess rb: "You thought that was all?"
Marincess rb: "I now Link the second Blue Tang with Marincess Sleepy Maiden!"
"Confirm Link-2—Splash Mage!"
"Activate its effect to revive Marincess Coral Anemone from the Graveyard!"
"I Link the two monsters again!"
"Confirm Link-4—Marincess Aqua Argonaut!"
"Marincess Sleepy Maiden in the Graveyard activates!"
"I banish it to equip the sent Coral Anemone to Aqua Argonaut!"
"Great Bubble Reef's ATK rises to 5200!"
"I activate a second Sleepy Maiden in hand!"
"I grant Aqua Argonaut destruction protection from effects, then Special Summon Sleepy Maiden."
"..."
At this point—
Marincess rb had successfully completed the entire line.
A string of resourceful boss monsters on board.
Two fully "unaffected" bosses.
This left the duelists from the other five worlds completely numb.
What series is this even?
In the big group chat, talk immediately turned red-hot.
Maximillion Pegasus: "Unbelievable! Another combo deck going off!"
Chazz Princeton: "Whoa! Marincess? Whose lieutenant is this?"
Crow Hogan: "Nice! High ATK, big combo, strong end board! Unstoppable!"
Reginald Kastle: "So what? Can it get past Seven Emperors Seafood's Crooked Cook?"
Reginald's one line instantly killed the conversation.
True—strong is strong.
But how is Marincess rb going to push through Seven Emperors Seafood's full-immunity, battle-proof Crooked Cook?
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