Ye Bufan and Ye Lingling both quietly took a step back the moment they heard You Ye list out those Deck options.
Among the cards You Ye mentioned, aside from Tearlaments Horus (which he hadn't shown before), all the other Decks were "publicly priced"—their strength was well-known.
First was Tearlaments, widely considered one of the strongest Deck archetypes.
Graveyard Fusion, no hard once-per-turn, mill like crazy, generate massive advantage, set up absurd boards.
But its flaw was also obvious—its milling quality was unstable.
From his duels against Lao Lao and others, one fact was clear:
Tearlaments always become whatever they mill.
Bad luck? You end up milling three kinds of negates and disruption while the opponent folds instantly.
Good luck? You Ye could mill six useless pieces and brick himself on the spot.
Next was Runick, and it was no secret that You Ye possessed Runick Fountain.
Runick cards with no counters? The Deck starts at full speed. Combined with those annoying Quick-Play "stickers," the opponent basically goes to jail—there is no duel to be played.
Fourth was Naturia Runick, a Deck built around constant interruption.
Naturia monsters jump out nonstop, Synchro and Link climb, and if the opponent cannot break the board on the first turn, they get crushed under the overwhelming resource loop.
Fifth was Naturia Horus.
No one knew exactly how it worked, but based on Yu Huo's warning that "If You Ye goes first with Naturia Horus, you can just surrender," it was very clear—
That Deck was a nightmare.
Quan Lin obviously knew all this, which was why he stayed silent for so long.
You Ye didn't press him—this was a difficult choice, after all.
Of course…
In the future, You Ye planned to let this world experience far worse—the true pain of choosing the "lesser hell."
Half an hour later, after deep thought, Quan Lin bowed respectfully to You Ye.
"Senior, I choose Runick."
"You're not afraid of getting banished until your Dao Heart shatters?"
You Ye smiled, narrowed his eyes.
"My instincts say Runick is my best chance.
I don't want to gamble with Tearlaments.
I can't break Naturia on the first turn.
And for Naturia Horus… I already asked Yu Huo. I'd rather not gamble that at all."
"Mm. Under average luck, Fire Fist Boxer going second can indeed only break through Runick."
You, Ye, nodded; he wasn't surprised.
Burning Knucklers (Fire Fist Boxers) have a strong small-engine, strong self-limitation, and almost always produce two counter-traps going first.
Their setup is solid.
But the issue was obvious—
They're terrible going second.
If their hand traps don't land, they simply lose.
If they face any of You Ye's other Decks going first, and the opponent establishes a board, they might as well surrender.
Unsurprising, yes, but Quan Lin's luck seemed too unlucky.
Even after strengthening his Runick build, he could only pray he didn't draw those two cards.
Otherwise, he might as well surrender immediately.
Seeing the smile on You Ye's face, Quan Lin felt a bit intimidated, but he still spoke:
"Senior, may I request time to adjust my build?"
"No problem. Take your time."
Half an hour later, the duel began.You Ye (8000 LP) vs. Quan Lin (8000 LP)Quan Lin won the choice and picked first. Both drew five cards.
"I normally summon Burning Knuckler Promoter.
I activate its effect—tribute this card to Special Summon two different Burning Knucklers from my Deck (except Promoter). After this, I can only Special Summon Burning Knuckler monsters."
"…Sorry, but I won't let you resolve that."
You Ye smiled slightly.
"Chain 2 — Ash Blossom from my hand to negate your Deck summon."
"Senior, Burning Knucklers are very compatible with hand traps!"
"Chain 3 — Called by the Grave, targeting your Ash Blossom in the GY, banishing it and negating your effect."
You Ye frowned.
First Lao Lao, now Quan Lin?
Did the entire Earth-tier start carrying Called by the Grave as standard?
This was starting to feel like his past life's meta!
He then glanced at Quan Lin's remaining three cards with a mischievous look.
With no further chains, the effects resolved:Chain 3: Called by the Grave resolvesChain 2: Ash Blossom is negatedChain 1: Promoter resolves — Special Summon Burning Knuckler, Glassjaw, and Burning Knuckler Uppercut"Uppercut's effect—when summoned, I add a Counter Trap from my Deck. I add Fire Prison Counterattack."
"Next, I overlay my Level 4 Uppercut and Glassjaw to Xyz Summon:
Burning Knuckler King – Shift Rotate Champion!"
With a mechanical hum, a red-skinned, red-haired boxer with jet engines on his back emerged.
Shift Rotate Champion
ATK 2300 / DEF 1800
"I activate Shift Rotate Champion's first effect to search. I add Burning Knuckler Cross Counter."
"Second effect—detach a material; your monsters cannot target my Burning Knucklers this turn."
"I detach Glassjaw.
Glassjaw hits the GY and adds Promoter back to my hand.
I set 2 cards. End turn."
Seeing the two back row, You Ye smiled curiously.
"You didn't draw or didn't include Cosmic Cyclone?"
"I included it—just one."
"Runick at 40 cards, with this much compression… Cosmic Cyclone hitting one Fountain isn't very effective.
Going first, it's also too obvious and gets stopped by Huginn.
If I hit your Fountain or Flashing Fire and get Cycloned for nothing, I'd rather run more impactful cards."
"Fair enough."
Very reasonable.
Compared to the relaxed conversation between You Ye and Quan Lin, Ye Bufan and Ye Lingling were tense.
The Quan Family's Burning Knucklers weren't the strongest archetype in Haishi, but they were absolutely one of the most hated.
Because going first, they always have negates, usually two.
One monster negate, one trap negate.
And most importantly—
Counter Traps are Spell Speed 3.
You can't chain to them unless you have another counter trap.
If the opponent doesn't have strong starters or extenders, they simply die.
Then came the Quan Family's upgrades—
They obtained all kinds of generic hand traps: Ash, Crow, Vailor, Nibiru, Imperm, droplets, etc.
Going first or second, they were dangerous."My turn. Draw."You Ye looked at his hand and sighed.
No Awakening of the Numbers or Forbidden Order yet.
His hand was:Four Runick Quick-Play SpellsOne Field SpellA pity.
If he had Forbidden Order, he could bait all negates and drop a four-material Gun King.
Quan Lin understood You Ye's glance and immediately activated:
"In your draw phase, I activate Shift Rotate Champion's second effect—detach Uppercut, preventing you from targeting my Burning Knucklers."
"Uppercut's graveyard effect—when sent by a card effect, I Special Summon Glassjaw."
The chain resolved.
You Ye, nodded and entered Main Phase 1.
"I activate Runick Dispelling to Special Summon a Runick monster."
Seeing no chain from Quan Lin, he continued:
"I Special Summon Huginn, discard Runick Destruction to search Runick Fountain—"
"Chain 2 — I activate Burning Knuckler Cross Counter!
When you activate a monster effect, I destroy one of my Burning Knucklers and negate your effect!"
He was indeed planning to negate Huginn.
Chain resolves:Huginn is negated and destroyedQuan Lin Special Summons Burning Knuckler Nova Kaiser (No.79)Huginn returns to the Extra Deck"I activate Runick Destruction, targeting your set card."
"Chain 2 — Fire Prison Counterattack!
I banish Uppercut from my GY to negate and destroy your Spell!"
Reasonable—Quan Lin had no choice.
Better to lose one card than have Runick mill four plus destroy a card.
Effects resolve: Destruction is negated and destroyed.
"You've used most of your interruptions. Now it's my turn."
You Ye, placed the card into the Field Spell zone.
Runick Fountain.
Quan Lin's eyes narrowed.
He expected this.
You Ye continued:
"I activate Runick Smiting Storm—banish one of your cards."
"Then Fountain's effect—return Destruction and two Smiting Storms, draw 3."
He drew:Another FountainFreezing CursesForbidden OrderA perfect hand.
All he needed now was Awakening of the Numbers to summon the permanent four-material Gun King.
"I activate Runick Fountain again."
But—
"Chain 2 — Senior, I respond!"
"…A hand trap?"
You Ye, raised a brow.
What hand trap could respond to his Field Spell at this timing?
"Chain 2 — D.D. Crow!
Discard to target a card in your GY and banish it!"
You Ye blinked, then laughed.
"So you prepared for this.
Good.
This proves your family has studied my Deck thoroughly."
D.D. Crow was strong not only against Runick—
It was also a hard counter to Tearlaments and Horus.
It was a very correct choice.
Ye Bufan and Ye Lingling were impressed.
You Ye, smiled.
"Let me guess… You have another D.D. Crow in hand?"
Quan Lin smirked, not answering.
"That's enough. Let's continue."
You Ye, activated Runick Flashing Fire to search Golden Droplets.
Golden Droplets resolved—Quan Lin drew one and banished four.
"Fountain effect—return three cards and draw three!"
"Senior, you made a fatal mistake letting me draw just now!"
Quan Lin raised his hand:
Chain 2 — Ash Blossom!
"…?"
You, Ye, stared at him strangely.
Quan Lin froze, confused.
Why was You Ye looking at him like he just did something stupid?
Even Ye Bufan and Ye Lingling had strange expressions.
Only Huginn covered her mouth and laughed.
"You… only recently got called by the Grave, didn't you?" You, Ye, asked gently.
"…About half a year ago. I saved it for ranking up."
"Check Called by the Grave's effect in your graveyard."
Quan Lin checked.
His face crumpled.
Called by the Grave makes that monster's effect negated until the end of the next turn.
Meaning—His Ash Blossom was still negated,And yet he ACTIVATED IT anyway.It did absolutely nothing.
He wanted to die.
Chain resolves:Ash Blossom does nothingYou Ye, draws three cards"Don't be upset yet. What comes next is even worse."
He drew:Emperor's ArenaOne more Runick Quick-PlayAwakening of the NumbersQuan Lin tensed.
"You drew another Fountain? Aren't you afraid of my second D.D.... Crow?"
"No."
"Then you must be summoning Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon?"
"No."
"Then you drew Emperor's Arena, and There Can Be Only One?"
"No."
"You're scaring me…"
"You'll understand soon."
You Ye, raised a card."I activate the Normal Spell — Awakening of the Numbers!"Everyone froze.
This card's text was a paragraph long, and its self-limitation was absurd.
But the effect was undeniable:
Special Summon a Number monster whose number equals the sum of four different Number monsters you choose.
Stack the four as materials.
You cannot Special Summon non-Number Xyz monsters while the summoned monster is face-up.
You Ye continued:
"I choose from my Extra Deck:
CNo.5,
CNo.39 Utopia Ray V,
No.29 Mannequin Cat,
No.13 Cain Devil,
Sum = 86.
I Special Summon:Number 86 — Heroic Champion Rhongomyniad!"A small armored warrior stepped onto the field—
clad in black and white armor, holding a golden spear.
Yet his presence felt like a mountain crushing the air itself.Everyone felt the oppressive weight instantly.