Night Shadow played a card from his hand.
"Summon 'Armored Bee' in attack position!"
[Armored Bee, Attack Power 1600]
Armored Bee has the ability to halve the attack power of one opposing monster on the field once per turn. With its 1600 attack, it can easily destroy Upper-Level Monsters with attack power less than 3200 through battle, making it a formidable lower-tier attacking card, and easily able to exchange for resource advantages in early environments.
"Armored Bee attacks the covered monster!"
Armored Bee flapped its wings and soared into the air, leaving a trail of golden shadows as it lunged toward Yugen's covered monster. The cover card flipped over, revealing a whip-wielding leather-clad lady card, seemingly of special use and with undeniable charm.
[Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina, Defense Power 1800]
Mina's defense power surpasses Armored Bee's attack power. Her whip lashed out, causing Armored Bee to retreat in a daze and disarray.
[Night Shadow, LP 4000→LP 3800]
"The monster you attacked is 'Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina,'" Yugen said. "When this card deals battle damage to the opponent, you can choose to activate one of two effects.
Select one 'Black Scorpion' card to add to your hand from the deck or from the graveyard."
Cards belonging to the [Black Scorpion] category, along with Leader - Zargul that Yugen frequently uses, belong to the Black Scorpion Thief Gang deck.
Audiences familiar with the GX animation would have strong impressions of this deck. Though the Black Scorpion Thief Gang appeared as antagonists in the Seven-Star Chapter, they were seen as a band of merry fools, eventually being recruited as spirits by Chazz after their defeat.
Despite being humorous characters in the animation, the deck received positive reviews from players shortly after its release in competitive environments. Several cards from this set widely circulated as key cards for some elaborate combos, etching their legacy in the long history of Yu-Gi-Oh!
Among them, Leader Zargul and Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina stand out as more prominent members.
There's no need to elaborate on Leader Zargul, one of the important members of the first World Championship 'Hand Destruction,' famed for his hand destruction ability. Duel Academy students have already personally experienced his prowess.
Similarly, Mina is an incredibly promising member. Though her attack power is only 1000, her 1800 defense power was quite decent in earlier environments centered around 1600 as the standard strike line. When covered face-down, she often successfully counter-retaliated, triggering her monster effect.
Her effect includes both search and graveyard retrieval, praised as a card with great potential to gain card advantage. Furthermore, she meets the condition for effect activation herself as a monster named "Black Scorpion," thus even without drawing other Black Scorpion cards, her self-search and retrieval ability can still exchange resource advantages.
However, the true realization of this card's potential, transforming her into an early core of a well-known self-contained Upper-tier card deck, is a strategy now adopted by Yugen.
"Based on Mina's effect, retrieve a second 'Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina' from the deck."
Yugen drew a card from the deck, retrieving it into his hand.
"Reinforcing defense and gaining resources, aren't you?" Night Shadow remarked, "Then I'll cover a card, ending my turn."
"It's my turn then, draw."
Yugen snapped his fingers.
"Trap Card—
—Death Deck Destruction Virus!"
Death Deck... Is it really that thing? Night Shadow was shocked.
Of course he recognized it, being Seto Kaiba's commonly used strategy of legend. It's just that...
"Wait, the Destruction Virus requires a Dark Attribute monster on your field with attack power less than 1000 to be destroyed by battle before activating!" Night Shadow quickly interjected.
Don't try to deceive me, I remember the effect well!
"Oh, you might not know yet, this is the latest development from our laboratory. We've slightly modified the effect," Yugen said cheerfully. "Now, the death virus doesn't need to be triggered by battle anymore. It just requires a Dark Attribute monster with attack power under 1000 as a sacrifice, can be activated freely, effective at any moment."
Night Shadow: "!"
What kind of 'slight modification'…? Leveraging the privileges from having Kaiba's card printing factory backing you, huh?
Why not just remove the 'attack power under 1000 Dark Attribute' cost altogether then?
"I sacrifice the 'Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina' with 1000 attack power. Using it against the opposing turn, all monsters with attack power above 1500 on the opponent's field and hand… destroy them all!" (Old version effect)
OCG time, kid!
This was an early Upper-tier card deck; its name was [Mina Virus], from which the key card is evident from the name.
Death Deck Destruction Virus immediately garnered widespread attention upon the release of its physical card, deemed as a powerful card with great potential. Its subsequent years of restriction further attested to its strength.
In order to maximize its potential, Dark Attribute monsters with attack power under 1000 naturally garnered attention widely. Emerging among monsters fulfilling the criteria from the entire card pool, Mina stood out with her sub-1000 attack power, formidable defense, and card exchange ability.
[Mina Virus] deck construction was born, remaining active for a long time until the core card's effect was restricted.
Red virus spread on his field's 'Armored Bee' body, swiftly covering it entirely. The monster's body began corroding, becoming transparent, and eventually vanished completely under viral invasion.
Next followed his hand cards. The red virus continued unrelentingly after devouring his monsters, extending to his hand, quickly targeting one card which burst into golden light with a bang.
Even hand-held monsters were destroyed...
Moreover, what's worse, he noticed the virus hovering on the field, not dissipating after devouring the monsters, seemingly awaiting further fresh meals.
In the next three turns, any monster drawn with attack power over 1500 would become food for the virus.
But it doesn't matter.
Night Shadow glanced at his hand, his gaze lingering on one card, squinting slightly.
[Revive the Dead].
Heh, although the Death Deck Destruction Virus is indeed powerful, for this deck mainly composed of high-attack monsters, it almost eliminates any possibility of drawing a monster in the next three turns.
But as a risk, the death virus also sent the upper-level monsters in his hand to the graveyard.
So as long as I use Revive the Dead to resurrect the upper-level monsters in the graveyard next turn, the scales of victory will immediately tip in my favor!
"I will now summon the second 'Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina' that I retrieved," said Yugen.
[Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina, Attack Power 1000]
He paused for a moment, then smiled: "And then I activate the Continuous Trap 'Blood Compensation.' By paying 500 Life Points, I can perform an additional Normal Summon.
I pay 500 Life Points and perform another Normal Summon."
[Yugen, LP 4000→LP 3500]
"This time, I summon 'Leader - Zargul.'
[Leader - Zargul, Attack Power 1400]
"Battle. First, 'Black Scorpion - Thorny Mina' performs a direct attack."
Night Shadow frowned.
"Mina, if I don't deal with this monster, her effect will keep replenishing the Black Scorpion Thief Gang's forces endlessly... but it won't be that easy!"
Night Shadow exclaimed.
"I activate this powerful Trap 'Blast Armor'!
When the opponent's monster attacks, that monster is directly destroyed!"
Yugen squinted his eyes.
Hmm, it is indeed a powerful Trap, in every sense...
"Then I'll activate the Trap 'Trap Powerlessness'," Yugen quickly chained, "this turn, all Trap effects on the field, except this card, are nullified."
"Nang Da-moh? (What did you say?)"
Night Shadow's eyelids twitched, and he could only watch as his powerful trump card "Blast Armor" rapidly dimmed in color until it completely shattered.
Mina leaped into the air, flicked her wrist, and the barbed whip swung forward. The long whip struck Night Shadow, causing him to grimace in pain as he staggered backward under the true damage of the Dark Game.
Amid the pain, he shockingly discovered he felt a small hint of enjoyment...
[Night Shadow, LP 3800→LP 2800]
Mina put away her whip and flashed a charming smile at him, then withdrew. Night Shadow's heart skipped a beat, quickly readjusting his tactics to suppress his urge to open the doorway to a new world.
No, be serious; this is a Life Bet Card game...
"Then Mina's effect, when it causes battle damage, allows me to search the deck or retrieve a 'Black Scorpion' card from the graveyard to my hand."
Yugen drew out a card that popped out of the deck.
"This time, I'll add 'Black Scorpion - Rapidly Escaping Zik' to my hand."
After adding the card, Yugen waved his hand again.
"Next is 'Leader - Zargul's' direct attack."
Zargul, no need for introductions, one of Yugen's earliest monsters in battle, a familiar face. The reliable one-eyed captain skillfully twirled his gun like a western cowboy and then fired a shot right at Night Shadow's heart.
"Gah..."
The pain from the Dark Game was akin to the burning agony of a real bullet piercing through. Night Shadow groaned, kneeling on the ground.
[Night Shadow, LP 2800→LP 1400]
"Then Zargul's effect, when he deals battle damage, allows me to randomly choose a card from the opponent's hand to discard," Yugen casually said.
Regardless of whether in physical card games or animations, random usually meant players randomly picking a card from facedown options, which is why the game could pin Seto Kaiba's dramatic "Obelisk's Giant Divine Soldiers" with a Light Sealing Sword on the field for three turns.
Night Shadow's heart skipped a beat.
The opponent randomly choosing a card from his hand, this is bad...
"By the way, you just showed a rather unsettling smile at one of your hand cards..."
Yugen squinted at Night Shadow and smiled slightly, then reached out.
"Then, the second card from the right... yes, don't look further, just discard that one."
Night Shadow: "..."
Looking at the only card in his hand, Revive the Dead.
Night Shadow suddenly felt like crying.