Is this the world of card dealers? Yada thieves!

"This card allows me to summon a Crystal Beast monster in addition to my Normal Summon, but I'm going to use its second effect now—which can only be activated during my Main Phase: destroy one Crystal Beast card from my hand or field and add one Crystal Spell/Trap Card from my Deck to my hand."

"While tokens cannot be sent to the graveyard as cost for effect activation by cards like [Price of Horse Bones], the effect of [Bridge of Hearts] is neither a cost nor sent to the graveyard, but rather directly destroyed. Therefore, I can destroy any [Crystal Beast Tokens] that I have on my field with the [Crystal Beast] field and retrieve this [Crystal Miracle] from my deck to add to my hand!"

After retrieving his most frequently used Crystal Beast Tricolor Trap Card, John then picked up Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth, Future Fusion, and Heart Bridge from his Duel Disk, saying, "Then, I'll send these three Continuous Spell Cards from my field to the Graveyard—"

"This aura is!" Upon seeing the card John held up, "Gana Malden" was first startled, then revealed a look of surprise. "He actually used it directly in his duel with me! That 'Phantom Demon' card that I didn't get my hands on!"

"—Roar, [Thunder Emperor - Hamon]!"

With [Ultimate Gem Dragon - Rainbow Bridge Dragon] already on the field and all the cards that needed to be placed in the graveyard already gone, the existence of [Future Fusion] is actually not very meaningful anymore. Although [Heart Bridge] still has two effects that haven't been used yet, one is used to summon a monster and the other is to bounce cards off the opponent's field. John doesn't have any other [Gem Beast] monsters in his hand, and there aren't any cards on "Gana Malden"'s field that need to be bounced off.

Adding the [Jade Beast - Amber Mammoth] and clearing out the back row as much as possible in exchange for the arrival of the powerful [Thunder Emperor - Hamon], it's an absolutely worthwhile trade!

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【DEF4000】

Frozen ice crystals encased the yellow bones. [Thunder Emperor - Hamon] did not break out of the ice and remained in a frozen defensive state, exerting the "taunt" effect of its defense stance, forcing the opponent to attack if necessary—although "Gana Malden" could not actually enter the battle phase for the next turn.

After reducing his nearly full backrow to just one card, "Jewel Tree," John picked up the Continuous Spell Card, which had four "Jewel Counters" and four red Jade Fruits growing on its tree. He said, "Now is the real time to activate the effect of 'Jewel Tree'—send this card with the 'Jewel Counters' to the Graveyard, and place the number of 'Jewel Beasts' from my Deck as Continuous Spell Cards face-up in my Spell & Trap Zone!"

"【Sapphire Beast - Topaz Tiger】, 【Sapphire Beast - Amber Mammoth】, 【Sapphire Beast - Emerald Turtle】, 【Ultimate Sapphire Beast - Rainbow Dragon】! I place these four cards face-up on my back field!"

John's backcourt saw the [Jade Tree] disappear, and the four gem fruits that fell also "burrowed into the soil" as they landed, just like ginseng fruits. But then four more dazzling gems rose from the ground, one of which shone with a seven-colored light.

"The [Crystal Beasts] are beings whose power increases as the number of [Crystal Beasts] in the back row increases, and this Field Spell Card best exemplifies this." With four [Crystal Beasts] in the back row, John opened the Duel Disk's field area and placed a card.

"Heroes have their stage to fight, and the [Jewel Beasts] certainly have their battleground too," Jaden said excitedly, as if he were the one using the [Jewel Beasts] right now.

"That's right, so I'm going to activate the Field Spell Card [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins]. This card's effect is that if I have four or more [Crystal Beast] cards in my Spell & Trap Zone, I can activate it once per turn: I draw one card from my Deck without any conditions!"

The surrounding landscape changes as the Field Spell Card is activated. In the ancient ruins of the Roman Colosseum, the Crystal Beasts on John's field appear relaxed as if they have returned home. Light bands corresponding to the number of Crystal Beasts on the back field also hang down from the sky, like bridges built from the heavens.

John traded a Field Spell Card for a card in his hand in a "one-for-one" exchange, and then played another card. "Then there's this Spell Card, 'Rare Value,' which can be activated when there are two or more 'Crystal Beast' cards in my Spell & Trap Zone. It randomly sends one of those 'Crystal Beast' cards to the Graveyard, and then I draw two cards from my Deck."

(P.S.: In the animated version, the other person chooses randomly, not the other.)

Of the four gems in John's backcourt, the most dazzling one shattered and disappeared from the field. The light band of the [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins] also lost its most dazzling part, leaving only orange, yellow, and green.

John, on the other hand, used the third card he activated this turn that had the "Draw Two Cards" effect to draw cards from his deck. As a trade-off, he temporarily lost the "Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" card's once-per-turn draw effect. However, considering that John wouldn't be able to use it again for three turns—after "Gana Malden," Jaden, and the second turn of "Gana Malden"—this small price to pay was acceptable.

With his hand size back to three cards, he placed two cards face-down on the back row and finally looked at "Ghana Malden" and declared, "I'll face down two more cards and end the turn like this."

【约翰·安德森：4000LP，手牌3→2→1→2→3→1】

【Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon】【ATK4000】

【Thunder Emperor - Hamon】【DEF4000】

【Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus】【DEF1200】

【Jade Beast - Red Jade Beast】【DEF300】

【Jade Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle】【DEF800】

Back row: [Jade Tiger - Gemstone] [Amber Mammoth] [Jade Turtle - Emerald] [Face Card] x2

Location: [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins]

John's lineup, to say the least, was absolutely full. The five monster zones, the five spell and trap zones, and the field zone, totaling eleven squares, were all filled with cards. And it wasn't just random cards; each one had its own purpose.

【Thunder God - Hamon】Needless to say, although its effect has been weakened to the physical card version due to years of sealing, its taunt ability in defense position is still useful. Its 4000-point damage makes even 【Blue-Eyes】a bit of a struggle. 【Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon】The effect of 【Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon】can drag the opponent's cards down with it. When things are not going well, John can use it at any time to make "Gana Malden"'s combo go to waste and create a suitable opportunity for Jaden to combo.

Ignoring the two mysterious face-down cards for now, the true core of John's current field setup is actually the Field Spell Card [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins]. The purpose of the three [Crystal Beasts] on the back field is to activate one of its effects—when there are three or more [Crystal Beasts] in the Spell & Trap Zone, when a Spell/Trap Card is activated, you can send one face-up [Crystal Beast] on the field to the Graveyard to activate it, negate that activation, and destroy it.

This effect is not limited to once per turn; it can be activated continuously as long as there is a [Crystal Beast] in Monster form. John has three [Crystal Beast] monsters on his field, which means he can negate Spell & Trap Cards a total of three times!

Unless it's like the [Radiant Saint] he used when playing cards with Hayato last time, where every card he pulls out is a type that gets placed face-up on the back row by monster effects, "Gana Malden" will have a hard time developing under John's pressure. This is the true value of the [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins] card in the [Crystal Beast] deck!

Alternatively, if "Gana Malden"'s deck doesn't rely on the activation of Spell/Trap Cards to function, and can unleash its full potential simply by using Monster Cards, then the effect of "Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins" would be useless. However, the other two face-down cards on John's back row are not just for show; they will always have their time to prove their worth.

As for "Gana Malden", although the information about [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon] was not in her memories, she knew everything about [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins] - after all, the demonstration duel between John and Jaden at the beginning of the school year completely exposed the information of most of their cards to all the students present.

"A counter to three Spell & Trap Cards... Hmph, in that case, I can just use the power of monsters instead of the effects of Spell & Trap Cards, right?"

"Ghana Malden" said, his right hand, still in its normal form, resting on the reddish-brown duel disk formed from flesh and blood, drawing a card from his deck: "My turn begins, Draw!"

(Notsuchi)

(Sorry, wrong picture)

"First is the effect of this [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer]. This card can only be activated if it is in my hand. Discard one [Magical Beast] monster from my hand and Special Summon this card from my hand."

"【Demon Beast】? I've never heard of that deck before." Jaden frowned. "Isn't that the Zombie deck from last time?"

"The deck I used while possessing Amon Garram was merely a product of the combination of the 'Duel Zombie' virus, which I originally intended to spread within the Duel Academy, and the special energy remaining on Amon Garram's body."

As he explained to Judai, "Gana Malden" raised his left arm, "But now that I've absorbed his energy, I've combined that power with the power of the Demon race that I originally used to create this deck, which is still under development and is called [Demon God], to support 'Phantom Demon'."

“If it were a Special Summon like Caesar’s Cyber ​​Dragon, I wouldn’t be able to use this card. But since your card is activated before being Special Summoned, I won’t hold back.” Seeing his opponent’s smugness, John also revealed a card in his hand. “The effect of [G-Multiplier]: During both players’ turns, I send this card from my hand to the Graveyard to activate it. Each time my opponent Special Summons a monster this turn, I draw one card from my Deck!”

Before the release of the [Crystal Beast] deck, John used an Insect-type deck. Although the [Crystal Beast] has become part of his family, he has not abandoned his old cards. This [G-Crystal Beast] is one of the few non-[Crystal Beast] monsters in his deck, because it is also proof of the bond between him and the cards - what matters is not strength, but love!

—But just like the person who uttered this famous anime quote, whose own voice acting characters have become synonymous with "strength" one after another, John's [Proof of Love's Bond] is also incredibly powerful.

Putting everything else aside, the few [Friends and Friends] cards that Jaden and his friends got were basically just loose [G-type cards], and even those had all sorts of restrictions that prevented them from being used freely. Drawing too many cards would also result in negative effects. In contrast, [G-type cards] could be discarded and then take effect in various ways without worrying about losing cards by drawing too many.

—Unless the opponent pulls out your entire deck in one burst of attacks, but that probability is really low.

Chapter 1808 Baoyu's Protection

"Gana Malden" also realized how disgusting John's [G-Creation] was, and without hesitation played a card from his hand, "In that case, I'll chain this Quick-Play Spell Card [Called by the Graveyard] to banish one monster from my opponent's Graveyard and negate its effects and those of the same-named card until the end of the next turn!"

As the average skill level of duelists has increased, the activation of monster effects is no longer limited to the field, but can be activated in the hand, graveyard, and even when banished. As a result, "Called by the Graveyard," which specifically targets monsters that take effect in the graveyard, is gradually becoming a versatile card like "Great Storm."

In particular, Hayato, the Duel King, has a particular fondness for using monsters that activate in the Graveyard, which has set a trend in the current meta. And one of today's Duel Monster trivia points is that the world's first "Called by the Grave" card to be used was not even used by Hayato Kobayashi himself, but was obtained by Seto Kaiba, who frequently challenged him to duels, and was a card specifically designed to counter Hayato's dueling style.

Therefore, after dueling with Hayato, "Gana Malden" dutifully added this card to his deck and used it in his duel with John at this moment.

But John was waiting for this move from "Gana Malden." He immediately picked up a card from the Duel Disk and said, "I won't let you banish my cards, so—if I have three or more [Crystal Beast] cards in my Spell Trap Zone, or when a Spell/Trap Card is activated, I can use one of the effects of my Field Spell Card [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins]!"

“Send one of my face-up [Crystal Beast] monsters to the Graveyard to activate this monster, negate its activation, and destroy it!” Pointing to the [Called by the Graveyard] monster on his opponent's back field, John said, “I’m sending [Crystal Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle] to the Graveyard—I’m counting on you, Cobalt!”

"Hehe! Rely on me, Johnny!" [Jade Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle] couldn't wait to take off, its body disintegrating into countless blue streams of light in mid-air. Like a meteor shower, several blue jade fragments flew out from the light, smashing to pieces a green hand that had just emerged from the graveyard and was pointing at John's grave in the back field of "Gana Malden".

"I still have two [Crystal Beast] monsters on the field, which means I can negate the activation of two more Spell/Trap Cards." Looking at the remaining cards in "Gana Malden's" hand, John asked with a smile, "Do you have enough cards in your hand?"

"Don't be so arrogant!" Ghana Malden glared at John, then reluctantly accepted that she hadn't been able to negate her opponent's [Called by the Grave], and [Called by the Grave] had been wasted. She glanced at the rest of her hand except for [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer] and said, "Then let's chain together. My [Called by the Grave] will be negated and destroyed by your Field Spell Card, [Called by the Grave] will take effect, and then my [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer]'s effect will be dealt with."

"Discard this [Magical Beast - Kassie] from my hand to the Graveyard, and Special Summon [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer] from my hand."

【Demon Beast - Wild Hammer】【2☆/Light】

[Demon Race/Effect]

[1200/800]

The ugly-looking "Wild Hammer Serpent" - [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer] appeared on "Gana Malden's" field. Because of the special summon of its monster, John also said: "Since the effect of [G-Proliferation] started to take effect before [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer] appeared, I was able to gain a boost from this special summon to draw cards."

John Anderson: 4000LP, Hand: 1→0→1

"Hmph, go ahead and draw if you want, but can you hold out until you can actually use the cards in your hand?" With a sneer, "Gana Malden" continued, "And at the very moment that [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer] is summoned, I have a monster effect in my graveyard that needs to be activated, and at the same time, [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer] on the field also has its own effect."

"【Magical Beast - Kashi】If discarded from hand to Graveyard, you can target a face-up card on the field and destroy that face-up card; while 【Magical Beast - Wild Hammer】can be activated when Special Summoned by its own effect, Special Summoning 1 Level 2 or lower 【Magical Beast】monster from my hand!"

"Self-Chain C1 [Magical Beast - Kassie], targets [Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon] and activates its effect; C2 [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer], Special Summoning one of my cards—"

John felt a little headache watching "Gana Malden" confidently start his chain attack. Was it just because he used "G of Multiplication" to try to draw a card and allowed the opponent to make a special summon, that he ended up with this self-chain attack?

In this way, even if you want to follow up with a chain to nullify the opponent's effect, you can only nullify the effect of [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer], and you can't control [Magical Beast - Kassie] in C1 at all!

(Binding Dragon: Not entirely beyond our control)

But if John just watched helplessly as his opponent unfolded his cards, his face-down cards in the back row would be meaningless. So he pressed the button to activate a face-down card, revealing a card and saying, "Although I dodged it with a self-destructing chain... I'm still going to activate this face-down card! Chain to [Magic Beast - Wild Hammer] and activate this counter trap card - [Gem Miracle]!"

"This card can only be activated when a monster's effect, spell, or trap card is activated. I prepared it to fill the gap in the effect of [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins]. By destroying one [Crystal Beast] card on my field, or negating and destroying that activation with [Crystal Miracle]!"

Picking up the card [Sapphire Beast - Ruby Beast] from the Duel Disk, John pleaded, "Sorry, there are no empty slots in the Spell & Trap Zone!"

"Chirp!" [Jade Beast - Ruby Beast] shook its head, then moved closer to John, affectionately cupped his hand, and then resolutely transformed into a crimson meteor, crashing into "Gana Malden" on the field!

"Crimson Jade Exploding Fist!"

Under the power of the noble three-speed counter trap, unless "Gana Malden" can draw a three-speed card that can be activated from the hand, she cannot stop the attack of "Crimson Reboot". Her only monster on the field, "Magical Beast Wild Hammer", not only failed to take effect, but was also destroyed and sent to the graveyard.

However, under the cover of [Magical Beast - Wild Hammer], the effect of [Magical Beast - Kassie] worked smoothly, shattering John's [Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon].

“Rainbow-Overdragon…” John felt terrible watching his ace monster being destroyed, and he was also disappointed that although [Ultimate Jewel God - Rainbow Dragon] had evolved, it still hadn’t gained any resistance.

He didn't have a card to protect [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon] from being destroyed. However, he could activate [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon]'s effect at Speed ​​2, which returns everything to its original state and sends all cards on both players' fields back to their respective decks. But you have to know that "Gana Malden" only has one monster card on his field. Trading so many cards for that one card is really a bad deal.

"However, why did 'Malden' choose to destroy [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon], which is unlikely to activate its effect at present, instead of destroying the Field Spell Card?" Jaden asked with some doubt. "Isn't it afraid that [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon] has corresponding resistance? It is, after all, the evolved [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon].

(point downward)

“Basic reasoning, dear Jaden~” said gently to Jaden in a sweet tone. “Gana Malden” made a pointing gesture. “Although there have been many changes, I think the effect of [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Bridge Dragon] will definitely not be too different from [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon]. It is unlikely that one effect will be a surge in attack power and the other effect will be a tri-color Kang.”

"Have you heard of 'sunk cost'? Although it's slightly different, the person next to you is worried about his cards and won't be willing to use that effect, which should be similar to [Ultimate Gem God - Rainbow Dragon]. If I don't destroy it now while he's reluctant to use it, do you expect me to wait until his cards are almost depleted and he can use the effect recklessly before targeting it?"

"As for the effect of [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins]... Although it's not used much normally, I do remember that as long as there are more than one [Crystal Beast] on your back row, [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins] won't be destroyed by its effect. This resistance is a bit troublesome."

After a pause, "Ghana Malden" said mysteriously, "However, it's not that there's no way to solve it, it's just that the card needed isn't in my possession yet."

"I have no monsters on my field, and I've used up three cards in my hand, but I still have cards to use." Showing a card in his hand, "Gana Malden" said proudly, "【Magical Beast - Jiwa】, its effect is the same as 【Magical Beast - Wild Hammer】, both of which can be activated from my hand, selecting one 【Magical Beast】 monster to discard from my hand and Special Summon it to the field!"

Although if [Magical Beast - Jiva] were to appear upon activation of its effect, and John could draw cards from the deck using the effect of [G-Spell], given the precedent of [Magical Beast - Kashi], he wouldn't give "Gana Malden" another chance to discard a monster card. Who knows what effect the next discarded [Magical Beast] might activate?

He activated his back row face-down card again, saying, "Then let's chain the effect of [Magic Beast - Jiva], I'll activate my back row face-down card - the second counter trap card [Gem Miracle]!"

Surprisingly, John didn't set any strange cards in his back row. Instead, he honestly prepared a second Tricolor Counter. Its effect was simple but effective. After all, if there are enough Tricolor Counters, you can completely shut down your opponent. And his [Jade Beast] can take advantage of the opponent's inability to play a role.

This is the tactic John devised because he was limited by the lack of a powerful finisher for the [Crystal Beast] deck. Like Jaden, they both played the game of "limiting the opponent's development to the same extent as themselves, and then using their rich experience to defeat the opponent." No wonder they became soulmates.

"Do I need to explain the effects of [Baoyu's Miracle] again?"

Upon hearing John's words, "Gana Malden" looked displeased, but she snorted coldly and said, "Although the second counter trap was unexpected, don't forget that activating that card requires destroying the [Crystal Beast] on your field."

"One [Sapphire Beast - Ruby Beast], one [Sapphire Beast - Cobalt Spinel Eagle], and one [Sapphire Beast - Jade Pegasus]. That's all the [Sapphire Beast] monsters you have. But you've already used two of your monster cards in the previous rounds, so now you only have [Sapphire Beast - Jade Pegasus] left."

"After it's destroyed, the effect of your [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins] which restricts the activation of Spell & Trap Cards will also be unusable because there will be no [Crystal Beast] monster to send to the Graveyard!"

"You dared to ask me just now if I had enough cards in my hand? Now it's your monster card reserves that are running low!"

Just as "Gana Malden" said, the Miracle of the Jewel was activated again. After destroying the only "Jewel Beast - Blue Pegasus" on John's field, the blue jewel turned into a meteor and crashed down, completely shattering the monster card that "Gana Malden" had just shown but hadn't even had a chance to play yet!

However, just as the [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] shattered, a gem reformed on John's back row, and John said in a mysterious tone, "I can't use the effects of Field Spell Cards... So what?"

"Unlike when I activated [Rainbow Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins], [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] was destroyed instead of sent to the Graveyard. Also, because my Spell & Trap Zone had an empty slot after I removed the first [Jade Miracle], [Jade Beast - Jade Pegasus] can be placed in my Spell & Trap Zone as a Continuous Spell Card using its own effect..."