Understanding Anime-Style Deck Building

[Onizuka Genichiro, LP 0]

The final attack ended, taking all of his remaining Life Points, and in the Dark Duel he himself initiated, it also marked the true end of the Duelist's life.

At this moment, he couldn't even feel the pain brought by the impact of the Dark Duel.

Because he had already begun to lose all sensation in his physical body.

Just moments ago in the Duel, he had boasted, saying that being caught by him was the opponent's lifelong misfortune.

Looking at it now, whose misfortune was it, really?

This young man was strong, but he felt different from the strong individuals he had encountered before.

How to put it... it was as if...

...as if his understanding of Duels was completely different from everyone else's.

This was also the first time Genichiro had ever had such a thought after finishing a card game with someone—

—Duels are so hard.

Defeated, Genichiro collapsed onto the ground, his body enveloped in a layer of golden light before dispersing into light particles and vanishing.

Just like the people who lost and perished in the GX Different Dimension arc.

Kira took a sharp breath.

Good heavens, Dark Duels really are dangerous. It's terrifying to be turned to dust when you lose.

Thankfully, he was more skilled.

However, in his opinion, this person's K Language level seemed less than beginner. For someone so weak to be a Dark Duelist? It was a miracle he had survived this long gambling with his life.

No.

Kira realized he was still carrying the inertia of his past life's thinking.

He couldn't think like that. In this world, a Duelist's strength still depended more on Divine Draw; K Language interpretation might just be a minor detail.

Hmm, it truly is a dangerous world. One can't relax for a moment.

He still needed to collect more powerful cards. Improving strength was the way to go.

For example, starting with what was right in front of him.

Kira walked forward, bent down, and picked up the Duel Disk that the deceased Genichiro had dropped on the ground.

Since the person was gone, the Deck naturally became ownerless.

So Kira said solemnly, "That was a good Duel. Rest in peace, buddy. I'll inherit your Deck and your will."

As he spoke, he tucked the Deck into his pocket.

As he left, he felt a chill down his spine, as if a cold wind had blown past.

The next morning.

Sunlight gently spilled onto the floor through the gap in the curtains. Kira groggily opened his heavy eyelids, his blurry vision struggling to focus.

He seemed to see... a girl?

With silver hair flowing, holding a staff in one hand and covering her mouth with the other, half of her spirit form body had phased through him as he lay in bed. She was peering over furtively with bright eyes, as if examining him.

However, the moment he opened his eyes, a "!" seemed to pop up above the girl's head. She instantly turned around and darted back into the Deck inside the Duel Disk leaning against the table, becoming still.

Kira: "."

After the struggle and their initial collaboration last night, Kira understood that the Silent girl wasn't deliberately targeting him or refusing to acknowledge him as her master; she was simply "silent."

In other words, introverted.

Well, as the saying goes, like master, like servant. It seemed quite reasonable for the Duel Monster Spirit of an introverted player to be introverted.

Regardless, she had indeed helped during the encounter last night. It was clear that going out in the World of Yu-Gi-Oh! without a powerful card or a spirit by his side was simply too dangerous.

Moreover, he wasn't sure if it was psychological, but he felt that during the life-gambling Duel yesterday, with Silent Magician in the Deck, something indeed felt different compared to previous Duels.

It was a feeling difficult to describe clearly. But it was like when he touched his Deck, or in the instant he drew a card, he could faintly sense a certain rhythm.

It was as if before, his Deck, just like his Duel Disk, was merely a tool for Dueling.

But in that one Duel, it was his first time having the illusion that the "Deck seemed to have come alive."

Of course, this feeling was quite metaphysical, and the possibility of him overthinking it couldn't be ruled out.

"No matter what, I still need to get stronger."

The sudden life-gambling Duel made Kira realize once again the importance of being good at Dueling in this world. It was far more reliable than carrying an arsenal of weapons.

And as he reviewed his recent consecutive battles, he also gained some new insights.

From a card player's perspective, many Anime characters' Decks often elicit surprise—how do they manage to make systems that brick so often actually work?

But if you look at their Decks from the perspective of certain "seafood head" players who "will never brick no matter the system," you'll find a similar characteristic.

That is, they are stuffed with things that are utterly ☆meaning☆less (crossed out)

That is, they have solutions in their Deck for almost any situation they face.

In reality, decks usually aim for stability and efficiency, but even top-tier meta decks can occasionally run into situations where the entire Deck just can't get past a certain board state.

That is, when facing a particular board or a specific situation, you know clearly that no matter which card you draw from your Deck Building, none of them can out the current board.

Such situations are rare, and even if you encounter one and just surrender, it doesn't affect a meta deck's standing. But it's different in this world.

Dark Duels are one-shot; winning means life, losing means death. There's no chance to surrender and try again.

So, some decks that look like they're stuffed with seemingly pointless cards actually achieve the goal of having "almost no board state they can't out."

Similarly, in reality, Deck Building usually aims for exactly forty cards, keeping it as lean as possible to minimize bricking and maximize operational efficiency. But in this world, sixty-card decks are the norm. No, it even seems the maximum deck size in this world might exceed sixty cards.

Because more cards represent more possibilities.

But this is all built upon the foundation of "never bricking."

Therefore, only top-tier Duelists have the ability to pilot such a system, even mixing four or five completely different archetypes into one Deck, like Yugi and Kaiba do, yet never bricking. It feels as if they're Dueling with four or five separate Decks simultaneously.

When truly out of options, drawing a card that isn't even in their Deck might not be impossible.

However, ordinary people without that strength who blindly imitate the builds and tactics of these top players, all running decks starting at sixty cards, will naturally get worse and worse, and brick more and more. This leads to the bizarre environment where the polarization between experts and the grassroots becomes increasingly severe.

And so, Kira felt he had another epiphany.

While The Netherworld style is powerful, relying solely on it won't get you far in this world. His current opponents can be handled just by Deck Building, but in the future, he'll need to expand upon this foundation with more varied styles and tactics.

Deck Building is very important, and Divine Draw and bonds are also very important. Both hands must be grasped, and both hands must be strong.

Playing cards recently, besides making Kira realize the Anime's deck environment is different, he also discovered many other areas that aren't quite like what he's used to.

He hadn't thought about it closely when watching the Anime before, but now that he's personally transmigrated and Dueling, he realizes that, just as the Anime depicts, Duelists here don't actively give you a chance to chain after activating an effect.

If it were according to the rules Kira was familiar with in his previous life, many times after activating an effect, you would need to give the opponent time and ask if they want to chain. Only after all cards in that chain have been activated by both players would the effects resolve in order.

Unless the opponent says "no response, quick play" or "GKD," you wouldn't just start happily Comboing Off without restraint.

But here, there's no such thing. Whether in the Anime or among the Duelists Kira has personally encountered, after activating an effect, they immediately start resolving it on their own, completely lacking that awareness.

However, he quickly realized that this doesn't actually matter much, because the rules for chaining timing during a Duel aren't that strict either. Even if the opponent has already started resolving the current card's effect on their own, it won't prevent you from activating your chained effect at the correct timing. You can still interrupt the opponent's action and follow up with your own effect.

This is only natural. Otherwise, wouldn't it just turn into a situation where whoever talks faster can snatch the timing and prevent the opponent from playing?

And this isn't due to incomplete rules in the early Anime; it's the same even in later series that already followed the real card game rules.

From an Anime production perspective, one can only speculate that perhaps the production team decided that the dramatic effect of the Anime's presentation was more important than strictly adhering to the rules. Because if everyone rigorously followed the rules, activating all cards and then resolving them one by one, it might affect the presentation of some reversal designs.

Although such operations are non-compliant from a realistic perspective, generally speaking, even in the Anime, it's just a visual effect and usually doesn't impact the game state.

Last night, Kira further discovered that playing cards is indeed physically demanding. The Duel Academy sports teacher even emphasized that you can't play cards well without a good physique. Back then, Kira thought it was a bit funny, but now he's starting to grasp the meaning behind it.

Especially the life-or-death Duel last night, it was truly mentally and physically exhausting. He didn't feel it while playing, but after returning, he felt completely drained, not wanting to think about anything but just collapsing into sleep.

Only after waking up did he feel refreshed, his brain back online and working again.

Winning that match yesterday also brought significant gains. That Onizuka Genichiro was, after all, a Dark Duelist who lived dangerously. His Deck seemed quite valuable. Kira estimated that even if he couldn't use some of the cards, they could fetch a good price on the market, enough to sell and trade for what he wanted.

And the most important gain, undoubtedly, was that Anime effect version of "Card of Demise."

An artifact that instantly draws five cards to fill your hand, with only a comical side effect like "discard your hand after five turns" which feels like mocking the opponent to their face. Cards like Archfiend's Manifestation suddenly became trash.

It's a shame there's only one copy. Kira even thought how wonderful it would be if he could have three of these things...

What also greatly fascinated him were the other two cards from the DM Three Sacred Treasures of Cards, along with Card of Demise: "Card of Fate" and "Card of Sanctity."

Card of Fate belonged to Joey. It basically involved rolling a die, drawing cards equal to the result, and then banishing that many cards from the top of your Deck. It was also an overpowered god card, but besides Joey, he hadn't seen anyone else use it in the Anime, and it had become extinct by the GX era.

Card of Sanctity belonged to Yugi. Both players draw until they have six cards in hand, a super god-tier killer card. This one, besides Yugi, was used by quite a few others in DM and was considered a versatile card. It even appeared in the GX era. But Kira hasn't seen it on the market yet.

The DM Three Sacred Treasures of Cards, I want them all so badly...

And now, the biggest hope lies in that promising path called "Duel Academy."

Rumors outside say that once you enter the Academy, it's a completely different world. A massive number of rare cards that ordinary Duelists can't even imagine, and an online purchase method rumored to have "everything."

It's already close at hand.

In just three days, held at Kaiba Land, is the annual Duel Academy entrance exam.

I must pass.