By the time the dorm room door closed, the sky outside had already grown dark.
Bastion Misawa occupied one corner of the desk, with three sets of dueling reference materials spread before him, today's class notes to his left, and a diagram of a Deck's operations covered in arrows to his right.
A line was written in the very center of the diagram.
[Analysis of the reasons for Sōsuke Takahashi's defeat]
Yūki hung up his jacket and glanced over as he passed.
Three reasons were listed neatly: interruption of hand resources, a locked Draw Phase, and monster banishment causing a Continuous Spell to lose its target.
At the very bottom was another entry, only half written.
[How to maintain the ability to counterattack with an empty hand]
"I could understand Takahashi himself going back to study this, but why are you studying it too?"
Bastion did not even look up, his pen still moving across the paper.
"His defeat makes a valuable reference. Most freshmen's builds only account for the field and hand, while their Graveyard resources often rely on monsters being destroyed normally."
"Your Karma Cut bypassed that route, and Yata-Garasu cut off replenishment through drawing. With those two elements combined, a traditional Machine build would struggle to get going again."
He adjusted his glasses and finally looked up.
"I'm wondering whether it's possible to design a Deck that can keep functioning after its hand has been stripped."
"If the theory holds, Takahashi's preparations for a rematch might actually give you trouble."
"You sound like you're helping him prepare."
"I'm merely refining my data."
Bastion said it with complete confidence.
"Besides, you have several Decks. Even if he completes a build that counters hand destruction, once you switch to another Deck, he'll have to recalculate his countermeasures."
Yūki was