Aarikku
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Ancient Cardgame Master
Joined: 13 Aug 2007
Posts: 1231
Location: A Mountain Dojo
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 Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:50 pm Post subject: Chapter 2: A Man and his Frogs |
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Shmod
Chapter Two
“Well done.” Kyle clapped his hand on Tyson’s shoulder. “8500 ATK – beautiful.”
“Heh. What can I say? It was a good game.” Tyson shrugged, feigning modesty. “Where’d Luke go?”
“Your brother?” Linlan wondered. “He’s at the counter. I think he’s looking up the price of Sigma Dragon.”
“I just wanted to figure out how he got here. I guess Mom and or Dad got home just after I left.”
“The next game will be… Ferali Shaton versus Jack Liam!” The shopkeep called, before retiring to the counter.
“So, what now?” Linlan wondered as the three of them sat at a table. “We signed up early, so our names won’t get called for a while.”
“We could continue our practice game,” Kyle suggested.
“Oi, this seat taken?” A tall kid with blue hair inquired, gesturing at the fourth seat of their table. Each of the three shook their heads. “Hey, were you the guy who just played?” He asked, looking at Tyson.
“Yeah.”
“That was incredible! Three Noble Dragons in one game – man. I’m Kevin Anderson, by the way.” He shook all their hands, introducing and being introduced one by one.
“We were just about to have a practice game,” Kyle began. “Care to join in?”
“Certainly.” Kevin nodded.
“Ugh – triangle game? I’d rather watch, if that’s all right.” Linlan shook her head. “I always get ganged up on.”
“Well, then it’s down to you and me.” Kyle declared, looking Kevin in the eye. They shuffled their decks and cut each other’s, and each placed a massive Fusion deck on the table.
A flip of a quarter determined that Kyle began. “To start things off, I’ll Charge Living Lunch and tap it for Replenish. A happy two cards for me.”
“This game’s a lot faster without the 3D.” Tyson commented. “But I think I liked it better.”
“Living Lunch to Replenish. A very fine manoeuvre. Living Lunch provides an endless source of limit-free Mana for your Elements, and Replenish means that you’ll have a hand advantage over me.”
“How did you know I used Elements?”
“Your Fusion deck. It’s bigger than your deck! Either it’s full of Elements, or… actually, it’s got to be full of Elements. My go!” Kevin drew. “I’ll charge Serus, and tap it to play Giant Tadpole!” (1800 ATK)
“A tadpole?” Kevin checked the Replenish in his graveyard. “Hm… no match.”
“You should keep more of an eye on the field. My tadpole will attack!” (Kevin: 9 Life)
“So, analyzing McGee, why such a bland move?”
“Bland? Elements have an ATK of 1700 and a DEF of 1500. No matter what mode you play yours in, my tadpole will be able to destroy them.”
“Interesting.” Kevin picked up a card. “However, you seem to be forgetting the wonders of Fusion!” He tapped his Lunch immediately to fuse Water Element with Earth Element. “For Mud Element! Not the most aesthetic creature, but 2400 ATK is nothing to scoff at. I’ll attack!”
“C'est la vie.” (Kevin: 9 Life) “My go! I’ll charge my 4-Legged 1, and tap one for Orange Striped Tadpole (1400/200), and the other Mana for Spectre Tadpole (1000/1000)! Both in defence mode.”
“Weak.” Kyle taunted. “Let’s see… that Spectre Tadpole can negate one attack a turn against it. So, I’ll attack Orange Striped Tadpole!”
“Unfortunately for you, my Orange Striped Tadpole can redirect attacks towards another Tadpole I control. Thus, I redirect your slimeball’s attack to Spectre Tadpole, where it is negated.”
“Well played. I’ll charge a Cancel Trap, and set a card.”
“All right. I’ll charge an extra Giant Tadpole. Next, I tap one for Frog Pond!” Kevin played an obviously treasured Field Spell. “It may be a Level Two, but I can play it for 1 Mana if I control a Tadpole. Once per turn, I can transform a Tadpole, and then tap (1) to transform an extra one. So, I’ll transform Orange Striped Tadpole into Fire-Bellied Toad!”
“Wait, wait, wait. What’s with all this Transforming business?” Tyson asked.
“Ah, you’re unfamiliar with it? I shall explain.” Kevin cleared his throat, sounding much like one of his prized frogs. “Transforming is a mechanic much like Fusion in which monsters are sacrificed in order to play stronger ones from the Fusion or Transformation deck. With Fusion, two or more monsters are required, but only one monster is needed to Transform. That makes it more cost-friendly!”
“Spare me the advertisements. What’s Fire-Bellied Toad do?” Kyle wondered.
“It’s got 2200 ATK, which is important as it’s in attack mode. Completely unlike Orange-Striped Tadpole, Fire-Bellied Toad can actually breathe fire. I.e, by tapping 1, I can destroy a monster whose Level is equal to or less than the number of Frogs I control.” Kevin pointed dramatically at Mud Element. “It’s Level Two, which means that I’ll have to transform my Spectre Tadpole. So I shall, by tapping 1, transform Spectre Tadpole into Ghost Frog. 2300 ATK, and I can tap (1) to negate all attacks against frogs or tadpoles for the rest of the turn. Now!” Kevin tapped his final Mana to destroy Mud Element, and then attacked directly with his frogs. (Kyle: 7 Life)
“Impressive.” Linlan commented quietly.
“Yeah, well, so is this!” Kyle decided. “I charge a second Living Lunch, and tap it and that Cancel Trap for Tetra Magnet, letting me revive an Element. It’s normally a Level One, but now I can select a Fusion instead! I choose Mud Element. And I’ll use Elemental Fissure, which becomes a Level Zero card if I’m fissuring my own Fusion monster. Now, Mud Element splits into Water and Earth Elements.” Kevin’s head leaned to a side as he tried to calculate Kyle’s next move. “Next, I tap my last Mana for Fusion Technique, and combine those two Elements with Fire and Air, here in my hand. This lets me play Tetra Element, at 3700 ATK!”
“Interesting.”
“I’ll attack your Ghost Frog!”
“Alas; I’m out of Mana to block.” Kevin sighed. (Kevin: 8 Life)
“Go for it.”
“I’ll charge an Orange-Striped Tadpole. Next, I tap 2 for Croaking Chorus. Here’s how it works. I select a Transformation Frog I control. Namely, Fire-Bellied Toad. Then I can play another copy of that card.” And Kevin did. “It’ll be in Defence mode, and I’ll put the original Toad on Defence as well. Next, I’ll play, again for 2 Mana, Croaking Crescendo! It inflicts damage to you equal to the number of copies of a selected Transformation Frog I control, plus one. So, three damage to you! I have to skip my Battle Phase, though.” (Kyle: 5 Life)
“Not the best use of four Mana I’ve ever seen. My turn?” Kyle asked impatiently.
“Who said I was done? I charge Crystalline Tadpole via its effect – all it needs is Frog Pond in play. Now, I’ll tap it for Tadpole Flute!”
“Flute?” Tyson inquired.
“It’s a nice one. I can skip my Draw Phase to add a Tadpole from my deck to my hand. Your go.”
“For someone criticizing me about using too many cards, you just used four.” Kyle shook his head and drew. “Sweet. Meet Metal Element!” Kyle said, tapping his Lunch and Cancel Trap. “It’s at 2000, but gains 300 ATK for each Element on the field. That’s 2600 points in total!”
“Not bad.”
“I’ll have my two Elements attack your toads!” They were both vanquished.
“This game’s getting tight! I’ll use my Tadpole Flute. Good bye Draw Phase, hello Giant Tadpole!”
“You’ve used two of those already! Why do you need another?”
“Because this time, I can transform it. I tap 1 for Giant Tadpole, and use Frog Pond to turn it into Majestic Bullfrog!” (3100 ATK)
“Still not as strong as Tetra Element.”
“Not yet. But now, I play, for 1 Mana, Croaking Scale! This is an awesome Spell. My frog gains 800 ATK. And best of all, the Attack Boost is permanent.”
“3900? Crap!”
“Majestic Bullfrog, take out that Tetra Element!” And it was so. (Kyle: 4 Life)
“You destroyed my Tetra Element…” Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “Prepare to die. Its effect activates, playing all four Elements back to my side of the field!”
“What?”
“You didn’t calculate that? Calculate this – Metal Element still gains 300 ATK for each one.”
“Okay. 3500.”
Kyle stopped to calculate it himself. “Oh yeah.” He sighed. “Not a problem.”
“Your turn. Enjoy.”
“I will! I play everyone’s favourite card – Fusion Technique!”
“Ever consider playing a card that’s not Fusion Technique?”
“Such as Volcano Element?” Kyle pushed Fire and Earth Element into the discard pile. “When Volcano Element comes into play, I can destroy a monster you control. Au revoir, Bullfrog! Now for the attacking!” (Kevin: 3 Life) “You’re up.”
“Okay. Perhaps I underestimated you a bit. But check this out! Thanks to Tadpole Flute, I’ll search, then tap 1 for, my star card! Arch-Tadpole, who I transform with Frog Pond into Wicked Frog!” (2200 ATK)
“I’ve seen better.”
“Have you? Wicked Frog gains 300 ATK for each Frog and Tadpole in the Graveyard. Giant Tadpole, Orange-Striped Tadpole, Spectre Tadpole, Ghost Frog, two Fire-Bellied Toads, Giant Tadpole again, Majestic Bullfrog and finally, Arch-Tadpole. Your sacrifices have not been forgotten. Wicked Frog gains 2700 ATK, putting it to 4900! I’ll attack Metal Element!” (Kyle: 3 Life) “Let’s see you get out of this!”
“No problem!” Kyle drew. “This is the closest game I’ve ever played. I’ll – ”
“The next match will be Kevin Anderson versus Bill O’Reilly!” The shopkeeper announced.
“We each have three life. I guess it’s a draw.”
“A draw it is.”
“I totally had that guy!” Kyle boasted; the three friends looking over Kyle’s half of the game. “All I had to do was play Sar-Chasm! My Volcano Element’s got 2400 ATK, so I could destroy his 2000-DEF Wicked Frog. Then, I attack for game with Volcano, Air and Water Elements.”
“I would’ve used Monster Bash!” A distant voice called.
“Was that Kevin?” Tyson asked.
“Nope. Just sounded exactly like him. I totally beat that guy.” Kyle replied quickly.
Meanwhile…
“Next, I’ll tap 2 for Croaking Chorus! You thought one Wicked Frog was bad, try out two!” Kevin declared, as the 3D screen showed two demonic, winged frogs. “Each one’s at 4000 ATK, which is more than your Tsunami Dragon. I’ll attack it, and then you, for game.”
“Kevin Anderson is the winner!” The shopkeeper announced. “And in record time, too!”
“Thank you, thank you.” Kevin bowed. The crowd applauded enthusiastically.
“Wow, they really like you!” A girl commented, as Kevin disappeared with her into the mob.
“Of course they do! I’m the frog guy. Everyone likes frogs!”
“So those other guys… what did you find out about them?” The girl wondered.
“Oh, Cassandra. Sometimes I feel like you’re just using me to analyze people. Well, you saw the guy with orange hair – Tyson. I can’t tell how good he is. Sure, he beat that emo, but it’s possible that his opponent just sucked.”
“Interesting.” Cassandra considered. “Still, card-players generally hang out with people of similar abilities. How’re the other two?”
“The other guy uses an Element deck. He’s good. Really good. I didn’t even beat him by the time my round started.”
“Wow. Your deck’s one of the fastest.”
“I know. I was surprised too. I think I might’ve been able to do it in another turn, but it’s hard to tell. The last one – the Chinese girl – I haven’t a clue. I don’t even know what kind of deck she uses.”
Just then, two people were called to the game. “Anyone we know?” Cassandra asked.
“Nope. Nor the other guys. We get to take a breather.”
Card of the Chapter is Frog Pond.
[2] Frog Pond (Spell)
Field · Transforming
If there is a Frog in play, this card’s cost becomes 1. Once per turn, either player can Transform a Tadpole. Either player can tap 1 to Transform an additional Tadpole.
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The Decktype Guide
Last edited by Aarikku on Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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