Yugioh Card Summoner

CH.553 Deck Master Tournament, part 8

Time for the second duel of our match, and admittedly, I’m a bit nervous. Last duel went quite well for me, until Master Seal just fucked me, so I really don’t want a repeat.

So let’s channel all of my protagonists … actually, I’m still the antagonist in these tournaments. So let’s channel all of my antagonist powers to make my opening hand a good one.

… Okay, a better one than last duel. Also, I’m going first this time.

So let’s get to the duel. We drew our opening hands, I looked over mine and it was nice. I can work with it.

“I’ll start with Painful Choice. I’ll pick five cards from my deck, reveal them to you, then you pick one of them to add to my hand, the others go to my graveyard.” I explained. 

I then picked five Venoms from my deck, three Venom Boas and two Venom Cobras.

“... take one of the Boas.” Indigo decided, so I added a Venom Boa to hand and sent the others to the GY.

“I can work with that. I’ll use my deck master’s ability.” I announced. “By sending three Reptile-Type monsters from my hand to the grave, the Boa you gave me as well as two Venom Snakes, I can special summon Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes. Then I can set Rise of the Snake Deity from my deck.”

“And as you know, Vennominon gains 500 attack for each Reptile in my graveyard. I have seven, so he has 3500 attack and because of my deck master, it gains a Venom Counter.” I reminded everyone. “I’ll then set two cards face down and end my turn.” 

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“My turn then. I draw.” Indigo started her turn. “I’ll set a monster and three cards face down. That is all.”

“Not quite. I’ll activate my trap, Offering to the Snake Deity.” I declared. “With it, I can target a face up Reptile I control, and two cards you control, and I can destroy all three. So my Vennominon, your face down monster, and one of your face down cards are destroyed.”

With my card, I hit Indigo’s Test Ape and Defensive Tactics.

“And since Vennominon was destroyed, I can activate two cards. Snake Whistle and Rise of the Snake Deity. With Snake Whistle, I can summon a level 4 or lower Reptile type monster from my deck, and I’m summoning Venom Serpent. And with Rise of the Snake Deity I’m summoning Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes.”

“And my Vennominaga gains 500 attack for each Reptile in my GY. I have eight, so Vennominaga has 4000 attack. And because of my deck master, all Venom monsters I control gain 500 attack points for each Venom Counter on them. My Venom Serpent has 1 Venom Counter, so it gains 500 attack.”

“... I end my turn.” Indigo ended her turn.

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“My turn then. I draw.” I started my turn. “And I’ll play Terraforming to search my deck for Venom Swamp. And then I’ll activate Venom Swamp.”

“I’ll then use Venom Serpent's effect. I can place a Venom Counter on a face up monster, and I’ll place it on Venom Serpent itself. And because I did, Venom Serpent gains an extra 500 attack.”

“Now we battle. Venom Serpent, attack directly.” I started my battle phase. I was honestly expecting a response, but Indigo didn’t seem to have any, as my attack went through and she took 2000 damage.

“Vennominaga, attack her directly.” Again, my attack went through and Indigo took 4000 damage. “When Vennominaga inflicts battle damage, one Hyper-Venom Counter is inflicted on you.” I informed everyone. “When three Hyper-Venom Counters are on you, you lose the duel. But we won’t get there.”

“Because I’m summoning my deck master, Vennominagant the Saintess of Poisonous Snakes. And as you might remember, Vennominagant gains 500 attack for each Venom monster in my GY, and gains 500 more for each Venom Counter on my field. I have 7 Venoms in my GY and 3 Venom Counters on my field, so that is 5000 attack.”

“Vennominagant, attack her directly and end this.”

Indigo didn’t bother summoning Test Tiger to defend, as she would lose anyway, so the attack went through and I won the second duel.

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“So, which one of us will go first for the third duel?” I asked Indigo.

“... I will start.” She decided after just a bit of thought.

“As you wish. Let’s draw our cards and get to it.”

Duel 3 start.

“I’ll start with Terraforming.” Indigo began. “With it, I’m adding Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts to my hand. And I’m activating it.”

“I’m setting a monster face down, setting a face down spell or trap and ending my turn.” 

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“Alright. My turn then. I draw.” I started my turn. “And I think I’ll mimic you a bit. I’m playing Terraforming and with it, I’m adding Venom Swamp to my hand. And then I’m activating Venom Swamp.”

“Next, I’m playing Slithering Reptilecustom card. With it, I can add one level 4 or lower Reptile from my deck to my hand, and I think I’m adding Venom Serpent. I’ll then summon Venom Serpent. And because of my deck master, not only does my Serpent gain a Venom Counter, it also gains 500 attack. I’ll then use Venom Serpent’s effect to give it another Venom Counter, so it gains 500 more attack for a total of 2000.”

“And I think I’ll use all of that attack to destroy your face down monster. So Venom Serpent, attack!”

“You might attack, but you aren’t destroying anything!” Indigo exclaimed. “My face down monster is Gladiator Beast Hoplomus with 2100 defense. That is more than your snake’s attack.” 

The armored rhino just stood up to my Serpent's attack, swatting it away like it was a worthless snake and I took 100 damage.

“... Not bad.” I admitted.

“And it gets better. Since my Hoplomus doesn’t have a Venom Counter, it has its effect. Which means I can return it to my deck with Test Tiger, and then I’ll summon a different Gladiator Beast to take its place. I’m summoning Gladiator Beast Dimacari.”

“And because a monster was summoned from the deck, my field spell gains a counter, and all my Gladiator Beast monsters gain 100 attack for each counter on it.”

“But because of my deck master, Dimacari gets a Venom Counter. Which not only negates its effect, but because of Venom Swamp, it loses 500 attack for each counter on it.”

“For now.” Indigo said.

“Well, I’ll set a card and end my turn. And during my end phase, Venom Swamp places a Venom Counter onto each face up monster.” I called my turn to an end.

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“My turn, I draw.” Indigo began her turn. “And I’m activating Forbidden Lance and targeting my Dimacari with it. Sure Dimacari will lose 800 attack, but he will also be unaffected by other Spell and Trap effects. That includes Venom Swamp and your deck master.” 

“And since its effect isn’t negated, I can return Dimacari to my deck so I can special summon Gladiator Beast Alexander. And since Alexander was summoned by Dimacari’s effect, he is unaffected by Spell cards, so both your deck master and Venom Swamp can’t touch him.”

“Sure, but your Field Spell can’t boost his attack either, so my Venom Serpent is stronger.” I reminded her.

“Maybe. I’m playing my Trap, Double Tag Team. Since I special summoned a Gladiator Beast, I can now special summon another one from my deck or hand. And I’m summoning Gladiator Beast Laquari.”

“And now Laquari gains a Venom Counter and loses 500 attack.” I noted.

“And my Field Spell gains a counter.” Indigo noted. “I’ll normal summon Gladiator Beast Murmillo.”

“Again, Venom Counter.” I noted as my deck master shot a blue snake at Murmillo.

“But those will now disappear, because I’m fusing together my three Gladiator Beasts to summon Gladiator Beast Heraklinos!”

“And because it was summoned, it gains a Venom Counter and loses 500 attack.”

“But because of the three counters on Colosseum - Cage of the Gladiator Beasts, it gains 300 more. So it has 2800 attack, which is more than your snake.”

“So I’m attacking it with my Heraklinos.” Indigo declared her attack.

“Before you do, I’m activating my set Trap, Damage equals Reptile. So now when I take battle damage, I can special summon a Reptile from my deck with attack less than or equal to the damage I took.”

My Venom Serpent was then destroyed and I took 300 damage.

“I took 300 damage, so I’ll special summon Venom Cobra in defense mode. And since a monster was summoned, it gets a Venom Counter.”

“And because a monster was summoned from the deck, my Field Spell gains a counter.” Indigo added. “Which means my Heraklinos gains an extra 100 attack.”

“I’ll then set a card and end my turn.” Indigo ended her turn.

“And during the End Phase, all monsters gain a Venom Counter.”

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“My turn then. I draw.” I began my turn. “And I’m sending three Reptiles to my graveyard to activate the effect of my Deck Master. So the Venom Cobra on my field, the Venom Cobra in my hand, and the Venom Boa in my hand to to the GY, so I can special summon Vennominon the King of Poisonous from my deck. And I can also set Rise of the Snake Deity from my deck.”

“Vennominon gains 500 attack for each Reptile in my grave. I have four, so that is 2000 attack.”

“But my Heraklinos is stronger. And because you summoned a monster from the deck, my field spell gains a counter, and Heraklinos gains 100 more attack.” Indigo reminded me.

“True, but that won’t be true for long, because once I end my turn, Venom Swamp will infect your monster with another Venom Counter, and our monsters’ attacks will be equal. So I’ll end my turn.” 

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“My turn. I draw.” Indigo began her turn. “I’ll go straight to my battle phase. Heraklinos, attack Vennominon.” 

I couldn’t counter the attack, so I just let it come through. Both Heraklinos and Vennominon were destroyed, and since I took no battle damage, I couldn’t summon anything with Damage = Reptile. But unlike you might have expected, I didn’t use Vennominon’s effect to resurrect him from the GY, as I had a different plan for him.

“I’ll set a monster and end my turn.” Indigo ended her turn.

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“Alright. My turn.” I drew a card. “I’ll activate Viper's Rebirth. Since I have only Reptile-type monsters in my grave, I can summon a Reptile from my grave, but it is destroyed during the end phase. So I’m summoning back Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes.”

“Now battle. Vennominon, attack the face down monster.” I declared an attack.

“It is Test Ape. And when it is destroyed by battle, I can special summon a Gladiator Beast from my deck. And I’m summoning Gladiator Beast Laquari. And since a monster was summoned from the deck, my Field Spell gains a counter.”

“And Laquari gains a Venom Counter.” I said. “And I think I’ll end my turn. And since I am, Vennominon the King of Poisonous Snakes, which was summoned by Viper's Rebirth, is now destroyed.

Which lets me activate Rise of the Snake Deity so I can summon Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes. Vennominaga gains 500 attack for each Reptile in my grave, and I have five. So Vennominaga has a total of 2500 attack.”

“Also, because of Venom Swamp, all monsters gain a Venom Counter.”

“But because your Vennominaga was summoned from the deck, my Field Spell gets a counter.” Indigo added.

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“My turn, I draw.” Indigo began her turn. “... I’ll just set one card face down and end my turn.”

“And all monsters gain Venom Counters.” I said.

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“It's my turn then, I draw.” I began my turn. “And I’m playing Slithering Reptile to add Venom Serpent to my hand. And then I’m summoning my Venom Serpent. And since I did, it gains a Venom Counter. I use Venom Serpent’s effect to give it a second Venom Counter. And because of my deck master, Venom Serpent gains 500 attack for each.”

“Now battle. Vennominaga, attack Laquari.”

“Not so fast. I’ll use my set card, Defensive Tactics.” Indigo said. “For the rest of the turn, I take no battle damage and my Gladiator Beasts cannot be destroyed by battle.”

So despite Vennominaga hitting Laquari hard, Laquari lived to tell the tale.

“... I guess I’ll set a card and end my turn.” I ended my turn. “All monsters gain a Venom Counter because of Venom Swamp.”

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“My turn then. I draw.” Indigo began her turn. “And I’ll start off with my set card, Master Seal. Your deck masters abilities are negated until the end of your next turn.”

“Oh shit. Here we go again.” I just had to say that, despite not knowing what Indigo will really do with this advantage. “Before you get to anything, I’m activating my trap card, Venom Burn. I’ll remove the Venom Counters on Laquari and you’ll take 700 damage for each. Laquari has 4 counters, so that is 2800 damage.”

“... that wasn’t nice. I’m returning Laquari to my deck and I’ll summon Gladiator Beast Murmillo to take its place. With Murmillo, I’m destroying your Venom Serpent.”

“But since there is a new Reptile in my GY, Vennominaga gains 500 more attack.” I reminded her.

“True. I’ll activate Gladiator Proving Ground. I’m adding Gladiator Beast Bestiari to my hand. And I’ll normal summon Bestiari.”

“I’m fusing together Bestiari and Murmillo to summon Gladiator Beast Gyzarus. With Gyzarus, I’m destroying your Damage equals Reptile and Venom Swamp.”

“I’ll then return Gyzarus to my extra deck, and I’m summoning Hoplomus and Darius. Since I summoned Darius with the effect of a Gladiator Beast monster, I can target a Gladiator Beast in my graveyard and special summon it. So return, Heraklinos.”

“I’ll then return Hoplomus to my deck so I can special summon Gladiator Beast Spartacus. And when Spartacus is summoned by Hoplomus, I can add a Gladiator Beast Equip Spell from my deck to my hand, and I’m adding Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield and I’ll equip to it my Darius.”Note: Because Heraklinos needs Darius to stay on the field, Indigo is giving Darius extra defense.

“Now battle. Heraklinos(4100 ATK), attack Vennominaga(3000 ATK).” Indigo declared an attack. I couldn’t do anything about it, so Vennominaga was destroyed and I took 1100 damage.

“Since Vennominaga was destroyed, I can remove from play 1 Reptile in my graveyard to summon her back. I’m banishing Venom Cobra, so return Vennominaga.” I declared.

“But it is now weaker. Spartacus(3300), attack Vennominaga(2500).” Again, Vennominaga was destroyed and again I brough it back. This time by banishing Venom Boa. And I also took 800 damage.

Then Indigo attacked with Darius(2800), and again, Vennominaga(2000), was destroyed, but once again, by banishing a Reptile, my other Venom Cobra, I brought it back. 

“I’ll end my turn.” Indigo ended her turn.

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“My turn then.” I began my turn. “I draw.” Luckily, with what I have in hand and what I just drew I should be able to get out of this mess.

“I’ll start with Venom Reskinningcustom card. With it, I can return any number of banished Reptile Type monsters to my graveyard and for every Venom monster returned by this effect, I can place a Venom Counter onto a face up monster on the field. I'm returning the Venom Boa and two Venom Cobras and I’ll place three Venom Counters onto my Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes. And since three Reptiles returned to my graveyard, Vennominaga gains 1500 attack.”

“That isn’t enough.”

“Maybe. Maybe.” I admitted. “But it doesn’t have to be. I play Venom Drawcustom card.” I continued. “For each Venom Counter on the field, I draw a card. There are three, so I draw three cards.”

“Next, I’ll activate Painful Choice. So I’ll reveal 5 cards from my deck and you’ll add one of them to my hand.”

What I revealed was 2 copies of Master Seal, 2 copies of Snake Deity's Enticementcustom card and one copy of Offering to the Snake Deity.

After reading over Snake Deity's Enticement, which has 2 effects that I’ll get to in a bit, Indigo let me add one of them to my hand.

“Before you can banish a Master Seal, I’ll use my Test Tiger.” Indigo declared. “I’m returning Spartacus to my deck so I can summon Octavius to take its place. And my Field Spell gains a counter.

“Yes. But since you started a chain, it gives me an opportunity to start one of my own. So I’m banishing a copy of Master Seal from my graveyard so that your deck master’s effects are negated until the end of this turn. And since you can no longer use Test Tiger, the monsters you have are what you will have to work with.” 

“But the only one your Vennominaga can attack over is Darius, and my Darius has a shield defending him, so I’m not worried.”

“Maybe for now. But I still have cards in hand. Like this one, Snake Rain. By discarding my Snake Deity's Enticement, I can now send four Reptiles from my deck to my graveyard. I’m sending a Venom Cobra, a Venom Snake and two Venom Boas. And with four new Reptiles in my graveyard, Vennominaga gains 2000 more attack for a total of 5000.”

“Now battle. Vennominaga(5000), attack Gladiator Beast Heraklinos(4200).” I declared my attack. It went through just fine, Heraklinos was destroyed and Indigo took 800 damage. “And since you took battle damage from Vennominaga, a Hyper-Venom Counter is attached to you.”

“... just end it.” Indigo said, clearly having realized that she had lost.

“You don’t have to order me to do that. I would have done it anyway.” I told her. “I’ll banish Snake Deity's Enticement from my graveyard to activate its effect. I can target a monster you control and force it to attack a Reptile-Type monster I control. So Octavius(3700), attack Vennominaga(5000).”

That is one of the two effects of Snake Deity's Enticement. The other one is the effect you can use if you have it set face down. You activate it during your opponent’s Main Phase and it immediately starts your opponent’s battle phase, turns all of their monsters to attack position, and then your opponent must attack with each monster. Quite a nice card if I do say so myself, but you do have to control a Vennomi monster to activate either of its effects.

But back to the battle. Octavius was destroyed, Indigo took 1300 damage, and another Hyper-Venom Counter was attached to her.

“Now I’ll banish my other Snake Deity's Enticement. So Darius, why don’t you be a dear and attack Vennominaga for me.”

Darius, thanks to all the counters on Cage of the Gladiator Beasts, had 2900 attack, so Indigo took 2100 damage. But thanks to Gladiator Beast's Battle Archfiend Shield, Darius was not destroyed, instead the shield was.

That left Indigo with 1000 life points, but it doesn’t matter. 

“Because there are three Hyper-Venom Counters on you, and I control Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes, I win.” I told her. 

And like that, the vs. creator match of the Deck Master tournament came to an end with me the winner.