This deck will allow you to play throughout the entire game and consistently win, and it is only about 1900-2000 Deck Capacity. I built such a deck so I could keep going through the game’s story without having to safe the game and grind for hours just to make a better deck. You can get all of the Deck Capacity (DC) and Yen to build this Deck without even having to advance the game’s story by grinding lesser duelists and the Duel Computer at the very start of the game. I did as much and it only took me two to three hours to do it, even with my game crashing a few times because it is so old.
Monsters
1x Skull Knight
2x Legendary Fiend
3x Toad Master
3x Doron
3x Skelengel
3x Ancient Lamp
2x Hourglass of Life
2x Parasite Paracide
Spells & Traps
3x Invisible Wire
3x Acid Trap Hole
3x Widespread Ruin
3x Amazon Archers
3x Torrential Tribute
3x Beckon to Darkness
2x Heavy Storm
1x Pot of Greed
The deck makes the very most out of what little it can. Almost all monsters are low level and with low DC; only Ancient Lamp is the exception. Doron, Toad Master, and Ancient Lamp essentially “duplicate” by adding an extra monster on the field, with Ancient Lamp giving you La Jinn, an 1800 ATK beatstick, a very powerful and expensive monster in Sacred Cards. The purpose is to fill your field with monsters to a strong control over the field, which is so important in this game because summoning monsters is slower and harder than in the real life Yugioh card game.
Skelengel lets you draw a card to keep hand control, which is again harder to do than in real life Yugioh. Hourglass of Life lets you pump up low level monsters while Parasite Paraside transforms even your opponent’s strongest monster in a weak Parasite, but it does give up some field control to do so. Both monsters have their strengths and drawbacks, so I compromised to add 2 copies of both. Skull Knight and Legendary Fiend are tribute monsters with low DC but still quite strong.
The Spells and Traps take advantage of the rules in a way the developers may have missed; all Traps and Spells that destroy monsters have low DC. That means you can easily safeguard all your weak monsters and dispatch even your opponent’s strongest monsters with little waste of resources. You can even defeat Dark Malik without much trouble because your billion traps will destroy any monster he plays, no matter how strong it is. The only exceptions are Heavy Storm; which gets rid of Spells along with monsters, and Pot of Greed; which lets you draw more cards.
We now enter the last of Beethoven’s early piano sonatas, the sonata in Bb (Op. 22), and it is a fine and grand ending at that. It is the last sonata where Beethoven uses the conventional four-movement format of fast sonata, slow sonata, scherzo, rondo. While he did compose four-movement sonatas later in his career, they all depart from convention in form and content. The “Jagleid” sonata (in Eb, Op. 31) has no serious slow movement, the sonata in A (Op. 101) and “Hammerklavier” sonata (in Bb, Op. 106) put the scherzo movement 2nd and the slow movement 3rd. Even the sonata in Eb (Op. 27), that follows this sonata right after, follows a revised four-movement pattern, though to less effect.
I mentioned before how Beethoven’s earlier four-movement sonatas, though intricate and beautiful, were stilted and forced in some ways, as if Beethoven was still trying to teach himself how to construct the many Classical forms he inherited from Haydn, Salieri, Mozart, Clementi, and other older masters. This sonata, the sonata in Bb (Op. 22) is the last of these earlier sonatas. Beethoven, in all his later four-movement sonatas rewrites the old format to suit his purposes. The sonatas in A (Op. 101) and Bb (Op. 106) put their heavy, slow movements later so as to better lead to a great, satisfying finale. The new format levels the dramatic weight of the sonata at a climactic ending, not at the first movement, a problem Beethoven worked to solve for decades.
Allegro con brio This sonata in Bb (Op. 22) has the style of a piano concerto – like the sonata in A (Op. 1) – complete with imitations of virtuoso piano passages, orchestral accompaniment, and orchestral tuttis; all of this is most obvious in the first movement. The very main subject itself in Bb imitates a quiet orchestral beginning with softly playing snare drums, a grand statement, and a decisive half cadence. The orchestra builds up in a crescendo as two voices climb up the broken Bb chord together. The grand statement itself is made of two broken descending scales, both built on the notes A (leading tone) and G (submediant), the first ending in an imperfect authentic cadence, the second decisively landing on Bb (tonic). – However, Beethoven surprises us by writing this passage in subito piano (suddenly playing it softly) to hold us back a bit. – A second ascent, now in a full forte, takes us up the Gm broken chord, then slams down on F (dominant), ending the main subject in a half cadence. This both leaves the music open to further lines and prepares for the usual modulation to the dominant. Like in many sonatas before, Beethoven makes his main subject as complicated and dynamic as he can.
So now what? Beethoven delays us a bit with a surprising episode; he undermines his main subject by putting the rising Bb chord passage as a baseline for counterpoint. He even surprises us with harmonies; he jumps to D (mediant), then goes down the circle of 5ths like this: D-Gm-C-F-Bb. This episode concluded, Beethoven gets down to business with a straightforward modulation. Tremolos jump to C (secondary dominant), and hover there while circulating among F and Bd7, the base hums on repeated C notes the entire time, making a secondary dominant base. All this builds expectation for a firm C-F cadence, to solidly nail us to the dominant, a cadence Beethoven avoids completely by softly trailing to F.
The subordinate subject in F builds on the ascending broken tonic chord with two voices moving in parallel thirds, like the main subject; but here we have sweet woodwinds, the virtuoso flurries kept firmly in an F base (new tonic). But keeping the music this way would be boring, so Beethoven suddenly dips into D7 (submediant). The virtuoso base truly goes down a broken D7 chord, but all the D7 chord’s notes are offbeat, so it sounds like Beethoven is going down a C#7 broken chord, so you could call this section bitonal. The F# leading tone in the melody is strongly expected to resolve to Gm, but Beethoven never does so; instead he peaks his melodic arc at C (the secondary dominant) and plows down the scale to loudly land on F (the tonic). Beethoven moves down the circle of fifths again, with the general harmonic plot being D7-Gm-C-F, but he does mutate Gm to Gd and G7, which further develops the music.
We enter a second subordinate subject in F, but this time using parallel thirds to move down a broken chord. It builds a melodic arc from A to D, then breaks that pattern at the end, as Beethoven often does, to jump to G, then falls back down to the tonic. Beethoven leaps down the 3rd with harmonies with Ehd7-C7-A7, which does not resolve to F, as you would expect an Ehd7 chord to do, but prolongs the tension to resolve to Bb (subdominant). Beethoven develops the subordinate subject with a synchopated variation, but finishes it on A, not at a proper resolution. Beethoven builds a lengthy bridge with this open question in A, full of flying arpeggios and broken octave scales in the treble while an active base fills in harmonies below; something you see a pianist do in almost every piano concerto. The closing statement drops suddenly to pianissimo, a base in F (tonic) acting as a drumroll. A treble in three voices starts low but climbs higher, with many diminished progressions: Ahd7-Dm, Ad-B, Edh7-F, and Ed7-F. The diminished chords makes a darker and more mysterious tone, giving the right feel of suspense – until Beethoven suddenly goes to fortissimo! The full orchestra returns to climb up the F scale, peaking at the subdominant, and falling down the F scale to end the exposition.
Beethoven begins his development with a benign precore in F; the snare drum cell breaks into little dominant-tonic motives, and we have an orchestral tutti in F7 that emphasizes the subtonic as its highest note. It suddenly shifts gears into D7 (submediant) as it falls down. The first core is based off the rumbling, suspenseful moment of the closing statement. It starts in D7 (where the precore left off) but soon resolves to Gm, revealing the true home key. The harmonies revolve around Gm, but extends slightly through C#hd7-D cadences, in other words keeping the core suspended on the dominant. The second core is built on a solo virtuoso treble on a broken chord of dominant or leading tone, then resolving to an orchestra tutti – this time developed with parallel sixths and thirds. Thus we have these progressions as the keys keep changing: D7-G, Bd7-C.
The third core keeps this harmonic trend, but turns the treble into ascending and descending arpeggios while the base draws out a broken chord; both parts function to more definitely outline harmonies, which are now more condensed. The harmonies resolve in these progressions: Ed7-F, G7-Cm, Gbd7-F7, Bbm7-Bbd-Eb7. The retransition falls to a low, suspenseful tone; the treble keeps the arpeggios running but its top note keeps hovering over the Eb or Eh note. The base itself takes up the orchestral tutti motif, but softly and only the contrabase is involved. This way we cycle through Eb7-C7!-F7. The base motif breaks down into only the descending line, a held base note in F being a constant, which prepares for a F7-Bb cadence to return us to the home key. Beethoven transforms the downward line motif into an upward F7 scale but denies us a cadence. Instead, he suspends us on a soft, prolonged F7 chord, the top Eb note (subdominant) chosen to further soften both harmony and melodic arc.
The main subject in Bb returns with no change. The transition starting, the brief episode is slightly developed as the opening snare drum motif exchanges base and treble roles in Bb. The soft descending scale is developed as well, the melodic arc now prolonged from Ab (subtonic) to Bb (tonic); the harmonies progress in a similar fashion but using more distant progressions: B-Cm, Eba-Ab, D-Gm, Ad-Bb, Ehd7-F. The tremolo part of the transition trains its focus on Bbm (mutated tonic) rather than C. The subordinate subject repeats but all harmonies based around Bb, as do the second subordinate subject and the long bridge to the closing statement. The closing statement assumes its old character, revolving around Bb; it briefly hops to different harmonies like Ebm7 (subdominant minor) and Cm (supertonic), while we have diminished progressions thus: Ahd7 (w/Cb)-Bb, and Fhd7 (w/Cb)-Bb. The orchestra leaps into a grand tutti, the snare drum motif softly returns with a leading tone-tonic progression, and two final tutti chords.
Adagio con molto espressione The humming base chords throughout the second movement in Eb are typical of a slow movement in a piano concerto, while the movement itself is in sonata form without the repeated exposition. The main subject in Eb is built on the upward turn and a held out dissonant leaning tone, the first sentence rising: G-Ah (leading)-Bb-Bh (leading)-C (appoggiatura)-D. In essence, we move the mediant of Eb to the median of Bb7, and the harmonies in the base follow suit. The second sentence takes a different approach, built on notes a minor 3rd apart: F-Ab, F#-Ah. Beethoven then breaks the pattern to develop material, in this case using an Eb arpeggio to reach a high Bb (dominant) before falling down an arpeggio to C (submediant), the harmony drifting to Ab and Aba (subdominants both), then Fm (supertonic). Beethoven, never leaving well enough alone, hits an extra sforzando note in C, higher than the Bb high note, and finally falls to Eb. What follows is a kind of closing statement of the main subject, built on a long descending broken Eb chord, arriving to a warm and melancholy cadence in cello and base lines.
We enter a brief transition to take us to Bb, built on an abridged version of the closing statement, itself built on the rising and falling 3rd. This way the melody is built on an Eb chord: G-Bb-Eb. Now Beethoven must resolve his transition down to a Bb (dominant) note, while also modulating to that same harmony. He does so by taking his melody down a chromatic scale from Eb to Bb, while his base acts as counterpoint to guide the harmonic progression through upward chromatic cells: Ah-Bb, Eb-F. Beethoven drifts a bit to Cd7-Gm-Ebm7, but he ultimately he cadences with a diminished chord: Ed7-F7+4-Bb.
The subordinate subject is based on a descending scale of complex rhythms and small note values, with a brief stretto where the tenor takes after the soprano ceases to climb up again. First time in Bb: the subject falls from D to D two octaves below, the soprano turning upward to F (dominant). Second time in Eb7a: subject falls from D to Bb in the base, while the soprano turns upward to Bb as well. Then the melody breaks up into leading tone cells, going up the Bb chord and down the Cm chord. Beethoven augments his melody with ever smaller note values so the subordinate subject may reach its climax, and to bring out a virtuoso passage typical in a piano concerto. The virtuoso passage peaks at a high F note (dominant) before falling down an elaborate road built on the Eb chord, then a long chromatic scale rising to that high F again, and finally an F7 arpeggio fall to Bb (tonic). The closing statement builds on a rising 2nd and falling 3rd, with an offbeat leading town first. The harmony can be interpreted as A (major leading tone)-Bb-F7-Bb.
The precore of the development is simple, where Beethoven takes the turn and leading tone motifs of the first subject, climbing up a Bd broken chord as the base hums a G base note, making the overall harmony G7 (submediant major of Bb). After Beethoven reaches the important F note his melody divides into two parts among soprano and alto, as they both move their way down the scale; the soprano moves F-Eh-D-Cb and the alto in a parallel 6th – but broken by moments it leaps a fifth to the subtonic of the chord and falls down a m2nd. All this happens while the base moves down the circle of 5ths: C7-F7-Bb7-Eb7-Abm. So we arrive to a brief three voice core; the soprano melody rises and falls a m2nd, the alto and tenor move in parallel thirds. The harmony now moves up the circle of 5ths in leading tone progressions: Gd7-Abm, Dhd7-Ebm, Bd7-Bb7, Ad-Bb. The retransition holds out the soprano on Bb and repeats an Ah-Bb leading tone sequence while a fourth voice, the base, arrives to hold out a low Bb note. Beethoven hovers on Bb (dominant of Eb) to prepare us to return to Eb (tonic).
The main subject in Eb repeats but with the melody augmented with embellishments, again quite common in a piano concerto. In addition, Beethoven throws in more leading tones, both to suspend the melody (F#-G notes) and to spice up the key notes in arpeggios. The closing statement cuts to the transition straightaway with no extra cadences while transition takes a longer chromatic descent down an Eb octave. The base is built on cells rising up a m2nd; the cells themselves hop down and up the base registers. The harmonic progression takes a surprising twist by leaping to harmonies a M2nd and m3rd away, such as Ab-Gb-Bb9 and modulating back to the tonic through Fb-Gb7-Bb7-Eb. The subordinate subject and closing statement follow the same program as the exposition, just all around Eb.
Menuetto The minuet and trio in Bb are refreshingly simple after the grand first and second movements. The minuet subject is built up a rising Bb chord, then once it reaches a Bb (tonic) it moves up the scale through dotted notes to F (dominant). Beethoven keeps the base, based on thirds, interesting through rising leading tones. After this small modulation to the dominant, the subject resolves by rising and falling in broken Eb and Ad chords, while the arpeggio base keeps the harmonic context in F7. Then Beethoven uses a turn motif to climb up the Ahd7 chord to a G note (subtonic), then cadences to Bb. The baseline in turn holds on to the dominant note, while the tenor moves down the scale from Eb to Bb.
The development comes is composed of a sentence divided into two parts. The first part is a tremolo built on the C#d7-D progression, building to a fortissimo crescendo. The high treble takes over, falling from a high D (dominant) to G (tonic); in this way D is established, then subverted by becoming the dominant as the music modulates to Gm through Ad-Gm-Ahd7-Gm. Gm is itself the submediant and relative minor of Bb. The second sentence: the tremolo is built on the Bb7-Cb progression, using the Neapolitan, but holding out the dominant-tonic progression that typically comes afterward until the very last moment; the melody falls from Ab (subtonic) to Ah (leading tone) and the harmonies proceed in Bd7-Cm progressions, only entering Bb-F-Bb at the lead us back to the reprise. The reprise carries as usual, but Beethoven adds a codetta at the end. The melody’s broken chords carry out through Gm7-Bb-Bb, the harmony progresses Bb-Eb-Bb-Cm+4. The end of the codetta is unusual as the melody grounds itself on D-Eb (leading tone to subdominant), the harmony exchanging Bb-Cm+4, and only making a F7-Bb cadence at the last moment.
In the minore, Beethoven lets the base put many turns into a virtuoso chain while the treble becomes a set of block chords. The base tumbles down in such a manner that it falls down and up Gm and D broken chords as to be able to rise up to a D note (dominant) in the tenor range. The melody follows a simple path, D (dominant) leaping to G (tonic) but falling to F# (leading tone) to end on the dominant harmony. The “resolution” of the minore ends in the dominant; the treble and base spell out a Ed-F progression but breaks a Ehd7 progression with the secondary dominant, moving A-D. The melody is itself bizarre; it leaps from G (tonic) to C# (leading tone to the dominant) to D (dominant). The melody, in a way, progresses D-G and G-D, the opposite pattern you would usually expect.
Beethoven follows a brief development where both treble and base move contrapuntally down in 3rds in a virtuoso flurry; three motifs overlap each other in three voices. Beethoven’s melody starts in a high Ab (mutating D to Dd – an interesting turn), and the key notes keep falling from G down an Ab7a chord, landing to the Gm harmony to begin the reprise. The harmony revolves around Cm and Gm through: G-Cm, Ad-D-Gm. The reprise is short, with no extra material, in fact shortened; the melody D note (dominant) leaps to G (tonic) but then to C (subdominant) – small harmonic movement down the circle of 5ths – then a dominant-tonic cadence. The harmonies follow the same Ad-D-Gm progression as in the development, giving the revived minore subject a new perspective.
Allegretto The last movement in Bb is ostensibly a rondo, and similar to the rondo in the sonata in Eb (Op. 7) in holding complex subjects with three or more voices, though thankfully the harmonies are not too complicated. The main subject in Bb begins up on an F note (dominant) and functions by dipping and rising, using a dissonant leading tone (like in the second movement) to lean on the last note of the phrase. Our first phrase, the question, does this by building around the notes of the F chord (dominant), leaning on a C note (secondary dominant). The second phrase, the answer, builds around a Bb7a chord, ending on a D note (median of tonic). The base voice hangs on A (leading tone) and Bb (tonic) during both respective phrases. The main subject resolves itself by using Alberti to hover on G and F notes, scales up from D to a high D (median) and resolves on F (dominant), where it started. The harmony gets interesting at this point as G (submediant major) replaces Gm, as one would expect. But the main subject is not fully resolves. It repeats in a variation, treble in octaves, base an octave lower to give a fuller range from highest to lowest notes. Extra Ab and Ah notes enter in an alto part, putting a hard dissonance on the G harmonies while complementing the F harmonies. An extra phrase acts as a codetta of sorts; a chromatic scale up from Bb to high Bb, with augmented notes, peaking at the tonic to signal a firm resultion, and a perfect authentic cadence to conclude it.
Beethoven transitions from tonic to dominant through a brief episode, using two complex little motifs based on the rising 3rd, one to add tension, the other to resolve. We have two harmonic progressions in this manner: Bb-Cm-F7-Bb, then Bb-C-C7-F, where Cm (supertonic) mutates into C (secondary dominant), allowing the C7-F cadence. The subordinate subject comes in two parts; the first part is made of simple rising arpeggios with the notes held out, the top note consistently A, while the harmony stays in F, only once veering to Bb7 and Dd, then topping on a high F note (tonic).
Then comes a long descent of synchopated octaves, with the base acting as counterpoint and root the harmonies. So Beethoven moves the melody down from F (tonic) to a lower F, but with a slight upward curve. A bit more comes afterward where the structure of the base duplicates in the melody, which itself uses leading tones while the key notes move up and down a broken F chord, and end with syncopated alto and tenor voices in parallel thirds. A new sentence emerges in the subordinate subject, rising arpeggios, similar to those at the very start, moving up and down different chords, the base holding rising notes to also spell out a harmony. The F-C7 progression happen twice, then the melody condenses, keeps climbing up over and aver again, peaking at F (tonic) at the very top, harmonies being F7-Bbm (a small surprise) then falls down the Gb7 chord (Neopolitan). The closing statement acts also as a retransition, since it is a rondo, built on two descending scales complimenting each other throw counterpoint, but as it intensifies, only one scale survives, that starts at a high F and repeats over and over again, then augments, the peak notes traveling through F-Gb-G.
The main subject returns in Bb with no change, but a variation of the transition appears in Bbm (tonic minor) to act as a precore in development would. Beethoven takes advantage of harmonies related to Bbm that would otherwise be distant, such as Ab, but now we modulate to a new key through C-Fm, and Bd7-C-Fm; to the dominant minor. The second subordinate subject in Fm acts as a development of sorts. The soprano uses C (dominant) and F (tonic) as its top notes to lynchpin the alto as it follows a dipping and rising melodic arc, the tenor and base moving in parallel thirds, in opposing counterpoint. The subject makes two attempts to each a climax, a tactic Beethoven used to keep building suspense. The soprano makes the first attempt (harmony in Bbm), climbing from F (tonic) to C (dominant), but this lifts all voices up an octave, so the alto tries climbing from Ah (Fm briefly mutates to F7) to F (tonic). This success a quick and savage motif tear down the melody from a high F down two octaves.
Beethoven gives us a second precore, one even longer and more convoluted than the first. We starts with the first precore’s motif, slightly more embellished, and slowly rises up the treble clef with it, fitting whatever harmony it is in, starting in Gb but soon falling into a nexus of Bbm-Cm-F7. Two new motifs enter, of the same nature but moving in opposite counterpoint, and they alternate in stretto, developing the rhythm. Beethoven has no clear melodic arc in this area, neither a clear harmonic progression; he uses the change to jump around various odd keys related to Fm, such as Ebm, Gd,Db, Cd, Cm, Gb, and he finally lands to Bbm through Ebm-Bbm-F7-Bbm. The subordinate subject enters again, but in Bbm (tonic minor), and repeats itself the same way, save for forte climax where the Bb note leaps to the F note, not up the octave. This is just one example of how the dominant note is so important to Beethoven since it harmonically grounds the work in tonic or dominant, keeps the music ambiguous to a certain extent, keeps tension as it has not resolved yet, and makes modulating to distant keys easy.
The retransition to the main subject uses the dominant in a unique; the melody uses a chromatic dynamic between Gb and F notes while the harmony progresses in Chd7-F (only one Ad7 is the exception). And this way we return to the main subject once more in a sort of recapitulation. The main subject enters a unique variation with broken octaves, normal octaves, parallel sixths, and heavily embellished melodies – yet the harmonies and basic melodic arcs stay the same; a true variation. The transition and subordinate subject remains the same but centering on Bb, though the rising arpeggios at the end emphasize Dd and Eb, signaling a subdominant, as important in all recapitulations. A small tonally ambiguous variation of the main subject is added in, using three melodic arcs to bring us to the retransition; built on C-F notes, D-G notes, and Ab-D notes. The Bb harmony, which should be clear, is blurred by being mutated in Bd so often, while the familiar F (dominant) is replaced with Gm, Eb, and Cm, all related keys but not providing the solid cadence a dominant harmony can give. The retransition mirrors its old self, though a rising chromatic scale brings us back to the main subject while we have an F (dominant) basso continuo.
Another variation of the main subject ensues, though it is not so outlandish, the melody simply being augmented to triplets and 32nd notes; later with the octaves the triplets get broken to add more diversity. The movement ends in a coda that is especially beautiful even by Beethoven’s standards, built from the transition’s motif inverted; the soprano repeats F (dominant) while the alto climbs from Bb (tonic) to Eb (subdominant). The soprano then assumes the melodic line while alto fills in the harmony, rising from Bb (tonic) to F (dominant) before falling back to Bb. The sentence repeats with the base embellished in an orchestral drone. The second little phrase, where the soprano soars high, is twice repeated in crescendo, climaxing to fortissimo where the entire orchestra of the piano concerto joins in. The movement quietly trails off, soprano and alto falling in parallel 3rds, where the melodic arc of the main subject is “perfected”; F falls to F and simply rises in Bb, this happening twice. A soft dominant-tonic cadence, then a sudden loud one!
Schiller’s lyrics from Beethoven’s choral fantasy, translated so it can be sung. Now you can sing along in English!
German
Schmeichelnd hold und lieblich klingen
unseres Lebens Harmonien
und dem Schönheitssinn entschwingen
Blumen sich, die ewig blühn.
Fried und Freude gleiten freundlich
wie der Wellen Wechselspiel.
Was sich drängte rauh und feindlich,
ordnet sich zu Hochgefühl
Wenn der Töne Zauber walten
und des Wortes Weihe spr-icht
muss sich Herrliches gestalten
Nacht und Stürme werden Licht
Äuss’re Ruhe, inn’re Wonne
herrschen für den Glücklichen
Doch der Künste Frühlingssonne
ässt aus beiden Licht entstehn
Großes, das ins Herz gedrungen
blüht dann ne-eu und schön empor
Hat ein Geist sich aufgeschwungen
hallt ihm stets ein Geisterchor
Nehmt denn hin, ihr schönen Seelen
froh die Gaben schöner Kunst
Wenn sich Lieb und Kraft vermählen
lohnt den Menschen Göttergunst.
English
Graceful, charming, sweet, and singing,
Our living tones are beginning,
With a sense of beauty rising
As flowers forever bloom.
Peace and Joy do flow together
As the calming play of waves.
The once bitter has forever
Transformed into august Joy
Music’s magic reins enchanting,
Telling us the sacred wa-ay.
The sun’s mighty glory rising
Night and tempest turn to day.
Peace reigns the world, Bliss reigns the heart,
Solacing the blessed men.
All the genius in Springtime’s Arts;
Let all sunlight shine from them
Grandeur did pierce our hearts with light,
Blooming new in wond’rous sou-und.
Once our souls have taken in flight,
Spirit choirs do resound.
Let all Truth shine, joyous beings,
From High Art’s beloved Grace.
When Love and Strength, come uniting,
All men rise through Divine Grace.
Yong’an – Brave Purple Dragon WIND/Wyrm/Link 3/ATK 2350/Arrows: Top, Bottom-Left, Bottom-Right
2+ Effect monsters
1) When this monster is Successfully Special Summoned: you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower Wyrm monster from your hand.
2) When this monster is destroyed by battle or card Effect: you can return 1 Wyrm monster from your Graveyard to your hand.
3) If a monster this card points to would be destroyed by battle or card Effect: you can destroy this card instead
Li’bao – Brave Bichromal Hunter EARTH/Beast-Warrior/Link 2/ATK 1850/Arrows: Top, Bottom
2 Level 4 or lower monsters
1) If this card is destroyed by battle: target 1 “Brave” monster you control; increase its ATK by 1000, also all face-up monsters your opponent controls must battle it.
2) If this card is destroyed by card Effect: target 1 monster your opponent controls; destroy it.
Tamas nearly shits himself seeing such a long-winded turn, and one that achieved so much, nearly breaking his whole deck. It might as well have done so, since Chaofeng, Stella’s ace dragon, negates all his EARTH monsters, meaning all his Zoodiacs are useless, and furthermore, it is shielded by a marathon of prevention Effects inherited from all the lesser Yang Zing dragons that gave their lives to bring their king into being.
Mathias, feeling a little naughty, gives Stella the left-handed comment, “Impressive combo and lock you got there. Maya would be proud.”
And Maya decides to add salt to the wound with, “I hope Chaofeng is not all you got, like when Sophia murdered you back in Egypt; I’d be disappointed otherwise.”
“You’re serious!” Stella is flabbergasted. “Chaofeng is the boss monster of the entire Yang Zing archetype; what more could you possibly want?”
“I want you as the ace, not one stupid monster or stupid archetype, and you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’d better give it to me this duel.”
“I’ll give it to you when we duel, and so much more.”
Now Mathias is confused. “What esoteric gibberish are you two shouting now? Just by your code language I know you two were lovers.”
Maya brings upon herself to explain the details, “Me and Stella used to drink lots of coffee together along with ——– and ——–, and after these sessions we would talk about how to improve this stupid card game, how to take roguedecking, as it were, to the next level. I don’t know about Stella, but regarding me, it is top secret.” She then shouts at her estranged ex-girlfriend, “You better have some antimeta or something interesting or I will climb up there and smack you myself.”
“Burn in Hell.” Stella rebukes her.
“I heard Hell’s pretty lit. You should join me.”
“It’s a pretty big room for you two.” Mathias comments. “You should get it.”
“Can I join in?” Tamas offers.
“NO!”
TAMAS’ TURN: “Aww.” Tamas pretends to groan in self-pity. He draws, which is exactly the right card he needs! “Raigeki!” he shouts as he activates his card, and all of Stella’s monsters die under the stroke of a single thunderbolt.
“COME ON! I WORKED SO HARD FOR THIS FIELD!” Stella shouts in disbelief, her hands on her head.
Even the stoic Kaiba throws shade at such a cheap and easy play, and declares that starting next year he will join the game once more and drag Yugi himself back kicking and screaming if he has too. The metagame as become cancer for much too long, and while he commends Maya and Stella for their efforts at turning Yugioh back into a kind of art, it is too little too late. Next year, he will muck the floor with every netdecker who ever lived!
Though Stella has suffered a heavy blow, she is far from dead, as her cards, even her dead monsters, unleash all of their Effects. Thus Stella declares, one after the next, “Supply Squad, Chaofeng, Li’bao, and my triggered Permanent Trap Yang Zing Creation, all go off, in this order: I draw a card from Supply Squad, add a Wyrm from Deck to hand from Chaofeng, kill your Drident from Li’bao, and Special Summon a Yang Zing monster from my Deck with Yang Zing Creation!”
“Bitch, you’re such a faggot, you know that?” Tamas falls to throwing slurs again. “I play Cosmic Cyclone to banish your Creation!” And so Tamas pays 1000 Life so his space cyclone can disintegrate Stella’s card. But Tamas, much to his chagrin, cannot stop any of Stella’s other cards, not even the targeting effect of her hunter, as using Decode Talker’s effect would lose his Drident anyway; and that is how Li’bao the cheetah hunter pierced the chief Zoodiac’s heart with a burning arrow. Tamas minds little of it, as he can easily replace her.
Stella pounces on her narrow window of chance, “I activate Dimension Barrier, and call Xyz Monsters! No more Zoodiacs this turn.”
“Shrill women like you are cancer. You should go back to blogging at Jezebel from where you came from.” The annoyed Tamas exclaims.
“For once I agree.” Maya enjoins him, just to piss Stella off.
Tamas rejoins the duel. “I Normal Summon Zoodiac Thoroughblade, and use its Effect.” A fiery man-horse wield an exceptionally long and broad sword gallops into the fray, and Tamas discards a Zoodiac card to draw a new card. “Decode Talker, Thoroughblade, hit Stella directly!” The monsters cleave at Stella with their mighty strength, but Stella survives the assault. (Stella LP 4000 à 100)
“Dammit! I almost got you! I set a card facedown and end my turn. It’s not like you can do anything anyway.”
STELLA’S TURN: Stella draws, and remarks, “Maya, you wanted me to use some antimeta. Well, I did, but that won’t kill Tamas. I’ll prove you wrong, as you are with many things, with something more interesting. I Normal Summon Zoodiac Ratpier!” And behold, Stella’s own rat warrior takes her stance.
“Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite! Netdecker, netdecker!” Tamas is so shocked and offended he can only blabber.
“Oh settle down already, you spastic virginal twerp. I use Raptier’s Effect to mill another Ratpier, then overlay her to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Drident, and use her effect to pop your Thoroughblade.” Stella’s one Zoodiac transforms into another one, and this new fighter thrusts her trident to slay Tamas’ monster. “I overlay Drident to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Chakanine, and use her effect to revive the second Ratpier,” The dog fighter replaces the tigress, and through her magical skills resurrects the second Ratpier. “I overlay Chakanine to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Tigermortar and detach the Chakanine Material to attach my dead Ratpier to it, and use its other Effect (given by the Ratpier Material) to Special Summon another Zoodiac Ratpier from my Deck.” And so another rat warrior assumes a ready stance. “Then I overlay Tigermortar to Xyz Summon another Zoodiac Chakanine, and use her effect to revive the last Ratpier.” Another dog warrior appears and the last Ratpier with her.”
“This neat little engine just gave me 4 Materials, so I will use them all to Link Summon Borreload Dragon!” Her Zoodiacs she worked so hard to get into play dissolved into four marker arrows, a gateway forming in their middle, and a fearsome dragon of scarlet and deep blue arrives. “Borreload, attack Decoy Talker.” Her dragon assaults the digital knight, but with a killing breath, but a toxic one, brainwashing it to her side. “Now, both monsters, finish Tamas off!” The knight slices at Tamas’, hitting him hard, but the dragon is not so lucky. (Tamas LP 3000 à 700)
Tamas reveals his Trap, “I activate Xyz Reborn, reviving Drident and attaching the Trap to her as Material, then detach it to kill Borreload.” His dragon lady revives, brandishing her trident, ready for revenge; she lunges at Stella’s dragon.
“I use your Decode Talker’s Effect, sacrificing my Borreload to destroy Drident!” Stella counters, her mighty dragon vanishing, her new monster impaling Tamas’ best Zoodiac, sending the dragon lady to a shallow grave once more. “I set two cards facedown.” Stella ends her turn.
Tamas, shocked at such a timely play, falls to foul shouting and cursing at Stella. Pegasus covers his dainty ears, refusing to hear such fowl language while Kaiba, annoyed, chips in his broadcasters with the microphone in his trenchcoat, ordering them to censor Tamas straightaway.
Mathias nudges Maya gentle on the shoulder, whispering, “That was amazing, wasn’t it?”
Maya shrugs in distain. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. I thought Tamas channeled Bandit Keith from beyond the grave. Maybe he’s a psychic; he should help Jolene with her astrology nonsense.”
“Playing hard to get won’t win Stella back.”
“You assume I care about Stella; I don’t, at all.” Though Maya doesn’t admit it, Stella’s brilliant move does touch her heart with fire, the same fire she felt a few years ago that made her fall in love with Stella to begin with. Stella used Tamas’ own cards, his own hackneyed archetype, for a unique strategy and, to add the icing to the cake, threw them away as the fodder they are to bring out a higher monster. Maya would applaud Stella, but then remembers that she hates her.
TAMAS’ TURN: “I’ve had it with your ‘rogue’ Deck insulting me, bitch faggot noob! I’m going for the ultimate Zoodiac Combo” Tamas’ humility (or lack thereof) is put to its short limit, while Stella perks her ears at “ultimate Zoodiac Combo”, knowing exactly the well-known tactic Tamas would play next.
“I activate Zoodiac Combo in my Graveyard, which I sent there by Thoroughblade’s Effect; I banish it to return all my 5 Zoodiac Xyz Monsters to my Deck and draw a card. Then I Normal Summon Zoodiac Bunnyblast, now overlay her to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Hammerkong, Zoodiac Tigermortar, Zoodiac Broadbull, Zoodiac Chakanine, and Zoodiac Drident. Then I Xyz Summon all their second copies from my Deck, and finally I Xyz Summon Zoodiac Boarbow!” The parade of double Zoodiac animals commences its procession on Tamas’ field, climaxing with the arrival of a boar archer, aiming his arrow at Stella’s heart. Yes, it holds only 500 ATK but that meager strength is enough to take out all of Stella’s Life.
Stella, taut as a wire, springs in a pinch. “I activate Great Horn of Heaven!” The cornucopia horn appears, then blasts Tamas’ best monster with the power of its notes, yet Tamas draws a card from its drawback Effect. Stella lets herself smile for the first time this duel, saying, “You won’t be attacking me directly with Boarbow this turn, let alone even battling since I skipped your Main Phase.”
“Another batman gambit. I’m impressed.” Comments Maya to Mathias.
Tamas grovels, setting two cards facedown, calling his turn over.
STELLA’S TURN: Stella draws, seizing her chance. “I destroy two monsters in my hand to Special Summon Mariamne, the True Dracophoenix!” A lithe and airy dragon of six wings of gauzy feathers makes her graceful landing, and since Stella destroyed Yang Zing monsters, she brings out Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing and Bi’an, Earth of the Yang Zing (and draws a card from Supply Squad).
“I activate Dimensional Barrier!” Tamas declares. “And I declare…”
“Yes, declare what?” Stella inquires, eager for victory.
Tamas cannot decide what kind of Extra Deck monster to choose, because Stella does not need any Extra Deck monster. And Tamas’ other card? A Solemn Strike he cannot play for he lacks the Life to pay for it.
“That’s what I thought. All monsters, direct attack! End the duel!” Stella’s monsters all blow away their target at once, throwing Tamas off the arena.
Stella concludes the duel, “Easy come, easy go. Good riddance.”
Tamas: 0 | Stella: 700
—————————————————-
Xiaoyi watched every duel so far in her hotel room back in Egypt, guzzling down popcorn and wiping the butter oil on her white dress where her breasts were, without a care in the world. She couldn’t wait to see Maya’s duel coming up next, eagerly wondering what her super secret new strategies were, then pondered with sarcastic thought if she, as a Chinese-American woman, should be offended by all of Stella’s and Tamas’ “cultural appropriation”. She couldn’t care less over something so little, as opposed to all the truly offensive things she did over the last two weeks.
Why, she counted with her fingers, she brainwashed a vulnerable young man, instigated a brutal dictatorship resulting in the deaths of thousands, pulled the strings of a resurgent crime syndicate resulting in more pointless deaths, killed a few Egyptian soldiers, killed Matthew’s girlfriend, tricked her “master” into going along with her scheme while thinking it was his the whole time, then she finally killed him. That made four acts of fraud on one hand and three acts of violence on the other. But wait! She was still committing her final fraud.
At the moment three policemen knocked on the door; investigating the murder of one Gernand de Laclos lead them to this apartment. Xiaoyi took off her only piece of clothing and lewdly kissed the chief officer, bidding him to taste the tight, petite, and sweet woman they could only mail order from Thailand, and only in their pathetic dreams. The cops easily lost to the temptation, all of them falling for her, wherein they re-enacted the groping they had done to a woman a few months ago while pretending to conduct a body search, this time finishing the job they privately longed to do for so long; Xiaoyi herself thoroughly enjoyed their silly fantasy, even discharging before they did. As soon as the men expired, losing all their steam, Xiaoyi instantly slit their thoughts as if they were cattle; now her fantasy was complete.
Xiaoyi sighed in disappointment, watching three pools of blood soak the hotel carpet – make that four acts of violence so far, still an underachiever – Now she had to clean the mess she made and get out of the country before she was arrested, an inconvenience that annoyed her enough to throw a small tantrum. That these stupid cops would pooh-pooh on her watching Maya’s duel live on television!
The two duelists, Weevil and Mathias, stepped down from the arena, wearied out from their trials, Weevil too tired to feel disappointment, Mathias too exhausted to enjoy his victory. Poor Mathias could not appreciate his conquest anyway; he thought Weevil was so weak just struggling to beat him was a humiliation. It was at that moment when Mathias saw his pride, in a brief flash, the pride of Lucifer, and the red dragon that was his Ka rose again to confront him. Mathias would have felt shame but he was too tired. Weevil fell into Rex arms, Rex hugging and consoling him, but Weevil was happy despite his loss. He knew, at last, he made himself into a strong duelist.
Pegasus reminded the remaining finalists with a feigned kindness to take care of themselves with a short break; Stella and Tamas would fight each other next round. Stella eyed Maya once but said nothing, would not condescend to speak to such a terrible person. Maya got the message but wanted Stella to win, so she would face her in the semifinals – because she still loved her? “Nonsense! I want to grind that woman to the curb so she would never challenge me again!”
Maya told Stella in plain English, “Tamas is what my dad would call a го́пник; his dirty cheap jeans mismatched with a track sweater, and his demeanor of course, will tell you that. So he will duel like one.”
Stella quickly figured out it was Maya’s way of calling Tamas a meta, netdecking sheep, but with some racism and classism thrown in, because Maya simply had to make everyone her enemy or rival in some way while projecting her ingrained inferiority complex on other people, as if putting others down made you stronger.
Stella left Maya behind, putting her amateur psychoanalysis behind her, and it was here that Stella remembered how they met in the first place. Stella recalled the entire history to her heart: “I remember traveling with my teammates to New York for an International Circuit, a massive informal round robin tournament where duelists around the world jousted each other for an entire week. On the third day, I went to a bar in New York’s skyline, and met one teenager named Zusan who dressed up as Princess Peach – it was Halloween night – and this girl was a real King of Games, who played other games so well – unlike Maya, who was only good at Yugioh but couldn’t get herself out of a paper bag in dominoes – oh yes, I watched her fail horribly at the airport.
“Anyway, I remembered Zusan, because earlier in the week I saw her wipe the floor with every chess hustler at Union Square at the same time – blindfolded and tipsy! She was now dead drunk, and she saw he tell a sexist man off, saying, ‘I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself!’ Zusan went up to me and said, ‘I’m a big girl too. Wanna’ make out?’ I shrugged and we did so. – Why not? – Maya, who had been drunk and sex-crazed for boys every night, found us and joined in the melee, suggesting we do a human centipede that night. I won’t remind myself what that kind of threesome that was, but I’m sure the depraved Maya invented it on the spot.
“A year later in Iceland, Maya proposed to go on a date with me, provided she beat me in a duel. The nerve, after embarrassing me like that! She was surely, abrasive, and insolent, but had a roguish charm. And she paid for all my mother’s treatment when she had breast cancer, while she was in a tight spot with money, losing all her money to get back home or even stay in a hotel. So I accepted, and we both dueled with Archfiend decks – for chess, as legend has it, came from a Shadow Game played in India known as the Archfiend’s Duel. Maya recalled the Spanish love poem where Mars challenged Venus to a game for her love, Mercury as the referee, and easily won, as Maya did.
“Maya dropped her libertine ways. No longer did she drink, party, and gamble – I don’t blame her, to suddenly taste wealth and fame after living in the Lower East Side projects! – I was the sole aim of her affections, but then something happened…”
“Stella and Tamas, please enter the arena immediately!” Isono commanded, breaking her train of thought. Did she brood for that long?
The two duelists took their positions, Tamas commenting, “Ready to get cucked, girl?”
“Cucked? What is that supposed to mean?” Stella was a little confused.
“It means to get served, retard.”
“Ugh.” Го́пник indeed.
Mathias mused to himself. “Isn’t that reference several years in the future? It’s like the author is writing in 2017, but the setting is in 2009. Hmm.”
“Duel start!” Isono declared, and the game was off.
Tamas: 8000 | Stella: 8000
TAMAS’ TURN: “Zoodiacs are the best meta deck out there and I’ll show you why rogue decks suck peanut butter coated monkey balls. I Special Summon Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow, and activate it’s Effect to give me two Vague Shadow Tokens.” With his commands a black sparrow swoops in faster than sound, small in size but burning with a huge fiery aura, and with it arrive two smaller sparrows. “Go Link Summoning! I get rid of my two Shadow Tokens to Link Summon Link Spider, then all my monsters to Link Summon Decode Talker!” Soon all birds transform into two cybernetic spiders, then a digital knight in deep blue armor wielding a single-sided blade.
“Next comes the Zoodiac combo! I still didn’t Normal Summon yet, so I Summon Zoodiac Ratpier, and activate her to mill a Zoodiac monster, and overlay her to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Boarbow, then overlay Boarbow to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Broadbull, and detach 2 Materials, one to search for a Zoodiac monster, two to Special Summon another Zoodiac Ratpier from my Deck, then overlay Broadbull to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Chakanine, and detach 1 Material to resurrect the Zoodiac Ramram I milled earlier, then overlay Chakanine to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Tigermortar, and then overlay her to Xyz Summon Zoodiac Drident, and use her Effect to pop Ramram, then activate Ramram to revive a Ratpier from the Graveyard.” An enormous train of warrior-animals quickly arrive and disappear, one at a time: a rat, a boar, a bull, a dog, a ram, a tiger, and a dragon.
“I overlay my two Ratpiers Xyz Summon Daigusto Emeral.” The revived rat and ram warriors make way for a flying one. “I activate its Effect; I detach 1 Material to return 3 monsters from my Graveyard back to my Deck to draw 1.” Tamas pants from reciting such a trying and boring list, his face blue, then sets 2 cards facedown.
“Bet that was too hard for you to follow.” He insists.
“I saw everything perfecly.” Stella answered. “You memorized a move set, nothing more. That doesn’t take skill.”
“I’d like to see you beat me, retard, or are on your period with your girlfriend?”
STELLA’S TURN: Stella seriously wonders at this point how such a lowly and stupid cur made it this far in this tournament. Oh, right, he netdecked and abused a broken deck. Tamas would have had no challenge a few years ago but now things are starting to change. She wishes she faced a worthy opponent for a change, like Maria, but she takes comfort from the thought that if she wins she will face Maya next. “I hate you, Maya,” Stella thought. “But I’d rather duel you than anyone else. Wait for me.” But it is Stella who waits, as she struggles to find a way to counter Tamas, not just his Zoodiacs but his two hidden cards; she has to play perfectly.
“Each duelist has a minute to make a move.” Isono reminds her. “You have thirty seconds left.”
Twenty seconds pass.
“Come on, retard, make your move already!” Tamas demands her.
Ten seconds.
“I’m bored, faggot bitch faggot! You got period problems?”
Five seconds.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Zer-
Stella has lost patience with this fool. “I Special Summon Blackwing – Gofu the Vague Shadow, and use his effect to Special Summon 2 Vague Shadow Tokens.” Her own three sparrows make due entrance. “I link up the two Shadow Tokens to Link Summon 2 Link Spiders.” And her digital bugs appear as well.
Tamas points his finger at her in petulant indignation. “Hypocrite, hypocrite, hypocrite! You’re copying me! ARGLEBARGLESKGURKDGJDGHGOSBGHSKGKDGF!”
“Sit down and shut up, manchild! I’m not done yet; I link up all my monsters to Link Summon Yong’an the Brave Purple Dragon!” Three old monsters leave the stage for someone new to enter the spotlight: a small but strong and stout purple dragon with golden horns.
“I activate Drident to pop your gay monster!” Tamas interrupts her play, with his dragon lady thrusting a trident through the purple dragon’s heart. “I put that to a stop. G.G., L.O.L.”
“You didn’t. Spyro – I mean, Yong’an – has a Quick Effect letting me Special Summon Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing.” Whereby an evil Chinese dragon shrouded in black smoke billows into form. “And since Yong’an died, I’ll return a Wyrm from the Graveyard to my Deck, namely Yong’an itself. I knew you’d be frightened of a monster you never saw before, but there’s much more.
“I activate the Permanent Spell Supply Squad, then use Jiaotu’s Effect.” Stella sends 2 Yang Zing cards from her hand to the Graveyard and, in turn, she brings forth Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing and Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing; thus the elements of shade and wind join her side in dragon form. “And I tune Jiaotu and Taotie to Synchro Summon Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing, and use its effect to destroy itsenf and your Zoodiac Drident!” Her two evil dragons align, opening the gateway, and a large black dragon flies in from the clouds to smash into Tamas’ field.
But Tamas reacts: “Go, Decode Talker! Tribute Daigusto to protect Drident!” The latter shatters as glass, the pieces absorb into the glowing sword of the former, who throws it straight into the evil dragon’s heart; the beast roars, misses its target, falling off the pyramid towards its death.
Yet this does not deter Stella in the slightest. “Destroying Yazi lets me Special Summon a Wyrm from my Deck. Meet Mare Mare, the parent seahorse! (And I draw 1 card from Supply Squad.)” A huge father seahorse shows up, his womb seeming ready to burst at the seams. “I use its Effect to Special Summon 3 Mini Mare Mare Tokens, then tune one of them with Mare Mare to Synchro Summon Accel Synchron, and use its effect to Mill a Jet Synchron to raise its Level by 1.” The parent seahorse gives birth to three children, but soon merges into one of them to become an android motorcycle, nature becoming machine, its Level raised from 5 to 6. “See my one Yang Zing left? His use is revealed now; I tune Accel Syncro with the remaining Mini Mare Mare Tokens with Pulao to Synchro Summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!” All of Stella’s diverse monsters vanish to allow a great white and blue dragon to travel to the paradise south from its icy home from the north.”
Tamas sees Stella’s intention straightaway, to banish his precious Drident. He springs his Trap, “Solemn Warning!” Tamas pays the steep price of 2000 Life so a Biblical sage and call upon God to smite the icy incarnation of Satan. (Tamas LP 8000 à 6000)
But Stella merely laughs at Tamas’ solemn antic. “Excellent, my batman gambit is complete! I never planned to battle you this turn, but to lock you down. I activate Soul Charge to bring back 4 Yang Zing dragons lost this turn: Chiwen, Taoti, Pulao, Jiaotu; let LIGHT, DARKNESS, and WIND return!” Stella loses a grim 4000 Life; she crumples under the weight of her burden as a fountain of light rays springs from her chest, and the dragons burst forth from the light. (Stella LP 8000 à 4000) Stella, still strained but going in full force, pants, “I link up… Pulao and Jiaotu… to Link Summon Li’bao – Brave Bichromal Hunter. And I tune the remaining… Yang Zings… to Synchro Summon… Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing.” Her whole army disbands into two camps, going their own ways to become stronger forces. A cheetah sporting a flaming bow and arrow leaps to Stella’s right as slithering serpent with wings arrives from Heaven, its body trailing as long as the Great Wall.
Stella regains her breath from letting her monsters work their magic, and concludes, “I play Pot of Avarice, recycling my Yang Zing monsters back to my Deck to draw 2 cards, and I set 2 cards. My turn is (finally) over.”
Zarathustra the Serpent 