39 Saun 718
“Draw!” Shouted the announcer from his place off to the side of the middle of the arena. Mathias and Fiona stood on palms opposite one another, a vast canyon of light between them. Each drew their hand, seven cards, and nodded their readiness to the announcer. “Very good! According to IDGAF regulations, the challenger goes first!”
Not one for showmanship, Mathias drew one more card from his deck, selected a card from his hand and casually tossed it toward the field. The card shifted and morphed until it became an amorphous, dark mass some distance from the raised hand that served as his dorlest’s platform. “I rupture in a Player Card back up.” It was a classic opening, one PC ruptured with it’s back up and two traps, if the dorlest had the hand for it. “And I skystep three cards.” Three more cards were casually tossed out, each materializing onto the field as shimmering squares, neatly lined up behind the amorphous blob. The floating numbers of light behind him that marked his LOLIs shivered, lowering from 5000 to 4950. “Your move, Fiona.”
The problem was… she didn’t.
“I end my turn.” she said, drawing a card, her eyes steely and veiled. Murmurs went through the crowd. Doing nothing on the first turn was not an unheard of tactic - but to do so at this level of competition? Unheard of. “What’s the matter, Mad?” Fiona said, the corner of her lips lifting slightly. “Not afraid to hit a defenseless girl, are you?”
He drew again, not even looking at the new card as he leveled his gaze at the woman with a disinterested, blank stare. “I am no fish, Fiona.” He tossed out another card, “I rupture in Devin - The Uncomfortably Weird Thief in acrobatic stance.” This time as the card fluttered onto the field, it burst into a bright ball of light before reformining into a dark haired, confused looking young man. He stood a bit awkwardly on the field, next to the amorphous blob, but obliged the stance command by standing on one foot with his arms raised up above his head. “And I skystep one more.” A fourth shimmering square appeared behind the the two Player Cards. “Your move.” Another fifty LOLIs were detracted from his total.
“Not attacking?” she said, smirking. She drew a card. “I activate the card Overstepping. This allows me to select 4 Domain-related cards from my deck and discard them to the Vri’s Domain. I choose Transmutation: Identity, Transmutation: Corrosion, Transmutation: Shapecraft, and Transmutation: Galvanize. End turn.”
The crowd murmured. Transmuation cards were a staple in several of her known decks. Throwing them away into Vri’s Doman so early in the match had several of her less dedicated fans already questioning her decision. Mathias knew better.
Drawing his next card, Mathias’s voice rang clear and calm across the field. “As I am sure you are aware, when neither side attacks for the first four stages at the start of the game, Devin - The Uncomfortably Weird Thief activates his Narrative Ascension: I’m a Sneaky Thief. This allows Devin - The Uncomfortably Weird Thief to transform himself into any card on the field.” With a wave of Mathias’ hand, the small dark haired man let out a giggle before he exploded into a mess of gelatinous, amorphous goo. “Your move.”
Again, the crowd murmured, neither side giving them explosive show they’d all payed fifty rares to attend.
“Draw.” she said. “I activate Krome Parasites - Velaine’s Legacy. Three Poverty tokens are ruptured onto your side of the field, taking up the rest of your Player Card zones. You have to pay the LOLIs for it though.” Mathias’ LOLIs decreased immediately after she spoke as a trio of chubby Velaines popped up on his side of the field, balanced precariously on their huge bellies. One of them even had the gall to wave at him. “End turn.”
Mathias didn’t seem to react at all to the three new tokens. If anything, his lips seemed to turn in the just slightest of smiles. He drew his card, again, not even glancing at it to see what it was. “Poverty tokens?” All three of the little pin-headed, rotunded flesh balls wobbled their way to turn and face him, their wide eyes churning between blue and aquamarine. “I activate the Ability Card: Rags to Riches. Any Poverty tokens are now Delroth’s Favored Ravens, and vice-versa.” The three Velaines began to expand, their faces growing red and confused before- pop -in their place drifted three dark plumed ravens. “And, as you know, when Delroth’s Favored Raven appears on the field, the dorlest with the lowest LOLIs receives a blessing of 1000 LOLIs per Delroth’s Favored Raven.”
The numbers behind him shimmered for a moment before the previous 4750 shot up to 7750. “I do not need to remind you that Delroth’s Favored Raven cannot be affected by anything but a Blessing.” The crowd let out a cheer of surprise at the unexpected shift of fortune. “I then skystep one more card onto the field and end my turn.” A total of five shimmering squares now floated behind the three ravens and two ambiguously amorphous blobs.
“Keep digging your Vri’s Domain, mad man.” Fiona said, completely unconcerned with the turn of events. “Because sooner or later, Vri’s Domain is all you’ll know.”
“We shall see.”
“Draw.” and Fiona did just that in a sudden, needlessly dramatic way, swiping her card all the way up to rest at her eye level. She peeked at it, and a visible, blinding sparkle illuminated her eye. She placed the card into her hand. “I activate Moseke’s Blessing.” she said. “I select up to five Player Cards on your field to be destroyed. For each Player Card destroyed, you gained 1000 LOLIs. I choose them all.”
“Oh?”
Both of the amorphous blobs shivered, the shadows fading away to reveal two dark haired, absurdly short and maybe malnourished young women. The crowd murmured in astonishment, and though Mathias said their names aloud, he needn't have. “You have activated my Faith Augustin - Unbranded and Unchained but Rebound and Rechained. As you know, this Player Card is an Adored of Moeske in the Emean Reverse History of the Idalos Soladi edition. Because of its Blessing, it negates the destruction of any Player Cards on my side of the field with the exception of any Noth - Prince of Eternal Mercy Player Cards-”
“I activate Prince’s Cave from my hand. By discarding it to Vri’s Domain, I can negate the negation of any Faith cards-”
Mathias casually flicked his wrist in Fiona’s direction as one of the shimmering squares that denoted his skystepped cards blinked out of existence. “And I activate my skystepped Throw a Door and/or Chair in His General Direction, which reverses the effects of any Nobility based Ability Cards-”
“That ruling isn’t official. Prince may be his moniker, but he’s a gutter bird.”
“According to the Flavor Text Hearings of Finn Ashbroken VS the People, both Prince’s Cave and The Prince of Eternal Mercies’ Love for the Black Winged Master of Discipline are legally considered to be Nobility Cards as of 716.”
There was a brief moment of silence as the crowd waited for the announcer’s ruling, who’s nose was currently burrowed in an absurdly thick tome. After about five bits, he straightened up and called loudly into his gloves, “That is… correct!” The crowd exploded into a mix of outrage and excitement, but Mathias calmly stared at his opponent, ignoring anyone or anything else.
She didn’t grind her teeth but he somehow got the impression that she did.
“The benefits of using an outdated deck. I am intimately familiar with all rulings and procedures regarding DORDOR.” He cleared his throat. “As I was saying: which reverses the effects of any Nobility based Ability Cards and drains one thousand LOLIs from the opposing dorlest if said dorlest has no Player Cards on the field.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t take the offer of LOLIs, mad man.”
“Oh. I did.” The points behind both of them shimmered, Fiona’s falling to 4000 while Mathias’ rose to 12,750. “As you interrupted me before I could finish explaining: when Faith - Unbranded and Unchained but Rebound and Rechained’s Moeseke Blessing is activated, it not only prevents the destruction of my Player Cards - with the exceptions previously stated - but it allows any and all benefits that would be given to me by an opposing dorlest to proceed as usual. My Player Cards are not destroyed, but I still gain the benefit of the LOLIs from your Moseke’s Blessing.”
“Impossible!” Fiona said, eyes widening. The depths of her blunder has begun to fully sink in.
He knew he wasn’t ahead just yet, but his calm grey eyes flashed with a silent challenge nonetheless. “Are you finished with your turn, Fiona?”
“I have no choice then,” she said. “I activate the Domain Tier system. For each turn I have not summoned a player card, I am able to bypass a Tier Player Card and rupture in a higher level tier Player Card. I rupture in Faceless Etherist - Expert.” Her LOLIs fell accordingly.
“Draw!” Shouted the announcer from his place off to the side of the middle of the arena. Mathias and Fiona stood on palms opposite one another, a vast canyon of light between them. Each drew their hand, seven cards, and nodded their readiness to the announcer. “Very good! According to IDGAF regulations, the challenger goes first!”
Not one for showmanship, Mathias drew one more card from his deck, selected a card from his hand and casually tossed it toward the field. The card shifted and morphed until it became an amorphous, dark mass some distance from the raised hand that served as his dorlest’s platform. “I rupture in a Player Card back up.” It was a classic opening, one PC ruptured with it’s back up and two traps, if the dorlest had the hand for it. “And I skystep three cards.” Three more cards were casually tossed out, each materializing onto the field as shimmering squares, neatly lined up behind the amorphous blob. The floating numbers of light behind him that marked his LOLIs shivered, lowering from 5000 to 4950. “Your move, Fiona.”
The problem was… she didn’t.
“I end my turn.” she said, drawing a card, her eyes steely and veiled. Murmurs went through the crowd. Doing nothing on the first turn was not an unheard of tactic - but to do so at this level of competition? Unheard of. “What’s the matter, Mad?” Fiona said, the corner of her lips lifting slightly. “Not afraid to hit a defenseless girl, are you?”
He drew again, not even looking at the new card as he leveled his gaze at the woman with a disinterested, blank stare. “I am no fish, Fiona.” He tossed out another card, “I rupture in Devin - The Uncomfortably Weird Thief in acrobatic stance.” This time as the card fluttered onto the field, it burst into a bright ball of light before reformining into a dark haired, confused looking young man. He stood a bit awkwardly on the field, next to the amorphous blob, but obliged the stance command by standing on one foot with his arms raised up above his head. “And I skystep one more.” A fourth shimmering square appeared behind the the two Player Cards. “Your move.” Another fifty LOLIs were detracted from his total.
“Not attacking?” she said, smirking. She drew a card. “I activate the card Overstepping. This allows me to select 4 Domain-related cards from my deck and discard them to the Vri’s Domain. I choose Transmutation: Identity, Transmutation: Corrosion, Transmutation: Shapecraft, and Transmutation: Galvanize. End turn.”
The crowd murmured. Transmuation cards were a staple in several of her known decks. Throwing them away into Vri’s Doman so early in the match had several of her less dedicated fans already questioning her decision. Mathias knew better.
Drawing his next card, Mathias’s voice rang clear and calm across the field. “As I am sure you are aware, when neither side attacks for the first four stages at the start of the game, Devin - The Uncomfortably Weird Thief activates his Narrative Ascension: I’m a Sneaky Thief. This allows Devin - The Uncomfortably Weird Thief to transform himself into any card on the field.” With a wave of Mathias’ hand, the small dark haired man let out a giggle before he exploded into a mess of gelatinous, amorphous goo. “Your move.”
Again, the crowd murmured, neither side giving them explosive show they’d all payed fifty rares to attend.
“Draw.” she said. “I activate Krome Parasites - Velaine’s Legacy. Three Poverty tokens are ruptured onto your side of the field, taking up the rest of your Player Card zones. You have to pay the LOLIs for it though.” Mathias’ LOLIs decreased immediately after she spoke as a trio of chubby Velaines popped up on his side of the field, balanced precariously on their huge bellies. One of them even had the gall to wave at him. “End turn.”
Mathias didn’t seem to react at all to the three new tokens. If anything, his lips seemed to turn in the just slightest of smiles. He drew his card, again, not even glancing at it to see what it was. “Poverty tokens?” All three of the little pin-headed, rotunded flesh balls wobbled their way to turn and face him, their wide eyes churning between blue and aquamarine. “I activate the Ability Card: Rags to Riches. Any Poverty tokens are now Delroth’s Favored Ravens, and vice-versa.” The three Velaines began to expand, their faces growing red and confused before- pop -in their place drifted three dark plumed ravens. “And, as you know, when Delroth’s Favored Raven appears on the field, the dorlest with the lowest LOLIs receives a blessing of 1000 LOLIs per Delroth’s Favored Raven.”
The numbers behind him shimmered for a moment before the previous 4750 shot up to 7750. “I do not need to remind you that Delroth’s Favored Raven cannot be affected by anything but a Blessing.” The crowd let out a cheer of surprise at the unexpected shift of fortune. “I then skystep one more card onto the field and end my turn.” A total of five shimmering squares now floated behind the three ravens and two ambiguously amorphous blobs.
“Keep digging your Vri’s Domain, mad man.” Fiona said, completely unconcerned with the turn of events. “Because sooner or later, Vri’s Domain is all you’ll know.”
“We shall see.”
“Draw.” and Fiona did just that in a sudden, needlessly dramatic way, swiping her card all the way up to rest at her eye level. She peeked at it, and a visible, blinding sparkle illuminated her eye. She placed the card into her hand. “I activate Moseke’s Blessing.” she said. “I select up to five Player Cards on your field to be destroyed. For each Player Card destroyed, you gained 1000 LOLIs. I choose them all.”
“Oh?”
Both of the amorphous blobs shivered, the shadows fading away to reveal two dark haired, absurdly short and maybe malnourished young women. The crowd murmured in astonishment, and though Mathias said their names aloud, he needn't have. “You have activated my Faith Augustin - Unbranded and Unchained but Rebound and Rechained. As you know, this Player Card is an Adored of Moeske in the Emean Reverse History of the Idalos Soladi edition. Because of its Blessing, it negates the destruction of any Player Cards on my side of the field with the exception of any Noth - Prince of Eternal Mercy Player Cards-”
“I activate Prince’s Cave from my hand. By discarding it to Vri’s Domain, I can negate the negation of any Faith cards-”
Mathias casually flicked his wrist in Fiona’s direction as one of the shimmering squares that denoted his skystepped cards blinked out of existence. “And I activate my skystepped Throw a Door and/or Chair in His General Direction, which reverses the effects of any Nobility based Ability Cards-”
“That ruling isn’t official. Prince may be his moniker, but he’s a gutter bird.”
“According to the Flavor Text Hearings of Finn Ashbroken VS the People, both Prince’s Cave and The Prince of Eternal Mercies’ Love for the Black Winged Master of Discipline are legally considered to be Nobility Cards as of 716.”
There was a brief moment of silence as the crowd waited for the announcer’s ruling, who’s nose was currently burrowed in an absurdly thick tome. After about five bits, he straightened up and called loudly into his gloves, “That is… correct!” The crowd exploded into a mix of outrage and excitement, but Mathias calmly stared at his opponent, ignoring anyone or anything else.
She didn’t grind her teeth but he somehow got the impression that she did.
“The benefits of using an outdated deck. I am intimately familiar with all rulings and procedures regarding DORDOR.” He cleared his throat. “As I was saying: which reverses the effects of any Nobility based Ability Cards and drains one thousand LOLIs from the opposing dorlest if said dorlest has no Player Cards on the field.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t take the offer of LOLIs, mad man.”
“Oh. I did.” The points behind both of them shimmered, Fiona’s falling to 4000 while Mathias’ rose to 12,750. “As you interrupted me before I could finish explaining: when Faith - Unbranded and Unchained but Rebound and Rechained’s Moeseke Blessing is activated, it not only prevents the destruction of my Player Cards - with the exceptions previously stated - but it allows any and all benefits that would be given to me by an opposing dorlest to proceed as usual. My Player Cards are not destroyed, but I still gain the benefit of the LOLIs from your Moseke’s Blessing.”
“Impossible!” Fiona said, eyes widening. The depths of her blunder has begun to fully sink in.
He knew he wasn’t ahead just yet, but his calm grey eyes flashed with a silent challenge nonetheless. “Are you finished with your turn, Fiona?”
“I have no choice then,” she said. “I activate the Domain Tier system. For each turn I have not summoned a player card, I am able to bypass a Tier Player Card and rupture in a higher level tier Player Card. I rupture in Faceless Etherist - Expert.” Her LOLIs fell accordingly.
