The Dark Ritual Officiant said, “My turn, draw!” He added the drawn card to his hand, then sent the werewolf on his Duel Disk to the Graveyard and slapped down a new Monster Card.
“I release Undead Werewolf for an Advance Summon— “—Vampire Lord!” [Vampire Lord, ATK 2000] One of the earliest “vampire” monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh!
history, used by Seto Kaiba in the original anime.
In the early competitive environment, being one of the easiest high-Level monsters to bring out, and having the ability to revive itself when destroyed by a card effect, made it extremely effective against the Trap-heavy meta of the time, which was exactly why it saw such a high play rate back then.
You might not believe this, but this lord, who looks completely unremarkable by today’s standards, was actually banned at one point during the very first official Yu-Gi-Oh!
World Championship.
At that tournament, all the cards later generations would come to dread by name, Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Change of Heart, Snatch Steal, the notorious “three hand-destruction gods,” none of them were banned.
And yet this unlucky vampire, of all things, ended up locked away in the penalty box.
If Vampire Lord himself ever heard about this, he’d probably have to ask, in disbelief: seriously, what the hell did I do to deserve this?
The Dark Ritual Officiant said, “Next, I’ll Flip Summon my face-down Vampire Fraulein into Attack Position!” [Vampire Fraulein, ATK 600] “That little trick of yours can only protect you for so long.
It won’t change the outcome.” the Dark Ritual Officiant said.
“Vampire Lord, attack Summoned Skull!” What was about to happen seemed obvious enough.
The Dark Ritual Officiant would use Vampire Fraulein’s effect again, boosting Vampire Lord’s ATK to break through Summoned Skull, and then follow up with a direct attack from Vampire Fraulein herself.
Getting hit by that two-attack combo would deal a massive chunk of damage to Yushin’s Life Points, no question, but that wasn’t even the worst part.
Two instances of battle damage in a row, combined with the Continuous Trap Highwayman Goblin’s effect, would strip every last card out of Yushin’s hand, leaving him stuck with nothing to work with at all.
Early-era Yu-Gi-Oh!
was a game built around managing card advantage.
Losing your hand meant losing your options entirely, a far more dangerous spot to be in than having Life Points flickering like a candle in the wind.
However…
“Activate the set card,” Yushin said.
“Trap Card, Wind Demon’s Pulse!” The Dark Ritual Officiant :”?” Wind Demon’s Pulse?
What was that?
Never heard of it.
One look and it was obviously some useless junk-pile Trap straight out of the Satellite.
“Wind Demon’s Pulse lets me target any one monster on the field, then destroy a different monster on the field that shares the same Attribute as the one I targeted, as long as it has a different name!” The Dark Ritual Officiant sneered.
Heh.
A Trap with this many activation conditions just to go off, it really was junk, just like he’d figured.
…Wait, what?!
“Vampire Lord and Vampire Fraulein on your field are both DARK Attribute, and their names are different.” Yushin said with a grin.
“Which means the one I’m destroying is your Vampire Fraulein!” A burst of light shot out from the Trap Card’s artwork.
Vampire Fraulein, wearing a lazy, resigned expression, kept her elegant poise even as she vanished into the blast, exiting the field.
Because of its restrictive activation conditions, Wind Demon’s Pulse honestly wasn’t as good as the famous Ring of Destruction, but a Trap Card capable of destroying a monster at all still counted as a solid card in the Satellite.
A card like that was obviously something Yushin’s dirt-poor original body could never have owned.
This one had come courtesy of Itagaki, big bro of the Fang Gang, care of his generous friendly sponsorship.
…The voluntary kind, technically speaking.
“Vampire Fraulein might be destroyed now, but you already declared your attack,” Yushin said.
The Dark Ritual Officiant startled, and quickly said, “Wait…
wait a second!
The monster count’s changed, I want to rewind the attack, I’m calling it off…” But it was too late.
Vampire Lord completely ignored his order and charged in on its own regardless.
Summoned Skull followed up with a lightning-charged backhand that slapped the Lord clean into ash.
[Dark Ritual Officiant, LP 2200 → LP 1700] “Seriously, do you even know how to duel?” Yushin said, eyes narrowed.
“The whole point of a Battle Rewind only triggers when the number of monsters on the opponent’s field changes during an attack.
What just changed was the number of monsters on your own field.
There’s no way that lets you cancel your attack.” The man froze for a moment.
“Ah, is…
is that how it works?” Yushin shook his head.
“And you’re supposed to be some Dark Ritual Officiant, ranked pretty high up in your cult, aren’t you?
With dueling fundamentals like this, I give your whole faith maybe a year before it folds.” The Dark Ritual Officiant flared with anger.
“Sh-shut it!
I don’t need you teaching me how to duel.” But despite what he said, there wasn’t much force behind his voice, and his presence had clearly deflated more than a notch compared to before.
And as everyone knew, in the anime world, confidence mattered a lot when dueling.
As the saying went, if the duelist chokes, the cards choke too.
Sometimes, once your fighting spirit wavered, or your subconscious quietly decided you couldn’t win, the odds of a terrible draw shot straight up.
The Dark Ritual Officiant said, “I’ll set two cards.
Turn end.” Yushin said, “My turn, draw.” With Vampire Lord counter-killed by Summoned Skull and Vampire Fraulein destroyed by the Trap, the man’s field was now completely empty.
“Summoned Skull,” Yushin said, “direct attack!” The man had only 1700 Life Points left.
If this attack landed, it would be a clean, instant kill!
But the man hadn’t given up the fight just yet.
“Activate the set card, Absorb Shield!” The set card in his back row flipped up, and a rainbow-colored, iris-like curtain of water stretched across his field.
Summoned Skull’s Descending Thunder crashed entirely into the water shield, absorbed and transformed into a warm current that surged straight into the man’s body.
The Dark Ritual Officiant said, “Absorb Shield negates the opponent’s attack, then restores Life Points equal to that monster’s ATK!” [Dark Ritual Officiant, LP 1700 → LP 4200] Having just gained back a huge chunk of Life Points, the hooded man let out a laugh.
“Such a shame.
If that attack had actually gone through, I would’ve lost.
Feels like coming up just short, doesn’t it?
Hahaha—” But Yushin completely ignored the taunt, his eyes locked unblinking on the man’s Trap Card as it faded from the field.
Absorb Shield!
Among the Satellite’s usual lineup of Traps with baffling, over-restrictive activation conditions, a card that could block an attack and heal a big chunk of Life Points on top of it was unquestionably a cut above the rest.
Right now, Yushin’s whole face was written with just two words: want it.
Even he found it a little pathetic, thinking about it.
For a modern player used to a single card snowballing into an entire game plan, to have fallen this far, to the point where the mere sight of a water shield left him practically panting with desire, said everything about just how starved for resources he currently was.
Halfway through his gloating, the Dark Ritual Officiant noticed the man across from him wasn’t reacting at all, and when he got a good look at that hungry expression, he flew into a rage— “—Are you here to duel me, or to rob me?!” We’re still in the middle of a duel here.
Is it really appropriate to keep making that “I’ve already got this in the bag” face?
Yushin said, “I’ll set one card.
Turn end.” The Dark Ritual Officiant, face darkening, said, “My turn, draw!” This was intolerable.
This kid was infuriating.
He had to teach him a lesson.
“Activate the set card!” the Dark Ritual Officiant said.
“Trap Card, Shrine of the Nesting Yokai!
“When I have no monsters on my field, this card lets me choose one Zombie-Type monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it!” The Dark Ritual Officiant pulled the Monster Card back out from his Graveyard slot.
“The card I’m reviving from my Graveyard is this one!” A vortex of darkness split open across the ground, and the ancient, noble vampire lord returned to the field with a sinister chuckle.
“Rise again, Vampire Lord!”