Chapter 44. Even the Extra Deck Has an Ancient Gear Link? This Business Is Quite Broad!
Most duelists in the Duel Monsters world hadn't expected it.
In the higher worlds' Duels, things had already developed to the point where a single card could explode into a full combo.
And this explosive combo wasn't just any simple sequence.
It could even explode straight into a Fusion ace monster.
…
GX world.
The Ancient Gear Deck that was about to reach its finale had been fully displayed before Dr. Vellian Crowler and all the students.
A one-card Wyvern line dragged out absurd amounts of resources.
That alone left Dr. Vellian Crowler and many students dumbfounded.
"Mamma mia? This… this is my Ancient Gear?"
"No way… did I see that right?"
"One card, and you can guarantee at least this much resource movement?"
"This is basic play? Ancient Gear's basic play?"
"How do I not understand any of this?"
When Dr. Vellian Crowler's at-a-loss muttering fell into the ears of the surrounding students, each of them turned and stared at him in unison.
Even Dr. Vellian Crowler didn't get it?
No way.
He's the professor, for crying out loud.
If even the professor can't understand it—and he's a professor who mains the Ancient Gear Deck—then how are they, the students, supposed to understand anything?
"Jaden, did you get it?"
"Aster, did you get it?"
Jaden Yuki and Aster Phoenix asked each other in unison.
When their eyes met, the two of them shared a smile.
That smile said they had both already understood the step-by-step procedure of this one-card Wyvern line.
…
ARC-V world.
In the Standard Dimension, Yuya Sakaki and Zuzu Boyle carefully reviewed the key steps of the earlier one-card Wyvern line.
The more they reviewed, the more they felt how unique and interesting the Ancient Gear engine was.
A Deck engine that could turn self-destruction into resources—now that was peculiar.
And that wasn't all.
The main cards clearly had lots of self-restriction, but those limitations weren't all that fatal.
Compared to other Decks, this Deck looked like it exploded into long sequences, yet the final endpoint still couldn't bypass those few Fusion monsters.
That was the most fatal point of all.
"Yuya, you noticed it too, right?"
"Of course, Zuzu—you should have noticed as well."
The two of them shared a smile and said nothing more.
Beside them, Gong Strong scratched his head in confusion.
Those two… what did they notice?
…
While duelists across the many Duel worlds were still mulling over the one-card Wyvern line, the final key portion of the short video—the closing segment—came on screen.
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "Duelists, I believe there's no need to over-explain the one-card Wyvern expansion as a basic line."
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "Next up is the last part—recommended Link Monsters."
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "For example, the in-archetype Link monster!"
"Ancient Gear Ballista!"
[Card Name: Ancient Gear Ballista (Link-2)]
[Attribute: EARTH]
[Type: Machine]
[ATK: 1500]
[Link Arrows: → ↙]
[Materials: 2 EARTH Machine monsters.]
[Effect: If this card is Link Summoned: You can add 1 "Ancient Gear" monster or 1 "Geartown" from your Deck to your hand. You can target 1 Spell/Trap you control and 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; destroy that card you control, and if you do, change that opponent's monster's ATK/DEF to 0 until the end of this turn. You can only use each effect of "Ancient Gear Ballista" once per turn.]
An Ancient Gear Deck's Link monster?
Ancient Gear even has a Link?
No way.
Ancient Gear's business really does cover a lot of ground.
It's a Fusion-axis Deck with no Synchro or Xyz support to shore it up, yet it welcomed its one and only boost in the Link era.
But this card's role does feel a bit redundant.
Effect 1 is a searcher.
Effect 2 still destroys your own card; the difference is that it can make your opponent's monster's ATK/DEF become 0 until the end of the turn.
For the Ancient Gear Deck, these two effects could be called a modest touch-up—adding a bit of shine.
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "How to put it… this Link card gives Ancient Gear a glimmer of hope, but not much."
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "The Deck already has plenty of search and self-destruct effects."
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "So this card isn't that vital."
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "But it can help us bait a negate, which is pretty good for forcing the opponent to waste resources."
Ancient Gear Is Faith: "If I had to say it, this card might shine even more when slotted into other builds, like Infinitrack or Machina."
"All right, that about wraps up the Ancient Gear breakdown."
"Thanks a lot for watching, fellow duelists."
"If you enjoyed it, drop a follow—there's more on the main page…"
As the creator's closing words faded out, the commentary on the final one-card Link for Ancient Gear came to an end.
But from those closing lines, the duelists could hear the creator's sense of regret toward this card, as if it couldn't pull Ancient Gear out of its dire competitive environment.
On closer reflection, sharp duelists had already understood the implication.
Effect 1's search is fine.
But Effect 2 needs to involve the opponent.
That means going first, Effect 2 does nothing, so it can't assist the in-archetype lines.
That, perhaps, is why it can only help "a little."
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