Chapter 56. K-Snake's Card-Nerf Methods Exposed! Is This How the Higher World Controls Power?
Seto Kaiba immediately let out a low roar.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"My Blue-Eyes White Dragon has never fused into some fake monstrosity like that!"
"Why do those two nobodies get to do it?!"
"I refuse to accept this!"
Seto Kaiba's voice, paired with the look of shock in his eyes, proved that after watching and listening to the explanations, he finally understood just how powerful Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is!
Maximillion Pegasus's gaze rippled even more.
He seemed to be thinking.
What kind of company is this "K-Snake," exactly?
Compared to his Industrial Illusions,
which one is better at making cards?
In the GX world,
after they finished watching,
Duel Academy instantly plunged into a frenzy.
"Support the new Sword Emperor taking the throne! Duel Academy stands at the ready!"
"Hiss! Of course we have to support it! Three effects, then splitting one off to other monsters—these are all ace end boards!"
"So strong—Duel King Yugi Muto and legendary duelist Joey Wheeler's ace Fusion! The fusion of friendship—boo-hoo-hoo!"
"So what's 'Sea Turtle'? What's 'Sky Striker'? What's 'Salamangreat'? What's K-Snake? And what's a Forbidden & Limited List?"
"Uh, to the student in front—your teacher can answer one of those. The Forbidden & Limited List means cards are banned! President Kaiba mentioned something like that before."
"...…"
The discussion fever at Duel Academy kept surging.
Jaden Yuki and Aster Phoenix, however, already couldn't sit still!
That Fusion monster—
even for HERO, it's hard to deal with!
Within the HERO system,
Jaden and Aster can be said to have memorized everything by heart.
Whether it's Masked HERO,
or Destiny HERO – Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer, and so on,
they've actually taken notes on them all.
So after hearing the description of Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon—
"Aster, what do you think?"
"Jaden, if we're going first, and we can establish the absolute strongest HERO board, then maybe—it's not impossible..."
Indeed.
Dark Law plus Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer plus Plasma.
That board,
maybe it can stop the Red-Eyes deck from developing into Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!
But even so,
there's no way to have a full guarantee to win against Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!
Is HERO the face of Fusion?
No.
Perhaps it's
Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
In the ZEXAL world,
after hearing the explanation of that terrifying ace Red-Eyes Fusion monster,
Yuma Tsukumo and Astral felt their concept of Xyz starting to collapse!
No—that's not it!
It's their concept of Fusion!
Since when
did Fusion monsters get stronger and stronger?!
"Astral! H-How do you evaluate this card?"
"After hearing that, I don't even know what in my Utopia deck
can go toe-to-toe with it!"
Yuma swallowed hard and then exhaled sharply.
He just felt
that after hearing about that card,
his strength and energy were completely drained.
"No, I don't know either."
"But that card definitely isn't invincible."
"Didn't the content creator mention some 'Sea Turtle'?"
"Maybe that card can offer something."
"It's just, I don't know what that engine looks like."
Astral narrowed his eyes.
He was shocked at the power of Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
But he also knew no card is absolutely invincible.
There will definitely be cards that counter each other.
That is the subtlety and unique meaning of Dueling.
In the ARC-V world,
Yuri already couldn't hold his emotions together!
It was bad enough that Verte became someone else's dowry for others to use!
But the Fusion that comes out, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon,
is absurdly strong!
"My Predaplants can't break it?"
"No!"
"I don't believe it!"
"My Predaplants will definitely find a way to deal with this Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon!"
"There has to be a way!"
Yuri frantically searched his deck for a miracle.
Beside him, Celina helplessly waved her hand.
Her Lunalight deck
simply didn't have the power to face Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
So Celina had already made peace with it.
Whatever.
In the VRAINS world,
in this newest era,
Yusaku Fujiki was shocked not only by Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon,
but also by Predaplant Verte Anaconda!
How can there be a card
powerful enough to copy the effects of a huge number of Fusion Spells?!
And the cost is 2000 LP!
Out of 8000 LP that's basically a drop in the bucket!
"Yusaku, I think I get it now."
"This Higher World is even further beyond our understanding than we imagined."
"They can print fake cards like this?"
"Then the Forbidden & Limited List—I think it just bans that card!"
"No one gets to use it!"
Skye Zaizen pouted and started venting.
Her mood, faintly gloomy,
was also because her Trickstar deck
doesn't have such a powerful end board!
"Skye did hit a key point."
"The Forbidden & Limited List—I still don't fully get it."
"I wonder if there are short videos to explain it?"
Among his shock at the combos and power of these cards,
"Left Leader" had a rather unique concern.
Like Skye, he was thinking that in this Higher World,
what exactly is the Forbidden & Limited List?
And what kinds of "fake" cards are locked up there?
In the DM world,
those who also cared about the Forbidden & Limited List
included the old-timers of the original era.
Seto Kaiba: "Mr. Yuki, what is this Forbidden & Limited List you speak of in your world? Could you find a video to give us a primer?"
Yugi Muto: "Yes. Banning these powerful cards can indeed balance the environment to a great extent, but is there ever a time when they're allowed back?"
Joey Wheeler: "Hahaha! Perfect! My Red-Eyes deck finally has its own ace monster! Next time don't let me hear anyone call it 'Salted-Fish Eyes'!"
Maximillion Pegasus: "Unbelievable! Such an amusing card! Mr. Yuki, I share their thoughts—I'd like to learn about that K-Snake company."
In the GX world,
the frenzy of questions about the banlist also erupted
among the students and teachers.
Chancellor Sheppard: "Bans can make for a fun lesson. Mr. Yuki, please don't hold back."
Dr. Crowler: "Mamma mia! That's what I'm sayin'! Cards this strong—banning them would be such a shame! My Ancient Gears want to join Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon too!"
Jaden Yuki: "So what other approaches does K-Snake use to limit powerful cards? Could we get a short video on that?"
In the Main World,
after reading the chat barrage from the DM and GX worlds,
Sei Yuki realized an important point.
For these anime-world duelists,
the Forbidden & Limited List is indeed a novel topic.
Even if Seto Kaiba once mentioned the concept of a banlist at KaibaCorp,
for the other worlds,
it's still worth explaining.
Sei Yuki: "Very well, I'll find you a short video on K-Snake's methods for reining in powerful cards!"
Sei Yuki: "I believe once we go over it, your understanding of these concepts—"
Sei Yuki: "And of the videos to come—will all improve."
Once he finished speaking,
Sei Yuki immediately locked in the target short video.
After it began to play,
a voice came on.
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "Hello! Good evening, fellow card lovers!"
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "Welcome to my rundown of knowledge points related to K-Snake's Forbidden & Limited List."
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "First off! As everyone knows!"
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "When faced with powerful cards, K-Snake observes and tests the environment."
"Once it's confirmed that a card's power level is over the line,"
"turning a deck build into the clear meta leader,"
"or even a degenerate strategy—Tier 0,"
"then next, it'll receive K-Snake's sanction!"
"And K-Snake has four sanction plans in total!"
"Plan 1! The simple, brutal approach—lock the card up on the Forbidden & Limited List!"
"Then use 'Forbidden,' 'Limited to 1,' and 'Semi-Limited to 2' to lock it away!"
"For example, the most well-known card—Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon—Forbidden!"
"Old-era holdovers like Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Giant Trunade, and so on!"
"These are all Forbidden."
"...…"
What the heck???
Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon being Forbidden is one thing!
But what is this!
Even Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity are Forbidden now!
Those cards,
over here,
are basically three-ofs in everyone's decks!
If those are all Forbidden,
what generic staples are they even supposed to run?
In the DM world,
upon hearing this,
Yugi Muto, Seto Kaiba, Joey Wheeler, Mai Valentine, and Ryo Bakura couldn't sit still!
These cards could be called their lifelines in critical moments!
Which one of them
can't swing a duel back from behind at a key time?
If those cards are all Forbidden,
what are they even playing at!?
In the GX world,
they couldn't sit still either!
Say no more!
Jaden Yuki has always treated Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity as essentials in his deck!
Which of those cards
hasn't been key to Jaden's comebacks?
And now they're all Forbidden!
Jaden would be the first to object!
"Damn! This Higher World is insane! Completely insane!"
"I agree—it's gotta be crazy! Banning so many cards my deck relies on!"
"That's right! Then what am I even playing? I'll just quit Dueling!"
"Although, since it's K-Snake doing the banning, there must be a reason, right?"
"...…"
The campus immediately split into two camps...….
Some felt banning was good.
With so many powerful cards around, and always getting turned around by Pot of Greed,
how could you not ban?
Likewise,
some felt the bans were bad!
If those cards are Forbidden,
what fun is left in casual duels?
Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity—
which of them doesn't add fun to Dueling?
Even as the debate continued,
the short video kept playing!
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "Next is K-Snake's second way of suppressing powerful decks."
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "The second is to release an entire theme that counters the current meta."
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "This is more subtle—it looks like a brand-new, interesting theme,"
"but in practice, it only truly shines in that particular environment."
"For example, if you have a strategy that hinges on the Graveyard,"
"you can use Gravekeeper's and the Field Spell 'Necrovalley' to lock it down."
"Countermeasures like that."
"Of course, this approach can backfire and create a new meta king."
"So it's not easy to control."
"Plus it means releasing another powerful theme—K-Snake has to think about that too!"
"They're lazy to print it, so this method isn't used that often."
"...…"
So that's how it is!
Upon hearing this,
they could finally be certain about K-Snake's role.
It's not just restricting cards.
Sure enough, they also make cards and use them accordingly!
In other words!
These powerful decks
were actually made by K-Snake!?
In the DM world,
once Pegasus got the answer he wanted,
his expression turned somewhat grim.
As a fellow card maker—
the father of Duel Monsters—
he really wanted to compare his card-making prowess with K-Snake!
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "Next is the third method."
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "This one is to directly change a card's effect!"
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "For example, the ancient monster Sangan!"
"Or cards released from the 'little black room' after being modified, like Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier."
"Or this card!"
"Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End!"
"This method actually isn't used particularly often."
"But once it's changed,"
"it basically loses its original function."
"That's also a point of regret!"
"Many interesting effects lose their original shine because of this method."
"...…"
The third method
made duelists from all six worlds show grave expressions!
What—
they can even do that?!
Cards that have already been printed—
they can alter the effects and indirectly nerf them?!
Looked at that way,
this method
really can hammer powerful cards down!
And it also lets strong cards get paroled!
However,
so many cards already out the door would need reprints.
That's a massive project too!
It's not that simple after all!
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "The three methods above are relatively common."
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "There's a final method."
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "The fourth is far harsher!"
Sir Who Only Loves "Traptrix": "Many players might not even realize this is a behind-the-scenes ruling change!"
"Simply put!"
"it's an adjustment to a certain kind of ruling."
"To put it plainly!"
"A card A has an effect that treats itself as card B."
"Ordinarily, if card C interacts with the 'named' status of B,"
"by the same logic,"
"shouldn't your C also be able to use A?"
"Since A is treated as B!"
"But after the silent update—the ruling adjustment!"
"your C can only use actual B!"
"Not A that pretends to be B!"
"...…"
After hearing the final nerf operation,
duelists from all six worlds couldn't stay calm!
What!
There's something this nasty for nerfing cards?!
This kind of stealth change—
if you don't study it, you might not even know it exists!
Because altering rulings
is a completely different approach from the previous methods!
Naturally, the changes it brings are also different!
In the DM world,
after learning all the nerf operations,
the old-timers finally gained a basic understanding of the banlist.
And also why, in the Higher World,
some card effects aren't the same as their cards.
After all, different worlds bring different rules.
Precisely because of that,
there are such interesting decks and builds…
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