Adding the drawn card to her hand, Morgan suddenly laughed. The deck she was using now was both amusing and dull. Although still in the testing phase, it was more than enough to deal with an opponent like Warner. At this moment, she had only one monster in her hand, with the rest being Spell Cards—and nearly all of them Quick-Play Spells.
In truth, Morgan's deck only carried three monsters. Everything else was various Spells. Though it was technically a Fusion Deck, Fusion Summoning required no materials. With her archetype's Spells, she could Special Summon directly from the Extra Deck.
"I Normal Summon Amano-Iwato in Attack Position from my hand!"
A massive boulder appeared on the field, as though it was sealing something beneath.
This was a lockdown monster, one usually only seen in gimmick decks.
[Amano-Iwato] Level 4│EARTH│Rock│1900 ATK / 1200 DEF
Spectators were surprised. They were used to Morgan summoning stylish monsters like Trickstar or Sky Striker Aces—not something as ugly as Amano-Iwato. Even Warner was caught off guard. From his experience, girls like Morgan usually ran cute decks.
Could it be that this girl named Morgan just had questionable taste…?
New viewers watched curiously, but veterans were already on alert.
Isla frowned. She knew Morgan was up to something, though she couldn't quite guess what. However, she recognized Amano-Iwato: while it was on the field, neither player could activate monster effects except Spirit Monsters. Did that mean Morgan was using a Spirit Monster deck?
That said, Spirit decks weren't even close to meta, not even viable for gimmicks. There was no way Morgan would run that.
Then Isla suddenly realized a possibility. From what she knew of Morgan's Eldlich plays, whenever Morgan brought out such restrictive cards, it meant she had no intention of being restricted herself. If it wasn't a Spirit Monster deck, then it meant Morgan didn't plan on summoning monsters at all.
Or perhaps only monsters like Eldlich.
And Isla was nearly correct. Monster or no monster, Morgan's true plan was simple—deck destruction.
"Next, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card Runick Tip from my hand!"
"Skip your next Battle Phase to activate!"
"Add one Runick card other than Runick Tip from your Deck to your hand. Then banish the top card of your opponent's Deck."
"I add Runick Fountain to my hand!"
Banish a card from my Deck?
Warner froze. He couldn't grasp what was happening. Right after summoning Amano-Iwato, Morgan played a seemingly unrelated Spell Card. Worse, the cost was skipping her own Battle Phase. Did that mean she was giving up on attacking? Did she think no matter what she summoned, it couldn't defeat his Armed Dragon?
The thought made Warner laugh as he casually banished the top card of his Deck.
If his opponent wasn't going to attack, sacrificing a card was nothing.
However, what he didn't expect was that banishing from the Deck wasn't the end. It was only the beginning.
"I activate the Field Spell Runick Fountain from my hand!"
"Once per turn, if you activate a Runick Quick-Play Spell: target up to three Runick Quick-Play Spells in your Graveyard; place them on the bottom of your Deck in any order, then draw the same number of cards."
This card was the core of the Runick deck. It recycled Graveyard resources and drew new cards. As long as it was on the field, Morgan could activate Quick-Play Spells from her hand during Warner's turn without needing to Set them first.
Though the duel hadn't yet shown the deck's true terror, Milo, a top-tier pro duelist, was already noticing hints. Just the sheer sustainability made him wary. Morgan had only summoned Amano-Iwato. Was her deck nothing except Spell Cards?
The idea crossed Milo's mind, and he chuckled bitterly. Morgan always used such high-risk decks, forcing even a veteran like him, who favored stability, to feel the thrill of danger. One slip, and you were finished.
Still, he had no idea what Morgan would do next.
Morgan immediately revealed her answer by playing another Spell Card.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Runick Freezing Curses from my hand!"
"Skip your next Battle Phase."
"Target one Effect Monster your opponent controls; its effects are negated until the end of this turn. Then banish the top three cards of your opponent's Deck."
'…More banishing?'
Warner froze again. One card was acceptable. But three? Even worse, his Armed Dragon's effect was negated. Now he felt uneasy. Morgan's strange plays suddenly seemed far from simple.
Regardless, he had no way to stop it, so he obediently banished three more cards.
"Since a Runick Quick-Play Spell was activated, Runick Fountain's effect activates!"
"Return two Runick Spells from my Graveyard to the bottom of my Deck, then draw two cards!"
The crowd buzzed. In just one sequence, Morgan had banished four of Warner's cards and recovered resources, essentially profiting for free. Four cards banished may sound small; albeit with only forty to sixty cards in a deck, that was devastating.
"Bro, I smell the Underworld from here."
"You just noticed? Morgan's back to her old ways."
"That familiar Underworld girl has returned. Warner's about to suffer."
"Just watch. This is only the start. Soon, that pro won't even have time to cry."
Yet, Morgan wasn't finished. Glancing at her refreshed hand, she spotted a useful card. After all, the Runick deck wasn't just Spells—it had its own monsters.
"I activate the Quick-Play Spell Runick Golden Droplet from my hand!"
"Once again, I skip my Battle Phase!"
"Special Summon one Runick Monster from the Extra Deck to the Extra Monster Zone."
Runick monsters needed no Fusion Materials; they leapt from the Extra Deck by card effect.
"I Special Summon Hugin the Runick Wings from the Extra Deck!"
A girl in a green dance dress appeared, short golden hair framing her cute face, her black wings spread wide.
[Hugin the Runick Wings] Level 2│LIGHT│Fairy│0 ATK / 0 DEF
Seeing it, Warner nearly laughed out loud. After all that, she summoned a Level 2 Fusion Monster with zero Attack and Defense? How could that ever stand against his Armed Dragon? He scoffed at Morgan—flashy moves meant nothing if the stats didn't back it up.
Others were puzzled too. This wasn't the Morgan they remembered. She had once been forceful, but now she seemed strange.
Morgan offered no explanation. Huginn was her safeguard: if her Field Spell would be destroyed by effect, she could banish Huginn instead.
She followed up immediately.
"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell Runick Allure from my hand!"
"Each time either player activates a Quick-Play Spell, banish the top card of your opponent's Deck."
With this card, Morgan ramped up Warner's banishment.
Isla smirked. She now understood Morgan's deck. Her earlier guess was right: this deck carried no other monsters. It was pure deck mill.
Nearly every Runick Quick-Play Spell banished cards. With Runick Allure boosting that, Warner's deck would soon run dry.
And for a pro, losing by deck-out stung far worse than losing by Life Points.
"Then, I activate the Quick-Play Spell Runick Flashing Fire from my hand!"
"Once again, I skip my Battle Phase!"
Warner stared blankly. He had lost track of how many times Morgan had skipped her Battle Phase. Was she truly never going to attack?
Then how did she plan to win?
Abruptly, as he remembered the four banished cards and the Continuous Spell on her field, a chilling possibility dawned on him.
"Target one Special Summoned monster your opponent controls; destroy it. Then banish the top two cards of your opponent's Deck."
...
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