Chapter 135. Victory Dragon Banned from Tournaments! Special-Win Cards Explained (Part 3)!
The short video's progress bar has passed the halfway mark.
For Duelists across the various worlds, they've already run out of ideas for what other cards could grant a unique win condition.
The video creator, Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall, quickly pulled out the next card to explain.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "After Destiny Board, the next few are also standalone cards."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "For example, this monster card—'Flying Elephant'!"
[Card Name: Flying Elephant (Level 4)]
[Attribute: WIND]
[Type: Beast]
[ATK/DEF: 1850/1300]
[Effect: Once per opponent's turn, if this card would be destroyed by an opponent's card effect, it is not destroyed.]
[Effect: During the End Phase of the opponent's turn in which this card's effect was applied, it must activate. During your next turn, apply the following.]
[If this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent by a direct attack, you win the Duel.]
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "This one is pretty interesting!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "The special-win condition is winning off a direct attack—but it needs that first effect to come up."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "As a result, this card has basically faded from the scene. Plenty of players don't even know it exists!"
"Of course, there are deck ideas and lines built around it."
"But they're rare."
"And in my view, it's mostly drawbacks! I rate it 2 out of 10."
"I'd say its success rate is even lower than Holactie."
"First, it takes your Normal Summon. Second, the protection from effect destruction only applies on the opponent's turn."
"Third, you have to deal battle damage. Fourth, to achieve the OTK you need multiple cards working together."
"Fifth…"
With that stream of critique and listed weaknesses, its ranking plummeted in the minds of the old-guard Duelists.
Because just as he said, the effect is really underwhelming.
More importantly—
It has no "presence"!
What are people summoning these days? Ghostrick builds! Dark Magician of chaos and grandeur!
Or Holactie the Creator of Light! Massive Xyz lions!
And this card?
Just a monster as ordinary as can be.
Precisely because it lacks that "presence," Bandit Keith in the DM world suddenly remembered losing to a little kid back then.
That kid, named Tom, used this very card.
"Damn it! It still ticks me off just thinking about it!"
"I'm the champion!"
"And I actually lost a game to this card!"
The more Keith thought about it, the angrier he got.
Losing to Holactie and the like would be one thing.
But he once lost to this card.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "Speaking of this kind of special-win card!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "There's another class of special wins that are forbidden in tournaments!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "A representative among them—"
"—is this card, Victory Dragon!"
"Let's first look at the relevant information."
[Card Name: Victory Dragon (Level 8)]
[Attribute: DARK]
[Type: Dragon]
[ATK/DEF: 2400/3000]
[Effect: Cannot be Special Summoned. Must be Tribute Summoned by Tributing 3 Dragon monsters. If this card attacks your opponent directly and reduces their LP to 0, you win the Match.]
After reading the info and the effect, Duelists across the worlds froze.
What does that even mean?
Reduce the opponent's LP to 0—
Then the controller of this card wins the Match?
Huh?
Isn't that redundant?
If you drop the opponent's LP to 0, you already win the Duel, right?
Why tack that line on top?
Tristan Taylor: "That's a weird effect. If the opponent's LP hits 0 you win… unless—?"
Syrus Truesdale: "Yeah, and it needs three Dragon Tributes, with only 2400 ATK. Why is this card marked Forbidden?"
Yusaku Fujiki: "Wait. Maybe we're misunderstanding it. This card might not be meant for our usual single Duel."
Seto Kaiba: "Hmph. Third-rate Duelists will always be third-rate. It's obviously designed for official tournament formats."
Kaiba's words made the Duelists in the chat shift their expressions.
Designed… for official tournaments?
If it's coming from Kaiba, who's always hosting large-scale events, he really might have a unique read on this card.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "After seeing this card, I figure many players will ask the obvious."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "'Huh? It needs three Tributes, its stats aren't impressive, it has no other effects, and when I already dealt the last damage I would have won anyway—so why is this Forbidden?'"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "Let me break it down."
"First, we need to understand two types of special wins."
"Type one is what we saw earlier in plain text: win the Duel."
"Type two is what you see here—cards that say win the Match."
"Simply put, these are aimed at large tournament play."
"Unlike a normal Duel—"
"Official events use a best-of-three Match structure."
"That means if you use this card to take Game 1—"
"Then the whole 'best-of-three' stops mattering."
"You're the winner of the Match."
"There are even claims that if you're down 0–2, you can still play a Game 3 just to use Victory Dragon. Whether that's true is unclear."
"Beyond that, decks built around this card are relatively straightforward."
"After all, it only asks for Dragons—very splashable."
"So getting it onto the field isn't too difficult."
"For example, in a late-game situation—"
"You topdeck Victory Dragon, reduce your opponent to 0, and that's it—the remaining games don't get played. How would that feel?"
With that explanation, Kaiba's guess was effectively confirmed.
Many tournament-minded Duelists drew a sharp breath.
Good grief.
So you can play the game like that?
Looked at this way—
The card really is kind of degenerate.
In casual Duels, it's just for laughs.
But in official tournaments?
Banning it does seem better.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "Cards with Victory Dragon–style text aren't the only ones."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "There's also 'The Legendary Dark Magician of Chaos,' for example—another Match-win card."
"And once you grasp these points—"
"The next batch of special-win cards will be much easier to understand."
"Next up is 'Last Turn,' also Forbidden."
[Trap Card: Last Turn]
[Effect: Can only be activated during your opponent's turn if your LP are 1000 or less.]
[After activation, choose 1 monster you control. Send all cards in both players' hands and on the field to the Graveyard, except that monster.]
[Then your opponent Special Summons 1 monster from their Deck in face-up Attack Position, and those two monsters battle. Any battle damage to players from this battle becomes 0.]
[During the End Phase of this turn, if only one player still controls a monster, that player wins the Duel. Otherwise, the result is a draw.]
This card?
What the heck?
The old-guard Duelists across the worlds were stunned at first—
Then, after thinking it through, their faces changed.
After activation—
It forcibly creates a one-battle scenario?
Then you pit one monster against the other to see which is stronger?
Whoa!
You can even do that?
It's kind of terrifying.
At 1000 or less LP, a do-or-die gambit that brute-forces a battle, turning the Duel into a "you live, I die" showdown.
More importantly—
Draws!
Yes.
If neither side controls a monster, or both sides still have a monster—
It's a draw.
If this were legal in tournaments and everyone packed a copy,
you can't even imagine what those Matches would look like.
If it were allowed, many decks would warp themselves to revolve around it.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "At first glance, 'Last Turn' looks like a one-on-one duel to the death."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "But keep in mind, its ban might not be purely about power level."
"On the contrary, it's likely banned due to the sheer number of rulings it generates."
"And because of the draw condition—if it were legal in events, draws could become far too common."
"Another card with a somewhat similar 'rule-twist' nature is 'Relay Soul.'"
[Trap Card: Relay Soul]
[Effect: Special Summon 1 monster from your hand. While that monster remains face-up on your field, you take no damage. When that monster leaves the field, your opponent wins the Duel.]
"This one is still legal."
"Mainly because it's a gamble that only risks your side."
"But the fun bit is—it changes the win condition framework."
"So I'm curious."
"If you've used this, and your opponent then Summons Holactie the Creator of Light—who wins?"
"I'll leave that one for everyone to think about."
Seeing this card, Yugi Muto and the spirit of Pharaoh Atem in the DM world shared a moment of sentiment.
Back when they faced Dartz—
This card was the key to hanging on at 0 LP.
Without it, they would have lost then and there.
As for the question raised—
Once Relay Soul resolves, only the selected monster leaving the field causes your loss.
But Holactie's Summon grants victory.
It does sound contradictory—
Yet it also feels like Holactie would still claim the win.
It's a genuinely interesting puzzle.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "We're approaching the end of our special-win card rundown."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "The next one should be a household name."
"The card is 'Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes.'"
"This is a dedicated 'Vennominaga' build."
"It can only be Summoned via the Trap 'Rise of the Snake Deity.'"
"The win condition stacks a Hyper-Venom Counter when it inflicts battle damage."
"When this card has 3 Hyper-Venom Counters, you win the Duel."
"It starts at 0 ATK, but gains ATK the more Reptiles are in your Graveyard."
"Its broad protection also helps it live long enough to trigger the special win."
"My rating: 6 out of 10."
In the GX world, "the Deity of Poisonous Snakes" is an old acquaintance—
Professor Viper's ace monster.
Jaden Yuki had a rough time against it back then.
So when he saw the card again, he couldn't help but reminisce with a wry smile.
Still—
The pressure this special-win card exerts is no less than that of the "card gods."
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "Next are the 'for fun' builds around 'Jackpot 7.'"
Yu-Gi-Oh! Appreciation Hall: "This Spell's effect is: when this card in your possession is sent to the Graveyard by an opponent's card effect, banish it."
"If three copies of your 'Jackpot 7' are currently banished by that effect, you win the Duel."
"To make the opponent help you meet the condition—"
"The deck's direction is obvious."
"Give your opponent 'Don Zaloog'–type pressure? No—better—give them 'Dark Scorpion Burglars.'"
"Then ram your monsters into it so your own cards pop and 'Jackpot 7' gets sent by the opponent's card effect."
"Token generators help with crashing."
"That way you can satisfy 'Jackpot 7' and reach the special win."
"As a casual win, it's not very consistent. I give it a 4."
"Then the Trap 'Phantasm Spiral Assault.'"
"The condition is: while 'Phantasm Spiral Dragon' is equipped with three or more different 'Phantasm Spiral' Equip Spells, if it destroys three of your opponent's Effect Monsters by battle, you win the Duel."
"Both of these require their own specialized decks to barely get to a special win."
"Especially 'Phantasm Spiral Assault' needing three battle destructions—"
"In theory, not easy."
"My rating: also 4."
"One more to mention alongside them—also a deck-specific piece!"
"'F.A. Winners'!"
"It's a Continuous Spell. After activation, when your 'F.A.' monster that's at least 5 Levels higher than its original Level battles and inflicts battle damage, you banish 1 card from your hand, field, or Graveyard."
"When three different 'F.A.' Field Spells are banished by this effect, you win the Duel."
"The once-per-turn limitation bumps the difficulty."
"So these three are of a kind."
"I'll give this one a 5."
With another trio of special-win cards on screen—
Two Spells and one Trap tied to niche strategies—
Duelists from many worlds felt their scalps tingle.
These engines—some hadn't even heard of them.
Let alone these bizarre win conditions.
They had assumed—
Exodia and Holactie were already the end-boss tier.
Yet there are so many strange special-win cards!
And the short video—
Has just one last special-win card left.
Under the focused stares of Duelists across the worlds—
The final card name appeared!
[Number iC1000: Numeronius Numeronia]!!!
The moment that name popped up, every Duelist in the ZEXAL world was stunned.
Wh—
What number?
Digits… places… thousands?!
A Number 1000 Xyz Monster!
Yuma Tsukumo and Astral looked at each other, faces drained.
In each other's eyes, they saw a mix of shock and dread.
Hold on.
This card seems connected to Lord Don Thousand as well!
"No way! How can this be!"
"Why is there a Number 1000!"
"What even IS this!!!"
Kite Tenjo's pupils dilated, then he immediately spoke up.
Nearby, Tori Meadows, Bronk Stone, and the other Duelists traded glances.
They wished it was just an extra zero they'd imagined.
A Number 1000 Xyz Monster.
It felt like a dream—
Damn!
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