Chapter 141. The Reason behind Spellbook of Judgment's Domination! The Beginning of Dragon Rulers Getting Hit by the List!
All the Duelists were very curious about the Spellbook (Prophecy) engine.
But the protagonist of the short video was still the Dragon Ruler engine.
So there wasn't too much detailed explanation of Spellbook combos and lines.
Even so, the reasons it could stand toe-to-toe with Dragon Rulers were still mentioned.
Thus, under the curious gazes of the Duelists, the short video quickly gave an answer.
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "Since the Dragon Ruler engine was already this strong."
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "Why could Spellbooks split the meta with Dragon Rulers back then?"
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "Here's a brief aside to explain it to everyone."
"This can also help you understand what was going on with this tear-jerking, bygone-era Spellbook engine."
"First, Spellbook's characteristics."
"The whole deck, as the name implies, contains a great many Spell Cards."
"And the gameplan is to keep using those 'Spellbook' Spells to generate resources."
"Resources can be in the Graveyard, in hand, or set to the back row for disruption."
"The engine both accrues cards and breaks boards."
"The core monster of the deck is this: Spellbook Magician of Prophecy."
[Card Name: Spellbook Magician of Prophecy (Level 2)]
[Attribute: WATER]
[Type: Spellcaster]
[ATK/DEF: 500/400]
[Effect: If this card is Normal Summoned or flipped face-up: You can add 1 'Spellbook' Spell from your Deck to your hand.]
"The key is the on-summon in-archetype search."
"For example, we search Spellbook of Secrets, then activate Spellbook of Secrets to search Spellbook of the Master."
"This Spellbook of the Master is crucial; put simply, it can copy the effect of any 'Spellbook' Normal Spell in the Graveyard."
"Copy Spellbook of Power to give a Spellcaster +1000 ATK, and if it destroys by battle you can also search a 'Spellbook.'"
"Copy Spellbook of Fate for Quick-Play banish or delayed advantage."
"Copy Spellbook of Wisdom to protect a monster from Spell or Trap effects."
"Copy Spellbook of Eternity to recover a banished 'Spellbook' to prepare for the next turn."
"Copy...…"
As the Spellbook decklist and the relevant Spellbook card info appeared in the short video, just looking at the list already made the Duelists across the six worlds look doubtful and perplexed.
This Spellbook decklist had absurdly many Spell Cards.
Yes.
This engine!
Spell Cards made up two-thirds of the deck.
The remaining third was split between monsters and Traps.
There were even fewer than five Traps—possibly even less.
And the monsters? Not many kinds either.
Just a few, each at three copies.
This is the so-called Spellbook?
The Spellbook that could split the meta with Dragon Rulers?
You must be kidding, right?
Duel Monsters World.
Yugi Muto looked at Spellbooks, then at Dragon Rulers.
For a moment, he even had the illusion that Spellbooks were Dark Magician, and Dragon Rulers were Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
This Spellbook engine was somewhat similar to Dark Magician.
It seemed to rely on a large number of Spell-to-Spell combos.
But the problem was, there didn't seem to be any very handy finisher.
"With a deck like this, it could still compete with Dragon Rulers?"
"Is this a joke?"
"Just relying on these Spell Cards?"
"Once you've used them, won't you be out of resources?"
Beside him, Seto Kaiba let out a cold laugh.
Outwardly he was talking about Spellbooks.
But in effect, he was also taking a jab at the many Spells in Yugi Muto's Dark Magician deck.
VRAINS World.
As the newest Link era world, Yusaku Fujiki, Akira Zaizen, and others were also peering curiously back and forth through the Spellbook list.
It was their first time seeing an entire deck that actually relied on Spell Cards to run.
Even the combos seemed to be all Spells.
After all, that mere 500 ATK Spellbook Magician's job was just to search.
"Interesting. Decks in the higher world really are interesting."
"There was a Golden Land deck that relied entirely on Traps."
"And now we've got a Spellbook deck that relies entirely on Spells."
"The construction looks unreasonable, yet somehow there's inexplicable power."
Takeru Homura drawled, teasing.
He was now even more curious.
With a Spellbook like this, what do you use to fight Dragon Rulers?
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "So after sorting out Spellbook's features and gameplan…"
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "Let's talk about its problems and shortcomings."
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "First, the linkage between Spellbook monsters and Spell Cards isn't high."
"Simply put, the monsters can search Spellbooks, but the Spellbooks can't help you search the other Prophecy monsters."
"For example, the key ace monster High Priestess of Prophecy."
"If you want to search this card, then this low-level monster Justice of Prophecy becomes especially important."
[Card Name: Justice of Prophecy (Level 3)]
[Attribute: EARTH]
[Type: Spellcaster]
[ATK/DEF: 1600/800]
[Effect: During the End Phase of the turn in which you activated a 'Spellbook' Spell Card: You can banish this face-up card; add 1 Level 5 or higher LIGHT or DARK Spellcaster-Type monster and 1 'Spellbook' Spell Card from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of 'Justice of Prophecy' once per turn.]
"This was played at two to three copies back then."
"These basically formed the main axis of a Spellbook build."
"But relying on Justice alone was far from enough."
"To deal with Dragon Rulers, just these weren't sufficient."
"And Spellbooks would also face the awkward situation of being unable to replenish resources, leaving them only able to go two to three rounds."
"These drawbacks led to the birth of that card."
"Its name was Spellbook of Judgment."
[Spell Card: Spellbook of Judgment]
[Effect: You can only activate 1 'Spellbook of Judgment' per turn. During the End Phase of the turn this card was activated, add 'Spellbook' Spells from your Deck to your hand, except 'Spellbook of Judgment,' up to the number of Spell Cards activated after this card's resolution, then, you can Special Summon from your Deck 1 Spellcaster monster whose Level is less than or equal to the number of cards added to your hand by this effect.]
Judgment?
When the entire frame of the short video filled with this card, Duelists from every world felt a jolt in their hearts.
They more or less knew something was off.
After they finished reading the effect, even those who didn't understand Spellbooks were struck dumb.
Huh?
What the heck?
This effect?
Why does it read like a bootleg card?
However many Spell Cards you activate after it resolves, you can add that many "Spellbook" Spells from your Deck.
Combined with what was said earlier, for Spellbooks, firing off four or five Spells in one turn wasn't out of the question—three was the floor.
Which meant this single card could, at minimum, convert into three resources.
No—even more outrageous.
Because after adding, you could also Special Summon a monster from the Deck.
And, egregiously, it didn't lock you into Prophecy monsters.
As long as it was a Spellcaster, you could Special Summon it.
If you added three cards, that meant a Level 3 or lower monster.
Justice—conveniently Level 3.
If you pulled Justice after resolving it, Justice would then kick in, effectively letting your Deck explode into two more searches.
At that thought, the protagonists from each world couldn't help but take a deep breath.
They stared, stupefied, at this Judgment.
No—this was a verdict.
"What a terrifying effect! A 1-for-4 resource engine! Spellbooks aren't losing resources at all."
"This is kind of disgusting. No wonder Spellbooks with this card could split the meta with Dragon Rulers. If even this couldn't do it, then Spellbooks might as well be buried."
"This card can summon not just Prophecy monsters, but any Spellcaster. I guess there must have been other outside helpers aiding Spellbooks."
"For sure; otherwise, with Dragon Rulers backed by Super Rejuvenation and Sacred Sword of Seven Stars, their resource gain wasn't less than Spellbooks."
"..."
In the chat, Yusei Fudo, Yuma Tsukumo, and others immediately erupted into discussion.
Only when this card appeared did they truly understand Spellbook's strength.
It all lay in this one card.
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "With Judgment's injection of power, Spellbooks became increasingly scary."
"One era had many decks aiming squarely at Spellbooks."
"But Dragon Rulers' power kept being mined out."
"In the end, Dragon Rulers instead became the target of the other top decks."
"Spellbooks, carrying Judgment, began taking top slots."
"They then stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Dragon Rulers and split the meta."
"In that environment, Spellbooks also teched many accomplices to target Dragon Rulers."
"For example, Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer."
"Level 4 with 1800 ATK, and with Spellbook of Power it neatly reaches 2800—the exact ceiling of the main Dragon Rulers."
"While Kycoo is on the field, your opponent can't banish cards from either Graveyard."
"When Kycoo inflicts damage, it can also banish 2 cards from the opponent's Graveyard."
"Or the monk Jowgen the Spiritualist."
"Level 3 with only 200 ATK, but 1300 DEF."
"As long as this monk is on the field, neither player can Special Summon."
"And you can discard a random hand card to destroy all Special Summoned monsters on the field."
"These two were aces either in the mirror or against Dragon Rulers."
"The Spellbook Spells could also protect the monks from Spell/Trap effects."
"The Continuous Spell Spellbook Star Hall would accumulate counters while also giving the monks ATK."
"So back then Dragon Rulers would main Book of Moon and other set-and-flip disruptions to target them."
Hearing this, many Duelists wore looks of sudden realization.
No wonder in those short clips of Dragon Ruler mirrors they all ran monster-effect negation cards, and all sorts of settable Spells/Traps.
Otherwise back then, the pros' Number 11: Big Eye wouldn't have kept getting flipped face-down, negated, flipped again, and negated again.
But it must be said: these two monks were indeed disgusting when combined.
One locked out banishing from the Graveyard.
One locked out Special Summons.
Especially the banish lock—it directly crushed the Dragon Rulers' chance to jump out from the Graveyard.
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "With the monks, Spellbooks' win rate versus Dragon Rulers rose."
"One problem remained: Spellbooks' OTK ability was weak."
"ATK numbers were still an issue; Dragon Rulers start at 2400."
"Shutting down their mainline with the Spellbook core is fine, but you can't finish the opponent in one go."
"In that case, Dragon Rulers would easily draw into a comeback card."
"So, when Maiden with Eyes of Blue was released in June, Spellbooks started splashing Blue-Eyes White Dragon."
"3000 ATK patched the low-ATK problem."
"Spellbook of Power could also proactively trigger Maiden's effect to pull out Blue-Eyes."
"Well then—Spellbooks took off completely."
"Judgment plus Blue-Eyes, paired with the Spellbooks, immediately let Dragon Rulers experience what an 8-Star Tribute Dragon feels like."
"3000 will always be higher than your 2800."
Good grief.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon?
What is going on?
Spellbooks even latched onto Blue-Eyes' thigh?
Seto Kaiba nearly spat up a mouthful of old blood.
He rubbed his ears, thinking he'd misheard.
Maiden with Eyes of Blue—this seemed like a card mentioned earlier.
As long as she's attacked or becomes the target of an effect, she can pull a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
And being a Level 1 Spellcaster, she was easy to fetch via Judgment.
Seen this way, including her seemed a very wise choice.
"Spellbooks plus Blue-Eyes? What a strange combo. Why not include the invincible Dark Magician instead?"
"Eh! Even if Blue-Eyes is a Normal Monster, you can't deny that ATK. That's sick."
"So it was Judgment plus the Maiden that lifted Spellbooks?"
"Or maybe the environment made the hero; if not for Dragon Rulers, Spellbooks wouldn't have considered including Maiden."
Off to the side, Mako Tsunami and Mai Valentine whispered to each other.
They had thought Spellbooks were about at their limit.
They never expected it could even tie in with Blue-Eyes to boost combat power.
Absolutely wild.
One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "With the Spellbook side explained to this point, I think everyone now understands why it could split the meta with Dragon Rulers back then."
"One Dragon Ruler, One Spellbook: "Next, let's return to the main topic of Dragon Rulers."
"In the following environment, it was basically the two decks—Spellbook and Dragon Ruler—locked in opposition."
"If you wanted to change that, other than a deck stronger than both appearing…"
"Otherwise, there's the method everyone knows."
"That is the Forbidden & Limited List."
"Yes."
"The punitive List arrived in September."
"Here are the cards that were hit."
"The four Baby Dragon Rulers—Forbidden."
"Super Rejuvenation and Number 11: Big Eye also got Limited."
"Not only that, Spellbook of Judgment also entered the List."
"You could say both top-tier engines didn't escape unscathed."
"Without the four Babies and Super Rejuvenation, the Dragon Ruler engine undoubtedly suffered a dimensionality-reduction blow."
"After all, the Babies providing Special Summons and the use of the Graveyard as resource were extremely strong."
"And Super Rejuvenation providing draw power was key to Dragon Rulers' sustain."
"With both blades swung, it meant Dragon Rulers' staying power was drastically disrupted and constrained."
"When players saw that List back then, they felt justice was served."
"They all said Dragon Rulers were dead; the dark age was finally coming to an end."
"But… were Dragon Rulers really about to exit the stage?"
"The answer was certainly no."
As expected.
A tier-zero deck after its first round of hits—how could it just die outright?
Hearing this, Duelists from every world wore "of course" expressions.
Just like Tearlaments: even stuck in a wheelchair, it could still floor the gas.
Dragon Rulers, as the meta tyrant of the time—without the four Babies, how could the engine just die?
What's more, even if the Babies were Forbidden, weren't there still the four big Dragons?
More importantly, the big Dragons were the main force.
This was something all Duelists knew after understanding Dragon Rulers.
But that raised another question.
How would Dragon Rulers' deckbuilding change next?
What would they rely on to take top placements?
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