Chapter 186. A Specialist HERO Goes First to Hand-Rip! Fusion HERO That Uses Every Resource in the Graveyard!
In contrast, the Synchro explosions from the Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend engines—no matter how many times they watched them—still didn't fully click for Joey Wheeler and Dr. Crowler.
But this Centurion Knight was different.
After watching it, only two words popped into these old-guard duelists' heads:
Simple.
Yes.
Very simple!
Joey Wheeler: "Ahem! I have an announcement! I think I can ride a bike and play cards too!"
Crow Hogan: "I really don't want to repeat this, Big Bro Joey—that's a D-Wheel, not a motorcycle!"
Dr. Crowler: "Mamma mia! I finally understand this 'Synchro' thing. Can't we just do eight plus four makes Level 12? What's with this three plus two equals Level 12? I'm baffled!"
Syrus Truesdale: "Well, if it's just the math, I think I could run Centurion too. But if you tell me to play Stardust Dragon, I don't think I can."
Yusei Fudo: "Stardust Dragon brings hidden hope—that's something Centurion can't reach. It's too one-note."
The chat immediately pivoted into "friendly" exchanges and discussion after everyone finished learning the Centurion combos.
For the old guard, Centurion didn't require winding detours.
Four plus eight is twelve.
For Yusei and the Synchro duelists, what they wanted were 3+2 lines that generated endlessly variable numbers through play.
ARC-V dimension.
As a duelist from the Synchro Dimension, Yugo was already numb.
Seeing Synchro become this simple made his whole body tingle.
This kind of Synchro shattered his perception of Synchro!
"Set the back row, then come out at Quick Effect speed."
"Accelerate with the Field Spell, Crimson Dragon arrives."
"Return a Level 12, cosmic transition."
"Refuel resources, do it again."
"I give up! I really give up!"
"A Synchro deck that doesn't run out of resources!"
"Is it still a Synchro deck?"
Yugo's rapid-fire lines made Yuto and Yuya Sakaki twitch at the corners of their mouths.
Rapping now, are we?
Then again, it made sense.
Another big strength of Centurion was resource recovery.
The in-archetype Knight King could set Centurion cards back from the Graveyard.
That really did ensure steady access to Tuners.
It's what other Synchro decks dream of.
Just three copies of "Centurion Primera" could satisfy the Tuner requirements for the whole Extra Deck's Synchro monsters.
Almost unthinkable.
Compare that to the Junk engine with Stardust needing to pull out five Tuners in tandem.
The contrast was obvious.
Main world.
Sei Yuki saw that this short Centurion video had finished.
Next he started searching for other wild short videos.
And he really did find a very interesting entertainment HERO hand-rip short.
Click to confirm.
Title pops up:
"Going First, HERO Plays Like a Hand-Rip Deck? You run your HEROes like that?"
Soon, the title hooked the GX duelists.
Aster Phoenix and Jaden Yuki, who'd just been discussing Centurion, both shivered.
HERO?
Another fun HERO short?
The two quickly shifted their attention to the new video.
Soon, duel info appeared.
"HERO at the Limit" vs. an unknown card guy.
Both players' LP: 8000.
Going first: HERO at the Limit.
HERO at the Limit: "My turn! I activate the Spell 'A Hero Lives'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Since I control no monsters, I pay half my Life Points to Special Summon 'Elemental HERO Stratos' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "Stratos triggers—add 'Elemental HERO Solid Soldier' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "Normal Summon 'Elemental HERO Solid Soldier', then trigger it to Special Summon a second 'Elemental HERO Stratos' from my hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "Stratos triggers again—add 'Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "Overlay the two Stratos—Rank 4, 'Gallant Granite'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Gallant Granite activates—detach 1 material to add 'Cartorhyn the Hidden Gem of the Seafront' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "Activate 'Cartorhyn the Hidden Gem of the Seafront' in hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "I discard it; this turn I gain an additional Normal Summon of exactly 1 EARTH or WATER monster during my Main Phase."
HERO at the Limit: "I Normal Summon 'Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier' and use its effect to revive 'Elemental HERO Stratos' from the Graveyard!"
HERO at the Limit: "Stratos triggers yet again—add 'Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Cartorhyn the Hidden Gem of the Seafront' in the Graveyard activates—Special Summon itself!"
HERO at the Limit: "Use Liquid Soldier and Stratos to Xyz Summon—Rank 4, 'Starring Knight'!"
Something was off.
The more they watched, the more off it felt.
Aster Phoenix and Jaden Yuki, who had expected a HERO explosion, were stunned.
Dumbfounded and a little confused.
Because this sudden detour into Xyz—not pivoting into Link lines for HERO pressure—paired with the title, told them this HERO duelist was doing something new.
Put simply, it wasn't a pure HERO deck.
Aster Phoenix: "A hand-rip HERO build?"
Aster Phoenix: "No way? Are there even hand-rip cards inside the HERO engine?"
Jaden Yuki's pupils shrank, his face changed.
Yes.
He'd thought of it.
Could it be that Dolphin?
HERO at the Limit: "'Starring Knight' activates—detach 1 material to Special Summon 'Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos' from my hand."
HERO at the Limit: "I activate 'Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos'!"
Unknown card guy: "I chain 'Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring' from my hand!"
Unknown card guy: "Your Spirit of Neos is negated."
HERO at the Limit: "I chain 'Called by the Grave'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Banish your 'Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring' from the Graveyard—negate its effect."
HERO at the Limit: "Spirit of Neos resolves—I add 'Instant Contact' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "Spirit of Neos triggers again—tribute itself to Special Summon 'Elemental HERO Neos' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "I Link Summon using 'Gallant Granite' and 'Starring Knight'—Link-2, 'Cross-Sheep'!"
HERO at the Limit: "I activate the Spell 'Instant Contact'—I pay 1000 LP to Special Summon from my Extra Deck, ignoring conditions—'Elemental HERO Aqua Neos'!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Cross-Sheep' triggers—revive 'Elemental HERO Stratos' from my Graveyard!"
HERO at the Limit: "Stratos continues—add 'Vision HERO Vyon' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "I activate 'Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin's' effect—discard 'Destiny HERO - Denier' to destroy 1 card in your hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "I return 'Elemental HERO Neos' and 'Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin' to the Deck for a Contact Fusion—Fusion Summon 'Elemental HERO Marine Neos'!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Elemental HERO Marine Neos' activates—destroy another random card from your hand!"
As expected.
It was the Dolphin-centered hand-rip HERO combo.
With those two shots, duelists across the worlds went pale.
Good grief.
Instead of exploding with HERO plays, he's going for a blackout-inducing hand-rip.
Looks like two cards ripped—plus the earlier burned "Ash Blossom," that's functionally three gone.
So the opponent has two cards left.
How's he ripping the rest?
HERO at the Limit: "I Link Summon using 'Elemental HERO Solid Soldier' and 'Elemental HERO Marine Neos'—Link-2, 'Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights'!"
HERO at the Limit: "I activate Isolde—add 'Elemental HERO Neos' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "Continue—send 'Re-Fusion' from the Deck to the Graveyard to activate Isolde's second effect!"
HERO at the Limit: "I Special Summon 'Infernoble Knight - Renaud'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Renaud activates—return 'Re-Fusion' from the Graveyard to my hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "I Link Summon using Isolde, Renaud, Cartorhyn, and Cross-Sheep—Link-4, 'Saryuja Skull Dread'!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Saryuja Skull Dread' effect—I draw four and put three back."
HERO at the Limit: "'Saryuja Skull Dread' effect—during Main Phase, Special Summon 'Vision HERO Vyon' from my hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Vision HERO Vyon' activates—send 'Destiny HERO - Malicious' to the Graveyard, then banish 'Stratos' from the Graveyard to add 'Polymerization' to hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "I activate the Equip Spell 'Re-Fusion'—I pay 800 LP to revive 'Elemental HERO Marine Neos' from the Graveyard!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Marine Neos' refreshes—activate again, destroy one more random card in your hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "I Link Summon using 'Saryuja Skull Dread' and one material—Link-4, 'Worldsea Dragon Zealantis'!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Worldsea Dragon Zealantis' activates—banish itself and all cards on the field face-up, then return them!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Elemental HERO Stratos' triggers—add 'Elemental HERO Shadow Mist' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Elemental HERO Marine Neos' triggers—destroy another random card in your hand!"
It worked.
Those two more swings from Marine Neos shredded the opponent's last two cards.
In one breath, that's four cards out of the hand.
What kind of bizarre specialist "HERO-in-name-only" hand-rip line is this?
At this point, duelists everywhere felt their scalps go numb.
DM world.
Seto Kaiba took a deep breath.
He stared blankly at the short, where the going-second duelist hadn't even drawn for his turn yet, and his hand was already at zero.
He figured if "Ash Blossom" hadn't fired, this specialist HERO probably had a way to rip one more.
Yugi Muto slowly exhaled.
What shocked him was that even in "entertainment" specialist builds, they still come up with plays that make the opponent black out.
Stop it.
A true HERO wouldn't rip hands in the shadows to steal a win, would he?
HERO at the Limit: "I banish 'Destiny HERO - Malicious' from the Graveyard to Special Summon another 'Malicious' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "I Link Summon using 'Worldsea Dragon Zealantis' and 'Vision HERO Vyon'—Link-2, 'Proxy F Magician'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Activate it—Fusion Summon using 'Elemental HERO Stratos' and 'Destiny HERO - Malicious'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Come forth—'Elemental HERO Sunrise'!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Sunrise' searches 'Miracle Fusion'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Magician effect—Special Summon 'Elemental HERO Shadow Mist' from my hand."
HERO at the Limit: "'Destiny HERO - Denier' in the Graveyard activates—Special Summon itself; return the banished 'Malicious' to the Deck."
HERO at the Limit: "Banish 'Malicious' again—Special Summon another 'Malicious'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Denier, Shadow Mist, and Proxy F Magician—Link Summon 'Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess'!"
HERO at the Limit: "'Shadow Mist' in the Graveyard triggers—add 'Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos' from the Deck!"
HERO at the Limit: "I activate 'Polymerization'—I fuse the 'Elemental HERO Neos' in my hand with the 'Malicious' on the field—'Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer'!"
HERO at the Limit: "I set one card."
HERO at the Limit: "My turn ends."
He even, after ripping the hand, used the remaining resources to build a going-first board.
A Quick Effect, self-recurring pop in Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer.
Three monster negates from Apollousa.
"Elemental HERO Spirit of Neos" in hand.
Plus "Elemental HERO Sunrise" boosting ATK and popping cards.
The opponent had no hand, and he was still this cautious.
He really didn't want the opponent to play Yu-Gi-Oh!, huh?
Unknown card guy: "My turn! Draw!"
HERO at the Limit: "Flip the Trap—'Lightforce Sword'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Banish one random card from your hand face-down; during the opponent's fourth Standby Phase after activation, that card returns to their hand!"
HERO at the Limit: "All right, you have no hand."
HERO at the Limit: "How are you going to play?"
Numb.
Utterly numb.
Just when everyone hoped the opponent could top-deck a single out and claw back, the specialist HERO's back row flipped and sent that last hope to another dimension.
I surrender.
Truly surrender.
Just to make sure the opponent can't play at all, he even set a Trap that continues the hand-rip to suppress them.
What's the point anymore?
Right now, all duelists wore sympathetic looks toward the victim.
Too painful.
This duel was too suffocating.
No hand, and even the only hope got snuffed out.
Unknown card guy: "..."
Unknown card guy: "Are you kidding me?! Your HERO board with Phoenix and Apollousa was already a brick wall—and you still run the hand-rip package?!"
Unknown card guy: "I end my turn."
HERO at the Limit: "My turn! Draw!"
HERO at the Limit: "I activate 'Miracle Fusion'!"
HERO at the Limit: "From my field and Graveyard, I fuse 'Elemental HERO Neos', 'Elemental HERO Liquid Soldier', 'Elemental HERO Sunrise'—'Elemental HERO Solid Soldier', 'Elemental HERO Stratos', 'Destiny HERO - Malicious'—'Elemental HERO Shadow Mist', 'Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights', and more—fuse them into the ultimate HERO!"
HERO at the Limit: "Descend—'Awaken Your E?HERO'!"
HERO at the Limit: "Battle Phase!"
HERO at the Limit: "First swing! 'Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer'—direct attack! 2500 damage!"
HERO at the Limit: "Second swing! 'Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess'—direct attack! 2400 damage!"
HERO at the Limit: "Third swing! 'Awaken Your E?HERO'—deal 5500 damage!"
HERO at the Limit: "Game! What an interesting duel!"
As expected, this duel went to HERO at the Limit.
What left everyone bitter and helpless was that on the last sequence he even used "Miracle Fusion" to stylishly fuse almost every resource on his field and in his Graveyard.
What is a HERO player?
Is this what a "HERO-in-name-only" player is?
Duel Academy, GX.
Watching this quick, decisive HERO duel, Jaden Yuki and Aster Phoenix were already dumbfounded.
Seriously?
You call that a HERO duel?
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