Although there was an unexpected situation, it's okay—Youyu still has a countermeasure.
"Set a card, and end my turn." he said.
"My turn, draw."
Marik curled his lips. Meanwhile, the Jam Breeding Machine on his field began to rumble again, the exhaust pipe spewing white steam as if something were about to emerge.
"At this moment, the effect of the Breeding Machine activates again." Marik laughed, "Now, a third tribute appears on my field. Special Summon a Slime Token..."
"Not necessarily! Open Set Card, Dust Tornado!"
Youyu unveiled the card in his backfield, activating the Trap Card, as a whirlwind stirred up swirling leaves. The storm shook the boiler-like device, ripping apart its metal casing and shattering it on the spot.
Of course, the second Token didn't have time to jump out either.
"Too bad, Marik." Youyu chuckled lightly, "You already have 'Slifer the Sky Dragon' in your hand, right?"
Marik gave a low hum, saying nothing, but his tone revealed everything.
Indeed!
Just knew none of you shuffled your decks!
Alright, actually Marik's deck was shuffled by Youyu, as they strictly followed tournament rules to exchange and shuffle decks before the duel began. However, even so, Slifer just happened to jump into Marik's hand at the start. It seems Marik, being a descendant of the Gravekeeper Race, might have maxed out his bonds...
"Set a monster in facedown Defense Position. Plus two Set Cards, and end my turn."
The Marik player evidently doesn't have a way to defeat the 2400 attack point Thunder Giant for now, so he's retreating for now.
In this case, Youyu surely won't miss this attack opportunity.
"My turn, draw!" Youyu glanced at the card he drew, "Activate 'Pot of Greed'! Draw two more cards from the deck."
The first thing to resolve is that annoying Continuous Trap, Jam Defender. As long as it's on the field, any attack or effect target will be redirected to Revival Jam, making any attack meaningless.
Though troublesome, it's ultimately just a Continuous Trap, so removing it shouldn't be too difficult.
"Quick-Play Magic, Cosmic Cyclone!" Youyu played the next card, "Pay 1000 LP to remove a Magic Trap Card on the field from the game! Remove 'Jam Defender'!"
From the animation, Youyu had long understood the puppet deck strategy of Marik. Simply put, it's to use Continuous Traps to have Revival Jam take hits, and every time Jam revives, draw cards with the surviving Treasure card, using the Continuous Magic Breeding Machine to gather tributes...
In summary, it's all combos of Continuous Magic and Continuous Traps to assist Slifer, infinitely boosting Slifer's attack with Jam as the ultimate shield.
Simply put, it's a strategy centering on the big brother, configuring the entire deck to provide resources for Slifer all relying on the big guy to finish everything.
However, this combo highly relying on Continuous Magic and Continuous Traps also has a clear weakness—it's vulnerable to wind...
Speaking of which, Marik, Rishid, and even his sister Ishizu, all have a somewhat introverted taste in building their decks.
This might have to do with them growing up underground, never seeing daylight, as the Gravekeeper Race, as a duelist's deck composition somewhat reflects themselves.
With that said, it's possible that Marik, since he started playing Duel Monsters, has always engaged in introverted duels, no wonder his deck feels eerie...
There's nothing more to say; when Youyu adjusted his deck, he simply maxed out on large and small winds!
He even included the Cosmic Cyclone, which he just got from the card pool.
[Youyu, LP 4000→ LP 3000]
After paying 1000 LP, that annoying Continuous Trap finally disappeared, allowing him to attack.
"Summon Elemental Hero Wildman."
[Elemental Hero Wildman, Attack 1500]
"Thunder Giant," Youyu waved his hand, "attack the Slime Token!"
The huge Elemental Hero followed the order, its giant boots imperceptibly lunging forward, accelerating rapidly to the short Slime's face. Stretching out its hand, palm open, a torrent of golden electricity crackled, shattering the Token in an instant.
[Marik, LP 4000→ LP 2100]
The puppet staggered back two steps from the electric impact, black smoke rising as it barely remained standing. Marik smirked slightly: "Tch, not bad."
"It's not over yet. Then attack with Wildman!" Youyu targeted the Set Card in front of Marik, "Attack the Set monster!"
The Set Card flipped over, revealing a grinning tomato with a leafy top.
[Mystic Tomato, Defense 1100]
I, Tomato, am an emotionless killer.
...then got mercilessly sliced in half by the brutish Elemental Hero.
"Mystic Tomato's effect," Marik said, "When destroyed in battle, Special Summon a Dark Attribute monster with 1500 or less ATK from the deck... Special Summon another Mystic Tomato!"
[Mystic Tomato, ATK 1400]
A Last Will Monster, huh...
Although Last Will Monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh endgame phases had been eliminated, for the current version, they're still handy for gathering tributes for a Tribute Summon.
"The Battle Phase is over, but my turn isn't." Youyu raised two cards toward the whirlpool in the sky, "Using the 'Fusion Gate' Field Effect to fusion Elemental Hero Wildman on the field and Elemental Hero Edgeman from the hand!
Elemental Hero Plasma Vice, Fusion Summon!"
Wildman and Edgeman each appeared, transforming into two intersecting golden lights shooting into the dark vortex of the Fusion Gate in mid-air. A radiant golden light erupted within the space-time vortex, and the sturdy body of the new hero crashed straight onto the ground.
[Elemental Hero Plasma Vice, ATK 2600]
"The turn a Fusion Summon is performed, it can't attack, ending my turn," Youyu said.
Now Marik only has that cockroach-like undying Revival Jam and a Mystic Tomato left on his field, so he likely won't summon Slifer next turn either.
While Youyu already has a lethal solution, if it comes back to his turn... if he reaches that point, it's his victory!
Of course, as a seasoned duel veteran, he understands the ever-changing nature of duels; until LP hits zero, there are always unknowns. So here, he won't follow those self-destructive players making weird predictions...
...
...Are you seriously going to summon Slifer and OTK me?
"Draw!" Marik chose to open up directly this turn, "Activate Graceful Charity! Both players refill their hands to six!"
Youyu felt like applauding him.
Impressive, brother, you even brought Forbidden Cards?
However, Marik has three cards in hand, and Youyu has none, meaning Marik draws three, and Youyu draws six, gaining a net benefit of six cards. This operation made Youyu gain so much.
It's often said in Yu-Gi-Oh that a duel reveals a person's true nature, so it seems Marik's true nature is about forming bonds, never forgetting to gift cards during a duel...
...wait a second.
Youyu suddenly realized Marik was staring at him, oddly sneering. The smile even reminded Youyu a bit of when Mask couldn't escape it, especially that look after shedding the glasses…
"Your next line is, 'This turn I have only two monsters to use as tributes, making it impossible to meet the summoning condition for the god, right?'"
Youyu thought, my next line... really isn't that.
Looking at that puppet's hungry eyes, the first line popping up in his mind was—Don't you come near me!
"Now, let me show you how much my duel surpasses yours!" Marik shouted, "Open the Set Card! Summon Trap Monster, Embodiment of Apophis!"
This surprised Youyu a little. Marik actually included his subordinate's card?
[Embodiment of Apophis, ATK 1600]
"It's not over yet, I'll also use Monster Reborn to revive the Mystic Tomato in the grave!"
[Mystic Tomato, ATK 1400]
Youyu squinted his eyes slightly.
Adding up to four monsters on Marik's field exceeds the number of tributes needed to summon a god... is he leaving the infinitely reviving "Revival Jam" as a wall just in case?
"Now watch closely," Marik manipulated the puppet, slowly and solemnly drawing a card from his hand, "This is the god!
Using the two Mystic Tomatoes and the Embodiment of Apophis as tributes... descend, God!
—Slifer the Sky Dragon!"