Chapter 4

Kasper took a seat across from Rylee. She began to shuffle her deck instantly, her eyes darting back and forth as if she was looking for some kind of secret. Kasper was confused, but decided to shuffle his deck as well to begin the game. After a moment of silence Kasper finally spoke.

“Uh, lets have a good game.” Kasper said sheepishly, handing her his deck to cut.

Rylee seemed to jump as if her train of thought was broken. “Oh yeah you too.” She presented her deck.

Rylee was going second and revealed her gate and gate master then. Neptune Gate, and her leader was Blade Maiden Tomoe. It was an intimidating Limit 3 with a ton of effects.

“That looks like a crazy card.” Kasper said unsure how to process this card. It felt like looking at Darryl's gate master.

“Tomoe here is amazing.” Rylee said proudly, drawing her opening hand. “She hits hard and can reflect enemy effect damage!”

Kasper quickly did the same. His starting hand had 4 Burnovas in it. While seeing his favorite card at the start helped Kasper feel at ease, he knew that having too many of the same card could be a problem. Kasper set his life to 18 and began his turn.

He drew Crossfire Cyclone, maybe a card he could use in this match up. It would be essential to take down Rylee’s massive Gate Master. He decided to Energize one of his Burnovas, drawing a Tag Battler.

“I summon Burnova to the right for 2 life, then attack for 3” Kasper declared. He took his assault token from the Gate Master ability then attacked.

Rylee shuffled her cards in her hand, looking for options. “Coming out hard right out of the gate, okay I take 3 and go to 17.”

“Ability of Burnova lets me look at the top 3 and add a Flaredrake Unit to hand.” Kasper said. The excitement Kasper felt from this attack going through drained quickly when he saw the cards on top of his deck. No Units. “I end my turn.”

Rylee sighed in relief. “Last thing I want is you getting any more hand advantage.” She drew, then charged. She shuffled her hand again, biting the bottom of her lip in frustration. “Right okay. I summon Blade Maiden Kairi to the left, then I summon my Gate master to the center by putting Kairi into her soul. My Gate Master ability lets me gain 3 energy, replacing the 3 I used for her summon.”

“Now, I summon Blade Maiden Aoi to my right.” Since Aoi was a Limit 0, she could exist on the field along with Tomoe. “Now, Tomoe will attack Burnova.”

“Burnova is destroyed.” Kasper sighed. He was glad that Tomoe didnt attack him directly, 4 damage is crazy.

“Now Aoi attacks for 1”

“I'm at 15.” Kasper said.

“I end my turn.”

Kasper Drew, Sapphire Scale, he would need that. He charged another Burnova. “I summon Hitokage to my left, destroying Tomoe.”

“Soulguard activates, keeping Tomoe on the field.” Rylee said, removing the soul from below Tomoe. “I also gain 2 life from Aoi’s ability, putting me at 19.”

“But Tomoe wasn't destroyed?” Kasper questioned.

“Technically she was, it's just that soul guard let her remain on the field after being destroyed.” Rylee explained.

Kasper grit his teeth, he could destroy the Aoi with his Solar Breath, but it would destroy Hitokage. He decided instead to summon his last Burnova, he hoped he could manage this during the battle phase. His life was at 13, and burnova was on his right.

“Burnova and Hitokage link attack Tomoe!” Kasper declared. “Burnova gives Hitokage +5k power and penetrate.”

“Tomoe will be destroyed.” Rylee sighed. “I gain 2 life, but lose it from the penetrate.”

“Off of Burnova’s ability I grab Thorny, then I end my turn.” Kasper said.

“Draw, Charge and Draw.” Rylee said, she was beginning to look frantic. She shuffled her cards in her hand again then gave a look of success. “Alright, attack phase. Aoi attacks for 1.”

Kasper decided to take it, not wasting the sapphire scale. This put him at 12.

“End Phase!” Rylee declared. “I summon Shrine Huntress Kath!” It was a Limit 1 Finale unit and an Insect like the rest of Rylee’s cards.

“Kath will attack your Hitokage.”

“Hitokage is destroyed.”

“I end my turn.”

“Draw, Energize.” He drew Dragon Campfire, then decided to charge Crossfire Cyclone, since Tomoe was gone now. He drew another Solar Breath.

“I summon Thorny to the left.” Kasper declared. “I gain 1 energy and draw 1 card.” It was another Dragon Campfire. “Right, Attack phase! Thorny attacks Kath!”

Rylee smiled wickedly. “Right where I wanted you.” She dropped a card on the table. “Hidden Blade Back Hand!” Rylee declared. “This card only works if you attack a unit on my left, but if you do, for 1 energy, I destroy all units on your field!”

Kasper was taken aback. “Thats crazy!” He said, he was played by Rylee, she directed him into her trap. “Alright, Burnova and Thorny are destroyed. I end my turn.” This wasn't good, that was his last Burnova, the rest were in his energy. Though he got played hard, Kasper couldn't deny it was exciting.

“Stand, Draw, Charge.” Rylee said. “Right, I will attack with Kath for 2.”

Kasper debated it, if he blocked the attack now he would stop some damage and maybe he could get back at her next turn, but was it worth it? “I take 2”

“Aoi for 1”

“I'm down to 9.”

“I pass the turn.”

Kasper sighed, then drew. Another Crossfire Cyclone, he decided to charge his second Dragons Campfire. He drew his sword, he could make this work!

“I equip Soul Sword, then call Melty Chef to the left. Then I pay 2 energy and play Tag Team blaze and Caliente, moving Kath to the center!”

Rylee bit her lip, searching her hand for answers.

“Right, Melty Chef will attack.” Kasper caught himself, remembering the Aoi on the field. “I attack your Aoi.”

“I activate Talisman Arts Nagewaza. Giving my Aoi +6k power and Defense, as well as Revenge, meaning I destroy your Melty instead.”

It was like Venus Energy. Kasper put Melty into the drop.

“Before your next attack, I cast Thunder Storm technique, for 2 energy I return a card from the field to your hand, I choose your sword.”

Kasper returned the sword. After pausing for a moment, he remembered it was his turn. Rylee had just fired off so many cards that he forgot where he was for a moment. “Tag Battler will attack Aoi.”

“Aoi is destroyed.” Rylee said, placing Aoi into the drop zone.

At Least that dealt with the threat of her life gain, and Rylee only had 2 cards in hand. “End Phase!” Kasper declared. “I play Crossfire Cyclone!” This card only works if I had no unit on my center. For 2 energy I can destroy Kath and deal you 2 damage!”

“Draw, Energize. . Pass the turn.” Rylee said begrudgingly. This meant that Kasper had a free turn to act.

“Draw, Energize.” He drew an Orion's Clothesline, and decided to Energize it, drawing another Tag team. “I equip my Sword again, then link attack, restanding Tag Team.”

“Im at 10”

“Another 5!”

“I am at 5.”

“I end my turn.”

“I draw, then Energize.” Rylee said. “I equip my Item, Maiden’s Blade Kuroha. Then I play Wise Shinobi Kumawaka, then put it into the soul of my new Tomoe.” Her item could wind up being a real threat as it got power and crit for every soul it had.

“Tomoes Ability gives my item a soul, and Tomoe is on the left.” Rylee explained. “I remove the soul from my item, giving it +4 crit, then attack with Tomoe.”

“I am at 4.” Kasper said, he needed to save his shield for the bigger damage.

“My item will now attack you for 6 damage!”

“I cast Sapphire Scales to fizzle the attack!” Kasper said proudly, he won this! Yet, why was Rylee smiling?

“I cast Talisman Arts, Ozaekomi! By paying 4 life, I fizzle your spell!”

Kasper felt his heart drop. He looked through his hand, he had no other spells he could cast, that was it. His life dropped to 0.

“Phew.” Rylee said, falling back in her seat. “That was a miracle, I'm glad I held onto that fizzle.”

Kasper felt defeat, yet he felt invigorated. That game was intense, and it could have gone either way in the end. He smiled at Rylee. “I'll go second this next game.”

Rylee smiled. “Sounds good, Dont think itll be that close in this second game.” She began to sideboard cards.

The second game went extremely quickly. It started well with Kasper filling his board and swinging massive damage at Rylee’s life, but then Rylee hit back just as hard, but when Kasper went to return the favor she countered it with a Finale card that depleted Kaspers life.

He had lost. Kasper looked where Alder was playing, he realized that he wouldn't get to play against him today. He felt sad at that.

“That was a good game.” Rylee said, offering a hand to Kasper.

“Oh uh, yeah it was. Your deck is kinda nuts.” Kasper said.

“It's a combo deck, it's kinda tricky but worth it.” Rylee explained. “Neptune is all about it, so why didn't you sideboard in some cards? I thought Venus had some good options.”

“I haven't put one together yet.” Kasper said, a little embarrassed.

“Really!” Rylee exclaimed. “That explains a lot, I was wondering why you weren't running Blazing Heart Burnova.”

Kasper looked at her with sudden interest. “What? Is there another Burnova?”

“Oh yeah, came out in a reprint set. I got some spares that I have no interest in. I can throw it your way.” Rylee said. “Hey how about us and Elijah get together and we can help improve your deck for next week.”

Next week. Right, this was a weekly tournament, that means Kasper could try again next week to face Alder. “Yeah, that would be great!” Kasper said. He wondered if that made them friends.

The round ended, Alger beat Winter, Diego beat Elijah, and Landon beat Darryl. The last round pairing were posted.

Alger Versus Rylee

Landon Versus Diego

Kasper Versus Winter

Darryl versus Elijah

Kasper looked at his opponent, the goth girl who was already setting up for the match. He wondered how good she was, her deck was called Vampire Ladder, so Kasper was given a little warning before this match. He swallowed and made his way, he had to win this one.

Todays Card Spotlight is Blade Maiden Tomoe! This card is a size 3, 11k power, 4 Crit, 11k Defense Blade Maiden/insect unit. Its Gate Master ability is +3 Energy. Its summoning cost is to put a unit from the field face down into her soul and 3 energy. When an enemy skill would deal damage to you, your opponent takes the damage instead. When summoned put the top card of your deck face down into the soul of your item, Soulgaurd and Penetrate. This card can hold back opponents burn effects while giving you a strong body to attack with. Pair this with other Blade Maiden cards and you have a deck that can control your opponents field similar to how Rylee played it. If you want to get your own copy of Tomoe pick up System Gate Booster set 6: Apex Battle, or build up a Neptune deck with System Gate Booster Set 1-A: Dragons Dawn. Speedrobo Games!