“I draw!” Sarah’s hand looked perfect for the curve she was currently on. Her opponent, the best she faced today, took a commanding lead, but she took the second game handily. At turn 6, she felt more confident than she did the last time. Knowing more about the card game and her opponent has only done more to improve her skills.

Ronnie was sweating. Even with his three shields to her two, he still did not feel like he was in the lead. And with her experience, she could smell weakness from a mile away.

“I’ll summon up, Lucky Cricket!” Placing down a freshly sleeved holographic card led the crowd to croon. While not a new card, it was undeniably bordering on the side of being game breaking. As she discarded two cards from her hand, she placed down two more fish rocks, giving her a total of eight on turn six.

The only creature on the board, Ronnie sighed.

“What’s wrong, big guy?” Sarah leaned in, “What happened to that gusto you had before?” She batted her eyelids for extra effect.

“Shit. My hand was garbage this round.” For the game set round, this was a death sentence. Picking up the top card of his deck did not seem to fix this problem.

He sat back, his nearly swollen lips mumbling something.

Sarah also sat back. She shuffled her hand, admiring all the new cards she had picked up with her recent shopping spree. With the new pack being released, there were over 50 new cards to learn, and plenty of chances to mess up somewhere. Then, of course, there were the new Strike Leaders…

“Okay, I’ll summon Shadowsmiter Unit!” After a groan from someone in the background, Ronnie passed on his turn.

“That’s a pretty good card, glad you managed to pick one up.” Sarah drew her card and grinned, “Holy shit, dude. You’re dead.”

Flipping five rocks, she slid forward her new Strike Leader, “I’ll call up Artephius, Wild Researcher.” While not the leader she wanted initially, it was too good to pass up. “When he hits the field, I can summon a creature with one attack from my deck to the field!”

She shuffled through her deck for one card in mind. “I’ll play out Gemless Carbuncle!”

The crowd cheered as she played her signature card. Even with nine play points at turn seven, that still was not enough. Thankfully, one of Carbuncle’s effects allowed her to gain an additional play point that turn, bringing her to five points remaining after summoning her Strike Leader.

“That’s not all, I will summon Pippi, Fox Maiden to my field for two play points and she reduces the cost of all my creatures in hand by one!” Placing a card from her hand to the field, she continued, “I’ll go ahead and evolve Gemless Carbuncle to Spellbot Unit Medusa Emerald for now only one play point, and this lets me draw a card by removing Carbuncle from underneath!”

“And I’m not fucking done yet!” She placed down another Alcademia card from her hand, “I can summon Topaz Spellbot for another one play point, and with my last point, I’ll evolve that one also into a Spellbot Unit Medu-”

“Alright, alright.” Ronnie raised his massive hand up, “You got me. Dang, your deck’s stupid.”

As he picked up his cards, Sarah shouted, “And why the fuck wouldn’t you let me finish! I worked hard for that!”

With her round of the tournament over, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief seeing she made it to the semi-finals.

In this single elimination bracket-style local tournament, the winner gets an entire new box of Ascendants of the Apocalyptic Adventure, worth nearly $1,200 in resale value since the boxes could only be purchased one-per-customer directly from the manufacturer. Even the NFT one received from purchasing this box was worth a couple grand.

“Not too shabby…” Sarah sighed as she looked over the card shop, tables filled with hype matches or slow grind games. With a new deck box to carry her newly sleeved cards, she grinned as she shuffled through her deck. While lacking in her personal favorites such as giant robots, dragons, and especially dinosaurs, the deck she built around Carbuncle had improved, but was still missing some specific cards, something that coming in first would certainly help solve.

Carbuncle chirped as he sat beside her, enjoying the lively atmosphere as well. The little teal-green fox thing surprised her more and more with it’s awareness and sapience. It’s kind of like having a cat that judges what you’re wearing before you leave the house… More than they already do, I guess.

“Looks like you’ve been on quite the tear, whoa, so you don’t always smell like goat poop…” A familiar abridged african-american aristocrat stepped forward wearing a dress of shimmering silver skein. Today, she had her dark hair done up in a tight bun, meaning she was out to accomplish something.

Mica’s lanky brother stepped up behind her, shifting his glasses, still looking like he stepped out of a Linkin Park music video, “Bruh, everyone’s been talking about that card of yours.”

Unheard by anyone else in the room, Carbuncle chirped proudly.

“Who the heck decided to let that card ramp and evolve into anything? That’s stupid broken.”

Mica nodded in agreement, her bun bobbing, “Yeah. And it doesn’t help Mikey and I couldn’t even get the new packs…”

As Sarah performed her routine scan for ripped Italian grandpas, she had noticed someone she had seen before but never realized was there all along. Out of the handful of girls in the shop, this one stood out. Huh, it’s that one girl that spilled coffee on me back when I was interrogating freakazoid…

After watching her trip on a thick spot of nothing and colliding into Tim and Jim, Sarah turned to the two actual twins, “How about I pick you guys up some cards then?”

“Alright, are both you ready?” Tim sat on a stool.

Sarah’s opponent sat on the other end of the table before her. With an all black attire, he looked like some of the more hardcore patrons that frequented the shop. With nearly every face hole pierced, she found it hard to look at him without wincing in pain.

Before even starting a crowd formed around them, “Whoa! Sarah’s actually going to duel Isaac!”

“Bro, he’s like, the best in the shop?”

“No way, dude! Sarah’s, like, ten times better and, like, twenty times hotter!”

Huh. So this guy’s some top dog around here?

“I’m Sarah, good luck and have fun!” She put on her reliable fake smile, hoping to trick him into thinking she accidentally found her way to the semi-finals. It usually worked.

“Isaac. Good luck, have fun.”

“I’ll start.” Sarah picked up her five cards and immediately grinned, “Let’s throw down a Stormstrider Sprite.” While the card had 2 whole attack points for a 1 play point card, it lacked any ability on the field, leading it to be more of a wall than anything else.

Picking up his card, Isaac looked at his hand with his still ice blue eyes. After a quick scan, he placed down on his own onto his mat, ordained with yet another ballerina out for a night of stepping on men, this time in yellow. “I’ll summon a Nix, The Firmament’s Blade.”

“Ughhhh…” Letting loose a guttural groan, Sarah scowled. “Does everyone run this fucking card?” A few people from around the shop gathered around their table. “Seriously, there’s a new pack out! Try something different!”

With nothing more than a glance, Isaac indicated that his turn was over.

“Alright, weirdo... '' Sarah picked up the top card of her deck, “No bants for you, I guess.” Placing down a fish rock for the turn, she summoned a card, “I’ll play Pippi, Fox Maiden, she lets me summon creatures for one play point less.”

Turning the card she had on the field already, she pointed towards one of her opponent’s shields, “Let’s pop one with Sprite!”

“How about ‘no’.” After turning his own card, he picked up his copy of Nix, The Firmament’s Blade and set it in the grave.

“There we go, now you’re giving me something to work off of…” Sarah placed her Sprite into the graveyard as well, since both the attacking and blocking creatures had equal attack power. “I was almost afraid nearly every dude I meet recently is some kind of weird freakazoid.”

As he set up his turn, Isaac scoffed, “Nah, I’m still a weird dude, but not an alien or something…”

Sarah let loose a stilted laugh, “Yeah…”

“I’ll go ahead and cast Death is But a Fiction.” The Heathen spell allowed him to pick up the recently defeated Nix and add it to his hand. “You certainly are the weird one though, I’ve heard quite a bit about some short normie-girl coming in and claiming to be the best in the shop… ”

Looking over the man dressed in a fishnet shirt and matching all black cargo jeans, Sarah scoffed holding back her aggravation of him just casually throwing out the ‘S’ word, “I think anyone standing next to you would be considered a ‘normie’ as well.”

After letting him have a soft chuckle, she picked up the top card of her deck. Aw shit. After this turn, he’ll see why I AM the best in the shop.

“I’ll summon another card I see way too much of, Sixth Storm Oracle!” Adding another fish rock to her line, she continued, “Ramping is what Behemoth cards do best after all. I’ll also attack with Pippi!”

Picking up his broken shield, Isaac looked over his empty field, “Don’t think you’re going to win with that aggro deck of yours just yet, I still haven’t gotten started yet.” As he drew his card, he shuffled it into his hand, pensive with his next course of action. “I’ll play out Quasar Pine. Your move.”

As Sarah started her turn, she focused on the field as well. Her two cards could easily get past his one, even if it was a Blocker. Pushing the advantage further, she decided to rely on another old but faithful tactic, “Oh yeah, I love your nail polish, dude. Do you share with your mom?”

Unphased, he looked back at her through his razor-cut bangs, “Yeah, she said matte looks better on me.”

“I don’t know how to talk to you?”

“Good, take your turn. I don’t really have all day…”

Sheesh… Looks like the tried-and-true method of getting into her opponent’s head was getting her knowhere. “Alright, I’ll attack your shield with Oracle.” Turning the card, her opponent picked up his shield, leaving three left to her full five. That’s weird, he didn’t block with Quasar Pine...

“I’ll use the [Shield Skill] of Victorious Claim, rendering all of your creatures strikeless.” He had a slight grin, almost throwing her off of her game.

Shit. That means I can’t attack with Pippi this turn.

With no other creature to summon or attacks to declare, Sarah conferred her turn over to her opponent. “That was a lucky break, dude.”

“Yeah, but it’s something you need to be prepared for.” Flipping his four fish rocks, he chose a card and placed it on the field, “I’ll summon up Triton, Firmament’s Wings.” The new card allowed him to draw a card when it was summoned and maintained a strong presence on the board with it’s 3 attack points and was yet another Blocker, slowing down Sarah’s plays considerably. “With Quasar Pine on the field, all my other cards gain 2 attack, bringing Triton up to 5.”

Who is this guy? ‘That’s something you need to be prepared for’. She mentally shook her hands, looking at the guy not paying attention to the crowd around him. Must be some kind of big shot or something. I’ve never seen him before…

With her now 6 play points, she played the card she drew, spending 2 of them, “I’ll cast Aqua Regia, this allows me to draw two cards from my deck and add them to my hand.” As she picked up her second card, the line of play became clear. “Alright, with Pippi on the field, all creatures I summon have their costs reduced by one, so I’ll summon a Topaz Spellbot for only one play point!”

“He allows me to pick up one of my shields, put it in my hand, and lets me place another card I have as a shield instead.” Doing so she grinned, I’ll get to place one of my Rapid Growths as a shield, letting me cast it for free as a [Shield Skill] if he actually gets to that point!

“And with Topaz Spellbot on the field, I’ll evolve him into Spellbot Unit Medusa Emerald!” The second new card to hit the field this round, she placed the card utop the two play point creature, effectively making him a new creature altogether. “And I’m not done! By removing the card under Medusa Emerald, I get to draw a card off the top of my deck! Lastly, I’ll attack with the freshly evolved Medusa Emerald, breaking one of your shields!” Her creature had 4 attack, losing out to her opponent’s Triton at 5, meaning if he was to block it, the attack would be redirected at his Blocker, destroying Medusa Emerald in the process, but leaving the way open for her two smaller creatures a way to press forward.

With a shrug, he picked up his shield, leaving him with two left.

“What, you’re not gonna block?” Sarah asked, indignant at the minute reaction to her combo play.

“Nah, I won’t really need shields in a second.”

Looking over the field, Sarah still had Pippi and Sixth Storm Oracle left to attack. However, with her opponent’s blockers able to stop both of them, the losses would outweigh the gains from there. “Go ahead then.”

With a quick nod, Isaac started his turn. Flipping over 4 of his 5 fish rocks, he placed a card on top of one of his own as well, “I’ll evolve Triton into Pluto, Firmament’s Lord.”

The crowd swooned at the ultra rare card that can only be pulled from the new set. For some of them, this may have been the first time they have seen a second set ultra. Caught up in the crowd’s reaction, she too found herself mouth agape at such a rare card. “Shit…”

“Pluto is a Blocker with five attack points and allows me to discard two cards from my hand to negate an attack on one of my shields.” With six cards in his hand, he effectively had 3 more shields, bringing him back to 5. “I’ll pass it back to you.”

With an audible gulp, Sarah held a grimace. That’s a fuckin’ good card. I’ll just have to keep hitting him to win then.

As she placed her seventh rock down, she flipped 4, “With Pippi still on the field, I’ll call forward my Strike Leader, Artephius, Wild Researcher forward for one less play point.”

As Artephius came onto the field, he scoffed, looking away and spitting.

Picking up her deck, she continued, “He lets me search through my deck and summon a creature with one attack point, so I’ll summon Gemless Carbuncle.”

The crowd crooned. “Aw shit! It’s Sarah’s best card!”

“Sarah, where did you pull that guy from?”

“Bruh, that card is hard carrying you so bad!”

Really Mikey? I’ll have to hit you upside the head for a third time!

With a familiar quick cry of surprise in the background, Sarah continued, “When Carbuncle is summoned, I gain an extra play point, bringing me up to eight now! But…” Placing yet another card from her hand utop of Carbuncle, she placed another fish rock bringing her total play points to 9 on her sixth turn, “I’ll evolve Carbuncle to Lebok, Platinum Compass Bearer allowing me to detach for another play point!”

With her field set up with 5 creatures on the field and 4 able to attack, she began to turn cards, “First, I’ll attack with Lebok!”

“I’ll block with Pluto.” With his creature’s 7 attack versus her creature’s 4, Lebok was sent to the graveyard.

Sarah continued her onslaught, “I’ll strike a shield with Medusa Emerald!”

Picking up his penultimate shield, he motioned for her to continue.

“I’ll swing for a shield with Oracle!”

“I’ll activate Pluto’s effect and discard two cards, stopping this last shield from being broken.”

Tch. Shaking her head, she looked at the field. Her nearly full field of 5 creatures were just being stopped by his 2. His last shield sat there, tempting her to break it and manage one last push to take the game.

The prize doesn’t fucking matter at this point, it’s all pride from here, baby.

“I’ll go ahead and strike with Pippi!”

Raising an eyebrow, he turned Quasar Pine to block, “I need to get rid of that, it’s been bothering me all game.”

Putting Pippi in the graveyard, Sarah frowned.

“Squeak!” Carbuncle sounded distant, seemingly unable to appear before her after being sent into the graveyard. What were supposed to be sounds of support shifted into screams of supplication.

A chill ran through her, like a cold knife plunging into her heart. Shit. If this was an ACE duel, I could actually die. Like, for real.

“Hey.”

“Fuck! I… I mean, yeah?” Sarah gripped her chest, causing a wave of worry to over take her opponent’s typically stoic expression.

“You good? Do you need to use the bathroom or something?”

Wiping her forehead, a sheet of cold sweat held on with frigid stubbornness, “Yeah. Nah! I’ll be fine! It’s your turn.”

Letting loose a low hum of approval, her opponent drew his card. “I’ll spend 5 play points to summon Toaster Fibre and another Triton, Firmament’s Wings.” His side of the field looked menacing with his four creatures capable of blocking her own.

“Ugh. Remember when I was winning?”

“Technically, you still are…” He threw a quick smile in to reassure her.

“It doesn’t feel like it though.” Starting her turn, Sarah reached the cap of 10 play points while only on her seventh turn. Fanning through her hand, a sight gave her a second wind.

With a deep breath, she put her faith in this one card. Costing 9 of her play points, this creature could turn things around single handedly, it was just a matter of approach.

“Okay. I’ll spend the play points necessary to summon Miraelle, the Great Fox!”

A super rare from the base set, the crowd still reacted appropriately. Most games never found their way this late and cards of this size were typically cut from decks due to only being able to be played in moments like these.

“When I summon Miraelle, I get to summon 2 fox tokens with 2 attack each with Blocker.” Including Miraelle’s own whopping 10 attack points, Sarah’s field grew back up. “In addition, when Miraelle is summoned, she destroys 2 of your play points, bringing you back to just 4!”

The crowd roared with the appearance of a come back. Miraelle’s effect of setting your opponent back 2 turns was considered to be game changing. This inherent advantage left Sarah with over double the resources to play cards versus her opponent.

“Hmm.” Isaac rubbed the brown stubble coming in on his chin, “That’s a damn good card.”

“You fuckin’ bet!” With a renewed sense of confidence, Sarah continued pressing forward. “I’ll swing with Oracle!”

“Cool, I’ll block with Quasar Pine.” Turning the card that has given her so much trouble sideways, Sarah’s eyes glittered in anticipation.

“I’ll attack your Pine with Artephius!”

“Let’s block with Triton, gaining the 2 attack from Quasar Pine.” Turning his card sideways caused her to sit up straight.

“Fuck, dude! Are you going to let me actually play the game?!” Raising her voice, the onlookers began to whisper amongst themselves.

“You had your fun at the beginning of the game. Now it’s my turn…” Picking up his card, a sly smile crept across his face, “And I think I’ll just tease you along with this: Innocence Lost. This allows me to destroy any creature that has not used their strike the previous turn, targeting your Miraelle.”

Gripping the edge of the table, every last bit of her remaining energy was used to stop her from flipping it. Thankfully, even if she had every intention to, after the emotional rollercoaster of realizing she could die if a scenario similar to this played out with another person on the other end of the table, she could not come close.

“And that’ll be it for me.”

Sarah’s mind was a storm. Ape Brain screeched. Her mind was a swirling squall of screaming simians. This fucker is just toying with me now.

As she sighed in resignation, the top card of her deck provided one last chance of hope. “I’ll summon Homunculus Lancer!” A single play point creature with only a single attack point, the effect text was enough to calm her aching mind: This creature cannot be blocked.

With enough of a push, this could seal the deal. “I’ll attack with my two fox tokens!”

“Why? Lancer can’t attack the turn it was summoned.”

Wait.

She looked down at the card once more. Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. I thought because it was so late in the game I could-

“Alright, I’ll just block with Triton and Pluto.” Turning the cards sideways, he shrugged, “Anything else?”

“No…” Sarah looked at her lap, trying her best to hold it in.

“Cool, I’ll summon a Nix and evolve this one to another Pluto. I’ll have both Plutos break 2 of your shields.”

Picking up the shields he targeted, she scoffed as she picked up the Rapid Growth she set towards the beginning of the game. So much for that fuckin’ plan… At the maximum of 10 play points, she could not gain another with Rapid Growth’s effect.

“Alright, go ahead.”

Not even drawing her card, she turned Homunculus Lancer sideways.

“Yeah, I’ll just activate one of my Pluto’s effects.” Dropping two cards in the graveyard, the crowd began to dissipate as the winner became all the more apparent. “Cool, I’ll just summon Ursula, the Dragon’s Pride with all of my now 7 play points. When she’s summoned, all your creatures lose 2 attack points and any creature with 0 or less attack is destroyed.”

Biting her lip, Sarah placed Homunculus Lancer in her graveyard.

“Well, that wasn’t as hard as everyone was saying. I’ll finish the game with my 2 Plutos, my Quasar Pine, and my Toaster Fibre. Good game.”