Chapter 119: Abyss Lockdown

"Duel!" x2

【You Xuan, LP4000】

【Long Ya, LP4000】

"It seems I have the first move, draw."

You Xuan drew a card and immediately played one from his hand.

"Summon 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman' in defense position!"

【Elemental HERO Bubbleman, DEF 1200】

Judai outside the field: "Eh? Is You Xuan using the same Elemental HERO as me today?"

However, actually, it wasn't. The reason You Xuan brought him was just to covet Bubbleman's card-drawing ability, and Bubbleman also happened to be WATER attribute, so he could also serve as ammunition for the "Abyss Soldier" to activate its bounce effect when needed.

"When Bubbleman is summoned, if there are no other cards on my field, I draw two cards from the deck." (Anime effect)

"Next, I activate the magic card 'Graceful Charity', draw three cards from the deck, and discard two cards from my hand." You Xuan said, "Then I set two cards, and my turn ends."

"Then it's my turn!"

Long Ya drew a card and narrowed his eyes, examining the Bubbleman squatting in defense on You Xuan's field.

Elemental HERO... a very standard deck. However, although he was a first-year student, since Chronos recommended him to be the opponent, there must be something extraordinary about him.

Long Ya: "I summon 'Phantom Dragon'!"

A black, gorgeous phantom dragon from another dimension; although it was a 4-star, it had 2000 attack points, and as a low-level attacker with such high attack and no side effects, it was also a rare card of great value.

【Phantom Dragon, ATK 2000】

"Let me see what kind of scheme you're playing!" Long Ya shouted, "Battle! 'Phantom Dragon' attacks 'Elemental HERO Bubbleman'!"

You Xuan's backfield immediately flipped over: "Then I activate my set card, the Continuous Trap - 'Gravity Bind'!

All monsters on the field with level 4 or higher cannot attack!"

The powerful gravity restriction was released from the Trap Card, instantly suppressing the entire field. Before the Phantom Dragon could even make a move, it was pinned down on the Dragon Tooth field by that extraordinary gravity, unable to move even an inch.

"'Gravity Bind'?" Long Ya frowned.

A lockdown strategy?

But Elemental HERO combined with lockdown... I've never seen this kind of approach.

"Then I set one card on the field, and my turn ends."

You Xuan: "My turn, draw."

At the same time, a golden light flashed in the graveyard area of his duel disk, and a monster card automatically popped out.

"At this moment, the effect of 'Abyss Soldier' that I discarded to the graveyard last turn activates.

When this card is in the graveyard, it can return to the hand during my Standby Phase."

He drew the Abyss Soldier and returned it to his hand.

"Next, I normal summon 'Abyss Soldier'!"

【Abyss Soldier, ATK 1800】

Seeing the WATER warrior holding a trident walk out from the curtain of water, Long Ya couldn't help but frown slightly.

Not an Elemental HERO?

"The monster effect of 'Abyss Soldier', by discarding a WATER attribute monster card from my hand, I can select one card on the field and return it to the owner's hand."

You Xuan revealed the "Abyss Soldier" he had just returned to his hand.

"I discard the WATER attribute 'Abyss Soldier' to the graveyard, and return 'Phantom Dragon' to the hand."

The Abyss Soldier waved the trident in his hand, and a vortex of water erupted from under his feet. The Phantom Dragon rode the water current and turned back into a card, flying back into Long Ya's hand.

Long Ya: "!"

He immediately realized that the infinitely recyclable Abyss Soldier could be used as the COST for the Abyss Soldier every turn, which meant this bounce effect was almost cost-free...

"To actually set up such a troublesome combination for me..."

Long Ya frowned and snorted coldly.

"You've got a few tricks. But don't forget, both Bubbleman and Abyss Soldier are level 4; with your own 'Gravity Bind' on the field, they can't attack either."

He pushed up his glasses and sneered softly.

"What a pity, you finally cleared my field but can't attack. It seems the lockdown of 'Gravity Bind' has backfired on yourself; Student You Xuan's tactics seem to need improvement..."

"Thanks for the teacher's guidance." You Xuan was still polite and courteous, "However, I also have some of my own ideas. I activate the magic card 'Terraforming' from my hand, which allows me to add one Field Spell from my deck to my hand.

The Field Spell I want to add to my hand from the deck is this one..."

He revealed the magic card he had searched from the deck.

"Field Spell 'A Legendary Ocean'!"

An extra slot popped out on the side of his duel disk.

"And I activate it directly!"

The three-dimensional projected seawater immediately swept across the entire field, and the whole field seemed to be soaked under the seawater. The ancient lost city circled around, and the blinding sunlight shone down from the water surface, leaving a long and brilliant path of light in the water.

"When 'A Legendary Ocean' is in the Field Zone, the levels of all WATER attribute monsters in both players' hands and on the field are reduced by one star!" You Xuan said, "And, the attack power of WATER attribute monsters increases by 200!"

【Elemental HERO Bubbleman, 4 stars -> 3 stars, ATK 800 -> ATK 1000】

【Abyss Soldier, 4 stars -> 3 stars, ATK 1800 -> ATK 2000】

Long Ya: "Nani!?"

This reserve teacher immediately realized the terrifying aspect of this combination.

A Legendary Ocean could reduce the stars of WATER attribute monsters, so Abyss Soldier and Bubbleman were just barely reduced below the lockdown line of Gravity Bind. Thus, the attack restriction on You Xuan's side was lifted, and the one being locked down by the lockdown became Long Ya alone.

This was also one of the common combinations of 【Abyss Control】 back in the day. In fact, this to a certain extent could also show the tactical style of this control deck, like Abyss Soldier combined with "Royal Decree" to achieve one-way trap lockdown, and the combination of "Gravity Bind" and "A Legendary Ocean" to form one-way attack lockdown, all reflecting the control-oriented thinking of one-way lockdown and suppression.

In fact, there were many other small combinations of similar cards in this deck, whether it was suppression thinking for attacks, summons, or magic and traps, it belonged to the typical type of deck in the early environment that made people get more and more angry the more they played.

Not only that, Abyss Soldier already had 1800 attack points and was strengthened to 2000 because of this. That is to say, if Long Ya wanted to defeat this thing through battle, he had to send out monsters below 3 stars with over 2000 attack points to fight.

Tenjoin Asuka on the spectator stand pondered for two seconds: "It really is a tactic with his style as always..."

"Indeed."

Student Misawa, who also belonged to the You Xuan Victims Association, appeared at some point, crossing his arms and nodding.

"Fujiki You Xuan... he is the kind of duelist who, if there are two options to win, will definitely prioritize the one that 'doesn't let the opponent duel' to achieve victory."

"Hmm..." Asuka expressed that she had the same feeling.

Long Ya: "..."

Hmm, his blood pressure was already starting to show signs of rising.

"'Elemental HERO Bubbleman' changes to attack position, and then it's the Battle Phase." You Xuan said, "'Abyss Soldier' attacks directly!"

The Abyss Soldier stepped forward waving his trident, a vortex of water winding around the golden fork, thrusting straight toward Long Ya's face.

"It's not that simple." Long Ya shouted, "Open the set card! Trap card 'Hero's Arrival'! When the opponent declares an attack, randomly select one card from my hand.

If the selected one is a monster card, special summon it directly to my field. If not, send it to the graveyard!"

This was also a card commonly used by Judai in the anime. However, although the card name had the word "Hero," it actually had nothing to do with the Hero deck; it was a general-purpose trap.

Long Ya had a full five cards in his hand.

You Xuan pointed casually: "Then the second one from left to right."

"Hahahaha! Unfortunately, the card you pointed at is exactly this one..."

Long Ya revealed the hand card that had been pointed at.

"Level 6, 'Dark-Tri-Horned Dragon'!!"

【Dark-Tri-Horned Dragon, ATK 2400】

"As expected of the teacher, the attack didn't pass so easily." You Xuan chuckled, "Then since that's the case, my battle is rolled back, I won't attack for now.

My Battle Phase ends, entering Main Phase 2."

He drew another card from his hand.

"Set one more card on the field, and my turn ends."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 120 =====