- Q: What kind of deck does the Shop Manager use?
There are countless cards in this world.
Their variety may even surpass that of all the card games from my previous world combined.
After all, in this world, no one uses the exact same deck as someone else –
unless they brazenly copy another person’s deck or receive a pre-built deck from someone else.
In this world, it’s standard for each person to have one deck.
You could say a person’s deck is an embodiment of their individuality.
Occasionally there are fighters who use multiple decks interchangeably, but for those fighters, the act of “interchanging” itself is their individuality.
So why does this phenomenon occur? It’s a matter of compatibility.
Incredibly, in this world, there is a compatibility factor between people and cards.
If you gather cards according to that compatibility, a deck perfectly suited to your characteristics will naturally form.
How fantastical!
But I suppose that’s just how it is in the world of card games.
Of course, it’s up to the individual how they construct their deck from the gathered cards.
Furthermore, this compatibility is ever-changing.
There may come a time when your compatibility “evolves” to work better with an entirely different set of cards –
in accordance with changes in your mindset and personal growth.
Let me give a concrete example.
It was sometime after I had gotten involved in the incident with Yatogami.
On an ordinary weekday afternoon, the hot-blooded boy Necca visited the shop alone.
“Welcome, Necca. By yourself today?”
“…Yeah.”
Necca, the hot-blooded boy with distinctive tousled hair of two distinct colors.
The usually energetic main character type was pouting for some reason.
Apparently, his other friends had been treating him like an outcast, which rubbed him the wrong way.
“I get Atsumi and Tatsuya doing it, but even Crow is treating me like an outcast? What’s up with that?”
“…I see.”
I immediately realized –
today was Necca’s birthday. His friends were probably preparing a surprise birthday party for him.
That’s exactly the kind of thing Atsumi –
Necca’s childhood friend who fits the heroine mold common in hobby anime – would think up.
Having figured it out, I decided to stall for time.
“Well, life has its ups and downs. Say, how about a fight against me since you’re here?”
“Against the Shop Manager?”
Normally he would jump at the chance with incredible enthusiasm,
but today Necca responded meekly, his mood dampened.
Once he got into an Ignition fight though, he’d snap right back to his usual self.
Plus, even feeling down, he wasn’t the type to refuse a challenged battle.
“There aren’t any other customers right now, and the field is open. What do you say?”
“You’re on. I’m going to beat you today, Shop Manager.”
And so the two of us took our places on the field.
“Ignition!”
We began our fight.
“I’ll go first. I summon [Primordial Holy Angel Ancient Prometheus].”
Allow me to explain the deck I use as well.
My deck centers around the “Primordial Holy Angel Ancient” monsters.
As the name suggests, it’s an angel-motif deck, with the monsters’ visuals largely unified as “angels made of clear crystal.”
After deploying more monsters, I eventually called out my ace monster.
“Appear! [Supreme Primordial Holy Angel Ancient Nova Lord-Michael]!”
The large Primordial Holy Angel Ancient gains a “Great” prefix in its name as well as “Nova.”
And Lord-Michael is a monster that could be considered my signature.
Its effect protects my allies from my opponent’s interference while boosting its own attack power.
A deck is like a mirror –
reflecting the duelist’s humanity. Naturally, one’s personality shines through in the monsters they use as well.
In my case, Lord-Michael is akin to a wall – an obstacle to draw out my opponent’s full strength.
In other words, I want to witness my opponent’s true capability.
There are innumerable cards in this world, including cards I’m not even aware of.
Is it really so wrong for me to want to see those unknown cards with my own eyes?
…What about that Dark Fight the other day?
No, a dangerous fight like that Dark Fight is better off avoided when possible.
Come to think of it, the divine decree [God-Declaration] is a card related to angels.
So I’m able to unleash proclamations at precise moments.
However, there is one crucial point:
A person’s card compatibility is influenced even by their mood at that moment.
My motivation during a Dark Fight where I’m trying to defeat an enemy is different from a normal, recreational fight like this one.
When enjoying a fight recreationally like now, I can’t draw proclamations as accurately as during a Dark Fight.
This too is part of the compatibility with cards.
“Hehe, Michael’s out! Alright, my turn next!”
And so the hot-blooded boy Necca’s turn arrived.
His deck focuses on the “Battle End” monster cards.
“I summon [Battle End-Wizard]. Its effect lets us keep revealing the top cards of each other’s decks until a monster comes out!”
Its distinctive summoning effect forces both players to keep revealing the top cards of their decks until monsters are revealed.
Non-monster cards go to the bottom of the deck, but any revealed monsters are sent to the cemetery instead.
In other words, this deck ensures you send at least one monster from your deck to the cemetery when summoning.
Then, by activating the effects of the monsters sent to the cemetery, you gain an advantage.
However, that’s not the core aspect.
“When monsters are revealed, we compare their levels!”
Essentially, it’s like the intense judge battles from Duel Masters.
And the winner gains additional effects.
This deck was completed because the young Necca was an extremely competitive person who hated to lose.
Necca disliked losing and never slacked in his efforts to win.
This part of his personality manifested in his “Battle End” monsters.
“The level is…5.”
“And mine is 8. Too bad.”
“Tch…but I’m not done yet!”
However, the “Battle End” monsters have one weakness.
The revealed monsters are sent to BOTH players’ cemeteries.
Having monsters in my cemetery is actually beneficial for me.
The “Azure Celestial” monsters used by the cool boy Crow specialize in graveyard utilization –
the ace monster is literally a death god after all, fitting its Death-manipulating motif.
As a result, Necca’s deck was initially the worst possible matchup against Crow’s – Necca couldn’t beat him at all when they first met.
But through a certain incident, Necca grew and his mindset changed.
He gained the spirit that even if he loses, he can just try again to win next time.
The once extremely competitive boy adopted the mentality of striving to win after a loss, rather than fearing defeat itself.
As a result—
“I activate the effect of [Hyper Battle End-DragonΩ], returning a monster from your cemetery to your deck!”
Necca’s new “Hyper Battle End” monsters gained the ability to utilize monsters in the opponent’s cemetery.
This is how people in this world can have their compatibility with certain cards evolve in line with changes in their mindset and growth.
And when you construct a deck with cards you have good compatibility with?
The quality of your draws becomes noticeably better than decking with incompatible cards –
to the point where even a highlander deck doesn’t brick unless you have atrociously bad luck.
Now, back to the fight at hand.
The duel was progressing in Necca’s favor.
Eventually, his current strongest card “Battle End-Ragnarok-Dragon” even made an appearance.
I was pushed into a tight spot, but—
“This is it! The effect of [Battle End-Ragnarok-Dragon]!”
“I won’t let that through! Counter effect!”
I negated Necca’s intended finisher with a counter effect
Counter-effects are cards other than monster cards.
like Spell/Trap cards in Yu-Gi-Oh or Spell cards in Duel Masters.
“Gah, I couldn’t finish you off Shop Manager…End Phase!”
“So close. But…this is the end.”
I drew my next card and formulated the route to victory.
At this point, the heated duel had dragged on quite a while.
As a result, a sizeable crowd of customers had gathered to watch our fight, their gazes rapt with anticipation.
An employee who had come down from the second floor during her break shot me an exasperated look while attending to the customers.
Since I had interrupted her break, I figured I should end the fight quickly here.
My fight style involves using wall monsters to draw out my opponent’s full power.
However, that alone won’t let me win.
Bringing out their true strength is just the opening act –
the true essence is to then overwhelm that full power with my own.
And there’s one more thing.
“Come forth! [Supreme Primordial Holy Angel Ancient Nova Past End-Dragon]!”
A dragon closely resembling Battle End-Dragon appeared on my field.
For some reason, my “Primordial Holy Angel Ancient” monsters often have counterparts very similar to monsters from other archetypes.
Combined with the “Ancient” name, it’s almost as if I once had a connection to those other archetypes myself in the past.
And in the end,
I won the fight through the effect of Past End-Dragon.
As for Necca, it seemed this battle where he fully utilized the aces he had gained through Ignition fights allowed him to reflect on his past growth.
If he returned home now to be celebrated at a surprise birthday party, it would make for a nice culminating moment, I thought.
Considering the name “Past End” and how fighting me often prompts self-reflection in my opponents…
No wonder people call me a protag from a previous story.
TIPS: Past End-Dragon has the convenient effect of also being treated as a “Battle End” monster by its own name.
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