As long as Protector of the Sanctuary stayed on the field, all you needed was an effect that replaced hands. The opponent would discard their hand, then be unable to continue Card Drawing, and their position would collapse on the spot. That was exactly what Yugen had done in this Duel.
At first glance, it seemed like all you needed was Card Destruction and Protector of the Sanctuary in hand at the same time to complete the combo. As long as Protector of the Sanctuary was on the field, activating the hand wipe would force the opponent to discard everything and prevent them from Card Drawing again. But in truth, it was not that simple.
Once Protector of the Sanctuary was already on the field, effects that included making the opponent Card Draw could not even be activated, and that included Card Destruction. So if you Summoned Protector of the Sanctuary first, the hand wipe could not be used afterward. Still, that kind of problem could never stop the old Underworld seniors who lived for revenge-joke Student Council fun.
If it could not be activated while Protector of the Sanctuary was on the field, then the answer was simple: activate the hand wipe first, then Summon Protector of the Sanctuary afterward.
First activate Card Destruction, then chain a Spell Speed 2 Trap like Call of the Haunted before the effect resolves and revive Protector of the Sanctuary from the Graveyard. Once the chain resolved, the opponent would discard their entire hand but would not be allowed to Card Draw, and they would die on the spot.
You could also use Morphing Jar, which had a similar kind of Card Draw effect, to complete the combo. In truth, this Deck was mainly for fun. It had some competitive value, but in the chaotic environment of that era, it was not actually that strong.
Its real purpose was simple. It existed to make the user happy. Of course, it was easy to imagine how a Deck like this could turn a card game into a real fistfight.
Especially if you opened perfectly, went first, and blew away the opponent's entire hand before they had done anything at all. At that point, the next step might be somebody rolling up their sleeves. Sure enough, the moment Yugen put away his Duel Disk, Silent Magician floated out in spirit form with her staff raised, guarding her master with a wary expression.
Even she seemed to instinctively sense that after a Duel like this, her master was very likely to get punched. The opponent was a wild, heavily muscled brute, the kind of super-soldier savage who could rip open a metal shutter with his bare hands. If he lost his temper and charged forward swinging, it would not have been strange at all.
But that did not happen. After the Duel, Daiyama Hei collapsed to the ground, and the Deck inside his Duel Disk scattered across the floor. To a passerby who had no idea what had happened, it would almost have looked as if he had lost a Shadow Duel.
Well, the empty look in his eyes and his shattered faith really did make him seem like someone who had lost a Shadow Duel. He muttered to himself, "It shouldn't be like this. Duel is not supposed to be like this."
"Duel is a Duel of Card Draw. Card Draw should be the truth. It shouldn't be like this."
"What was I even doing this whole year...?"
Even Hayato Maeda could not help feeling sorry for him. Great, another one had gone mad. Yugen Fujiki Victims Association had gained one more member.
The poor savage had lived in isolation for an entire year, buried completely in his own world. If he had just come back to Duel Academy and walked around for a couple of months, at least he would have been mentally prepared for the academy's strange atmosphere and would not be doubting his whole life like this. But then again, it was not just Daiyama Hei. After watching one absurd Duel after another, even Hayato Maeda had started to feel uneasy.
That savage brother had trained himself to this level, and in the end he still got tortured by a revenge-joke player. What exactly was the future of this Duel Academy going to become? Only Judai Yuki remained exactly the same as always.
"Amazing! That was such an interesting Duel! So there are tactics this cool too. Yugen is so strong! Of course, you're really strong too. You were both awesome, hahaha!"
The savage brother looked at that Jellyfish Hair with lifeless eyes. Interesting? What part of that had been interesting? He truly could not feel it.
"But I think your way of thinking is a little off. Duel and Card Draw have nothing to do with nature or stuff like that." Judai Yuki stepped forward as he spoke. "Your Card Draw really is amazing, but how do I put this..."
He frowned and thought for a moment, trying to find the right words. Then he scratched his head lightly. "I'm not very good at explaining things. But it just feels like you keep talking about blending into nature and becoming part of heaven and earth and all that, but it is not like that at all. A Duel like that would be so boring."
"Every Card Draw a Duelist makes is like building a Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning world with your own hands. Every Card Draw is creating the future. Rather than blending into the world, it feels more like creating it yourself."
"Instead of all that messy stuff you were thinking about, you should sink into the Duel itself. You should look forward to the miracle that might appear in your next Card Draw, and get so excited your whole body cannot stay still. Isn't that the true meaning of Duel?"
Daiyama Hei stared blankly. "Is that how it is?"
Ten minutes earlier, the confident version of him would have laughed at Judai Yuki's theory and believed with complete certainty that he had found the right path. But after experiencing that deep helplessness in the Duel just now, he was no longer so sure. He could not stop himself from wondering whether he had really trained the wrong way and gone down the wrong road.
Yugen said nothing. As expected, naturally gifted players and hard-training types each had their own theories. Yugen himself had only shallow experience in the field of God Draw, so he did not dare make bold claims.
Still, from the sound of it, Judai Yuki's theory of God Draw centered on pure freedom. Compared with Daiyama Hei's training, he had no clear goal in mind. He did not deliberately think about what card he wanted to draw or what card he did not want, and even in a difficult position, he would not think, "If only I draw this one card, I can break the situation."
Judai Yuki's whole style was to leave everything to the Deck and let it play freely. Maybe in his eyes, Card Drawing with too much intention would make the Duel lose the excitement and anticipation it gave him. Precisely because even he did not know what the next card would be, he could stay excited.
If that was really the case, then maybe Judai Yuki and the previous generation's Duel King, Atem, had taken different paths. Atem, whose divine skill had reached perfection in the Ceremonial Duel, was the classic type who could call for whatever he wanted and get it. Judai Yuki, on the other hand, seemed to slam the accelerator to the floor and leave the steering wheel to fate.