It looks like readers are really enjoying these challenges! Ultimate Duelist Challenge #2 gave Magical Scientist a final moment in the spotlight before it is moved onto the Forbidden list in the newest version of Advanced Format. For this challenge, entrants had one turn in which to special summon as many Fusion monsters as possible using Scientist’s effect, beginning with the standard 8000 life points. Each unique monster netted a point, and if a duelist was able to get previously summoned monsters back into the Fusion deck after summoning all Scientist-compatible level 6 fusions, he or she was allowed to summon them again for an additional point each.
This was a tricky one, but we still got over a hundred responses from people who found a solution. We’re pleased to award Ashley G. of Lancashire, UK the title of winner for this challenge.
Ashley didn’t get the most Fusions out onto the field, but she was the first to legally earn 70 points, and those who got more often overlooked the fact that a legal Fusion deck consists of up to three copies of a monster, with a maximum of twenty different Fusions—in other words, the most cards allowable in a legal Fusion deck is sixty. These are Ultimate duelist challenges—we’re testing you on your knowledge of the game, so make sure your decks are legal! We’ll always tell you if there’s an exception (like an additional card in the opening hand, or cards that aren’t allowed in the challenge).
Well, you’re probably wondering what the winning solution was, so let’s get to it! Here is Ashley’s winning entry:
The contents of the Fusion deck are as follows:
1. Flower Wolf x3
2. Rabid Horseman x3
3. Roaring Ocean Snake x3
4. Giltia the D. Knight x3
5. Cyber Saurus x3
6. Kaminari Attack x3
7. Deepsea Shark x3
8. Empress Judge x3
9. Karbonala Warrior x3
10. Flame Swordsman x3
11. Darkfire Dragon x3
12. Sanwitch x3
13. Dark Blade the Dragon Knight x3
14. Ojama King x3
15. Dark Balter the Terrible x3
16. Ryu Senshi x3
17. Musician King x3
18. Thousand-Eyes Restrict x3
19. Fusionist x3
20. Dark Flare Knight x3
Now then, this is going to be one big, long, complicated turn – I hope you are paying attention.
Ashley’s opening hand consisted of : Reasoning, Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, Soul Absorption, Serial Spell, and Night Assailant.
After drawing another Night Assailant, Ashley sets Graceful Charity and Reasoning, plays Soul Absorption, then plays Pot of Greed, chaining Serial Spell. The Night Assailants are discarded, and Ashley draws Chaos Greed, two copies of Soul Release, and Back to Square One. Both Night Assailants return to hand, then Ashley activates Graceful Charity, drawing another Chaos Greed and two copies of Reasoning. Both Night Assailants are discarded for Graceful’s effect, then return to the hand.
Ashley then activates Reasoning, and the opponent calls 4. The next card revealed is Magical Scientist, and it is summoned. Ashley again activates Reasoning, and the opponent calls 5, expecting a Catapult Turtle. The first card revealed is Banisher of the Light, and it is summoned. Ashley again activates Reasoning, the opponent calls 5, and Ashley picks up 140 spell and trap cards that have no effect on the game, so they don’t need to be named (thank you for not obliging me to type them all out). All 140 are removed from play, and Ashley gains 70,000 LP due to Banisher and Soul Absorption.
The Little Swordsman of Aile is picked up, and summoned. Ashley activates Soul Release, choosing all the cards remaining in the graveyard, then activates Chaos Greed and draws another copy of Chaos Greed and Card Destruction. A second copy of Chaos Greed is activated, and two copies of Book of Taiyou are drawn.
Ashley sets another Chaos Greed, both Book of Taiyou, and Back to Square One, then tributes Banisher with Little Swordsman of Aile’s effect. Using Card Destruction, the Night Assailants are sent to the graveyard to draw two copies of Book of Moon. The Night Assailants return to the hand. Chaos Greed is activated, and Ashley draws Hade-Hane and another Book of Taiyou.
If I was the opponent, I’d be getting pretty antsy about now. Is Ashley going to do anything with Magical Scientist or not?
Looks like the answer is yes – Ashley pays 3000 LP, and summons three Flower Wolfs. (from here on out, remember that the opponent never has a response to anything Ashley does, I’ll be compacting the turn where applicable.) Using Little Swordsman of Aile’s effect, all 3 Flower Wolfs are tributed. This cycle is repeated until all of the first 57 Fusion monsters have been summoned and tributed.
Ashley then summons 3 Dark Flare Knights, then tributes Little Swordsman of Aile for Hade-Hane, placing it face-down. Activating Book of Tayiou, Hade-Hane flips and returns the 3 Dark Flare Knights to the hand, and then back to the Fusion deck. They are summoned again with Scientist, then Book of Moon flips Hade-Hane face down, and Book of Taiyou flips it face-up again, activating its effect and returning the Dark Flare Knights to the Fusion deck (since they can not go to the hand). Ashley repeats that sequence, summoning the Knights again and returning them to the deck. They are summoned one final time, then Back to Square One is activated (discarding Night Assailant), sending one fusion back to the deck, where it is summoned one last time using Scientist’s effect for a grand total of 70 summons.
That was a clever way of getting them all out in one turn, and a well-won box. We’ve got two more challenges remaining in the Ultimate Duelist Challenge, so make sure to keep an eye on the site to keep track of the new ones when they go up, and take your own shot at winning an entire booster box by showcasing your ingenuity! Thanks go out to all those who entered, and good luck next time.