On Writing A Duel III

We have already talked about not inserting certain information in the middle of your story, such as life points and number of cards in hand, as it comes off as jarring and breaks the flow of the narrative. We have also talked about toning down your characters explaining every effect and play they make and letting the narrative do the job. Now, let's talk about what makes for a good duel.

One of the advantages of writing a story is that you have complete control of the random aspect of the game. This makes plays and combos that would be very difficult, if not downright impossible, in real life to be perfectly viable.

This is important because we, as writers, do not have the advantage of the visuals. In the anime/manga, Kaiba can do something as simple as summoning Lord of D. and playing The Flute of Summoning Dragon to bring two Blue-Eyes from his hand and it would look impressive as long as it’s well animated/drawn. Here, even if you put a lot of effort into narrating the action, it’s still rather unimpressive.

I believe we should also put effort into making elaborate plays. Let me give you an example:

Applebloom takes the first turn. She draws her initial hand of five cards, activates Fusion Recycling Plant and discards Ojamagic to pay for the effect of her field spell, adding Polymerization, Ojama Yellow, Green and Black from her deck to her hand. She fuses the three Ojamas into Ojama King in defense position. She follows with Fusion Recovery to retrieve Polymerization and Ojama Yellow, which she immediately fuses with Ojama Blue in her hand to summon Ojama Knight in defense, effectively locking all of Scootaloo’s monster zones. After setting the last card in her hand, she ends her turn and retrieves Ojama Blue from the graveyard with Fusion Recycling Plant’s effect.

Now it’s Scootaloo’s turn. She draws, normal summons V-Tiger Jet and activates Different Dimension Gate to banish both, her monster and Ojama King. With three of her monster zones now free, she plays Unexpected Dai to special summon X-Head Cannon from her deck, followed by Spell Economics and Ties of the Brethen to special summon Y-Dragon Head and Z-Metal Tank from her deck without having to pay 2000 life points. After fusing them into XYZ-Dragon Cannon, she discards a card to destroy Ojama Knight. Since Ties of the Brethen doesn't allow her to conduct her Battle Phase, Scootaloo sets the last card in her hand and ends her turn.

From there, who knows? Applebloom still has her set card and Ojama Blue which can fetch two Ojama cards from the deck if destroyed in battle. Ojama King will return if Different Dimension Gate is destroyed, but so will V-Tiger Jet. What about Scootaloo’s set card? And what about the card she discarded with XYZ-Dragon Cannon? Can it be played from the GY?

Writing elaborate duels not only it makes for a more interesting and entertaining story, but it also shows the "duelist level" of the characters involved. This is important if they are experienced or are taking part in a tournament that only the "best of the best" were invited to participate.