Magnet Force – Applejack vs Sugarcoat (Part 2)
Duelists of the Friendship Cup
Magnet Force – Applejack vs Sugarcoat (Part 2)
-Applejack Life Points: 5200-
-Sugarcoat Life Points: 7900-
Sugarcoat drew and slid her card into her hand, and then took a moment to look over the array of cards. She thought for a moment before lowering her cards and looking at Applejack evenly. “The trick now is, figuring out what manner of protection those face-down cards offer you.”
“Ain’t it?” Applejack nodded.
“Due to the rulings concerning Berserkion’s summoning, were you to negate it, if you attempted to destroy it as I summon it, its effect to revive its parts would trigger again. I would search another copy of Berserkion with the effect of Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior, and summon it back immediately. Additionally, you have already seen that destroying my Electromagnet Warriors on the field is pointless, since I can banish them from the Graveyard to summon Berserkion.” Sugarcoat shook her head. “I’d wager then your face-down cards are more to protect your Predaplant Flytrap, so you can use it to destroy Berserkion on the next turn.”
Applejack held up her hands. “Ya got me there, hun.”
“However you plan to protect it, I won’t hesitate any further.” Sugarcoat flipped out a card from her hand. “I banish Alpha, Beta, and Gamma The Electromagnet Warriors, to Special Summon Berserkion, the Electromagna Warrior!” The three robots broke apart and combined into Berserkion once again, the magnetic robot knight raising its sword and bellowing.
“I activate ‘Monster Reincarnation’, and discard Delta the Magnet Warrior to return Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior to my hand.” Sugarcoat held out a hand. “Then, I activate Berserkion’s effect! I banish Delta The Magnet Warrior from the Graveyard, and destroy Flytrap!” Berserkion pointed its sword out toward Flytrap. The ghostly image of Delta appeared over the sword and turned into a field of lightning that condensed at the tip and shot a lightning bolt.
Applejack smirked. “See, ya made a mistake there, hun – y’all think destroyin’ Berserkion is the only way to stop it. Ah reveal mah Trap card ‘Fiendish Chain’!” The Trap card flipped up and four black chains emerged from it. They snapped around Berserkion’s limbs and pulled tight, sparking. “With this card in play, Berserkion can’t attack and his effects are negated.”
Sugarcoat scowled. “There were any number of ways you could have halted Berserkion. Effect negation wasn’t one I considered likely. No matter, though. I have two other monsters.” She pointed. “Delta The Magnet Warrior attacks Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio!” Delta ran forward, lightning sparking over its right-hand magnet.
“Ah reveal mah second Trap ‘Bamboo Scrap’.” Scorpion shimmered and exploded, leaving behind two orbs of green light. Delta stopped as it reached the orbs, its magnet striking air. “By offering Scorpio as a tribute, Ah Special Summon two ‘Plant Tokens’ to your field.” The green orbs floated in front of Sugarcoat and turned into a small growths of grass, eyes peeking out from them (800/500).
“I fail to see what purpose that will serve.” Sugarcoat folded her arms. “I cannot attack your Flytrap safely, so I’ll end my turn.”
“You got it.” Applejack drew, looked at her card, and pointed across the field. “Ah use Flytrap’s ability and put a Predator Counter on Delta.” Flytrap opened its jaws and spat a green spore onto Delta; the spore struck its chest and grew into a glowing purple and green vine.
Applejack swung her hand out. “Ah attack Berserkion with Flytrap!” Flytrap chittered and slithered across the field. It reached Berserkion, grew tall enough to overshadow it, and snapped down to bite its head. Berserkion exploded, the chains binding it fading into smoke.
“A pointless effort.” Sugarcoat held her hand over her duel disk. “Berserkion’s effect activates, returning Alpha, Beta, and Gamma to my side of the field.” Sugarcoat’s duel disk beeped and flashed red. “What?” As she scowled at it, she saw movement on the ground and raised her eyes. She gasped. “Those!?” At her feet, the two Plant Tokens Applejack had summoned danced in front of her, jumping back and forth.
Applejack grinned. “Sorry, but with those two Tokens on yer field along with Alpha and Delta, you have too many monsters. Berserkion’s effect is a package deal, ya summon all of its pieces or ya summon none of them.”
Sugarcoat gave a sharp nod. “So that was the point of those tokens. Clever. But it won’t be enough to shut me down yet.”
“Ah hope not.” Applejack crossed her arms. “For now Ah set one card and end mah turn.”
“Very well.” Sugarcoat took the card that ejected from her deck. “You shut down my Berserkion summon loop. Impressive. But that won’t be enough to win.” She smiled and reached to her hand. “My deck is full of variable options. I’ll show you one now. I banish Berserkion in the Graveyard, as well as Alpha The Electromagnet Warrior and Gamma The Magnet Warrior in my hand, and Special Summon ‘Block Dragon’.”
Sugarcoat’s three monsters appeared in front of her and burst into shrapnel. The shrapnel turned vibrant colors and gathered together, forming a dragonoid monster made of plastic building blocks, sitting upright on its hind legs with claws of steel held out (2500/3000).
“I switch Alpha The Magnet Warrior into attack mode. Then, Block Dragon, attack Predaplant Flytrap!” Block Dragon drew backs its snout and then snapped it forward, spitting out a cloud of blocky, pixelated red fire.
Applejack scrunched her face. “What’ll that do? Flytrap’s effect will destroy it.”
“No, it won’t. Block Dragon’s effect prevents Rock-type monsters I control from being destroyed by card effects. Since Flytrap can’t use its effect, we continue to a normal battle.”
“Crud.” Applejack winced.
Block Dragon’s flame reached Flytrap and the monster exploded in a ball of fire.
-Applejack Life Points: 3100-
Sugarcoat snorted. “You’re wide-open to attack now. I’m sure you know what comes next. Delta the Magnet Warrior, attack directly!” Delta charged forward, a magnet hand held out.
“Ah activate ’Counter Gate’!” Applejack’s card flipped over to reveal a mirrored panel. “Mah Trap negates your attack and lets me draw a card, and if it’s a monster Ah can summon it.” She drew her card and flipped it open. “Ah got ‘Predaplant Spinodionaea’, so Ah summon it.” The mirror displayed an image of a large green lizard, its skin vibrant green like a vine. The mirror shattered and the lizard leapt onto the field with a growl. A mouth formed of plant leaves sprouted on its back and opened, the maw quivering (1800/0).
Applejack pointed at Delta. “Ah use the effect of Spinodionaea and put a Predator Counter on Block Dragon.” Spinodinaea’s rear mouth spat a plant spore onto Delta that burst into bright green and purple leaves.
“Very well. I end my turn.” Sugarcoat frowned. “You were very fortunate to have drawn that card. You’re running a bit low on Life Points, and even lower on cards.”
“Ah’s take that luck, if it holds out.” Applejack drew her card, looked at it, and smiled. “And it seems to be fer now! Ah activate ‘Fragrance Storm’. This lets me destroy a Plant monster on the field and draw a card. Ya don’t seem to want those Plant Tokens, so let me get rid of one.” Sugarcoat looked down as the token dispersed into leaves.
Applejack drew and flipped her card over. “Ah drew ‘Predaplant Moray Nepenthes’, so the effect of Fragrance Storm lets me reveal it to draw again.” She drew her second card, looked down at it, and grinned. “Well now, lookie here.” She raised her eyes to Sugarcoat. “Here’s an oldie but a goodie. Ah activate ‘Mystical Space Typhoon’! Ah use it to destroy Magnetic Field!”
Sugarcoat turned her head to either side as the pillars of Magnetic Field were engulfed in three localized wind storms, the metal crumbling and being drawn into a vortex overhead.
“Now Ah’m free to attack ya all Ah need to,” Applejack said with a grin.
“Yes, but you lack a monster of sufficient power to defeat my Block Dragon,” Sugarcoat replied.
“Wanna bet?” Applejack reached to her hand. “Ah summon Predaplant Moray Nepenthes from mah hand.” A growth of dark brown roots sprouted in front of Applejack, two vines on the top blooming into twin mouths (1600/1000).
Applejack waved the last card in her hand at Sugarcoat. “Ah’ve got one more card left. Might as well use it now.” She flipped it over, drew her arm back, and slapped her card on her duel disk. “Ah activate Polymerization, and fuse together Spinodionaea and Moray Nepenthes!” A purple vortex with tendrils of green energy appeared behind Applejack and drew in her two monsters. The vortex spun and flashed, its light growing.
“Ah combine mah reptilian predator and my twin-headed predator, and unleash a vicious botanical nightmare!” Applejack held her card up. “Ah Fusion Summon ‘Starving Venom Fusion Dragon’!” She slammed her card on her duel disk, the card tray lighting up purple.
The ground shook as a massive plant bud grew behind Applejack and rose into the air. It shone purple and burst apart, a dragon flying out of it and circling the field. Its body was lithe and green, armored in hardened purple growths with thorns emerging from them. Orbs of orange light lit up on its claws, shoulders, and wings, pulsing with energy. The dragon stopped its flight above Applejack, a vine-like tail lashing the air, and roared (2800/2000).
The crowd cheered wildly as Applejack pumped her fist. “Since Ah just Fusion Summoned mah dragon, he gets an attack boost equal to a Special Summoned monster on your side of the field for the rest of the turn. Ah choose Block Dragon.” An aura of purple energy lit up over Block Dragon and trails of it swirled into Applejack’s dragon. The orbs on its wings grew brighter (2800 → 5300).
Applejack thrust her hand out. “Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, attack Block Dragon!”
Starving Venom Fusion Dragon swooped down and flew forward. The orbs covering its body sent streams of energy curling into its mouth, congregating into a large fireball. The fireball launched and engulfed Block Dragon, a plume of smoke shooting into the air. Sugarcoat looked away, teeth gritted, as her monster melted and exploded.
-Sugarcoat Life Points: 5100-
Sugarcoat looked back at her. “The effect of Block Dragon activates when destroyed. I can add up to three Rock-type monsters from my deck whose total levels are eight.” Her card ejected. “However, I’ll only be needing one: ‘Valkyrion the Magna Warrior’.”
Starve Venom descended back behind Applejack. “Ah end mah turn. Starving Venom loses its attack boost now.”
“Good.” Sugarcoat drew, looked at her card, and set it on her duel disk. “I activate ‘Trade-In’. I discard Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior in order to draw two cards.” She looked at her two cards and smiled. “I place one card face-down. Next, I offer three monsters as Tribute.” The image of a pink robot with magnetic wings appeared in front of her. “I combine ‘Beta The Magnet Warrior’ and ‘Gamma The Magnet Warrior’ in my hand with Alpha on the field!” They lit up blue and broke apart. Within the blue field, the pieces of the three began to gravitate together, connecting in new ways. “I Special Summon ‘Valkyrion, the Magna Warrior’!”
The blue energy field faded around a gigantic steel robot, magnets set into its joints and forming horns on its head. A large pair of wings spread in the air behind it, and a sword with a magnet for a handle was in its hand, the blade gleaming (3500/3850).
Applejack grimaced. “Well, that bites.”
“This bites even worse.” Sugarcoat snapped her fingers. “Valkyrion, attack and destroy Starving Venom.”
Valkyrion leapt into the air and held up its sword. Lightning struck the blade, casting it in a yellow glow. Its wielder flew forward and impaled the dragon, lightning shooting into its body.
“Delta the Magnet Warrior, direct attack!” Delta held up a magnet arm and shot a blast of electricity at Applejack.
-Applejack Life Points: 800-
Applejack shook her head as the smoke of the attacks cleared, the air crackling. “Ah ain’t goin’ without a fight. When Starving Venom is destroyed, he takes all your Special Summoned monsters with him.”
The ghostly image of Starving Venom flew out of Applejack’s duel disk and into Valkyrion. It convulsed and shattered, its pieces raining to the ground and fading. The Planet Token in front of Sugarcoat caught flame and withered to ash at her feet.
Sugarcoat narrowed her eyes. “Very well. I end my turn.”
“Good.” Applejack put a hand on her duel disk. “This is mah last card. Feeling lucky?”
“Yes,” Sugarcoat nodded. “This duel was entertaining, and you put in an admirable performance. But the result is decided. Now we’re just playing it out.”
“Ya think so?” Applejack tensed her arm. “Let’s just see then!” She drew with a flourish, holding her card out. She drew it back, looked at it, and grinned. “Well, let’s see how this factors in your victory plans.” She placed her card on her duel disk. “Ah activate ‘Dragon’s Mirror’!” A large mirror appeared in the air, the wings, claws, and tail of a dragon carved from its frame. “This lets me banish the Fusion parts needed to summon a Dragon-type Fusion monster from mah Graveyard, and summon it. Ah banish Predaplant Flytrap and Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!”
The mirror pulsed and glowed purple, its surface cloudy. Applejack reached to her duel disk, fingers poised. “Ah combine mah botanical nightmare and mah carnivorous predator, to bring out a toxic terror like no other!” The mirror cracked down the center, the image of glowing purple eyes appearing in either half. “Ah Fusion Summon ‘Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon’!”
The mirror shattered and a massive dragon flew out of the frame. Its serpentine body was glowing blue, purple, and yellow, streaks of light along its limbs. Wings like the growths of a plant spread behind it, crackling with energy. It circled to float in front of Applejack, roaring down at Sugarcoat (3300/2500).
“Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon, destroy Delta!”
Greedy Venom drew back its mouth and fired a jet of purple energy. Sugarcoat raised her arm and braced herself as the blast struck Delta, washing it away.
-Sugarcoat Life Points: 3400-
“Ah end mah turn.”
Sugarcoat lowered her arm. “You were able to get off some good hits with those dragons. And to use monsters in your Graveyard for the Fusion? You’re either very lucky to have drawn that card, or very skilled to have it in your deck at all.”
“Ah prefer to think the second one, thanks.” Applejack put a hand on her hip and gave a small smirk.
“Perhaps. Fusing using monsters in the Graveyard is quite clever of you.” Sugarcoat smiled. “Please excuse me for copying you!”
Applejack’s smirk vanished. “Say what?”
“Before you end your turn, I reveal my Trap card ‘Necro Fusion’.” The students of Crystal Prep began to cheer as Sugarcoat’s card flipped up, glowing blue. “This Trap lets me conduct a Fusion Summon, by banishing the materials for it from my Graveyard.” The card generated a blue vortex, electricity crackling. “Thus, I banish Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior, and Valkyrion the Magna Warrior!”
Sugarcoat leaned forward, light reflecting off her glasses. “I combine the energy of the magnetic valkyrie and the electromagnetic berserker, to bring forth the ultimate electrical marvel of battle!” She grabbed her card from her duel disk. “I Fusion Summon ‘Imperion Magnum the Superconductive Battlebot’!” She placed the card on her holographic card tray and it lit up in rays of blue light. The fusion vortex in front of her widened as her new monster stepped out of it.
The components of both its Fusion materials – rather, the pieces of the six individual Magnet Warriors – had merged to form a robotic centaur knight, hooves beating at the ground. A massive sword with a guard shaped like a magnet was in its right hand, and a pronged cannon emerged from its left shoulder, electricity coursing along its length. Imperion Magnum swung its sword and sent out waves of energy along the ground, bellowing (4000/4000).
“Imperion Magnum, destroy Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon!”
Imperion Magnum drew back its sword and galloped forward. It jumped up above Greedy Venom and descended, swinging its sword to point down. The blade impaled Greedy Venom between the shoulders and pinned it to the ground, Imperion Magnum leaning over it. The cannon on its shoulder hummed and fired a beam of blue energy into the dragon’s head, obliterating it.
-Applejack Life Points: 100-
“Greedy Venom’s effect activates!” Applejack called. “When it gets destroyed, so does every other monster in play!”
From the smoke of Greedy Venom’s destruction, a beam of purple energy erupted over Imperion Magnum, the robot exploding.
Sugarcoat smiled. “Thank you.”
Applejack recoiled. “What?”
The smoke began to clear, revealing two large silhouettes where Imperion Magnum was destroyed. Sugarcoat raised a hand to pushed her glasses up her nose. “When Imperion Magnum is removed from the field because of an effect of your cards, I can summon its material components from my deck.”
“Oh crud…” Applejack stepped back. “Then that means…”
“Indeed.” Sugarcoat raised her head to look up at the smoke. It dispersed, revealing the forms of Berserkion and Valkyrion towering over Applejack.
Applejack grit her teeth and turned her head away. “Get it over with.”
“You dueled well, Applejack. But not well enough.” Sugarcoat thrust her hand out. “Berserkion, Valkyrion, direct attack!”
The two magnetic warriors put their swords together and sent an entwined beam of blue and yellow electricity towards Applejack. The attacks hit and shot up into the sky in a column of light.
Sparks in the air as the light receded, Applejack collapsed to her knees, her hat falling from her ground as she let her head fall forward.
-Applejack Life Points: 0-
The holograms faded away. Sugarcoat gathered her cards from her card tray and the hologram retracted. “There is no shame in losing to a superior foe. At least you made me work for my victory.”
Applejack reached out to pick up her hat, brushing it off. “Yeah. Ya got me right good. Don’t make swallowin’ it any easier. Know what I mean?”
“No, not really.” Sugarcoat strode back to the Crystal Prep bench, not looking at Applejack further as she passed her.
Luna’s voice rang from the speakers. “We will now take a brief intermission before the next duel.”
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Personally I was hoping more for the black rose dragon more than starting then starving venom Dragon. But that is just me I love the dragons from 5D’s
Damn Applejack, you played extremely well, especially with both 'Starving Venom' and 'Greedy Venom'.
Oh, man, Applejack did so well, those Crystal Prep creeps are sure strong.
I won't lie, part of me is still tremendously bothered by how people can't just read their opponents' cards. Still, nicely dramatic back-and-forth. Though CHS is going to need to really step up to overcome this deficit.
Oh man, two losses in a row (three if you count the exhibition). I thought AJ had it won for sure when she pulled out Starving Venom and Greedy Venom.
9253703
And Yuya did it once, so there's no excuse!
9253703
Do they? I thought they only needed one entrant to make it to the final.
9253838
There is no final. It's a best-of-seven series of single elimination matches, with a tie-breaking eighth match if the score is even at the end. (Most likely a 3-3-1 record for each.)
This feels........ I dunno... .more flaunting for the Crystal Prep folks and less like a tournament. We go from equal ground duelings from the first story to 'OH LOOK AT THE NEW BADDIES THEY SO KEWL!' in this one. I dunno maybe it is just me. Sorry if that's not your intention.
Damn, thought Jackie had it til I saw the last fusion. I’ve run that deck long enough to know you never want the receiving end of those summon loops.
Shouldn't Block Dragon have prevented Delta from being destroyed by Sarraceniant's effect?
9254042
.....shit.
Well that's two loses for the CHS. They can recover from this later.
9254020
Flash and Sunset will probably take a victory.
9254042
okay, salvaged it, Applejack uses a trap to negate the attack and summon her monster. Thanks for catching that.
9254020
I think the problem is how the story was structured. The Prep has basically been described as elites going up against a school that has actively held its duelists back with its rules. It also seems odd that the one character who we know is good with a non fusion deck was not considered.
I thought you can't attack with the moster fusioned with necro fusion?
9254351
only during the turn its summoned
Goes to show how disgustingly strong the new Magnet Warriors are. Sure am interested in seeing what the other girls decks are
9254020
Isnt that what Crystal Prep wanted: to fluant how much richer and better they are than Canterlot High? Cant see any other reason for them to hold this competition since they don't get anything else out of it
9255405
But it kinda hurts the story because this is the second time in a row that the Canterlot folks lost and I just can't help but feel that the rest won't fair much better. I mean it says something when JOEY from the OG series has better chances right now.
9255496
True. Both Fluttershy and Applejack seemed a bit more ready for this than the others...and lost. Now we have Rarity who admitted that she was having trouble finding decent rank four monsters for her deck while Rainbow needed to rebalance her deck for tuners. We also have no idea what Sunsets new monsters can do or if she has new extra deck cards.
Basically this story is like watching a group from your locals trying to take down tournament level players. An uphill battle for sure...but one with no stakes as well. All that will happen is that Canterlot will lose again and both schools will go on. At least the Friendship Games tried to spice things up by trying to keep magic underwraps and there was that stuff with Twilight accidentally stealing magic.
9255507
I mean Shy I could see maybe.... but come on. AJ had a chance.
9255531
I guess this was done as a jobbing effect. Basically, taking a strong character who is well established and having them lose to show off the skills of the new bad guys. It's done to make the audience wonder if the main character or characters have the skills to beat this challenge.
9255537
Still though.
9255542
I know. It might have been better to have someone like Pinkie lose since her skill is mostly unknown and could have given the excuse that she was rusty.
9255566
Exactly.
9255567
Or have Sunset duel first and win. Then, after Fluttershy and Applejack lose, they begin to question if they can win. Remember Sunsets deck was created via magic while everyone else had to buy their own cards with their own money.
9255572
True.
Neat original series Valkyrion made an appearance. Also, Magnetic Field seems to make the Magnet Warriors archetype stupidly overpowered, so when Applejack offed it, I honestly thought she was going to win, especially with those consecutive direct attacks that knocked Sugarcoat down from her mighty pedestal, in terms of LP. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Yet I can't help but echo what a lot of others have said by this point: it's hard to see this as anything so far but an unnecessary ego boost for Crystal Prep. While I'm still adamant the tournament will finish with a 3-3 ratio between the two sides before Twilight and Sunset square off, or a 3-3-1 ratio and they end up playing the tiebreaker, it's getting harder and harder to see any route that'll get us to that point that doesn't feel like a copout. Might have been better for the first duel to be a victory in CHS' favour, enough to make Crystal Prep buckle down and take the lead again for a stretch. You see the same thing in sports movies, so it works.
Also, kind of amusing neither of the Crystal Prep duelists so far have used either Synchros or XYZ monsters, despite the that fact that they're supposed to be their thing. Obviously the Fusion Monsters used for Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat so far do fit their decks, as they'd have to, being archetypes and all.
As always, the attempts to flesh out the characters' personalities are... mixed. I won't repeat my comments on Applejack, except to say we probably won't see her being too active in future chapters, so it matters little. As for Sugarcoat... not entirely sold on the mostly-ignored aspect of her characters stating blunt truths with comedic timing from Friendship Games. If you tried to put it here, it didn't come across all too well. Also, the repeated motif of her pushing her glasses back up... a bit overdone? I get it, it's a motif in fiction for a reason, and I fully understand why it's done. It fits for Sci-Twi, but doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose here. Especially as Sugarcoat, likely, will barely matter going forward.
Man, the week-long waits I'd have to endure watching Yu-Gi-Oh on Saturday morning during the typical three-to-four-part duels barely scratch the surface on the month long waits here. I guess that's why it's easy to feel underwhelmed at times, though no fault of anyone, just the reality of schedules affected by real life, I suppose.
Going forward, I fully expect, during the intermission, for Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat to get chastised by their peers for "allowing" the CHS' students to actually damage them and force them into a corner. Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Applejack will receive support from the others for giving it their best, with the others, Rainbow especially, saying they won't let their hard work go to waste. Maybe some more insight into what makes Sci-Twi tick, we're a bit overdue there. Whether it'll be a whole chapter just for the intermission, or only part of it before the next duel remains to be seen, but as always, looking forward to... I'm guessing it'll be Pinkie vs... Lemon Zest, given the trend thus far of the EQG Mane 6 facing their Crystal Prep personality counterparts. Also, Pinkie'll be next because you mostly seem to be working up in terms of skill level, so after Pinkie, I'd bet Rarity, then Rainbow, Flash, and finally Sunset, though there's room for a minor swap here and there.
Wow. That was a pretty close duel. Hopefully Canterlot wins one next time.
9255619
Have to agree with you.
It is odd that despite having access to many different types of summoning we have not seen ritual, synchro, or xyz. I had thought Sour Sweet should have used a Harpy deck since it not only fits her personality, looks nice till you see the claws, but also has a decent xyz engine to it. As for Sugarcoat, I think a deck like Acient Gear would have made more sense since it doesn't beat around the bush, it's nice and direct.
As for personality, it's hard for most people to do Sugarcoat. Most of the time they right her as robotic or at least that's how it sounds to me. But it does say something when hers and Twilights dialog can be interchangeable.
I do hope that we do get a slight change up from what you predicted. I'm hoping that Sunset will duel Shining Armor while robot Twilight duels Flash.
And caught up from the start. Nice to see some older cards occasionally making an appearance. Nobody expects things like Hana-Hane now with how old it is. Most of the old staple like Dark Magician, Blue Eyes, and Red Eyes only show up really because they keep getting updated stuff for them in the later sets. I mean, where is the fun old stuff that is still strong? Jinzo? Magical Scientist? Hell, Bottomless Trap Hole would wreck someone's day when using Pendulum summons. Then there is the Bird of Ultimate Rage Quits, Yata Garasu. Personally, I would love to use a fun deck that really isn't meant for winning. Run all strong Jar monsters and Relinquished which is almost a jar. What? It starts out empty until you fill it up like a jar.
Could you imagine how pissed Rainbow Dash would be to hit Fiber Jar 10 times in a row? 
9259390
Well Rituals by and large suck; none even appeared in DotAC. Maybe there is the odd good one that'll pop up, but given they're a -2/-3 (the spell card, at least one sacrificed monster, from hand or field, and the monster itself), it's little surprise they've seen no play. Even with those Effect monsters that get the right cards for you. Maybe in 2004, but not here. Maybe there's decent recent support for Rituals, but I doubt it. As for Synchros and XYZ, I'm sure we'll see them soon enough.
I thought Amazoness was a good match for Sour Sweet, but don't really see the connection Magnet Warriors have with Sugarcoat. If there's one, it's so subtle as to not have much of an effect. Ancient Gear might have been good. Of course, DrakeyC probably went with Magnet Force to facilitate those back-and-forth turns towards the end where both duelists kept bringing out ace monsters turn after turn.
I mean, I'm sure DrakeyC has his reasons for the deck and duel choices. All will probably become clear later. I only found DotAC after it was finished, but I'd guess (?), since that stripped out a few of the complex rules, readers weren't constantly checking decks off to their real-life counterparts AS much as with this one, where it's basically the real life game, except with occasional ignorance of the Ban List, no Link monsters, and only new Pendulum monsters for Sunset.
Sugarcoat does strike me as a hard character to write. I haven't read many EqG stories (more of a straight-up Pony person) and I don't think (?) I've read any with the Crystal Prep students apart from this one, so I'll take your word for it. But you sound right, my friend.
A change up might be nice; another thing that could happen that I didn't mention before is just what you predicted there, with Sunset Vs Shining Armor (and thank christ, he doesn't seem to be wound into being a jerk despite attending Crystal Prep) and Sci-Twi Vs Flash. And the end result is the 3-3-1, meaning a tiebreaker match has to be played, and whether chosen by either team nominating a duelist or randomly, Sci-Twi and Sunset will square off then. Because there's no way they won't face at some point. But that way might be more fun.
9259792
Ritual decks are few: Cyber Angle, Gishki, End of the World, and Nekroz are the only ones I know. However they have been getting a lot of new support cards over the years in order to make them more playable. Cards that help search for the spell and monster as well as ones that either reduce the cost or recycle the cost.
Oh just remembered 2: Relinquished and Prediction Princess.
Perhaps your right about the deck choices Drakey choose. I brought up Harpy because, to me at least, it seemed to fit her better and would allow the author to fulfill the promise made that the Prep is skilled in areas outside of fusion. Also with Sugarcoat, I like the idea of Applejack destroying Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem only to have a 3000 beater pop up on the field. But again that's just me voicing my thoughts
9259820
Voice away, that's what we're here for. I've only seem chunks of GX but I always liked Ancient Gear as an archtype, and felt it's a pity it was stuck being used by Crowler, meaning it barely ever won. Depending on how much recent support it had gotten, it could have worked. Guess we'll never know.
Rituals could have been made to work; as these are Scripted Duels. DrakeyC would just have to not make it seem like the other player was bricking just so the Ritual player could get them online, is all.
9263209
Vendreads are another ritual archetype and they're pretty good. Especially since their ritual monsters can gain additional effects from specific monsters and they can protect themselves by banishing the ritual spells from the graveyard. There's also Heralds which are the ultimate lockdown archetype.
An excellent duel from both of them... And now, an intermission...
I FOUND YURI!
10022411
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