Chapter 226. The Three Titans of the Chaos Banned Era Revealed! The Chaos Engine That Brought the Dark Age.

The entire operation of the Evil HERO engine

has already been displayed to every Duel World.

In the Duel Monsters world.

For these old-guard duelists,

what they see even more is the limitless potential brought by a single deck engine.

What leaves Joey Wheeler and Mai Valentine stunned and shocked is:

clearly, these HERO archetype tags

don't belong to the same one.

Yet somehow they can be played together!

Can you even believe that?

Elemental HERO? Vision HERO? Evil HERO? Destiny HERO?

No!

All of those—just ignore the prefixes up front!

Because the HERO tag

alone lets them play together!

That's the confidence granted by the entire, massive HERO ecosystem!

"Damn it!"

"Never thought of this!"

"The value of an archetype tag can reach this level!"

"I've overlooked too much!"

Joey Wheeler clenched his teeth.

At this moment,

for these old-guard players,

they finally understood the meaning and value contained in those two words—"archetype tag"!

In the GX world.

For HERO players Jaden Yuki and Aster Phoenix,

from Evil HERO

they see a massive boost to the entire HERO framework—

especially how it smooths the lines.

It made both Jaden and Aster suck in a breath of cold air!

"Aster, you saw it."

"The deck that branches from my other personality."

"Has already reached this level!"

Jaden Yuki's tone was grave.

He couldn't believe it either—clearly it was just the deck of his darkened personality.

Could even that reach this level in the High World?!

"Yeah, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes,"

"I definitely wouldn't have believed it."

"But."

"This is the fact."

"The Evil… fact."

Aster Phoenix was just as helpless.

If not for the short clip showcasing the Evil combos,

he wouldn't have believed those Evil cards

could also blend into the entire HERO construction!

In the Main World.

Sei Yuki quickly began looking for the next short video.

Right on cue, the app promptly recommended the latest upload from the Yu-Gi-Oh! banlist explainer!

The title was: "The Three Titans of the Chaos Banned Era Revealed! The Chaos Engine That Brought a Dark Age—Three Straight World Titles!"

When he saw this title,

Sei Yuki's first reaction was a blank stare.

Only then did he realize the "Chaos Era" in the title

referred to that dark, chaotic era many banlisted cards had gone through.

As for the "Three Titans,"

no surprise—it was "Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End," "Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning," and "Chaos Sorcerer"!

This dark era of Chaos.

Sei Yuki hadn't experienced it himself.

But it was said to have taken three straight World Championship titles in those years.

Just that pedigree alone

was enough to prove how strong the engine branching out from Chaos really was.

More importantly,

if Tearlaments are the representative of the new era,

then Chaos is the dark representative of the ancient era.

"Let's go with this one and watch!"

"This uploader's quality is really high."

"If it's updated, I have to watch!"

Once Sei Yuki decided,

he selected this video as the next to play.

At the same time,

that title also appeared across every Duel World.

The two characters "Chaos"

were anything but unfamiliar to duelists across their worlds.

Yugi Muto's deck

even has Black Luster Soldier.

So he knows exactly what Chaos represents.

More importantly,

many banned cards previously mentioned Chaos.

So,

they already had an impression tucked away.

But what mattered most was: what kind of "flower" did this engine bloom into?

In the short video,

the explanation began soon.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "Hello! Good evening, duelists."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "We've covered so many ancient-era banned cards."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "A lot of younger duelists don't really know what the 'dark Chaos era' I mentioned before actually refers to."

"So today's video,"

"will let everyone properly understand what this period of Chaos was all about!"

"First, let's slap a title on this engine."

"'Three-peat World Champion'!"

"We have to understand just how valuable a three-peat is!"

"For a single deck to remain Tier 1 for even a year is already pretty good!"

"There's no shortage of worlds won by one-time champions!"

"If you like, I can even talk about some very interesting champion decks from history!"

"And a two-peat is still acceptable!"

"In ideal circumstances, if the strong period lasts 15 months,"

"then it can be done!"

"But a three-peat is different. If a deck three-peats,"

"I think there are a few reasons!"

"First, K-snake kept reinforcing the deck!"

"Or rather, chopping while reinforcing at the same time!"

"Second, K-snake kept chopping, but the deck was too strong to kill in three years."

"Third, K-snake had chopped it down enough, then a newer engine appeared!"

"And the World Championship got cracked by a reverse-meta list!"

"At first blush, these three points all sound unbelievable, right?"

"But there was one deck that did it!"

"And that is—Chaos."

"Like Dragon Rulers, Chaos doesn't really count as a single archetype!"

"In my opinion it's an engine-style deck!"

"In April '03, with the 'Controller of Chaos' pack—306—released!"

"Chaos entered the OCG!"

"It included the big brother of the Chaos Three Titans!"

"'Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End'!"

"Let's look at its effect at the time."

"3000 ATK, summon condition: can only be Special Summoned by banishing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK monster from your own Graveyard."

"No 'once per turn'—pay 1000 Life Points to send all cards in both players' hands and on the field to the Graveyard."

"After that, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the number of your opponent's cards sent to the Graveyard by this effect × 300."

"And the effect after it was unbanned now!"

"They added a hard once-per-turn!"

"And a self-restriction: the turn you activate its effect, you cannot activate other effects!"

"Resulting in a massive reduction in power!"

"Now the second brother! 'Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning'!"

"Also Special Summons by banishing 1 LIGHT and 1 DARK!"

"Effect 1: banish an opponent's monster, but it can't attack that turn;

if it destroys a monster by battle, it can make a second attack!"

"The third brother, 'Chaos Sorcerer'!"

"Special Summons by banishing LIGHT and DARK, and if it banishes an opponent's monster, it can't attack!"

"2300 ATK, can't match the two big brothers up front!"

"But these three cards were already enough to usher in a terrifying dark age of Chaos!"

So it really was those three cards!

With the Chaos Three Titans revealed,

duelists across every world listened slack-jawed to the explanation!

What shocked them

wasn't the latter two.

It was the eldest brother—"Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End"!

The power of this card—

was it really this absurd?!

In an instant,

the duelists suddenly understood!

No wonder.

No wonder!

In that environment, if this card really existed,

its power would basically be invincible!

And in the Duel Monsters world,

Seto Kaiba knew this card the best!

"As expected."

"'Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End' had its effect weakened by errata in modern card text."

"But those three straight world titles."

"If we compare the pedigree by our side's standards,"

"isn't that equal to a KaibaCorp deck three-peating?"

After Seto Kaiba lightly analyzed the content of the video, his expression shifted!

Those around him—Yugi Muto, Joey Wheeler, Weevil Underwood, and other duelists—

trembled at Kaiba's comparison!

Holy—!

It really is!

This Chaos three-peat!

Isn't that equivalent to a KC Cup three-peat deck?!

If that's the case!

Then the power of this engine in the High World—this is honestly terrifying!

In the 5D's world.

When Yusei Fudo heard "three-peat,"

he couldn't help but compare it to their Riding Duel Grand Prix.

If that's so,

a single deck,

first place in the world three years running.

That pedigree is truly terrifying.

Yusei Fudo grew even more curious.

How did this deck

actually do it?

Relying solely

on those Three Titans?

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "Before we understand the dark age of Chaos!"

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "Let's first look at what 'small-fry' decks existed before Chaos!"

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "'Vampire Lord beatdown'! 'Don Zaloog'! 'Hand combo' cards, etc.!"

"Put simply,"

"four words sum it up: 'Axe Raider trading blows'!"

"Then let's compare Chaos with those old decks!"

"First, 'good-stuff' decks."

"The old decks' Spells/Traps were at forbidden-level power!"

"Which means the Chaos engine could run them too."

"Second, 'boss' front."

"The old decks' bosses were Jinzo, Vampire Lord, Crimson Sunbird and the like, at 2400 ATK or below!"

"The Chaos deck hits 3000."

"Third, you can just slam down 1900-ATK Level 4 beaters!"

"The Chaos engine can Special Summon by simply banishing—basically equals 'just slam it down,' fluctuating from 1900 to 3000."

"Fourth, focused on hand destruction."

"Chaos only fears you not having a hand—no way to pile LIGHT and DARK into the Graveyard."

"Fifth, most traps are 1-for-1."

"Chaos Emperor Dragon is a 1-for-many; the other Chaos pieces are stably 0-for-1."

"Comparison done—Chaos in six words:"

"'Cannon vs. cavemen.'"

"Alright, the power is a cliff-drop stomp."

"Let's look at the era after Chaos starts!"

"Timeframe: from April '03 to July—when 'Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End' got hit!"

"In this period, the construction still centered on 'Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End' and 'Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning'!"

"As for the other cards—by today's standards they're all Forbidden!"

"Things like Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, and so on!"

"Simply put, single-card power off the charts, plus over-tuned Spells/Traps and monsters!"

"And what formed was our Chaos deck…"

"By the way, during this period, the rate at which top decks included these two cards was 100%!"

"In other words, every single deck ran them!"

"Yes, you didn't mishear—one hundred percent!"

"To be blunt!"

"If you don't run these cards, you don't deserve to be a top deck—got it?"

"And the reason is simple!"

"First, back then the traps couldn't contain these two cards!"

"Under the rules at the time, Torrential Tribute and Bottomless Trap Hole—because of priority issues—the Chaos pair could still activate their effects."

"And also, you can't just keep holding your outs for Chaos forever."

"Second, Chaos is easy to put on board."

"One LIGHT and one DARK, and the whole summer arrives—with big stats."

"Third, the effects are strong."

"Say no more—just ask, when 'Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End' fires its effect,"

"wasn't that basically declaring game over back then?"

"Fourth, it fits anywhere."

"As long as you have LIGHT and DARK, tossing in a few Chaos cards is no problem."

"Who knows—maybe you drop one and flip the game to a win?"

After hearing the strengths of the Chaos deck and its top-cut inevitability at the time,

duelists in every world were collectively stunned into silence.

Each of them stood slack,

as if they had forgotten everything for a moment.

They were petrified in place, motionless.

Exactly.

After hearing the comparison between Chaos and the ancient old cards,

they only felt that the change of eras can be this sudden!

When it changes,

it changes.

While everyone was still happily you-swing, I-swing,

the emergence of the Chaos engine directly shattered that harmonious environment.

It forcibly drove every top deck straight into Chaos's embrace!

And that wasn't all!

After they heard the subsequent advantages

and the one-hundred-percent inclusion rate,

they realized an even more terrifying point!

Chaos

might not just be "a cannon shooting mosquitoes."

At that time,

you could even say it was "an atomic bomb shooting mosquitoes"!

In the group chat, the messages started exploding!

Yugi Muto: "Every single deck… would include Chaos? I may be a Chaos user, but this…"

Jaden Yuki: "Whoa! Did I mishear? One hundred percent? Whatever you play, you include these Chaos cards?"

Yusei Fudo: "So this is compatibility born of sheer strength? Not gonna lie, I feel like my Stardust Dragon build could include it too."

Yusaku Fujiki: "Seems clear now—the strength of Chaos is undeniable. What I want to know is how it developed afterward."

After a round of discussion in the chat,

besides being shocked by that one-hundred-percent inclusion rate,

they had also come to recognize just how terrifying the change Chaos brought to the environment back then really was.

And this was only the beginning.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "Next, back to the main topic!"

Yu-Gi-Oh! Banlist Explainer: "The reason the Chaos engine became so universally splashable—"

"—actually, indirectly,"

"—also can't be separated from the limitation on Chaos Emperor Dragon."

"In the early days, the price of these Chaos cards wasn't low."

"Not everyone could afford to run three or even use them at all."

"So in '03, 120 bucks for a single Emperor Dragon."

"I don't know how you all feel about card prices back then."

"My rating in one word: expensive."

"Alright, many budget duelists couldn't afford it."

"But whales would of course max three—no question!"

"And then K-snake's assist came—Emperor Dragon limited to one."

"Great—now the whales can sell their extra two cheaply."

"One person originally playing Chaos,"

"became three people playing Chaos!"

"As for whether Emperor Dragon is at three or one,"

"does it really matter?"

"You're limited to one, I'm limited to one too."

"Our odds are theoretically the same."

"So it didn't make much difference."

"For good-stuff decks, it only reduced the odds of having it in hand, that's all."

…Huh?

What?

How did the plot go like this?!

After Emperor Dragon got limited!

Not only did it not reduce the number of players running it!

It even expanded the number of Chaos players?!

What kind of twisted logic is that!

Shouldn't it be—

after the deck's boss gets limited,

people stop playing it?

How did it turn into everyone going to play it?!

Yugi Muto, Jaden Yuki, and the other old guard listened to the short video with utterly baffled faces.

Seto Kaiba, however, sneered in his heart and didn't find it surprising.

This logic—

he could absolutely understand.

What did three copies of Blue-Eyes White Dragon cost back then?

Seto Kaiba knew best from collecting them himself.

Even for regular folks, getting just one was a massive expense.

So it's no wonder that cheap reselling

would expand the player base.

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