It was the semi-finals. A massive crowd surrounded the New Seattle dueling stadium, where many players, both young and old, engaged in a popular trading card game.
This card game was Duel Fantasia. Known for it's very simplistic rules, it quickly became a hit during the early 2000s.
One of the big draws of this card game was the use of three special cards for resources. From start to finish, each player would have only three and it remain that way for the rest of the game.
Trevor was a talented player, armed with his Earth Civilization deck. Blonde hair and blue eyed, he was young like a freshman of highschool.
He was dueling against Rocky, a hot tomboy with blue-hair. She specialized in the Ocean Civilization.
They both stood in their places, mounting their Memory decks on the long table between them, and pulling their Dream Stones in preparation.
After a good shuffle of their decks, they each drew four cards into their starting hand. They were both ready for the main showdown.
Each of these duelists were marked with 5 Life. And for every direct attack, the number subtracts by 1. It is an easy guess as to what happens when you reach zero.
"My move!" Trevor took the charge.
He flipped two dream stone cards faced down, calling down the Mastadon Master card. The card depicted an elephant-like beastman, adorn in a karate gi, taking a defensive stance. It was strong, carrying a power of 5000 straight off.
"I pass the turn." Trevor said, with only one Dream Stone untapped.
Creatures were unable to attack upon the turn which they were summoned. A concept many average TCG players recognize as 'summoning sickness'.
"My turn!" Rocky made the very first draw of the match, pulling the top card of her Memory deck into her starting hand.
She flipped over two Dream Stones, placing Dragon's Mermaid on to the field, a creature notoriously known for being a staple among competitive decks.
"Dragon's Mermaid effect activates." Rocky exclaimed. "When summoned, I get to draw two cards, then if one of the cards drawn this way is a dragon with a cost of 3 or above, I can reveal it to draw an additional card."
Rocky drew the additional cards from her deck, but her face quickly became bleak upon looking into them. She was clearly hoping for that extra effect to kick off.
"I end my turn."
"Refresh step" Trevor unflipped his Dream Stones back up. "Then draw."
He summoned Wolf Ronin, with the cost of 1 Dream Stone, then used the spell card, Jungle Fury, at a cost of two. The spell gave Trevor's Mastadon Master an attack boost of 2000.
Tilting the card sideways, this signaled that Trevor had ordered the first attack. Tapping it, in other words. A single direct attack will take away one point of five Life, making him one step closer to victory.
"Not so fast." She said. "Dragon's Mermaid blocks your attack, sending it to the Amnesium."
The Amnesium is the place where discarded cards go and where creatures go when they are destroyed.
"I then pass the turn."