Arakai

Episode 8: A Place to Prove Yourself, Locals!

We pick up where the last episode left off. Sora goes to the counter and hands Shiina all the money he's managed to scrape together from his savings, and against Hayate's advice, buys a whole bunch of Arakai card packs. Kazuki pitches in to help buy even more, and the three tear through the packs as fast as possible for red cards, picking out the ones they can use to start building his upgraded deck. They stay later than usual working on it, and then go around looking for trades. They can't shift all the rares Sora didn't want, but they do manage to get some cards out of the swaps that Sora can work with. Tatsuya keeps hanging around and acting offended, giving unsolicited advice to Sora and Kazuki on how to better build his deck. Sora points out that Tatsuya said just earlier that he wasn't going to help him at all.

"That was BEFORE you decided to disrespect me by turning to that- barbarian instead! I felt bad for you, it's really that simple."

Sora can tell that Tatsuya is acting weird about this, and Hayate explains that Tatsuya and Kazuki's rivalry goes back to before Sora arrived at DCG. Even now they're butting heads over what should and shouldn't be in Sora's deck, and Sora ends up having to make the final calls himself. Tatsuya ends up trading Sora for the cards he couldn't get rid of, and it's clear that this is basically an act of charity for him. He doesn't need the cards, he just wants to one-up Kazuki, after all. Kazuki loudly declares after all that work that he's getting tired, yawning and saying that he needs "brain fuel". Shiina chips in and offers to order takeout, which surprises Hayate and Sora, but Kazuki is very welcoming of the idea, and by the time he's agreed Shiina is already ordering. Hayate and Sora decide to just go along with it.

Later, their food arrives and the squad tuck in, Sora bluntly asking Shiina (with his mouth full) why she's so personally involved in the store's community. She claims that it should be obvious why- Because it's fun, duh! She might be a little irresponsible from time to time, sure, but she just wants to have a good time. This store has been super important to her ever since she moved here... Sora says he's starting to see what she means by that. Tatsuya and Kazuki are still arguing over Sora's deck, and Tatsuya says that if he didn't help, Sora would never have been prepared for locals. This is how Sora finds out that DCG is holding a tournament tomorrow, and it might be his first chance to play in a real event. Although his deck is new, Sora decides to go anyway, and says goodbye to everyone.

The next day is Saturday, and Sora's been waiting with anticipation for his first tournament! He'll be able to go to DCG without worrying about school. At breakfast, his mom notices that he seems more energetic than usual, and Sora tries to act otherwise. He doesn't expect to get that far on his first try, but as long as he can at least win one duel, he'll be happy with that... Sora tells his mom that he's going to the library, and although she seems suspicious, he doesn't notice and thinks his excuse worked. He then calls Hayate and arranges to meet him at DCG, arriving outside to the shop way more crowded than he's ever seen it before.

Sora questions if locals always have such high attendance, and Hayate explains that today is special. It's the Immortal Progeny, after all. The National Champion, Ryuzo Takeshi himself, had signed up to duel. Sora notices that Ryuzo has some pretty weird nicknames, but brushes it off and says he'll ask about it later. Hayate goes on to explain that the tournament is busier than usual due to the presence of a big shot like Ryuzo. Despite Ryuzo's reputation, or perhaps even due to it, everyone wants a shot at him, and his presence lends a tournament like this a greater sense of legitimacy. Sora questions if they'll have space for him, but it turns out Shiina actually saved a place for him.

"Some little helpers gave me an idea-"

"That's right, sensei! We're going to get you a rematch against Ryuzo!"

Team Domination jumpscare! Turns out, Hiroki is going to be playing in the tournament too, and he brought his minions as motivational support. Hayate isn't sure if Team Domination should be having ideas like this all on their own, but Sora begrudgingly thanks them and Shiina for the help. Shiina explains to Sora that this is a Swiss-style tournament. The first round matchups will be completely random, and after that, duelists would be paired up with opponents who have identical Win/Loss records until the top duelists are decided!

With that out of the way, it's time for the tournament to begin. Ryuzo walks in, and the bustling shop seems to go quiet at his arrival, all eyes on him, waiting to see what he'll do next. Shiina breaks the silence, acting as if she knows him, but Ryuzo brushes her off. Sora watches Ryuzo as he passes by, noticing that everyone seems to be keeping well out of his way. Even if they have the ambition to try and defeat him, they don't have the guts to face him, huh? He seemed like a pretty fierce guy when Sora last met him, but he wonders what kind of person he must be to earn a reputation like that.

Sora approaches him, much to the surprise of other duelists, and asks him what he's doing here. Ryuzo doesn't get why Sora is asking this, and just says he's here to duel, obviously. He then returns to his normal cold attitude and tells Sora to leave him alone, before leaving. Next we see Tatsuya, sorting through a bag of deck boxes and binders, before bringing out a deck that seems to shine brightly and smirking like a snake... Even Kazuki is there, doing some stretches to "warm-up" and talking to his Brave-Nova card. What a weird guy. Both Sora and Hayate internally hope that their new decks have what it takes to go the distance.

The first round matchups are announced, and in an ironic twist of fate, Sora would be up against Hayate. His long-time best friend, the one who'd been trying to get him into Arakai for so long, the one who taught him how to play in the first place, the second best shop regular! And this wouldn't be like their first duel, this time they were playing for the win.

"I know it'd suck if you lost in the first round, but this list ranked pretty highly in the last Nationals."

Sora is surprised to learn that Hayate just copied his decklist from a website called SpiritSurf, but apparently stuff like this is common practice. He didn't know Hayate took Arakai so seriously, he's usually pretty chill. Hayate introduces Sora to some of the other regulars at the store, and they wish Sora good luck before Round 1 begins. Sora, Hayate, Hiroki, Tatsuya, Kazuki and Ryuzo are all shown ready for their first duel in the tournament! Hayate makes it clear that although they're friends, he can't go easy on Sora... This is his chance to finally prove he's someone worth taking seriously, so he won't hold back!

Sora knows that Hayate uses a Tidal deck, and although he knows what to expect from Tatsuya, he ends up being caught off guard. Hayate's deck is different from Tatsuya's, because although it runs mill as an engine, it's more focused on using Ally and Spell effects to control and disrupt the opponent. We get to see Sora's new deck in action, using new cards with more of a focus on an Armored Dragon strategy, Invoking lots of Allies to use their effects. With lots of smaller allies, NEXUS will be more powerful than ever! He's also making use of more powerful Allies with removal effects, like Vrosh and Igneel. It's working well at first, and Sora is impressed with his deck, but Hayate starts using his knowledge of Sora's deck against him. After all, he was there and helped build it, so he knows how to counter it!

He uses the effect of Fluid Blade to prevent Sora from playing a card he knows he has, which allows Hayate to take control of the game state and set up his strongest ally...
Fluid Assassin, Anahita! Anahita's effect prevents Allies from activating their effects during the turn they were Invoked, countering most of Sora's new deck and making their effects useless. It seems like Sora is totally cornered, and he's getting kinda mad at Hayate for using outside knowledge against him in the tournament. Hayate apologises, and says he wasn't expecting to get matched against Sora... But he's been second place to Tatsuya for so long, and if he can beat Tatsuya or even Ryuzo, then it'll all have been worth it! Besides-

"You're only new, y'know? It's not fair to expect yourself to win your first tournament. You'll only get better, and you can still get some wins later on-"

This reminds Sora of his first duel against Hayate, and the same drive he felt back then... If he loses here, he can't get that rematch with Ryuzo, so he can't go easy either! If Hayate is taking this seriously, then he also has to give it everything he's got! Sora Invokes NEXUS, and since NEXUS' effect is a PERMA like Anahita, it can avoid Anahita's effect and destroy it! However, Hayate reveals he expected this- he just wanted to make Sora waste valuable allies on taking Anahita down. Hayate uses a Spell called Suffocation Sphere to remove the effect of NEXUS, allowing him to easily destroy the weakened NEXUS. Okay, at this point Sora just feels like Hayate built his deck to beat him, but Hayate says it was actually for Ryuzo. Sora uses that frustration to fuel his desire to win, and since his allies can use their effects again, he ends up being able to overpower Hayate in the end and barely get the win.

Hayate congratulates Sora, but also says he got unlucky near the end there. It's clear he was trying his hardest, and really expected to win, but he hides how upset he is. Now that he's lost already, it's very unlikely he'll come back from this... Shiina, Team Domination and the other regulars from earlier congratulate Sora on his first round win and give him some pointers, leaving Hayate alone with his thoughts. He decides to just let Sora have this.

"He's new, of course they're gonna be supportive... things'll go back to normal soon."

Hayate's played this game for most of his life, but Sora just started, and it already feels like he's doing better than him. He got the best Tidal deck he could find to defeat Sora, Tatsuya and Ryuzo, used every advantage he had, and still lost in the end... Was it really just bad luck? Can it really be bad luck if it always keeps happening? Sora finds out that Hiroki, Tatsuya, Kazuki and Ryuzo have all also won their first rounds. Shiina reveals the Round 2 matchups, and Sora knows there's a possibility he'll have to face one of those four. However, it instead turns out that Tatsuya is up against Kazuki... And Hiroki has to duel Ryuzo.

Featured Card: Fluid Assassin, Anahita