The snakes crawling up and down the walls of Viper’s castle reared their heads and hissed challengingly at Deckard.
But Viper’s [Nest of Snakes] didn’t go unanswered.
Deckard’s own landmark, [Harmonious Island], emerged gently from the space just before the castle’s walls, the sound of crashing waves blending into the game’s soundscape. The contrast between the two landmarks couldn’t have been sharper—surf against hiss, calm against menace.
His opponent’s eyebrow ticked upward, but he stayed calm.
Players willing to wager uncommons really are in a different league, Deckard thought. He didn’t even flinch at seeing a legendary. This game should be interesting.
There were no creatures on the field yet. The only movement came from both castles: slithering snakes and rolling surf. Opposing energies coiled quietly, waiting for the clash to begin.
As the effects of both landmarks settled into the background, the game rolled into its second round. The holographic walls surrounding the field turned opaque, cutting off Deckard’s view of his opponent.
Had Viper finally allowed himself to react—just a little—now that the holograms hid him from view? Deckard pictured the stoic player with his hands on his head, maybe shaking it in disbelief at the sight of a legendary landmark.
That was as much emotion as he could imagine from him. The one thing he knew for certain was that Viper had two cards in hand—and a deck full of snakes.
Deckard studied his hand. His landmark had only cost a single card, leaving him with four to choose from this round. His thumb hovered over each one before discarding [Shell Retreat] to summon one of his newer creatures into the attacking lane.
The fog of war lifted.
Across the field, his opponent had made a similar play. A creature manifested in Deckard’s defensive lane. The ground rippled, then split. A snake slithered up from below, its scales flashing with warning reds and deep, ocean-blue. It coiled, hissed, and held its gaze on Deckard’s castle.
Eastern Coral Snake ??
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 2 (-1)
Points: 2
Effect: Slither. If Western Coral Snake is also in play, draw Two-Headed Cardinal Snake.
Deckard leaned forward slightly, adjusting his spectacles. Slither.
One of the keywords he’d discovered just yesterday.
Slither – You can play this from the graveyard.
Cards with Slither could be played directly from the discard pile, treated as if they were still in hand. With a discard-based system like Terralore’s, that kind of recursion was gold. Snake players rarely ran out of plays. Even a destroyed creature card was never really gone.
And Viper was using the keyword to its full potential. This creature had been played from his graveyard, meaning that he was able to keep one card in hand for next round.
And the snake can draw a card, too? That [Two-Headed Cardinal Snake] must be something special.
His own creature emerged next.
The field on his side bulged and split as a turtle pushed its way up, slow and steady. Broad and low to the ground, its shell was marked with tribal arrows pointing in opposite directions.
Tug-Tle-Of-War ??
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 2
Points: 1
Effect: If played in the attacking lane, draw a Psionic Pull. If played in the defensive lane, draw a Psionic Push.
Synergy: Costs 1 less.
Since Deckard had played [Tug-Tle-Of-War] on his offensive lane, he drew [Psionic Pull].
Psionic Pull ?
Rarity: Common
Type: Skill
Affinity: ??
Cost: 1
Effect: Draw 1 card.
The resolution phase began.
The castles stood undefended, leaving both creatures free to strike. The [Eastern Coral Snake] lunged forward. A splash of water and a puff of sand marked the clash as the turtle shoved back in kind. Both creatures struck cleanly, leaving cracks in the walls where they connected.
StubbornTiger 8–9 ViciousViper
Deckard was already behind in points, even though he was ahead in cards. He had three in hand; his opponent, only one.
As two more cards slid into his hand, he caught the glint of shiny green that marked rare cards. His pulse quickened. He adjusted his grip on the cards without meaning to, then caught himself smiling.
Back in the early days, when players faced off in person, hiding tells had been essential. But here, with both players hidden from each other during the play phase, that tension no longer mattered.
And this—this was worth reacting to. He’d drawn one of the best cards in his deck.
Better still, this was the round where the starfish he’d discarded to play [Harmonious Island] on turn one was due to regenerate. If it landed in the attacking lane, he had a shot at ending the game this round.
A round 3. That would be epic.
He discarded three cards—two more [Blue Starfish] among them—and placed [Claw’s Crab] in the defending lane. The system responded with a satisfying, weighty clunk as the card locked in.
The reveal phase began.
Deckard’s card manifested first. In front of his castle, [Claw’s Crab] rose from the ground, carried by two underlings like a king on a palanquin.
Claw’s Crab ??
Rarity: Rare
Type: Creature
Affinity: ???
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Cost: 3
Points: -3
Effect: Summons the [Crab’s Claw] token in the opposite lane.
Synergy: Summon 2× [Crab Underlings] here
On the other lane, its oversized claw thudded into place with a tremor.
Crab’s Claw ??
Rarity: Rare
Type: Token creature
Affinity: ???
Points: 7
Across the board, his opponent responded. He’d summoned a creature into Deckard’s defensive lane. It looked nearly identical to the [Eastern Coral Snake], but this one shimmered in red and yellow.
Deckard immediately tensed. The details floating above it confirmed his fears.
Western Coral Snake ??
Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 2 (reduced to 1)
Points: 2
Effect: Slither. If [Eastern Coral Snake] is also in play, draw [Two-Headed Cardinal Snake].
A surge of energy pulsed through his opponent’s field—the synergy had triggered.
Both snakes’ scales lit up in harmony—red, blue, and yellow, flashing in rhythmic sequence. A subtle hiss traveled across the entire field, answered by a chorus of hisses from the [Nest of Snakes] and the two creatures on the board. A new card appeared in his opponent’s hand. His opponent's combo was almost complete.
Before he could even process the consequences, the board snapped into resolution mode.
The graveyard shimmered green as the regeneration effect triggered. A streak of watery light burst from the discard pile. He held his breath as the light surged—then exhaled in frustration as it veered left and landed on his defending lane.
Blue Starfish ?
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ???
Cost: 2
Points: +1 if on attacking lane
Effect: Regeneration.
“Argh!” Deckard leaned back. “Such bad luck!”
Had it landed in the attacking lane, he would’ve been only one point away from victory. Instead, it flopped harmlessly onto the wrong side of the field, contributing nothing.
The point count began. [Claw’s Crab] pushed forward like a battering ram, sending the western snake flying and slamming into the opponent’s wall. Stone cracked. The [Tug-Tle-Of-War] turtle did the same, much less spectacularly. The wall was now in bad shape.
On Deckard’s side, the [Eastern Coral Snake] slithered past the pile of underpowered crabs and the misplaced starfish. It attacked the castle, and Deckard lost 5 points.
StubbornTiger 3–2 ViciousViper
This round had gone well. Deckard’s attack had been devastating. He was clearly in the lead, but he still felt uneasy.
His opponent had the two-headed threat in hand. It couldn’t be a simple card—especially not with that animation. It felt like the entire deck was built around summoning that creature. Moreover, the two attacks of the Eastern Coral Snake and the negative points of [Claw’s Crab] had already whittled down his health to a dangerously low number.
A new round began, and Deckard drew two cards. He studied the three cards in his hand: [Psionic Pull], [Turtle Ninja], and [Royal Starfish].
His defensive lane stood at –1 to 2. On offense, he was leading 8 to 2. The dream play here would have been [Turtle Ninja]. However, he still didn’t have the sacrifices required for fusion. He needed two starfish and a turtle, but only had one starfish on the field.
That left him with a problem.
What if Viper played his [Two-Headed Cardinal Snake] offensively? In that case, both players would land lethal blows, and the match would come down to total score. The points on both lanes would be added up and compared. The winner would be the one with the overall advantage.
Right now, that was Deckard. He was ahead in total points, seven to his opponent’s four. But the fusion card was unlikely to be worth just three points.
If it’s five or more, I lose outright.
He had to widen the gap. Anything to force a win, or at least secure the tiebreaker.
Though it hurt, he discarded both [Psionic Pull] and [Turtle Ninja], then dropped the [Royal Starfish] into his defensive lane.
Royal Starfish ?
Rarity: Common
Type: Creature
Affinity: ???
Cost: 2
Points: 1
Effect: Regeneration.
A system message flashed:
Warning! Each lane can only contain four creatures. Choose one to remove from play to summon [Royal Starfish].
He chose [Claw’s Crab].
With its negative points gone, the defensive lane shifted from –1 to 3. Playing the [Royal Starfish] the regular way—without relying on the regeneration keyword to play it for free—was a costly move. Especially with [Turtle Ninja] sent to the discard pile.
But removing a creature worth –3 had boosted his defensive lane by four points. That should be enough to secure the win.
He folded his arms and waited.
The fog peeled away.
Deckard’s [Royal Starfish] appeared first—bright purple with yellow contours. It stood out in vivid contrast against the lone [Blue Starfish] already on the board.
Across the field, a face-down card waited in the offensive lane.
It flipped.
[Eastern Coral Snake] and [Western Coral Snake] dissolved into motes of light—red, blue, and yellow—spiraling into the air before converging.
Two-Headed Cardinal Snake ??
Rarity: Rare
Type: Fusion Creature
Affinity: ??
Cost: 3 (–1) + [Eastern Coral Snake] + [Western Coral Snake]
Points: 5
Effect: Stuns all enemy creatures for one turn.
The fusion creature entered with cinematic flair—coiling twice as it slithered forward, twin heads rearing high. Red, blue, and yellow shimmered along its scales.
Each head fixed its gaze on a separate lane. A burst of pressure rippled outward from its amber eyes. The air tightened—and then everything went still.
Deckard’s creatures collapsed—stunned.
No way.
With a single move, Viper had knocked out every creature on his board. Their points wouldn’t count this round. He was defenseless.
The resolution phase began.
The [Two-Headed Cardinal Snake] struck. Its animation swept outward in a wide arc, both heads lashing forward, fangs glowing venom-bright as they crashed into the castle walls.
Stone exploded outward in slow motion. Deckard sat motionless as the defeat screen faded in.
Defeat.
He’d lost. His first match for an uncommon—and he’d lost.
The holograms dispersed, and both uncommon cards in the pot rose from the board and floated across the field, landing in Viper’s hand. The opposing player nodded once, a simple gesture of respect. Deckard returned it.
As Deckard left the battlefield, to his own surprise, he smiled.
Despite the loss, this had been a good match. Viper had drawn all the right cards. The [Two-Headed Cardinal Snake] had landed perfectly. Deckard’s own [Blue Starfish] had flopped into the wrong lane, and he hadn’t gotten enough creatures on the board to fuel the [Turtle Ninja] in time.
That fusion creature was something else. It only required two sacrifices—one less than [Turtle Ninja]—but they couldn’t just be any snakes. They had to be specific ones. He wondered how often Viper was able to pull the summon.
Still… it had been fair. A clean, sharp match against a well-built deck. Losing was part of the game. He wouldn’t let it sting.
And this wasn’t the end. He still had more uncommons to wager.
This time, he didn’t head back to the screen. He looked for an empty arena and put up his second [Cranky Seagull] duplicate in the pot. He stood, arms crossed, watching the flow of players in the distance.
Let the next challenger come to me.
He was just getting started.
