“How were you able to do so much damage to him at the end all at once like that?” Joy said. “Was that just one card?”
“No,” Walt said. “That was a combo.”
“How do you know if you can do a combo?”
“That’s all about the cards in your deck. Remember those Blood Mirrors we were setting up in the stairwells and hiding in the rooms?”
Joy nodded. “So you played a card that was able to trigger all of them?”
“Exactly. A combo compared to tempo is a little more advanced. It requires setting up multiple cards and hoping you draw all the right cards. It’s about draw rate. So, sometimes it requires dumping earlier hands to look for the combo cards.”
“So it’d be kind of shitty if you manage to set up your cards but you never draw the final card you need?”
“It could mean death.”
“So why did you take the chance?”
“I happened to draw into the big piece I needed early. I knew I had a higher chance of drawing the Blood Mirrors because there’s four of them in the deck. But Life Leech? The big one that makes it all possible? I got lucky and found it in my first hand. I decided to play for the combo because I had no idea about my opponent’s minions. So, I decided to use the information I had to make my decisions.”
“Another principle that falls in line with tempo play and combo play is what I like to call ‘going face’.”
“What’s going face?”
“It trades board control for focusing all damage on your opponent instead of their minion. A duelist loses once their health hits zero. So, sometimes it’s more advantageous to ignore the board and go aggro on your opponent’s health. But that really only works if you have the spells and weapons to lay on that type of damage. You wouldn’t want to do it to someone who has a lot of heal cards for example. Someone who can replenish their health. That would be a bad line of play.”
He watched Joy process this information. He couldn’t help but think if he was making a mistake by helping someone with the game. Was he just giving information for free to someone who would eventually become an enemy?
He pushed the thought out of his head. Helping others was important. Maybe there was some way for the people of his world to defeat their common enemy and come out on top of this situation. Even though he had been a fuck-up, Walt still had morals and a code of honor. His mother had always taught him to help others in need and to stand up for people who were struggling. “At the end of the day, all that matter is love,” she had been fond of saying.
But did that apply now, at the end of the world?
Walt knew the chance of having to duel Joy was slim. He wasn’t even sure if either of them was going to survive after they went their separate ways. She would have it much more harder than him because she had no card game foundation. So giving her some basic knowledge was just doing the right thing. Maybe the little bit he showed her what help her survive until she could find her father.
As Joy went to go study her deck, Walt decided now was a good time to look at the deck he won off Ricky. He was sure the Necromancer had some nice cards he could assimilate into his own deck or just keep in his collection to have as an option.
He knew for sure he wanted the Boots of Nemora, which were the winged boots that gave Ricky the ability to fly. He singled that card out along with the Legendary card Ricky had used against him. The Flesh Golem. He swiped both cards into the collection compartment of the gauntlet. It turned out that there was a digital compartment for the deck to be used during duels and also digital storage for the whole collection.
“What else did you have up your sleeve?” Walt said, as he read through the cards. He immediately found some that stuck out to him.
Deadwood Witch. Minion. Set: Necromantic. Rarity: Rare. A necro-witch with a penchant for bone spells and mists native to the Deadwoods.
Death Cry: Give a random friendly minion +7 health.
Stealth.
Bone Wand: 3 Attack; Cooldown: 3 seconds
Health: 3
Cost: 1 Vigor Stone
Cheap minion to play with a good Death Cry effect that could buff another minion on the board. He liked the Death Cry effect because it meant that the card get some extra value even after the minion perished.
Renounce the Grave. Spell. Set: Necromantic. Rarity: Rare. Replace your Hero Power and Necromantic cards with another class’s.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Cost: 2 Vigor Stones
This was a weird one. But Walt could imagine it being useful in certain situations. If anything, it could serve as a curveball to keep an opponent off guard. But it would rely on knowledge of other classes and their card sets.
The Blood Queen. Minion. Set: Darkened Soul Arts. Rarity: Epic. She hails from The Crimson Void where all life is exsanguinated from the blood.
War Whoop: Your opponent’s cards cost Health Points instead of Vigor Stones next turn.
Rend: 9 Attack, Cooldown: 3 seconds
Health: 20
Cost: 5 Vigor Stones
This immediately stuck out to Walt because it was another Epic card. To make it even more great, it was a Darkened Soul Arts card and thematically fit into his Voidlock theme. But a card like this could be great for any class especially when your opponent’s health pool was low. The icing on the cake was it was also a minion on the board. The War Whoop effect alone would have made a powerful spell by itself.
Seven-Fingered Ghoul. Minion. Set: Necromantic. Rarity: Rare. A ghoul who was born with two-extra fingers and is said to bring dark fortune.
War Whoop: Increase your maximum hand size to seven. Draw two cards.
Seven-Fingered Fist: 7 Attack, Cooldown: 5 seconds
Health: 20
Cost: 7 Vigor Stones
Any card that could increase hand size was automatically valuable. Plus it had card draw on it to immediately fill his hand when he played it. He swiped it into his collection.
Upturn the Graves, Again! Spell. Set: Necromantic. Rarity: Epic. Summon all friendly Undead that died this game.
Cost: 10 Vigor Stones
Even though it was of the Necromantic set, he was certain this could still be useful for him. Sure, even though Joy was a Necromancer and these would be powerful additions to her set, there was a limit to Walt’s generosity. Plus, it was an epic. That meant it was an automatic keep for now.
It looked like she wanted to ask about Ricky’s deck, but then thought better of it. It was the spoils of his victory and he had no qualms about taking the cards he wouldn’t use and dusting them. He remembered that cards could be broken down for Vigor Dust that could be used for crafting new cards or upgrading others.
He noticed that there was a toggle setting on each card he could mentally activate. When he did so, the glow surrounding them turned gray and a prompt appeared on his interface.
Slaynami Forge required to make Vigor Dust and Craft New Cards.
Okay, so he needed a Slaynami Forge for dusting cards and crafting. He wondered if they would be randomly placed around the world again, like the Starter Decks. He was certain he was going to have to earn one of these forges in some way.
He got his deck and collection organized. So, if he found himself in another duel, he would be prepared. If he could, he wanted to avoid another duel as long as possible. At least until he could have some more time studying the classes. He wished he had some resource on the types of decks the classes used.
In addition to getting to his family, he also craved information about the game and of the general state of the city, the roads and how Nashville was doing. But, he felt like he stayed in Terminus Place long enough and it was time to get moving.
#
Walt and Joy made their way to the parking garage. They opted to take the stairs. If the elevators got fucked while they were in them, there may be no getting out. Plus, they had no idea if they even worked with the top half of the building gone.
It seemed like some residents were barricaded in their condos on the lower floors, afraid to venture into the outside world. But there were signs others had left. About half of the cars down here were gone, which meant the exits here weren’t blocked by debris from the collapse of the top portion of the building.
His delivery van was still here. But then he glimpsed at the office down here.
“Hold on a second,” Walt said. He went over to the office, but there was no sign of Alice, the security guard. It looked like she had left her post. He didn’t blame her. Half of the camera feed on her setup was dead. The cams that work flickered.
He met Joy by his van.
“Want me to give you a ride?” Walt said.
Joy shook her head. “No thanks. I think it’ll be safer for me to make it through the city on foot.”
That made sense. He wasn’t even sure if the roads were in good drivable condition anymore. If they were, it would only be better once he was off the city streets. There was still a lot of stop and go sections that might make him more of a target in a vehicle. But he needed wheels to get to Nashville.
They stood there awkwardly.
“Well, I guess this is it, then,” Walt said.
Joy was fidgeting with her fingers on her gauntleted arm. She was looking down at the ground, in the throes of making a decision. Then she held out her hand.
Walt looked at it, not sure what she wanted.
“Your phone,” Joy said. “So I can put my information in.”
“Oh,” Walt said. He handed her his phone.
And she handed him hers.
He thumb-typed his name on her contacts and added his number and his email just in case the Internet remained intact.
She handed him back his phone, and he gave hers back. He looked down at the name she added, “Joy the Clueless Warlock”. She had also added her email in addition to her number.
[email protected]
“Thanks for helping me stay alive,” Joy said.
“Well, good luck out there,” Walt said.
She held her gauntleted arm out and made a fist. Walt did the same and they fist bumped.
Joy turned to leave and Walt watched her walk towards the exit out to the street.
“Hey,” Walt said.
Joy turned. “Remember, use all your Vigor Stones each turn. And make efficient trades.”
She nodded and half-smiled. “I got it.”
Then she was gone.
#
Walt got in his van and turned it on. He checked the radio stations. The XM satellite radio channels were still up. Most of the voices were still talking about the chaotic scenes of destruction around the world.
He switched FM to see if he could find a local station. He scanned through, discovering dead broadcasts but there was one still up. It was WRAS-FM, which he knew as Album 88. It was the local college radio station at Georgia State University.
The DJ was in the middle of talking. It was a female voice that reminded Walt of a mousy NPR host. “I’m still seeing that Google Maps is up. Lemme see if I can get a view of the roads. It looks like the 75/85 connector is a wreck. Don’t know what happened there but cars are piled up. So that’s a no-go if you’re looking to use it to get on the Interstate. I’d personally avoid it.”
The fact that she was using Google Maps meant the University still had Internet. Walt knew the campus was downtown, a few miles from where he was at.
So that’s where he would head first, looking to use the Internet so he could contact his family.