Chapter 132: 132 Release the Ace Deck of Holy Beast_1
Today, the A-Rank Group team Mount Flower was scheduled to battle the Holy Beast Association. The match was held in a special venue where, due to local restrictions, no audience was permitted for fear of accidental casualties. However, livestreaming was allowed.
Today’s livestream was exceptionally lively, featuring two commentators for narration. This match had already become a rare highlight of the recent selection competitions.
In past years, Mount Flower had seemed incomparable to the Holy Beast Association at S Rank. However, at the A-Rank Association level, they appeared evenly matched. The primary difference this year was that the Holy Beast Association boasted several veteran players, while Mount Flower introduced two newcomers. One of them was Chen Runyu.
"I’ve watched his recent matches," the Holy Beast Association’s coach said, baring his teeth. "Chen Runyu’s performance is standard and strong. Considering team coordination, he doesn’t hold them back and is a formidable opponent. The only one is this Wen Jiang... She has only used one A-Rank Card from start to finish, making her very difficult to analyze. What we know so far comes from information gathered from the Guiqing Association: they used new cards in training matches, and their victories relied on Wen Jiang. Her strength should be above the other four."
Curiously, the Holy Beast Association’s offensive player asked, "So today, should we focus on Wen Jiang?"
"No," the coach said gravely, shaking his head. "I’m afraid she might not change her cards even when facing us. An opponent who is still concealing her strength is truly difficult to predict. Even if we focus our attention on her, if the cards she uses don’t have a significant impact, it won’t cause much fatal damage; on the contrary, it might disrupt our rhythm."
"Stick to the original plan," the Holy Beast coach continued. "First, let’s see the cards. We’ll assess which cards pose the greatest threat and then decide who to target first."
Both sides submitted their card sets, and the card ban selection began. The live broadcast also started with a flurry of excitement.
"We’re battling the Holy Beasts today, so Wen Jiang should use new cards, right? If she uses Healing Vine again, I’ll have a stroke!"
"She can’t possibly be that arrogant against the Holy Beasts, right? After all, that would mean completely disregarding the Holy Beast Association."
"Good news! There’s no Healing Vine in the card set, which means Wen Jiang won’t use Healing Cards today."
"The bad news is that out of twenty-five cards, five are Healing Cards. Just how scared of dying is Mount Flower?"
"Both sides submitted their card sets, and unsurprisingly, they both included Moon Palace Card Sets... Sigh, seriously, Moon Palace Card Sets are just too overpowered. Why don’t the officials restrict them?"
"Why restrict powerful cards instead of using them? Do you think this is a game where you have to consider balance?"
"Let them use Moon Palace cards! I really want to see what happens when these major associations battle it out with Moon Palace Card Sets."
Unfortunately, the audience’s hopes were destined to be disappointed that day.
The Holy Beast Association received the right to the first ban and immediately banned Changer.
Tang Qian understood at a glance. "It looks like they don’t plan to engage us in a Moon Palace battle. In that case, we’ll ban Hou Yi to return the favor."
Mount Flower banned Hou Yi.
The Holy Beast Association hesitated over their second ban. Although it took them a moment, they reluctantly banned Jade Rabbit Pestle Medicine.
Banning two cards from the Moon Palace Card Set put them at a disadvantage in the ban phase. However, Mount Flower had submitted fewer powerful cards than the Holy Beast Association. After all, the four major associations had stronger foundations than Mount Flower, so the Holy Beast Association wasn’t concerned about this minor setback.
Once the ten bans were complete, Mount Flower, as expected, was unable to secure their association’s two strongest output cards and one Control Card. The Holy Beast Association, on the other hand, managed to obtain their trump card set: the Ice Beast Kings family.
The results of the ban phase caused quite a stir among the commentators and were also unexpected for the Holy Beast Association.
Before the audience could flood the chat with question marks expressing their bafflement, a commentator had already voiced his doubts: "The Ice Beast Kings family is one of the Holy Beast Association’s A-Rank linked trump card sets. It includes the Ice Leopard King, Ice Wolf King, Ice Deer King, Ice Bear King, and Ice Snake King—five A-Rank Cards. These cards not only provide explosive output and formidable strength, but their linked reactions can also freeze opponents for an extended period. They aren’t afraid of any card set they might face. For Mount Flower not to ban even a single one of their core cards... what were they thinking?"
"Yeah, what were they thinking? Are they crazy, letting such a trump card set through?"
"Have they been practicing with Moon Palace Card Sets so much lately that they’re looking down on older card sets? These five cards together are practically invincible at A-Level, aren’t they?"
"How is Mount Flower’s fragile lineup supposed to handle such a high-intensity card set?"
"Damn it! They should have at least banned the core Ice Snake King! Once it releases its poison gas, all Card Spirits on the field will be frozen solid and finished. Isn’t this insane?"
"Mount Flower is going to get the crap beaten out of them! Mark my words!"
"How can they be so dismissive of their opponent? Do they think they’re invincible just because they have Wen Jiang? Mount Flower’s attitude is so disappointing. I’m no longer a fan."
It was no exaggeration to say that whenever the Holy Beast Association had brought out this card set, they had never been defeated. Even when facing associations like Broken Heart in the past, their opponents would make a token gesture by banning one or two of its powerful cards, unlike Mount Flower’s arrogant display.
In reality, the members of Mount Flower were also bewildered.
The reason for not banning those cards wasn’t Coach Tang Qian’s decision, but Wen Jiang’s.
It was all because Wen Jiang had asked, "Can we let them bring out their ice-type trump cards?"
Her four teammates were dumbfounded. Tang Qian stated directly, "That’s not good. Unless you control two cards, I’d say our current setup has no chance against that set. Without deploying the Four Heavenly Kings plus Su Daji cards, Mount Flower’s current card strength is simply no match for that set."
Wen Jiang replied, "Whether we have a chance to win isn’t solely determined by the card set. I want to see how powerful the Holy Beast Association members are when they control this particular set."
After watching so many matches, I still need to experience the strength of these cards firsthand.
This could give me inspiration for new cards.
Wen Jiang said in an even tone, "Opportunities like this are rare. If you all feel it’s inappropriate, I can play two cards."
Chen Runyu and Shi Qi exchanged glances. Ruan Chunen then hesitantly spoke up, "Actually, it’s not out of the question. If we let them have it, I believe the Holy Beast Association won’t pass up this chance. We could see for ourselves just how much pressure we’d be under when facing such a trump card set."
Tang Qian said with irritation, "Your ideas are certainly crazy enough."
But she was also hesitating.
Wen Jiang doesn’t usually make requests like this. Besides, it’s not a guaranteed loss.
If we start with high-intensity matches, facing other associations later on will be more manageable.
The players are of similar skill, and trump card sets are bound to be updated sooner or later. Why not let them use theirs and see what happens?
Tang Qian hesitated for only a moment before agreeing. "Alright, we won’t ban it. They’ll probably pick it. But there’s no need for you to play two cards, Wen Jiang. Just use your usual card and let’s see how much pressure you’re under against that kind of setup."
Wen Jiang nodded.
The Holy Beast Association acknowledged Mount Flower’s "good intentions." They rarely got the chance to use these five core cards together in a competition. Since their opponents had practically handed them the opportunity, they decided to take it and show everyone just how terrifying a fully synergistic trump card set could be.
Though they also didn’t understand Mount Flower’s true intentions.