Chapter 235. Elder Entity FTK and Elder Entity + Super Polymerization! A Blazing Fast Life for Norden, Then the Curtain Falls!

Obviously, with Fusion Gate plus Elder Entity Norden, you already have a very combo-rich way to juggle resources.

And yet there were still people who weren't convinced.

Is it because the core of the build still isn't clearly defined?

Maybe.

We should look at the decks later built around those two cards and see how they actually performed.

The Duelists who'd been stunned by those nitpicky questions soon calmed down.

First.

Back then, Rank 7 Xyz and Level 7 Synchros weren't as plentiful as they are today.

So being skeptical wasn't impossible.

Second.

Nitpicking is nitpicking, but those questions were sharp.

If you want to complete a two-card combo, you first have to assemble those two cards.

And the cards that assemble them must be able to search them.

That was the inspiration they took from the "Final Battle!" deckbuilding approach.

You have to examine both cards and combos dialectically.

Only by thinking through your earlier synergies in full can you grasp Elder Entity Norden's true power.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "One way or another, this combo would later spark ideas. The world of Duelists has no shortage of geniuses."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "And so, a full Elder Entity FTK Deck took shape."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "The concept of this Deck is simple."

"We just need one Field Spell + Vylon Cube + one Level 4 monster."

"And there are a few lynchpin cards at the core of this FTK."

"Beyond the combo we already covered."

"There's also Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk."

"Its effect detaches 2 materials to fill the field with Tokens."

"The other key card is the FTK piece: Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird."

"Its materials are 1 Machine monster + 1 Pyro monster."

"During your Main Phase, it inflicts 300 damage to your opponent for each card on the field."

"This card cannot attack the turn that effect is activated. You can only use that effect once per turn."

"As for draw power and loading the Graveyard."

"We can rely on Lightsworn."

"Okay, here comes the core of the FTK."

"The first Synchro Summon we care about is Ancient Fairy Dragon."

"Use its effect to destroy the Field Spell Fusion Gate, then search Black Garden."

"Activate Black Garden, and now we start the Re-Fusion line I'm about to describe."

"After resolving Re-Fusion three times."

"The opponent's field will be clogged with five Tokens."

"The second Ancient Fairy Dragon uses its effect to destroy Black Garden and fetch a second Fusion Gate to activate."

"Overlay the two Ancient Fairy Dragons to Xyz Summon Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk."

"For the third material cycle, choose the Level 4 monster as Norden's target."

"That way, those two cards can overlay into Number 58: Burner Visor."

"Number 42 detaches 2 materials to flood the field with three more Tokens."

"Use Fusion Gate, fusing one Token with Number 58 to Fusion Summon Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird."

"Blaze Fenix activates and burns the opponent for 3000."

"Fusion Gate again. Fuse one Token with the first Blaze Fenix to make a second Blaze Fenix."

"Blaze Fenix activates and burns the opponent for 2700."

"Fusion Gate a third time to make a third Blaze Fenix."

"Blaze Fenix activates and burns the opponent for 2400."

"Total effect damage: 8100, which completes the FTK."

"This is the famous Blaze Fenix FTK."

… … …

What on earth?

You're telling me—what the heck is this now?

All Duelists across every world stared, dumbstruck, at the short video.

It was a demonstration of the one-turn burn FTK line using Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird.

And the whole process took hardly any time.

But the shock it delivered lingered for a very long time.

In the DM world.

After watching this FTK concept.

Joey Wheeler and Seto Kaiba blurted out how insane it was.

They'd never have guessed that Blaze Fenix, the Burning Bombardment Bird plus Vylon Cube plus Elder Entity Norden could go that far.

"This—what kind of bizarre FTK is this!"

"With these combos!"

"You can pull off something this unbelievable?"

"And the FTK's burn damage!"

"It even overshoots by exactly 100!"

"Building in a buffer in case anything goes wrong, huh?"

Mai Valentine swallowed hard.

She was thoroughly shaken by the FTK line that Elder Entity Norden enabled.

Compared to the deck-out FTK we covered earlier.

This one's even wilder.

Burning you for 8100 in one breath.

Who can stand up to that?

In the ZEXAL world.

Yuma Tsukumo and Astral gasped.

Even as the burn FTK stunned them.

They were even more shocked by Number 42: Galaxy Tomahawk as a card.

Wait, what?

This "Number" card's power is way over the line.

They knew full well how terrifying the "Numbers" are.

But when they saw Number 42 paired with a burn FTK.

They were still taken aback.

Because of Blaze Fenix's Fusion requirements.

Those Tokens from Number 42 just happened to satisfy what the line needed.

Genius.

Absolutely genius.

Someone actually thought up this route to push Elder Entity Norden to its limits.

It's ridiculous.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "Next, let's look from the third angle."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "The angle I mentioned before—watchful waiting."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "Even though Elder Entity Norden's power was gradually surfacing."

"The Duelists who weren't convinced would still stay unconvinced."

"Now we enter the Rank 4 era."

"Say no more."

"In 2015, Yu-Gi-Oh! was already starting to do unusual things with the Graveyard."

"Or rather, by then."

"Graveyard resources could already be moved and triggered pretty effectively."

"Compared to the earlier Level 4 extender pulls."

"Let's look at later Level 4 monsters that paired with Elder Entity Norden."

"First, Elemental HERO Shadow Mist—yes, Norden negates the effect it revives."

"But sending Shadow Mist to the GY still triggers a HERO search."

"Then there's Heroic Challenger – Thousand Blades."

"It can Special Summon itself from the Graveyard."

"So in the Rank 4 era, what Norden offered."

"Wasn't just a simple +1 in card advantage."

"With Norden on the field, it might be a +2 or even a +3 swing in resources."

"And pairing Vylon Cube with Norden came with big risks."

"The FTK earlier already proved how much 'gold' Norden packed."

"And it changed some Duelists' opinions in a roundabout way."

"Besides that."

"We can't help but mention one more card."

"Super Polymerization."

"That's right—once you think of this card."

"You can probably guess where this is going, right?"

"Say your opponent goes first and ends on Baronne de Fleur and Borreload Savage Dragon."

"You activate a single Super Polymerization that can't be responded to."

"Boom—one card cleans up two of their cards."

"You just ate both of their Synchros."

"You can even bring out Elder Entity Norden and pull a Level 4 extender."

"With those two cards you're straight into a Rank 4 line."

"Put simply."

"As long as you have Super Polymerization."

"If your opponent's board is built on Xyz monsters or Synchro monsters."

"At minimum you can easily answer two boss pieces."

"This is the generic combo axis of Norden + Fusion."

"And boom."

"That, in turn, undercut Konami's attempts to sell more cards."

"Super Polymerization + an Entity—no matter what strong Synchro or Xyz Konami prints next."

"You snap your fingers and—so fast."

"Their monsters are gone, and you're the one snowballing advantage."

"These were among the reasons Norden was forbidden in October 2015."

Elder Entity + Super Polymerization?

Oh man.

How did we forget this card.

In that instant.

Every world was floored by that combo.

Or rather.

It's not even a "combo" at that point.

Put one Elder Entity Norden in your Extra Deck.

Run three Super Polymerization in your Main Deck.

Those four cards.

Instantly form a compact, splashable axis.

What's scarier.

That little axis doesn't even care about compatibility.

If you're playing a Fusion Deck and your opponent's on Fusions.

You still profit when you flip Super Polymerization.

If your opponent's on Synchros or Xyz and you have Elder Entity Norden.

Then Super Polymerization is a guaranteed two-for-two of their boss resources.

The more you look at it.

The more terrifying the Elder Entity Norden + Super Polymerization package becomes.

In the GX world.

Jaden Yuki and Dr. Vellian Crowler couldn't hold back their excitement.

"So that's it—Super Polymerization!"

"If it's that card!"

"Combined with how broadly the Elder Entity takes Fusion materials!"

"That really does make the axis extremely splashable!"

"I think any Deck could run it!"

"No wonder this looks so strong!"

"No—what's strong is the synergy!"

After muttering to himself for a bit.

Jaden felt like he finally understood Elder Entity Norden.

Judging by the text alone.

It's strong.

But if you look across the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! card pool at everything that pairs with Elder Entity Norden.

Then Norden's power is far, far greater than its text suggests.

"Mamma mia!"

"First you've got Vylon Cube with Norden, freeloading resources!"

"Now it's Super Polymerization with Norden, draining the opponent's monsters dry!"

"The wild chemical reactions between Duel cards never end!"

After the shock, Dr. Crowler couldn't help but sigh.

All at once.

He felt like he, a professor, knew too little.

Any random combo from the Higher Worlds was a dimensionality-reduction strike to him.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "It's true that Elder Entity Norden's legal lifespan was short."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "But Norden's impact went well beyond that."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "Remember the Zoodiac engine I talked about?"

"At the time, Zoodiac Decks could also form a combo with Norden."

"One key card involved was Lunalight Black Sheep."

"One of its effects discards itself to add Polymerization from the Deck."

"And to access Lunalight Black Sheep."

"We could use Zoodiac Broadbull."

"Zoodiacs are Xyz across the board."

"So you could use that package too."

"Make it easy to Fusion Summon Elder Entity Norden."

"Or Norden could pair with two Star Seraph cards."

"On one hand, that dramatically boosted the Star Seraph line's speed and ceiling."

"On the other, after you run the Scepter + Sovereign combo, Norden can pair with a third Sovereign to push again."

"More importantly."

"There's also a revival combo—Norden + revival cards."

"This one's simple: because Norden's effect wasn't once per turn."

"You could trigger it repeatedly through multiple revivals."

"For example, Monster Reborn, Soul Charge, and similar cards."

"The more you revive Norden, the more you can milk its value."

Hearing that.

Yugi Muto, Playmaker, and the others twitched at the corner of their mouths.

Right.

They'd almost forgotten.

You could do that kind of combo too.

No once-per-turn.

As long as you can Special Summon it, Norden keeps pulling resources.

Pair it with multiple revival cards.

You can absolutely get creative.

Even though Soul Charge is forbidden in the clip we're seeing now.

But who can guarantee.

There won't be other revival-type cards that pair with Norden?

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "As for why Elder Entity Norden still isn't coming back later."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "Here are a few of my takes."

Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Card Commentator: "First, Vylon Cube + Norden, and Norden + Super Polymerization."

"I won't belabor those."

"With the other two cards still legal, you all know what would happen if Norden were released."

"Second, Norden is too splashable."

"Its revival has no self-restriction—an effective high-power extender for combo decks."

"Third, Norden's Fusion material clause is too sensitive."

"Look at how many decks today build boards with Synchros and Xyz."

"If Norden appears, those decks risk getting punished."

"That loops back to point one."

"One Super Polymerization to eat your Borreload Savage Dragon + Baronne de Fleur—how's that feel?"

"Midway, a second Super Polymerization to eat your Denglong, First of the Yang Zing + Bystial Dis Pater—still feeling okay?"

"With materials so broad, it just looks unfair no matter how you slice it."

"The odds of releasing it are too low."

"Fourth, Konami can't make money off this card anymore."

"No matter how you sell it, after a year on shelves."

"They've earned enough. Releasing it again,"

"Would do more harm than good."

"So there's no need to let it out."

"What would be the point?"

"Isn't it better to print something similar, or a toned-down version?"

"So, odds are high that Norden won't be released again."

"If it really were to come back, its effect wouldn't be as simple as we've known."

"For example, requiring it to be Fusion Summoned to be able to revive."

"Or changing the materials to '1 Synchro + 1 Xyz, and it must be exactly those.'"

"Or just slapping a once-per-turn on the effect."

"No matter how you change it."

"Norden would never return to its original power level."

"That's Elder Entity Norden."

After listening to the final summary and the creator's reflections.

Duelists across all worlds couldn't help but gaze at Norden's card with a bittersweet look.

Earlier we analyzed Norden's development and shifting power from several angles.

And this last reverse-angle question—whether Norden could be released.

In itself proved how terrifying its real power is.

The old-guard Duelists felt even more bitter and helpless.

In the Higher Worlds.

How many more cards are like this?

Beyond Norden—there must be others like it, right…?

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