Continuing from last time, Shoto Kazama has subbed in for Violet to battle against Sam the Clown. His Vortex Warriors will be going up against the Black Emperor Dragon.

For a while now, Shoto's deck has revolved around Zephagamon. Suspending Digimon allows Zephagamon to be dominant both offensively (with its removal effect) and defensively (with its immunity effect). But with MedievalGallantmon now included as well, his deck can be far more oppressive and adaptable, capable of surprise attacks and forcing cards to suspend.
Shoto has repeatedly used this deck throughout the main quest and his work as a debugger. Naturally, Shoto will have faced challenges throughout his journey, fine-tuning his deck and refining his tactics in response.
We hope to see his progress in this battle.

As explained in the previous battle coverage, Sam the Clown's red/purple Imperialdramon deck quickly chains DNA Digivolutions to ascend to level 6.
However, due to the card rewrites he displayed near the end of the game with Violet, his deck must now be considered an unknown entity.

The instigator of the Black Emperor Dragons' assault and the figure behind the many copies has been revealed to be Sam the Clown.
Can Shoto put an end to his reign of terror?

This time, let's take a look from the third turn onwards when Yao arrives at the scene.
The playing field is shown below.

First, it's Shoto's turn. For a cost of 4, he digivolves GrandGalemon in the battle area into Zephagamon. Its [When Digivolving] effect suspends Sam the Clown's Veemon.
At the end of his turn, he gives Zephagamon <Piercing> and <Blocker> with his Tamer's effect, and it attacks Veemon using <Vortex>.
With Fluffymon's inherited effect, he gains memory and checks Sam the Clown's security with <Piercing>. The Flamedramon and Shadramon concealed in the security stack couldn't stop the 16000 DP onslaught, bringing Sam the Clown down to 3 security.

Next is Sam's turn. He has 3 memory and begins his [Start of Your Main Phase] by keeping Wormmon in the breeding area.
With his Tamer card's effect, he deletes the Tamer card, and the hidden Wormmon leaps out from underneath.

This Wormmon's [On Play] effect gives one of the opponent's Digimon the effect "[On Deletion] Lose 1 memory." This card did not originally exist in the Liberator game. At this point, you can tell that Sam the Clown has already rewritten his cards.
Sam chooses Pteromon as the target of the effect.

Afterward, he digivolves Wormmon into Shadramon.
Its [When Digivolving] ability plays the previously deleted Veemon from the trash.
Using its [On Play] effect, he trashes Paildramon from his hand to draw 2 cards.

Then, he digivolves this Veemon into ExVeemon... But this time, he rewrites the card. He originally had a red/blue ExVeemon in his hand.
With a gleam of light, he rewrote it to be a mono-red ExVeemon.

Its [When Digivolving] effect can delete an opponent's Digimon with 3000 DP or less, and it can DNA digivolve if it's your turn.

Using this effect, Sam the Clown deletes Pteromon, bringing the memory gauge from 1 on Shoto's side to 0. Then, he DNA digivolves ExVeemon and Shadramon into the Dinobeemon in his hand.
An already existing card, this Dinobeemon has an extremely powerful [When Digivolving] effect that plays a level 5 or lower Digimon with the [Free] trait from the trash if DNA digivolving.
This card's effect causes the Paildramon that was sent to the trash earlier to leap into the battle area, but of course, this card has also been rewritten.
Unlike the expected red/purple Paildramon, this one is able to use an [On Play] effect to give 4000 DP and <Piercing> to Dinobeemon, which promptly swings its claws down on the unsuspended Zephagamon through <Raid>. Taking ExVeemon's inherited effect into account, its DP is 16000.
The fact that this is the same as Zephagamon's DP earlier could be seen as Wormmon (through its puppet Sam the Clown) getting even.
Zephagamon's wind defense is breached by this immense strength, far exceeding a normal level 5's, and the <Piercing> security check is a level 4 without any effects.

Afterward, for a cost of 3, Sam uses an Option card from his hand, Emperor Dragon of Calamity.
With its effect, he plays Dinobeemon for a cost of 3 from the trash.
Unlike the previously digivolved Dinobeemon, this version has been rewritten by Sam the Clown.
Its [On Play] effect retrieves a Digimon card with [Imperialdramon] in its name or the [Free] trait from the trash.
Sam selects Imperialdramon: Dragon Mode ACE, and then it's Shoto's turn.

Emperor Dragon of Calamity. The card currently on the field has the <Delay> effect, which allows Dragon Mode to be played from any Fighter Mode's digivolution cards.
This Option card, which depicts the current situation in Liberator, is another card not thought to have existed in the game until now.

Including this Emperor Dragon of Calamity, can you recall all the rewritten cards Sam played this turn?
How vexing it must be for a card you know to have its effects suddenly changed to something completely different.
Going over this battle coverage alone is confusing enough, so it isn't difficult to imagine the dismay Shoto must feel actually facing this situation.

Amid this chaos, he begins his turn with 6 memory.
If Shoto can't find a solution this turn, he will lose to a series of attacks from three level 5 Digimon and a DNA Digivolution.
He has to weaken Sam's playing field, but Paildramon's [All Turns] effect poses an obstacle.

If [Paildramon] or [Dinobeemon] were to be deleted, Sam can DNA digivolve any two Digimon on his field into Dragon Mode.
Due to this effect, a green deck that relies primarily on deletion faces a tough battle.
You might consider using Zephagamon's effect to return a Digimon to the deck... but Dinobeemon's [All Turns] effect would also cause it to DNA digivolve into Dragon Mode at that timing.
In other words, if Shoto tries to take down Sam's Digimon this turn, Dragon Mode's advent is inevitable.
This hopeless situation makes Shoto pause for a moment. One wrong move in this situation would guarantee defeat. He must proceed with caution.

After some hesitation, he begins to move.
He hatches Fluffymon in the breeding area. Shoto's Tamer card's [Start of Your Main Phase] effect boosts his memory to 7.
Digivolving into the level 3 Pteromon in the breeding area, Shoto then suspends Sam's Dinobeemon and Paildramon. For a cost of 7, MedievalGallantmon enters the battle area to face off against the three ancient Digimon.
The Vortex Warrior activates its [When Digivolving] effect and chooses to delete Paildramon.

This triggers Paildramon's [All Turns] effect, DNA digivolving it with the Dinobeemon on the field when it would be deleted. At last, the Black Emperor Dragon descends upon the field.
Dragon Mode ACE's [When Digivolving] effect deletes MedievalGallantmon. Then, its next effect digivolves it into Fighter Mode.
As a result of Fighter Mode's [When Digivolving] effects, Shoto is unable to play Digimon or Tamers by effects, and his top security card is trashed, leaving him with 3.

Then, the <Delay> condition of the Emperor Dragon of Calamity on the field is met, and Sam declares his intention to use its effect. As if claiming the end is near, he plays Dragon Mode ACE from Fighter Mode's digivolution cards.
All of this is in the middle of Shoto's turn, showcasing the deck's truly astounding resourcefulness and digivolution abilities. This is what the Black Emperor Dragon, rewritten by Alternative Override, is capable of.

However, this all happened according to Shoto's plan. He suspends the two Emperor Dragons and slams down the other MedievalGallantmon from his hand.
The Vortex Warrior descends once more. If facing a suspended field, MedievalGallantmon can wield its full power.
With its [All Turns] effect, it deletes Dragon Mode ACE, causing an <Overflow (-4)> that moves the memory gauge from 7 on Sam's side to 3.

To round out Shoto's turn, MedievalGallantmon, which has <Piercing> and <Blocker> from his Tamer card's effect, attacks Dinobeemon with <Vortex>.
The enormous axe head of Dynas shreds Dinobeemon and Sam the Clown's security stack to pieces.
With this, Sam has 2 security shields remaining.

By boldly using his two precious MedievalGallantmon, Shoto has whittled down Sam's field to just one Digimon.
He somehow evaded defeat for the next turn, but the main threat, Fighter Mode, must still be taken care of. It is still Sam the Clown who is in control of the flow of this battle. Shoto will have no chance at victory if he doesn't do something about that tyrannical Digimon with <Raid>, <Piercing> and <Security A. +1>.

Now, Sam's turn begins with his memory gauge at 3. Sam sends forward his Wormmon from the breeding area, and then launches an attack with Fighter Mode during his Main Phase.
For Sam to DNA digivolve again, he must deal with the MedievalGallantmon standing in the way. The Black Emperor Dragon assails the obstructive Vortex Warrior with <Raid>.
Unlike Sam the Clown, Shoto's deck doesn't contain a Digimon with <Blast Digivolve>. The Fighter Mode's spear destroys MedievalGallantmon, and with <Piercing>, it charges toward Shoto's security.

The first card turned up in the security check is the Option card Wind Slicer.
It's a ray of light amid dire circumstances. The [Security] effect suspends Wormmon, reducing the potential damage to security.
However, Fighter Mode is undeterred. It faces a 7000 DP Deramon on the second check and easily smashes through.
This means Shoto has 1 security card left.

Next, Sam pays 2 memory to digivolve Wormmon into Stingmon. Then, for a cost of 4, he plays the same ExVeemon from his hand, and once again DNA digivolves using its [On Play] effect.
Paildramon lines up next to Fighter Mode, and the turn ends.

If Wind Slicer from Shoto's security didn't suspend Wormmon?
Or if the DNA digivolution was to Dinobeemon instead?
Game over. Instead, through a stroke of luck, Shoto hangs on by a thread.

However, he still has not escaped this crisis. The jet-black tyrant spreads its crimson wings and stands before Shoto. If he can't find some way to deal with it, then he will lose.
In the Breeding Phase, he brings forward Pteromon. He has 4 memory, including 1 added from his Tamer card's effect.
Due to Pteromon's [Your Turn] effect, it digivolves into Galemon for a cost of 1. Its [When Digivolving] effect plays a Tamer card. It's a Tamer with a play cost of 3 whose effect raises the DP of Vortex Warriors.

Next, Shoto digivolves Galemon into GrandGalemon. Its [When Digivolving] effect suspends itself and makes it unaffected by Digimon effects. This prevents it from being removed by a Blast DNA Digivolution.
He then digivolves it into Zephagamon. Its [When Digivolving] effect suspends Paildramon and we then move to [End of Your Turn].
Zephagamon awakens through the combined effects of the two Tamers. In addition to the <Piercing> and <Blocker> also previously granted to MedievalGallantmon, it gains an extra 2000 DP. Then, Shoto declares an attack on Fighter Mode using <Vortex>.
At [When Attacking] timing, he suspends Zephagamon (unsuspended by GrandGalemon's inherited effect) to send Paildramon to the bottom of the deck. It's a knockout combo of Zephagamon and Tamer cards that Shoto has used many times.
Then, the Zephagamon with 14000 DP clashes with the Fighter Mode with 13000. Green wind cuts through the Black Emperor Dragon, leaving Sam's playing field empty. With Fighter Mode deleted, Zephagamon's inherited effect shifts the memory gauge to 1 on the opponent's side.

It was a display of perfect memory management. If all of Zephagamon's security attacks succeed, Sam will be left with 0 security and Shoto's victory will be near-certain.
This is the Digimon Card Game for you—the scales can tip drastically in just one turn. Shoto's efforts and intelligence as he persevered throughout the fight have paid off.
Next are the crucial security checks—the 2 security cards flipped over were, surprisingly enough, a Battle NPC that can bring out a Digimon in the Main Phase and Mist Memory Boost that secures memory through <Delay>!

The two cards that appeared from his security stack allow Sam to play a level 3 for no cost and use up to 5 memory on his turn. With this much memory, it's possible to stack up DNA digivolutions again to reach Fighter Mode in one go.
Shoto had done excellently to reach this point, but now everything might fall apart.

He isn't the only one protected with security. Sam is also afforded such opportunities.
This is something that happens to anyone who plays the Digimon Card Game. It's an unavoidable yet rather cruel random element, and an integral part of gameplay.

Thus, Sam's turn begins with Wormmon underneath his Tamer card.
At the [Start of Your Main Phase] timing, Sam plays Wormmon from his Tamer card in a predictable fashion. With its [On Play] effect, he digivolves it into Shadramon from the trash for a cost of 1, and its [When Digivolving] effect pulls out Veemon from the trash.
Afterward, Sam's memory goes to 4 with the Memory Boost's <Delay>. He plays one more Wormmon, and using its [On Play] effect again, digivolves Veemon into ExVeemon from the trash for a cost of 1.
ExVeemon's [When Digivolving] effect lets it DNA digivolve into Dinobeemon, which in turn uses a [When Digivolving] effect to play another Dinobeemon from the trash.
This Dinobeemon's [On Play] effect retrieves Dragon Mode ACE from the trash, and then he DNA digivolves the two Dinobeemon on the playing field into Dragon Mode ACE. And finally, Sam digivolves it into Fighter Mode for the second time this battle.
Fighter Mode's [When Digivolving] effect wipes out the final security shield protecting Shoto.

Then, confident in his victory, Sam declares a cold and merciless direct attack.
This was the game wrapped up—or so he thought.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew around Zephagamon, and it began to glow intensely.
Only one action can occur at this timing, and it's an effect that shouldn't normally be possible with Shoto's deck: <Blast Digivolve>.

Zephagamon, the Magic Knight of Wind, transforms through an effect named after a gale.
The large wings on its back glow with luminous energy, and its armor, which resembles a bird dragon, shines in response. The wings extending from its back to its chest unfold, and on the exposed DigiCore, a wind emblem from the otherworldly Witchelny appears.

Shoto fought against the unreasonable card-rewriting onslaught of Sam the Clown, not giving up until the end. Pteromon, Lacuna, and Liberator granted him a small favor: one of the apexes of the Vortex Warriors—the manifestation of a miracle—Zephagamon ACE.

Its [When Digivolving] effect activates. The wind guardian suspends Sam's Wormmon and with a wild gale sends the attacking Fighter Mode to the bottom of the deck.
This causes two effects of its digivolution cards to resolve: Dragon Mode ACE's <Overflow (-4)> and Dinobeemon's <Partition>.
Sam plays Shadramon and ExVeemon from its digivolution cards as the memory gauge crosses to 4 on Shoto's side. ExVeemon's [On Play] effect lets it DNA digivolve into Dinobeemon again.
With Dinobeemon's [When Digivolving] effect, the just trashed Dragon Mode ACE returns to the hand... but Sam's turn ends here.

Kept alive by a miracle, Shoto begins his Main Phase with 5 memory, including +1 from his Tamer's effect. There is a possibility of another Blast DNA Digivolution, but that alone won't stop Zephagamon ACE.
Shoto plays a Pteromon which has an [On Play] search effect. It lets him draw a Tamer card from the top of the deck, which he promptly plays. With this, he'll be able to change the target of an attack.
The turn ends, with the memory gauge now at 2 on Sam's side.

<Vortex>

A miraculous turnaround was brought about by a gale. And now, another effect named after whirling winds is a suitable one to conclude the battle.
With the Tamer card he played earlier, Shoto changes his attack target to Sam the Clown.
The Vortex Warrior lands one final blow, concluding the game with Shoto's victory.

It was a battle featuring an unprecedented card-rewriting, two players with divergent intentions, luck-based elements affecting both equally, and a further demonstration of Shoto's skills. We conclude by once again praising his determination in the face of overwhelming odds.