So, a thought on Action Duels: Maybe a higher Spell to Trap ratio?
Action Traps rarely appear in the anime, like less than 10% of the time. So setting up a 37.5% chance for them to appear is a little harsh, don't you think?
It seems more and more people were starting to volunteer. Some were as excitable as the first boy, while others a little less so. Nevertheless, it was making Nathaniel want to volunteer himself, even though he really knew better.
Nathaniel's train of thought was broken as an unfamiliar girl...? Yep, voice suggests girl. As this unfamiliar girl introduced herself, Nathaniel could not help but give a sigh of relief as she mentioned that she did not watch his disaster of a placement duel. "Oh, really? That's too bad, hahaha..." He said with a nervous laugh.
At the mention of Action Dueling however, his demeanor lightened instantly. "Ah, a fellow Action Duelist! Well, I'm Nathaniel and I'm an aspiring Action Duelist myself." He said with a grin.
"Duelists, locked in combat! Kicking the earth, they dance in the air alongside their monsters!" Nathaniel recited the chant with a starry look in his eyes. "Isn't that just the coolest thing?"
Playing whatever you had perfectly is still promising though. That's at least Wind, Earth is when you actually slip up somewhere along the way.
Like, take my two duels. Haas failed to plan ahead and arguably used both Wind-Up Kittens and his Wind-Up key much too early, whilst Ethel had an end game plan the entire time and even banished RaidRaptor's - Readiness in advance to negate whatever damage since the destruction effect would've never gotten used at that rate.
Or, someone like Akemi, who played perfectly up until a small slip-up where she allowed her opponent a turn to recover. Would've been in light if not for that.
Eh, perfectly is a bit of a stretch. I mean, it's a good combo, but if he had played like a Whip Snake or something and just destroyed the monster while baiting the set card, he could have saved that combo to end the game next turn. Whereas here, it was entirely possible that he overextended, swarming the field with no protection while his opponent had a set and 3 cards in hand.
Still, I can see where you're coming from. If you think that play was a little too good, I can dumb it down a bit and just play Whip Snake before he loses it.
Nathaniel stood with the other students outside the Action Duel arena, panting heavily. It was his first real day of school, so he decided to dress up in something a little nicer than usual. Underneath his brown blazer symbolizing his Earth Dorm status, he wore a nice white button-up shirt with a thin black tie. It may have been unoriginal, but it was a classic combination for a reason. He also wore a pair of brown, loose-fitting trousers, and a pair of sneakers to complete the look. He thought he looked pretty nice in the morning, but he realized what a mistake he made when he had to walk through the desert and stand out there as the instructor gave his spiel. He gave a silent vow to only wear t-shirts from now on.
As he looked back on the rest of his day, it was fairly uneventful. Fusion Summoning class was pretty boring, especially since the first day was just going through basics. He already read Extra Deck Monsters For Dummies, so he was doodling throughout that entire class. As heretical as the thought may be, it was actually English class he paid the most attention to, although that might have just been because the instructor made it so difficult. But as soon as that was over, he bolted out of the classroom like the rest of the students, feeling 110% ready for that Action Dueling class. Then he stepped outside and it dropped to 80%, then 50%. By the time he actually got to the class, he just wanted to go back to the dorm and take a shower.
"ATTENTION! I will need some volunteers for a live demonstration. WHO INTENDS TO SHOW THESE MAGGOTS HOW IT'S DONE?"
That snapped him back to his senses. He thought about volunteering himself, but then he remembered how his placement duel went yesterday and decided to keep to himself.
Nathaniel smiled as he looked over his field. He still had all his Life Points left, while his opponent was only left with 3900. He had only Whip Snake on the field, but with any luck, he would have a winning combo next turn. Nathaniel could almost taste his victory now. Maybe his bad luck streak is finally ending. As he took a card from his hand and prepared to set it face-down, a cry suddenly came out from the audience.
"Hey! Isn't that Junior Disaster?!"
Nathaniel instinctively twitched as he looked up at the crowd. The arena was suddenly alight with whispers, and it was driving Nathaniel up the wall. The next thing he remembered was waking up in the nurse's office.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Oh, you had a nervous breakdown and fainted." The nurse replied clinically. "Sorry about your placement duel, but they had to give it to the other student."
She then handed Nathaniel a piece of paper. "You're in Earth now. Congratulations." She said as she walked away.
Nathaniel looked down at the sheet of paper with a disappointed sigh.
"Rats."
Nathaniel then saw a student with brown hair shoot his hand into the air with a fervor. Nathaniel gave a small smile. Passion was everything when it came to an Entertainment Duel. If this kid gets picked, then they were in for a show.
Personality: Nathaniel appears at first to be a fairly average, if somewhat stoic individual. He's sensible and knowledgeable, and he has a lot of patience when dealing with the people around him. Combined with his politely friendly attitude, Nathaniel may seem like a very calm and collected person to people who don't know him. In reality however, Nathaniel tends to get flustered fairly easily, and doesn't perform so well in the event of non-duel-related confrontation. He acts much more relaxed and friendly around people he actually knows, and it really takes some work to get on his bad side. His composed exterior is also a front to hide some serious self-esteem issues due to an unfortunate incident in his past. In fact, just the mention of the words "Junior Disaster" can cause twitching and stuttering, and continuing to press this little pressure point can cause him to have a full-on nervous breakdown. At heart however, he is still an entertainer. Once you get him in front of a cheering crowd, his entire world lights up, and the previously composed and reserved Nathaniel turns into a grinning, shouting dorkperformer.
History: Toronto, Ontario born and raised, Nathaniel is the only child of a happy family. Throughout his childhood, Nathaniel was all smiles, well-known among those around him for never ever giving up. Having taken up Duel Monsters at a very early age, Nathaniel was especially taken by the Entertainment Duels on TV. Duelists and monsters acting in tandem to bring joy to all who watched them; for Nathaniel, that was the coolest thing in the world, and he dreamed of going pro as an Entertainment Duelist himself. Unfortunately, Nathaniel wasn't very good at the game. In fact, he rarely won a duel, and never once in an actual contest setting. While it wore on him, he wasn't the type to let that stop him, and he continued to enter into numerous Junior Contests with his parents' full loving support.
Five years ago, he entered into the Toronto Junior Entertainment Contest. The preliminary round consisted of each contestant dueling three other random contestants, and judges would decide who moved on based on their performances. Nathaniel, already a crowd favorite at the time due to his cheerful personality and colorful performances, predictably lost his first two duels. Then came the third duel. Nathaniel drew his hand... and it was perfect. After his opponent set up some weak defenses, Nathaniel quickly swarmed the field. The duel was no longer a show to entertain, but a battle in which Nathaniel aimed to overwhelm his opponent as quickly as possible. The OTK he proceeded to deliver was so brutal that his opponent was left sobbing at the end of it. Nathaniel proudly looked to the audience, but no cheers met his ears. Even the judges exchanged no discussion, only wide-eyed stares as they looked on in shock. Realizing what he had done, Nathaniel soon began to bawl as well, and the two young contestants had to be escorted out of the arena. Needlessly to say, Nathaniel did not make it to the next round. This little event, which eventually ended up on Youtube, became known as the Toronto Junior Disaster, and it would continue to haunt Nathaniel to this very day.
Despite his parents' best attempts to cheer him up, Nathaniel didn't enter into any more contests after that. After dropping Duel Monsters for two years, Nathaniel suddenly picked it up again in middle school. He took out the Pendulum Monsters that had led him to his previous pyrrhic victory, and went back to regularly losing with his Main Deck monsters, and although he still won a duel every now and then, these victories were few and far in-between. At this time, he also began to look into applying to the Duel Tower, planning for this to be his one last hurrah in his history of Duel Monsters before he went back to Canada to study marketing or something. As he got on that plane, he felt finally ready to leave the Junior Disaster debacle behind him. After all, this was an institution in the middle of a desert. There is no way these people will have heard about Junior Disaster, right? ...Right?
Favorite Card/Archetype or theme: Performapals, of course. Bowhopper in particular looks super rad.
