115: The horror of Shi Li is terrifying when you think about it

“You didn't expect this, did you? I have two Purifications.”

After revealing these two cards, Wang Ji himself felt much more at ease.

“If you’re trying to use the same tactics you used against Fang Jinghai, then I can only say you’ve miscalculated.”

“The way to counter your strategy of revealing your trump cards first is to deal with the Jumping Guard’s Taunt.”

“I won’t help you reveal your trump cards early,” he said with a smile.

“You guessed all that?” Shi Li showed an unwilling expression.

“…” Looking at that expression, Wang Ji almost believed him.

But he clearly remembered a phrase the principal had repeatedly emphasized when analyzing Shi Li, his opponent for the top 8.

This type of card player is good at interfering with judgment through factors outside the card game itself.

Don’t pay attention to anything this guy says or does; just make your decisions based on the cards.

In other words, this guy is completely untrustworthy.

So, what Wang Ji needed to do now was analyze the cards.

If he attacked the left side where the Jumping Guard currently was, the opponent might use Movement again.

At that time, the entire left column would be empty, and he would still trigger the opponent’s trump card.

If he anticipated the Movement and attacked the opponent’s right side.

What if the opponent was playing on this psychological game, and the right side was actually the empty column?

If the Jumping Guard didn't Movement at all, and he still revealed the opponent’s trump card.

That would be a laughingstock.

Or perhaps, Shi Li’s second and last row cards hadn't been placed yet?

Anyway, it wouldn’t be too late to place them during the replacement phase of the next round.

In this way, no matter if he attacked the left or right column, an empty card column would cause him to reveal the opponent’s trump card!

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Wang Ji’s back.

When he saw Shi Li’s harmless expression, he became even more certain.

At first glance, it seemed like nothing, but upon closer inspection, it was all traps.

“You… are indeed very strong,” Wang Ji said with respect.

“You flatter me, you flatter me,” Shi Li’s smile became even more cordial.

Finally, Wang Ji made his decision.

That was to not attack this round.

“LV2 Shield: This round, absorb 20 damage for 2 cards respectively. (T1)”

He played his hand card.

Both cards had 10 damage reduction, plus 20 Shield, so no matter which card the Jumping Guard attacked, no health would be lost.

“Wang Ji, this student, is as steady as ever. This playstyle is very rational.”

“First, wait for the second round to see if the opponent’s second row card is revealed in the left or right column, then act with confidence.”

“However, this also means he’s fallen into Shi Li’s strategic loop.”

“This strategic loop is similar to Shi Li always playing paper in rock-paper-scissors, leading opponents to want to play scissors to win, but then fearing Shi Li might suddenly change to rock to counter scissors.”

“So, to play it safe, opponents can only follow suit and play paper.”

“But I feel like… the strategy Shi Li used to defeat Fang Jinghai was also a setup for subsequent matches?”

“If that’s really the case, this student is a bit terrifying…” The audience discussed animatedly.

Logically, if someone reveals 2 cards at the start and you only reveal 1, you should be punished by the opponent.

But now, if everyone remains inactive, it’s equivalent to indirectly rewarding Shi Li’s strange opening Movement.

The key to the problem lay in four words:

Record is verifiable.

Shi Li not only used this tactic against a strong enemy, but crucially, he won.

Otherwise, if your paper couldn't even beat rock, what deterrence would it have?

And so, the first round passed.

Aside from Wang Ji playing 1 hand card, it was as if nothing happened on either side; nothing was done.

The second round arrived, and Shi Li was the first to reveal his second row card.

“Gaggle!”

A giant centipede crawled out from the card table, occupying 2 horizontal card slots.

Rock Giant Centipede

Balance, 50 points, Two-star

Attack 50, 250/250

Giant Creature - Passive: Rock Giant Centipede occupies 2 card slots, Health +150

Rock Skin - Passive: Rock Giant Centipede possesses Resilience

(Resilience: After being controlled this round, immune to control next round)

“I knew it!” Wang Ji exclaimed with delight upon seeing this scene.

He had to admit, he had some foresight.

Since he hadn’t helped Shi Li reveal his trump card at the start, it was highly probable that he would reveal this Giant Creature card in the next round.

Otherwise, the 1 card slot difference created by both sides in the first round would be difficult to make up.

And so, he also revealed his second row card.

“Ooh la la! Ooh la la!”

A strange, elongated mask emerged from the pillar of light.

The mask had limbs, like a strange person with only a face and hands and feet.

It held a strange, unknown magical artifact in its hand.

It was still the purple glow representing three stars.

This indicated that Wang Ji had revealed all of his three-star character cards within the first 3 cards.

Mask Clan Shaman

Balance, 30 points, Three-star

Attack 30, 100/100

Shaman - Passive: Mask Clan Shaman Attack -10, after revealing, grants 1 revealed card 10 Encourage this game.

Hermit - Passive: When Mask Clan Shaman is in the second row card slot, Attack +10.

Chronic Poison Curse - Passive: The target chosen by Mask Clan Shaman at the start, every 10 cumulative attacks received, causes 1 Stun effect next round (T2).

“Although it’s not a Unique Character Card, the ‘Poison Curse’ entry is truly rare.”

“If I’m not mistaken, this type of entry should fall within the scope of four-star character cards.”

“To be able to craft such an entry at three stars, his card-making ability is quite good, and he must have put in a lot of hard work.”

The audience was uniformly appreciative of this card.

Multi-attack cards like Cyber Boxer love processing buffs like Encourage the most.

The original skill damage of 20+20 = 40 points directly increased to 30+30 = 60 points.

And in a 4+1 deck, there are only 4 regular cards.

10 attacks seem difficult to achieve, but the key lies in the Unique Character Card, Cyber Boxer, mentioned earlier.

Its low energy cost allows it to quickly warm up and then perform 2 consecutive attacks, accelerating the Stun trigger.

Stun, as the king of hard crowd control, being triggered without cost is simply too satisfying.

This tactic is actually more practical in PVE than in PVP.

Because in PVP card games, even with full Defense, it’s hard for any card to sustain 10 attacks.

But now that Wang Ji anticipated the appearance of the Rock Giant Centipede, it’s a different story.

“Excuse me, it seems I’m not without a chance in this round after all.”

It could be said that he was in a good mood at this moment.

Although the first round was essentially doing nothing, from another perspective, it was also a wonderfully unprecedented start.

Both of his first row cards were at full health.

If it were before, he would have been half-crippled by an opponent’s focused fire.