Yami Yugi and Strings Duel

Yami Yugi and Strings faced each other in a game of Duel Monsters, during the Battle City arc, in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. It is based on Dark Yugi and the Doll's Duel in the Yu-Gi-Oh! (manga).

Prior Events
Joey Wheeler is happy to have beaten Weevil Underwood and win his "Insect Queen" card and Téa Gardner, Tristan Taylor and Solomon Muto congradulate him for dueling so well. Unbeknownst to them, a man in a black cloak is following them.

Out in the ocean, Marik Ishtar, with the power of his Millenium Rod, is the one keeping tabs on Yugi Muto's friends. In the meantime, he decides to awaken another of his mind slaves, Strings, who had been dormant For some time. As some passers by look on, Marik awakens Strings, who puts on a Duel Disk and runs at incredible speed to search for Yugi.

Near a river, Yami Yugi senses an evil presence. Strings manages to find him. Marik introduces his puppet, Strings and challenges him to a duel, to which Yugi accepts.

Featured Duel: Yami Yugi vs. Strings
Turn 1: Strings Strings draws a card and subsequently sets it. He then Normal Summons "Humanoid Slime" (800/2000) in Attack Position.

Turn 2: Yami Yugi Yami Yugi draws. He then Sets a card and Normal Summons "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts" (1500/1200) in Attack Position.

Turn 3: Strings Strings draws "Worm Drake" and subsequently Normal Summons it (1400/1500) in Attack Position. He then activates "Polymerization" to fuse "Humanoid Slime" with "Worm Drake" and Fusion Summon "Humanoid Worm Drake" (2200/2000) in Attack Position.

Since Fusion Monsters cannot attack during the turn they are Fusion Summoned, Strings activates his face-down "Quick Attack" to bypass that rule. "Humanoid Worm Drake" attacks "Gazelle", but Yami Yugi activates his face-down "De-Fusion" to return "Humanoid Worm Drake" to Strings' Fusion Deck and Special Summon both "Humanoid Slime" (800/2000) and "Worm Drake" (1400/1500) in Attack Position. A replay occurs, and Strings chooses not to attack.

Turn 4: Yami Yugi Yami Yugi draws "Buster Blader". He then Normal Summons "Beta The Magnet Warrior" (1700/1600) in Attack Position. "Beta The Magnet Warrior" attacks and destroys "Worm Drake" (Strings 4000 → 3700). "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts" attacks and destroys "Humanoid Slime" (Strings 3700 → 3000).

Turn 5: Strings Strings draws "Revival Jam" and subsequently Normal Summons it (1500/500) in Defense Position. He then activates "Jam Breeding Machine". Now during each of Strings' turns, A Slime Token will be Special Summoned to Strings' side of the field in Attack Position. If Strings summons any other monsters besides Slime Tokens, "Jam Breeding Machine" will be destroyed.

Turn 6: Yami Yugi Yami Yugi draws. Yami Yugi's hand contains "Buster Blader", "Spellbinding Circle", "Dark Magician", and "Magical Hats". He then Tributes "Beta The Magnet Warrior" and "Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts" to Tribute Summon "Buster Blader" (2600/2300) in Attack Position. "Buster Blader" attacks and destroys "Revival Jam". Since "Revival Jam" is destroyed, it revives itself (1500/500) in Defense Position via its own effect.

Turn 7: Strings Strings' hand contains "Pot of Greed" and "Slifer the Sky Dragon". Strings draws "Jam Defender". Strings then activates the effect of "Jam Breeding Machine" to Special Summon one "Slime Token" to his side of the field (500/500) in Attack Position. Strings Sets a card.

Turn 8: Yami Yugi Yami Yugi draws. "Buster Blader" attacks "Slime Token", but Strings activates his face-down "Jam Defender" to redirect the attack to "Revival Jam". "Buster Blader" destroys "Revival Jam" instead, but "Revival Jam" revives itself (1500/500) in Defense Position shortly after.

Turn 9: Strings Strings draws "Nightmare's Steelcage". Strings then activates activates the effect of "Jam Breeding Machine" to Special Summon another "Slime Token" to his side of the field (500/500) in Attack Position. He then activates Nightmare's Steelcage". Now for two turns, no monsters on either side of the field can attack.

Duel continued from previous episode.

Yami Yugi has 4000 Life Points remaining and controls "Buster Blader" (2600/2300) in Attack Position.

Strings has 3000 Life Points remaining and controls "Revival Jam" (1500/500) in Defense Position and two "Slime Tokens" (500/500) in Attack Position and "Jam Breeding Machine", "Jam Defender", and "Nightmare's Steelcage".

Turn 10: Yami Yugi

Yami Yugi draws. He passes his turn.

Turn 11: Strings

Strings draws. Strings then activates the effect of "Jam Breeding Machine" to Special Summon a third "Slime Token" (500/500) in Attack Position. Strings then Tributes all three "Slime Tokens" to Tribute Summon "Slifer the Sky Dragon" (X000/X000) in Attack Position. Since Strings summoned a monster(s) besides a Slime Token, "Jam Breeding Machine" is destroyed. Due to the effect of "Slifer", its ATK and DEF are equal to the number of cards in Strings' hand times 1000. There are currently two ("Slifer": X000 → 2000/X000 → 2000).

By anime mechanics, since "Slifer the Sky Dragon" is also treated as a Dragon-Type monster, "Buster Blader" gains 500 ATK via his effect ("Buster Blader": 2600 → 3100/2300). Strings then activates "Pot of Greed" ("Slifer": 2000 → 1000/2000 → 1000) to draw two cards ("Slifer": 1000 → 3000/1000 → 3000). Strings' hand contains "Infinite Cards", "Card of Safe Return", and "Humanoid Slime".

Turn 12: Yami Yugi

Yami Yugi draws "Lightforce Sword". Yami Yugi's hand contains "Berfomet", "Big Shield Gardna", "Magical Hats", "Dark Magician Girl", "Spellbinding Circle", "Lightforce Sword", and "Kuriboh".

Yami Yugi then Sets two cards and Normal Summons "Kuriboh" (300/200) in Defense Position. (Note: "Slifer's" effect should have activated here, destroying "Kuriboh" as it has less than 2000 DEF, but by anime mechanics its effect counts as a "special attack", causing "Nightmare's Steelcage" to prevent it). On Yami Yugi's End Phase, "Nightmare's Steelcage" is destroyed as it has been two turns since it was activated.

Turn 13: Strings

Strings draws ("Slifer": 3000 → 4000/3000 → 4000). "Slifer" attacks "Buster Blader", but Yami Yugi activates his face-down "Lightforce Sword" to remove from play one card in Strings' hand for three turns ("Slifer" 4000 → 3000/4000 → 3000). "Buster Blader" prepares to counterattack "Slifer", but by anime mechanics, Strings uses the effect of "Jam Defender" to redirect the 'attack' of "Buster Blader" to "Revival Jam", destroying it and saving "Slifer". "Revival Jam" then revives itself (1500/500) in Defense Position through its own effect.

Strings activates "Card of Safe Return", allowing him to draw three cards whenever a monster is Special Summoned from the Graveyard. The effect of "Card of Safe Return" activates and Strings draws three cards ("Slifer": 2000 → 5000/2000 → 5000). By anime mechanics, "Slifer's" original attack continues, destroying "Buster Blader" (Yami Yugi 4000 → 2100).

Turn 14: Yami Yugi

Yami Yugi draws "Magic Cylinder". He then Tributes "Kuriboh" in order to Tribute Summon "Dark Magician Girl" (2000/1700) in Defense Position. The second mouth effect of "Slifer" then activates, which would reduce the DEF of "Dark Magician Girl" by 2000 and then destroy it as its DEF would drop to 0, but Yami Yugi activates his face-down "Magical Hats" to hide his "Dark Magician Girl" in one of four hats and shuffle the hats. "Slifer's" 'special attack' destroys a "Hat", but it's empty. Yami Yugi Sets two cards.

Turn 15: Strings

Strings draws ("Slifer": 5000 → 6000/5000 → 6000). Strings then activates "Infinite Cards" ("Slifer": 6000 → 5000/6000 → 5000) to remove the hand size limit and allow himself to hold as many cards in his hand as he wants.

"Slifer" attacks the "Hat" with "Dark Magician Girl" inside it, but Yami Yugi activates his face-down "Magic Cylinder" and his face-down "Spellbinding Circle" in response. The activated cards resolve in reverse order: By anime mechanics, "Spellbinding Circle" decreases the ATK of "Slifer" by 700 ("Slifer": 5000 → 4300/5000) after its attack has already been launched, while the anime effect of "Magic Cylinder" redirects the original attack of "Slifer" back to it, but Strings activates the effect of "Jam Defender" to change the attack target to "Revival Jam", destroying it instead. "Revival Jam" then revives itself (1500/500) in Defense Position via its own effect. Strings then draws three cards via the effect of "Card of Safe Return" ("Slifer": 4300 → 7300/5000 → 8000).

Since card effects only affect an Egyptian God Card for one turn, "Spellbinding Circle" is destroyed during the End Phase ("Slifer" : 7300 → 8000/8000).

Turn 16: Yami Yugi

Yami Yugi draws. He passes his turn.

Turn 17: Strings

Strings draws ("Slifer": 8000 → 9000/8000 → 9000). "Slifer" attacks and destroys "Dark Magician Girl".

At this point, Seto Kaiba and Mokuba Kaiba intervine, and the former orders Yugi to get up, since the duel is not over yet. Taking his advice, Yami Yugi continues to duel.

Yami Yugi has 2100 Life Points remaining and controls no cards.

Strings has 3000 Life Points remaining and controls "Revival Jam" (1500/500) in Defense Position and "Slifer the Sky Dragon" (9000/9000) in Attack Position and "Jam Defender", "Card of Safe Return", "Infinite Cards".

Turn 18: Yami Yugi

Yami Yugi's hand contains "Berfomet", "Big Shield Gardna", and "Alpha The Magnet Warrior". Yami Yugi draws "Monster Reborn" and subsequently Sets it. He then Normal Summons "Big Shield Gardna" (100/2600) in Defense Position. Since "Big Shield Gardna" was summoned in Defense Position, the effect of "Slifer the Sky Dragon" activates, decreasing the DEF of "Big Shield Gardna" by 2000 ("Big Shield Gardna": 100/2600 → 600).

Turn 19: Strings

Strings draws ("Slifer": 9000 → 10000/9000 → 10000). During Strings' Standby Phase, the effect of "Lightforce Sword" expires, letting Strings return the card that "Lightforce Sword" removed from play back to his hand ("Slifer": 10000 → 11000/10000 → 11000). "Slifer" attacks and destroys "Big Shield Gardna".

Turn 20: Yami Yugi

Yami Yugi draws "Brain Control". He then activates his face-down "Monster Reborn" to revive "Buster Blader" (2600 → 3100/2300) in Attack Position. The effect of "Card of Safe Return" then activates ("Slifer": 11000 → 14000/11000 → 14000). Since "Buster Blader" was Summoned in Attack Position, the effect of "Slifer" activates, decreasing the ATK of "Buster Blader" by 2000 ("Buster Blader": 3100 → 1100/2300).

"Buster Blader" attacks "Slifer", but the effect of "Jam Defender" redirects the attack to "Revival Jam". "Buster Blader" destroys "Revival Jam", but "Revival Jam" revives itself (1500/500) in Defense Position due to its effect. The effect of "Card of Safe Return" then activates ("Slifer": 14000 → 17000/14000 → 17000).

By anime mechanics, Yami Yugi activates "Brain Control" to take control of "Revival Jam" as it is reviving, Special Summoning it to his side of the field instead of Strings'. As a monster was Summoned to Yami Yugi's field, the effect of "Slifer" activates, decreasing the DEF of "Revival Jam" by 2000 ("Revival Jam": 1500/500 → 0) and destroying it as its DEF was dropped to 0. "Revival Jam" revives itself (1500/500), by anime mechanics, back to Yami Yugi's side of the field in Defense Position due to its effect. The effect of "Card of Safe Return" activates ("Slifer": 17000 → 20000/17000 → 20000). (Note: From this scene, it can be conjectured that "Slifer's" anime effect does not activate if a new monster enters Yugi's field without being Summoned there, but rather "Brain Control's" anime mechanics allow it to take control of a monster that is in the middle of being Special Summoned. If the former were true, Yugi could have activated "Brain Control" immediately after drawing it, without having to Summon a monster to attack "Revival Jam".)

Marik soon realizes there is nothing he can do at this point, because when "Revival Jam" appears on Yami Yugi's side of the field, "Slifer" will automatically attack it, and since Yami Yugi has "Brain Control" active, Revival Jam will appear on his side and Strings will draw more cards, then Slifer will attack again, with each of these events triggering the next in a never-ending cycle: Attack, regenerate, draw. Even though Slifer will eventually be the most powerful monster on the field, Marik is trapped. Yami Yugi then reveals that with this cycle, once Strings runs out of cards to draw, he will automatically lose this duel.

As a monster was Summoned to Yami Yugi's field, the effect of "Slifer" activates, decreasing the DEF of "Revival Jam" by 2000 and then destroying it as before. "Revival Jam" revives itself (1500/500) to Yami Yugi's side of the field in Defense Position due to its effect. The effect of "Card of Safe Return" activates ("Slifer": 20000 → 23000/20000 → 23000).

As a monster was Summoned to Yami Yugi's field, the effect of "Slifer" activates, decreasing the DEF of "Revival Jam" by 2000 and then destroying it as before. "Revival Jam" revives itself (1500/500) to Yami Yugi's side of the field in Defense Position due to its effect. The effect of "Card of Safe Return" activates ("Slifer": 23000 → 26000/23000 → 26000).

As a monster was Summoned to Yami Yugi's field, the effect of "Slifer" activates, decreasing the DEF of "Revival Jam" by 2000 and then destroying it as before. "Revival Jam" revives itself (1500/500) to Yami Yugi's side of the field in Defense Position due to its effect. The effect of "Card of Safe Return" activates ("Slifer": 26000 → .../26000 → ...).

The above infinite loop continues until Strings Decks out.

Yami Yugi wins.

(For dramatic effect, "Slifer" is shown collapsing as though defeated, though it was never touched.)

Aftermath
Mokuba approaches Strings, who is now dormant, and wonders why he doesn't respond. He grabs "Slifer" and says even though his brother would love to have this card, as Battle City Commissioner, he gives it to Yami Yugi. But just as he and Kaiba have their duel, Marik takes control of Strings again to inform him he has arrived at Battle City and he is now on the hunt for Yugi's friends so he can turn them into his new mind slaves. Afraid of what might happen, Yugi departs to make sure his friends are safe.