When the hell did you get into Yu-Gi-Oh? The place had been you all once I was the final holdout of my center faculty lunch interval making an attempt to do synchro-summons as a result of I believed they had been the good factor on the earth? I ask this as a result of there has not solely been a discernable uptick within the buying and selling card recreation and video video games’ reputation of late, however some man is now pulling out playing cards and successful Olympic qualifying races like some type of mad man.
Noah Lyles, who’s evidently on his technique to representing the US within the Paris Olympics later this 12 months, can also be apparently the Olympics preeminent Yu-Gi-Oh scholar. Earlier than his latest heats (or races), Lyles has been flashing widespread Yu-Gi-Oh playing cards to the cameras, together with Blue-Eyes White Dragon and the top of Exodia, earlier than tucking them again into his operating swimsuit. To high all of it off, or maybe so as to add insult to harm, he’s been successful these races as effectively. People, I feel we could have found the quickest geek alive.
After flashing the top of Exodia simply the opposite day, Lyles has adopted it up in essentially the most delightfully predictable method: two extra items of Exodia. For the uninitiated, unaware, and unbothered, Exodia is a legendary monster within the fiction of Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s so highly effective that when it was sealed away as a card, it was break up into a number of items within the hope that they might by no means be used for worry of its literal harmful energy. Thus, there are 5 items of Exodia: a head, two arms, and two legs.
In observe, Exodia is among the most potent monsters to have in your deck as a result of merely drawing all 5 items instantly wins the sport. The trendy model of Yu-Gi-Oh options mechanics that permit for Exodia to be taken out of play, or on the very least mitigated, so it isn’t all highly effective prefer it was once. Nonetheless, a participant shocked a crowd by successful a event utilizing Exodia simply final 12 months, so that they’ve nonetheless bought the juice, and that’s seemingly what Lyles is suggesting about himself.
In the identical interview the place he flashed each the fitting and left arms of Exodia, Lyles claimed that “Now it’s time to construct the entire thing. I bought the left and proper arms, and I bought the legs coming tomorrow.” When the interviewer had zero clue what Lyles was telling him, he clarified, “All of the Yu-Gi-Oh followers know. One thing massive is coming.”
Lyles isn’t simply pulling out the playing cards as a result of he’s an enormous fan of Yu-Gi-Oh and anime although. In an extremely cute twist, he’s truly flashing them as a part of a wager with one other athlete, the world champion shot putter Chase Ealey. Based on Lyles, they’ve a operating wager which stipulates that if he flashes Yu-Gi-Oh playing cards earlier than his heats all through the continuing Olympic trials, Ealey will put on Rock Lee’s (of Naruto) leg weights—which mockingly make him tremendous fast-–and take them off throughout her personal finals. This may be one of the best sports activities anime I’ve ever seen.
It now appears extremely seemingly that we’ll see Lyles pull out the whole lot of Exodia over the course of his Olympic trials, and seeing as how he retains knocking wins again, solely time will inform what else he’s bought up his swimsuit. I solely pray that he makes it to the Olympics and retains this bit up for the hell of it. Within the meantime, do you suppose he’s taking strategies? In that case, deliver out Black Luster Soldier subsequent, king.
