The Eighteenth Hell

Final Match 3: The Eighteenth Hell

Those who escaped punishment in life will experience it in death. There are eighteen levels of Diyu, and each contains its own excruciating punishment. Upon suffering through all eighteen, one is restored, just to suffer it through again… luckily, only one of you will have to endure the suffering for all eternity.

ONE BOUT

This Final Match revolves around multiple bouts of a simple minigame.

This minigame is played with six battlefields with point values 2-7 and the following units:

> Negative One x4: Gain 3 strength if you have more of this in a battlefield than your opponent; this does not stack.

> Zero x1: You can disguise this as another card you didn't play this round; it doesn't gain its powers or ability (0s are revealed at the end of Round 2).

> One x1: Gain 1 strength for each unit your opponent has in this battlefield.

> Two x1: Destroy all units played to this battlefield in Round 2 that aren't 2s.

> Three x1: If a player loses by 3 or more strength, they win this battlefield instead.

> Four x1: Gain 4 strength if you have no other units on this battlefield.

These units have a base strength equal to the name of the unit.

This minigame takes place in two rounds. In Round 1, players play 6 units to battlefields. The units and the battlefields they are played on are revealed, then in Round 2, players play the remaining 3 units. Players get 90 seconds for each round.

Players are allowed to play more than one unit on a battlefield, even within the same round.

At the end of Round 2, if a player has more total strength on a battlefield, they earn that many points. The player with more points wins the minigame. In the case of a tie, both players are considered to have won.

It is announced which player won which battlefield, and thus which player won the bout. At the end of Round 2, both players' selected hells are also revealed (to be mentioned later).

OTHER RULES

This game involves going through eighteen levels of hell, plus purgatory. Each level of hell has some sort of modification to the base rules of the minigame. In order to advance through a level of hell, you must win a bout while under its ruleset influence.

During the first round of a bout, you must also choose which level of hell you want to attempt. You may attempt up to two levels at a time; the ruleset changes will be combined. The level(s) of hell you select will not be revealed to the opponent.

The levels of hell are divided into blocks. You can only attempt levels of hell of the block you are part of. You advance past a block once you have gotten past all of the levels of hell in it.

There are two special levels, both in their own block. The first level, Purgatory, has no ruleset changes, and players must win a bout in order to advance to the first block of hell. The final level, the eighteenth hell, disallows any item use and has a unique win condition. Once you reach this level, the points you win in each bout (regardless of whether or not you won the bout) is cumulated, with tied battlefields giving half of its worth to both players (note that players not in the eighteenth hell cannot earn points). To win the FM, you must win a bout and have at least 44 points (after the points from the bout). If both players achieve this at the same time, the player with more points wins; in the case of a further tie, the minigame is repeated until there is not a tie.

The 17 other levels of hell (and their block distributions) will be revealed 24 hours before the FM.

SPIRITS

There are two ways to invoke a spirit in this FM. Do so privately during Round 1 of a bout. It will be revealed that you used a spirit between the two rounds.

> Strength Invocation:

> Pick a non-negative card; it gains one strength (for you). This lasts until you win a bout.

> Attuned: This lasts until you win two bouts.

> Foresight Invocation:

> You may use one less card in the first round (allowing you to use an extra card in the second round). This lasts until you win a bout.

> Attuned: This lasts until you win two bouts.

EXAMPLES

In this example, Player 1 is in Purgatory, while Player 2 has selected the following hell:

> Hell of Four: Your Four contributes zero strength instead of four.

Player 1 does not know that this hell was selected.

Player 1 submits the following distribution for Round 1:

> 2: -1

> 3: 0 (disguised as 2)

> 4: -1

> 5: 1, -1

> 6: 4

> 7:

Player 2 submits the following distribution:

> 2:

> 3: 1, -1, -1

> 4:

> 5: 2

> 6: 0 (disguised as 4)

> 7: -1

Both players see these submissions, and then Round 2 begins.

Player 1 completes their assignment as follows:

> 2: -1

> 3: 0

> 4: -1, -1

> 5: 1, -1, 2

> 6: 4

> 7: 3

Player 2 completes their assignment as follows:

> 2: -1

> 3: 1, -1, -1

> 4: 4

> 5: 2

> 6: 0, 3

> 7: -1

In Battlefield 7, Player 1 has a strength of 3 and Player 2 has a strength of 2 (-1+3), so Player 1 wins.

In Battlefield 6, Player 1 has a strength of 8 (4+4) and Player 2 has a strength of 3, so Player 2 wins (due to Three's ability).

In Battlefield 5, Player 1 has a strength of 6 (2+-1+3+2) while Player 2 has a strength of 2, so Player 1 wins.

In Battlefield 4, Player 1 has a strength of 1 (-2+3) while Player 1 has a strength of 4, so Player 2 wins.

In Battlefield 3, Player 1 has a strength of 0 while Player 2 has a strength of 3 (2+-2+3), so Player 2 wins.

Battlefield 2 is a tie.

Thus, the overall score is 13-12 in Player 2's favor. Player 2 completes the Hell of Four.

The Eighteen Hells

BLOCK 0

• Purgatory: There are no changes to the ruleset.

BLOCK 1

• Hell of Negative One: You must have at least two more Negative Ones than your opponent to receive the bonus for a battlefield.
• Hell of Zero: You must play your zero in Round 1, undisguised.
• Hell of One: One’s effect is changed as follows: “Gain 1 strength for each other unit you have on this battlefield.”
• Hell of Two: Your Two is destroyed at the end of Round 2.
• Hell of Three: Your Three keeps its strength, but it loses its effect. (Your opponent’s Three may still have its effect.)
• Hell of Four: Your Four contributes zero strength instead of four.

BLOCK 2

Note: If you cannot make a legal submission, you automatically lose the bout.

• Hell of Declaration: During Round 2, you must additionally declare (privately) two battlefields that you must win. If you do not win them, you automatically lose the bout. (If both players lose the bout in this way, it counts as a tie.)
• Hell of Evasion: During Round 2, you cannot submit to any battlefield that you submitted to in Round 1.
• Hell of Individuality: You must submit a maximum of one unit per battlefield in each round.
• Hell of Punctuality: You submit one additional unit during Round 1. (You submit one fewer unit during Round 2.)
• Hell of Vacancy: You must leave two battlefields fully empty by the end of Round 2.

BLOCK 3

If a player is in this block, then both players will be privately sent the status update between Rounds 1 and 2, as well as the post-R2 status update.

• Hell of Amnesia: You will not know the results of Round 2, aside from who won the bout. (In particular, you do not know which hells your opponent selected.)
• Hell of Fog: During Round 1, privately submit two battlefields; you will not receive information about those battlefields between rounds.
• Hell of Imprecision: During Round 1, your opponent's submissions will be displayed as being rounded down to the nearest odd number (a zero will be displayed as whatever they disguise it as, rounded down to the odd number).
• Hell of Rearrangement: The information you receive about Battlefields 2 and 3 may be swapped; similarly, the information about Battlefields 4 and 5, and Battlefields 6 and 7, may be swapped. (There is a 50% chance that either pair is swapped or not swapped.)
• Hell of Tunnel Vision: During Round 1, privately select two numbers; you will only receive information about those numbers; the rest will show up as question marks (but you will still know which battlefields they are played on).
• Hell of Unity: You only know the sum of the strengths your opponent submitted to each battlefield (a zero will count as having the strength of whatever it is disguised as).

BLOCK 4

• The Eighteenth Hell: Spirits cannot be used. You stay in this Hell until you have won a bout while accumulating at least 44 points over all bouts while you were in this Hell.