A SCENARIO:
Imagine yourself playing cards with your friends, and then suddenly, your friend throws a card from their hand. The next thing you knew, you had to throw a card with a higher value, or else you'd lose. You did, and you won at that moment. Then you get challenged again, so you have to respond. And so the game continues as well as the cycle repeating until one of you can no longer keep up.
So, how are you faring? Keeping up with the pressure as the stakes go higher? Did you see your friend failing? Or was it you who was losing? Either way, welcome to the first episode of Pixel Linguistics, where I take at least 5 minutes of your time to share about a word or information that appears on our beloved video games— yet we are all unaware of what it even means.
So, may I have your attention, please?
WORD OF THE DAY
ante
[noun]
- a poker stake usually put up before the deal to build the pot
- Can be either of the following:
2a: cost, price
2b: risk, stake
2c: a level (as of achievement or intensity) regarded especially as a goal or standard
[verb]
- to put up (or pay); usually paired with up
[prefix] written as ante-
- before
(Sources from Merriam-Webster. Click on blue link to redirect to the article.)
But is it really ante and not ant-e? Sorry. That was a bad joke about ants. But let's say that those were my first takes when I heard about ante first. Kidding asides, ante has nothing to do with ants.
(Also me: anteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh— Filipinos would know or hear such a word, exaggeration on calling their aunts or friends applied.)
But no, you don't pronounce ante in THAT way, if we're talking about ante itself.
Looking back at the definitions, you'd usually find (or hear) that term while playing poker, no? Now what if we think that every card game always has the concept of ante in them? Not just while playing with your typical poker cards, but also in other games like UNO, Magic: The Gathering, and that one game that seems to be written all over my face: Yu-Gi-Oh!. Like, go think about it: there's always at stake in these games. You have to bet and hope your bet wins. I think that's how ante works in those games. But of course, these other card games have their variations of ante.
Variations of ante
As I've mentioned, there are some variations of ante. But for now, allow me to show some differences between "ante", as a rule in poker... and "ante", as seen in Yu-Gi-Oh!. For Yu-Gi-Oh!, we'll be featuring some gameplay from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4.
Ante as a Poker rule
Disclaimer: I am not a poker player. The rules and how-to's are from a short research conducted while discussing this topic. Links will be applied below. For clarifications, ask your local poker player instead. As always, gambling is discouraged, especially when you're at a disadvantage.
First of all, ante can either appear standalone, or alongside blinds (especially big blinds)— which both happen at the start of the game. Now, before I act way too knowledgeable, do note that we have our reference here. Back to the rulings.
While poker itself always has something to add into the pot, there's also an extra fee, like adding a $1 or so. If you'd ask me, it's more of a toll fee than just showing off and seeing who can pay more. Either way, while ante systems exist, paying up is a mandate. Therefore...
Contribution to pot amount + big blind (which, based on reference, is usually $200) + ante = a bigger amount at stake during opening hand. Or I may be wrong.
Ante as a Spell Card (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Now this. I can talk a lot more about it. However, another disclaimer...
Disclaimer: I am absolutely NOT a master in this game. I just play Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I do not claim extensive knowledge as my knowledge only reaches from the available cards from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 5, and some cards that are only present in modern OCG and in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (not all). So if you happen to be a duelist, please DO NOT challenge me to a duel. I use Umi, you're welcome
Getting onto Yu-Gi-Oh!, allow me to introduce the specific card, Ante.
Ante
Normal Spell Card
Spell Speed: x1
Description:
Each player selects 1 card from his/her hand, then looks at the Level of the selected cards. The card with more Levels returns to the hand of the player who selected it. The player who selected the card with lower Levels take 1000 Life Points damage and sends the card to the Graveyard. If a non-Monster Card is selected, it is treated as Level 0. If they are of the same Level, each player returns his/her card to the hand. (Card image source from Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki; Card text from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 4.)
So, to summarize, when you or someone uses this Spell Card...
Pick a card from your hand.
Show it to your opponent.
Your opponent does #1 and #2.
Compare the levels
If your card has higher Level, you get to keep the card.
If your card has lower Level, you send the card to the Graveyard, and lose 1000 Life Points.
If you and your opponent have the same Level, both players keep their cards as if nothing happened.
But what makes a high-Level card?, you ask? Well, allow me to show a short list of card types that matters. Not that it matters to someone not playing Yu-Gi-Oh! but appreciate the context I'm willing to give.
This is a Normal Monster card. Its frame color is yellow. What you see now are the following:
- Color frame
= the color that surrounds the card - Name text
= Either the monster's name, or Spell Card name, or Trap Card name - [to the upper right] Attribute
= element of the monster (if Monster Card), or Card Type (for Spell or Trap Card) - Level
= Yes, see those stars? If it's to the right, that's a Level. If it's to the left, it is a Rank. Ranks are only seen in either of these cards: Xyz Monsters, and Dark Synchro Monsters. But we won't touch any of them. - Card Details
= Consists of...Type (e.g: [Spellcaster]); written in bold
Flavor text (for Normal Monster only), describing the monster... technically does nothing.
Effect text (for other Card types like Effect Monster cards, Spell and Trap Cards), explains card rulings.
Values, shows attack (ATK) and defense (DEF) values.
(Card image from Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki.)
But enough explanation. In the meantime, how about if I take you to the Shadow Realm, I mean, to an actual (shadow) duel and show you how the card actually works?
Please, I'm just being fancy in saying "I'm showing you game screenshots", so ride along with my mood, okay?
Right now, we are at Turn 15 of this shadow duel (yes, it's pretty much the boss battle here). Because this is Tag Force, you'll never fight alone. (Oops, I referenced Yggdra Union there.)
In the blue corner is me (Rinri), and my partner is of, course, the psychic duelist Akiza Izinski (or rather known in her Japanese name as Aki Izayoi). Prior to 5D's plot, she's one of the Signers, ones with a Mark of the Dragon on their right arms. I won't go deeper on the intros.
And on the red corner, we have the Dark Signers— the counterpart of the Signers who wanted to revive the Wicked Gods (or more accurately for them, Earthbound Immortals). To be specific, we have both Misty Tredwell (formerly a top model) and Carly Carmine (formerly a reporter) as our opponents. This, by the way, is Akiza's last story event... which means she meets her destined counterpart, Misty.
"Show me your hand, Misty! From my hand, I challenge you to a game of ante!"
Here, I showed her a Monster Card, Demise, King of Armageddon. But wait, you may think of asking me "aren't Effect Monsters are in orange?". Now hear me out.
Demise here is a Ritual Monster. And it can be summoned through a certain type of a Spell Card, called as a Ritual Spell Card. When you summon blue-colored cards like Demise using ONLY A SPECIFIC RITUAL SPELL CARD, you call that process as Ritual Summoning. Anyway, I may go through it next time. Next.
And this is what Misty chose. A card with a pink frame. This is a Trap Card. Now remember the conditions? Non-Monster Cards count as Level 0, so it should be obvious who won. Heehee~.
Well, Misty's not liking our little tickle to her Life Points. Now do the math, everyone! If Misty had 3900 LP before the challenge, how much LP would she have left if she gets 1000 LP damage? Quick, quick!
I think you saw the answer somewhere, but it's 2900. If you solved it, then yay! If not, then okay. And so, Misty gets to throw her card to her Graveyard (the one with 24 on her numbers, cards faced-up), and -1000 LP. That's how much Ante is for. Not much, but would be funny if you actually lose to a Duel this way, HAHA! (Not the case here, as Akiza landed the final blows to Carly instead.)
And so that's it for today's word of the day! Goal reached, so yatta!! Now I wonder what other facts I could unfold next? Any other games you'd like me to explore? The older, the better! And that's it for 5... I mean 9 minutes of sharing facts no one knows ... or maybe that's just me. HIVE a nice day!
(For the good love of card spirits, I'm bad at puns!)