Kazuo Abe

Kazuo Abe (安倍和夫 Abe Kazuo) is the protagonist of Five. His initial epithet is "The Rookie" due to his amateur skills and lack of a distinct playing style.

On his character

 * He doesn't sing anymore, but he's got a killer voice and everyone is impressed by it. He could also make lots of song references. He says the fastest way to know more about a person is asking them what their favorite song is.
 * He's a nice guy, but he deems making a good impression very important and thus is very serious about always trying to look cool, though this makes him clumsy or awkward at times.
 * He could act like a kind of Robin Hood; he doesn't feel guilty about using schemes to get money from rich people, and even though he needs money himself, he always spares some to help poor kids from his neighborhood.

Quirks

 * Kazuo's always got some song stuck in his head. Whenever he's distracted, he'll start drumming with a pencil or something similar following the rythm of the song he's thinking about.
 * Since he deems good appearances very important, Kazuo will often pass his hand through his hair when he's not wearing a cap, to make sure it's not messy. He may also casually adjust his clothing now and then, like unfolding his hood or centralizing his belt.
 * Expression he says a lot: "Yeah, except, not really."
 * Could do "ahem" here and there, a quirk he got from when he performed.

Backstory

 * His father had a problem with gambling. It started getting worse once Kazuo was born and his wife was fired. With financial problems making things rough, his father started getting involved in more serious gambling until he eventually started cheating and even robbing. One day, armed men stormed into their apartment and took nearly everything they had because of his debts, with a young Kazuo and his terrified mother crouching in fear. His wife couldn't stand it anymore and left him, though the custody of Kazuo ended up with his father. Kazuo stayed in their old apartment, but his mother couldn't bear the sight of that place anymore, so now she's leaving with Kazuo's grandfather again, living a miserable live after having lost everything.
 * Kazuo hates his father's actions but he ended up inheriting lots of his tricks and tools. Now, Kazuo wants to make money to earn back his mother's goods which his father lost on gambling.
 * Used to have a band, but he left them after a get-rich-quick scheme gone wrong that made everyone turn on him. He hasn't performer ever since.
 * Ever since, time has stopped for Kazuo. His own dreams and ambitions became void as all he wants is to desperately fix everything and get to see his mother and grandfather again. Ironically, even though he wants to fix everything, he knows no better and ended up going his father's route, sinking deeper and deeper.
 * Chapter 1 Kazuo is going through a really rough phase of his life where he's trying to figure things out and doesn't know where he is headed to. After being selected for the "Winner Five", he starts thinking he may actually be someone outstanding, but as he gets to know the other members of the 'Winner Five', he starts feeling more and more inferior, feeling like he won't ever be like those perfect-ish champions. But he gradually starts realizing that they aren't that perfect and are regular, flawed human beings just like him, and he starts growing stronger accompanying them.
 * His relationship with his father is also one point directly linked to the Phase 1 plot, which will be resolved soon and give lots of development to his character, allowing him to get over that stain in his heart and start moving forward.

Canon Deck
Kazuo runs a Cheap Bandit Deck, a Deck with generic, mostly Commmon-rarity cards with no specific playing style. Since Kazuo can't afford Rare cards, he basically collects generic cards with a handful of defined combos which he tries to pull. This leads to a lack of a consistent Deck, with him only being able to run two copies of Nimble Momonga, for example.

Kazuo tends to like cards that increase his LP, since he believes that winning with low LP is very uncool, and ATK-boosting cards, that would let him inflict high amounts of damage with a single attack. He also uses cards like "Witch's Strike" and "Draw Discharge" as a counter to "Rare" cards; since he can't afford them, he adds cards that are useful against common staple effects of Rare cards such as drawing and countering actions.

The only iconic characteristic of Kazuo's Deck is the presence of bandit cards, such as the Robbin' Goblin series of Spells, Pillager, Magical Trick Mirror, etc, which let him steal his opponent's powerful and Rare cards for himself. Many of his bandit cards, including his Link Monsters - the only Ultra Rare cards in his Deck - are in fact a legacy from his father. His ace monster is "Robin Hook of the Silent Nights" (name might change), a monster Kazuo adores whose theme is based on the legend of Robin Hood - as well as a monster who, unnoticed by him, reflects his own nature.

Cards he's actually used so far (Updated up to Chapter 9):

List of cards he may also use:

Copied cards
Throughout the story, Kazuo uses his father's skills to copy and counterfeit a number of cards he has contact with.

Discarded first concept
Kazuo runs an Honor Deck, composed of only small monsters. This deck reflects the meaning of his name which his father gave to him, representing how Kazuo believes that he's weak, but even so he can live with honor.

Kazuo uses extremely versatile tactics, using his low-Level monsters for stalling or getting rid of the opponent's monsters with varied effects. He also uses many cards such as "Double Spell" and "Formula Statue" to re-use the opponent's cards, adding even more versatility to his combos.

Combos
While Kazuo's Deck is composed of random generic cards with no specific playing style, Kazuo put together a handful of specific combos with these cards which he always aims to deliver. He'll play with the cards he has while trying to gather cards for these combos.

As a matter of fact, these combos are unique combos to Kazuo, since they all revolve around his father's cards. This makes them somewhat unpredictable for his opponents.

Combo #1: Metal Scorpion + Shy Robbin' Goblin
Kazuo uses cards like "Magnet Shield" or "The Guilty Clown" to force the opponent's monsters into attacking his "Metal Scorpion", and uses "Shy Robbin' Goblin" on it. That way, the effect of "Scorpion" will nuke all opponent's monsters, and at the same time, "Scorpion" will gain their powers.

When using "Magnet Shield", Kazuo may use "One Day of Peace" or "Momen" to avoid the damage.

He may use variants with other similar low-Level monsters, like "Man-Eater Bug" (only with "Shy Robbin' Goblin"), "Cat's Ear Tribe" (with the compulsory attacks combo), etc.

Combo #2: Nimble Momonga + Grumpy Robbin' Goblin
Kazuo uses his two copies of "Nimble Momonga" with "Grumpy Robbin' Goblin" to deplete his opponent's LP while increasing his. The most powerful version of this combo includes "Closed Graves", making him able to use his "Momongas" infinite times, and "The Guilty Clown", forcing his opponent to attack.

Variants with "(insert similar monster here)".

Combo #3: Draw Discharge + Happy Robbin' Goblin
Kazuo uses "Happy Robbin' Goblin" together with "Draw Discharge" (anime effect maybe?) in response to an opponent's powerful drawing/searching effect, completely disrupting their play while inflicting heavy amounts of damage.

Note: May be done with a variant using a similar card that would work for both draws (the opponent's own effect and "Happy Robbin' Goblin").