Changes

During the second season after rescuing [[Baira|Kyoko TakiClarissa Turner]], Varis changes his Avatar. While the overall form is largely identical to how it was previously, it does not mask his identity as much as it did previously; his visor peaks over his nose and his face beneath is unaltered, and his skin becomes sallow and his eyes become identical to his real ones. His hair turns silver, as in real life, and his highlights extend out from his mask and become orange, clustering at his temples. He retains the diamond pattern on his mask, but on a silver base diamond and becoming larger. His collar ornament becomes lime and fastened with red lines, and his coat and jumpsuit become white and black with lime accents. His gloves remain unchanged.

Varis presents himself as stoic and calm, unshaken by setbacks and adversity, though he can still lose his cool. In the dub, this goes to the point of maintaining an even rasp, rarely raising his voice. Much like the other Knights of Hanoi, Varis is a ruthless individual that seeks Ai. For some reason, he He bears a great hatred towards Ai the Ignis and the Cyberse world considering them a threat to the real world, and wanted to destroy them both, even using ordinary people to achieve their goals. However Varis claims that his actions are so that he can fulfill his promise to his father.<ref name="ep3">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|3|ref}}</ref>

Unlike most hackers, Varis distrusts Link VRAINS and the people that, to him, are dedicating their lives to it and make false relationships with other people. He values a person's life more. He distrusts Artificial Intelligence, to the point where he does not have one installed into in his Duel Disk. Due to that, he looks down as on the internet world as false. Despite his hatred towards VRAINS, Varis isn't against using the Cyberse for his own benefit. When Ai called him out on that, Varis described it as "counteracting poison with poison".<ref name="ep9">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|9|ref}}</ref>During his Duel with [[George Gore|The Gore]], Varis claims not to despise someone as passionate as The Gore, but this does not earn them his mercy.

Oddly enough, Varis shares a number of parallels with Yusaku's Fujiki; including a generally stoic front, an intense hatred of an enemy group, and a habit of listing out three reasons for his observations, although he doesn't do it as frequently as Yusaku. He even uses similar strategies, such as when he intentionally lowered his [[LP]] during their first Speed Duel in order to use "Storm Access". While Dueling, with loads of personal confidence, Varis tends to belittle his opponents and lower their guard. He claims to be cold-hearted when he Duels.

Ryoken was a friend of [[Kyoko TakiBaira|BairaClarissa]] and [[Faust|Aso]], and the latter considered Ryoken as his younger brother.<ref name="ep25">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|25|ref}}</ref>

After Playmaker won the Duel, Varis admitted he didn't expect his opponent him to be that strong. Spectre arrived, explaining it was still better to let Playmaker have the Ignis than to be in possession of SOL Technologies. Varis knew that they were going to unmask Playmaker soon, noting that Playmaker hated the Knights of Hanoi, was one of few people that had [[Cyberse]] monsters and eventually would come and seek himout, as the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, out. Varis was nevertheless pleased, and actually wanted to prepare himself for the battle against Playmaker. Later, Varis sensed the location of the Ignis, and he flew over LINK VRAINS on "[[Borreload Dragon (anime)|Borreload Dragon]]", but he was unable to track down the Ignis, as the connection was severed in the last moment. Varis returned to his base, displeased that he could not find the Ignis. He was approached by [[Dr. Kogami]], who promised to make a new program, but needed more time. Varis stated that the ones holding the Ignis could not decipher him properly, but didn't want to give them too much time. Dr. Kogami said that they had to draw Playmaker out once more and defeat him properly. Varis heard an alarm, and logged off. In the real world, Ryoken approached his father, who was resting inside a pod. Ryoken promised he would make his father's wishes come true and tenderly touched his arm.<ref name="ep3"/>

Seeing how Varis was amused to see that [[Skye Zaizen|Blue Angel]] wanted to challenge Playmaker, Varis was amused by her. and Spectre claimed they could use her, and went off to give giving her a "[[Dark Angel (anime)|special cardDark Angel]]" card that was infected with a virus.<ref name="ep6">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|6|ref}}</ref> During her Duel against Playmaker, Blue Angel fell in a trance and Varis told her she was a Knight of Hanoi, prompting her to [[activate]] the effect of "Dark Angel's" effect.<ref name="ep7">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|7|ref}}</ref>Despite her use of "Dark Angel", Blue Angel was defeated. As he held the program capable of removing their virus from Blue Angel, Varis was certain that Playmaker would have to comply with his demands. Dr. Kogami told him that the Ignis had to be destroyed, though Varis was concerned about his father as he designed the Ignis. Kogami told Varis it was a painful decision to destroy the AI, while Varis reminded him of the importance of destroying the Ignis and the Cyberse.

[[File:Revolver summons Data Storm.png|thumb|left|Varis summons the Data Storm to destroy the placechurch.]]When Blue Angel was defeated, Varis was certain that Playmaker would have to comply to his demands. Dr. Kogami said Ai had to be destroyed and Varis was concerned about Kogami since he designed Ai. Kogami told Varis it was a painful decision to destroy the AI, while Varis reminded the importance of destroying Ai and Cyberse. When [[Akira Zaizen]] and [[Emma Bessho|Ghost Gal]] captured and interrogated Playmakerin a church within LINK VRAINS. Seizing his chance, Varis appeared before them and demanded him to that Playmaker be freed, as he was challenging him to a Duel. When Akira Zaizen refused, so Varis showed demonstrated his power by summoning a [[Data Storm]] and obliterating devastating the placechurch. He also threatened to destroy [[LINK VRAINS]], but stated that was not his intention, since he was interested in Ai the Ignis that Playmaker had in his possession. When Akira Zaizen refused to hand over Aithe Ignis, so Varis revealed they had placed a computer virus inside Blue Angel as a hostage and only they had the ability to reverse it. Varis admitted that they could've placed the virus into anyone, but Blue Angel was the most efficient target to draw Playmaker out. Varis also knew that AkiraZaizen, as the Security-in-Chief, had to take Ai the Ignis back, but doing so would make leave Blue Angel - AkiraZaizen's sister - under the permanent effect of the virus. Thus, he promised to hand over the program if Playmaker defeated him. Hesitant at first, Akira Zaizen freed Playmaker while Varis left to wait for Playmaker to come and Duel him.<ref name="ep8"/>

[[File:Revolver and Playmaker battle.png|thumb|Varis faces Playmaker in the a Speed Duel.]]As the two rode off on the Data WindStorm, Varis reminded Playmaker that he had interfered a lot of many times in the Knights of Hanoi's plans. Playmaker promised to defeat him and uncover their identities while ; Varis noted that he didn't care much for Playmaker's since they had many enemies. He declared their mission was to retrieve Ai the Ignis and was surprised that Playmaker had no knowledge of Ai as didn't know what an AIIgnis was. Ai The Ignis promised to eat Varis's program and reclaim his body back, while Varis stated if he were to win, Ai he would be his owntake the Ignis. Varis admitted he didn't bring his AI for his [[Duel Disk]], as he didn't trust them, claiming the internet was but a fiction. He valued the personal values of manhumans, and didn't trust the fake relationships and dedications over in LINK VRAINS; in his words, such ignorance would destroy the world, as would Ai and the Ignis. He declared Playmaker as his enemy for helping Ai. Before the Duel beganIgnis, Varis waved his hand causing the and caused LINK VRAINS to be crushed and replaced with lava rivers and fiery lakeserupt into flames.<ref name="ep9">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|9|ref}}</ref>

Taking the first turn, Varis used "[[Dragonoid Generator (anime)|Dragonoid Generator]]" to [[Special Summon]] two "Dragonoid Tokens" and [[Tribute Summon]] "Cracking Dragon". He then summoned the "Dragonoid Tokens" on to Playmaker's field and used , using the effect "Cracking Dragon's" effect to deal him damage. Despite this, the Playmaker managed to turn around the tables by [[Link Summon]]ing [[Link Spider (anime)|three]] [[Honeybot (anime)|monsters]] and destroying "Cracking Dragon" with "[[Decode Talker (anime)|Decode Talker]]", lowering Varis's [[LP]] to 1400. Despite having the advantage, Playmaker noted that Varis was vigorous and would not give up. Varis thanked Playmaker for clearing his field, as he brought out "[[Twin Triangle Dragon (anime)|Twin Triangle Dragon]]" and revived "Cracking Dragon" back, at the cost of it unable to attack and shaving 500 LP off. Varis sensed a power inside the network, and he summoned a Data Storm, showing off the [[revealing that he could use Playmaker's Skill]] Playmaker has, ; "Storm Access". With such power, Varis used all of his monsters to Link Summon "[[Topologic Bomber Dragon (anime)|Topologic Bomber Dragon]]", for a Cyberse monster that he was amused found amusing to use a Cyberse monster against other Playmaker's Cyberse monsters. Using "Dragonoid Generator", Varis had He triggered the effect of "Topologic Bomber Dragon" use its effect to destroy with "Dragonoid Token" and Playmaker's "[[Capacitor Stalker (anime)|Capacitor Stalker]]Generator", albeit destroying all monsters in the latter's effect caused Varis's LP Main Monster Zones to be lowered down to 100. Despite this, lower the ATK of "Decode Talker's" [[ATK]] were lowered down and Varis had "Topologic Bomber Dragon" low enough to destroy it. in battle, then activated the second effect of "Topologic Bomber Dragon's" effect caused Playmaker to take damage equal inflict its ATK to "Decode Talker's" ATK. Varis claimed Playmaker, claiming that Playmaker had lost this Duel and smiled, as his dragon executed it's effect.<ref name="ep9" />

To stop the effect, Playmaker activated "[[Link Restart (anime)|Link Restart]]", and even revived "Decode Talker". , prompting Varis noted how tough Playmaker was to avoid this situation, as "Dragonoid Generator" summoned another Token to Playmaker's fieldcomment on their resistance. As Playmaker had Ai the Ignis conjure a Data Storm, as Varis was glad they did that, since he had expected them to do that. He mused how his goal for the Speed Duel Varis was completed. After impressed when Playmaker successfully used Storm Access, Varis was impressed, considering how mighty the Data Storm was. Playmaker went attempted to Link Summon, but Varis stopped that with used "[[Remote Rebirth (anime)|Remote Rebirth]]", summoning a monster from to revive Playmaker's field to one of "[[zoneCapacitor Stalker (anime)|Capacitor Stalker]]s " to a zone that "Topologic Bomber Dragon" [[Points to|pointed to]], with the intention of using his dragon's triggering its effect to destroy every monster all the monsters in the Main Monster Zones. , and thus the effect of "Capacitor Stalker's" effect , which dealt 800 LP Damage, causing damage to both Varis players and Playmaker's LP to fall to 0. Ai suspected Varis wanted ended the Duel to end in a tie, but Varis denied this, declaring he could predict their every move[[DRAW]]. Suddenly, The force of the Data Storm then drew Varis and Playmaker were pulled to the Data Storminto its eye, just as the latter realized Varis actually had planned this. Varis and Playmaker were separated from their D-Boards, and entered the center of the Data Storm - a calm place, filled with floating rocks. Varis declared the place to be their new stage of battle, as a shining card Dr. Kogami sent to LINK VRAINS was added to his Deck. Varis explained they would have a [[Master Duel]] that had more Monster and Spell & Trap Zones, fitting for them to show off their Link Monsters' prowess.<ref name="ep10">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|10|ref}}</ref>

Having Varis took the first turn in the Master Duel, Varis took on defense by playing defensively with "[[Fire Prison (anime)|Fire Prison]]", "Twin Triangle Dragon" and "[[Beltlink Linkbelt Wall Dragon (anime)|Beltlink Linkbelt Wall Dragon]]" to make it harder for Playmaker to Link Summon and attack. During the Duel, he learned that Playmaker was worried about these defenseshad named his Ignis "Ai", and suspected he criticized him for giving it could be a part of Varis's plan. Instead, Playmaker summoned "Encode Talker" name and had not knowing what it attack "Twin Triangle Dragon"was. Due to "Beltlink Wall Dragon's" effect, the attack was redirected to itself, making His defenses successfully fended off Playmaker's attack nullified. However, he did summon "[[Interrupt Resistor Encode Talker (anime)|Interrupt ResistorEncode Talker]]"; Varis realized , though Playmaker was preparing assembled monsters for a new Link Summon, but swore . Warning Playmaker that his strategy would cost Playmaker dearly. him, Varis Link Summoned "[[Triple Burst Dragon (anime)|Triple Burst Dragon]]", surprising Ai, since Varis could've summoned despite being able to summon "Topologic Bomber Dragon" instead, and was even more surprised he targeted attacked Playmaker's "[[Backup Secretary (anime)|Backup Secretary]]" instead of "Encode Talker" for an attack target. Since "Triple Burst Dragon" negated "Encode Talker's" effect, Playmaker had "Interrupt Resistor" boost [[DEF]] of "Backup Secretary" was able to take less fend off the attack and minimize the damage from Varis's dragon's piercing effect. Playmaker sensed that Varis would bring out a different monster than "Topologic Bomber Dragon". To stop thathe took, Playmaker and he summoned "Decode Talker" on the next turn to take out "Beltlink Linkbelt Wall Dragon". Varis had anticipated this, and he used the effect of "Fire Prison's" effect to negate every Cyberse card as if it didn't exist, causing "[[Encode Talker (anime)|Encode Talker]]" and "Decode Talker" to vanish, and even make Ai disappear.<ref name="ep10"/>

Varis told Playmaker claimed that it was his Playmaker's fault for listening to Ai that had made the Cyberse cards unusable. Since He explained the history of the Ignis to Playmaker did not know about Ai, Varis told how there explaining that they were tests to create life forms inside the network, but most attempts lacked free will. However, there was one person that succeeded, and that product was Ignis, the first AI with free willwho were trying to conquer the network. Playmaker did not believe in this storyVaris, but Varis ignored him. He stated was unconcerned and noted that the most important thing was to capture and destroy Ai, who had created the Cyberse and wanted to conquer the network. In his next turn, Varis used the effect of "Triple Burst Dragon's" effect to summon more Dragons, all to and bring out his ace, "[[Borreload Dragon (anime)|Borreload Dragon]]". , attacking Playmaker recognized it as it was the same dragon Varis rode on when he was searching for Ai when Yusaku directly and Kolter hacked it. Varis, who placed a safety mask on, declared a direct attack with depleting most of his dragon, causing 3000 points of LP damage to Playmaker, even causing the blast to come out of the Data Storm. Since Varis believed that he had broken Playmaker was knocked out, Varis smiled, seeing the match ended. However, but Playmaker stood back up, and Varis saw he failed to crush his confidence. As Playmaker played "[[Cynet Universe (anime)|Cynet Universe]]", Varis claimed it was a pointless move, since there denying that the Cyberse were no Cyberse monsters. Playmaker denied thisgone, since as he could sense hear their pulses; Varis was greatly displeased, and shocked how he . He used his two of his ace monsters "Code Talkers" to Link Summon "[[Firewall Dragon (anime)|Firewall Dragon]]". , which Varis realized that was the card that Playmaker had obtained from the Data Storm, and with its . "Firewall Dragon's" summoning, destroyed "Fire Prison" vanished. "Firewall Dragon" , and it also destroyed "Beltlink Linkbelt Wall Dragon", which frustrated much to Varis, as Playmaker's frustration. He fought back using his "[[Parallel Port Armorrokket]]" made monsters in combination with "Borreload Dragon", taking control of "Firewall Dragon" in an attempt to defeat Playmaker with his dragon untargetable and undestroyable by battleown Cyberse monster. He took the next turn, replenishing his Playmaker was able to [[handCynet Refresh (anime)|destroy and revive]] "Firewall Dragon", and brining back "[[Anesthrokket Dragon Recoded Alive (anime)|Anesthrokket Dragonbrought back]]" Encode Talker" the next turn, claiming that their real Duel had only just begun.<ref name="ep11">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|11|ref}}</ref> Playmaker's "Firewall Dragon" used its effect to return Varis's monsters to his hand, but "Borreload Dragon" was protected by its own effect, forcing Playmaker to target and trigger "[[Autorokket Magnarokket Dragon (anime)|Autorokket Magnarokket Dragon]]" back. By using , whose effect almost destroyed "Borreload Firewall Dragon" , though Playmaker was able to decrease "Autorokket Dragonsave it, much to Varis'samusement. Playmaker began to counterattack with his "[[Battle Buffer]]" ATK and DEF, then send it to the [[Graveyard|GYContinuous Spell Card]] to destroy , raising the ATK of "Firewall Dragon's" defenses. Surprisingly to Ai and Playmaker"Encode Talker", impressing Varis. Varis countered with the effect of "Borreload Dragon's" attack caused , destroying "Firewall DragonEncode Talker" to switch over to Varis's field. Believing that Playmaker had run out of attacks, Varisclaimed the match was over, intending to have but Playmaker's own Cyberse card defeat itrevived "Decode Talker", had whose ATK was increased enough to attack "Firewall Borreload Dragon" attack directly, but the attack was canceled by . Varis countered with "[[Cynet Refresh Borrel Cooling (anime)|Cynet RefreshBorrel Cooling]]". Still, Varis boosted his defenses by reviving two of destroying his other "[[Magnarokket Dragon (anime)|Magnarokket Dragon]]s" back. Playmaker brought back his to allow it to destroy "Encode Decode Talker" . Varis smiled, believing that he was close to victory, with Playmaker having no cards nor attacks to execute. Playmaker refused to lose, and claimed he wanted to uncover the events that had happened ten years previously, to recover the time he had lost and wanted to save the person that saved him. Varis was surprised to learn that Playmaker was aware of the [[Lost Incident]] and that he highlighted his speech with the same "Firewall Dragonthree reasons"format that Varis himself used, declaring but he claimed Playmaker was a fool to help SOL Technologies without knowing the true fight had only beguntruth.<ref name="ep11ep12">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|1112|ref}}</ref>

When Playmaker[[File:Revolver's "Firewall Dragon" used its effect to return "Borreload Dragon" from the field, defeat.png|thumb|Varis informed him that it couldn't be targeted is defeated by effects. Playmaker targeted "Magnarokket Dragon", whose effect caused "Firewall Dragon" to be destroyed. Instead, Playmaker's "Cynet Refresh" protected his dragon from destruction. Varis was amused, and ended his turn. Much to Varis's surprise, Playmaker had "Firewall Dragon", protected by "Encode Talker", attack "Borreload Dragon", who had more ATK. With "]][[Battle Buffer]]", "Encode Talker's" ATK was raised, and impressed Varis for such a strategyFile:Revolver retreats. To counter that, png|thumb|left|Varis targeted "Encode Talker" with his dragon to reduce flees from the ATK, causing "Encode Talker" to be destroyed and Playmaker's strategy to backfirescene. While "Firewall Dragon's" ATK was raised by "Battle Buffer", Varis's "[[Rokket]]" dragons regained their effects. Varis claimed the match was over, as Playmaker could not attack anymore. The latter made him doubt thatrefused to listen, since and he could not use had "Magnarokket Firewall Dragon's" effect. Using "[[Recoded Alive Parallel Port Armor (anime)|Recoded Aliveattack once more]]", Playmaker revived "Decode Talker", whose ATK was boosted up to destroy "Borreload Dragon". However, Varis used "perform a [[Borrel Refrigeration (anime)|Borrel RefrigerationOne Turn Kill]]. The attack destroyed " to make "Magnarokket Borreload Dragon" destroy itself to blast away "Decode Talker". , and Varis smiled, seeing how close he was blasted into a rock as his LP fell to his victoryzero. Ai went wild, with Playmaker having no cards nor attacks transforming into a giant form and attempting to executedevour Varis. Playmaker refused to loseVaris lost an arm, and claimed he wanted to uncover quickly fled the events that had happened 10 years agoscene, to recover the time he had lost and wanted to save relinquishing the person program that saved himwould remove Blue Angel's virus. Varis was surprised about what happened 10 years ago involved PlaymakerBefore he left, who replied he was "warned Playmaker that emissary of revenge". Varis claimed Playmaker was a fool to help SOL Technologies out without knowing the truthas long as he had an Ignis, their battle would continue.<ref name="ep12">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|12|ref}}</ref>

[[File:Revolver's defeat.png|thumb|Varis defeated by Playmaker.]][[File:Revolver retreats.png|thumb|left|Varis flees away from the scene.]]Playmaker refused to listen, and using "[[Parallel Port Armor (anime)|Parallel Port Armor]]", he had "Firewall Dragon" attack once more to perform a [[One Turn Kill]]. The attack destroyed "Borreload Dragon", and Varis was slammed to a rock as his LP fell to zero. He then lost his avatar's arm when Ai became vicious and tried to devour Varis. Varis was pulled up to be logged out, but as he promised, he threw a card that would remove Blue Angel's virus. Before leaving, Varis stated as long as Playmaker had Ai, their Duel would continue on. Varis returned to his base and Dr. Kogami was surprised expressed surprise at how Varis let his guard down, seeing it was about that incident Playmaker spoke. Varis apologized regenerated his arm, apologizing to him as his father, and as his hand recovered, claimed claiming that next time would be different. His father stated that Varis didn't need to think of that, and seeing how they could not retrieve Ai, he went to they would execute the their other plan, and but he needed time to make preparations for that. Varis nodded, and recalling Playmaker's speech pattern of three points of analysis, he wondered about his connection towards him.<ref name="ep12" /> Varis and Kogami went to a deep pit where Kogami showed him a seed shaped like a cube, which would grow into a "fruit" that would destroy the whole network, including LINK VRAINS. Varis watched Kogami release the seed, which fell into the pit.<ref name="ep20">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|20|ref}}</ref> Varis was still at the pit, with his father absent. He remarked the battle for humanity would begin soon enough.<ref name="ep21">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|21|ref}}</ref>

Varis and Kogami went to a deep pit where Kogami showed him a seed shaped like a cube, which would grow into a "fruit" that would destroy the whole network, including LINK VRAINS. Varis watched Kogami release the seed, which fell into the pit.<ref name="ep20">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|20|ref}}</ref> After his father left, Varis remained at the pit, and he remarked the battle for humanity would begin soon enough.<ref name="ep21">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|21|ref}}</ref> =Another==Tower of Hanoi===

As the [[AnotherDeleted]] victims were being infected, Varis was worried if the Hanoi program was activated, the Lost Incident records would be deleted, and he'd never uncover [[Yusaku Fujiki|Playmaker]]'s identity. He was contacted by his [[Kiyoshi Kogami|father]], who reported the Hanoi program would soon be finished. Varis was still sad, as he wished to settle things with Playmaker. He told he wouldn't move on until he defeats Playmaker, and his father permitted him the rematch, as long as it didn't take too much time. Later, Varis watched as the [[Knights of Hanoi]] forced people to Duel, preventing them from logging out. Varis was unamused, considering a thousand people that joined the Knights of Hanoi were mere grunts, who wanted self-promotion by opposing [[LINK VRAINS]]. He was visited by [[Faust]] and [[Kyoko Taki|Baira]], who informed him [[Dr. Genome]] was making his move, and gave him the [[Data Gale]].<ref name="ep22">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|22|ref}}</ref> After Baira released the virus-removal program and logged out, she appeared next to Varis, who punished her.<ref name="ep26">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|26|ref}}</ref> With all three of his subordinates - Genome, Baira, and Faust - defeated and resting inside pods, Varis left his headquarters in LINK VRAINS. In the real world, at [[Kyoko TakiClarissa Turner's apartment]], Ryoken removed a flashdrive from its hiding place and looked at the video recording on it - [[Yusaku Fujiki|Yusaku]] and [[Kal Kolter]] in Baira's room witnessing [[Skye Zaizen|Blue Angel]] defeating Baira. [[Ai]] appeared in the video and Ryoken smiled, as he learned that Playmaker was Yusaku.<ref name="ep28">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|28|ref}}</ref> Varis was at the pit, and proclaimed the time has come that he would risk the fate of the humanity on the Tower of Hanoi.<ref name="ep29">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|29|ref}}</ref>

Ryoken was at visited [[Stardust Road]], ordering food from the [[Café Nom]] food truck, his face still hidden. He told Kolter, who was still unaware of his true identity, that this would be the last time he would order from him. Kolter asked him if he was moving away; Ryoken replied that his reason was something like that before leaving. Varis returned to LINK VRAINS where he met up with [[Spectre]], lamenting the loss of Dr. Genome, Baira, and Faust. He explained he was too focused on Playmaker. Despite this, Varis told the three were the core for his plan. Spectre asked if Varis was fine with the fact that they still didn't know Playmaker's identity. Varis proclaimed the plan had to resolve, even if it cost him his life, promising to defeat anyone that stood in his path. Later, he met [[Emma Bessho|Ghost Gal]] at the reprocessing plant, and was surprised to find her there. Varis noted Ghost Gal was snooping again, who promised to leave. However, Varis raised the barrier, stating he can't let her leave this place. Ghost Gal used the rope to reach a different exit, but Varis barred her. Ghost Gal asked Varis what would he do with her after she would be captured, suspecting she would be in trouble. Varis offered her a Duel to shape his Deck out, allowing her to leave if she would win. Ghost Gal attempted to leave, but Varis pointed out logging out was disabled. Thus, being forced to fight, Ghost Gal initiated her first turn in the Speed Duel.<ref name="ep30">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|30|ref}}</ref>

Varis uses a '''"[[Rokket]]" Deck''', which also features other [[DARK]] [[Dragon]]s. His overall strategy centers on [[swarm]]ing the [[field]] with the [[card effect|effects]] of his Dragon monsters in order to assembles the necessary [[Tribute]]s or [[material]]s to Summon his ace monsters and overwhelm his opponents through sheer force with their high [[ATK]]; many of his most powerful monsters commonly have 3000 ATK. Varis is a flexible [[Duelist]] who can shift strategies between Duels, making him an unpredictable opponent; his most common strategies are to focus more on his DARK Dragon monsters during Speed Duels, and on his "Rokkets" during Master Duels. His Skill, "Storm Access", plays into this; when he has 1000 or less LP, Varis can acquire a [[Cyberse]] [[Link Monster]] from a [[Data Storm]] and add it to his Extra Deck; all of these monsters have been the "[[Topologic]]" series.

Initially, Varis uses the [[Knights of Hanoi]]'s signature monster, "[[Cracking Dragon (anime)|Cracking Dragon]]", to debilitate the opponent through its ability to repeatedly inflict [[effect damage]]. Even if this monster is defeated, Varis can use "[[Twin Triangle Dragon (anime)|Twin Triangle Dragon]]" to re-utilize it as material for his stronger Link Monsters like "[[Topologic Bomber Dragon (anime)|Topologic Bomber Dragon]]", whose destructive effects can allow him to defeat his opponents after having their [[LP]] depleted by "Cracking Dragon". When utilizing his ace monster "[[Borreload Dragon (anime)|Borreload Dragon]]", he switches his strategy to utilizing his "[[Rokket]]" monsters as literal cannon fodder for "Borreload", using their self-destruction effects in tandem with the effect of "Borreload" to permanently weaken a monster by 500 ATK and DEF in order to disrupt whatever strategy his opponent may have. He is capable of performing an [[Extra Link]]; his "[[Topologic Gumblar Dragon (anime)|Topologic Gumblar Dragon]]" focuses on locking down the opponent while in this state. During the second season, Varis includes [[Tuner monster|Tuner]], [[Synchro Monster|Synchro]], and [[Xyz Monster]]s in his Deck, and his strategies slightly change; while in the previous season he used several different powerful Link Monsters, he now largely focuses on his "Borreload Dragon" and its evolutions.

When utilizing his ace monster "[[Borreload Dragon (anime)|Borreload Dragon]]", he switches his strategy to utilizing his "[[Rokket]]" monsters as literal cannon fodder for "Borreload", using their self-destruction effect in tandem with the effect of "Borreload" to permanently weaken a monster by 500 ATK and DEF in order to disrupt whatever strategy his opponent may have. He also uses a number of cards to counter [[Link Monster]]sMonsters, such as "[[Mirror Force (later anime)|Mirror Force]]", as well as using "[[Fire Prison (anime)|Fire Prison]]" to counter [[Yusaku Fujiki|Playmaker]]'s [[Cyberse]] monsters. In the second season, he includes cards like "[[Mind Crush (anime)|Mind Crush]]" and "[[Imperial Order (anime)|Imperial Order]]" to counter the [[Ignis]]'s [[Link Spell Card]]s. A number of his [[Trap Card]]s are old staple cards released during the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' anime's run.

* [[Checksum Dragon (anime)|Checksum Dragon]]* [[Chobham Armor Dragon (anime)|Chobham Armor Dragon]]

* [[Overflow Dragon (anime)|Overflow Dragon]]

* [[Boot Sector Launch (anime)|Boot Sector Launch]](later played with [[Boot Sector Launch (later anime)|different effect]])

* [[Fire Prison (anime)|Fire Prison]]<ref group=Notes name="fire">This card is obtained from [[Kiyoshi Kogami|his father]] in [[Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS - Episode 010|episode 10]].</ref>

* [[Borrel Refrigeration Cooling (anime)|Borrel RefrigerationCooling]]* [[Borrel Ring]]* [[Imperial Order (later anime)|Imperial Order]]