This was completely beyond Youyu's expectations.
According to the anime plot, he knew that under the rules of this virtual space, everyone could choose any card stored in the Kaiba Company database, essentially a full card archive in single-player games.
However, he hadn't anticipated that so many cards from the System Card Pool would also be unlocked.
It might be because the rule maker for this part of the storyline was Noah, and under Noah's rules, "there are no restrictions on the cards that can be used here," so the system tacitly approved this game rule?
Then this situation is stable already!
Taking this rare opportunity, Youyu took a look at what exactly was in the System Card Pool.
After all, the cards drawn from the external pools are random, and Youyu can only see the cards he has obtained, with no visibility on what cards exist in the 1.0 version pool.
Now with this perfect opportunity, he certainly wanted to first check the depth of the card pool.
But upon calming down and taking a closer look, he realized it wasn't truly a "full card archive." The unlocked cards were still only from the series he already owned and related derivative series.
As for those series he couldn't touch in his Deck, they were still absent from the pool here.
Here, Youyu couldn't help but speculate that maybe each player's System Card Pool isn't static. The total number of cards in each player's pool increases gradually as players acquire more related cards during the game.
Like now, his entire card pool was basically composed of Black Magic, Hero series, and some General Cards.
Indeed, as he previously speculated, there were no key cards like Dark Magical Circle and Eternal Soul in the 1.0 version Black Magic Deck, likely due to their power exceeding the current environment.
Youyu was somewhat disappointed yet not surprised to find the full card pool also lacked the legendary card feared by countless Yu-Gi-Oh! players, Red Dad...
The Super Magical Dragon Knight - Red-Eyes Dragon Knight, a fusion of Jonouchi's ace Monster Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Yugi's ace Monster Dark Magician, symbolizing the bond between them.
This Monster is extremely easy to Summon and terrifyingly effective. Its first effect grants strong Resistance, making it immune to card effects and destruction by effects; the second effect destroys the opponent's Monster and deals damage equal to its attack points; the third effect can negate and destroy any card effect and boost its own attack power.
Due to its powerful Resistance and control capabilities, this Monster, which dominated an entire generation of format, was revered by players and became known as "Red Dad" (soon to be banned).
On reflection, including such a thing in the 1.0 version pool would be too unbalanced. Considering its almost zero-threshold Summon conditions, even the God Cards in the anime seemed moderate by comparison...
The Heroes side, however, brought Youyu quite a few surprises.
A vast majority of the Heroes appearing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime and manga are actually in this pool. Elemental Heroes, Destiny Heroes are without saying, even Yuki Judai's ace Masked Hero and Ed Phoenix's series Vision Hero from the manga are seemingly all present.
This was quite unexpected since he hadn't seen a single card from derivative Hero series other than Elemental Heroes, despite investing many Crystal Stones. He didn't expect the pool to actually contain them all.
He could only speculate that since he had the most Elemental Heroes, the odds of obtaining them were highest. Series like Vision Hero, Destiny Hero, Masked Hero have extremely low draw odds because he didn't own any related cards.
Youyu glanced through quickly and found the Hero series in this pool to be rather comprehensive, only those Monsters with individually strong abilities were omitted in the 1.0 pool.
For instance, the Vision Hero big brother "Trinity," Fusional Summoned with 5000 attack power and capable of three attacks per turn (cannot attack directly), was absent.
Or someone known as "Friendship Ending Hero," Masked Hero Dark Claw...
Masked Hero Dark Claw, attack power 2400. Its first effect banishes any cards sent to the opponent's graveyard while it's on the field. The second effect banishes a random card from the opponent's hand when they draw or search from their Deck.
Due to Dark Claw's similarly easy deployment, and its unreasonable disruption to Decks reliant on searches and graveyard resources, it's humorously dubbed "Friendship Ending Hero"—
—a real Hero doesn't need friends.
While Youyu was still inspecting card by card, Soichiro grew impatient: "Hey, hurry up and decide your card deck. If you're trying to find a Divine Card, it's useless! They've been removed from the system."
Youyu rolled his eyes.
Look at that, just a weapon builder, what a barren imagination.
You open up the entire DM card archive for me, why would I need a Divine Card to crush you?
That doesn't exist!
Plus, let's not forget, here Youyu could use not only the cards from the System Card Pool but also an array of overpowered cards unique to the DM era from Kaiba Company's database!
Though Kaiba Company's data doesn't cover all cards from this era, it's more than enough.
"Let me see... then to deal with you, I'll start with this deck."
Without further ado, Youyu swiftly selected forty cards. With a flash of golden light, a complete deck appeared in his Duel Disc.
"Heh heh, whatever you choose is useless, you'll never defeat my Deck Commander—Robotic Knight!"
That's when Youyu remembered.
Oh, there's the Deck Commander thing. He had completely forgotten.
But it didn't seem to matter anymore. Youyu quickly skimmed through his deck and picked his commander.
"I choose as my Deck Commander, 'Executioner - Moshura'."
The executioner warrior, clad in armor and armed with sharp claws, appeared behind Youyu.
"Oh, choosing such a grim Monster as your Deck Commander?" Soichiro chuckled, "Quite an unlovable brat."
Youyu tinkered with the Duel Disc to test and quickly grasped Moshura's Deck Commander abilities.
He turned around, chuckling lightly: "Soon you'll know how formidable it is."
"Duel!" x2
"I'll go first, draw!" Soichiro confidently declared, "I summon 'Cannon Soldier' in attack mode!"
[Cannon Soldier, Attack 1400]
"I set one card face down, end my turn."
Soichiro snickered to himself.
His face-down card was the Trap Card "Bottomless Trap Hole," a powerful trap that destroys and banishes an opponent's Monster with 1500 or more attack upon being Summoned.
Cannon Soldier's attack is 1400, if Youyu summons a Monster with 1500 or more attack next turn and attempts to attack, it will trigger the trap, and his Monster will be instantly killed in the Trap Hole.
Then Youyu will have no choice but to maintain an empty field for this turn, relying at best on Trap Cards to block attacks for the next turn.
But now Soichiro already has the Magic Card Heavy Storm capable of clearing all Magic and Trap Cards on the field. Once his turn begins, he'll use Heavy Storm to destroy any cards Youyu sets on the field.
He would then only need to summon another Monster, and Special Summon his Deck Commander "Robotic Knight" to the field, launching a total attack for direct victory!
"My turn, draw." Youyu glanced at his hand, "I summon Royal Magical Library in defense mode."
[Royal Magical Library, Defense 2000]
Soichiro pouted.
Tch, a defense Monster with 0 attack, "Bottomless Trap Hole" can't be activated.
Lucky brat, barely hanging by a thread.
Just as he thought so, he saw Youyu give him a mysterious smile, which filled the seasoned Soichiro with an uneasy foreboding.
"Let's finish this quickly, end it in this turn." Youyu calmly stated.
He spoke as if defeating Soichiro was as simple as a trivial task.
"!?"
Soichiro was shocked.
Where did this confidence come from?
"I set four cards face down." Youyu declared, "Then I activate the Magic Card - Card of Sanctity! Both players refill their hands to six cards!"