Chapter 61. Multiple Builds to Complete Exodia! Absurd Dueling Mindsets!
Sei Yuki finalized the short video he would play next.
Very soon, he found a fun appetizer.
At this moment, the title popped up before the Duelists of the six Duel Worlds.
"Starting Hand: Five Old Exodia Pieces! The Opponent Mentally Collapses!"
Duel Monsters world.
The instant they saw that title, many Duelists froze.
"Old Exodia"?
What is "Old Exodia"?
Is that another new Deck?
But when the monster cards shown on the short video screen came into view,
they immediately fell silent.
Old Exodia?
Five Old Exodia pieces?
Whoa!
It actually refers to the dark archmage—Exodia!
The moment they thought of "Exodia,"
Seto Kaiba couldn't hold it together.
Back when the rules were incomplete, he'd been OTK'd when Yugi Muto assembled all five Exodia pieces.
And now—
are we really moving on to an Exodia-focused Deck?!
"Exodia! It's Exodia!"
"Grandpa! It's your favorite card!"
"I'm sorry, Grandpa—if only I hadn't given them to Weevil Underwood back then…"
"Those cards wouldn't have been—"
Yugi Muto trembled all over, his voice shaking.
Beside him, Solomon Muto remained silent.
Exodia was his life's work.
To see it again now
was enough to satisfy him.
GX world.
Duel Academy's crowd was equally shocked that the next short video was about "Old Exodia."
In their impression,
"Old Exodia" seemed to exist only in a hazy memory.
And now, video info about Exodia suddenly burst onto the scene,
like a bolt from the blue leaving them at a loss.
"Old Exodia, huh? Exodia… that mysterious, once-vanished powerhouse of a Deck."
"Right? If not for seeing those words, I would've forgotten this forgotten Deck even existed."
"Wait, isn't there something off about the title? Starting hand—five Old Exodia pieces?!"
"Huh? For real? Wouldn't that mean you win on turn one? Is that for real?"
"..."
Amid the sighs and laments of many Duelists,
there was even more nostalgia for Exodia.
It seemed that later generations of Duelists seldom treated Exodia as a mainstream Deck.
Even though spiritual-successor cards for Exodia appeared in later eras,
they still
didn't make much of a splash.
Because, fundamentally, assembling all five pieces is too hard.
Before the Duelists of the six Duel Worlds could continue reminiscing about Exodia,
the short video
had already started.
The opener was a thunderclap.
"Exodia Restraint play, all set! This time we're going to duel!"
"Exodia Restraint play—watch closely, folks! This kid is going second and his opening hand is five cards!"
"Exodia Restraint play—before the opponent can react and build a field on their first turn, this kid immediately fans out his hand toward the opponent."
"Right Arm of the Forbidden One! Right Arm of the Forbidden One!"
"Right Leg of the Forbidden One! Left Leg of the Forbidden One!"
"That's right—he opened five Old Exodia pieces!"
"And the final reveal—Exodia the Forbidden One!"
"..."
As the uploader's excited narration spilled out line after line,
the five Exodia cards really did flip on camera going first,
and this scene
stunned the Duelists of all six worlds.
What on earth?
Someone actually opened with five Exodia pieces?
That's gotta be cheating!
What are the odds of opening all five Exodia pieces?
At bare minimum it's like one out of 650,000, right?
Someone actually did it?!
If it's not cheating, then it's a fake video!
But before the Duelists of the six worlds could protest,
the uploader's voice rang out again.
"Exodia Restraint play—do you think this is cheating?"
"Exodia Restraint play—do you think this is fake?"
"No, no—this really happened."
"This footage is of a 13-year-old at a tournament opening five Exodia cards and winning on the spot."
"I could hardly believe it myself, but it's reality."
"That boy raised both hands in joy—look, as if he just saved the world..."
Within those words,
the uploader's tone was bitter and complicated.
And yet, in the short video, the boy truly did open five Exodia pieces in a tournament.
Even if they didn't want to admit it,
they had to.
It was a fact.
"Exodia Restraint play—every player has dreamed of a five-Exodia opening."
"Exodia Restraint play—including me."
"Exodia Restraint play—but after all my time on Exodia, I've still never had it happen once."
"But that doesn't mean we can't assemble the five pieces with other methods, right?"
"So, I—the uploader—will share a few Deck construction ideas to help us complete Exodia."
"Plan 1: 'Panda Exodia'!"
"The core card of this build is this one."
"Treasure Panda!"
[Card Name: Treasure Panda (Level 4)]
[Attribute: EARTH]
[Type: Beast]
[ATK/DEF: 1100/2000]
"Why is this the key? Because its effect can banish a Spell/Trap from your GY to Special Summon a Normal Monster from your Deck."
"One banish gets you a Level 1, and Exodia's limbs are all Level 1."
"So here's the question—"
"How do we stock our GY with Spells/Traps?"
"Naturally, with draw-power cards."
"For example, White Elephant's Gift, Into the Void, Upstart Goblin, and so on."
"And even if Exodia limbs hit the GY, that's fine."
"We can run Dark Factory of Mass Production to return two Normal Monsters from the GY to the hand."
"So the idea is very clear, isn't it?"
"Use Treasure Panda to banish Spells/Traps and pull limbs from the Deck; include White Elephant's Gift and Wonder Wand."
"Those can send limbs to the GY and draw two."
"Then keep following the same idea—cycle through the Deck with draw power."
"Until you finally assemble all five Exodia pieces. That simple."
"Not going to lie—the odds aren't high."
"If you could play the Forbidden card Pot of Greed, I'd have nothing to say—you'd be unbeatable."
With the first Exodia route explained,
the Duelists of the six worlds all blinked in confusion.
Huh?
Wait—
what kind of bizarre combo lineup is this?
What kind of brain
could combine these cards and find a way to assemble Exodia in a single turn?
And—
the idea is strangely fresh and novel,
with zero difficulty to understand.
Even these old-guard veterans, after listening to this uploader's explanation,
could grasp the exact sequence.
Alongside the rapidly played Exodia animations on screen,
they even got the notion that assembling five Exodia pieces was "very easy."
The moment that thought appeared,
they scared themselves.
"Exodia Restraint play—Plan 2."
"Exodia Restraint play—this plan still revolves around draw power."
"Exodia Restraint play—but there are different methods of drawing, and the engine runs differently."
"For example, an Exodia Deck that uses a Fortune Lady engine."
"The idea is similar."
"Use Fortune Lady Water with Fortune Lady Past to Synchro Summon Stardust Charge Warrior."
"Then Stardust Charge Warrior draws us a card."
"After that, pair it with De-Synchro."
"Turn Stardust Charge Warrior back into Water and Past."
"That lets you trigger Fortune Lady Water to draw two cards."
"Then keep going with that plan to keep drawing."
"The Fortune Lady archetype also has the Spell Fortune's Future to return a banished Fortune Lady and draw two."
"So this is a specialized, casual Exodia build."
"Note—don't try to climb the ladder with it. You'll cry."
Yes.
You'll cry.
The first person to be on the verge of tears, ironically, was a Duelist from the 5D's world.
That Duelist
was Carly Carmine, user of Fortune Ladies.
"Huh? Huhhh?"
"My Fortune Ladies? Huh? How did they become Exodia's playthings?"
"Boo-hoo-hoo!"
"I'm not filming this!"
Carly's reading glasses nearly slipped to the floor.
Jack Atlas could only wave helplessly.
Sometimes, the post-Dark-Signer Carly Carmine was cute.
Sometimes, she was a handful.
Besides—
doesn't Exodia have more clout than Fortune Ladies?
If you splash Fortune Ladies, isn't that a strong-meets-strong partnership?
"Ahem! Shhh!"
"Carly, don't you think this is huge news?"
"Think about it—Exodia. A plan to assemble Exodia in a single turn."
"Why aren't you filming this already?"
After a few whispered words from Jack,
Carly froze.
Oh, right.
This has to be filmed.
"Exodia Restraint play—Plan 2 is done."
"Exodia Restraint play—now for Plan 3."
"Exodia Restraint play—Plan 3 is where it gets interesting."
"We can use Neo-Spacians to help with draw power."
"There are three key cards involved."
"First: Convert Contact—if you control no monsters, you can send Neo-Spacians from hand and Deck to the GY and then draw two."
"Second: Space Gift—draw one card for each different Neo-Spacian you control; in theory, you can draw up to five."
"Third: Neo Space Extension—so long as your field is empty, you can activate it from hand to swarm Neo-Spacians."
"With this three-card combo, the plan links together."
"We draw through the Deck; when we find the key pieces, we keep drawing and aim to assemble all five Exodia pieces in a single turn."
"Same warning as before—this is for fun. Don't try to climb ranked with it."
More plans?
What kind of Duel thinking and brain circuitry do people of this higher world even have?
One elaborate scheme after another, and they can think of them all.
Absurd.
Even more absurd—how do they think to link all these cards together?
With that many cards in the card pool, connecting the dots like this
is definitely not easy.
GX world...…
These Neo-Spacians.
Jaden Yuki was already very familiar with their effects and combos.
So when he heard these ideas, he immediately wore an enlightened expression.
So that's how it is.
Neo-Spacians can actually provide considerable draw power to help assemble Exodia.
If that's the case—
could he include Exodia pieces in his HERO Deck?
"Exodia Restraint play—finally, Plan 4."
"Exodia Restraint play—this plan is different from the previous ones."
"Exodia Restraint play—this is a specialized Exodia build."
"Let's quickly walk through the line."
"As long as you have Sengenjin Wakes from a Millennium in hand, you can activate its effect."
"Place Sengenjin in your Spell & Trap Zone."
"Then activate Sengenjin's effect—pay 2000 LP to Special Summon it."
"Search Shield of the Millennium Dynasty from the Deck."
"After you activate Shield of the Millennium Dynasty to place it, pay 2000 LP again."
"Now you can Special Summon Shield of the Millennium Dynasty, and search Millennium Ankh."
"Then, activate Millennium Ankh."
"Reveal the five Forbidden One pieces from your hand, Deck, and field."
"Then you can Fusion Summon from the Extra Deck."
"The soul that slumbered for a thousand years awakens."
"The Unstoppable Exodia Incarnate!"
[Card Name: The Unstoppable Exodia Incarnate (Level 10)]
[Attribute: DARK]
[Type: Spellcaster]
[ATK/DEF: ?/0]
[Materials: Five "Forbidden One" monsters]
[Effect excerpts per narration:]
• Cannot be destroyed by your opponent's card effects.
• Once per turn, if this card battles, during damage calculation: it gains ATK equal to your LP.
• Once per turn, when a Spell/Trap Card or effect is activated (Quick Effect): negate that activation.
• Once per turn, during the End Phase: Set an appropriate "Exodd"/"Obliterate!!!" Spell/Trap from your Deck.
• During your Standby Phase: you must lose 1000 LP.
"At the end of the turn,"
"you can Set an 'Exodd'/'Obliterate!!!' Spell/Trap from the Deck."
"That card can blow up your opponent's entire field, and it can also return the five Exodia pieces to your hand."
"That's the end of the setup."
"If you opened Millennium Ankh, then you don't have to pay LP."
"The Fusion Exodia's ATK can reach 8000."
Exodia? Fusion?
Exodia actually has a specialized Fusion-style line now?
After the final explanation, the Duelists of all six worlds completely lost composure.
Exodia is strong
because five pieces mean an automatic win.
But now—
Exodia also has a "Millennium"-themed Fusion lineup.
And that Fusion Exodia
is actually super easy to bring out.
This is getting hard to process.
Duel Monsters world.
After hearing these ideas—and that last specialized Fusion Exodia build—
Solomon Muto's dormant memories were wiped clean.
He stood there, dumbfounded.
"Wait, have I really lived long enough to circle back to being a newbie again?"
"Wasn't an Exodia Deck supposed to stall with set, high-DEF monsters to drag out turns,"
"then rely on Trap/Spell disruption, slowly assembling the pieces?"
"From that young man's explanation, are we really able to assemble five Exodia pieces in a single turn?"
Solomon Muto couldn't stop firing off questions.
Beside him, Yugi Muto smiled awkwardly and nodded.
"Grandpa, it seems so."
"And that specialized Exodia build…"
"It seems the ace 'Exodia' is getting easier and easier to summon..."
Yugi was horrified inside,
but he still had to accept this reality.
Old man, times have changed.
Even Exodia has a specialized theme now.
Whether it's casual builds or Fusion builds,
it's no longer just the old style of stalling to piece together the five cards.
"Exodia Restraint play—did you think that was all?"
"Exodia Restraint play—no, no, there's actually a very interesting Exodia Deck."
"It's 'Ignition Flame Saint Exodia'!"
"At a YCS Nationals,"
"a kindly old gentleman used this Deck,"
"and defeated the 'weak' Mermail and Tearlaments."
"Want to know more? Up next, I'll reveal that Nationals Duel!"
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