Top 20 Greatest Yu-Gi-Oh! Battles

How could we forget the match that kicked off the show’s most famous rivalry? Seto Kaiba has beaten Yugi’s grandfather in a duel and ripped up his most treasured card. Yugi steps up to avenge his grandpa using the wounded elder’s deck, and he and Kaiba duel for the very first time. It's a simple introduction to the core basics of the game –for the anime anyway, but it ends with a bang as Yugi obliterates Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragons with Exodia. This one exhilarating brawl laid the groundwork for the bigger, more harrowing duels down the line, and established Yugi’s ability to control fate at his fingertips.

Finally, after following both of their journeys, Yugi and Joey face off in the Duelist Kingdom semifinals. Whoever wins will receive $3,000,000 and a chance to face Pegasus in the finals. Yugi needs to win to save his grandfather and the Kaiba Brothers, but Joey needs the prize money for his sister. Both best friends give it their all in this nail-biting match, and it’s too difficult for us to decide who to root for. In the end, Yugi is the victor, naturally, but he gives Joey the prize money –the perfect reward for the underdog making it this far. While watching the best friends face off was tense, it’s heartwarming that they both got their happy endings afterward.

After finally escaping the caves under the Duelist Kingdom, the gang comes face-to-face with a pair of Pegasus’ goons – the Paradox Brothers. The twins force Yugi and Joey into the show’s first tag team match if they ever want to escape. The Brothers’ game has plenty of literal twists and terms when they unleash the Labyrinth Wall, and the stakes get even higher when their almighty Gate Guardian comes into play. Thankfully, Yugi and Joey work together like a well-oiled machine, bringing out the best in each other even on the battlefield. Their comradery culminates in two of their mightiest beasts coming together to form the Black Skull Dragon.

Kaiba really needs to learn to make more friends and less enemies. During his Grand Championship, Zigfried von Schroeder –a rival CEO- has been hacking into the computers to undermine Kaiba. Of course, Kaiba isn’t taking this sitting down and gets into a heated duel with Zigfried. The two are clearly neck-and-neck – Zigfried is constantly one step ahead, but Kaiba manages to save himself nearly every turn. While Zigfried’s Valkyries are mighty, they are no match for Kaiba’s dragon obsession as he pulverizes Zigfried with FIVE beasts at once. Yugi may be the king of games, but Kaiba proved today why he’s still one of the best around by undercutting the only rival who’s more arrogant than himself.

Yugi finally has enough star chips to qualify for the Duelist Kingdom semifinals. But there’s one more obstacle in his way – Seto Kaiba. To save his little brother from Pegasus, Kaiba forces Yugi into a duel for his star chips. Kaiba has the upper hand after crippling Yugi’s deck and calling out his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, but Yugi manages to turn things around… with anime game logic. However, Kaiba escalates things and forces Yugi to surrender the match. Not only did he lose five star chips, but he lost his confidence and his trust in Atem, who was almost willing to put Kaiba in harm’s way just to win one duel.

Mai has fallen in with a bad crowd and Joey is determined to bring her back to her senses. Unfortunately, Mai’s new friend Valon makes things difficult by challenging Joey to an Orichalcos duel. What happens next is pure insanity – rather than a straightforward duel, the two end up forming suits of armor around each other to literally beat the lifepoints out of each other. The Armor Deck gameplay is confusing, but Joey once again proves that he’s a scrappy contender –whether at Duel Monsters or in fisticuffs. Plus, seeing him in armor is just plain awesome. Joey emerges exhausted but triumphant, but he has no time to rest as Mai forces him into a duel that costs him dearly.

For his second match in the Battle City Tournament, Joey faces the treacherous insect duelist, Weevil Underwood. As usual, Weevil is playing dirty – he sneaks a parasite into Joey’s deck that slowly infects his monsters and turns them into insects. On top of that, his own insect army keeps getting stronger with his Great Moth and even stronger Insect Queen. Unfortunately for Weevil, he made one fatal mistake – underestimating Joey Wheeler. Our favorite underdog combats Weevil’s parasite with Gearfried the Iron Knight, and effortlessly exterminates Weevil’s bugs, putting the slippery little worm where he belongs. Even with all of Weevil’s tricks, he was still no match for the Brooklyn Rage, and Joey proved why he belongs in the tournament.

Mimes are creepy enough, but a mime armed with an Egyptian God? No thanks. Strings, another one of Marik’s rare hunters, has forced Yugi into a duel. He has a conniving card combo that renders him untouchable, and worst of all, he has the Egyptian God Card, Slifer the Sky Dragon in his corner. It looks like Yugi is doomed, until he exploits a loophole in Strings’ ‘perfect’ strategy, forcing the mime to draw until he runs out of cards, automatically losing the duel. This was one of Yugi’s most creative victories and he rightfully walks away with Slifer the Sky Dragon, and another step closer to ending Marik’s madness.

Do the rules not make any sense here? Absolutely. Should Mai have instantly been banned for using perfume to cheat? Probably. Still, we can’t help but have fun with this duel. It marks one of Joey’s earliest challenges and showcases Mai’s femme fatale qualities delightfully. The show was still finding its feet by this point, evidently, but still knew how to enjoy itself with its cast, painting Joey as the underdog we would all come to root for.

It’s the longest tag-team duel in the series’ history. Rounding out the Waking the Dragon story arc in a rather bleak way, it falls to Yugi and Kaiba to once again toss aside their rivalry and get their game on. If dueling for their souls wasn’t enough, the fate of the world relies on the outcome, lest it become devoured by the Lovecraftian leviathan. There’s some legit emotional weight here, what with Dartz using the souls of Yugi’s friends as pawns to use on the field. But let’s be honest here, we’re here for just how beautifully broken this whole thing is. Where else can you find Yugi and Kaiba summoning Dragon Master Knight in two moves, plus the always meme-able winning move of “Infinity Plus 1”

With Atem occupied elsewhere, Yugi is forced to duel Yami Bakura without the aid of his more confident half. Bakura puts little Yugi through the wringer – as if his relentless taunting wasn’t bad enough, his merciless strategy nearly obliterates Yugi’s deck, leaving him with only one card left to draw. Thankfully, Yugi’s luck hasn’t run out yet, as he draws the monster that turns everything around - Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction. This was a major victory for little Yugi; not only did he defeat the series’ overarching antagonist, but he proved that he could win a duel even without the Pharoh’s help, showing that he’s equally worthy of the title of “King of Games”.

Sometimes, friends make the best enemies. Controlled by Marik, Joey is turned to the dark side and is forced to duel it out with his bestie, with the loser being sentenced to a watery grave. So the stakes are a tad high! Marking Yugi’s independent stance against Yami, this duel shows that while the impossibly haired youth has much to learn, he is still an expert duelist who can hold his own. This is the closest that “Yu-Gi-Oh!” has acknowledged death as the result of a duel, so enjoy it while you can.

When Marik lost control of his body to his darker half, his spirit recruited Yami Bakura to help him get it back. Which of course means a shadow duel between two of the show’s biggest villains. The winner gets their opponent’s Millenium Item while the loser fades away into the darkness. The two are almost evenly matched, Bakura even manages to snag Marik’s infamous Winged Dragon of Ra. However, Yami Marik’s knowledge of Ra’s deadliest abilities ensures his victory, while the shadows swallow up Bakura. Bakura isn’t worried, however, and confidently declares that he will return –based on his track record, we believe him. It was a rare treat to see two villains dueling each other.

Look at how far our boy has come. Taking on Yami Marik in retribution for Mai’s defeat and banishment to the Shadow Realm, Joey is forced to deal with the most painful of Shadow Games - since Marik attaches metaphorical strings between the duelists and each monster, resulting in physical pain when one is defeated. Still, amongst it all, Joey comes within inches of winning the whole thing and banishing the twisted spirit for good. Sure, he ultimately loses, but the fact he came so close speaks volumes.

It's time to duel…for possession of Kaiba Corp. that is. Trapped in a virtual world by the infamous Noah, Kaiba is challenged for control via a brain-washed Mokuba. What makes this duel interesting is the setup of each deck eerily resembles each of the duelists. Whether this be Kaiba’s pride and power or Noah’s fixation on the past, it doesn’t prevent Kaiba’s loss to the latter. Naturally, Yugi has to step in at the end and save the day, with Kaiba’s own deck no less. Which is all kinds of epic but still a major slap to Kaiba’s watapons.

Not many contenders can take on the “King of Games” let alone the Pharaoh, and pull out a total victory. But Rafael is just built different. Backing Yugi and Yami into a corner, Dartz’ strongest disciple uses a mixture of expert plays and mind games to drive a wedge between both souls bros, even tempting them to using the forbidden Seal of Oricalcos. This duel is suspense at its finest, resulting in Yugi’s soul being locked away and his ancient Egyptian counterpart driven to the brink by the loss of his eternal companion. Kaiba could only dream of doing this much damage.

It’s king vs creator with this grand finale to Duelist Kingdom. Between Pegasus being able to see Yugi’s deck at any given moment, and being pulled into a Shadow Game, Yugi’s life-force is slowly drained away. Still, he’s able to craft a winning hand for the Pharoah to take over and finally put an end to Pegasus’ fabulous reign of terror. The build-up and pay-off is some of the best the series has to offer. Every play, every summon, every twist, this was when the series had established itself as THE card game anime.

Egyptian god cards dueling for the fate of the world? Yeah, we’re down with that. The final confrontation between Yugi and Yami Marik, this duel has some of the most memorable plays and biggest spectacles the OG series ever produced. Despite all of Marik’s shadowy tactics and monstrous deck, not even he is able to withstand Yugi’s plot armor, especially when he unleashes every monster at once. The sight of Obelisk and Slifer dragging down the Winged Dragon of Ra is still metal as hell.

Out of Yugi and Kaiba’s numerous epic duels across the series, none have surpassed the impact of this clash. Rounding out the semi-finals of Battle City, Yugi and Kaiba square off in a holographic coliseum. This is the perfect setting for the monumental clash between two Egyptian god cards, Kaiba’s Obelisk and Yugi’s Slifer. Even with a trip to ancient Egypt acting as an intermission, the thrills and chills found here make this one of the quintessential rival battles in all of anime, with both bringing their A-Game until ultimately, as per tradition, Kaiba gets his Blue Eyes comeuppance.

The final duel. Serving as Yami Yugi aka Atem’s last showdown battle before his spirit passes on, this last play off has the two partners square off in a card game for the ages. Given that Atem’s deck features the Egyptian Gods and every other heavy hitter, you’d think this would be utterly one-sided. And yet, due to his knowledge of Duel Monsters and some clever ploys of his own, Yugi isn’t only able to match up against the Pharaoh, but pull out the ultimate win. Say what you will about this show’s story beats, but they couldn’t have pulled off a better finale if they tried, exemplified with this mash of monstah-card-o’s!




Which duel had you on the edge of your seat? Let us know in the comments.