Rafael Diaz It’s funny because Joey wouldn’t even be able to use Ra. Joey doesn’t know Egyptian, doesn’t have Egyptian heritage, or doesn’t have magic that can subdue a God (Like the Orichalcos). It would literally be a dead card that he would most definitely put in his deck probably just to fuck with Kaiba
bodki malone Idk the plot likes to embarrass Joey. I’m sure the plot would make it so that Kaiba wants to embarrass Joey because he can’t use it BUT Joey would embarrass Kaiba because he has Ra and Kaiba doesn’t (I also think it would be gold if Joey won against Marik but drops out the tournament to fuck with Kaiba and keep Ra if Kaiba somehow managed to beat Yugi)
Might seem cliche but Yugi vs Pegasus is just so good. It's really the first time we truly see The Pharaoh and Yugi work together as a team. It was never just Yami dueling all the time when they switched, it was the two working in tandem. And we really only see that from time to time and no duel really shows that like Yugi vs Pegasus. Is nice.
@@ianr.navahuber2195 I kinda wish we saw more of them interacting during duels, but they made a point to always have it be YUGI thinking not Yami which they easily could've done, and Yugi did help Yami out a lot during duels so yeah they were a good team.
A pet favorite of mine is Joey vs Mako, it's one of those rare wholesome duels we get in the entire show. No bad blood, no high stakes. Just two chill dudes competing to see who's the best. And despite the lightheartedness of the duel, we are still reminded of the higher stakes with the Rare Hunters observing the duel, and Yugi/Kaiba frantically searching for Joey and co.
@@Shantae1188 He is hyperfocused on getting his revenge on Atem by hurting Atem's friends. But he shirks responsibilities by using minions the same way he shirked his responsibilities as a tombkeeper.
@@mrnubbones8626 Yugi vs Dartz is like a discussion in kindergarten. "I'm 100 cool." "Yeah? Okay, then I'm 101 cool" "but I'm infinite cool" "but I'm I infinite *plus one* cool"
"Here it's just a little bit sad really." RIGHT?! Like....oof. Seeing the Pharaoh, someone who was so regal, and composed just BREAK over his mistake....tbh as a kid I felt SO bad but as an adult I'm like "THAT'S CALLED KARMA BISS!" and the duel between him and Yugi in the Stone Circle is....Yo. THAT is some shit. Yugi straight up verbally smacking the Pharaoh around was rough. Needed, but rough.
@@miladyragnarok8371 absoLUTELY. I remember watching that stone circle duel like "oh ho...oh....ohhhh yugi is just....wow ok my dude calm down" lol I had a feeling it was an act to snap the Pharaoh out of his funk and knowing that made it somehow worse. All the feels were in that duel.
Atem vs Kaiba is definitely number 1. Not only was their duel dynamic, but also clash of wills between the two and weight of their dialogue when taking into account their past is amazing. Kaiba wants to bury the past as there is nothing but tragedy there and is focused on his future, but Atem cannot continue on and build a future for himself without his memories.
@@Long537 Yes. Episode 129 to 134. I just watched it and it was amazing from start to finish. I really considered it the best duel in entire franchise (spin-offs included).
7:57 yugi didn't really side decked dark sage (i men this is Pre-Rules Yu-Gi-Oh. Side decking doesn't even exist). this situation is more like "Huh. So that's why Yugi originally had time wizard"
Personally my favorite duel was between Arcana/Pandora and Yugi. I was always a big fan of magicians so to see a duel revolved around the Dark Magician made me excited. Then I get the slice that is Arcana's backstory and that showed me how manipulative Marik was. And then Dark Magician Girl came up. Also you should be a Pegasus voice actor. You literally sound like him. Nice list by the way.
Mine was Valon vs Joey. The fact that, instead of saying what the monsters to do (activate effects, declare attack tec.), was actually Vallon that do all, was very interesting. Especially at the end was almost watching a mix of duel monsters and gundam.
Or Joey vs Mai right after he beat Valon had Joey not collapsed from exhaustion he would of won vs Mai and would of been a major role in the duel with Kaiba and Yami-Yugi vs Dartz knowing that he had the other legendary dragon besides Yugi and Kaiba.
id like to give an honourable mention to zigfriend vs kaiba, and Atem vs leon. both were some fantastic duels as well. specially when kaiba out of left field said "ILL USE 4 SPELLS THIS TURN!" with just 1 card in his hand the leon duel was incrediblely clever by Atem given teh busted bullshit Golden Castle was pulling
I have a TOTAL soft spot for both of the Joey vs. Mai duels in Rise of the Dragons. The tension, the backstory, how intense of an upgrade both have had since that first Duelist Kingdom match...top-tier for me
Agreed! And seeing Mai snap out of it right as Joey collapses. I remember being so amazed with HL Phoenix Formation. We hadn’t seen the Harpie’s in so long and then all of a sudden Mai’s swarming strategy (at least for back then standards) got an additional strategy.
Joey almost defeating Marik was one of the best underdog stories in anime. I was so crushed as a kid when he lost. Shame they decided not to go with that outcome
Probably unpopular opinion, but one of my favorites was Kaiba vs Siegfried/Zigfried. That duel has such an impressive comeback, and for me it perfectly displays Kaiba's skill as a duelist.
My personal favorite duel is Yugi vs Pegasus. It was so crazy and fun. This duel actually gave me the idea of actually dueling blind and switching around strategies around when my opponent reads me.
6:58 kinda funny how the dub for once didn't even implied "they will be magically transported to the shadow realm through a portal underwater". No. they REALLY left this one unmarked. kinda making Marik look like "he really escalated stuff this time". The dub REALLY wanted to make this duel be as dramatic as possible
Personally, I think they just couldn't come up with any logical, non-lethal alternative. At least without redrawing the whole episode. So they just decided to leave it as it was.
Tied to anchors with only a limited time to declare a winner with someone else's life dangling on the line with a shipping container hung above them if someone tries to intervene, what is this Saw? They really didn't know how to censor this one
@@szbszig I think it was more to preserve the emotional impact. They could have had the hidden portal to the shadow realm that was the actual threat below, just like they did with Lumis and Umbra. But can we mention the real highlight of that part, which is Kaiba disarming a person by throwing a card at him? Hoping that he isn't using one of his rare cards, and then musing he is too good at drawing after seeing it was a Blue-Eyes. Peak Kaiba.
I didn't like how in the anime they changed the reasons for Bakura's moves. In the Manga he had to summon Dark Necrofear by having the fiends in attack position first where in the anime it is a barely explained plot hole. In his duel against Marek he never attempts to use Ra, only send it to the graveyard. Bakura is an even better player in the Manga. Plus he has a higher body count.
My Top Ten List: 10: Joey Vs Valen - Honestly, I've always really loved Valens armor cards and thought it bought a really cool different aspect that stood out to me in a really cool way. 9: Yugi Vs Mime: First time we saw Yugi go up against a god card and oh boy it was intense. 8: Ishizu Vs Kaiba: I'm sorry but Kaiba changing the future to win a childrens card game was too hilariously awesome for me to handle 7: Mai Vs Yami Marik: Yami Marik was absolutely nuts and this duel really upped the stakes for me. The ending with Joey jumping infront of Ra was so epic too. 6: Yugi Vs Raphael: I really like Raphaels Deck and seeing Yugi lose in what was basically the only REAL loss he ever had was pretty nuts. Also, Evil Yami Yugi. 5: Yugi Vs Pegasus: For obvious reasons 4: Yugi Vs Possessed Joey (Battle City): Honestly surprised this one didn't make the list in the video, this duel always felt like the stakes were higher simply because 4kids didn't actually mess around with shadow realm shenanigans and ONE OF THEM WAS GOING TO DIE. Honestly, the stakes in this one absolutely wrecked me 3: Joey Vs Marik: You know, if Joey had won (And he should have won) this probably would have been my favourite. What an amazing twist that would have been. I honestly think this duel even hurt the final duel with Yugi, because really, it should have been Joey, we all know it should have been Joey. 2: Yugi Vs Kaiba (Battle City): Yup 1: The Final Duel: The only reason it goes higher up for me than Yugi Vs Kaiba is because of Yugi having to beat all 3 god cards at the same time and then that emotional payoff at the end where Yami Yugi goes to the afterlife. Really, it was a perfect ending to the series.
acktually the real greatest duel of the series is the 4 way to see what matchups go into the battle city finals with joey playing everyone to get what he wanted.
My favorite moment from Duel Monsters is definetely Joey vs Marik. Just from remembering this duel here I got tears in my eyes. MY GOD THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! I'm a huge Joey fan, so a lot of my favorite moments involve him, like his duel against Valon. I mean, duel monster armors you wear yourself, that's amazing!!! Also his duel against Yugi in Battle City is pretty cool, his duel against Rex and May in Waking the Dragons and his tag duel with Yugi against the five investor of Kaiba Corp. on that filler arc that happenned in between Battle City prelims and Battle City finals.
@Jamal Robertson Yeah but Rafael was TRICKED into following Dartz and he was being fed lies his entire life pretty much. Since his parents died Dartz was his only voice of reason. So it isn't entirely his fault. IMO his character was the most interesting out of the arc. I do agree that Allistor and Dartz were shitty characters but I think Valon's backstory was interesting as well.
#5 - I'm slightly miffed that you didn't mention one of the best parts of this duel - that Kaiba shows up to _encourage Yugi._ In fact, it's Kaiba's words that help Yugi realize _how_ to break the combo. It's even a really neat foreshadowing to their eventual cooperation during the Lumis/Umbra duel. #3 - I think this part gets even better when you remember that in the manga, Marik is so utterly stunned by what happens that he literally nearly vomits on the spot after Joey collapses. #2 - The icing on the cake for this fight is _also_ the symbolism inherent in Yugi sealing Monster Reborn inside of the sarcophagus. They state this a little more explicitly in the manga, but by sealing off both Duelists from using MR, in effect Yugi is saying that the dead should rest. That Atem should go home. #1 - yeah no arguments whatsoever, that final Diffusion-Wave Motion was so clutch. "You can pile hatred upon hatred, Kaiba... but it's fragile!"
oh thank GOD I'm not the only one MIFFED he didn't mention Kaiba coming in to ENCOURAGE Yugi.....in his own...weird Kaiba way lol. Kaiba's a dick but he doesn't mess around and I like that about him. And I love that touch in the Ceremonial Duel as well because this translates over to the Dark Side of Dimensions sequel film-Yugi clearly misses the Pharaoh but unlike Kaiba who can't go on, Yugi's let go and has moved on. He's grown up and even without asking for it, got that kind of closure with Atem he might not have needed, but was probably thankful for it anyways. It was certainly nice to see the Pharaoh again-I know people hate he saved the day but gotta remember Yugi was the one who dueled to the end, and didn't even ask for the Pharaoh's help. He came of his own volition. Says a lot.
funny thing about number one is that diffusion wave motion was entirely unnecessary. Seto's life points were low enough that destroying just one blue eyes would have won yugi the duel
When it comes to these lists why does NO ONE ever mention The Pharaoh vs Yugi in the Valley place? That's pretty rough to one see Yugi so angry even though in hindsight we know it's an act, and two to have the Pharaoh's mistake played out in front of him-as if his own mind repeating it over and over wasn't bad enough now Yugi, kind sweet Yugi was throwing it back in his face. And Yami not wanting to hurt Yugi but knowing he HAD to hurt Yugi to save him it was a pretty emotional duel.
So glad to see clash of the colosseum on the number 1 spot. It has always been my favorite duel ever since I first saw it as a child. Was so cool to see the two gods and then the ace monsters against eachother.
Fun fact: it was the first ever duel where Yugi won by making his opponent deck out. In fact, because of that duel, it became an official win condition in the TCG rules.
I don't care if the Waking the Dragons arc was a filler, it is my personal favorite, Favorite battle, of cause it is Rafael beating Yugi, they are so many interesting rivalries that where established outside the main story, Alister vs Kaiba, Valon vs Joey and of cause Yugi vs Rafael, Thinking of it makes me wanna watch it again!
Let's not forget Mai's rivalry with Joey after she joins Dartz's gang and how their second duel was very climatic with Joey's on the verge of defeating Mai before he collapsed from exhaustion from his duel with Valon and losing his soul.
My favorite is definitely Joey vs Marik. Joey has shown his growth through the series and puts Mark to his limit. Marik at the end throws up in his hand.
Definitely the only one with this opinion, but one of my favorite duels was the duel where Rex dueled Joey and weevil dueled Yugi simultaneously with the seal of orichalcos . So many cool monsters were summoned that duel!
Agreed. The way those duels played out were awesome, but the way those episodes were written, to have them both happening at the same time, was just so good.
Something I like about Number 1 was, looking back at it now, it's a duel that represents the fast-pace plays of the modern age in the early days of the game... Like, you can have this kind of back and forth of present day in the early days... If that makes sense
I'd also add syrus and Jayden vs the paradox brothers It's a duel that helps syrus gain more confidence and those two were on the back foot for two reasons and still won by syrus it's fitting
Sure There Wasn't As Much On The Line, But My Number 1 Favorite Duel Will Always Be The Pharaoh Vs. Panik. The Others May Be Interchangeable, But Not That One For Me. I Just Love How The Pharaoh Was Using It As A Teaching Moment & A Way To Get His Jabs In At Panik At The Same Time
Ooh this is going to be tough since I haven't seen the while series in forever, but here I go. #10 - Yugi and Joey vs Para and Dox First tag duel and love the neat idea for the board being a maze. #9 - Kaiba and Yugi vs Noah Just loved to see the look of distraught on the little brat's face. #8 - Yugi vs Pain I know major shenanigans occurred, but I love the strategy plays. #7 - Joey/Yugi vs Weevil A two for one. Honestly, if seeing Noah's face getting horrified was satisfying, seeing Weevil's horrified face was just beautiful. #6 - Joey and Yugi vs Big 5 Seeing sweet new monsters and the Big 5 getting their asses handed to them was just awesome. #5 - Yugi vs Kaiba (first duel) All I have to say is...EXODIA OBLITERATE!! #4 - Joey vs Marik C'mon! Joey should have won that one! #3 - Yugi vs Pegasus He already stated all the reasons. #2 - Yugi vs Kaiba (Battle City) Second verse, same as the third. #1 - Yugi vs Atem (Final Duel) That proper mix of emotion, twists and turns, amazing strategies, and lastly, finding out who was the TRUE King of Games. Honorable mentions to Bakura vs Little Yugi, Joey vs Espa Roba, and Yugi vs Marik.
Awesome List You're right, "Clash of the Coliseum" deserves the 1st place. Personally I feel "Mime Control" should be higher on the list. The Infinite Loop tactic is so genius. Yugi is the only one who defeated an Egyptian God card without another God Card. Both Kaiba and Merick simply were given an Egyptian God Card, but Yugi actually managed to win it.
Agreed love Yugi and Kaiba's Battle City duel. God card versus god card it's so epic. Especially because the duel isn't even over when the god cards go down. And Kaiba finally zips it after boasting the whole tournament. Definitely the best duel of the show for me as well.
I really loved the Marik vs. Atem duel, or Marik vs. Bakurra duel. It was great seeing two villains duel eachother! I generally think of Bakurra as an underrated duelist (he has a low win ratio, because he only bothered to duel Yugi most of the time) whereas Marik is the epitome of great Yugioh villain, as he is such an antithesis to Atem/Yugi that it makes him the perfect villain. He is the definition of a dark mirrored character.
among my favorites is the duel against Noah, mainly for the ending because for that one I could predict the winning play as Yugi was doing it, that give soo much hype and make me so happy back then :)
I'm hoping that we still end up getting your top ten favorite duels from the other series because I found this to be a fun idea from you and probably one of my favorite videos to see you come out with aside from some of your regular series Mr TGS.😅😃
The Yugo vid Joey duel in the Duelist Kingdom arch is so iconic and gets you right in your emotions… it is still to this day my PERSONAL favorite because you can just see the bond between these two
I honestly do like the duel, even after finding out it never happened in the manga, but this duel was mainly the combination of everything both Joey and yugi learned throughout all their duels on the island. I still think this duel didn't really need to happen, as it made sense Joey knew yugi was the only one of the two to even have a chance to defeat Pegasus and his millenium eye, but a very fun duel none the less!
Idk why he chose Joey x weevil instead while this was an easy top 5 (maybe even top 3). 4 episodes full of twists plus they were wearing armors and attacking as if they were their own monsters, that was 🔥 🔥
Yeah, I think it would’ve been cooler to have Joey VS Yugi in the Battle City Final with Joey bringing Ra and Yugi with Obelisk and Slifer. Also I figured the first duel of the DM series would’ve been up there simply because “Exodia, OBLITERATE!!”
To this day, I've always headcanoned that Yugi and/or Grandpa eventually recollected the Exodia pieces (they own a game shop and thus unlimited booster packs, after all), but he just never re-added them to his deck because he realized what an unstoppable force they were (plus, they were grandpa's cards and not his).
An unstoppable force unless you use gumblar dragon's busted ass effect to force your opponent to discard 1 or 2 cards by discarding 1 or 2 cards yourself to make them discard a piece of exodia
I love this list. I think moments like these might be the best thing in the Yugioh IP, a few of these, like Joey vs Marik, gave me a little water in the eyes because there's just something beautiful about all those story beats put together of someone who has always seemed weaker than the people in the spotlight but he pushed himself to his limit and blew everybody's expectations out of the water. I wholeheartedly agree with Rafael vs Yugi being on the list, for all the reasons you mentioned, and it was a favorite among some of my friends and I, where we'd remark how they make such a small change to how they draw Yugi by making one of the light reflections in his eyes red and that's enough to make him look super evil, fitting the story of the duel. For Bakura, the Battle City duel had a lasting impression, what I liked most about it was that the spirit of the Millennium Ring, as he and Bakura are facing the finishing blow of the duel aimed at them, decides to take the hit for Bakura to protect him. Even though an evil spirit could probably make the same decision purely out of pragmatism, it felt to me like that was the start of defining the spirit of the Ring as a more complex villain. And lastly, your #1 choice was the first thing that came to my mind when I think of great duels from this series.
10. Kaiba vs Leichter The “Virtual World” arc is one of my favorite storylines. I really like the mechanic of “Deck Masters” and I like how the “Big Five” all take the form of their deck masters. I especially like how Leichter’s deck was based around cards that cost life points and cards that replenished life points. It’s both a unique playstyle and fitting for a duellist with a financial background. Kaiba ramming his monsters into Injection Fairy Lilly was a clever counter as it forced him to pay life points until he couldn’t afford to use his card effects anymore. 9. Yugi and Kaiba vs Dart Two rivals teaming up to duel the most OP character… at least in the classic series. Dartz’s cards were so powerful that Yugi and Kaiba brought out Dragon Master Knight on the first turn and we’re still at a disadvantage. The duel reached a point where Yugi and Dartz were both still in the game and Yugi won by destroying a monster with infinite attack… using a monster with BEYOND infinite attack. My only problem with this duel is that it had no real build up and had so many absurdly powerful cards that it felt over saturated. 8. Yugi and Joey vs the Big Five One of the most unique formats for a duel: a 2V1 but the “1” is five people tagging in and out as they see fit. It was cool to see Joey and Yugi combine their ace monsters and it was very cathartic for Joey to be so crucial to the endgame, when he was only included because the Big Five thought he’d hold Yugi back. 7. Kaiba vs Zigfried My least favorite arc in the series, but this duel was cool. Between seeing him OTK a 2v1 duel and how much control he had in his duel win Joey, he was established as a force to be reckoned with and it was great to see someone finally beat him. It was also cool when Zigfried saw the top 3 cards in Kaiba’s deck and they were all Blue Eyes White Dragons 6. Yugi vs PaniK Usually I’m annoyed by how vague the rules are in the early seasons, but I like how thematic this one is. PaniK was a bully who relied on keeping his monsters hidden so they could attack but not be attacked. Yugi foiled this strategy with Swords of Revealing Light. When Panik used Yellow Luster Shield to further protect his monsters, but this became a prison when the Castle of Illusions fell on them and they couldn’t escape. This makes no sense under the game’s rules, but the duel serves well as an anti bullying metaphor. 5. Joey vs Kaiba (after Battle City) A rare but refreshing duel where there’s no stakes outside of bragging rights. I wish we could have seen Joey use some of his bigger monsters, but it is impressive how close he came to winning despite being neutered by the Crush Card Virus. Also, it was epic to see Joey control a Blue Eyes White DragonZ 4. Yugi and Joey vs Paradox brothers The first duel to stray from the 1v1 format, which I always love, and having the duel operate in a maze was another cool way to differentiate it from other duels 3. Yugi vs Pegasus The Toon Monsters are both entertaining to watch and an imposing threat. Yugi and Atem keeping secrets from each other was a great way to get around Pegasus’ mind reading. The Shadow Game part was good, but I’d have been satisfied if the game ended when Pegasus lost his toons 2. Yugi vs Atem It was surreal to see monsters like Gaia the Fierce Knight and Summoned Skull battle each other, it was amazing to see Yugi destroy all three God Cards at once, and to have Yugi ultimately win by knowing what card Atem would play was a great way to end it. Yugi saying “I did, in fact I was counting on it” is the most badass moment in the show. 1. Yugi vs Kaiba (Battle City) Just a perfectly paced duel. First it’s a race to get three monsters on the field, as whoever summons their God card first will probably win. They summon their God cards almost simultaneously, and then it’s a clash of the Titans where the show does a great job making these completely different cards feel equally powerful. They destroy each other, and the rest of the duel becomes the classic Blue Eyes vs Dark Magician. The fact that Joey’s Red Eyes Black Dragon helps Yugi win is icing on the cake.
Agree with the list you have but one of my favorites was Yugi vs the rare hunter and how he figured out it was Exodia he was up against and how he was able to counter it. Super good play and also honorable mention. Yugi vs Noah when Yugi had the Blue eyes ultimate dragon
#10 Actually fun fact. Yugi was the one to come up with the strategy this time around, and not Yami. Yami was apposed to it given who they were up against. Even later on in the duel Yami continues to urge Yugi to stop switching places with him despite their advantage as the risk Is becoming too great on Yugis soul. As we know however Yugi refuses and holds out until he is at his limits.
In Joey's defense, he used Insect Queen and Legendary Fisherman once against Odion and never again, so he likely took them out of his deck after Battle City.
Joey vs Bandit Keith in Duelist Kingdom is an underrated duel. Go back and watch it again if you don't remember it. Best of Duelist Kingdom in my opinion.
No matter how many times I hear the Seal of Orichalcos music and Atem screaming, followed by Yugi sacrificing himself...I get chills and tear up. And the final battle between Yugi and Atem is always a tearjerker. As much as nobody wanted to say goodbye to Atem...he had to move on and let Yugi stand on his own.
That Orichalcos duel with Yugi vs Raphael is interesting for a few things... First: if Yugi didn't got corrupted by that power, he could keep going and using it with a huge advantage agains Darts at the end. Second: Yugi had a LOT of chances to win, but he messed up so bad that, well, he got his ass kicked to the shadow realm Third: Raphael was teasing him, like, that's unfair and stupid, he wanted to do it only to make Atem lose his mind in order to win, ignoring that he could be defeated painfuly Fourth: it was really, REALLY bad to see Atem treating his cards that way, even when Dark Magician Girl looks at him disappointed... Man, that was one hell of a duel. Yugi could win, but for the sake of plot, he lost. Same thing as Joey vs Marik, for the sake of FUCKING plot, he lost. I can't complain about the "Clash of the coloseum" duel, that one just made my heart race like a rabbit. Damn, each one of them, Yugi and Kaiba, kept countering theyr plays like there's no tomorrow, that was PURE ADRENALINE. Also, in that duel Yugi could CLEARLY make the fusion with Dark Magician and Red-Eyes, but didn't. He fusion summoned the Dark Paladin, because if he did summoned the Dragun of Red-Eyes, he would break Kaiba's mind again, and forever.
Fun fact: Your #9 is non-canon. In the manga, pegasus just said it was pointless and the tournament moved to duel yugi himself. It's a good duel, but I just learned of that fact recently.
@@anna.owo. Yugioh Duel Monsters is the ONLY yugioh series wherein the anime had a manga source. It's all the others that have separate canons between their anime and manga counterparts. The manga of Yugioh (the section named Duelist) is the canon, of which Yugioh Duel Monsters adapts (along with the section named Millennium World).
@@anna.owo. You can consider them different universes/canons, sure, but they really aren't all that different. The toei anime adapted the first 7 volumes then it moved to NAS for the rest (for a reason I don't know). Of course, the toei anime is a very loose adaptation, but the NAS anime follows the same storylines to what the rest of the manga had. They didn't adapt the stuff toei did (most notably Death-T and Monster World), so they had to improvise with changed motives and filler for Duel Monsters. I'm still rereading the manga so idk about major plot differences from battle city and onward, but at least you can clearly see that NAS's anime is an adaptation of Kazuki Takahashi's manga from chapter 60 onwards (the beginning of Duelist for English releases). This isn't like GX/5Ds (and the others after that I assume) where there is clearly very little connection between the canon material of the anime and manga.
Yugi vs Pegasus is my favorite match in the original series. And for the exact reasons that you mentioned. I want to praise the excellent job you did explaining why it's such a great duel with the scenes, stakes involved, Pegasus as a character, and just the overall atmosphere. For me, it's the finale of my favorite season with everything on the line, some of my favorite characters in play, with some of my favorite monsters making an appearance as well. It's the perfect duel for me, only lacking the presence of my favorite character, but it's perfect in every other way.
I really like how you never gave a single villain multiple spots on this list. Well done! (I personally chose Yugi vs Kaiba - Duelist Kingdom at #1 because it set the tone for both characters moving forward. The struggle between Yugi and the Pharaoh on winning vs risking the life of another and Kaiba’s determination to save his younger brother. This is also why I personally really enjoyed Noah’s arc (lol btw) because of how much we got to see the 2 brothers backstory)
Zigfried vs Kiaba. favorite duel by far. Just how they were getting stuff out on the field and everything. Kiaba not having to lose because he isn't the main character. The ending was insane and yeah. Also the Kiaba screws the rules video is absolutely hilarious
Joey would've lost regardless of time wizard. Dark Magician was about to win Yugi the duel already. Either way, guarenteeing the win is a stretch, as Yugi would've been dependant on Joey using time wizard against only Dark Magician. Any other monster would've cost Yugi the duel.
Pegasus is my favorite character and that is my favorite duel as well! I absolutely love the Toon cards as well as the deck and yes Pegasus is fun to impersonate! I do that a lot when I duel with my Toon deck!
![Was Rafael About To Defeat Yugi? [Grappling with a Guardian]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1uyQESA8ypo/mqdefault.jpg)
![Was Rafael About To Defeat Yugi? [Grappling with a Guardian]](/img/tr.png)
Imagine if Joey beat Marik. That would have been awesome and so unexpected
Sadly...plot armour caused joey to lose..
Imagine Joey being the true master of Ra's
Rafael Diaz It’s funny because Joey wouldn’t even be able to use Ra. Joey doesn’t know Egyptian, doesn’t have Egyptian heritage, or doesn’t have magic that can subdue a God (Like the Orichalcos). It would literally be a dead card that he would most definitely put in his deck probably just to fuck with Kaiba
@@antg2183 I'm sure they'd work it into the plot somehow
bodki malone Idk the plot likes to embarrass Joey. I’m sure the plot would make it so that Kaiba wants to embarrass Joey because he can’t use it BUT Joey would embarrass Kaiba because he has Ra and Kaiba doesn’t (I also think it would be gold if Joey won against Marik but drops out the tournament to fuck with Kaiba and keep Ra if Kaiba somehow managed to beat Yugi)
Might seem cliche but Yugi vs Pegasus is just so good. It's really the first time we truly see The Pharaoh and Yugi work together as a team. It was never just Yami dueling all the time when they switched, it was the two working in tandem. And we really only see that from time to time and no duel really shows that like Yugi vs Pegasus. Is nice.
agreed. they actually made use of their own millenium item. it was really good
@@ianr.navahuber2195 I kinda wish we saw more of them interacting during duels, but they made a point to always have it be YUGI thinking not Yami which they easily could've done, and Yugi did help Yami out a lot during duels so yeah they were a good team.
@@TheRibottoStudios Yugi was foreshadowing his future surpassing of Atem in that duel imo
The toonworld was unexpected and awesome
Ok Boomer
"Oh and did I mention that this video is sponsored by Raid Shadow Legends?"
*AS PRESIDENT OF KAIBA CORP I DECLARE THIS INVALID!*
A pet favorite of mine is Joey vs Mako, it's one of those rare wholesome duels we get in the entire show. No bad blood, no high stakes. Just two chill dudes competing to see who's the best. And despite the lightheartedness of the duel, we are still reminded of the higher stakes with the Rare Hunters observing the duel, and Yugi/Kaiba frantically searching for Joey and co.
I forget, why were they searching for Joey?
Marik was intending to harm them to get to the pharaoh
Something to consider is that Mako was the only opponent Joey faced who lost with honor (no cheating)
Mako: the only person who dueled Joey in the Battle series arc who didn’t cheat
@@Shantae1188
He is hyperfocused on getting his revenge on Atem by hurting Atem's friends. But he shirks responsibilities by using minions the same way he shirked his responsibilities as a tombkeeper.
People: "I think the moment where Yugi summoned Exodia was the best moment"
Me, an intellectual:
*"attacc da moon"*
Oh yeah how about getting you monster over infinity
@@mrnubbones8626 Yugi vs Dartz is like a discussion in kindergarten.
"I'm 100 cool."
"Yeah? Okay, then I'm 101 cool"
"but I'm infinite cool"
"but I'm I infinite *plus one* cool"
Mi Zi yeah and the kid who said he was infinity plus one cool won the argument
*#lolz*
Mi Zi you said it as if it was Joey speaking but that was Yugi speaking
"Here it's just a little bit sad really."
RIGHT?! Like....oof. Seeing the Pharaoh, someone who was so regal, and composed just BREAK over his mistake....tbh as a kid I felt SO bad but as an adult I'm like "THAT'S CALLED KARMA BISS!" and the duel between him and Yugi in the Stone Circle is....Yo.
THAT is some shit. Yugi straight up verbally smacking the Pharaoh around was rough. Needed, but rough.
Ribotto Studios from tall to small
@@miladyragnarok8371 absoLUTELY. I remember watching that stone circle duel like "oh ho...oh....ohhhh yugi is just....wow ok my dude calm down" lol I had a feeling it was an act to snap the Pharaoh out of his funk and knowing that made it somehow worse. All the feels were in that duel.
Atem vs Kaiba is definitely number 1. Not only was their duel dynamic, but also clash of wills between the two and weight of their dialogue when taking into account their past is amazing. Kaiba wants to bury the past as there is nothing but tragedy there and is focused on his future, but Atem cannot continue on and build a future for himself without his memories.
Are you talking about the Battle City one?
@@Long537 Yes. Episode 129 to 134. I just watched it and it was amazing from start to finish. I really considered it the best duel in entire franchise (spin-offs included).
Too bad it has some plot armor shenanigans...like yugi summoning red eyes even though that's not how the magic card works
Fack atem
Yami-Yugi(Atem) VS. Kaiba(Rematch 2, Battle City) is SO #1 and I'm glad it is.
7:57 yugi didn't really side decked dark sage (i men this is Pre-Rules Yu-Gi-Oh. Side decking doesn't even exist). this situation is more like "Huh. So that's why Yugi originally had time wizard"
Oohh that makes sense
So he would've used it on dark magician the same way Joey uses it on baby dragon?
@@jamesholden5587 yes
@@ianr.navahuber2195 kinda wish we saw that now
That does explain y he had dark sage in the first place and y he never pulled it out until time wizard showed up
No kaiba vs zeigfried? That’s like no.3 for me. It’s such a good back and forth and is the perfect satisfying feeling of landing exact lethal.
It's also the only time we got to see Chaos Emperor Dragon Envoy of the End being used in the anime.
That is one of my favorite duels, and the way Kaiba won made me so satisfied, it was so clever
That last Kaiba turn is just perfection. Such an amazing play
ZentaYason “I declare I will use 4 magic cards this turn, and with those 4 cards I will destroy you!”
The second last duel from kaiba and the best
Personally my favorite duel was between Arcana/Pandora and Yugi.
I was always a big fan of magicians so to see a duel revolved around the Dark Magician made me excited. Then I get the slice that is Arcana's backstory and that showed me how manipulative Marik was. And then Dark Magician Girl came up.
Also you should be a Pegasus voice actor. You literally sound like him. Nice list by the way.
agreed i was looking for this one
'Then I get the slice'... I don't know whether this pun was intended, but I laughed out hard. ;)
My favorite part of that duel is when they went back and forth with their set spell and traps.
Mine was Valon vs Joey. The fact that, instead of saying what the monsters to do (activate effects, declare attack tec.), was actually Vallon that do all, was very interesting. Especially at the end was almost watching a mix of duel monsters and gundam.
Scrolled for a while looking for this one
Or Joey vs Mai right after he beat Valon had Joey not collapsed from exhaustion he would of won vs Mai and would of been a major role in the duel with Kaiba and Yami-Yugi vs Dartz knowing that he had the other legendary dragon besides Yugi and Kaiba.
Yes you’re right dude .That duel amazed me so much It is a battle between Equip Valon vs Equip Joey.....
You are aware that Mecha besides Gundam exist, right?
id like to give an honourable mention to zigfriend vs kaiba, and Atem vs leon. both were some fantastic duels as well. specially when kaiba out of left field said "ILL USE 4 SPELLS THIS TURN!" with just 1 card in his hand
the leon duel was incrediblely clever by Atem given teh busted bullshit Golden Castle was pulling
I have a TOTAL soft spot for both of the Joey vs. Mai duels in Rise of the Dragons. The tension, the backstory, how intense of an upgrade both have had since that first Duelist Kingdom match...top-tier for me
Agreed! And seeing Mai snap out of it right as Joey collapses.
I remember being so amazed with HL Phoenix Formation. We hadn’t seen the Harpie’s in so long and then all of a sudden Mai’s swarming strategy (at least for back then standards) got an additional strategy.
I was bot a big fan of the first one, but I really liked the second duel.
Joey almost defeating Marik was one of the best underdog stories in anime. I was so crushed as a kid when he lost. Shame they decided not to go with that outcome
Probably unpopular opinion, but one of my favorites was Kaiba vs Siegfried/Zigfried. That duel has such an impressive comeback, and for me it perfectly displays Kaiba's skill as a duelist.
Ikr?kaiba had one card and he predicted that he was gonna use 4 spells,and he fucking did
My personal favorite duel is Yugi vs Pegasus.
It was so crazy and fun. This duel actually gave me the idea of actually dueling blind and switching around strategies around when my opponent reads me.
I do that but In actual sports
It slowly evolved to madness
Guy That Omg tell me more
Uni BlackSister Hello long time no see
Uni BlackSister Yep
Uni BlackSister That’s cool
6:58 kinda funny how the dub for once didn't even implied "they will be magically transported to the shadow realm through a portal underwater". No. they REALLY left this one unmarked. kinda making Marik look like "he really escalated stuff this time". The dub REALLY wanted to make this duel be as dramatic as possible
Honestly I'm surprised they didn't change it I mean...it's 4kids
Personally, I think they just couldn't come up with any logical, non-lethal alternative. At least without redrawing the whole episode. So they just decided to leave it as it was.
Or they just didn't want to edit over all of that .. ill go with that
Tied to anchors with only a limited time to declare a winner with someone else's life dangling on the line with a shipping container hung above them if someone tries to intervene, what is this Saw? They really didn't know how to censor this one
@@szbszig I think it was more to preserve the emotional impact.
They could have had the hidden portal to the shadow realm that was the actual threat below, just like they did with Lumis and Umbra.
But can we mention the real highlight of that part, which is Kaiba disarming a person by throwing a card at him? Hoping that he isn't using one of his rare cards, and then musing he is too good at drawing after seeing it was a Blue-Eyes. Peak Kaiba.
"we are closer than brothers! But now we have to fight each other!" amazing duel.
I didn't like how in the anime they changed the reasons for Bakura's moves. In the Manga he had to summon Dark Necrofear by having the fiends in attack position first where in the anime it is a barely explained plot hole. In his duel against Marek he never attempts to use Ra, only send it to the graveyard. Bakura is an even better player in the Manga. Plus he has a higher body count.
Because, he didn’t know the effects of Ra, and Marik stole all of its attack points before it was summoned
I always loved the Little Yugi VS Bakura Duel. It really showed that Yugi has grown as a Duelist.
My Top Ten List:
10: Joey Vs Valen - Honestly, I've always really loved Valens armor cards and thought it bought a really cool different aspect that stood out to me in a really cool way.
9: Yugi Vs Mime: First time we saw Yugi go up against a god card and oh boy it was intense.
8: Ishizu Vs Kaiba: I'm sorry but Kaiba changing the future to win a childrens card game was too hilariously awesome for me to handle
7: Mai Vs Yami Marik: Yami Marik was absolutely nuts and this duel really upped the stakes for me. The ending with Joey jumping infront of Ra was so epic too.
6: Yugi Vs Raphael: I really like Raphaels Deck and seeing Yugi lose in what was basically the only REAL loss he ever had was pretty nuts. Also, Evil Yami Yugi.
5: Yugi Vs Pegasus: For obvious reasons
4: Yugi Vs Possessed Joey (Battle City): Honestly surprised this one didn't make the list in the video, this duel always felt like the stakes were higher simply because 4kids didn't actually mess around with shadow realm shenanigans and ONE OF THEM WAS GOING TO DIE. Honestly, the stakes in this one absolutely wrecked me
3: Joey Vs Marik: You know, if Joey had won (And he should have won) this probably would have been my favourite. What an amazing twist that would have been. I honestly think this duel even hurt the final duel with Yugi, because really, it should have been Joey, we all know it should have been Joey.
2: Yugi Vs Kaiba (Battle City): Yup
1: The Final Duel: The only reason it goes higher up for me than Yugi Vs Kaiba is because of Yugi having to beat all 3 god cards at the same time and then that emotional payoff at the end where Yami Yugi goes to the afterlife. Really, it was a perfect ending to the series.
acktually the real greatest duel of the series is the 4 way to see what matchups go into the battle city finals with joey playing everyone to get what he wanted.
There are so many memorable duels but there only one can win.
Or tie
Yugi vs Kaiba?
Yugi vs Marik?
Yugi vs Atem?
@@joshualowe959 dartz vs yugi and kaiba
@@StefanChemistMy #1 favorite duel.
My favorite moment from Duel Monsters is definetely Joey vs Marik. Just from remembering this duel here I got tears in my eyes. MY GOD THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!! I'm a huge Joey fan, so a lot of my favorite moments involve him, like his duel against Valon. I mean, duel monster armors you wear yourself, that's amazing!!! Also his duel against Yugi in Battle City is pretty cool, his duel against Rex and May in Waking the Dragons and his tag duel with Yugi against the five investor of Kaiba Corp. on that filler arc that happenned in between Battle City prelims and Battle City finals.
Honestly, raphael was one of the best characters... it's a shame how bad his deck is IRL...
#Day639ofWaitingForGuardianSupport
@Jamal Robertson Yeah but Rafael was TRICKED into following Dartz and he was being fed lies his entire life pretty much. Since his parents died Dartz was his only voice of reason. So it isn't entirely his fault. IMO his character was the most interesting out of the arc. I do agree that Allistor and Dartz were shitty characters but I think Valon's backstory was interesting as well.
Hey I'm waiting for support too, I want a new version of Eatos.
Yep. Too bad Guardian Eatos got nerfed compared to the anime effect.
It got support but not in the way people wanted.
Valon was always my favorite out of the three Dartz followers
How is Yugi vs. Arkana not on the list at all? The massive trap/counter/trap/counter moment is one of the greatest moments in Yugioh.
#5 - I'm slightly miffed that you didn't mention one of the best parts of this duel - that Kaiba shows up to _encourage Yugi._ In fact, it's Kaiba's words that help Yugi realize _how_ to break the combo. It's even a really neat foreshadowing to their eventual cooperation during the Lumis/Umbra duel.
#3 - I think this part gets even better when you remember that in the manga, Marik is so utterly stunned by what happens that he literally nearly vomits on the spot after Joey collapses.
#2 - The icing on the cake for this fight is _also_ the symbolism inherent in Yugi sealing Monster Reborn inside of the sarcophagus. They state this a little more explicitly in the manga, but by sealing off both Duelists from using MR, in effect Yugi is saying that the dead should rest. That Atem should go home.
#1 - yeah no arguments whatsoever, that final Diffusion-Wave Motion was so clutch. "You can pile hatred upon hatred, Kaiba... but it's fragile!"
oh thank GOD I'm not the only one MIFFED he didn't mention Kaiba coming in to ENCOURAGE Yugi.....in his own...weird Kaiba way lol. Kaiba's a dick but he doesn't mess around and I like that about him. And I love that touch in the Ceremonial Duel as well because this translates over to the Dark Side of Dimensions sequel film-Yugi clearly misses the Pharaoh but unlike Kaiba who can't go on, Yugi's let go and has moved on. He's grown up and even without asking for it, got that kind of closure with Atem he might not have needed, but was probably thankful for it anyways. It was certainly nice to see the Pharaoh again-I know people hate he saved the day but gotta remember Yugi was the one who dueled to the end, and didn't even ask for the Pharaoh's help. He came of his own volition. Says a lot.
@@TheRibottoStudios "Yugi! There's no such thing as infinity! That is merely God's deception!"
For #3 and #2, those things are directly stated or shown in the original JP anime, not just the manga. The dub removes both.
funny thing about number one is that diffusion wave motion was entirely unnecessary. Seto's life points were low enough that destroying just one blue eyes would have won yugi the duel
When it comes to these lists why does NO ONE ever mention The Pharaoh vs Yugi in the Valley place? That's pretty rough to one see Yugi so angry even though in hindsight we know it's an act, and two to have the Pharaoh's mistake played out in front of him-as if his own mind repeating it over and over wasn't bad enough now Yugi, kind sweet Yugi was throwing it back in his face. And Yami not wanting to hurt Yugi but knowing he HAD to hurt Yugi to save him it was a pretty emotional duel.
Maybe it wasn't one of his favorite duels
Cause people have different opinions
Caue that duel was too short and easy... it also got interrupted
For a fat minute there I thought you meant the ceremonial duel but then I remembered the 4th season duel 😂
*bad opinions
So glad to see clash of the colosseum on the number 1 spot. It has always been my favorite duel ever since I first saw it as a child. Was so cool to see the two gods and then the ace monsters against eachother.
The duel with Strings is my favorite, that Slifer loop OTK was so clever.
Sting? I must of missed an episode when did he duel sting from kiss
@@pearcegolding3544 My bad XD
My computer poorly corrected my word.
Mines apnarg vs Joey
I just love the ancient dragon!
Fun fact: it was the first ever duel where Yugi won by making his opponent deck out. In fact, because of that duel, it became an official win condition in the TCG rules.
@@MasterJunior93 Then what happened when you did deck out? I doubt it became a rule only after that.
I don't care if the Waking the Dragons arc was a filler, it is my personal favorite, Favorite battle, of cause it is Rafael beating Yugi, they are so many interesting rivalries that where established outside the main story, Alister vs Kaiba, Valon vs Joey and of cause Yugi vs Rafael, Thinking of it makes me wanna watch it again!
Agreed
Let's not forget Mai's rivalry with Joey after she joins Dartz's gang and how their second duel was very climatic with Joey's on the verge of defeating Mai before he collapsed from exhaustion from his duel with Valon and losing his soul.
It was good filler which is rare
My favorite is definitely Joey vs Marik. Joey has shown his growth through the series and puts Mark to his limit. Marik at the end throws up in his hand.
And then Kaiba burns him hard with " that duel showed me everything I needed to see"
Definitely the only one with this opinion, but one of my favorite duels was the duel where Rex dueled Joey and weevil dueled Yugi simultaneously with the seal of orichalcos . So many cool monsters were summoned that duel!
imsethboyer u got a point
Agreed. The way those duels played out were awesome, but the way those episodes were written, to have them both happening at the same time, was just so good.
BASERKA SOUL!
DURAH, MONSTA CARDO!
My favorite duel is the one with Dartz when Yugi returns the Legendary Dragons to their original forms.
Something I like about Number 1 was, looking back at it now, it's a duel that represents the fast-pace plays of the modern age in the early days of the game... Like, you can have this kind of back and forth of present day in the early days... If that makes sense
If we get a gx version then the Zane vs jaiden rematch (ep 51 - ep 52) has to be top 3. The ending was really good
that silent boy in legacy of the Duelist I actually ended the duel with final fusion
I'd also add syrus and Jayden vs the paradox brothers
It's a duel that helps syrus gain more confidence and those two were on the back foot for two reasons and still won by syrus it's fitting
13:35 You know Marik, Dueling you is like playing on the Nintendo Wii, it got boring after 10 minutes
You got that from yugioh the abridged series from little kuriboh
Create something original
@@edwardhutchinson4207 he's not wrong tho so who cares LOL
@@Sniffyy *laughs in Metroid Prime and Galaxy 2*
@@Sniffyy Literally any time I play a game on my Wii, it is far longer than 10 minutes
Yo, imagine if instead of Dark Paladin, Yugi summoned Red-Eyes Dragun when he brought out Red-Eyes against Kaiba.
sonicsaiyan07
Good lord
Dragun is evil
Lol
Kaiba: *Reads effect*
Kaiba:... What the hell is that broken monstrosity?!
@@jsb6975.ah.crapbaskets This coming from the guy who owns a dragon type effect monster with the most busted effect of all time
the duel between Yugi and Atem is one of my favorite duels.
Sure There Wasn't As Much On The Line, But My Number 1 Favorite Duel Will Always Be The Pharaoh Vs. Panik. The Others May Be Interchangeable, But Not That One For Me. I Just Love How The Pharaoh Was Using It As A Teaching Moment & A Way To Get His Jabs In At Panik At The Same Time
"DRAW! MONSTA CARDO!" Is my facourite moment. That and also Yami dealing with what he did and missing Yugi
Ooh this is going to be tough since I haven't seen the while series in forever, but here I go.
#10 - Yugi and Joey vs Para and Dox
First tag duel and love the neat idea for the board being a maze.
#9 - Kaiba and Yugi vs Noah
Just loved to see the look of distraught on the little brat's face.
#8 - Yugi vs Pain
I know major shenanigans occurred, but I love the strategy plays.
#7 - Joey/Yugi vs Weevil
A two for one. Honestly, if seeing Noah's face getting horrified was satisfying, seeing Weevil's horrified face was just beautiful.
#6 - Joey and Yugi vs Big 5
Seeing sweet new monsters and the Big 5 getting their asses handed to them was just awesome.
#5 - Yugi vs Kaiba (first duel)
All I have to say is...EXODIA OBLITERATE!!
#4 - Joey vs Marik
C'mon! Joey should have won that one!
#3 - Yugi vs Pegasus
He already stated all the reasons.
#2 - Yugi vs Kaiba (Battle City)
Second verse, same as the third.
#1 - Yugi vs Atem (Final Duel)
That proper mix of emotion, twists and turns, amazing strategies, and lastly, finding out who was the TRUE King of Games.
Honorable mentions to Bakura vs Little Yugi, Joey vs Espa Roba, and Yugi vs Marik.
I will never forget the tag team duel on the skyscraper with Yugi and kaiba , one of my personal favorites glad it made the list 😮💨
Awesome List
You're right, "Clash of the Coliseum" deserves the 1st place. Personally I feel "Mime Control" should be higher on the list. The Infinite Loop tactic is so genius. Yugi is the only one who defeated an Egyptian God card without another God Card. Both Kaiba and Merick simply were given an Egyptian God Card, but Yugi actually managed to win it.
not really. its blind luck. if yugi doesn't draw that exact card at that exact moment, hes done.
I love how the seal arc is filler yet it one of the best arcs in og yugioh
Agreed love Yugi and Kaiba's Battle City duel. God card versus god card it's so epic. Especially because the duel isn't even over when the god cards go down. And Kaiba finally zips it after boasting the whole tournament. Definitely the best duel of the show for me as well.
Sam you're a great guy and I always love your videos. I'm so glad you put Joey vs Marik it is my personal favorite duel in the og yugioh series
I really loved the Marik vs. Atem duel, or Marik vs. Bakurra duel. It was great seeing two villains duel eachother! I generally think of Bakurra as an underrated duelist (he has a low win ratio, because he only bothered to duel Yugi most of the time) whereas Marik is the epitome of great Yugioh villain, as he is such an antithesis to Atem/Yugi that it makes him the perfect villain. He is the definition of a dark mirrored character.
Bakura has the creepiest deck, which I think helps
among my favorites is the duel against Noah, mainly for the ending because for that one I could predict the winning play as Yugi was doing it, that give soo much hype and make me so happy back then :)
Some of my favorites you left out
Kaiba vs Yugi (S1 rematch)
Kaiba vs Alister(1st time)
Kaiba vs Zigfried
Yugi vs Weevil(rematch)
you know joey did well when seto compliments him.
an honestly wasnt expecting them 2 to be in first and second place
I'm hoping that we still end up getting your top ten favorite duels from the other series because I found this to be a fun idea from you and probably one of my favorite videos to see you come out with aside from some of your regular series Mr TGS.😅😃
my legendary duel against bella in duel world DM in duel links deserves a spot in this top 10
Also I think that Joey and Yugi’s second duel when Joey was mind controlled should be on the list
The Yugo vid Joey duel in the Duelist Kingdom arch is so iconic and gets you right in your emotions… it is still to this day my PERSONAL favorite because you can just see the bond between these two
I honestly do like the duel, even after finding out it never happened in the manga, but this duel was mainly the combination of everything both Joey and yugi learned throughout all their duels on the island. I still think this duel didn't really need to happen, as it made sense Joey knew yugi was the only one of the two to even have a chance to defeat Pegasus and his millenium eye, but a very fun duel none the less!
4:08 "The Graveyard _is_ on the field, isn't it?"
My personal favourite is Joey vs Valin just cause of how cool the fights were
Idk why he chose Joey x weevil instead while this was an easy top 5 (maybe even top 3). 4 episodes full of twists plus they were wearing armors and attacking as if they were their own monsters, that was 🔥 🔥
Yeah, I think it would’ve been cooler to have Joey VS Yugi in the Battle City Final with Joey bringing Ra and Yugi with Obelisk and Slifer. Also I figured the first duel of the DM series would’ve been up there simply because “Exodia, OBLITERATE!!”
That battle city semifinal between Yugi and Kaiba is incredible. Loved it, glad to see it at number 1
To this day, I've always headcanoned that Yugi and/or Grandpa eventually recollected the Exodia pieces (they own a game shop and thus unlimited booster packs, after all), but he just never re-added them to his deck because he realized what an unstoppable force they were (plus, they were grandpa's cards and not his).
An unstoppable force unless you use gumblar dragon's busted ass effect to force your opponent to discard 1 or 2 cards by discarding 1 or 2 cards yourself to make them discard a piece of exodia
I love this list. I think moments like these might be the best thing in the Yugioh IP, a few of these, like Joey vs Marik, gave me a little water in the eyes because there's just something beautiful about all those story beats put together of someone who has always seemed weaker than the people in the spotlight but he pushed himself to his limit and blew everybody's expectations out of the water. I wholeheartedly agree with Rafael vs Yugi being on the list, for all the reasons you mentioned, and it was a favorite among some of my friends and I, where we'd remark how they make such a small change to how they draw Yugi by making one of the light reflections in his eyes red and that's enough to make him look super evil, fitting the story of the duel. For Bakura, the Battle City duel had a lasting impression, what I liked most about it was that the spirit of the Millennium Ring, as he and Bakura are facing the finishing blow of the duel aimed at them, decides to take the hit for Bakura to protect him. Even though an evil spirit could probably make the same decision purely out of pragmatism, it felt to me like that was the start of defining the spirit of the Ring as a more complex villain. And lastly, your #1 choice was the first thing that came to my mind when I think of great duels from this series.
My favorite is probably yusei vs z-one the stakes are high and its an epic conclusion to my favorite yugioh show.
10. Kaiba vs Leichter
The “Virtual World” arc is one of my favorite storylines. I really like the mechanic of “Deck Masters” and I like how the “Big Five” all take the form of their deck masters. I especially like how Leichter’s deck was based around cards that cost life points and cards that replenished life points. It’s both a unique playstyle and fitting for a duellist with a financial background. Kaiba ramming his monsters into Injection Fairy Lilly was a clever counter as it forced him to pay life points until he couldn’t afford to use his card effects anymore.
9. Yugi and Kaiba vs Dart
Two rivals teaming up to duel the most OP character… at least in the classic series. Dartz’s cards were so powerful that Yugi and Kaiba brought out Dragon Master Knight on the first turn and we’re still at a disadvantage. The duel reached a point where Yugi and Dartz were both still in the game and Yugi won by destroying a monster with infinite attack… using a monster with BEYOND infinite attack. My only problem with this duel is that it had no real build up and had so many absurdly powerful cards that it felt over saturated.
8. Yugi and Joey vs the Big Five
One of the most unique formats for a duel: a 2V1 but the “1” is five people tagging in and out as they see fit. It was cool to see Joey and Yugi combine their ace monsters and it was very cathartic for Joey to be so crucial to the endgame, when he was only included because the Big Five thought he’d hold Yugi back.
7. Kaiba vs Zigfried
My least favorite arc in the series, but this duel was cool. Between seeing him OTK a 2v1 duel and how much control he had in his duel win Joey, he was established as a force to be reckoned with and it was great to see someone finally beat him. It was also cool when Zigfried saw the top 3 cards in Kaiba’s deck and they were all Blue Eyes White Dragons
6. Yugi vs PaniK
Usually I’m annoyed by how vague the rules are in the early seasons, but I like how thematic this one is. PaniK was a bully who relied on keeping his monsters hidden so they could attack but not be attacked. Yugi foiled this strategy with Swords of Revealing Light. When Panik used Yellow Luster Shield to further protect his monsters, but this became a prison when the Castle of Illusions fell on them and they couldn’t escape. This makes no sense under the game’s rules, but the duel serves well as an anti bullying metaphor.
5. Joey vs Kaiba (after Battle City)
A rare but refreshing duel where there’s no stakes outside of bragging rights. I wish we could have seen Joey use some of his bigger monsters, but it is impressive how close he came to winning despite being neutered by the Crush Card Virus. Also, it was epic to see Joey control a Blue Eyes White DragonZ
4. Yugi and Joey vs Paradox brothers
The first duel to stray from the 1v1 format, which I always love, and having the duel operate in a maze was another cool way to differentiate it from other duels
3. Yugi vs Pegasus
The Toon Monsters are both entertaining to watch and an imposing threat. Yugi and Atem keeping secrets from each other was a great way to get around Pegasus’ mind reading. The Shadow Game part was good, but I’d have been satisfied if the game ended when Pegasus lost his toons
2. Yugi vs Atem
It was surreal to see monsters like Gaia the Fierce Knight and Summoned Skull battle each other, it was amazing to see Yugi destroy all three God Cards at once, and to have Yugi ultimately win by knowing what card Atem would play was a great way to end it. Yugi saying “I did, in fact I was counting on it” is the most badass moment in the show.
1. Yugi vs Kaiba (Battle City)
Just a perfectly paced duel. First it’s a race to get three monsters on the field, as whoever summons their God card first will probably win. They summon their God cards almost simultaneously, and then it’s a clash of the Titans where the show does a great job making these completely different cards feel equally powerful. They destroy each other, and the rest of the duel becomes the classic Blue Eyes vs Dark Magician. The fact that Joey’s Red Eyes Black Dragon helps Yugi win is icing on the cake.
I'd thrown in Joey vs Solomon Moto. Student vs Teacher. It shows how much Joey learned as a duelist
When was that duel?
@@equivalentexchangeisalie5726 grand championship. Beginning of season 5. Called "Let The Games Begin "
Agree with the list you have but one of my favorites was Yugi vs the rare hunter and how he figured out it was Exodia he was up against and how he was able to counter it. Super good play and also honorable mention. Yugi vs Noah when Yugi had the Blue eyes ultimate dragon
#10 Actually fun fact. Yugi was the one to come up with the strategy this time around, and not Yami. Yami was apposed to it given who they were up against. Even later on in the duel Yami continues to urge Yugi to stop switching places with him despite their advantage as the risk Is becoming too great on Yugis soul. As we know however Yugi refuses and holds out until he is at his limits.
Love these. The duels were so epic! Your impersonation of Pegasus is too good. I agree with your top 2. So nostalgic
In Joey's defense, he used Insect Queen and Legendary Fisherman once against Odion and never again, so he likely took them out of his deck after Battle City.
Joey vs Bandit Keith in Duelist Kingdom is an underrated duel. Go back and watch it again if you don't remember it. Best of Duelist Kingdom in my opinion.
Truth
No matter how many times I hear the Seal of Orichalcos music and Atem screaming, followed by Yugi sacrificing himself...I get chills and tear up.
And the final battle between Yugi and Atem is always a tearjerker. As much as nobody wanted to say goodbye to Atem...he had to move on and let Yugi stand on his own.
Hope you can do the duels on the other series as well. Great job as always.
I don't have ten but I think my top 3 would be
1:Kiba Vs yugi battle city
2:atem Vs yugi
3marik Vs Joey or yugi Vs Raphael r1
Dude, you could start your own abridged series, I mean, we could make series of children's card game on hoverboard, or of course, on motorcycles
Oh no, he got hit by the raid shadow legends viruse... it was bound to happen sooner or later...
hey with adsense down because of the actual virus I'm not mad at people getting sponsors lol
Honorable mention to Joey vs Bandit Keith in Keith's Machinations.
Are u going to do all the shows I would to know the list for them all
They are fantastic the duels are remarkable.
That Orichalcos duel with Yugi vs Raphael is interesting for a few things...
First: if Yugi didn't got corrupted by that power, he could keep going and using it with a huge advantage agains Darts at the end.
Second: Yugi had a LOT of chances to win, but he messed up so bad that, well, he got his ass kicked to the shadow realm
Third: Raphael was teasing him, like, that's unfair and stupid, he wanted to do it only to make Atem lose his mind in order to win, ignoring that he could be defeated painfuly
Fourth: it was really, REALLY bad to see Atem treating his cards that way, even when Dark Magician Girl looks at him disappointed...
Man, that was one hell of a duel. Yugi could win, but for the sake of plot, he lost. Same thing as Joey vs Marik, for the sake of FUCKING plot, he lost.
I can't complain about the "Clash of the coloseum" duel, that one just made my heart race like a rabbit. Damn, each one of them, Yugi and Kaiba, kept countering theyr plays like there's no tomorrow, that was PURE ADRENALINE. Also, in that duel Yugi could CLEARLY make the fusion with Dark Magician and Red-Eyes, but didn't. He fusion summoned the Dark Paladin, because if he did summoned the Dragun of Red-Eyes, he would break Kaiba's mind again, and forever.
Clash in the Coliseum is definitely my #1 favourite duel in this series as well
Fun fact: Your #9 is non-canon. In the manga, pegasus just said it was pointless and the tournament moved to duel yugi himself. It's a good duel, but I just learned of that fact recently.
It is canon... The anime and Manga are very different and have different canons
@@anna.owo. Yugioh Duel Monsters is the ONLY yugioh series wherein the anime had a manga source. It's all the others that have separate canons between their anime and manga counterparts. The manga of Yugioh (the section named Duelist) is the canon, of which Yugioh Duel Monsters adapts (along with the section named Millennium World).
@@DuelingNetwork100 it is very different from the Manga, that doesn't make the story not cannon, I always saw both of them like to different universes
@@anna.owo. You can consider them different universes/canons, sure, but they really aren't all that different. The toei anime adapted the first 7 volumes then it moved to NAS for the rest (for a reason I don't know). Of course, the toei anime is a very loose adaptation, but the NAS anime follows the same storylines to what the rest of the manga had. They didn't adapt the stuff toei did (most notably Death-T and Monster World), so they had to improvise with changed motives and filler for Duel Monsters. I'm still rereading the manga so idk about major plot differences from battle city and onward, but at least you can clearly see that NAS's anime is an adaptation of Kazuki Takahashi's manga from chapter 60 onwards (the beginning of Duelist for English releases). This isn't like GX/5Ds (and the others after that I assume) where there is clearly very little connection between the canon material of the anime and manga.
My favourite duel of all time was your 5th pick...so glad to see it make the list...thanks
My favorite is in battle city Yami vs Kabia.
Yu-Gi-Oh is why I fell in love with semi final fights
My favorite duel was yugi's semi finals match against Mai. Cause he summoned Black Luster Soldier
Anything where yugi and kaiba are both dueling is epic , joey too ofc
Its time....to watch this video! XD
Yugi vs Pegasus is my favorite match in the original series. And for the exact reasons that you mentioned. I want to praise the excellent job you did explaining why it's such a great duel with the scenes, stakes involved, Pegasus as a character, and just the overall atmosphere. For me, it's the finale of my favorite season with everything on the line, some of my favorite characters in play, with some of my favorite monsters making an appearance as well. It's the perfect duel for me, only lacking the presence of my favorite character, but it's perfect in every other way.
Here is an interesting question:
What If Yugi Won Against Rafael?
Or zigfried🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ the german guy🇩🇪
I really like how you never gave a single villain multiple spots on this list. Well done!
(I personally chose Yugi vs Kaiba - Duelist Kingdom at #1 because it set the tone for both characters moving forward. The struggle between Yugi and the Pharaoh on winning vs risking the life of another and Kaiba’s determination to save his younger brother. This is also why I personally really enjoyed Noah’s arc (lol btw) because of how much we got to see the 2 brothers backstory)
DRAW MONSTER CARDO
My favorite duel was Yugi v Yugi. Or atem. Just because it was such a great duel
Wrong title, the title was meant to be top 10: yugioh duel monsters duels
Richard changed it now 😅 much note accurate
Zigfried vs Kiaba. favorite duel by far. Just how they were getting stuff out on the field and everything. Kiaba not having to lose because he isn't the main character. The ending was insane and yeah. Also the Kiaba screws the rules video is absolutely hilarious
I'm probably the only one who remembers when kaiba threatens yugi with suicide.
Nothing like fun card game when you get sent to the shadow realm.
My absolute favorite duel in all of yugioh is kaiba vs yugi clash at the coliseum.
When Yugi gives Joey the wizard of time, Yugi guaranteed his victory. Coincidence?! Mmm..
Joey would've lost regardless of time wizard. Dark Magician was about to win Yugi the duel already. Either way, guarenteeing the win is a stretch, as Yugi would've been dependant on Joey using time wizard against only Dark Magician. Any other monster would've cost Yugi the duel.
Pegasus is my favorite character and that is my favorite duel as well! I absolutely love the Toon cards as well as the deck and yes Pegasus is fun to impersonate! I do that a lot when I duel with my Toon deck!
skip the ad 1:53
Melik Dogan thanks, this will be helpful for many!
Fav duel is the one on the train; Atem slashing Weevil like he was bread was sadistic. Glad I found this channel!
Ahem ahem.Yugi vs Panik lollll