As someone who has played a lot of modern Yu-Gi-Oh, I can’t tell you how much I’ve loved taking a break and playing some classic old-school Yu-Gi-Oh.
Getting together with a few friends, making some old-school decks, and having our own Battle City tournaments.
It’s a lot of fun.
And if you want to add some old-school styles to Yu-Gi-Oh (or if you just love the Anime), there’s no better place to look for ideas than the King of Games, Yugi Muto.
And for this Yugi’s Cards list, we’ll look at some of Best Yugi’s Cards, from the ones he used in the first episode to the ones he used in the last fight.
21. Gandora the Dragon of Destruction
This dragon didn’t join Yugi’s deck until the last season, but when it did, Gandora did not fail.
Gandora doesn’t just look scary; it can also destroy and get rid of any other monsters on the field in return for half of its owner’s life points. When it’s done, it sends itself to the graveyard.
Gandora definitely lives up to its name as the “Dragon of Destruction,” whether it does so by killing other monsters or by destroying itself.
It also gets extra points for setting off the event that helped Yugi finally beat Yami Bakura.
20. 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom
One of the most popular types of monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh!
I’m not sure why most monsters that don’t need a tribute to call are now level 4, but that’s where we are.
And being able to get rid of all level 4 monsters at once can give you a huge edge in a duel.
Even though this card is rarely played, here’s what it does:
When the 4-Starred Ladybug of Doom is turned face up, you can destroy all level 4 monsters your opponent controls. It’s easy to see why Yugi would have run this back in the day.
19. Diffusion Wave-Motion
This card is a spell that will make the Dark Magician stronger.
Again, I can see why Yugi played it because it is one of the best Dark Magician support cards.
If you pay 1000 life points, your level 7 or higher Spellcaster (also known as the Dark Magician, who are we kidding, Konami?) can attack all monsters your opponent controls once each.
Even though your other monsters can’t attack the turn you use this card, having one strong monster attack multiple times is well worth the cost.
On top of that, the effects of monsters that are killed by your spellcaster can’t work and are cancelled. This means that monsters that search when they are destroyed, like Sangan, Witch of the Black Forest, are completely useless.
18. Kuriboh
Original series fans have a special place in their hearts for Kuriboh.
Kuriboh was one of the fight spirits that Yugi could talk to. Even though his attack stat isn’t the best, he’s a popular mascot for the series.
If you don’t know already, you can get rid of Kuriboh from your hand to make any attack do no harm.
In fact, Yugi used this power to save himself from an attack by Obelisk the Tormentor in the anime, so it has been used for good.
17. Buster Blader
This looks like one of the cards that Yugi put in his deck to annoy Kaiba.
Because Buster Blader gets 500 attack for every dragon monster on the field and in the graveyard of your opponent.
With a base attack of 2600, this can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time.
If you know that your opponent is trying to win with dragons, Buster Blader is the best way to stop them.
In fact, when Dragon-link decks became popular recently, Buster Blader decks saw a bit of a comeback because they were the best way to punish a player who summoned a lot of dragons.
16. Seven Tools of the Bandit
Trap cards can either win or lose a match.
You might be so close to winning, but one Magic Cylinder could ruin everything.
One way to improve your chances of winning is to be able to stop these strong traps. The king of games knows this.
Seven Tools of the Bandit lets you remove any trap card if you pay 1000 life points to cancel it.
Even though there are better “nullify” cards in current Yu-Gi-Oh, this was a very powerful card back in the old days.
15. Black Luster Soldier
Along with Relinquished, this guy was one of the first ritual monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh.
It’s a plain ritual monster that doesn’t do anything, so the only reason to call it is for its high attack stat. But in Yugi’s time, this was pretty powerful.
Since this card came out, there have been a few waves of support for it, and some people still play Black Luster Soldier decks today!
Rituals are used to bring strong monsters into play, and sometimes Gaia the Fierce Knight is used to do this.
Even though Black Luster Soldier doesn’t do much on its own, it’s still one of Yugi’s most well-known cards.
14. Giant Soldier of Stone
Since the start of Yu-Gi-Oh!, 2000 defense monsters have been strong.
Because 2000 is a pretty high number, and your opponent will probably have to sacrifice a summon or something to get over it.
Giant Soldier of Stone has been around for a long time, and it has always been a great way to buy time while your opponent tries to beat it.
Even though plain monsters aren’t used as much as they used to be, this is one of Yugi’s most famous cards.
13. Marshmallon
In old-school Yu-Gi-Oh!, Marshmallon is the best card to use as a troll.
What your opponent thinks is a harmless monster in the defense position is actually a wall that can’t be broken through and hurts them.
If your opponent attacks it while it is face down, they will take 1000 damage. On top of that, Marshmallon can’t be hurt in battle at all, so your opponent will have to find another way to get rid of him.
Who would have thought popcorn could be so strong?
12. Spellbinding Circle
Spellbinding Circle is the only way for Yugi to make all of his opponent’s monsters useless.
While Spellbinding Circle is face-up on the field, one of your opponent’s monsters can’t attack or change its battle position.
Save this card for your opponent’s most powerful monsters, especially those that take more resources to call.
There’s nothing better than flipping Spellbinding Circle after your opponent just spent 4 monsters on an expensive extra-deck monster.
11. Dark Magician Girl
Dark Magician Girl is one of Yugi’s most famous cards, which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. I mean, from season 2 on, was there a battle where Yugi didn’t call this card?
Every Dark Magician or Magician of Black Chaos you have in your graveyard gives Dark Magician Girl 300 attack.
Most Dark Magician decks make it very easy to put cards in the trash. So it’s easy to give Dark Magician Girl all of her power.
And if you want to remember a female face from Yu-Gi-Oh, it’s DMG.
10. Big Shield Gardna
This person has the best defense stats in the world.
Really, 2600 defense and no honor… how do you compete with that?
But this power doesn’t last forever, just like Goblin Attack Force:
When this card is attacked, it moves to attack position at the end of the damage step. This means that your opponent can use a different monster to hit this guy’s 100 attack.
But all you have to do to stop this is use Skill Drain. So, you’ll still get the monster with 2600 defense and no offerings, but without the bad things.
9. Dragon Master Knight
The Dragon Master Knight has one of the best attack numbers in the game, and that stat can be raised even more by its own effect.
If it were easy to call the Dragon Master Knight, I’d use it a lot more.
But unfortunately, it’s not so easy to get on the board. It needs the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and the Black Luster Soldier to work, so to call this guy, you need 5 monsters… plus a copy of Polymerization and the correct ceremony spell for Black Luster Soldier.
How hard can it get?
In the cartoon, it looked a lot easier…
8. Summoned Skull
Summoned Skull is without a doubt one of the best monsters you can call with tributes.
For giving up one monster, you get a beast with 2500 attack, which is a lot of power in old-school Yu-Gi-Oh.
When Summoned Skull came out, it made tribute summoning a lot easier. It also changed how summons were used in professional Yu-Gi-Oh.
There’s a reason why Yugi used this card back in season 1: it’s awesome.
7. Swords of Revealing Light
Sometimes all you need is a little time to get back on your feet.
One of the best ways to do this is with Swords of Revealing Light.
When you use this spell, you can stay safe from strikes for three turns. Yugi used this card a lot.
This gives you three turns to work on making your plan better.
You could maybe bring out some boss monsters or get some monsters from the extra deck if you have an extra Polymerization.
If you play a burn or Exodia plan, Swords of Revealing Light is also a great card.
6. The Winged Dragon of Ra
Now it’s time for the God cards.
Even though Slifer the Sky Dragon was Yugi’s main god card, by the end of the Battle City competition he had all three. So they should all be talked about.
The Winged Dragon of Ra is a card that comes with a lot of risk.
You can pay all of your life points except for 100, and Ra’s attack number will go up by that amount. This can make your attack stats very high, but it will also make you very weak.
Even Sparks would kill you at that point.
Ra can be a very strong card if you know for sure that your opponent doesn’t have any tricks up their sleeve. But be careful when you use it most of the time.
5. Dark Magician
We couldn’t talk about Yugi’s strongest cards without mentioning the wizard who is the best at both attacking and defending.
Dark Magician is one of the most famous cards in the history of Yu-Gi-Oh. Because of this, it has gotten a lot of support since the original show aired.
In fact, if you play this deck right, it can beat most meta decks.
The main plan is to put a lot of Dark Magicians on the field. Then, you can either use them to beat down your opponent or use them to summon even stronger monsters from the extra deck.
This is made easier by magic and traps that help cards like Dark Magical Circle and Magician’s Navigation find a Dark Magician right from the deck.
Dark Magician decks are, in my view, the best way to add a touch of the past to your modern games.
And 99 out of 100 times, when someone sees this card, they’ll think of Yugi Muto.
4. Slifer the Sky Dragon
Next is Slifer the Sky Dragon, which is the God card that Yugi uses the most.
This guy looks by far the most dangerous of the three god cards… Look at those two different sets of teeth!
Slifer gets stronger as your hand gets bigger. For every card in your hand, it adds 1,000 attack.
You can easily give Slifer insanely high attack stats, just like in the anime, by using draw magic like Pot of Desires.
As if Slifer wasn’t strong enough, it also has an effect that forever lowers the attack of every monster your opponent summons by a whopping 2000 points.
If this makes their attack equal to zero, they will also be killed.
That’s why they’re called “god cards.”
3. Monster Reborn
Monster Reborn was such a strong spell that it was banned for a long time. Only recently was it made legal again, but only one copy per deck.
And this has been around forever, so you probably know how it works: you can bring back a monster from either graveyard to your side of the field.
In the show, a lot of people played this card, and Yugi is definitely one of them.
2. Obelisk the Tormentor
The last of the three God cards is Obelisk the Tormentor.
This guy is my favorite, and it’s easy to see why you should play him in your deck these days.
Unlike the other two God cards, this guy’s attack stat isn’t affected by what it can do.
By default, it has a constant 4000 ATK. So, unlike the other two Egyptian Gods, our opponent won’t be able to mess with it.
Plus, with the Obelisk, you can sacrifice two other monsters you control to destroy all monsters your opponent controls once per turn.
As long as you have monsters to sacrifice, every turn is almost a Raigeki as long as you have monsters to sacrifice.
1. Exodia the Forbidden One
The best card in Yugi’s deck is actually a combination of five cards, but it’s Exodia’s head that makes the others work, so I’m giving him the top spot.
For those who don’t know much about Yu-Gi-Oh, the battle is won by Exodia when you have all 5 pieces in your hand.
The plot of the first episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series was based on this way to win.
Exodia is one of the most famous cards in the anime. Not only does it have an interesting history with the Shadow games played in ancient Egypt, but it was also used against Seto Kaiba in the very first episode.
Many of us got into Yu-Gi-Oh after seeing our main character, Yugi, win against all odds by trusting in the heart of the cards. This led to the amazing Yu-Gi-Oh community we know and love today.
