The first series ofYu-Gi-Oh!has some of the most iconic characters in the entire franchise. No character has left more of an impact than Yugi Muto himself as he clutched his way to victory on a single draw. While there are many cards that have had iconic effects throughout the series or significance to the story, such as the Dark Magician, which of his cards was actually good?
From game-winning combos to cards that got banned for being too overpowered, it seems Yugi’s deck is shown to contain some pretty great entries in the franchise’s history. So let’s take a closer look at the cards he played and see which ones were truly the best.
11Summoned Skull
Better Than Dark Magician
While the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime likes to have Yugi summon the Dark Magician as his ace monster, he had a much better card in his deck during those early days. Summoned Skull has the same 2500 attack as Dark Magician and requires one less monster as tribute.
This is why in the early days of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, players would summon neither of Yugi or Kaiba’s boss monsters in favor of this powerhouse. Lucky for Yugi,the Duelist Kingdom arc of the anime lets players get away with all sorts of illegal movesand Yugi never had to tribute to get out his Dark Magician or Summoned Skull.
10Exodia
A Game Winning Combo
Yugi Muto’s deck has had its fair share of cards over the years but one of the best got trashed early on. These are the Exodia pieces that won himhis original duel with Seto Kaiba. Unfortunately, they were tossed overboard on the way to Duelist Kingdom.
Just getting all five pieces of Exodia can win you a duel, so it makes sense for these cards to be wiped from Yugi’s arsenal. However, he doesn’t really get them back despite there existing multiple copies in the world.
9Monster Reborn
A Revival Card With Too Many Uses
Yugi had plenty ofcards in his deck that eventually got banned. One of these is Monster Reborn. Yugi would often use this effect to bring back some of his fallen monsters. However, in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, it is more powerful than that.
Monster Reborn can also take monsters from your opponent’s graveyard and get them on your own field. This works as a way to get more material on your board but also to get rid of graveyard pieces away from where your opponent wants them.
8Catapult Turtle
From Nonsensical Plays To Real World Exploits
Catapult Turtle made a few appearances in the anime, but the most iconic moment is when Yugi uses it to launch his own Monster at Panik’s Castle of Dark Illusion. It is one of the most bizarre moments from the first season of Yu-Gi-Oh!
However, Catapult Turtle is quite a good card. It allows you to tribute a monster and deal damage to your opponent equal to half of its attack. This made it useful for OTK methods until it eventually got an errata to say it could only be done once per turn.
7Mirror Force
The Scariest Card In Early Yu-Gi-Oh!
Battle Traps used to be so much better when they had a chance of lasting to the battle phase. However, during the Duel Monsters era of the game, Mirror Force was a pretty neat way of getting rid of all your opponent’s monsters.
Yugi used Mirror Force in the anime. However, he did so while bending the rules a bit. Yes, it destroys your opponent’s monsters if they get cocky with their summoning and choose to attack, but it does not deal any damage when triggered.
6Bottomless Trap Hole
Watching Monsters Fall
Nothing is more annoying than spitting out your strongest monster only to see it get immediately removed from the field. Bottomless Trap Hole is another one of those cards that wreaked havoc on Yugi’s opponents.
During this era, most players would be able to summon one monster per turn. If they got really lucky, they could spit out two. So making sure your opponent’s summon is wasted by using Bottomless Trap Hole, was a good way of pinning your opponent down.
5Pot Of Greed
So Complex It Needs Explanation
Pot of Greed is not just part of Yugi’s deck but it also played a role in many of his opponent’s decks. The ability to draw two cards without paying anything in return is a busted effect that resulted in the card being banned.
However, for Yugi and many of the duelists within the anime, that did not stop them from using the card or explaining what it does. This card also became so iconic thatmultiple Pot cards were printed trying to find a balance to the draw power.
4Breaker The Magical Warrior
When Yugi Has Old Meta Cards
While monsters with removal effects are everywhere in the modern game, Yugi’s period consists mostly of having cards fall for traps, getting destroyed by spells, or simply being beaten over by stronger Monsters. Breaker the Magical Warrior is a strong monster with the ability to pop a card in the back row.
This made it one of the more powerful cards Yugi used in the anime since it had such a good effect without resorting to making up rules on the fly. It is also one of the first monsters to use spell counters.
3Polymerization
Yugi’s Evergreen Card
Before Synchros, Link, or even XYZ monsters were a thing, Polymerization was the king of the playground. Yugi used this card to fuse some of the most iconic cards in the series with his monsters. This also made everyone believe you could stack monsters on top of each other with this card.
However, Polymerization helped Yugi bring out other fusions such as Black Skull Dragon And Dragon Champion. Polymerization has also been a great card throughout the years as part of a central use in any archetype that likes to fuse monsters.
2Kuriboh
The First Hand Trap
Kuriboh is often noted as the weakest monster in Yugi’s deck, but it is one of the best cards in it. While weak, it has an ability that activate in the hand, which makes it one ofthe earliest known hand traps in the game.
On top of stopping your opponent from hitting you with their strongest monster, it is also very cute. Some would even say that Kuriboh is the closest thing the franchise will get to having a Pikachu mascot, with Kuriboh having an endless number of variants.
