Top 10 Iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! Moments

The Duelist Kingdom tournament has just ended. Pegasus lost against Yugi and lost his chance at getting another Millennium Item to restore his beloved Cecelia. Think he’s suffered enough? Apparently, Yami Bakura doesn’t think so as he breaks into his room to confront the fallen creator. He smugly gives Pegasus a bleak tarot reading, then challenges him to a shadow game –the winner gets the loser’s Millenium Item. Unfortunately, Pegasus is still fatigued after his duel with Yugi, so he loses the game quickly. As the victor, Bakura stands ominously over Pegasus and forcibly takes his prize – the Millenium Eye. While we don’t see the eye’s removal, hearing Pegasus’ anguish is enough to give us the willies.

In the very last duel of the series, Yugi and Atem face off in a ceremonial battle –the outcome will determine if Atem is ready to move on to the afterlife. Considering they shared a brain up until now, the two are neck-and-neck dishing out one iconic card after another. But then, in one of the biggest flexes in the show, Atem manages to summon not one, not two, but ALL THREE Egyptian God Cards back-to-back. Bringing out all three legendary beasts is an enormous feat on its own, but we can’t help but shiver as Atem recites Ra’s ancient chant. The only thing more impressive is Yugi’s strategy for slaying all three Gods.

With the help of Yugi and his friends, Yami finally remembers his true name – King Atem. With his memories and power restored, the heroic pharaoh takes the diabolical Zorc head-on with one last ace up his sleeve – all three Egyptian Gods. While Obelisk, Slifer, and Ra are mighty, even they aren’t strong enough to take on Zorc alone, so Atem pulls the ultimate flex of combining the trio. Together, they form Holactie the Creator of Light, who eviscerates the Dark One with one beacon of light. In the actual game, anyone who tributed the God Cards to summon the Creator of Light automatically wins the duel, and seeing it displayed in a final showdown is nothing short of glorious.

After so many brutal battles, Yugi and Joey must face off in the Duelist Kingdom semifinals. But before the match begins, the US dub of the episode surprises us with a musical montage. The clips showcase Yugi and Joey’s journeys throughout the tournament – highlighting their personal growth, ambitions, and friendship. The song, “No Matter What” further emphasizes how strong their bond is; no matter the match's outcome, they’ll always have each other’s backs. They had no reason to include this epic music video, but we can’t deny how misty-eyed it made us as we near the end of their respective journeys.

At last, Yugi and Yami Marik face off in the Battle City Finals to determine the fate of the world and Marik’s pure half. Yami Marik has a clear advantage with his Winged Dragon of Ra, but Yugi has one last ace up his sleeve – Ragnarok. By removing all his monsters from play, his Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl lead a massive army of monsters to eliminate Ra from the field. And when we say all his monsters, we mean it – from little Kuriboh to both Slifer and Obelisk, they all unite to rid the world of Marik’s evil half for good in a glorious, satisfying light show. Seeing Yugi’s entire deck on parade was worth it alone.

Following a devastating loss, Yugi sacrificed his soul to save Yami’s -leaving the grieving Pharaoh without his closest friend. The sniveling Weevil challenges Yami to an Orichalcos duel and plays a dirty trick to rile him up. Unfortunately for Weevil, he pushes the wrong buttons and gets the full force of Yami’s fury. He plays a magic card that lets him attack Weevil every time he draws a monster… and he takes full advantage of it. Even after Weevil’s life points hit 0, he keeps attacking until Téa finally snaps him out of it. It was unnerving to see Yami lose his composure, but let’s not pretend Weevil didn’t deserve it.

The Battle City Semifinals have officially begun and the first match pits Joey against Yami Marik. Joey is determined to end Marik’s madness, but the latter raises the stakes by turning the match into a shadow game where both duelists feel their monsters’ pain. Joey feels the burn from the Winged Dragon of Ra but shocks everyone by surviving the blast. If he can call out even one attack, he’ll win the duel -he’s even got Marik shaking in fear. Tragically, Joey collapses from exhaustion and automatically loses the duel. This loss hurt us more than it hurt Joey, but his causing Marik to panic proves that he deserves more credit as a duelist than he gets.

Ishizu Ishtar was the woman who gave Kaiba Obelisk the Tormentor and inspired him to start the Battle City tournament. During the Quarter-Finals, the two finally face off, and Ishizu’s Millennium Necklace predicts that she will win using a trap set to destroy Obelisk. However, after an unexpected vision of the past, Kaiba changes the future – he sacrifices Obelisk to summon his beloved Blue-Eyes White Dragon, who helps him win the duel. Even disregarding Ishizu’s trap, it says a lot when Kaiba willingly gives up an Egyptian God for his most iconic monster -even Ishizu is shaken up by his changing fate. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to end a duel with their favorite card?

Of course, we had to include one of the very first flexes in the anime. To defend his grandfather’s honor, Yugi faces off against Kaiba in the dueling arena. Kaiba has the upper hand with all three Blue-Eyes White Dragons on the field. However, with one lucky draw, Yugi plays one of the most legendary monsters in the game – Exodia the Forbidden One. Assembling all five pieces of Exodia is nothing short of a miracle and guarantees an automatic win, and Yugi pulled off said miracle in the very first episode. Sadly, this is the only time Yugi got to use Exodia before losing the cards, but it was well worth it.

The first round of the Battle City Quarter-Finals pits Yugi against Yami Bakura, the latter having the former pinned with a deadly trap. If Yugi doesn’t win this round, it’s all over. Fortunately, he draws just the card he needs, and in an earth-shattering display, he summons the Egyptian God, Slifer the Sky Dragon. Slifer’s very presence DOMINATES the arena as his enormous tail coils around the airship, and when he attacks... it’s a miracle Bakura survived to tell the tale afterward. Between the music, the visuals, and Yugi’s voice acting, the anime turned the simple act of summoning a monster into a heart-stopping theatrical experience that still dazzles us to this day.


Which “Yu-Gi-Oh!” moment still lives rent free in your head? Let us know in the comments.