The original Yugioh series is getting another season which is set after the events of Yugi and Pharoah’s last duel. It’d be a good homage to the original series if the 10 best duelists from that time were all ranked. The original series was based in a time when XYZ and Pendulum summoning didn’t exist, strong monsters didn’t have 2 or 3 good effects and to beat another monster, you would have to use spells or traps to back them up. It was a more simple time that arguably led to more entertaining duels, although it was a lot slower paced. Here’s the top 10 best duelists from the original series!
10. Rex Raptor
Rex Raptor was one of the best duelists in the world at one point, he used dinosaurs with high attack to destroy his opponents. He also used Dragons for a time, his deck was a simple beat down style that was very effective in that time period.
9. Weevil Underwood
The duelist who defeated Rex in the National final, Weevil is a very good duelist with a unique style. He plays strategically, biding time for his insects to evolve into more powerful beasts. These tactics are fine against weaker duelists but when he’s come up against good opponents, he relies too much on his big monsters and often gets overconfident.
8. Mai Valentine
Mai starts off somewhat as an antagonist as she only cares about winning and the rewards for winning. This changes over time as she becomes a part of the main group and becomes close friends with the other members. She’s always been a formidable duelist with few weaknesses, her downside is that she puts too much faith in her Harpie deck which isn’t as strong as the decks of other duelists.
7. Maximillion Pegasus
Pegasus is the creator of duel monsters (yugioh) so it’s surprising to see him so low on the list. Even though he has access to every card imaginable, he chooses to use the ones he is most fond of and because of this, his win-rate is below what it could be. Nonetheless he’s still a strong duelist, he used his Millennium Eye to cheat his opponents but is still a competent duelist without it.
6. Yami Bakura
One of Yugi’s oldest rivals, Yami Bakura silently goes about his business throughout the main seasons until the final one. He’s certainly a capable duelist but he’s been defeated too many times by too many people. He ends up becoming the greatest threat to the Yugioh universe but was too weak to match the might of those further up the list.
5. Yami Marik
Marik arrived on the show with his Rod and immediately started mesmerising people with it. His Rod was glorious, people were in awe at the power of his Rod. Jokes aside, Marik was a very powerful duelist who not only used extremely punishing strategies but also dueled so fierce that his opponents would sometimes surrender out of exhaustion. This led him to the Battle City finals where he eventually lost but his prowess is exceptionally high.
4. Joey Wheeler
He didn’t have the best cards or even the best dueling abilities but his bravery, determination and no shortage of luck allowed him to become one of the greats. He definitely deserved to get through to the Battle City semi-finals, all he had to do was play 1 card but his exhaustion from Marik’s trickery stopped him. He’s dueled those in the last 3 of the list and put up a bigger fight than anyone else, he thoroughly deserves his place in this list.
3. Seto Kaiba
The previous World Champion comes in at 3rd on the list, he would undoubtedly be 2nd or even 1st if he wasn’t so arrogant and ignorant towards “the heart of the cards”. Kaiba has incredible dueling abilities with a very strong deck, one of the strongest for his time. A Yugioh legend, he created the holographic dueling systems you see in the likes of Yugioh GX and 5D’s. He has to be ranked upon the best duelists of all time.
2. Pharaoh Atem
The Pharaoh, or Atem, is an exceptionally powerful duelist who has defeated many of the greatest threats in different time periods. He’s defeated everyone on this list (some many times) except #1 and has overcome challenges that most, if not all other duelists would struggle with.
1. Yugi Moto
The number 1 duelist from the original series is Yugi Moto! He started off as a bang average duelist with nothing special about him but ended up beating the Pharaoh himself, this was both of them dueling as best as they could and Yugi came out on top. Due to his age, he’s only going to get better and will likely match or even surpass the feats of Atem. It’s looking good for the new Yugioh season!
