Updated October 1, 2022 by Ernie
I know how popular Yu Gi Oh! and how much the game is, however, when I started playing it, I realized that the rumors aren’t up to the expectation…Yu Gi Oh! is so much better than what they say! So much more exciting, fun, and blood pumping. It’s just incredible.
Table of Contents
The game in itself is sick, and the anime and manga are even sicker! And yet it is criminally underrated compared to other card games.
Not talked about enough, not hyped enough. What do you say we change all that. Yu Gi Oh! blogs will be arriving in bulk from now on, a small step, but a step nonetheless.
Let’s start with a small list of the strongest Yu Gi Oh! cards from the manga, anime and game! Enjoy to your heart’s content.
22 YU-GI-OH CARDS THAT FEELS LIKE CHEATING!
22. Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Coming straight from Seto Kaiba’s deck, we have the magnificent Blue-Eyes White Dragon. With 3000 attack points and 2500 defense points, this legendary weapon of destruction is Kaiba’s pride and joy.
Originally, in the Yu Gi Oh! anime, there were four copies of this card. However, after defeating Solomon Muto, Kaiba destroyed one of the copies and is now in possession of the only three cards.
Kaiba has one of the most powerful decks in the entire Yu Gi Oh! and that’s practically thanks to his ultimate trump card that he cherishes from the bottom of his heart.
He gets angry when someone takes control of his creature during a game, stating that he is the only one worthy of controlling him, and even said that he considers his partner his only friend. Pitiful but cute…
This card might be at the bottom of this list, however, keep in mind that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon power can still rival that of the mystical and overpowered Egyptian Gods like Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon! (Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime: episode 177)
22. Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon
He looks way cuter, however, Maximillion Pegasus Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon is not a creature you want to pet casually.
In terms of stats, they are the same as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon with 3000 attack points and 2500 defense points but he has something extra hidden up his sleeve.
So first of all, if the dragon is selected as an attack target, the sneaky Toon can just dodge without receiving any kind of damage. Second of all, when it’s the end of the turn, you can hide him in the “Toon World“, where he can’t even be selected as an attack target.
Too strong to be true, right? Well, the trick is actually summoning him. Since he can’t be summoned normally, you have to be in control of “Toon World” then you can specially summon him from your hand by sacrificing two of your monsters.
The first turn, after he was specially summoned, the Toon can’t attack and on top of that every time you want him to attack you have to pay 500 Life Points. Also, if “Toon World” gets destroyed, the dragon follows it to the grave. Oh and you can only attack Toon monsters.
With power comes great annoyances… (Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime: episode 117 – 118)
20. Black Luster Soldier
AKA the “Chaos Soldier“, our ultimate warrior here is a monster wielded not by our ancient pharaoh Yami Yugi but his weak alter ego, Yugi Muto.
As strong as our Blue Dragons, Black Luster Soldier has 3000 attack points and 2500 defense. He can be ritually summoned by activating “Super Soldier Ritual“.
Easy to summon and extremely powerful yet his true strength doesn’t lay here but in his special ability. When this warrior destroys a monster and that monster ends up in the graveyard, his opponent will receive damage equal to the attack points of that very monster. Sick right?
Too lit of a card for Yugi Muto? I agree, but at least one little thing that makes him look good. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 106)
19. Black Skull Dragon
The terrifying Black Skull Dragon isn’t a monster you will have the pleasure to witness very often. You see, it is not owned by one duelist but two. He can only be summoned through fusion by combining Yugi’s Summoned Skull and Joey’s Red-Eyes B. Dragon.
This monster is the first on the list to surpass the 3000 attack point with a total of 3200 ATK and 2500 DEF.
Although he doesn’t have any kind of special ability, he is quite the difficult monster to deal with since it’s almost impossible to get him out of the game with this much strength.
And at least he doesn’t come with an overcomplicated use rule like Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon. Simplicity is always best.
Plus we have to admit that only his threatening appearance and the pressure he gives off is enough to overwhelm any opponent. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 43)
18. Gate Guardian
The first guy to use that card is a character you probably don’t remember, his name is Para and he comes from the Yu Gi Oh! GX series.
Unable to be normal summoned, to invoke this card you first have to specially summon him by sacrificing not two, but three cards in total and not just any cards; it has to be “Sanga of the Thunder”, “Kazejin”, and “Suijin”. (Yu Gi Oh! GX Anime: Episode 10)
You might as well consider the game won if you have this monster on your side, unless you suck to an abnormal level;. I mean Gate Guardian has 3750 attack points and 3200 defense points. And you thought Black Skull Dragon was too strong, look at this guy, he is OP!
17. Relinquished
What does a level 7 monster with 0 ATK and 0 DEF even do on this list? Well, if you are a true duelist and know how to use this ultimate card might become your greatest weapon.
Summoned through a ritual card called “Black Illusion Ritual,” Relinquished appears on the board and equips himself on any monsters currently summoned by your opponent. Relinquished will then possess the same amount of ATK and DEF then the monster he is now attached to.
If he is targeted by an attack and is facing defeat, the monster sent to the graveyard is not him but the monster he is borrowing power from.
And cherry on top of the cake, if you suffer any damage through this card, your opponent will lose the same amount of Life Points as you.
This monster doesn’t really suit his Toon deck and his frivolous personality, but he is one of Maximillion Pegasus favorite cards and one of his most prized possessions. It helped him win an uncountable number of duels as well. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 8)
Also check out: 19+ Anime Involving Cards (Recommendations)
16. Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon
Can you imagine what ultimate weapon of destruction you will get if you combine the only three existing Blue Eyes White Dragons in existence? Well, I can, you get a three headed hydra dragon with as much as 4500 attack points and 3800 defense points.
Now Ihave to tell you this, but the only duelist in existence who can summon this overpowered creature is the possessor of the only White Dragons in existence, the arrogant but extremely talented, we can’t deny the truth no matter how obnoxious he is, Seto Kaiba.
It is extremely difficult to get him in the game, but completely worth it since you can end your adversary with literally one strike. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 218)
15. Constellar Sombre & Evilswarm Kerykeion
They only have 1550/1600 attack points and 1600/1550 defense points respectively, yet Constellar Sombre and Evilswarm Kerykeion are considered one of the strongest summons than Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. How does that make sense?
Well, despite the fact that they can be easily summoned, it is said that when those two monsters team up, they can even vanquish an evil deity.
They have quite the annoying ability that can actually be used to summon the actual powerful monster way faster and way easier since you can summon creatures of their own kin by paying one tribute and you can even get back from the graveyard.
Although it can only be used once per turn, it is a way to make sure you won’t run out of summoning material or sacrifices. You’ll even have a line of defense that will protect your Life points never an empty board with these!
You can see those two cards in action by following the adventure of Dipper in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V series. Every time they were summoned, they snatched grandiose victories! (Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Anime: Episode 9)
14. El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis
El Shaddoll Anoyatyllis might be one of the most beautiful and aesthetic cards in the entire Yu Gi Oh! Universe. Mesmerizing to look at, it could hypnotize you with sheer beauty. As elegant as it is, don’t forget that all roses have deadly thrones, and so does this angel of a monster.
She is a fusion creature with only 2700 ATK and 2000 DEF. However, when she appears in the game your opponent can no longer special summon any monster from their hand or return monsters from the graveyard using effects or spells.
If this card gets destroyed, she won’t leave you hanging since using her special ability will let you choose one “Shaddoll” spell or trap card from your graveyard to bring back to your hand.
Duelists mostly use her for this very useful trick, summoning her as a trap to get the opponent to attack her. Although it hurts to see her turn into dust, she’s really a treat for the eyes.
I know you are digging deep into your brains to remember who uses this card in the anime, no way you could forget right? Well, don’t bother, this is not a monster that appeared in any Yu Gi Oh! Series, you can only enjoy using her in the many Yu Gi Oh! Games.
13. Zefraath
For you to better understand how special this card is, I will have to give you a little Yu Gi Oh! history 101 course. Don’t sigh, I’ll make it interesting, I promise.
A long, long time ago, the terrifying goddess of destruction, Tierra, awakened. Shedding blood indiscriminately, to stop her rampage multiple monster families like Ritual Beast, tellarknight, Nekroz, Yang Zing, and Shaddoll joined hands to give birth to the most powerful weapon they could create, Zefraath.
With no fear, he challenges the overpowered goddess to a duel. The duel lasted for 100 days and 100 nights. Their magnificent battle reshaped the whole planet, the scale of their might touched all those who witnessed their strength and courage.
Although we do not know how the duel ended, considering the fact that we are still freely living on Earth healthy and happy, I’ll conclude that the good guys snatched the ultimate victory. See, it wasn’t that bad!
Now I know you wanna know how to use him, right? He sounds super cool, but the instruction manual is super long so I invite you to read it. It’s not like professional dualists like yourself need kid simplified instructions from me right?
Oh, and this one as well is not a card you will find in the anime till now.
12. Tierra, Source of Destruction/Sophia, Goddess of Rebirth
Sorry, but card history is just super interesting, so here is another one. As their name suggests, Tierra and Sophia are exact opposites, two goddesses in constant conflict. One aiming for the destruction of the world while the other is just here to stop her.
Thing is, it’s as simple, good VS evil, since Sophia was about to destroy us herself and it was the Sombre and Kerykeion combo that stopped her.
Extremely powerful monsters, monsters that can erase continents with a snap of the hand it goes without saying that you will have to struggle to death to get them in your game.
To summon Tierra, you will have to somehow shuffle 10 different cards with different names to boot into your deck while you will have to banish an XYZ, ritual, synchro and fusion monster to get Sophia.
Too much of a hassle for two hypocrites who look like they enjoy their daily trifles and aren’t really here to fulfill their holy missions.
11. Avida, Rebuilder of Worlds
It is said that if Avida was ever pitted against Tierra or Sophia, she will be the one to come out on top, that’s just how mind blowing she is.
Also super difficult to summon, I’ll just skip to the good part of the deal to not bore you too much. First of all, after all the trouble you went through to gather all the required summon conditions, you can rest assured, there is nothing in the Yu Gi Oh! universe that can negate her summoning.
When she appears all the cards that are in the graveyard, on the field and even the ones that were banished are shuffled back into the decks. Finally, no card effects will be triggered during her summoning. Not bad right?
Worth it to Special Summon her from your hand by accumulating 8 Link Monsters with different names. Sarcasm aside, it’s really a great monster that can turn the tide of the battle in your favor especially if your opponent is heavily counting on effects and such.
10. Rainbow Dragon
If you manage to gather seven crystal beasts, you will have the privilege to summon “Ultimate Crystal” card as he is called in the official lore.
A magnificent monster with as much as 4000 attack points and a very useful special ability since you can give him even more power or shuffle cards in your deck by sacrificing some additional Crystal Beasts.
FYI, for each monster you will send to your graveyard he will get a 1000 ATK, not a number to laugh at!
I know it’s been a while, but this one actually appeared in Yu Gi Oh! GX in the hands of Jesse Anderson. (Yu Gi Oh! GX Anime: Episode 172)
Also read: 19+ Most Valuable Pokemon TCG Cards of 2022
9. Five-Headed Dragon
Get on your knees, tremble in fear, beg for forgiveness and get smashed like the bug that you are.
By fusing five different dragons, you can summon this invincible creature, a creature that can shake the heavens and the Earth.
With 5000 ATK and 5000 DEF, it’s already almost impossible to get on the court a monster that is strong enough to dare to challenge him, and yet, on top of that, Dark, Earth, Water, Fire and Wind monsters can’t even destroy him!
Having to mostly rely on effects and special abilities to get him out of the game, beware that your opponent will be protecting himself against just that.
The first one to ever defeat this extraordinary creature is the strongest duelist in the Yu Gi Oh! series, our Pharaoh, Yami Yugi. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 45)
8. Dragon Master Knight
This ultimate creature is truly a terrifying one. By combining Black Luster Soldier and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, two already extraordinary creatures, you will get the all mighty Dragon Master Knight.
In terms of strength, he is just as powerful as our friend the Five-Headed Dragon with 5000 ATK and 5000 DEF.
So why did I decide to put him in a higher position? Well, that’s because of his cheat ability. See, for every ally Dragon monster that you have on your field, this already OP dragon gets even more attack points! 500 ATK for each one!
Overwhelming on a divine level, his ridiculously overly high attack power and don’t forget about his ultimate defense makes him one of the deadliest weapons in the entire Yu Gi Oh! Series.
The first time we ever saw that card was when Yami Yugi, who was weirdly teaming up with Seto Kaiba at the time, summoned it while they were dueling against the Mystic Dragon. Of course, it goes without saying, he won the duel easier peasy (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 45)
7. Shinato King Of A Higher Plane
I’m just realizing now that for two nemesis who detest each other, Yami and Seto teamed up quite a lot for the greater good.
The Shadow Realm was gaining more and more power and the two duelists were fighting against the dark forces.
The enemy that is currently standing before them is a brat with green hair who took the meaning of his name a bit too seriously.
The kid called Noah had summoned Shinato’s Arc and after its destruction, he called on the field Shinato King of a Higher Plane.
When this card attacks a monster in defense position and sends it to the Graveyard, the opponent will lose Life Points equal to the original Attack of the monster destroyed. Sweet, right?
This monster has 3300 ATK and 3000 DEF so successfully targeting defense mode monsters is kind of a piece of cake for him. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 116)
However, as powerful as that monster was, he still lost the duel, which was yet another example that the strength of a card is nothing compared to a duelist talent.
6. Orichalcos Kyutora
Dartz was one of the most difficult villains to deal with during the Waking the Dragons arc. The crazy bastard was trying to revive the legendary Leviathan, a monster that could just decide to destroy the Earth if he felt like it.
The one who got in his way is, of course, our MC, the extraordinary Yami Yugi. Yami had to deal with an already extremely powerful deck when his opponent finally summoned the monster who might have become the reason for some nightmares.
By just paying a 500 Life Point fee, you can summon Orichalcos Kyutora. Except for being extremely ugly, that monster only has 500 ATK and 500 DEF, nothing to be scared of right? Well, I haven’t talked about its special ability just yet.
This creature is the definition of darkness and destruction, his devastating ability turns all the damages dealt to his owner to zero.
Just destroy him you say? If you kill this little guy, something even worse will appear! Don’t worry I’ll tell you all about him in our 5th position coming right up. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Waking the Dragon Arc)
5. Orichalcos Shunoros
I will give the perfect card combination award to these two annoying creatures! Once Orichalcos Kyutora is destroyed and is sent to the graveyard, Orichalcos Shunoros will then materialize on the field.
His ATK points, which were originally zero, will gain 1000 ATK for every face up card the opponent has.
He also has another ability, he allows you to summon from inside your deck or from your hand Orichalcos Aristeros and Orichalcos Dexia.
In case you manage to get him destroyed, Shunoros has one last trump card to play to defend his master. By paying 10,000 Life Points who can summon one last monster, a monster that will make the other two look cute in front of him. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 180)
4. Divine Serpent Geh
You were wondering which monster was worth paying 10,000 Life Points to summon? Well, it’s this one, the Divine Serpent Geh.
The first thing this creature will do is to turn your Life Points to zero. Don’t panic, you haven’t lost just yet.
Then you will have to send to your Graveyard the first ten cards of your deck and finally it will destroy all the enemies’ summoned monsters.
That doesn’t fix the 0 LP problem you say? But when he is on the field, the user just can’t lose, that’s his ultimate ability. (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Waking the Dragon Arc)
3. Exodia, The Forbidden One
Exodia here, Exodia there, didn’t you feel like all they would talk about in Yu Gi Oh was that OP card that they even managed to lose!
However, I can understand the hype, this card can be considered the counter of the goddess of victory, Nike.
Separately, Exodia’s parts are, there is no way to say this nicely, but they are just useless. But combined, it’s an entire different story.
At the very beginning of the series, Seto was in a duel against Yugi. He managed to summon his Blue Eyes White Dragon and believe that this duel was as good as won. Just imagine the look on his face when one simple card managed to completely and utterly humiliate him! (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 1)
If you have the four Exodia limbs and the Exodia card in your hand or on the field, you just automatically win the duel.
2. Holactie the Creator of Light
AKA Horakty, this card might be the most unique in the entire Yu Gi Oh! universe. See, a class was created just for him, even the God cards can’t be in the same “creator god” classification!
His ATK and DEF points are unknown, when he is about to be summoned, nothing in this world can stop it, like Exodia, the second he appears on the field is the second you win the duel.
However, I think you guessed what I’m about to say, it’s technically, almost impossible to summon him, the three materials you will have to gather are the puny Slifer, Obelisk, and Ra, just the three Egyptian God cards, just that.
And that is mainly why it comes in second position, a card you can almost never invoke is not really usable! (Yu Gi Oh! Anime: Episode 219)
Honorable Mention
Don Thousand/Monster C
Before giving you our number one pick, I just wanted to give some spotlight to a very peculiar card.
You’ll be shocked but that OP of OPs cards has 100,000 ATK and 100,000 DEF. With so much power you’d think that the conditions to summon it are certainly impossible to gather during a duel, but NO!
You can special summon this card from your hand when Don Thousand/Monster C is sent to the graveyard, well actually…you might consider that impossible since Don Thousand/Monster B has 10,000 ATK and 10,000 DEF!
When this monster is on the field, no special effect can destroy him. The opponent has to target him for any of his attacks and on top of everything, if he is not engaged during his turn then he automatically loses the duel.
The only problem is that this creature cannot engage himself. Now I’m sure you are going to ask me why that card is not Number 1 right? Not being able to launch an attack is nothing, end your turn and you won anyway right?
Well, that’s because that card doesn’t actually exist, it has never been printed! It is only seen in the anime and thus, isn’t like an official Yu Gi Oh! card.
1. The Egyptian Gods
The three Egyptian Gods snatched the first place position! They wield the exact same amount of overwhelming and divine power. They can reshape the universe with their strength, reshape our very existence!
Obelisk the Tormentor will bring you eternal slumber with his 4000 ATK and DEF points and can even destroy all your opponent’s monster if you just sacrifice two of your own.
The Winged Dragon of Ra, the God that rules over the spirit world will make you feel terror like you’ve never experienced before. Pay the right share of Life Points and he will gain the same amount of ATK power.
And finally Slifer The Sky Dragon, welcomed by the thunder, will show you what the true meaning of power means. For each card in your hand he will gain 1000 ATK while the monster that he targets will target losses 2000 ATK.
They are indescribably strong, they are monsters feared in the whole Yu Gi Oh! universe. They are feared but desperately coveted at the same time.
Their creator, Pegasus himself, was terrified of them, so terrified that he could only bring himself to come one card of each and was even reluctant to do so. But they were his life masterpieces, he just had to give birth to them.
He decided to keep their existence a secret, but of course failed, and their devastating power was released into the world.
The only duelist that can control them, that can wield them, is Yami Yugi, the prodigious Pharaoh. The other would attempt to use them and nearly lost their lives in the process.
Power is dangerous, very dangerous, and only the brave and the righteous should have the right to wield it.
Conclusion
I know you are all a bit disappointed since you didn’t get to see your favorite monster of each Yu Gi Oh ! series. But I had to be impartial here and the original cards from the original series still hold the power and the strength, and the unfair special abilities.
However, we won’t leave you hanging. What do you say about blogs on each Yu Gi Oh! franchise’s strongest cards? If you are up for it, then so am I!