The BEST episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

Every episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters!

Follows the adventures of high school student Yugi, who has a magical secret that comes to life when he plays his favorite card game: 'Duel Monsters.

Last Updated: 3/2/2024Network: TV TokyoStatus: Ended
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Merger Of The Big Five (Part 3 of 3)
star
16.67
3 votes

#1 - Merger Of The Big Five (Part 3 of 3)

Season 3 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/2/2002

The Big Five go from strength to strength as they continue to take full advantage of all five of their Deck Masters. But even with only one Deck Master each, and seriously depleted Life Points, Yugi and Joey refuse to give up all hope of winning just yet and set about proving that the Big Five aren't the only ones capable of combining their powers.

Clash In The Coliseum (Part 1 of 6)
star
16.67
3 votes

#2 - Clash In The Coliseum (Part 1 of 6)

Season 3 - Episode 32 - Aired 10/29/2002

The duel between Yugi and Kaiba begins with Kaiba using the virtual reality system to make the image of a giant Coliseum appear around the duel field. Yugi starts with Queen's Knight in defense mode and one card facedown. Kaiba summons X Head Cannon and sets one card facedown. Yugi summons Alpha The Magnet Warrior in defense mode and sets another card. Kaiba plays Soul Exchange so that he may gain control of Yugi's monsters and sacrifice them to summon Obelisk The Tormentor, but Yugi uses Change Of Heart to gain control of Kaiba's X Head Cannon, but Kaiba uses Enemy Controler and pays 1000 Life Points to regain control of X Head, so Yugi uses Lightforce Sword to seal Obelisk out of the duel for three turns before Kaiba can summon it. Kaiba ends his turn, then Yugi sets one card and ends his turn. Kaiba then summons Y Dragon Head, then fuses it with X Head Cannon to summon XY Dragon Cannon, which attacks and destroys Alpha. Kaiba then plays Mandate Of A Heavenly Voice, allowing him to s

Clash In The Coliseum (Part 6 of 6)
star
16.67
3 votes

#3 - Clash In The Coliseum (Part 6 of 6)

Season 3 - Episode 37 - Aired 11/19/2002

As Joey wakes up in the hospital bed, the duel continues. Kaiba plays his Final Attack Orders trap card, meaning that all of Yugi's and Kaiba's monsters must be in attack mode for the rest of the duel, and that they must take 3 cards out of their deck to play with and throw the rest into the graveyard. And after that, Kaiba plays Monster Reborn to revive the Blue Eyes white Dragon and plays Polymerization to fuse them all together into the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Yugi mimics this move, by playing Double Spell. He revives Buster Blader and fuses it with Dark Magician to form the Dark Paladin. Kaiba attacks, but Yugi plays Diffusion, forcing Kaiba's Ultimate Dragon to split into the 3 separate Blue Eyes. Using this, Yugi can power up the Dark Paladin to 4900 attack points. Yugi follows by playing Diffusion Wave Motion, which allows him to attack all the monsters on his opponents field with one monster. The Dark Paladin destroys the 3 Blue Eyes White Dragons and Kaiba's Life Points dro

Fighting For A Friend (Part 2 of 5)
star
16.67
3 votes

#4 - Fighting For A Friend (Part 2 of 5)

Season 4 - Episode 26 - Aired 9/9/2003

As Joey and Valon's duel continues, Yami Yugi and the others are intercepted by a bunch of Orichalcos Soldiers. Timaeus and Critias easily defeat them, and after the battle, Kaiba and Mokuba take their leave. Kaiba does hint at how to find Joey, and Rebecca begins hacking into KaibaCorp's mainfraim so they can find Joey. Back at the duel, Valon finally plays The Seal of Orichalcos, along with the magic card Full Armor Gravitation, which helps him build another suit of armor. With each Armor moster having its own unique special ability, the duel looks grim for Joey. The the tide seems to turn when he draws his Claw of Hermos card...

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Fighting For A Friend (Part 4 of 5)
star
16.67
3 votes

#5 - Fighting For A Friend (Part 4 of 5)

Season 4 - Episode 28 - Aired 9/23/2003

Valon activates Pheonix Gravitation, allowing him to revive 4 armor monsters to the field and equip them. Valon's victory seems ensured, but Joey turns the tables again and brings back Hermos and combines it with Valon's Big Bang Blow to form Big Bang Dragon Blow. The two armored duelists attack each other, and the outcome looks like a draw. But because of Big Bang Dragon Blow's special ability, Joey destroys all of Valon's armor monsters and reduces his LPs down to 0. Content with his defeat, Valon accepts his punishment. His last words are telling Joey to save Mai. With that, his soul is taken. Mai kneels next to his body and cries, but eventually returns to her evil self again and says he deserved it. Joey denies it and says Valon dueled like a true duelist. He challenges Mai to a duel, saying that's the only way he'll be able to understand her. Meanwhile, Yami Yugi, Tea, and Tristan are still having no luck finding Joey, and Kaiba and Mokuba get ambushed by Orichalcos Soldiers agai

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Merger Of The Big Five (Part 2 of 3)
star
16.67
3 votes

#6 - Merger Of The Big Five (Part 2 of 3)

Season 3 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/25/2002

As Johnson takes the stand for the Big Five, Yugi and Joey begin to realise just how much power the Big Five has with five Deck Masters at their disposal. However the two friends are not finished yet, and although things may not be going their way they too have powerful decks and Deck Masters at their disposal.

The Final Face Off (Part 4 of 5)
star
16.00
3 votes

#7 - The Final Face Off (Part 4 of 5)

Season 3 - Episode 44 - Aired 1/21/2003

Yami Marik could very well be on the verge on defeating Yami Yugi. On his next turn, he will activate Monster Reborn, allowing him to once again revive The Winged Dragon of Ra from the Graveyard. However, Yami Yugi won't give up, as he is convinced he can win the duel and save Marik from the Shadow Realm. He also has the Egyptian God Slime to worry about. Yami Marik lays a card face-down and summons Swallowtail Spike Lizard (1900/700) in defense mode. The card will grant Yami Marik 1000 Life Points each time his turn begins. Joey realizes that Yami Yugi is in a dilemma. If he attacked, Marik's good side would further disappear into the shadows. Joey then remembers it's Marik's fault this is happening to begin with. Marik, still in possession of Téa's body, tells him he was trying to help Yami defeat Yami Marik, but Joey is still angry and demands Marik leave Téa's body so the duel can continue. Marik apologizes for what's happened. He returns control to Téa. Marik knows that Yami won't

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The Final Duel (3)
star
16.00
3 votes

#8 - The Final Duel (3)

Season 5 - Episode 39 - Aired 9/22/2004

Yugi is successful in defeating the Egyptian Gods. However, Atem is not worried at all. Atem admits that he knew that Yugi would defeat the Egyptian Gods. Now the real duel begins between Yugi and Atem. Now, Yugi must face his most trusted creature, the Dark Magician, if he wants to help Atem. (Note: When this aired in the U.S, the ending said "To Be Concluded" instead of "To Be Continued", thus signifying the end of the series.)

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Let the Games Begin! (Part 1 of 2)
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16.00
3 votes

#9 - Let the Games Begin! (Part 1 of 2)

Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/14/2004

As the tournament begins, the first two duels are announced as Joey Wheeler vs. Apdnarg Otum and Leon Wilson vs. Dr. Richard Goat. Leon and Goat both arrive at their designated duel area on time, and so does Apdnarg, but Joey doesn't realize he has to be at his duel area, and because of that, must race against time to find Apdnarg in the Amazon Cruise zone. When Joey and the other eventually get there, the two start their duel. However, Yugi, Tea, and Tristan are too preoccupied by how much Apdnarg looks like Yugi's grandpa. Professor Hawkins appears behind them to fill them in. Solomon had called him to tell him that he would be participating in Kaiba's new tournament. As the duel begins, Apdnarg begins pummeling Joey with a very well-thought out strategy, while Joey attempts to improvise everything. Apdnarg soon plays his Stone Giant and his Ancient City, which special summons two Stone Giant tokens. In addition, he claims that the worst is yet to come...

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Fighting For A Friend (Part 5 of 5)
star
16.00
3 votes

#10 - Fighting For A Friend (Part 5 of 5)

Season 4 - Episode 29 - Aired 10/1/2003

As Yami Yugi, Tea, and Tristan continue searching and Kaiba and Mokuba fight off swarms of Orichalcos Soldiers, the duel between Joey and Mai continues. Joey again tries to convince Mai that she should stop, but it doesn't work. The duel continues, and Mai continues to have the upper hand. Joey finally draws his Claw of Hermos and uses it to create the Red Eyes Black Dragon sword. Victory seems in his hand, but Mai makes quick work of his sword with her Harpy's Feather Duster. Things look hopeless for Joey as Mai begins her final assult. She is ready to attack his Life Points and end the duel, but she stops. She begins to remember all the good times she and Joey had and all the times Joey protected her from danger. But at that moment, Joey begins to collapse. Mai rushes towards him, but it's too late. As the seal closes in around them, Joey tells Mai that he's glad her soul is safe and pushes her out. As the Seal takes Joey's soul, Mai screams and her Orichalcos shard shatters. Dartz s

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Fighting For A Friend (Part 3 of 5)
star
16.00
3 votes

#11 - Fighting For A Friend (Part 3 of 5)

Season 4 - Episode 27 - Aired 9/16/2003

Rebecca finally pinpoints Joey's location, and Yami Yugi, Tea, and Tristan run off to find him. At the duel, Joey is able to destroy Valon's entire suit of armor by combining his Claw of Hermos and his Rocket Warrior into Rocket Hermos Cannon. But Valon turns the tide again by cloning the Rocket Hermos Cannon with his Data Brain card and using it on Joey. Valon attacks Joey again, only to activate his trap card and summon the trap monster Aura Armor to Joey's field. Joey then activates Red Eyes Transmigration to turn his Aura Armor into a Lord of the Red armor card. With Valon shaking and amazed of Joey's strength, Mai finally arrives. Joey uses his Lord of the Red's special ability to destroy all of Valon's armor monsters again, which Valon counters by breaking up Joey's Lord of the Red into Red Eyes Black Dragon and Aura Armor. It's all going to come down to one last turn...

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Fighting For A Friend (Part 1 of 5)
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16.00
3 votes

#12 - Fighting For A Friend (Part 1 of 5)

Season 4 - Episode 25 - Aired 9/2/2003

With Orichalcos Soldiers appearing all over the world, Yami Yugi and the others become more determined to defeat Dartz before he can destroy the world. But Joey was separated from the group when he followed Valon off to duel with him, and with Mai also hot on their trails. When their duel begins, Joey is surprised that Valon plays nothing but Armor monsters with 0 attack strength, but is also surprised when Valon uses his Big Bang Blow's special ability to destroy his monsters. Valon explains that he only attacks during his duels, and he's been that way all his life. They continue their duel.

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A New Evil (Part 2 of 2)
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16.00
3 votes

#13 - A New Evil (Part 2 of 2)

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/25/2003

The seal of Orichalcos is still in effect and it is hindering Yugi each turn. However, he finds a way to destroy his opponents' ""endless"" ranks of monsters, and has Dark Magician Girl eradicate the rest of his life points. The man's soul is sealed in Orichalcos as a result. The strange bikers (Rafael, Valon, and Alister) steal the God cards, but give back Rex and Weevil's soul cards. Later that day, Yugi and his friends meet Rebecca again, who tells them that her grandfather wants to see them about something...

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The Final Face Off (Part 3 of 5)
star
16.00
3 votes

#14 - The Final Face Off (Part 3 of 5)

Season 3 - Episode 43 - Aired 1/14/2003

As the concluding duel to Battle City rages on, things are looking good for Yami Yugi. His newly summoned Egyptian God card, Obelisk the Tormentor (4000/4000), has taken a big chunk of Yami Marik's Life Points; 4000 to be exact. Despite the major blow, Yami Marik isn't too worried, reminding Yami Yugi that it's Marik who suffers as a result. Marik, with whatever power he's got left, goes to a still-unconscious Odion. He apologizes for everything he's done, but remembers why Odion stood by Marik to begin with, to control the evil within. Odion knew what Marik was doing was evil, but Odion has protected Marik since he was born, even undertaking his own painful ritual to prove his loyalty. Marik could never repay him for all he's done, and he realizes his time is up. He says goodbye to Odion. Back in the Shadow Game, Yami Marik activates a trap card, Metal Reflect Slime, which creates a copy of Obelisk, with a DEF of 3000. Yami Yugi sets a card and ends his turn. Yami Marik brings out Rev

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Burying The Past (Part 1 of 2)
star
16.00
3 votes

#15 - Burying The Past (Part 1 of 2)

Season 3 - Episode 23 - Aired 8/27/2002

Having escaped from the Virtual World in Mokuba's body, Noah sets about to shut down the system once and for all, destroying the minds of his father and everybody else in the Virtual World at the same time. Yugi and the others, meanwhile, continue to search for an exit from their virtual prison, but Kaiba is more interested with defeating his step-father once and for all. However a duel between the two relatives soon proves to be a lot more challenging than Seto could have ever expected.

Noah's Final Threat (Part 1 of 2)
star
16.00
3 votes

#16 - Noah's Final Threat (Part 1 of 2)

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 8/6/2002

Noah, bonded to Shinato, and Yami start their match, with Yami shuffling in the rest of Kaiba's deck into his own and Noah adding in some new cards to his deck. However, the match must start as if it were Kaiba making his next move. This means that in addition to having the life point totals as they were before with Noa at 7400 and Kaiba at 400, Yami cannot start with any cards in his hand and must rely on the cards he draws. He also must keep Kaiba's Deck Master, which is useless to Yami since most of his monsters are Dark Monsters. Tristan points out that if Yami does not draw a monster card on his first turn, he is finished, as Noah's monster Shinato (with an attack of 3300) is on the field. Yami draws, gets Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and promptly puts it in face-up defense mode. Noah draws but doesn't get a monster that he can play, so he attacks Gazelle with Shinato. However, Shinato's effect is that if it destroys a monster in defense mode, it cuts Yami's life points in

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The Mystery Duelist (Part 1 of 2)
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16.00
3 votes

#17 - The Mystery Duelist (Part 1 of 2)

Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/10/2001

When a mysterious fortune teller steals Yugi's Puzzle, he follows him to a warehouse where Yugi must duel the mysterious figure to win back his Puzzle. But as the duel begins, Yugi recognises his opponent's voice and eventually identifies him as Bandit Keith. However Keith has changed since Yugi last saw him and is now under the control of the mysterious figure. And with Keith's new-found masters comes a new style of playing, one that even Yugi might not be able to beat.

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Steppin' Out
star
16.00
3 votes

#18 - Steppin' Out

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/1/2001

The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle realizes that his memories of ancient Egypt have faded, but Tea is going to help him uncover the mysteries of his past. Tea and the Pharaoh hang out and head to an arcade. At the arcade, Tea beats Johnny Steps at a dance machine and he demands a re-match. However, Yugi decides to duel him instead and if he wins, Tea has to date him.

The Master Of Magicians (Part 1 of 3)
star
16.00
3 votes

#19 - The Master Of Magicians (Part 1 of 3)

Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/19/2001

The magician duelist Arkana transports Yugi to the world's most lethal dueling arena where the cost of losing is banishment to the Shadow Realm. Yugi must win this duel or he'll lose much more than his Dark Magician.

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The Master of Magicians (Part 2 of 3)
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16.00
3 votes

#20 - The Master of Magicians (Part 2 of 3)

Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/26/2001

Yugi continues his duel against Arkana. However, Yugi can not seem to overcome Arkana's own Dark Magician, not to mention his ectoplasmer cards. Will he be able to beat Arkana?. Meanwhile, Grandpa, Tea, Joey, and Tristan comb the city trying to find Yugi.

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Mime Control (Part 1 of 3)
star
16.00
3 votes

#21 - Mime Control (Part 1 of 3)

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/24/2001

Marik is making his way to Battle City by boat, and is planing his ultimate strike on Yugi. He takes control of Strings - The Silent One and forces him to duel. At first the duel is going neither way. However, Marik is about to pull out his trump card, the Egyptian God card, Slifer the Sky Dragon.

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The Dark Spirit Revealed (Part 3 of 3)
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16.00
3 votes

#22 - The Dark Spirit Revealed (Part 3 of 3)

Season 2 - Episode 35 - Aired 11/27/2001

Yugi finally overcomes Bakura's tactics when he summons Slifer the Sky Dragon. But Marik plots to make him face a difficult decision: save the world or risk harming a friend.

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A Duel With Destiny (Part 1 of 2)
star
16.00
3 votes

#23 - A Duel With Destiny (Part 1 of 2)

Season 2 - Episode 44 - Aired 2/5/2002

In the fourth duel of the Battle City finals, Kaiba's mystery opponent is Ishizu. With the power of her Millennium Necklace, Ishizu can see the future, including every card Kaiba is planning to play. Once again Kaiba must duel an opponent who knows his moves even before he does.

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Noah's Final Threat (Part 2 of 2)
star
16.00
3 votes

#24 - Noah's Final Threat (Part 2 of 2)

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/13/2002

The attack went through, but Yami activated the trap card Nutrient Z, which gave him 4000 more life points if the damage done to him was greater than 2000 before the attack. Now Yami now has 1800 life points. However, since Yami lost 2300 life points, Noah gains them, setting him at 8200. He then chains with a Quickplay Magic card from his hand: Sebek's blessing, which lets him gain the damage done to Yami, setting his lifepoints at 10,500. But then the turn ends and the Yamata Dragon returns to his hand, setting off the Spring, which makes Noah's life points 11,000. Yami plays Alpha the Magnet Warrior in attack mode and attacks directly, making Noah's life points 9600. Noa then turns Tristan to stone. He explains that one person will be turned to stone during the end of each of Yami's turns. Noa draws and plays Inaba White Rabbit which can attack directly, setting Yami at 1100. He ends his turn, recalls the Spirit monster, and gains 700 life points from Shinato and 500 life points fro

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Yugi Versus The Rare Hunter (Part 2 of 2)
star
15.33
3 votes

#25 - Yugi Versus The Rare Hunter (Part 2 of 2)

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/29/2001

Yugi figures out the Rare Hunter's strategy to summon the almighty Exodia, but is it too late to stop him. The Rare Hunter already has four pieces of Exodia in his hand, and the fifth and final piece is on top of his deck. How can Yugi stop the invincible Exodia.

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