Kaiba's Dominance: Playing the Strongest Cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!

The Power Discrepancy: Anime vs. Real-World Cards

Many characters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime used some incredibly powerful cards, but oftentimes those cards weren't as strong when they were added to the real-world card game. However, some cards did retain their power in the real world and went on to warp the game. One character in the anime played these cards at a higher rate than any other.

Chaos Emperor Dragon in the Yu-Gi-Oh anime

In order to make certain cards look cool and encourage viewers to buy them, the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime would often give them exclusive effects that wouldn't translate well to the actual game. This was especially true in the first season where the rules were more flexible but it would also later apply to more iconic cards like the Winged Dragon of Ra (although the Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game has tried to get around this by separating its different forms into various cards). There are also instances where powerful cards in the anime like Dark Magician or Blue-Eyes White Dragon are a lot less powerful in real life due to them being mechanically underpowered or inconsistent. Despite these cases, there are some cards that do live up to the immense power the anime shows them having.

Kaiba laughs in Yu-Gi-Oh

Kaiba's Mastery: Playing the Strongest Real Cards in the Anime

Of course, when discussing powerful cards things like Pot of Greed, Monster Reborn, and a handful of other strong spells will come up. While these are strong, they don't quite win the game on their own as follow-up is needed to take full advantage of them. Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, which was played by Kaiba in the show's fifth season, is a boss monster that can just win the game on its own. It was so powerful that it was actually one of the first cards to be banned from competitive play in the real-world game. An argument could also be made for Crush Card Virus being the most powerful, in a rare case where the anime effect being weakened didn't dilute this card's power, but Kaiba played that one as well.

It is fitting that the duelist who played the most powerful real-world cards in the show is Kaiba. Kaiba began the series obsessed with acquiring the most powerful cards in the world and while he eventually shifted to focusing on beating Yugi, the cards he uses to do so are still more prestigious and rare than those of other characters. Yugi begins the series with the powerful Exodia and does acquire some other extremely powerful cards like the Egyptian God Cards, but the main cards he uses in his deck are generally much more underpowered. Yugi elevates these cards through his bond to them and his belief in the Heart of the Cards, while Kaiba treats his cards more as powerful tools. While Exodia's effect lets a duelist win the game, it was too inconsistent to be extremely powerful in the real world.

Kaiba's Philosophy: Power and Strategy in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Given his philosophy, it only makes sense that Kaiba would wield the real-world game's most powerful cards. In the real world, the Heart of the Cards is much less reliable than in the anime, so the powerful cards that Kaiba uses will generally outclass the ones used by other duelists. However, the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime proves that power isn't everything when it comes to these duels as even with these string cards, Kaiba isn't able to defeat his rival.

Episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! are streaming on Crunchyroll!