yeah, I would have put that duel in the first place for the epicness of Junk Warrior defeating Red Dragon so hard that they made a card with the consequences of that attack (Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend (hand and horn damaged))
Judai vs Yugi for me. At that point Judai was pretty much done with dueling for fun after everything he experianced. He got a chance to face his childhood hero at this prime and fought tooth and nail to outplay him. Midway through the duel he realized that result itself doesn't matter that much since he was finally having fun after so long. It symbolizes every person that is crushed under sense of responsibility adulthood brings, only for them to experiance joy after encountering their childhood hobby.
Yeah the symbolism of that duel is a perfect cap off to Judais journey. GX ends very well at the end, especially from the perspective of our main character
@@AyaanThe0ne yea a lot of people hates GX because of Season 1 and 2, because they had so many filler episodes and also not very entertaining lots of them, but season 3 and 4 brought GX to get up to the others series, anyway i like a lot Season 1 and 2 as well, and GX is my favorite
Yugi vs. Atem was just on a different plane...it felt like the entire show lead up to this one final duel, which automatically made it greater than any other duel here
That's because the entire series up to that point was leading to that final duel. Atem needed to regain his memories in order to fulfill his purpose, and now that he finally had, it was time for him to move on with Yugi's help. Speaking of Yugi, it was a GREAT way to show that he no longer needed to rely on Atem and was finally starting to become a more confident and independent person. We all knew that this duel was going to happen eventually, and seeing how much it meant to both characters involved really made it one of, if not arguably the BEST duel in the original Yu-Gi-Oh!
I liked the zexal one a lot more than most cause Yuma vs astral is just meant to kinda show how far yuma has come. First not being able to duel at all even with astrals help, then being competent with astral's help but heavily reliant on his number cards and now at the end hes able to beat astral without any number cards besides that weird future number 0 thing he summoned
Soulburner vs Revolver does indeed feel like the proper Ceremonial Duel because it basically wraps up the feelings those two major characters had about the Lost Incident which is the reason all of vrains started.
Thing with the Yuma vs Astral duel, was, I think, as Dylan said "its kind of a step down from the previous duels against ppl like knash", but done like that on purpose because by the end of Zexel we are shown a nice mellow clip of life as it was before, so this duel could be classed as, how Yuma would fair in a normal duel under more reality based circumstances (as in once life had fully returned to normal after astral's departure) and show how they are now trying to transition back to that reality that we are shown at the very beginning of the show, plus I find their to be more of a story told during Zexal's duels, making them more important to the plot. So the story is now ending and calming down, so in turn so are the duels ig, but eh idk thats just my take on this!😅🙃😂
I can understand Yuma vs. Astral being a copy of Yugi vs. Atem but still loved Utopic Future debut. It's an Ace created solely for Yuma and greatly represents his character.
Not only that, you can see through the whole Duel who Astral is guiding Yuma back to what's normal, which is the reason to why i love that duel and Yugi VS Judai, and if i wasn't a massive Judai fanboy(Through to be honest of the protags Yuma is my number 2 in terms of favorites of Yugioh), they didn't needed the Ceremonial duels to progress or become stronger, they needed then to get back a sense of Normality, that's something that really necessary when you go through a lot of high and lows, or in their case, going through some mess up stuff and need to be grounded. It's why through the middle of the duel Astral tells Yuma the truth that he didn't told him the true when he begun this duel, it's why Yugi appears to Judai and, whatever happen or not it doesn't matter, tells him that he lost something and there is someone that can help him.
@@thatman666 It was the homepage to Yugi vs Atem, but it was done extremely well. I love Yuma playing Number 0 while Astral plays Number 99. Plus it's just nice to see Astral summoning all Utopia forms
Yea man I think thats really accurate but I just prefer the Yuma duel because of how it feels like Yuma really is growing into his own duelist and becoming someone who doesn't need Astral
@@guyhathansaintil5218 iall this just makes me reminisce on just how great zexal is, the story from beginning to end, just "flows" perfectly, everything seems to be done at such a nice spaced out format that actually allows things to make sence, especially compared to the other yugioh series imo
I wouldn’t really call it ceremonial, but I really did love the Jaden VS Crowler duel in season 4. It was just so amazing to have the flashback to the very first episode, & to see how far everyone had come over the past seasons. ❤️
My favorite moment was the summoning of the Ultimate Antic Gear Golem. Chronos even said he never thought he would have to use that monster against a mere student.
Yugi vs Atem makes me cry every time. Also I love when Kaiba tries to leave and Yugi is just like "I thought you would want to see me take down all three Egyptian Gods." And when Kaiba acknowledges that Yugi, not Atem, is the King of Games. oh that made me so happy!
To me, neither Yugi nor Atem is the King of Games. Or, well.... I guess that depends on how you define the term "King of Games". If it's simply the best duelist in the world, then it's obviously Yugi, since he's better than Atem at the end of the series and those 2 are the best duelists in the world. But I take "King of Games" to mean "the perfect, unbeatable duelist". And Atem has the ability to draw any card he wishes whenever he wants to, which Yugi lacks, which surely is a vital component of being the perfect, unbeatable King of Games. Meanwhile, Atem also makes mistakes, and he makes them not once, but some he makes at least twice. Yugi doesn't do that. Here I'm thinking of, to name an example, Atem stating that Egyptian God cards aren't affected by Trap Cards, which he states not once but at least twice, and possibly even three times during the course of the duel. Now, I could forgive making such a mistake once, even for a perfect and unbeatable duelist, as learning from your mistakes is an important part of perfection and unbeatability. But to make the same mistake -- in this case that while the Egyptian Gods aren't affected by *_Direct_* Traps, they are very much affected by all other Traps -- more than once? That says that Atem actually doesn't learn from his mistakes, and that basically automatically disqualifies him from the title King of Games. So, if I don't consider either Yugi or Atem to be the true King of Games, who do I consider to hold that title. The answer, is "surprisingly simple". It's the *_combination_* of Yami/Atem and Yugi, working in the perfect unison as a single entity, which is the true and deserved holder of the title "King of Games".
I think they kept the winner unknown is because they didn't want to make someone upset. Judai should have been the winner because he is the new duel king and the protagonist of the current series, so it would make sense to make the protagonist of the newer series the winner to make him the rightful earner of the game king title. But Yugi was just to legendary for the people at this time to make him loose, i think they where to afraid that people could consider a loosing Yugi a sacrilige, so they kept it unsure to not upset either fanside.
@@holladiewaldfee6071 nahh yugi wasn't at his prime in this duel, and he was about to defeat judai. But in my opinion it would have made more sence that yugi would have won, it would show that judai still has lots to learn because to be honest I don't think he could defeat the top 4 of dm series. I see your point and it makes sense but it would for me just be weird to see judai beat yugi.
Definitely the best of each series but to be honest, how difficult is it to find a bad duel? Like they are disappointing duels for sure, like Yugo vs Serena for me personally (Serena using all the action cards at the start really annoyed me and I wanted better interaction between them, besides Yugo fantasizing about Rin) or maybe Soulburner vs Windy, which was kinda underwhelming compared to Revolver vs Windy but each of these duels have redeeming moments like The new summons from each duel. On the other side, basically any duel with a one off character.
Same as yours, but I just bump Ai Vs Yusaku 3rd. The speech Yusaku delivers at the final episode is so intense and true how you only have one life and you have to live it without trying to cheat the pain out but overcome it by forming new bonds. I can relate to that so much.
That picture of Shun. The ending of Arc V oh man everybody smiling while the credits roll lmao. Honestly they just needed 20 more episodes to wrap up the plot of the series.
Atem vs Yugi is my favorite because it shows not only their bond, but how Yugi even though he loves Atem like a brother doesn't need him and puts him to rest; it just really hits well and is beautiful
To me Yusei vs Jack is the absolute best. It really feels like earned end of a long journey, which not only refers to 5Ds itself, but the whole DM timeline (after 5Ds, all animes take place in separate universes). Junk Warrior being the last monster Yusei uses is not only a throwback at Yusei vs Jack R1, but also at how Junk Warrior has been with Yusei since the very first moment, and how he started and finished the anime with it. The scene that follows the duel with everyone parting ways and Yusei facing a brighter tomorrow in Domino City just gets me. A 4th place doesn't do the duel any justice, and I personally feel this duel is miles above Yugi vs Judai.
As the series progresses, you see their decks added with new and better cards. But Yusei summoning Junk Warrior shows that no matter what, a bond is still a bond and nothing will break that or change it. Overall, it’s my favorite ceremonial duel and I really think it deserves a better place on that list
The only problem I had with that duel is that Jack deserved the win more than Yusei did. Yusei had stopped dueling and Jack kept on dueling to get better and finally defeat Yusei, then he loses again.
@@dagothcharles2044 Yusei was miles ahead of Jack before Jack started his training. From the moment Yusei evolved to beat Antimony's Delta Accel Synchro without having that ability himself, he was in a tier of his own. The fact that Yusei needed to go all out and use everything in his power to beat Jack besides Quasar shows that Jack and Yusei are in their own league as far as 5Ds is concerned
I feel that Zexal is looked over a lot and in my opinion it is definitely a top 3 season. The ceremonial duel between Yuma and Astral was amazing to me because it harkened back to the first episode of Zexal. Yuma forgot how to duel for fun and everyone buy him realized that. Astral felt guilt for dragging Yuma into his war with Barian and wanted to erase his memory so he could enjoy dueling again. The one thing Yuma held close to his heart when his parents died was dueling. It became a weapon but a source of pain for him as almost every duel had stakes for him. If he lost Astral dies and so does the world. The door he opened in the 1st episode mentioned he lose the most important thing to him if he gained its power (being Astral). He lost the ability to smile while dueling. This duel was essentially him learning to love it again without having massive stakes or pain. Astral was trying to get rid of Yuma's PTSD in a way and atone by making sure he won the duel. In the end Yuma realized what he was missing and showed Astral that he can stand on his own feet and smile by himself. It's like Yugu vs Aten but instead went between the lines of what being with people like Astral/Aten can cost a normal boy like Yugi and Yuma and how they can move past the pain and still enjoy the thing that caused them so much suffering (dueling) because it brought them true friends. I hope this makes sense sorry for the Soap box I'm off to try a get Galaxy Eyes and build my photon deck.
@@mr.mimikyu2342 in some ways yes and no when it comes to it Dm is how it all started plus the poitn in Dm was the story and the card game was just a toll for the story where in all other yugioh's its a part of the story. I like Dm more but we can all like what we want and I respect your opinion.
@@mr.mimikyu2342 Zexal is for me my second favorite(Dm, Zexal, 5D,GX,Vrains, ArcV, didnt see the new one) i like how Yuma wasnt the beast at the start but got there with hard work and the story was grate to if we dont look at Don Thousand and maybe Vector all the "vilans" where heros of there own story and you could see where they were coming from
1. Yusaku VS Ai - The duel was really good, the speechs between Ai and Playmaker meant so much and Ai death scene 😭 If only this season wasn't rushed ... 2. Yusei VS Jack - Really good duel, and the nostalgia with the fight between Junk Warrior and Red Demon. Also, seeing those beloved characters choose their path, it's the perfect and best ending ... 3. Yugi VS Atem - Well watch Yugi surpasses the Pharaoh it's really pleasant. 4. Judai VS Yugi/Atem - Two YGO protag, i'm not a fan of the duel but I love the fact that Judai find back what he lost during the Season 3. And the no result always make me want to know the outcome. 5. Yuma VS Astral - Not a fan of the duel, but it the story around is better than Arc V 6. Yuya VS Reiji - A good duel but Yu boys and bracelet girls fates ruin everything...
Something interesting to note about Jaden's duel with Yugi before the cut-off: he still had Flare Scarab on the field, so when Jaden went "Go, Neos!", he was probably trying to do a contact fusion to break out Flare Neos. It's possible that - even with Slifer's special ability - Jaden could have won the duel with Flare Neos and Shining Flare Wingman.
I agree with pretty much everything. Although I would move Playmaker vs Ai a little higher, simply because of the super emotional end of the duel. One of the few times that I actually cried during a Yugioh episode
Too bad, I couldn't feel that same emotion. Mainly because my issues of Vrains were the writing had fatigue, some of the major battles were Mater Duels despite promoting Speed Duels, Bohman.
If Vrains kept going, I feel like Yusaku would've used @Ignisters as a surprise factor against Revolver and it would have been the coolest thing in the whole series
1. Yugi vs Atem *And the rest aren’t ceremonial duels, they’re just final duels. *Yuma vs Astral night count due to those two sharing similar circumstances to Yugi and Atem but I haven’t seen Zexal II so I hesitate to rank it either higher or lower than Yugi vs Atem.
Nah I'm pretty sure the writers of each were counting certain duels to be representing ceremonies. Because of the change in there characters and the fulfillment of the story you could count them as such.
The episode title of Yuma vs Astral has "Ceremonial Duel" in the title. This is to reference the original series since ZeXal takes elements from the original. GX has "Graduation Ceremony" and "Graduation Duel" in its last 2 episodes. A graduation is a ceremony. 5D's did not have this, nor did Arc-V or VRAINS. Actually, with Arc-V the episode title was "Junior Youth Championship". Yuya had to win multiple duels in order to be a pro duelist. It shouldn't be any different than Judai having to win his graduation, but I don't care about Arc-V at all to defend it.
I watched the Soul Burner vs Varis w sub. And it was amazing. Really shocked about the results. The dubbed version is coming soon (I'm in Canada). I can't wait to see how they pull that off...
I always saw it as jaden attacking into sliver to end the duel in a bang. He knew he couldn't win so he attacked into sliver to end the duel in a fast and cool way.
My theory for the judai vs yugi duel is that yugi won. After the cut judai seems standing in the middle of nowhere thanking yugi and all. I can imagine judai losing and yugi just approaching him and be like 'that was an amazing duel' then judai goes laughing saying thank you. Its not really a theory its more of a guess xD
Make sense. We assume Judai fully regained his joy of Duel after Osiris summoning. His final attack with Neos would be message saying "I no longer want to win, I just want to enjoy this last turn. Thank you Yugi! "
If there's 2 things I really like about Ai vs playmaker, its that the duel didn't end with their final boss monsters, it ended with their original Ace monsters, and also, it ended on AI's turn in a way I have never seen. Ai had the easiest path to victory, all he had to do was attack with Dark templar, and he knew that was the best play. He had to be the one to choose self destruction, or a future where Yusaku would die. In the end, he went with the more risky play, and lost as a result
One reason why I believe Judai pulled out the win is what he said at the very end, when everything faded. He says "Gotcha", which was his victory line in the Japanese version.
Maybe "Closing Duel" would've been a more accurate name, since they actually close each series? Of course, you'd have to dismiss Soulburner VS Revolver in that case.
Great rankings Dylan. Thanks for doing it Here's my ranking of the Ceremonial Duels: 7. Yuya vs Reiji 6. Jaden vs Yugi 5. Playmaker vs Ai 4. Yuma vs Astral 3. Yusei vs Jack 2. Soulburner vs Revolver 1. Yugi vs Atem (Yami)
Agree with everything on the list. Yusei vs Jack at the end of 5D's was a duel I didn't expect to love as much as a did. When Yusei won with Sonic Chick, Junk Warrior, Speed Warrior etc... instead of Stardust was such a moving moment for me. He finished the show with the cards he started with in the show.
if we going by the manga ZEXAL would be number 1 because its so sad with astral floating through space for like thousand of years, waiting for humanity to ascend to a higher level. in the anime, there's literally no reason for yuma challenging astral, but in the manga astral confesses that he loves yuma and he wanted his last duel to be with yuma, regardless of he is winning or not, yuma challenge astral to prove to him that human will ascend to a higher level as the astral's world, giving astral *hope* that yuma one day will help humanity to ascend, that e'rah will not be a threat anymore so he could be with yuma again, for me there is no more emotional ceremonial duel in the entire Yu-Gi-Oh universe other than ZEXAL manga ending, filled with hope and love by the 2 protagonist in the series
Plus seeing Astral actually summoning different Numbers while Yuma only having Hope was so cool to see. I love both the Zexal anime and manga duel but I will admit I love the manga version a bit mainly due to how bittersweet it was compared to the anime.
I think an issue I’ve always had with Yuma vs Astral is that it really epitomised the “And now I summon my entire deck!” meme, the entire first half of the duel is essentially me checking the time bar waiting for Astral to be done, because most of the shit that he pulls are new cards, some of which aren’t real, and it just feels like “yeah? Uh huh, ya done making shit up yet?” Door Of Destiny was a great sequence though
_"Some of which aren't real."_ You do realize, I hope, that you are watching a fictional series, right? You also realize, I hope, that the fictional game Duel Monsters and the real game Yu-Gi-Oh! are in fact *not* the same game, even though one is based on the other and they have very similar card names, roughly similar rules, and really quite similar mechanics as well? Them being so alike, I can see why so many people confuse them, and get upset at things like the Duelist Kingdom arc, where Duel Monsters rules and cards were still very different from what would become the real-life Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG, but the reality is that the 2 games, one fictional and one real, were always meant to be 2 different, separate games, with clear differences in rules, cards and even sometimes mechanics. So it is completely normal, even entirely expected, that the fictional game of Duel Monsters would sometimes feature cards that the real game of Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn't.
For me and this’ll be a controversial one, Ai/Yusaku is the best ceremonial duel, just for the sheer emotion alone Ai was mourning the loss of his ignis friends and adopted Lightning’s philosophy in order to carry out his final wish Ai ran those simulations in which Yusaku died in every one . Ai didn’t want to be alive if it meant Yuskau wasn’t , so set up a scenario that would result in his death . Yusaku forgave Ai for his actions when he beat him and they had an emotional goodbye
That's facts I love Ai vs Yusaku honestly I wouldn't want any other ceremonially duel for vrains it's easily the most emotional during an episode sense yuma vs Kiteo round 2
Yugi vs Atem will always be my favorite ceremonial duel in all Yugioh. Yugi vs Judai is a close second because it is the only time that the main protagonists of 2 different Yugioh shows managed to duel against each other. I honestly think that Yugi and Atem had this duel won.
Hey Dylan Animation Chronicle 2021 was announced a set for anime only cards renamed from Collection Pack. You could do some kind of prediction video on what cards would Konami make or another top 10 anime only archetypes, I love those vids.
i thought this was because Kazuki Takahashi explicitly said that he didn't want to compare the protags' dueling skills as he saw them as equals. So the studio was left with the choice of making it in a draw or a no result
I think that the Yugi vs atem duel definitely the best by far. I would argue the GX ceremonial duel should even be down farther because it’s the only one where we didn’t get a conclusion and that I think should knock it
I consider Revolver vs Soulburner as VRAINS' Ceremonial Duel, but the show needed a Revolver vs Playmaker for Yusaku yo get his first defeat in the last duel of the show and finally let go of his *need* to win and move on.
I never really saw a point for revolver vs yusaku after season 1 I never saw revolver as a rival more as an antagonist not someone who was a rival to yusaku while yusaku needed a lose it should've been to boham go or lightning though hell maybe even kusanagi it should've happened in season 2 season 1 and 3 yusaku already had enough an emotional struggle he really didn't really do much outside of dueling in season 2 so a lose would've done wonders for his character
As sad as it maybe, I don't think it makes sense for Playmaker to have a ceremonial battle to be the thing that helps him move on, or even a loss for the fact (although a Playmaker loss would be nice, but still). Dueling for Playmaker was a weapon, a tool for survival, he never enjoyed a duel except the final moment between Him and Revolver round 4, but even then, that was just a smile to keep his mood up. He never dueled for fun, he did so for revenge or to save someone. Why would a duel be the thing to suddenly help move on? I would've loved another Playmaker vs Revolver and I'm not saying you're wrong, just wanted to add my own 2 cents
@@cozzillagaming1869 I completely agree with you besides yusaku vs revolver rematch what would be the point of having them duel It wouldn't make sense for post season one revolver or for yusaku he doesn't get anything dueling revolver people always misconstrue revolver as a rival he never was he was like bohman a enemy for yusaku to best to get to his goal maybe there was a bit of a rivalry beacuse that easily the closest yusaku was to losing in the whole show but still how would they even make it work
@@ooofthedegenerate Absolutely, the best reason I could come up with is have Revolver want to duel A.I himself to kill him, Playmaker doesn't want his closest friend to get hurt (yes, please actually show emotion) so he and Revolver duel so Playmaker stops Revolver from hurting A.i, which Playmaker loses, so Revolver takes on A.i in which A.i could be Revolver, which could've been an amazing duel and really summit A.i as being the most threatening villain from the perspective of he beat a person who beat the main protagonist. The show continues on as normal but with added extra weight because Playmaker lost to the guy who lost to A.i. something like that maybe but that's all I really got
@@cozzillagaming1869 If in doing so it unlocks some ability to revive Ai, or locate him (as Yusaku is clearly under the impression he's still out there somewhere regardless), then tehre would be a point.
Yusei vs Jack, Judai vs Yugi/Atem, and Yuya vs Reiji are like rival like duels in a sense. They're not exactly ceremonial in the traditional sense but they're great duels Yugi vs Atem and Yuma vs Astral are like the true 'ceremonial' duels. Those didn't feel like duels between rivals, it felt like the underdog going against a boss character. Atem getting all 3 God cards onto the field and Astral getting 5 Hope/Utopia variations on the field at once, Yugi/Yuma taking out the impossible fields but still having to fight a full duel afterwards and winning, all crazy moments
6. Yuya vs Reiji 5. Yuma vs Astral 4. Yusei vs Jack 3. Judai vs Yugi 2. Yusaku vs Ai 1. Yugi vs Atem Revolver vs Soulburner is good too. Probably tied for 5/6 Honestly, they're all pretty good duels and would definitely rewatch any of them!
1.) Yuma vs Astral 2.) Yugi vs Yami Yugi 3.) Judai vs Yugi 4.) Soulburner vs Revolver This four duels are my favorite because their enjoyable to watch from the episodes. Thanks Dylan for the video.
I still think Playmaker vs Ai is my favorite. The raw emotion, the crazy plays, the powerful monsters, the high stakes, the turnarounds. It just sums up everything Yu-Gi-Oh has come to be known for.
If I had to pick two it would be Atem vs Yugi and Yugi vs Judai. For Atem vs Yugi is bcause it was really feels for me. You have two friends who have been through so much together, and to let that friend go it just really stuck. Plus the duel is basically Yugi overcoming things that Atem overcame. Considering Atem overcame the power of the Egyptian gods, it was Yugi's turn to do the same. For Judai vs Yugi, Judai had basically been through a lot. By Judai facing Yugi, he essentially found what makes dueling fun for him again. Before, he was dueling for his life all the time, that even resulted in some deaths and that made a big impact on him. Yugi basically helps Judai by showing him what it means to have fun dueling again. On the other hand, I also like Yusaku vs. AI. That duel hurts, especially considering Yusaku and AI's life. Yusaku was very distant after the Hanoi Incident, AI and a select few were the only people he considered friends. So to see AI essentially become his enemy is heartbreaking to Yusaku. And considering the end of VRains, it leaves a lot open.
Yuma vs astral really goes up for me just for the simple fact of Yuma shocking everyone with a final shining draw on his own to get a card which he uses to create Future number 0. Beautiful play on words and theme to continue with numbers in my opinion and a rank 0 monster fits very well with Yuma’s character
Nah, I don't count the Revolver/Soulburner as a ceremonial duel... its obviously the last duel of Ai vs Yusaku, considering it somewhat ends up in a situation similar as the original Yugioh series...
I always liked how the A.I vs playmaker duel was basically a loose loose situation for playmaker. If playmaker looses A.I dies to give all ai free will and if playmaker wins A.I still dies. And for the soul burner vs revolver duel its most likely a good duel because it was the most fair match up for soul burner. The duel writer for vrains had said they didn't like writing duels for soul burner because salamangreat is such a good deck it was hard to realistically put him into loosing situations rokkets however are also a pretty good deck and is probably soul burners most fair duel
I'm positive that yugi vs jaden would've ended in a draw. Yugi beating jaden feels too predictable so would ruin the good duel as such and jaden beating yugi would hugely annoy a lot of people so a draw probably is fair to assume.
Facts, you know the crazy dm fans be getting really mad at the thought of yugi losing any duels. I personally like Jaden more because the writers are not scared to make him more human unlike Yugi. It's boring to know he is going to win all the times
@@devinmcgruder598 yh that's what I thought when I wrote it. I personally would've liked to have seen jaden win the duel as a way of showing his progression but I have to go with the more logical route on this one.
Raid: Garbage Lengend shilling ends @2:35. (Sorry, I know it's good sponsorship money but Raid has some of the worst, most predatory microtansacrions I've ever seen, even for mobile games standard)
You pinpointed the exact section of dialogue from the Revolver vs. Soulburner duel I made a point of saving after watching that episode. The writing in those episodes was phenomenal, and have to agree that it was slightly better than the also incredible Yusaku vs. Ai duel.
It's funny how sometimes people just need clear and objective answers for everything. It was the same with the "Did Yusei and Aki kiss?" To me, one of the reasons that I think people love Judai x Yugi so much (me included) is because it is supposed to be "ambiguous". In a franchise where almost everything is clear-cut and over-explained, Judai x Yugi was always a breath of fresh air because it was SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST A DUEL. It's about personal growth, that there's always a light in the darkness. That it is never too late to build yourself up again, to hold on to those childish ideals you once had, because they are special and they hold beauty in them... Because they're special, you just gotta keep up the chase and holding on 😉😭🙏
In the 5D's case, that one sticks in people's craws at least because of the lost potential of its many dropped points, and we wanted closure on one of the few things the show consistently worked at.
Yugi beat Jaden, not because of plot armor for the og protagonist but because Jaden wouldnt have had his love of dueling return to him if he had won. Sure going up against the original King of Games was enough to make most duelists wanna throw down but in that moment if he would've won he would've seen it as there was nothing else, nothing plateau to reach or climb pass. Jaden didnt care if he won or lost so long as the duel was great. After all he had been through, he needed to know that he hadnt reached the pinnacle peak and seeing how Yugi dueled and did so in such a way that it reminded him of what he was missing and enjoyed most about dueling. Fun. Just my opinion though
I personally think Judai vs Yugi/Atem was the best because it’s almost like a passing of the torch and coming of age type think while also reminding Judai not to forget who he truly was and is deep down. I think it symbolized Konami also saying they think Judai is the best character from yugioh ever because he’s the only one who got the honour of facing Atem and also on top of that getting true praise from Atem, meanwhile the duel was actually inconclusive and left up to our imagination
What I like the most about the Yugi vs Atem duel is that I forgot about the wind condition being Gold Sarcophagus. I recall he activated the card earlier in the duel but because everything else was so action packed I forgot about it. That's some awesome writing! When Atem played Monster Reborn I was on the edge of my seat because I had no idea how Yugi would have gotten out of that.
If you think about it, Yugi sealing monster reborn has the message: the spirits of the dead should rest and not have to return to the land of the living.
I would argue soulburner vs revolver was a duel with high stakes given the key ro A.I. was on the line. If revolver wins than playmaker can't go after the ignis so o would say there was a risk at losing. Just not their lives for once
Here’s my personal ranking 7: 5Ds 6: Revolver vs Soulburner 5: GX 4: ZeXal 3: Arc-V 2: DM 1: Yusaku vs Ai 5Ds is the only one I dislike, I like Soulburner vs Revolver, and Jaden vs Yugi, and I absolutely love the top 4. Fun(?) fact, Arc-V is my favorite from a 100% dueling perspective. And I don’t even dislike 5Ds’, it’s just that it felt very underwhelming coming off of the arc cradle duels My favorite VRAINS duel is Ai vs Blue Maiden+Akira. Despite the awful shafting Aoi’s character got throughout the whole of VRAINS, this one duel was her time to shine. Not gonna rant about a duel that isn’t even mentioned in the video tho.
I still think Revolver threw the duel when he summoned Zerovoros, he still had a negate on Savage Dragon, he just wanted to challenge Soulburner to beat him without link summoning.
a bit torn because some of these rankings are a bit different from what i would have. I would put Yusei vs Jack at 1 or 2nd because Atem and Yugi are a hard duel to challenge. In addition, i do have zexal contending for those positions too lol. There were just so many good elements with the main one being that the people needed to lose so that they could move forward everyone in a way.
I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted Yusaku and Soulburner to duel as VRAINS' ceremonial duel but they just didn't had the time or money to make it work.
Judai vs Yugi has the same Energy as Gold/Ethan vs Red in the Pokemon games Both happen in a "Generation 2" storyline and both are meant to be Ambiguous on who wins (You can win against Red but he disappears right after so it's like the Battle didn't happen much like Judai and Yugi's battle)
I can't ever see a duel between protagonists ever having a definitive conclusion (other than maybe a draw), as it would give a explicit reason as to why one is better than the other (in terms of dueling at least). It's also why I think Joey beat Yugi since the writers couldn't risk having Yugi's rep in disrepute, so they never showed the outcome.
I put Yugi vs. Jaden as NO. 1 since that was a duel between main protagonists - which should be the ceremonial duel for every series. In addition to remembering to have fun in adulthood, the other message would be to always improve yourself as the world around you changes - change is difficult y’all. 😅 And no, I don’t count Playmaker vs Ai as a ceremonial duel because the takes were undoubtedly high if Playmaker didn’t win the duel.
Nothing will ever top the original 3 ceremonial duels for me. I have a special place in my heart for 5D's as my personal favorite show overall, but nothing can top the original ceremonial duel or the spectacle of realizing that Jaden has grown so much to the point he can stand toe-to-toe with the original king of games, of which his skills as a duelist come back in Bonds Beyond Time. Yes, basically all of the ceremonial duels (even the one from Arc-V, as rough as the story was) were pretty badass, but come on, Yugi overcoming the 3 Egyptian gods in a single turn cannot be topped.
I honestly hate the Yuma v astral duel. We were just getting off like, 3 multi-episode "final boss" duels, and dragging out one more underwhelming duel was such a slog
