Judai vs Chronos actually has a special place for me as a duel as it was literally the first YGO duel I ever saw. GX aired in my country back when I was a kid, and I saw the first episode on TV.
The opening duel in GX also sets up how massively bias the dorm assignments are given that Jaiden is placed in Slifer Red when a purely skill based ranking should have him in Obelisk Blue given that he was likely the ONLY one in the exam to win against a professional duelist using their personal deck and presumably dueling skill would be THE requirement to get a job teaching or even at all in a duel academy owned by Seto Kaiba of all people(Special exemption for Joey Wheeler because Kaiba would rather die than admit Joey isn't a third rate duelist with a fourth rate deck).
Seto recognise joey at the end of battle city For GX dorm assignment Crowler used his position to put jaden in the red dorm And also the duel academy assign their students not only on duel monsters but also other subjects Nonetheless jaden was technically a ra yellow in season 1 He just refused to leave syrus and he preferred red I mean he could have kept the red jacket so the real reason was he felt bad to leave syrus Bastian also doesn't make too much sense to be in ra yellow He is possibly the best first year in term of grades He should have been in blue obelisk I think that many rich kids bribe to get to the blue dorm where as they should be in yellow This maked that many ra yellow who were suppose to be in blue were stuck in ra yellow
@Deathmare He claped an ancient gear golem reputed to be a rare card that crowler has in his possesion and he won the duel against crowler The duels are generally recorded Crowler put jaden in red slifer that's sure
Yuya vs Sledgehammer deserves to be high. At the start of the show Yuya was charming and playful and it definitely introduces his character well. The stakes were definitely there and emotion.
It was Junk Warrior that ended the Final Duel of 5Ds showing Yusei doesn't even need any form of Stardust, in fact it hurt RDA so bad, across dimensions as a retrain it's arm is still injured, that's some Act 4 shit.
@@IWriteTooMuchForBleachIGuess just because an event is final in the series doesnt mean it is automaticaly the best, there are better duels in 5ds than the final one, same with gx
Guess ending duels is next. Yugi vs atem was magical and really shows how far both have come and how yugi needs to beat atem and be his own duelist (until gx 5ds and movie ret con it) Gx blast from the past and Jaden Getting better after fighting a fully realized Yugi who he dueled ealry on with the mimic guy was wonderful. Jaden needed that duel to be happy again. 5ds touched my heart the most. The group is leaving and the final duel is yusie vs jack. Both have grown so much throughout the series and the symbolism we see with yusie was something great. Music sad and growing up hit a lot more as this cast was my favorite. Yusie winning with junk warrior was the best ending to any duel as he used all his old cards compared to everyone else who changes card a lot more was something wonderful. Zexal had a good message in it and glad to see it. Arc v really felt rushed but seeing yuya get his best deck by learning to use all his cards was great. Wish it was better. Vrains did hit as yusaku was basically destroying a part of himself and basically ends like a hermit. Not as good as the others as many loose threads are left open
I really liked the 5ds opening duel because it really got to show how 5ds got more creative with how it handles duels compared to gx. Im only on episode 20 though
I literally just finished 5D's a few weeks ago and also 2nd the opinion that you're going to love it. I never watched it as a kid so this was my first time, and the main plot at the end and main villain (intentionally not providing deats to not spoil) are legitimately some of my favorite of any anime I've watched. Shit gets SO real late in 5D's man.
The only suggestion I can make is if you’re watching the dub, later into the series look into the non-dubbed episodes and watch them as well. But even if you don’t you’ll love 5ds regardless.
Going into Arc-V I was concerned that Yuya would be very similar to early Yuma, but watching the Strong Ishijima duel I quickly came to understand and love his character
So this video was edited by Jeric! First video where I outsourced the editing, I am happy you liked it, will hopefully be working with him more in the future! :)
Before it went _really_ grim and depressing, Arc-V's introduction of Action Duels was a really unique way to include the franchise. Why? Because of how it allows the Duellist to interact with their Monsters physically and the environment of the surrounding Field, even moreso than the previous animes. I was pissed that Arc-V became so freaking dark and made Yuya the biggest "Woobie" of the Yu heroes.
I can completely agree on DM’s first episode being in second. My list might be controversial opinion....haha 1. Zexal (it treated some things better than DM’s first episode ie destroying something important, the interaction with Shark in both episodes especially the comment Yuma shouted at Shark about giving up) 2. DM 3. GX 4. Arc V 5. Sevens 6. Both Vrains and 5Ds
I feel like GX had the best first duel. The original first episode was just Atem drawing cards. Judai was the only one with a strategy in fusion summoning.
I’m in the same boat with having either Yugi vs Kaiba or Judai vs Chronos as number 1. Also, have you heard that Firewall Dragon is back in the OCG at 1? They gave it an errata so it wouldn’t be broken.
you know what, that is a good point about how yugi vs kaiba isn't so much a good duel as a very iconic moment (though there is an absolute ton of story in just the first episode, it's pretty impressive) where gx is a better duel all around
the GX opening duel will forever be the best...it doesn't have some ridiculous odds like "oh if you don't win everyone dies"...it's just "hey kid if you fail you don't get into a school"...that's a much easier character and series introduction than people literally dying or being traumatized by a card game
The best thing about the Jaden vs. Crowler duel is that there is a nice flow to the season afterwards. Crowler pretty much spends the next half of Season 1 trying to get Jaden expelled or other duelists to battle him. His opinion is extremely low of Jaden until around Season 3 where he learns to respect him more. I think it was nice to have a first duel that has more of a rivarly impact where when Yugi and Kaiba dueled, after Yami in particular dispelled the evil out of Kaiba, Kaiba went into hiding and we're forced to deal with Pegasus and his cronies for awhile. After Crowler lost to Jaden, he made it his mission to try and get him expelled afterwards. I just love it that the duel between those two have much more of an impact antagonist wise rather than Yugi turning Kaiba into slightly more of a nicer person than he was before
I agree with your list. I can't really rank them per say, they all sort of fall in the same net for me. The Yugi vs Kaiba duel is iconic but my favorite 2 opening duels are Yuya vs SledgeHammer and Jaden vs Crowler just because those are my 2 favorite yugioh shows. Jaden vs Crowler did a lot more for me than most people. Watching DM, I was like "this is good and interesting, but it was super serious, and Yugi was super perfect, whereas I'm just playing Yugioh after school to have fun with my friends". Then GX comes around and it is upbeat and Jaden is an actual character with actual flaws, but still does his best, and he actually acted like a mid-teen boy. I remember immediately after watching the first episode of GX on TV, I went out to the local card shop and bought as many of Jaden's cards as I could.
Really ironic how 5DS and Vrains are my favorite YGO shows (along with Zexal), but the opening duels are really not that interesting. Generic Knight of Hanoi and Ushio aren't as interesting as Crowler, Shark and the other.
Something that they could've done with the KOH in the Vrains duel was keep him alive and have him return later to have a rematch with Playmaker. He could use a Link version of Cracking Dragon as well.
7. Yusei vs Ushio 6. Yusaku vs Knight 5. Yugi vs Kaiba 4. Yuma vs Shark 3. Yuga vs Otes 2. Yuya vs Sledgehammer 1. Jaden vs Crowler (3-5 could all be switched around but I put Yuga's duel up top because of the music during the sevens road summon)
I feel you Dylan, numbers 1 and 2 are super hard to call here, but I gotta agree that GX's is the top. Not just because of the phenomenal season 4 duel that calls back to it, but just because this duel more than any of the opening duels *completely* encompasses the feel and theme of its show. Jaden vs. Crowler simply screams GX and is so precious, not to mention that Yugi vs. Kaiba did mostly feel like a numbers game up until exodia. So yeah, all in all a great list, I simply love these ranking lists, maybe do one ranking the female leads in yugioh!
I’d have swapped your best and second best around, but I definitely agree with your list . Jaden and Crowler had a great duel and that ending with Flame Wingman attacking Ancient Gear Golem was used later on in Season 4 for nostalgia . I was like Alexis wondering how Crowler didn’t know Kuriboh’s effect. I loved Yugi/Kaiba for all reasons that you stated and Yugi spoke one of my favourite lines in Yu-Gi-Oh! history: “My grandpa’s deck has no pathetic cards,Kaiba . But it does contain .... the unstoppable Exodia !!!”
Let’s be honest, the only reason Yugi vs Kaiba is even up at #2 is because Yugi drew Exodia. Which is also a testament to just how cool Exodia is, that his summoning alone brings the duel from the bottom to the near top of this list. I don’t care if he isn’t competitively viable, Exodia will always be cool.
I wish Crowler was in Arc-V . It would be cool to see him use the newer Ancient Gear monsters and maybe some anime exclusive Ancient Gear draw power and protection cards .
@@l.t.hennessy6307 I watched all the episodes of Arc-V I just think it would be cool if the guy who originally used Ancient Gears came back to use the newer Ancient Gear monsters .
If you check the video description, I actually edited this YGO Everything video this time around! It's the first time Dylan has outsourced any of his videos! :)
@@JericBrual Improvements need to happen. You use more movinf footage, which is good, but dont make his static character....shake or wtf was that? It just doesn't work.
@@John_Bourdakos Yeah because the anime did what I've stated in reverse order. Even if the duel was a product of its time where things went differently, it was that part got me upset.
An interesting bit about these duels is that, when you think about it, Jaiden and Yusei are the only one who actually won doing what the deck was supposed to do. Yuga technically did too, however he was also exploiting a whole new ruleset designed by him, so I consider that having as much of an impact on his victory and doesn't count. But for the other four, Yugi gets a "out of jail for free" that his deck doesn't really support or takes advantage of, and Yusaku, Yuma and Yuya all get a new card in the middle of the duel to help them out of the situation. It's interesting to consider.
GX is by far the best. It was a great duel from start to finish with how it played out, the commentary between them. Also having Crowler's ancient gear golem hyped up to be a legendary monster, seeing it get taken down, also while being in front of a big audience which can easily resonate with the viewers, and just how on multiple levels this is one of the most important tests, it's a test for him to get into the academy, it's much harder for him than everyone else, it's a test not only for him to get into the school but to prove himself to Crowler, the audience, and most importantly the viewers. This is also a lot more grounded with it not involving taking down a champion with a broken card like exodia, but it's also so impactful because it sets up the stage for his life at duel academy and you just can't wait to see how him having such an amazing first impression will impact his relations throughout the series, that thought is what made me so invested early on to keep watching. This is also a duel that had little to no cheese, no exodia, no god tier dueling spirit come to backseat you, no cards magically turning into more op cards. If anything you could argue he wouldn't have won without winged kuriboh but given the story, it ends up being more of a good thing since Yugi felt like it belonged to him and if anything, winged kurioh saving him in this duel further boosts that connection. Absolutely everything about this duel was perfect making it not only one of the best opening duels but also introduction to a series
Gave up at the start of Sevens duel so I can't judge it really so it's top 6 for me 6th I agree with you Dylan that Yusaku v Knight of Hanoi was lackluster it was just introduce speed duels and link summoning 5th I LOVED 5ds but Yusei v Trudge was a bit meh. It felt a bit fast and it never hit the hype that 5ds hit. 4th I didn't like Ark-v first duel it was the start of the I activate this spell from the air quite literally but if you try nah. 3rd Yuma v Shark. I'm not a lover of Zexal I won't say I loved it but it grew on me. But this duel holds the fact that it was the duel that got me properly into Yu-Gi-Oh. 2nd Yugi v Kaiba. Don't get me wrong it's not bad. It's just it went fast you blink and you miss it. 1st. Jaden v Crowler. I'm 90% sure this was the first duel I watched for the whole of Yu-Gi-Oh it holds that for me and I enjoyed it it's just I missed basically the rest of gx and the whole of 5ds and it was the introduction to Yu-Gi-Oh for me. Not Zexal that got me into it. Not duel monsters which I never actually saw until this year. Gx. No matter what you say about Jaden you have to admit the duels he was in was badass
Opening duels[least favorite to favorite] 7. Sevens 6. Vrains 5. Zexal 4. 5ds 3. DM (Duel Monsters) 2. Arc-V 1. GX Might as well lurk around since I have nothing else to do, wasn’t a fan of the first episode of Sevens either and speaking of which, the most recent episode was interesting for sure. 😅
I’m actually a mix of surprised and unsurprised DM got so high. Yeah it’s iconic but really it’s more a couple moments in it are iconic and it has memes on other parts. I couldn’t tell you jack about what happened before the three Blue Eyes were summoned, and it was kinda ultimately won by drawing cards.
For each. Original was good to show the rules(that are changed next season) but more so showing how the bonds like exodia can win even against 3 blue eyes. Gx I loved seeing Jaden win with flame wingman and really shows how fusion will be a major part of the story. 5ds probably my favorite as yusie off the bat is a good duelist and shows how the new driving duels will go and overall my favorite first duel with trudge. Zexal kinda annoying but it was more real how someone would react to a ghost appearing in the duel. Duel was ok. Arc v a very flashy show of the new battle mechanic so it was cool. I don't like action cards but the colors were great. Vrains I didn't like much as it felt and showed yusaku would never lose a real duel as off the bat I knew he wouldn't be able to. Sevens was actually quite enjoyable seeing the new game style and how fast duels can become with yuga making his duels. Overall I probably like 5ds duels the most as synchro is my favorite duel type and starts pretty fast as yusie shows off his style and also two decks.
I loved the duel with Yuga and Otes and how it set up Sevens. I don't remember much about how the duel itself went, but the set-up and stakes really showed us the kind of world it was and how dedicated a tinkerer Yuga is. I love that lil guy. When he busted out his duel disk one strike away from getting his account banned he had my respect
Honestly, I remember all of the opening duels... except for the Vrains one. I was literally like 'what was it again?' before it came onto the list XD I only remember the Sevens one because it's the most recent one but if there is a next Yugioh after Sevens, I really hope the first duel is actually hype.
Very good I agree with most of the pickings on this list although I haven't seen much of Yu-Gi-Oh veins after the first two episodes and I'm still avoiding seven so still.
Here's my personal list of opening duels worst to best: 7) arc-v 6) vrains 5) 5ds 4) sevens 3) duel monsters 2) gx 1) zexal Just a personal opinion. I liked the sevens opening duel a bit more than I should have done, mainly because sevens road magician is awesome and seeing blue eyes white dragon was awesome too, then zexal is my favourite because, well, it was awesome
Ok ik he said don't get into the Theories but come on. Otes? A Blue Eyes White Dragon? Right now Yu-Gi-Oh is punching us in the face with theories at this point 😂
Ma boi Firewall do be getting an errata! Yay! Edit: Here’s what would be the TCG version 2+ monsters Once while face-up on the field (Quick Effect): You can target monsters on the field and/or GY up to the number of monsters co-linked to this card; return them to the hand. If a monster this card points to is destroyed by battle or sent to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 Cyberse monster from your hand. You can only use each effect of "Firewall Dragon" once per turn.
Favorite opening duel hmm that's tough I would say 1.Yugi vs Kaiba 2.Yusei vs Ushio 3.Judai vs Chronos 4.Yuya vs the hammer or something forgot his name 5.Yuma vs Shark 6.Yuga vs Otis 7.Plsymaker vs Knight of Hanoi
Should be noted In arc v and vrains the Strong Ishijima and generic and common member of knights of Hanoi are first and perhaps the only the first opponents of the protagonists not to be recurring and important characters like the others in past series
My top 10 opening Yu-Gi-Oh duels. 7. Yuga vs Otes 6. Playmaker vs The knight of Hanoi 5. Yuma vs Shark 4. Yuya vs Sledgehammer 3. Yusei vs Trudge (Ushio) 2. Yugi vs Kaiba Round 1 1. Jaden (Judai) vs Crowler (Chronos)
It's been awhile since i've seen any Zexal (i did put season 1 on my christmas list, though) so i'm gonna try to do this from memory/reading yugioh wiki. 7. Arc-V (the action card mechanic is something i don't care much for) 6. Vrains (Links and Skills aren't something i care for, but ignoring that, it was a better duel than Arc V imo) 5. Sevens (the nostalgia made me happy) 4. 5D's (I think Trudge and Yusei had better duels later) 3. Zexal 2. DM 1. GX
1. Yuma vs Ryoga/Shark 2. Playmaker vs generic Knights of Hanoi 3. Yami Yugi vs Kaiba 4. Yuga vs Otes 5. Jaden/Judai vs Crowler 6. Yusei vs Trudge/Ushio 7. Yuya vs what was his name? Allow my bias to completely annihilate any hope of logical explanation for the ranking of these duels (and I still tried to bring in logic, just biased logic). I was initially judgmental of Zexal, but when I gave it a try, I really loved it. That's the experience I fell back on when going into Sevens' first episode as well. None of these duels are bad necessarily. I just ranked Yuya's debut duel last, because someone's duel has to be in last place and I wasn't the biggest fan of Yuya as a character. As VRAINS progressed, I grew appreciative of Yuya's desire to make people smile and entertain people with his dueling, but I was anything but entertained by the end of Arc-V. Meanwhile, I relate to Playmaker, so that's why his duel is 2nd. Yes, you read that right. I relate to Playmaker. I'm the mythical "can relate" person and it's nothing to brag about, really. Yami Yugi's duel is 3rd, because obligatory nostalgia and also because DM sort of saved my life. I can't say my life was ever in any serious danger, but I did contemplate suicide at one point and DM's on-going status convinced me to put down the knife. 5D's didn't fully capture my attention until Aki was introduced and the early episodes of 5D's really weren't that great to me. It was at its best when the Signers/Dark Signers plot kicked in. Yuga and Judai's first duels are in neutral territory. I have no strong feelings toward either of them, but I also don't have any particular reason for their placements.
The judan chrono duel means so much more when you watch their rematch for Jaden's graduation duel. Such a touching moment and nostalgia trip of the entire 4 seasons of yugioh GX like when Jaden and Alexis had their final talk
May as well rank them myself here (Haven’t actually watched sevens yet, so I won’t be ranking it) 6: ZeXal 5: VRAINS 4: DM 3: Arc-V 2: 5Ds 1: GX God I fucking love the GX opening duel
I went in expecting the top two and already saying "I prefer DM but GX had a better opening Duel" and lo and behold that panned out. Jaden beating Crowler was just too much hype for me when I saw it for the first time.
Yes! I used to tell my friends ur show should be called "kaiba everything" cuz u always pick kaiba. But seriously judai and the teach. Total epic duel cuz of the end of the series rematch. Thank u for not ruining that moment
I loved the trudge vs yusei first duel. Man when junk warrior appeared for the first time especially with the Japanese OST was absolutely amazing! I love junk warrior so that may be why I rank it so high, and man the parallel with junk warrior in this episode along with the final episode was awesome and makes this first duel even better
I think Yuma vs Shark in the first two episodes compared to Yuma/Zexal III vs Shark/Nasch in the second to last duel in Zexal II shows the massive amount of growth that those two made I think that has more weight than Judai vs Chronos rounds 1 and 2 but I can't lie that the GX round 1 was more interesting
Fun fact: Every opening duel (Except maybe sevens and go rush cuz I haven't watched them) has had the opponent's monster have or reach 3k atk DM: Blue-Eyes had 3k Gx: Ancient Gear Golem had 3k 5Ds: Trudge got Montage Dragon to 3k using the effect Zexal: Shark got leviathan dragon to 3k by using both xyz materials Arc-V: Sledgehammer's Battleguard had 3k Vrains: Cracking Dragon had 3k
I think the only thing I didn’t like too much about Ushio was the fact that it’s literally his job to battle yusei fudo every time he tries to escape the satellite.
Haven't seen Vrains or Sevens, so can't comment on them. My opinion on the other five is. 5) Zexal. (Who's idea was it to start the series with a middle schooler as the protagonist??!!) I'll give him credit for growing up some as the series goes on, though. 4) Arc 5. Love the background info before this duel. The ability to truly interact with your surroundings. Pretty cool. 3) 5ds. Dan Green as Trudge. Greg Abbey as Yusei. Classic voices. 2)? GX. Jaden vs. Growler. You get to use a card given to you from the King of Games himself!!!! Omg! Fun duel too. 1) DM. Yugi vs We go Kaiba. Dark Magician is one of my favorite cards. The playing of Exodia is iconic. As crazy as the first season was, this duel is actually simple. (Short, but simple ) Also, without this series, none of the others would exist.
7.Yuya vs the sledge hammer. 6.Yuga vs the Hologram man. 5.Jaden vs Crowler. 4.Yugioh vs Kiaba. 3.Yusei vs Truge. 2.Yusaku vs The Knight. 1.Shark vs Yuma.
Cool list Imo 1. Judai vs Chronos 2. Yuga vs Otes 3. Yuma vs Shark 4. Yugi vs Kaiba 5. Yuya vs The Sledgehammer 6. Yusaku vs The knight of Hanoi 7. Yusei vs Ushio
I have to agree with your placement at number 1 and 2. The original series will always be special to me but the feeling I got seeing Jaden use flame wingman and skyscraper the first time I saw it as a kid has stuck with me ever since. It's why I prefer hero decks to this day.
Dylan my old friend!!! It's been sometime since I"ve seen one of your videos! I made one of these back in the day. My list hasn't changed really: 6.Yugi vs. Kaiba - Eh 5. Yuma vs. Shark - Not a bad start to the story 4. Yuya vs. Sledgehammer - Fun duel that sets up the plot 3. Yusei vs. Ushio - Not a bad duel 2. Yusaku vs. KoH - I thought it was nice and set up the first season well 1. Judai vs. Chronos (GASP....GX's biggest hater giving GX the #1 spot!?) - It was just plain fun what else can you say?
Well if I have to rank these seven duels from best to least: Number 1: Yugi Vs Kaiba Number 2: Judai Vs Cronos Number 3: Yuma Vs Shark Number 4: Yuya Vs Strong Number 5: Yuga Vs Otes Number 6 Yusei Vs Tetsu Number 7 Yusaku Vs Hanoi Grunt
Number 1: yuuma vs ryouga Number 2: yuuga vs otes Number 3: yuugi vs kaiba Number 4: yuusei vs ushio Numbet 5: yuusaku vs honoi grunt Number 6: juudai vs cronos Number 7: yuuya vs sledgehammer
I would need to rewarch each one to give a better grade but here is roughly from my memory 7= Arc-V - I don't remember this one so fondly. Your video makes me want to rewatch it. 6= Sevens - I think the episode was a good 1st episode but the duel itself was very tutorial heavy and kind of meh. 5= GX - This was good. I just like the rest slightly more. 4= Vrains - Even though the opponent was a minon I thought the tension was high. The plot set up the Knights Of Hanoi as a big threat and they setup Speed Duels as a big deal along with the Data Storm so I thought it was pretty good. 3= 5Ds - I am honestly probably giving this one too much credit and might rate it lower another day. But I really love the early rivalry between Yusei and Ushio. I thought it was a very good duel to setup the setting. It had great atmosphere and established Yusei's character well. 2= Zexal - You know me, you know I am rating Zexal high. But I just love the dynamic of Yuma taking on the scary bully, Shark becoming possessed and summoning a more powerful monster than expected, Astral appearance, and jus the duel writing! 1= DM - If you know me then you also know I hate DM LOL But I have to give it up to DM! This is a nostalgic classic for good reason!
I agree with your choices. Imo I would rank Zexal just a wee bit higher just because I do like how Yuma isn't a good duelist at the start of zexal and by the end he's not perfect but he's so much better than what he was. Its just something I relate to just with my own journey with Yugioh A lot of Vrains duels didn't do it for me sadly mostly because a lot of the effects were very stagnant and robotic which was a shame because a lot of these monsters could have really cool animations but they instead went for the easier route. Meanwhile GX duels have a ton of personality that really help the duels feel more dynamic
I actually thought the Yugi vs Kaiba Duel was gonna be lower on the list. Cause compared to the other duels on this list the first Yugi and Kaiba Duel was still set in the early stages of dueling. Like for example Yugi did summon dark Magician a lvl 7 monster normally without any tributes as did Kaiba with blue eyes. Because all the rules of dueling that we know now wasn't really set until battle city in season 2
