Intro
As a kid who's watched way too much anime way too young, I was a walking advertisement for every toy at the time. When I had finally entered tweenhood, I found myself with six Bakugan, over 50 Beyblades, numerous beywheelz, and of course, six decks worth of Yugioh. And while all these series are still going on in some way shape or form, and that they will always play a special place in my heart, Yugioh is probably the only one I've kept up with the most. Because unlike other shows of the same genre, I've always felt like this franchise has maintained a sense of legacy far better than most of them and that unlike others shows they weren't afraid to change, or become something simpler for a new generation.
So far, every series has added something to the equation, and naturally, for something that has been going on for 20 years over seven series, everybody has got a favorite series and protag. But who is the best of the best? Well, I guess that it's up to me to decide, so let's rev things up because it's time to get your game on and swing into the flows!
Rules
Since all these characters come with their own set of restrictions, gimmicks, and rules, I will explain how I'm going to be doing this. Think of this as a hodgepodge between ranking each protag, my general thoughts, and analysis on each protag and my opinion on which of their decks is the best if all these guys dueled each other like ten times. The goal here is to take these guys from their peak while using the decks that they think are their strongest and how they would most likely duel in this scenario (for better or worse) without their magical powers or special overall advantages (ex: draw of fate and shining draws). These duels will all be in the master rule 3 format, and I will explain why later. And while some of these decks have only gotten a couple of duels to shine, I also think that we've got enough of an idea to fill in these blanks. Let it be known that when I'm going to be talking about how these guys are portrayed in the anime since I'm the most familiar with that format. Finally, take everything I'm about to say here with the grainiest of salts. I like every single protagonist on this list, but I'm not afraid to admit their genuine flaws, and I don't have a competitive TCG bone in my body since I said before I'm using this as more of a basis to talk about the mc's of one of my first anime. I surprisingly haven't seen every single episode of the anime either, so you can feel free to debate with me on my picks in a respectful manner. With that out of the way, here are the decks I'm going to be working with.
Atem: Ceremonial duel
Jaden: Eos deck
Yusei: Signer dragon deck that he used against Z-ONE but no speed spells
Yuma: eos deck with his utopia's.
Yuya: eos deck with all of his counterpart's aces but with no action spells. Any cards used when he was only awakened will be out too.
Yugi has simply not had enough duels to be applicable on this list, and so will be counted out. Atem's draw of fate is also out. Yuma, despite not having his utopia for his final duel against astral, will have them in this scenario since it just feels weird not having them on here. However, he will not have astral helping him in this scenario and will not have access to his shining draws, zexal weapons, and rank up magic cards that astral himself had access to in their final duel. Astral will not participate in this battle because he only had his deck in the final duel every other time has been Yuma's. Finally, Yusaku and Yuga will not be on this list due to my severe lack of knowledge on Vrains and Sevens. This is also because the board had to be changed up because of the introduction of Link monsters and Rush Dueling. I know master rule 5 is already in effect, but I still feel like it's a bit of a leash on Yuya's skills. With all of that out of the way, let's formally begin this mess of a list.
#5/4: Yuma Tsukumo/Atem
Okay, so before you guys put me in the shadow realm for my shit opinion, let me explain my reasoning through their decks.
Yuma
Honestly, it bites that zexal seems to be so utterly despised by Yugioh fandom. I get that it was a big change and had its flaws, but when it was good, it was flipping amazing, and I always felt like it was a sort of soft reboot of the series. I also really appreciate Yuma's character a lot because I feel like he fits well with that reboot mindset. Having the main character be bad at your title game is a pretty refreshing twist as it made his partnership with Astral a lot more necessary than Yugi honestly and gave us something to look forward to (even if it did lead to several facepalms). All these factors combined created (at the time) the first real dynamic main character in the franchise as we saw him grow throughout the story instead of in the middle (which I will explain later). Don't get me wrong. I completely understand why Yuma gets the hate as he is rough to get into, but he has good qualities that only get better with time.
And I feel like these qualities can't be more exemplified in his deck. While I do understand why people don't like Yuma or his deck, a lot of people tend to forget his final duel against astral. Effectively Yuma's deck is Xyz Otk that is supposed to accomplish four objectives: easily bring out more Xyz monsters, use traps to negate or shave off damage, draw more cards to replenish your hands and to support said XYZ monsters with support cards. While originally, his deck was nothing special, his eos deck gave him far more synergy and support through the increased use of his "Gagaga" cards despite his reliance on opponents also having an XYZ monster. But the real stealer of the show is definitely in his ace: Hope.
All jokes aside, I think there is a reason why out of all of Yuma's numbers, Hope is always the most prevalent, and I think that the reason for that lies in the fact that at the end of the day, Yuma is Hope. Hope to be better, hope to have a second chance and hope to aim for the top when things get bad with his newest ace, Future King of Hope summarizes this development beautifully. And it was because of this hope Yuma was able to turn some of the most psychotically, unapologetically evil bastards in this series, into some of his best friends because I think he knows that deep down they can change and be better people like him. Many people in zexal viewed Yuma as nothing but a failure, but no matter how many times Yuma got knocked down, he almost always got back up and tried his absolute best to high five the sky; he proved that his seemingly impossible hopes are possible through dueling some of the most grossly unfair duelists in his verse with barely any help and surpassed astral. It's a shame that zexal didn't get another season since I think that another season of this more independent Yuma would have done a lot for his character.
Atem
Honestly, where do I even begin with this man? Over 20 years have come gone since he first took the screen and for a good reason. Out of all the portags, Atem truly does feel like the head honcho in many respects. His kingly nature has made every duel with him a treat as he rarely fully loses his cool. However, like many pharaohs before and after him, Atem's biggest issue was his pride, which led him to punish the guilty in ways that even now are hard to stomach and losses that haunted him for years to come. The best example of this and his character has to come in the form of ironically his best character moments.
Through his loss against Rapheal and Yugi's soul, Atem learned about not only his flaws but also the bitter taste of defeat. This self-reflection helped him learn how to confront the darkness within his own heart and became at peace with himself during the finale. Despite that though I think Atem has the opposite problem of Yugi, he ironically needed fewer duels and more character moments, as waking the dragons was I felt like the best the series did at fleshing out his character. His relationship with Yugi is great stuff and adds a level of symmetry that mirrors Yuma and astral contrast, but Yami needed more. I'm not saying he's bad; Atem is this series for a very good reason, and his moments will always stand out in anime history, but I just don't believe first always means best, and that shows in his deck.
Of course, Atem's eos deck is going to be one of the weakest on the list. During the Ceremonial Duel, Yami's versatile strategy deck featured more focus on summoning all of the Egyptian God cards and more support on his ace, the Dark Magician. I don't have a lot to say about the Dark Magician; I do find it fitting that the King of Games has a monster dedicated to dark and mystical trickery. It also says a lot that one of his ace monsters happened to be the modern-day equivalent of his most loyal servant. Despite all this, I do think that one of Yugi's best assets is his ability to seemingly recover for almost anything given that he never showed that much reliance on his aces and keeping it all relatively balanced. However, Yami's deck lacks the synergy, speed, and recovery time that his successors had in spades, which brings us to.
Debate
Okay, so naturally, you're probably thinking when you see this matchup. "Wait, are you saying that failure Yuma is on par with the King of Games!" And I kind of have to say yes since their decks cancel each other a lot. While Yami is undoubtedly the better duelist on the list, Yuma's new "gagaga" cards provide him with the synergy that Yami just simply lacks. Even if we allowed the Draw of Fate, the shining draws kind of counter this hard even without the zexal weapons. Which leaves us to the big question. Could Yuma possibly beat the Egyptian God cards? And once again, I kind of have to say yes. Despite their crazy immunities, number cards can't be destroyed by anything other than a number, and Yuma's almost beatdown strategies and traps can affect his monsters, which can give him the edge to potentially beat them. Also, Yuma has a lot of experience dealing with bs cards, almost as much as Yami, so that he would maintain a cool head. So really you should call on who has the better deck or who is, the better duelist because for me it's way too close.
#3:Jaden Yuki
Don't know how controversial this pick is given Gx's final duel, but I will explain why the infamous Slifer Slacker of Duel Academy took bronze. This is pretty much similar to the Yuma/Atem scenarios except Jaden's Elemental heroes/Neos deck are far better than both Yuma's and Atem's combined(though I think that all these guys are close in strength). However, I'll explain that aspect later as we delve into his character. While he is not my favorite out of the bunch, I can see why he is as beloved as he is. Jaden's fun and bright attitude made him the perfect poster boy for Yugioh's new era and are probably why Gx has one of the stronger fandoms of the list. Also much like protagonists before and after him, Jaden's deck almost speaks for himself.
Jaden's Elemental hero/Neos Spacian deck, I think, is easily the most iconic deck out of the entire 5. Which is probably why Konami decided to double down so hard their production, that unintentionally gave Jaden something he always used to great effect: utility. It doesn't matter what hand Jaden had because between his powerful support cards with his incredible search and recovery cards allow him to bring out his big guns at the drop of a hat. Of course, this is all in service to the ...NUMEROUS fusion cards at his disposal (Flare Wingman, Flare Neos, Thunder Giant, and Wildedge to name a few heavy hitters) with Neos probably being the standout amongst them; like how does this man not have like 15 STDs from all the monsters he's fused with thematically though the Elemental Heroes work great with Jaden, as their over the top, colorful and well heroic nature reflects his message loud and clear. Their reliance on fusion could also be a way to symbolize Jaden's inner synergy and harmony with his cards as well.
Either way, I will admit that Jaden's arc in the last two seasons of Gx also really gave a lot of meat to a character in need of it, even if I think it could be done better. Having Jaden for once actually question his seemingly unstoppable motivations and become, in many ways, the leading villain of the arc for a while was a brilliant move. Not only is the twist dramatic and built up relatively well, but it also forces everyone to their breaking point. It was also a nice move to have season 4 be a little tamer in comparison to give Jaden time to absorb everything that's happened fully. His depression was a well-handled arc that can resonate with a lot of people. Which made his final battle with Yugi all the more passionate and heartwarming as he ended Gx saying that everyone can fall into darkness and rise into the light. While I do think the whole Supreme King thing was pretty lame from a lore standpoint, I still respect a lot of what they were trying to do, and I can say that Jaden was a step in the right direction for other characters to come.
Debate
This is pretty much the same argument made during the Yuma/Atem due only even more debatable. Technically, Jaden and Atem both have wins over each other if you guys want to count their final duel and that weird dude who stole Yami's deck (minus the Egyptian God cards). However let's all be realistic here, Jaden has an overall better deck with far more speed and recovery then Atem. I would also say their skill levels are relatively the same as Atem's skill being equal to Jaden's experience. The Neos Spacian's weaknesses are at least covered a little bit with Jaden's support cards and other heroes. Once again, this is a close debate that I feel goes to how you want to grade them. I know it seems like a copout to do this twice, but I know that Yugioh is a naturally competitive fandom, and we are all our favorites. Luckily the last two guys on this list are far more clear cut with less debate.
#2: Yuya Sakaki
If you stuck around for this part of the list, then I thank you because from here on out, I'm going to be saying everything I say with absolute certainty. Because when making this list, I will tell you that even without Z-Arc's influence, even without the other dragons, hell even without action cards, Yuya was still going to make the top 3 of this list. But before we get into why let's delve into the mind of this fractured boy.
I don't know how people view Arc V, but I felt like it was a good series with great ideas with a very poor ending with Yuya being the literal definition of this. I find him to yet again be one of the more relatable and complex protags since unlike the other MC's, Yuya's composure was by far the shakiest out of all them. After spending most of his life with a "joke" of a father, Yuya acted like a clown to mask the pain of losing him and to deflect his bullies. However, once he had his time to shine and prove that he was indeed the son of the great Yusho Sakaki: the pioneer of the Action Duel, he showed his father's message loud and clear. That Dueling is something designed to bring happiness to everyone.
And pretty much from there, the entirety of Arc V is similar to Jaden's arc in season 3 but magnified. Throughout his journey, Yuya is given dozens of setbacks as he tries to hold on to everything he has left. The Pendulum Summoning that brought him so close to his father was taken without remorse, many of his friends turning into partial enemies or casualties in the oncoming war. He tries his best to adapt to his environment and hide his pain, but it just doesn't work as the issues keep piling up with the added identity crisis of the other counterparts. And when he couldn't sleep it off any longer, Z-Arc awakened. Though I do find it very fitting, Yuya was the one to inherit all of his counterparts' traits because it was the effort to make everyone happy that pulled Z-Arc into madness while at the same time bringing Yuya into the light. The problem is that unlike Jaden Yuya not only never had the chance to redeem "himself" by dueling Z-Arc, but he also never got a real chance to decompress the fact he has three flipping voices in his head! Thus, Yuya's already shafted development into enjoying dueling again feels rushed. This is saddening because much like Gx, this means that Arc-V was a great series that could be made even greater if it focused a little more on its important characters. But I've talked way too much about this and so I'll just be going on to Yuya's deck.
All jokes aside, I never saw why the performpals were kindly stigmatized at their arrival. They were a pretty fun arc type that said so much of Yuya's personality from the onset. Plus, if you underestimate them, let's just say you were going to the butt of the joke instead and are designed to look silly looking. Yuya is the only one on the list to know all of the summoning methods(besides link) combining that with his Magician/Odd-Eyes and Performpals, and Yuya quickly has the most versatility, synergy and offensive power out of any of the people on this list. Pendulum summoning is just perfect for swarming, beatdown, and recovery strategies. The magicians and performpals also have multiple atk manipulating effects and enough support to give yuya an easy defense when needed. Combine that with the fact that he could potentially use the experience and cards of his other counterparts gives Yuya an unstoppable arsenal of dragons. Either way, at least you'll be entertained when yuya takes the stage.
#1: Yusei Fudo
Through the process of elimination, the shooting star of the satellite revs up into first place! Though this isn't much of a surprise though if you look at the stats. Yusei has only one real on-screen loss, is arguably the smartest mc on the list, and has time and time again carried his team to victory against the toughest duelists in the world, which all stems from Yusei's fabulous character.
Gary Sue has been thrown around a couple of times when describing Mr. Fudo, but I think he just skirts the line from this label. Even from birth, Yusei's life was wrecked with terrible hardship. His parents died knowing that their greatest achievement ended in spiteful tragedy as they grew up in the slums of the satellite. He then proceeded to have all of his best friends leave him one by one for various reasons only to then still try to help provide for his community without a hint of ever turning evil. Because despite his serious nature, I think Yusei was, in a sense, more optimistic than all of mc's. He is a man who believed we could all be better people if we looked at each other and showed compassion. In this environment, Yusei still never took anything for granted and saw the beautiful possibilities it could bring.Over time he gained his own family in the form of his friends and the signers to become a part of something bigger than himself. This mindset helped save and bring so many people together, where he was never alone again.
All of these aspects are shown perfectly in his deck. Out of all the mains, Yusei's deck is arguably the most consistent as it usually consists of 4 themes that describe his character. His warrior monsters represent his fighting spirit and the strength of his convictions. His junk cards represent his resourcefulness and his ability to see the potential in everything which fits very well with their ability to make use of others. Many of his more mechanical based cards and speed spells show his love of advancement and freedom. Finally, how could I forget about his ace, the stardust dragon, the living symbol of what Yusei sees every day? I also find the cards pretty fitting for him, considering their effects usually involve sacrificing themselves to save themselves from their opponents. All these cards have awesome synergy with each other, giving Yusei almost full control of the fuel from the very start. Their speed and control give him easy access to his army of synchros monsters who all have really good effects to augment their attack. Combine that all with his nearly unstoppable defensive traps and Yusei is the one that will be sending you to the stars nine times out of time.
Epilogue
Hope you all enjoyed my list, even if you did disagree with the rankings I hope you can agree on my analysis on each of them since it took a lot of work. As I've said at the beginning of this list, I like all the mc's of Yugioh and always appreciated the work they've put in to change up the formula. Not every series has to surpass the next, and I feel like we've put way too much pressure on them. At the end of the day, as long as they advertise the game and get more people in the fandom, I'm fine. One of these days, I'll look into all of these series and more and watch Vrains since I do find Yusaku a pretty unique character. Hope to see you next time.