The single most iconic card in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is an engine of beauty and destruction. A massive dragon capable of blasting away 90% of monsters in the game, it's no shock that this is the card that has the most artwork variants of any other.
While there is no flat out terrible artwork on this list, there's definitely some that are better than the rest. In our opinion, a Blue-Eyes White Dragon should look powerful, majestic and definitely something you don't want to piss off. With that in mind, let's rank all of the official artwork variants of Seto Kaiba's ace.
8 A Boy And His Dragon
Logically speaking, it stands to reason that the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's owner Seto Kaiba would have artwork depicting the two together and we got that with this OCG-exclusive card. However, it's not worthy of either the monster or Seto Kaiba himself.
Released as a promotional card in "Jump Ryū Vol.08", the card shows Kaiba about to summon his pride and soul. However, the artwork is pretty bland and looks kind of weird when placed on a card. It almost feels like summoning Kaiba himself which is wrong, ranking it at the bottom of all the artworks.
7 Superhero Blue Eyes
Everybody remembers the card Kaibaman right? It was that ancient card from 2005 that answered the question of "what would Seto Kaiba look like as a superhero?" Well we might as well consider this card his legendary mount.
While the design of the card is solid and this dragon actually does look white as compared to the blue scales in most of these artworks, the background is pretty flat and the monster itself lacks much detail. Now somebody photoshop Kaibaman riding this monster!
6 Stone Tablet Dragon
Much like the Yugi's Dark Magician, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon carries a ton of significance to the plot of the Yu-Gi-Oh anime. On an old tablet from Ancient Egypt, a battle between Priest Seto's dragon and Pharoah Atem's spellcaster is depicted. Using that duel as inspiration, we get this artwork.
As far as these go, this is very solid. The imposing nature of the creature is expressed well, the background shows its subtle link to the story which the card game is based on and there's a good amount of detail. However, there is a strict upgrade to this card that will come later in the list that blows this one away.
5 The Pack Leader
Those who played Yu-Gi-Oh back in the origins of the TCG will recognize this version of Blue-Eyes White Dragon as the version which served as the artwork for the first booster pack, Legend Of The Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
As one of the earliest ones, we have to give its respect for that alone. If you had one of these bad boys back in the day, you were the coolest and most feared duelist around with a monster that can crush most other cards in the game. But as time went on, there would be better artworks to come which leaves this in the middle of the (booster) pack.
4 Cosmic Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Not many Blue-Eyes cards have this much darkness in its artwork, but this variant that was released as a promotional card with a purchase of Shonen Jump back in 2014 does and it looks great.
Depicting a Blue-Eyes White Dragon flying through the cosmos, the detail and shading on this card looks absolutely beautiful with its majestic wings and wide stance. If the background had a bit more detail and pop to it, it would find itself higher on the list but it's still a wonderful variant.
3 The O.G
Here it is, the mother of all Blue-Eyes artworks. Likely the first version of the card and undoubtedly its most popular version, this artwork was used in the Yu-Gi-Oh anime for Kaiba's set of three copies. It's likely the most iconic card in the entire game and the artwork is up to snuff.
There is beauty to the simplicity of this art. While other cards are undoubtedly more detail, this art just pops with its color and the swirling background compliments the lining on the body of the monster perfectly. Kazuki Takahashi must have known he made an icon when he finished this card.
2 Heavenly Blue-Eyes White Dragon
When the movie Yu-Gi-Oh The Dark Side Of Dimensions was announced, fans of the anime were prepared to experience a new adventure with Yugi and his pals. At the same time, players of the card game were ready for a new pack to be released with some old favorites and new staples. But they weren't ready for this bad boy.
This Blue-Eyes variant is a breath-taking sight. Showing the dragon of legend basking in a heavenly glow as it descends from the sky to blast its enemy, we can't help but look on in awe, even if we were to face it in battle. With artwork this good, it's no wonder why Kaiba has fallen in love with the monster. But nothing can top the number one best...
1 King Of The World
In the lore of Yu-Gi-Oh, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is one of the most powerful and feared creatures imaginable. Its card flavor text even says "Virtually invincible, very few have faced this awesome creature and lived to tell the tale." So which artwork best conveys this? That would be this one.
Released as the promo card in the first-ever North American Shonen Jump issue, this Blue-Eyes has taken to space to charge up a burst stream of destruction upon our planet. Not only is the detail on the monster great as we mentioned on the stone tablet entry, but even the Earth's for a lack of a better term "blueness" goes perfectly with the dragon. And unlike most other cards on the list, this monster is ready to strike as it charges up its attack. It's hard to imagine any future Blue-Eyes card topping this one and thus it gets the number one slot.