When it comes to any Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, every character has an ace card, a card that they're known for using. These cards are usually the centerpiece of their deck, and often have tons of support cards that help it to unlock its true potential.
Today, we'll be going over ten different characters from the original anime, and discussing which of their ace cards are the best. There's certainly a lot to discuss here, so without any further ado, let's get right into it.
10 Bakura- Dark Necrofear
Dark Necrofear is used by Bakura in order to help his very bad Destiny Board strategy be a bit less bad. However, the card itself and its effect are, you guessed it, very bad. Destiny Board itself is a very bad archetype, and Dark Necrofear has no utility beyond getting Dark Sanctuary onto the field to help the Destiny Board, placing this card at the very bottom of the list.
9 Joey- Red-Eyes Black Dragon
While the Red-Eyes archetype has become pretty relevant nowadays due to the support that it has gotten over the years... Joey had absolutely none of that when he was throwing his Red-Eyes around. Instead, he was using the card as a 2400 ATK beat stick.
There were level six monsters that could do this task with less sacrifices, placing this card low on the list as well. This guy also used Swordsman Of Landstar though so he had no idea what he was doing.
8 Zigfried- Valkyrie Brunhilde
While Zigfried's main ace card was Valkyrie Brunhilde, it was the rest of his cards that did most of the heavy lifting. Brunhilde was just the cherry on top that was able to keep herself alive specifically to slay dragons, making it a perfect counter for Kaiba's deck.
Besides that, Brunhilde really didn't have what it took when she was forced to stand on her own, as seen from Zigfried's duel with Kaiba.
7 Mai- Harpie Lady
Mai's 1300 ATK normal monster is actually pretty good when combined with other cards in her deck. Mai's strategy is usually to summon this monster and then build on it, with cards like Cyber Shield and Elegant Egotist being mainstays for the duelist.
This will allow her to overwhelm her opponents. If she can get all of her cards onto the field, that is.
6 Yugi- Dark Magician
Yugi had tons of support for his Dark Magician throughout his deck that help him to power up his ace card. Besides the other Dark Magicians in the deck, he had cards like Dark Magic Curtain, Dark Magic Attack and more that would allow him to unlock the true potential of his card.
When his whole deck is looked at, Dark Magician was a formidable card that was able to stand up to all of the villains that Yugi went toe-to-toe with throughout the various arcs of the anime.
5 Kaiba- Blue-Eyes White Dragon
Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon was by far the strongest beat stick of them all, so that's an accomplishment probably. At 3000 ATK, Blue-Eyes could take out just about anything that stood before it. It also had the ability to merge with two other Blue-Eyes monsters in order to form Blue-Eyes White Ultimate Dragon.
While it could be taken down with a mammoth skeleton and a spell card somehow combining, it was still a pretty good card that was able to take down most anything that stood in its way.
4 Pegasus- Thousand-Eyes Restrict
Pegasus's Thousand-Eyes Restrict was his final trump card after his Toons had been taken out. This card had the ability to absorb enemies and use them as a shield for itself, and the battle damage would instead be dealt to the attacker.
At the point in the anime that this card was used it had little cards that could challenge it, and it took both Yugis switching back and forth to defeat this creature. Well, they were also dealing with the fact that Pegasus was reading their mind, which was kind of cheating. But Thousand-Eyes restrict certainly didn't make anything easier for the duo.
3 Leon- Cinderella
With Golden Castle of Stromberg on the field, Cinderella's glass slippers are automatically attached to her. With her Pumpkin Carriage special summoned to the field, she is able to systematically take her opponent's life points down while immobilizing their monsters at the same time.
While she does need some support in order to make sure that other opposing monsters don't take her down, she is able to do quite a little number to her opponents, earing her a spot on this list. Get ready, because now we're about to go into the ridiculous ones.
2 Marik- The Winged Dragon Of Ra
God, what can't this chicken do in the anime? While The Winged Dragon of Ra is a pretty bad card in the actual game, in the anime this thing has an entire book of effects. Let's just start listing them. So, its ATK and DEF are equal to the combined total of its tributes but can be increased by giving it your life points and tributing additional monsters. It can also turn into a phoenix for 1000 life points and destroy everything on the opponent's side of the field.
The card can't be affected by any other cards (nor can its summon be negated). If it is special summoned destroy everything your opponent controls. There are even more we just don't have time for.
1 Dartz- The Seal Of Orichalcos
Despite the absolute nonsense that is The Winged Dragon of Ra, Dartz's copy of The Seal of Orichalcos is the strongest ace card of these ten duelists. This is because when combined with the other Orichalcos cards, Dartz can do just about anything that he wants, including summoning a monster with infinite attack points. It was only through the powers of Yugi's equally nonsense cards was he able to take down Dartz.
However, any other duelist who didn't have access to the Legendary Dragons would be absolutely unable to win in a duel against Dartz, making his Seal of Orichalcos the best ace card of the list.