History Anime / YuGiOhGX

* BrokenAesop:
** The copycat duelist Dimitri stole Yugi's deck and challenged Jaden to a duel with it. He lost, but allegedly it was because he didn't put any heart into his deck. This plot carries an argument against "netdecking" -- i.e. [[PossessionImpliesMastery copying a tournament-winning decklist]] off the Internet instead of building your own -- since ''owning'' a strong Deck doesn't mean you can ''play'' it well. However, Dimitri made very few misplays with Yugi's Deck despite having claimed it for one night, as he's put up a fight that's even recognized as impressive in-universe. Despite not having the heart of the cards, Dimitri was sure using it effectively enough to strengthen the argument ''for'' netdecking.
** In one episode, Jaden battles Kaibaman, in a duel with apparently high stakes. He loses and is admonished that it's just a game, and it's not like it's a matter of life or death -- a valuable lesson for kids in RealLife. Except that, throughout the series (as well the other Franchise/YuGiOh anime series), dueling really is SeriousBusiness, and the stakes really are very high, including life or death.
** In Jaden's duel against Damon/Taira Taizan, a duelist obsessed with perfecting his drawing skills (as in the anime, drawing cards from your deck is a skill you can train on instead of just simply being lucky), Jaden insists Damon should enjoy the duel instead of obsessing about his draws since no matter what, you won't always draw what you need to win. He says that and immediately proceeds to draw Elemental Hero Avian that was shuffled previously into his deck, fuse it, and win thanks to the effect of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. [[UniqueProtagonistAsset Maybe he should have said that only protagonists will always draw what they need to win?]].
** In the 2-part season 1 finale, Jaden duels Zane as the latter is leaving Duel Academy. Since Zane has only one loss to his name (against Camula, where he threw the duel for Syrus's sake), Jaden's nervous and carefully plays around Zane's threats. Zane is irritated, saying that Jaden is losing because he's overthinking things and isn't [[DontThinkFeel dueling with his heart]]. However, Jaden's made some smart decisions when "dueling with his head", and only ends up on the back foot due to factors he couldn't know or control. And even when Jaden DOES use his heart, the duel ends in a draw.
** In Syrus and Hassleberry's double duel against Frost and Thunder, Syrus and Hassleberry have to work as a team to defeat the brothers, who get into a fight about strategy (with Frost focused on victory Thunder focused on teamwork). The intended moral is that sometimes, people should put aside their difference to overcome obstacles. However, the problem isn't that Hassleberry and Syrus are in conflict with each other, aside from a few remarks about their own field. In fact, the problem is that they want to work together, but need to figure out how (they couldn't see each other's hands at first, as they could only attack the opponent in front of them). Ultimately, they're able to see each other's hands through the reflections of the owner's cards, [[YankTheDogsChain but by then it was already too late and they ended up getting defeated anyway.]] Even worse, Frost manages to win by BETRAYING Thunder so that everyone lost the duel except himself.

* InactionSequence: Happens often with card effects being explained (even if the same card was played by other player five minutes ago and its effect is "Draw two cards") and [[JustBetweenYouAndMe villains telling their life story and evil plans to the heroes during duels]]. Ultimately Lampshaded by Aster in the dub. "Is he gonna duel or stand there and ponder his purpose in life?"

** In Syrus and Hassleberry's double duel against Frost and Thunder, Syrus and Hassleberry have to work as a team to defeat the brothers, who get into a fight about strategy (with Frost focused on victory Thunder focused on teamwork). [[AnAesop The intended moral is that sometimes, people should put aside their difference to overcome obstacles.]] However, the problem isn't that Hassleberry and Syrus are in conflict with each other, aside from a few remarks about their own field. In fact, the problem is that they want to work together, but need to figure out how (they couldn't see each other's hands at first, as they could only attack the opponent in front of them). Ultimately, they're able to see each other's hands through the reflections of the owner's cards, [[YankTheDogsChain but by then it was already too late and they ended up getting defeated anyway.]] Even worse, Frost manages to win by BETRAYING Thunder so that everyone lost the duel except himself.