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Battle City Arc

  • Chapter 6:
    • Makoto Vs Rex: Rex gets to showcase why exactly he managed to make it to the Regional Finals in season 1 and the reader gets to see what exactly Makoto is capable of.
  • Chapter 8:
    • Gundham Vs Espa: If the Ham-to-Ham Combat wasn't enough, it further cements that Gundham is a skilled duelist, especially after Fuyuhiko and Peko were both clobbered by Joey in a previous chapter.
  • Chapter 9
    • Bandit Keith Vs Sonia: The reader bears witness to Sonia's Darklord deck as Bandit Keith, who pushed Joey to his very limits, is made out like a complete amateur before her cards.
  • Chapter 10:
    • Nagito Vs Weevil: Because who didn't love seeing Weevil get humiliated coupled with Nagito's speech that actually made everyone like the guy for a short while?
  • Chapter 12:
    • Hajime summoning the Five-Headed Dragon to defeat the two Rare Hunters, all to save Chiaki.
  • Chapter 13:
    • Gundham Vs Sonia: A true testament to the skill of both duelists, The Magic Poker Equation aside, that has both countering each other's best strategies, ultimately culminating in a last-ditch climax that turns into a draw by virtue of Sonia's Fairy Wind and Gundham's Bark of Dark Ruler.
  • Chapter 14
    • Joey Vs Ibuki: The duel is rife with one-liners that harken back to the lovably dumb dub and shows that behind all that cheerfulness and energy, Ibuki is quite the competent duelist. Not to mention it ends with one of the best climaxes, even topping Hajime's Five-Headed Dragon summoning in terms of drama. Joey has no monsters on the field and only two face-down cards. He has 200 life points left and Ibuki has Blowback Dragon on the field. To increase her chances of destroying Joey's trap cards, she summons Twin-Barrel Dragon. Joey gazes on with a Determined Expression, holding onto the notion that luck will favor him. And it does. Neither trap card is destroyed and thanks to Magical Arm Chain, Joey destroys Ibuki's Twin-Barrel Dragon, draws Sword and Shield next turn, and uses Graverobber to bring back Ibuki's Thunder King to destroy the rest of her life points.
  • Chapter 15:
    • Chiaki Vs Celeste: Not only is this a showdown of two characters one would expect to be highly skilled at Duel Monsters—Celeste as the title of Ultimate Gambler and Chiaki as the Ultimate Gamer—but the way Chiaki pulls out a winning move is just incredible. Early on in the duel, she activates Magic Jammer and discards Thunderclap Skywolf to the graveyard. Way later in the duel, she uses Monster Reborn to bring it back in accordance with Skull Invitation to destroy all of Celeste's monsters and deal life point damage. Couple that with a well-executed Card Destruction and Cemetery Bomb and the duel was over before Celeste even realized it was happening.
  • Chapter 16:
    • Byakuya Vs Kaiba puts all previous examples to shame. Not only do we get exactly what one would think going into a duel between the two biggest egomaniacs of each respective franchise, but it concludes in a way that will have you chuckling with glee. After discarding a card to the graveyard via the effect of Card of Demise catching up to him, Kaiba draws Monster Reborn and uses it to bring back Obelisk the Tormentor from the graveyard. Byakuya activates Bottomless Trap Hole to rid the field of Obelisk, only for Obelisk to pull itself out of the hole and attack Byakuya for the win.
  • Chapter 20:
    • Joey Vs Celeste is built up to ever since Chapter 4 and they finally throw down in this chapter. It does not disappoint. For starters, Celeste summoning the Wicked Dreadroot is barely a footnote in the duel with Joey turning the tide with a complex strategy. Joey manages to summon each monster he obtained in his last three duels when going up against Celeste. But the best part is when the duel basically comes down to the luck of the draw for both duelists at the same time. Their luck is on par with each other and it all comes down to "who can draw the better card first"? Even if you figure out how much the good guys always win in Yu-Gi-Oh!, this is still Joey we're dealing with who has lost before. And, all the while, Marik is watching the duel and you just know Celeste is plotting something. The duel is also the longest single duel to date within the first chunk of the story and the conclusion of the duel is just icing on the cake. Why? Because Joey wins a duel, with Swordsman of Landstar.
  • Chapter 25:
    • Mai Vs Sonia. Mai actually wins a duel and it's a nail-biting, tense one to be sure.
  • Chapter 28:
  • Chapter 30:
    • Yugi Vs Celeste is an excellent way to kickstart the Battle City finals. Both duelists hold nothing back with Yugi, rather than Yami, dueling thanks to a psychological trap set by Celeste that Yugi took the bait of without hesitation. For most of the duel, Celeste keeps Yugi pushed into a corner with almost no way out sans the heart of the cards. Every time it seems like he's getting out of it, she just stuffs him right back into it more forcefully than ever. Sure, this being Yugi, he wins in the end, but even Kaiba agrees that, aside from him and Pegasus, Celeste is the hardest opponent Yugi's ever gone up against. And, by winning, it proves Yugi can hold his own regardless of whether or not Yami is with him.
  • Chapter 32:
    • While horrifying to see happen, Mahiru and Celeste have barely interacted, if at all. So when Yami Marik tries to send Celeste to the Shadow Realm and Mahiru jumps in front of the attack it can be considered nothing more than a case of pure altruism on Mahiru's part.
    • Yugi and everyone try to convince Kaiba to disqualify Yami Marik for what he did to Mahiru (as she isn't a participant nor his intended victim), however, Kaiba simply scoffs off their explanations as hocus pocus and understates Mahiru's condition stating that the tournament will continue uninterrupted. Enter Chiaki who comes in straight from the medical wing to show Kaiba her own injuries from Bakura's shadow game, daring him to tell her that they're not real, and threatening to disqualify herself from the tournament if he doesn't get his act together. Kaiba at first tries to call her bluff, only for Chiaki to calmly dare him to try her. The two then engage in a brief heated staredown that actually ends with Chiaki winning as Kaiba relents before finally taking disciplinary measures against Marik.
  • Chapter 33:
    • Sonia Nevermind being able to read Ancient Egyptian and therefore is able to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra after snatching it from Marik with Pot of Exchange. It's unfortunate that Marik uses Dimensional Wall to counter this awesome moment, but it's still pretty cool.
  • Chapter 35:
    • Makoto's Ultimate Luck is so powerful it confounds the Millennium Necklace.
  • Chapter 37:
    • Chiaki's duel with Kaiba for the first arc finale is utterly spectacular. It starts with flashbacks showing how the two met and then involves Chiaki managing to destroy Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and almost winning against Kaiba when he has Obelisk the Tormentor on the field. She also winds up leading Kaiba by the nose the entire duel and reaches a moment where she could've won twice during the match, if not for either her or Kaiba drawing or not drawing what they needed to close the match. And this is why, ladies and gents, you don't screw around with hardcore gamers. Chiaki is the only person, other than Yugi, capable of giving Kaiba a hard time in a duel.

Virtual World Arc

  • Chapter 40: This chapter has Celeste replace Joey when it comes to dueling Johnson of the Big Five with one notable difference. In canon, Noah intervenes on Joey's behalf and tells Johnson he's disqualified from the duel for cheating. Joey goes for Honor Before Reason, willing to finish the duel, provided Johnson doesn't cheat anymore. Here Celeste's talent as the Ultimate Gambler, is so powerful it actually overpowers Johnson's rigging of her dice rolls and coin flips. Even when he is able to rig the coin flip as tails, it's exactly what she wanted.
  • Chapter 44:All three of the ladies in Nezbitt's three-on-one duel get to strut their stuff.
    • Komaru, despite being an amateur and making several early mistakes, makes an excellent comeback where she piles up Spell Counters upon Spell Counters, until in one turn she has summoned Endymion the Master Magician and Dark Magician. She proceeds to yell out "Dark Magic Attack!" in time with the latter blowing through Nezbitt's Twin-Barrel Dragon.
    • Mai, in a culmination of her Character Development, makes what is essentially a trust fall: attacking Nezbitt's 4800 ATK machine token with her 2300 ATK Harpie's Pet Dragon, because Ibuki told her to trust her. Cue Ibuki activating Metalmorph, boosting the dragon's ATK enough to rip through the golem.
    • Ibuki sets Nezbitt up incredibly well, tribute summoning Thunderking, the Lightningstrike Kaiju onto his field only to destroy it with a spell. While she pretends her goal was destroying one of his resources through the tribute, the real plan was for her to use Monster Reborn to get it back on her side her next turn. Cue her ordering it to destroy Perfect Machine King, taking Nezbitt's deck master with it and winning the duel.
  • Chapter 48:
    • The climax of Makoto vs Noah. Makoto summons and raises Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon's attack to 13,000. Noah's monster has 2,200 ATK, and his life points are only 4,350. No Kill like Overkill has never felt so amazing. Even before the climax, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that this chapter is Makoto's time to shine. Between winning a duel Yugi won in canon to responding to Noah's manipulations with actual anger while still managing to keep his lovable hero status, it's that moment in the story where Makoto calls forward to what he's eventually going to be.
    • Makoto continues trying to reason with Noah and just when it seems like Noah is going to pull a fast one and take Makoto's body by force, Kaiba shows up to punch Noah in the face beforehand.
    • Meanwhile back in the real world, Gundham finally gets the chance to confront Marik leading to a Shadow Game to occur between the two. And what happens next? Gundham decides to go full power and sends out the Four Dark Devas of Destruction. Due of the power of the Shadow Game, they actually take on their demonic "true forms" that Gundham is always claiming they have, making for quite a spectacle that even impresses Marik a little.
  • Chapter 49:
    • Gundham and Marik face-off, not in a duel but an actual battle with both sides going neck and neck with one another.
    • Chihiro deserves kudos for his minor, but impactful Big Damn Heroes moment to get everyone out of the virtual world.
    • After hijacking Mokuba's body to escape to the real world, Noah comes across Mahiru who puts two and two together about what he had done. And what does she do? Literally drag him by the ear and stuff his backstabbing ass back into the pods, demanding he give Mokuba his body back!
    • An ominous one comes in the form of Izuru's appearance for those familiar with what he means in the Danganronpa universe. You can almost hear the Scare Chord playing when Chiaki and Nagito find out they were too late to save Hajime.
  • Chapter 50:
    • The Triangle Duel has several highlights for how quick the duel is:
      • Izuru more than lives to his title by constantly being one step ahead of Chiaki and Nagito throughout the duel and putting both of them on the constant edge. Towards the end of the duel, he summons his Deckmaster Legendary Exodia Incarnate who has a whopping 9,250 ATK!
      • Nagito Taking the Bullet for Chiaki by sending his Deckmaster to intercept Izuru's Tyrant Neptune's attack, giving Chiaki the opportunity to snap Hajime back to senses. On top of that, he was also the first to draw first blood in the duel.
      • Chiaki uses a mixture of her deck and Hajime's as part of her plea to release Hajime., which eventually boils down to her summoning Hajime's trusted Blackland Void Dragon.

Battle City Finals

  • Chapter 51:
    • This chapter resumes the Battle City finals with a huge bang, with none other than a duel between Makoto and Yugi.
      • Just before the duel starts, Yami gives Makoto the option to back down out of concern for his safety against Marik. Unfortunately for him, Makoto isn't going to have any of it as he chooses to go ahead with dueling him anyway. Goes to show how far the little guy has come since his level of badass back in the Virtual World huh?
  • Chapter 54:
    • Disregarding the Foregone Conclusion, Joey and Kaiba's duel puts all their canon duels to shame for various reasons: 1) This duel is taking place in the Battle City Finals instead of an unofficial match to determine who wins third place in Battle City, and 2) Joey has proven himself to be a far more formidable duelist than in canon thanks to all the powerful cards he has won and from all the extensive training he received courtesy of Celeste and Mai. It says something about Joey's progress when Kaiba only wins through the luck of the draw and with a direct attack from his Saggi the Dark Clown.
      • Much like his duel against Celeste in Chapter 20; Joey manages to summon each and every one of the monsters he won throughout the tournament and keep up to pace with Kaiba's monsters.
      • Towards the end of the duel, Kaiba's Obelisk and Joey's The Wicked Dreadroot engage in what is essentially a full-on Kaiju battle that is nothing short of a spectacle. Both monsters waste no time going at it with one another as they duke it out relentlessly. This clash goes on for a good long paragraph that describes in perfect detail everything the two titans are doing to one another eventually leading to a double-knockout that shakes the entire dueling field to its core.
  • Chapter 56:
    • Mikan temporarily sheds away her clumsy girl persona and becomes complete nurse mode when she checks up on both Yugi and Kaiba after the two had their shared hallucination. Nowhere in the scene does she stutter or make a fool of herself as she checks on the two of them to the best of her abilities with Yami even telling her how she is very much a credit to her title.
    • After Kaiba loses to Yami, the Pharoah approaches him to at first commend him for being a worthy opponent until Kaiba's reactions suddenly cause Yami to resume his preachings about destiny. Seeing this as rubbing his nose into Kaiba's face, Chiaki immediately shuts him up and comes to Kaiba's defense.
  • Chapter 57:
    • Let's just start with the fact that 'Hajime beat Marik. Yeah, let that sink in.
    • Hajime manages to actually take down the Winged Dragon of Ra! Not stop it from being summoned, not take control of it, just plain defeat it in combat with a stronger monster (Dark Paladin). Marik tries to play it off like nothing, but you can practically feel him steaming.
      • The details on that are also something to behold. In order to accomplish this, Hajime takes advantage of the only flaw in a god card's impenetrable armor: the fact that its attack points can be lowered. Additionally, he's figured out that god cards are immune to ALL other card effects, not just bad ones. So, he cuts Ra's attack in half with Half Shut, which would ordinarily make Ra indestructible for a turn, but because of Ra's immunities, it doesn't gain this effect. This leaves Hajime free to just run over Ra with his monster.
    • Hajime's Awakened Mode kicking in after he's pulled out of the Shadow Realm by the sound of Sonia, Gundham's, and Izuru's voices. He'd been lying down, badly injured from all the damage sustained in the duel, but as Marik gloats over his victory, Hajime suddenly leaps to his feet, blazing in all his Awakened glory, and shouts about how he absolutely will not lose. He then proceeds to summon Five-Headed Dragon, trick Marik into pouring all but one of his Life Points into Ra, and then raises his dragon's attack just slightly higher...with a measly Equip spell, Horn of the Unicorn. And then he attacks. Marik can only scream in disbelief as he's defeated.
  • Chapter 58:
    • The duel between Hajime and Yugi, which serves as an epic conclusion to the Battle City tournament. While it is a no-stakes duel; it does nothing to lessen the sheer intensity and epicness of the duel.
  • Chapter 59:
    • The sheer catharsis factor of Kyosuke, Chisa, and Kaiba delivering "The Reason You Suck" Speech to the Steering Committee, then blackmailing them into canceling the Kamukura Project and moving Hajime to the Main Course as the Ultimate Duelist. They're just in complete control of the entire conversation.

Orichalcos Arc

  • Chapter 65:
  • Chapter 66:
    • After four chapters of nothing, but grief and despair to kick off the Orichalcos arc, the good guys finally get a win thanks to Yukizome.
      • To elaborate: It was implied in Battle City that Yukizome was an amazing duelist. Here, she throws down with Gurimo who, in canon, pushed Yugi into a corner and she absolutely goes to town on him. Despite losing almost all of her life points near the end, expert readers can tell that Yukizome had complete control of that entire duel in a similar vein to Chiaki's very first duel in the story.
      • And that's not even getting into the showmanship of the duel itself with manages to combine Battle in the Rain and Battle Amongst the Flames with lightning dropping every so often, which only adds to the tension and a burning desire for the reader for Yukizome to pull off the win, creating a great amount of catharsis when she does. The storm ending at the end of the duel symbolizes that the storm of despair is finally over and now it's time for the heroes to make their counterattack.
  • Chapter 77:
    • Mukuro shows her Ultimate Soldier credentials by single-handedly rescuing Kaiba and Mokuba (and the comatose Alister) out of their crashing airplane.
  • Chapter 82:
    • Befitting of the arc finale: The entire chapter qualifies.

Canadian Nationals

  • The arc in general may qualify as one since it's so different from previous arcs. There's no set main character, simply a battle royale among Byakuya, Celeste, Joey, and Mai, and no end-of-the-world stakes, despite fan paranoia. And the duels, especially the finals, are considered some of the best by fans.

Kaiba Corp Grand Prix

  • Chapter 119:
    • This duel is Mai Vs Yukizome and it's one of the better-written ones in the arc. Yukizome strategically counters Mirror Wall at one point. Then, later, when Goddess of Sweet Revenge goes off, this is usually an instant win button for Yukizome, but Mai is able to hold her own and almost win the duel by having the destruction of her field trigger a special summon.
  • Chapter 120:
    • Hiccups aside the ambiance of this duel is something to really admire. Draconic even calls it some of his best in the arc. Gundham and Joey's banter is something to behold and the final clash between Red-Eyes Slash Dragon and Black Skull Dragon as Skull Dice decides the fate of the duel—despite the odds being stacked in Joey's favor—is something truly special.
  • Chapter 124:
    • The duel between Junko and Zigfried is regarded by several as being one of the best written in the arc thus far. Several expected a stomp as per Junko's duel with Vivian, but Zigfried really continues to push Junko into a corner every step of the way.
  • Chapter 126:
    • Joey defeats Yukizome. Let that sink in for a moment.
      • If you read the duel blind, you know how well-executed the duel is too, not just Joey's achievement by itself. Rereads lose this impact—since you know the outcome—but several fans described this duel as "literally heart-pounding". The amount of life point changes in both directions keep the duel engaging and who was going to win is kept a complete mystery right up until the very end.
  • Chapter 129:
    • After a grueling two-part duel... Chiaki defeats Junko in their duel! The chants from the crowd were well worth it.
  • Chapter 130:
    • Surpassing even his victory against Yukizome, Joey defeats Hajime. Even Class 77-B's Ultimate Duelist loses to Fate’s Ultimate Eliminator.
      • When Joey buckles under the pressure of an imminent 5-Headed Dragon, who else pushes him on but Serenity? The two Wheelers are almost completely in sync, with Serenity copying Joey’s movements in solidarity and bolstering her brother every time he falters.
      • It's easy to miss, but Hajime drew on Izuru’s power during the duel. When Joey beat Hajime, Hajime was holding nothing back.
  • Chapter 132:
    • It took thirty chapters of duels, but the winner of the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix has finally been crowned and it's none other than Chiaki! To get to this point, she had to overcome the Duel Monsters champion of Berlin, Byakuya Togami, Junko using Dark Castle of Despair, Makoto, and Joey. And Chiaki's victory means that she will be the one to face off against Yugi. The final duel of the tournament is the Ultimate Gamer vs. the King of Games!
  • Chapter 133:
    • Yugi and Chiaki's duel is worth the hype. The biggest stand-out moment comes when, against all expectations in and out of the story, Chiaki actually manages to knock Yugi's life points down to Zero ... only for the King of Games to reveal one final card that allows him to keep playing so long as his chosen monster remains on the field. Before long, he's turned the duel back around and defended his title.

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