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i've put the date that i wrote the articles on top of each one where it is relevant.
happy anniversary
duel monsters that talk
random thought
games that influence yu-gi-oh
yubel vs dartz, a comparison between two great villains
episode reviews
duel disk fashion show
duel monster olympics
test your knowledge
happy new year! or is it?
yugi vs ben, two great heroes out to save the world from evil.

happy anniversary

written in feb, printed in april 2007.

This year we have two anniversaries to celebrate involving one great artist. The first reason to celebrate is that this year marks the 25th year that Kazuki Takahashi has been in the anime (Japanese cartoon) business. He began his foray into the animation world in 1982 and had minor success with "Tokio no Tsuma" and "Tennenshokudanji Buray," but it wasn't until 1996, when his creativity truly blossomed and he struck gold with the Yu-Gi-Oh series, which he originally titled "Magic and Wizards," but then changed it's name for the anime. The word "Yu-Gi-Oh" is Japanese and it literally means "game king." When he first started writing about Yu-Gi-Oh, published in the magazine Shonen Jump, he hadn't intended on staying so long with the cards, planning on phasing them out as he did with all the other games he had introduced to that point in the Yu-Gi-Oh comic. However, Shonen Jump had such a great response to the cards, that Takahashi continued to write more about them, and has created thousands of cards to date, each set of cards the duelists use representing their personality (Weevil Underwood is annoying, so he's got an insect deck, Joey Wheeler's a fighter, so he has a warrior deck). Takahashi loves games and believes that a game is more enjoyable when it is being played against a real person, instead of a computer simulation, and it's easier to make friends, which is a central theme to the Yu-Gi-Oh series as well as parts of the names of two of the characters, Yugi and Joey ("Yu-Jo" is the Japanese word for "friendship"). His love of games can be found in many aspects of the Yu-Gi-Oh world, including the season Dawn of The Duel, which, inspired by Takahashi's trip to Egypt, includes one of his favorite types of games, a role-playing game (RPG), which is played between the pharaoh and evil Bakura. Takahashi also loves Mahjong, Blackjack and Shogi (Japanese Chess), no doubt influencing some of his monster cards like Jack's Knight, Queen's Knight, and King's Knight. He also loves card games and his favorite card in the Yu-Gi-Oh manga (Japanese comic) is the first one that he introduced, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

The second reason we celebrate is that this past year marks the 10th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh comic. The popularity of Yu-Gi-Oh has grown so much since it's creation, that it has gone all over the world as a real card game, a japanese animated series, an english animated series and a spin-off (GX), two english movies (Pyramid of Light, Capsule Monsters) and one japanese movie, two spin-offs of the comic (Yu-Gi-Oh GX and Yu-Gi-Oh R), as well as several Gameboy, Gamecube, Playstation, X-Box, Nintendo, PSP, and computer games. With animation influenced by Hirohiko Araki (the artist of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure"), the tale of Yugi and his friends has become a worldwide phenomenon, with real cards for card play, a dice version for the Dungeon Dice Monsters game and a capsule monsters version for the Capsule Monsters board game. The multimillion dollar-a-year game has become so popular, that the cards can be purchased at variety stores, convenience stores, toy stores, pharmacies, grocery stores, chain stores, gas stations, vending machines, restaurants, on-line stores, and more. Players can trade cards on-line and in person and can win rare cards, computers, and trophies at tournaments all over the world. These rare cards are so expensive, that they can sell for thousands of dollars on the internet. As if that weren't enough, counterfeiting has become a serious problem. Buyers beware!

Seeing as these are such special anniversaries, celebrating Kazuki Takahashi's 25 years in the animation business and Yu-Gi-Oh's 10th year brightening up our lives, it was thought that this would be the perfect time to thank Mr. Takahashi for all of his wonderful work. Let us be the first to congratulate Yu-Gi-Oh's creator on what an amazing job he has done, and how he has enriched all of our lives. We can see the influence he has had on us by how many of us are walking around with duel disks and pretending we are one of his characters, or how many of us, regardless of gender or age, show up at tournaments to play against other humans and make friends, just as Takahashi wants us to. We feel the influence by the excitement we get when we open up one of the packs from one of the more than twenty-five booster sets and find the cards that we were looking for, or when we purchase the collector tins, structured decks, tournament packs or promo cards. He influences us through the imagination we use to write fictional stories about our favorite characters, or the talent we use to draw some of the monsters and their duelists. So proud are we that we submit them to magazines and post them on the internet so that others may enjoy our ideas with us. We build web sites about our favorite production and set up fan clubs so we can chat on-line about what happened today on the show. Let's not forget the influence that Yu-Gi-Oh has had at all the animation conventions all over the world, where people dress up as their favorite characters (cos play). Many times, there will be several people dressed as duelist Yami Yugi, Seto Kaiba and Marik Ishtar wandering around and taking pictures with duel monsters such as Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl and Blue-Eyes White Dragon. We go out to these conventions in hopes of meeting others who share our interest, chatting with the cast and crew of the show and it's spin-off, adding to our collection (cards, dolls, toys...), and having the time of our lives.

So, on behalf of all Yu-Gi-Oh fans everywhere as well as everyone involved in every aspect of the Yu-Gi-Oh world, we thank you, Kazuki Takahashi, for the years of enjoyment you have brought to us and look forward to many more years of dueling and trusting in the heart of the cards.

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duel monsters that talk

written in april, printed in june 2007.

Duel Monsters that talk (they actually have lines...)

It doesn't happen too often, but every once in a while, the Duel Monsters actually vocalize their thoughts. Here's a list of Duel Monsters that talk so that we can understand what they say:

1) Witty Phantom. After Kaiba is kidnapped by Armed Ninjas during the "Legendary Heroes" story, Witty Phantom gets the chance to communicate with Kaiba. After all, he was programmed by Kaiba to torment his prisoners. And of course he isn't fooled by Mokuba's disguise as Princess Adina, who is really the ...

2) Mystical Elf. She is the princess in disguise, who brings back everyone who was digitized, and then thanks everyone for saving her kingdom. Mystical Elf's healing powers will be used by Guardian Isis to help the Pharaoh regain his strength during the memory arc. It must be nice to have magical powers, just like ...

3) Arkana's Dark Magician. Before the "Master of Magicians" duel begins, Arkana's magician appears in front of Yami and Yugi, pretending to be their Dark Magician, telling them that they are not worthy of having him in their deck, and they should be prepared to lose him forever. Of course, they are not fooled by this magician for a minute. It's good to be the favorite. It's also good to have such loyal monsters, like these ...

4) Deck Masters. Dark Magician Girl, Flame Swordsman and Goddess With The Third Eye tell their duelists what their special Deck Master abilities are during "Enter The Shadow Realm". Dark Magician Girl and Goddess With The Third Eye help their duelists activate their abilities when the time is right. Additionally, Dark Magician Girl makes suggestions on what moves Tea can do, makes the moves with her, and explains what the "Sage's Stone" card does. Dark Magician Girl will get more chances to talk during "Waking The Dragons", asking for Yami and Yugi and Kaiba and Joey's help to free the Legendary Dragons, who are actually...

5) Legendary Knights. Timaeus, Critias and Hermos have a lot to say after the Pharaoh sets them free with the "Legend Of Heart" magic card. Of course that's to be expected, since they have been frozen in ice for ten thousand years. They vow revenge, promise to protect the Pharaoh, call out their own attacks, summon Yugi, Kaiba and Joey back to their bodies, and, along with the Dark Magician Girl, thank the Pharaoh and Yugi for their help. They also promise that they will see Yami and Yugi again. One can only hope so. Of course we get to hear Dark Magician Girl talk again, along with...

6) Dark Magician. Guardian Mahad merges with his Illusion Magician, making the ultimate sacrifice to become the Dark Magician. He makes a vow to protect Pharaoh Yami, no matter what he has to risk. He explains the origins of the Millennium Items, and helps his apprentice, Mana, to find the Duel Monster within herself, the Dark Magician Girl. He even gets to talk to Yugi, once Yugi summons him. Sounds good to me, too. He talks to the Pharaoh during the duel against Yugi as well. Of course, Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl are not the only ones who get to talk during "Dawn Of The Duel". There's also...

7) The Creator Of Light. After Slifer, Obelisk, and Ra are summoned and merged into the Creator of Light, the Creator destroys Zorc (who is not a Duel Monster, by the way), and then explains to the Pharaoh and friends that his tasks are almost complete. Just one more thing to do, and then it will be over. No more bad guys. On to the movies next. Let's hear from...

8) Injection Fairy Lily. OK, so she doesn't have much to say, but she must have had some fun greeting Joey, and then sticking it to him during "Pyramid Of Light". She's the only Duel Monster to talk during this movie, but the next one, "Capsule Monsters", will make up for that, with...

9) Seven-Armed Fiend. This monster is the stuff that nightmares are made of, literally, and appears at the beginning of the movie during a dream sequence, kidnapping Yami, and telling Yugi that this will all become clear once he joins the game. He also talks during a "deleted" scene, chasing after Yami, who finds the Dark Magician and merges with him. Dark Magician gets to talk in this movie also, showing Yami and Yugi what is causing the storm during Trial Number One. The Duel Monster responsible for the storm is...

10) Mystical Sand. She is the one who Yami and Yugi must destroy in order to win the first trial. She taunts them all the way, and then attacks them with her powers. In order to get rid of her and the storm that she creates, Yami and Yugi merge with the Dark Magician, gaining extra strength, agility, power, armor (complete with wings) and a scepter. Very cool! Also very cool is what happens in episode one of "Capsule Monsters". Another Duel Monster talks, but only in the series version of the movie. And that monster is...

11) Celtic Guardian. Watching him destroy the Praying Mantis was great, and seeing him bow to Yami and Yugi was beautiful, but "hearing" him vow to protect Yami and Yugi for the rest of the game and calling them "master", was even better. Those people that have only seen the movie version have really missed out on something cool.

In the GX series, we get to "hear" Elemental Heroes, Maiden In Love, Dark Magician Girl, Don Zaloog, Cliff the Trap Remover, Dark Scorpions, Ojamas, Jinzo, Kaibaman, Neo-Spacians, Gravekeepers, The Rock Spirit and Crystal Beasts. Also, there are some spirit monsters that talk in groups (for reference, watch the episode where Chazz duels his brother Slade). As Season Three continues, there will be even more talking Duel Monsters. One can only guess which monsters will speak their minds next.

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random thought

written in june 2007, unprinted.

When I was going to college, there was an advertisement for a Japanese movie being shown at school. I decided to go to see it. After all, it was free. I watched the movie, but I didn't like it. The animation and storyline were very poor, so I decided to stay away from that kind of animation. Years later, I was visiting my sister in L.A., and while I was there she did some dubbing for a Japanese movie called "Princess Mononoke". It was better than the last movie I saw at school. But still, I wasn't really interested in Japanese animation until years later.

I was flipping through the channels, when something caught my eye (eww!) and I stopped to watch as 2 people were battling. I was curious as I watched a creature, that I now know as Summoned Skull, destroy a Great Moth. I wondered "What was that monster? What was the glove for? What are the star chips for? Who is holding his grandfather prisoner? Who is Pegasus?" So many questions. So, I watched the next show. And then the next one.

I got to enjoy the show so much, that I wondered "Could I do what Yugi does?" So I went on-line to look for a way to play the game, without having to buy the cards. I found an unofficial version of the PC game and downloaded it. At first, I was doing poorly, but as I continued to play, I learned more and more, until I got to be really good at it. I'm still learning.

After a while, I went on another trip to L.A. with my family. My mom said she wanted to learn how to play with the real cards. So, I got 2 Yugi and Kaiba structured decks and taught my dad how to play. Then I started to get the cards that Yami and Yugi used for real. The first card that I got that was theirs was "Burning Land", a magic card that they had used at Duelist Kingdom. Then Polymerization, Kuriboh, Catapult Turtle and Magical Hats. My collection continued to grow so much that I started selling my duplicates on E-Bay. I also went to tournaments. At first, I did poorly, but at the last tournament I went to, I made it to the semifinals! Yay! I did what I set out to do - prove that I could win a game without the opponent giving me the duel, getting help from others around me, or winning because I made the first attack in the next game because our first game took too long.

I also started buying the Yu-Gi-Oh magazines and subscribed to Beckett Yu-Gi-Oh Unofficial Collector. Then I noticed there were mistakes in it and I e-mailed them to the magazine. A little while later, I got an e-mail, thanking me and asking me to send in another e-mail if I find any more mistakes. So, I did. And right after New Years, I received an e-mail asking me if I wanted to be a writer for Beckett Yu-Gi-Oh Unofficial Collector! Yes! Of course I would love to write for my favorite magazine! I collect the cards, I have all the episodes on tape... why wouldn't I want a job where I could talk about my favorite show and get paid for it!

Now I'm a featured writer and trivia expert for my favorite magazine, and I'm having the time of my life!

That's my story of how I got involved with Yu-Gi-Oh. What's yours?

Marla Charendoff

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games that influence yu-gi-oh

written in june, printed in august 2007.

Games that influence Yu-Gi-Oh!

Often times, an animator will find a way to make themselves a part of their story. For Kazuki Takahashi, his love of games can be found in many aspects of the Yu-Gi-Oh! world. Let's go over just some of the games that made an impact on Yu-Gi-Oh!

Mahjong: A favorite game of Takahashi's, in the early Ming dynasty, this game was played with 40 paper cards. Each player's deck in Duel Monsters has to have a minimum of 40 cards. Mahjong also contains pieces called "Dragon tiles" in 3 different colors: red, green and white. Seto's favorite monster is a Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Joey's favorite is a Red-Eyes Black Dragon. When players have too many tiles (14 or more), they have to "discard" tiles till they have the maximum amount again (13). In Duel Monsters, when a player has more than 6 cards in their hands, at turns end, they must "discard" until they hold 6 cards in their hands. Also, Yami and Yugi play a Mahjong-looking game in Season 0 against Damien Draco. In addition to that, just like in Mahjong, Duel Monster rules keep changing, and require books or booklets to help Duelists keep up with the changing rules.

Dominos: This is what Takahashi called the town Yugi and his friends live in. And it's also the name of the school that they go to. (Domino, Japan and Domino High).

Tabletop roll-playing games: Takahashi loves tabletop role-playing games, which is just like the game he had the Pharaoh play against evil Bakura during "Dawn of the Duel".

There was also a role-playing game in season 0 of Yu-Gi-Oh! against evil Bakura.

Dice: The Capsule Monsters Gameboy game is played with funny-shaped dice.

Dungeon Dice Monsters used dice. The effect of many Duel Monster cards requires a roll of dice, too (or the flip of a coin).

Scotland Yard: In this game, the player becomes the hero. Takahashi says this is the main premise for Yu-Gi-Oh! And it also happens to be one of his favorite games.

Poker: In Poker, players have to ante up at the beginning of the game, just like the ante rule during Battle City. Also, many of the cards have been influenced by this game. There's Royal Straight, Royal Straight Slasher...

Blackjack: Another of Takahashi's favorite games, it's a game of luck and chance, just like many of Joey's cards are also dependent on luck and chance.

Bridge: Violating the rules of the game results in a penalty, much like the penalty given by Yami in a Shadow Game. Bridge and Mahjong are also played in tournaments, just like Duel Monsters.

Chess: This game influenced the Archfiend monsters - Vilepawn Archfiend, Shadowknight Archfiend, Darkbishop Archfiend, Desrook Archfiend, Infernalqueen Archfiend, Terrorking Archfiend, the magic card "Checkmate", as well as Yami Yugi's cards - Jack's Knight, Queen's Knight, King's Knight and Arcana Knight Joker. Also, the background of most of the Archfiend monster cards looks like a Chess board.

The characters in the show battle face to face, instead of against computer simulations. Takahashi says it's more fun to play against a real person than against a computer simulation.

War: Whenever I'm asked how to play the game of Duel Monsters, I always compare it to the card game of "War". Take the top card off the top of your deck, flip it over, and whichever card is higher, wins. Sounds like the game Yami played against the creep bugging Tea at the beginning of "Face-Off" part 1. One of the ways to lose a game of War, is for a player to run out of cards to draw. In Duel Monsters, that's called being "decked-out".

Ouija Board: This influenced evil Bakura's Destiny Board. 'Nuff said.

Card games, arcade games, dice, capsules, tiles, Yo-Yos, Chess pieces, table-top roll-playing games, jigsaw puzzles, Giga-Pets, game shows and more have been used to influence our favorite production. Looks like Takahashi's love for games really can be found all over the Yu-Gi-Oh! world.

And now, for your enjoyment, here's a page of trivia questions to see how much you know about Yu-Gi-Oh! Enjoy!

written by Marla Charendoff

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yubel vs dartz, a comparison between two great villains

written in october, printed in december 2007.

Yubel VS Dartz, A comparison between two great villains.

While I was doing research for my spoiler article, I discovered something that I found to be really interesting. It was when Jesse (possessed by Yubel) played a field-spell card that had a circular pattern with funny-shaped symbols on it. It reminded me of another card that also had a circular pattern and funny-shaped symbols on it, but this one was of a different color and it had no lines running through the center of it. Still, Jesse's field-spell card reminded me of the Seal of Orichalcos and the situation with Dartz, so I started doing a comparison between the two situations. Here we go:

Many centuries ago, there was a place called Atlantis. This is where Dartz lived with his family, in peace with the world around him. Suddenly, the peace was destroyed when a meteor shower hit Atlantis. It corrupted the minds of many of the people of Atlantis and when Dartz went to confront the stone, it corrupted him, too. It showed him that there was a giant serpent living beneath the Earth's surface and it wanted his help to destroy everyone with darkness in their hearts. The serpent also wanted Dartz's help to gain strength, because it was too weak to do anything on it's own. Dartz's father, Ironheart, and Dartz's daughter, Chris, as well as their wolf-friend, Skye, went to get help from the Dominion of the Beasts, where the Duel Monsters live. The protectors of the Dominion, Timaeus, Critias and Hermos, along with many of their friends, responded and tried their best to help the "pure of heart" try to stop Dartz. The protectors were turned into dragons and became trapped in ice for 10,000 years, until Pharaoh Yami and Yugi Muto, Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler set them free. But just because the dragons were free, didn't mean that Dartz would be any easier to beat. He had begun using a field-spell card called "The Seal of Orichalcos" that looked like a circular pattern with funny-shaped symbols on it and lines through the center of it. The Seal had three layers, and got stronger with each one that was played. He was also using his powers to get people to do what he wanted them to do and seeing the world his way, not that he cared about any of them, including Mai Valentine (he promised her that she could have power). Once they had served their purpose, he had no need for them. So the human world and the Dominion of the Beasts had to work together to stop the threat to both their worlds. With so many of their friends trapped in some creepy, dark place, winning wasn't easy and with each duel where the Seal was played, Dartz's power grew and the serpent got stronger. While Yami did give in to his darkness once, he never let it control him again and with the help of his friends (in spirit), he was able to defeat the darkness within Dartz, as well as the giant, butt-ugly serpent. Once the Seal and serpent were gone, Dartz went back to being a good person again, no longer a threat to humans or to Duel Monsters and everyone was set free.

Now let's take a look at Yubel. This is another being that starts off living in a palace, and is affected by something from outer space. Basically a good person, willing to do anything for a friend, Yubel is eventually placed into a capsule and shot into outer space, where the capsule and the contents are affected by the "Light of Destruction", which is the same thing that previously affected Sartorius, who, after being possessed by that light, started a group called "The Society of Light". The Society's mission was to destroy all the darkness in the world (sound familiar?). The Society gathered many "friends" by dueling them and making them see the world the same way that the Society did. Since Yubel gets affected by the same light, it stands to reason that she/he wants the same thing as the Society. But, Yubel isn't just threatening humans. The Duel Monsters are affected as well, fighting along side the humans to destroy this new threat. Possessing Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte's son, Marcel, with the help of Adrian Gecko, who she/he promises power to, and Professor Viper, who's adopted son she/he promises to save (she's/he's just kidding, folks), Yubel uses her/his powers to gather up humans to use as slaves, who gather up other human slaves through dueling. The more slaves, or zombies, there are, the stronger Yubel gets. Not that she/he cares about any of them. Yubel uses them for dark purposes, and when they, and the worlds that Yubel had creates, are done being useful, she/he decides to get rid of it all. Eventually taking over Jesse Anderson, Yubel uses a field spell card that covers both sides of the field in a circular pattern with funny-shaped symbols on it (sound familiar?) and, to make matters worse, there are three different levels to Yubel (the third version is a dragon). Even though many of Jaden's friends are stuck in some other creepy, dark place, Jaden won't give up or give in to the darkness within him, as he did once. With the spirits of his friends to help him, he is finally able to defeat Yubel, as well as the darkness that controls her/him, who goes back to being a good person again. Everyone is set free and sent back to Duel Academy, where we await the start of Season Four and find out what new adventures await our heroes.

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episode reviews

Last time, we saw Jaden find out about his destiny and make new friends among the Neo-Spacians. He regained his inner strength and returned to Duel Academy to beat Aster, who now questions everything that Sartorius ever told him. This time, we find out more about these aliens and Sartorius.

Episode 217: Dormitory Demolition

This episode is nice in so many ways. First, we have Chancellor Crowler actually standing up for the Slifer Red Dorm, which is a rarity. While Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte wants to tear the dorm apart and brings workmen to the duel to smash it down, Crowler is actually fighting FOR Slifer Red and he brings workmen to the duel to rebuild what his opponent destroys. Next thing that's nice is that, when Crowler is losing, he gets inspired by Jaden and kicks Bonaparte's butt! We find out that maybe, just maybe, Crowler really does care about the "Slifer Slackers" after all. Seeing Bonaparte's cute monsters panting didn't hurt the story one bit.

Episode 218: Obelisk White

This next episode isn't quite as fun as the last one, but it still has its good points. The Chazz decides to make the Obelisk Blue Dorm into the home base for The Society Of Light, and duels several students to get them to see things his and Sartorius's way. While he does get annoying (even more so than usual), he does have a pretty good strategy against Alexis. By playing the "Infernal White" spell card, he shows her the cards in his hand throughout the entire duel, which has her second-guessing herself and trying to predict what moves The Chazz would make. This costs her the duel, and gains the Society a new member. Too bad her brother's singing couldn't help.

Episode 219: Duel Fellas

Next we go from an annoying Chazz, to an annoying Lorenzo. This student wants Sartorius to notice him and he's hoping that his duel with Jaden will get him some respect. Capisca? Buon. What's fun about this episode is that we get to see a room with an image of the "Electromagnetic Turtle", "Turn Jump" and "Bounce" cards used by Yami and Yugi appearing on the wall, and the dueling arena from Duelist Kingdom can be seen under the walkway on the way to the duel. Also, we get to hear Neo-Spacian Grand Mole talk during the duel. Isn't that fun?

Episode 220: Not Playing with a Full Deck

Another Duel Monster gets to talk in this episode about Sartorius's lawyer who acts like Johnson from the Big 5. The lawyer's name is "X" and the Duel Monster's name is Neo-Spacian Glow Moss, a sweet monster who helps Jaden stop "X" from decking him out. Instead of Jaden losing all his cards, "X" loses all of his. So Sartorius is no closer to getting Jaden to join him and Bonaparte is no closer to getting rid of the Slifer Red dorm. All in all, this is a fun episode to watch.

Episode 221: Source of Strength

Not as fun of an episode (but still a good one), Sartorius sees through his cards that there is another power that can defy the hands of fate and he wants it. So he goes to Jaden's dorm room and finds that power within Hassleberry. Sartorius challenges him to a duel, with the freedom of Alexis and Chazz at stake. With another inspirational talk from Jaden, Hassleberry gets very close to winning. Sartorius believes that Hassleberry is on the Society's side when the duel is over, but that's not true. It turns out that Hassleberry is too strong for Sartorius, all thanks to an accident years before, when a rock slide broke Hassleberry's leg and he had to have the bone replaced with a bone of a dinosaur, giving him "Dino DNA". Jurassic Park, anyone? Anyways, Duel Academy now has a new student and his name is... Sartorius.

Episode 222: Happily Never After

This is, like, a totally cute episode where Crowler and Bonaparte are, like, trying to decide where to take the students on their field trip, so it's suggested by Jaden that the destination is settled in a duel, or, like, whatever. Sartorius agrees, but if Jaden loses the duel, then he has to join The Society Of Light. Total bummer. His opponent is Princess Rose, a girl who, like, totally talks like a Valley Girl, like, ya know, and can see Duel Monster spirits in her frog monsters. Since Jaden can't see them, he begins to wonder if he has lost the power to see Duel Monster spirits, which is exactly what Sartorius is hoping for. Even though her frog princes: Deidre S. Frog, Jeffrey, Roosevelt and Percival try their best to help her, Jaden still wins and realizes he hasn't lost his ability to see the spirits after all. Although he can't see the princes, Jaden does see one Duel Monster spirit following Rose away. Now Jaden gets a choice of where the school trip should be. Where else? Domino City! What fun! At least, we hope that it will be.

Episode 223-224 Taken by Storm - Parts 1 & 2

These two episodes start the field trip to Domino City, where the white dorm and the teachers go their separate ways and the rest of the students are left to explore Yugi's home town. When Bastion questions Aster about the Society Of Light, Aster starts putting doubt into Bastion's mind about his dueling skills. What's cool about these episodes is seeing the flashbacks from the previous series and seeing Yugi's grandfather and Seto Kaiba make an appearance. First stop is Domino Pier and a flashback to Yugi's duel against Joey, then a visit to the game shop to get a guided tour of the town from Solomon Muto, with a flashback to Yami Yugi's first duel against a Rare Hunter and the duel against Strings, the Quiet One. Next, Grandpa gets kidnapped by two thugs named Thunder and Frost, forcing Hassleberry and Syrus to put their differences aside to duel for Grandpa's freedom on top the same building where Yami Yugi and Kaiba dueled Lumis and Umbra. We get a flashback of that duel, too, as well as a mention of the Shadow Realm. No such thing, huh? We also get to meet Sartorius's sister, Sarina, who is keeping Jaden and his friends trapped for a while with the help of Monarch spirit monsters Mobius, Zaborg, Granmarg and Thestalos.

Next issue, we'll see more of Domino City, find out more about Sarina and finally see Jaden and Aster dueling as a team.

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Last time, Jaden and his friends started on their school trip to Domino City, where Syrus and Hassleberry got kidnapped by a guy named Frost. This time, we find out what happens on the rest of the trip and we also get to meet Sartorius's sister Sarina. Ready? Here we go!

Episode 77 - J-Dawg and T-Bone (rating - 4 stars)

In this episode, Jaden and friends are trying to figure out how to rescue Syrus and Hassleberry from who ever kidnapped them. What I liked about this episode was that Jaden and his friends were camping in the same area that Yami Yugi dueled against Strings (Marik), and, during the duel against T-Bone (one of Sarina's henchman), Solomon Muto compares Yugi to Jaden and even imagines Yami Yugi standing behind Jaden for a brief moment. What's scary is when Sarina transports T-Bone's friend Blaze into a card and then does the same thing to T-Bone! Then she tells Jaden and Aster that she will test them to see which one of them is the chosen duelist.

Episode 78 - Mirror, Mirror (Part 1) (rating - 3 stars)

We're off to Kaiba Land's virtual world for the duel that will test which one, Aster or Jaden, will be the chosen duelist. What I liked about this episode is that Jaden and Aster act just like Yami Yugi and Kaiba did during their tag-team duel in Battle City, with Jaden trying to work with Aster as a team and Aster wanting to prove that he's the chosen duelist. Sarina splits herself into two people so that she can tag-team duel against them, but still can't decide which one of them is the chosen duelist. Also fun is watching Hassleberry and Syrus, who have been digitized into a dinosaur and a car, making puns about their situation.

Episode 79 - Mirror, Mirror (Part 2) (rating - 4 stars)

The second half of the duel involves some cool new monsters. What I liked about this episode is listening to Hassleberry and Syrus making more puns about being a dinosaur and a car, and watching Jaden summoning Neo-Spacian Black Panther, a copycat Duel Monster with a cool attitude, who tells Jaden to use Destiny Hero - Dasher to help them save the day. In the end, Jaden and Aster win the duel and Sarina reveals that both of them are the chosen duelists. Now she needs their help to save her brother Sartorius from the Light of Destruction. Next, she sets everyone free and then digitizes herself so that she can watch over her brother. Some trip this turned out to be!

Episode 80 - What a Doll! (rating - 4 stars)

In this episode, a girl named Alice shows up at the Slifer Red dorm and Hassleberry falls in love with her. (Aww, how cute!) Problem is, Alice is not human. She's a doll spirit who has been watching other duelist mistreat their cards. The more she watched, the angrier she got. So she decided to take revenge by getting rid of all the duelists, starting with Jaden. I liked that, through the duel, she learns that there are duelists who have respect for their cards, then she thanks Jaden for setting her spirit free.

Episode 81 - Let's Make a Duel! (rating - 4 stars)

In a fun episode filled with game show references, Alexis demands that Jaden duels against an Obelisk White student named Bob Banter. If he loses, then he has to join the Society of Light. Bob has a crush on Alexis and tries to use his game show deck to win her heart, but doesn't win the duel or her heart. Then, he goes chasing after Jaden for advice on love, after he realizes that Jaden was the one who gave him the advice the previous night. On a side-note, his Obelisk 30 card has some wrong information. There is no such card as "Forbidden Board". The card is called "Destiny Board". The different ways to win a duel are: get your opponent's Life Points down to zero, deck them out, use card effects like "Destiny Board", "Exodia", "Final Countdown", or "Last Turn", or your opponent can surrender. Only on the show can a duelist use a card that costs more Life Points than he/she has though. For more details on winning a duel, check out: http://www.metagame.com/yugioh.aspx?tabid=33&ArticleId=65

Episode 82 - Magnetic Personality (rating - 3 stars)

OK, so here's where things get complicated. Bastion has decided that he wants Sartorius to notice him and prove that he's a great duelist. Ever since Aster asked him why, since the Society of Light is going after the best of the best duelists, they haven't gone after him, Bastion has had doubts about his dueling skills. This was probably Sartorius's plan from the beginning. First, he goes after all the other Ra Yellow students, then he makes Bastion doubt his abilities. The plan works, and Bastion challenges Sartorius to a duel. Sartorius tells Bastion to duel Chazz, and if Bastion loses, then he has to join the Society. Bastion accepts, and almost wins, but then he realizes that if he does, then his skills won't get noticed, so he loses the duel on purpose and joins the Society of Light. Not a smart move on Bastion's part, but still a good episode to watch.

Episode 83 - Schooling the Master (rating - 3 stars)

In this episode, we find out the connection that Zane Truesdale has with his Cyber End Dragon and with Chancellor Sheppard. What's nice is seeing the older Duel Disks and Zane respecting his cards when he was younger. But what is sad is how mean Zane has gotten, losing respect for, not only his cards, but his opponents as well. He duels against Chancellor Sheppard and wins a new set of cards called the "Deck of the Underworld", which contains the Cyber Dark Dragons. Then, Sheppard gives Zane a medal and tells him that he's starting a new tournament and that this medal is the invitation. He hopes that Zane's friends at Duel Academy can get him back to the way he used to be. So do we.

Episode 84 - Generation neXt (rating - 4 stars)

This is a cool episode where Chancellor Sheppard has returned to Duel Academy and announces the start of a brand new tournament. The rules are simple: everyone must participate in at least one duel a day, and can't turn down any challenges (poor Syrus). At the request of Sartorius, Prince Ojin has been invited to the tournament and Sartorius immediately challenges him to a duel, winning it within one move! Cool! Since Prince Ojin has wagered his satellite on this duel, he must immediately hand it over to Sartorius. We'll find out why he wants it in a future episode.

Episode 85 - Rah, Rah, RA!s (rating - 4 stars)

This is a cool episode about one of Pegasus's employees stealing a copy of the Winged Dragon of Ra and using it during the tournament. What I liked was seeing Pegasus and Chumley helping Jaden get the card back from the thief (Hans). Also, there are some cool flashbacks to the other series when Slifer, Obelisk, and Ra were played, and Pegasus imagines Yami Yugi standing where Jaden is. Anyways, Jaden ends up winning the duel thanks to a new card designed by Chumley, Hans is forgiven, and Ra is set free.

Next issue, the tournament continues, and maybe Jaden will finally talk some sense into Chazz.

sorry. this should have been 225 - 233

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Episode Review

by Marla Charendoff

Last time, we returned to Duel Academy, started the GX tournament, met Sartorius's sister, Sarina, and got a visit from the Winged Dragon of Ra, Pegasus and Chumley Huffington. This time, we get to find out if Jaden can finally talk some sense into Chazz, and see the return of a few familiar faces. Ready?

Here we go!

Episode 86 - The Art of the Duel (rating - 3 stars)

This episode starts off with Jaden looking for someone to duel and finds an actor-turned-duelist named Orlando, who has a deck full of theater-based cards. What I liked about this episode was the references to the theater, Burstinatrix waving good-bye to Jaden before she's destroyed and Jaden teaching Orlando how to have fun while dueling. Crowler and Bonaparte, who were watching the duel, had some fun references to blogging and "Coffee Talk" from Saturday Night Live, too.

Episode 87 - Blinded by the Light (part 1) (rating - 3 stars)

In this episode, Chazz starts to question himself on why and how he joined the Society of Light, while Syrus hides inside a garbage can hoping no-one will find him and challenge him to a duel. Chazz challenges Jaden to a duel and gives him till the next day to prepare for it. It's nice to see the return of Professor Banner, who leads Jaden to the Ojama brothers so that they can help Jaden get Chazz back to normal.

Episode 88 - Blinded by the Light (part 2) (rating - 3 stars)

Jaden spends this episode reviving the Ojamas and introducing Chazz to more of their family. I liked listening to the Ojamas and Jaden trying to talk Chazz back to his normal self and ultimately succeeding. I thought it was honorable of Chazz to lose the duel on purpose and really nice that he would compliment the Ojamas.

Episode 89 - The Darkness Within (rating - 3 stars)

In this episode, Zane arrives at the GX tournament and is challenged to a duel by Atticus. They meet at the volcano for the duel, where Atticus hopes to break Zane free from the dark side. Unfortunately, this means going to the dark side himself. Atticus loses the duel and almost loses himself to the shadows, but is able to break free. Good for him. But Zane is still treating his monsters with disrespect. Hopefully, someone will be able to help him get back to normal.

Episode 90 - Pro-Dueling (rating - 3 stars)

In this episode, Crowler and Bonaparte go out looking for some of the duelists from Season 1 in order to help them save their jobs. What's nice about this episode is that we get to see Damon and Belowski dueling again. This time, it's against a mathematician and an Elvis-wannabe. It's also nice to see that Alexis is starting to break free from the Society of Light. Maybe now it will be easier to free her from Sartorius's control.

Episode 91 - Don't Fear the Reaper (rating - 3 stars)

Jaden is out looking for another opponent when he meets Lucien, a pro-duelist who wins his duels in one turn. He challenges Jaden to a duel and learns through the duel how to trust in his cards again. I liked that Jaden was able to help Lucien have fun and believe in himself once more. And everyone is happy again. Even Chazz.

Episode 92 - Duel for Hire (rating - 3 stars)

This episode starts off with Crowler and Bonaparte getting yelled at by Chancellor Sheppard. Pegasus arrives for a meeting with Sheppard, but gets interrupted by Crowler and Bonaparte, who beg him for jobs. Pegasus agrees, but only if they can beat him in a duel. Then he tries to use their dislike for one another against them. I liked the inspiring speech from Jaden, and Crowler's reaction to it. It's also nice to see the return of the toon monsters. Pegasus wins the duel and promises them jobs anyway, since they worked so well together at the end of the duel. Then Jaden, Syrus, Hassleberry, Crowler and Bonaparte hug. Awwww. How cute! Sheppard then arrives and tells them that they are not fired after all. Of course they are happy to hear that. (Not!)

Episode 93 - Heart of Ice (part 1) (rating - 3 stars)

It's now time to save Alexis from the Society of Light. But first, the real Sartorius breaks free from his dark side long enough to give the keys to the satellite to Jaden and Aster. Now his dark side wants them back and sends Alexis to get the key back from Jaden by challenging him to a duel. I liked that Chazz and Atticus each loaned Jaden a card to help him break her free. Too bad that they didn't work.

Episode 94 - Heart of Ice (part 2) (rating - 3 stars)

In the second half of the duel, Jaden finds a way to use Chazz and Atticus's cards to help him win the duel against Alexis. He also wins her freedom from Sartorius thanks to some cute new cards. Now Jaden, Alexis, Chazz, Hassleberry and Syrus decide that it's time to take on Sartorius and get rid of the Society of Light.

Next issue, Zane duels Syrus, Aster gets all of his questions answered, the GX tournament ends, and Aster and Jaden finally battle against Sartorius. Until next time!

sorry. this should have been 234 - 242

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Last time, the GX tournament started, Jaden set Chazz and Alexis free from the Society of Light, and Crowler and Bonaparte got some help from Season 1 duelists to save their jobs.

Also, I wrongly numbered the episodes as 86 - 94. It should have been 234 - 242. Let's finish up Season 2 with a look at episode 243. Ready? Here we go:

Episode 243 - Tough Love (rating - 2 stars)

The reason I gave this episode only 2 stars was because I didn't like Zane's attitude while he was dueling Syrus. He disrespected his monsters and his brother. He didn't seem to care that he hurt Syrus so badly. What I liked about this episode was how brave Syrus was, dueling against his brother and fighting to bring him back from the darkness. Nice try, Syrus!

Episode 244 - It's all Relative (rating - 3 stars)

This fun episode involves Jaden dueling against an Albert Einstein wannabe who is Bastion's idol. His attitude is similar to Rebecca's before she dueled Yugi: the cards are just cards, no heart. Jaden teaches Professor Eisenstein that the cards do have heart. Bastion realizes he wants to work with Eisenstein and learn from him. Better than learning from the Society. Right?

Episode 245 - The Dark Light (rating - 3 stars)

This episode we learn from Maximillion Pegasus more about the history of the Society of Light and Aster Phoenix finally finds out where the missing Destiny card is. He also finds out that his guardian and "friend", The D, is responsible for his father's disappearance. What I liked about this episode is seeing Maximillion Pegasus again as well as Magician's Valkyria in battle.

Episode 246 - Ultimate Destiny (rating - 3 stars)

It's time for Aster to face off against The D, find out more about the Society of Light, and save his father, as well as find the card he's been searching for. With support from his father, Aster is able to beat The D. and free his father's soul, as well as all the other souls that the card had captured. Well done, Aster!

Episode 247 - The Key Factor (rating - 3 stars)

This episode, Prince Ojin is told by Sartorius that he must duel Jaden in order to get one of the keys to the satellite. The prince's friend, Linda, goes to Jaden for help to break Ojin free from Sartorius's control. So Jaden and Ojin duel and Jaden shows the prince that he is not alone, as he thought he was. He does have a friend who's always been there for him... Linda.

Episode 248 - The Phoenix has Landed (Part 1) (rating - 3 stars)

Aster has decided that it's now time to save Sartorius from the darkness that controls him. After all, Sartorius predicted that Aster would one day save him, that Aster would be his hero. True enough, this is what Aster is planning on doing for his friend and realizes that the only way to do this is by dueling him.

Episode 249 - The Phoenix has Landed (Part 2) (rating - 3 stars)

The second half of the duel is mostly Aster and Sartorius's good side giving each other support while the good Sartorius hides within Aster's memories for protection while they duel as one. Aster fights honorably against Sartorius's dark side and uses his new D-Hero to get close to winning, but ultimately loses the duel, giving the job of saving the world to Jaden.

Episode 250 - Hands of Justice (Part 1) (rating - 3 stars)

In this episode, Jaden finally goes up against Sartorius, with Elemental Hero Neos protecting the satellite keys, and Hassleberry protecting Aster, while the GX tournament is close to an end. We find out that an alien has taken over the real Sartorius, and is using his body to try to take over the world. Additionally, Sartorius (the alien) uses a field spell card that prevents all of Jaden's monsters from using their powers. What I liked about this episode was to see the return of Blair Flannigan and it's also nice that Zane gave her the medal that she would need to go up against Chazz. I also like the prize that Chazz asked for - the white dorm replaced by the blue dorm.

Episode 251 - Hands of Justice (Part 2) (rating - 3 stars)

During the second part of the duel between Jaden and Sartorius, Hassleberry and Linda chase after Prince Ojin, who has taken both satellite keys and activated the satellite dish in order for Sartorius to take over the world. Once he finds the prince, Hassleberry smashes the satellite controls, hoping that he's arrived in time to stop it's activation. Chazz and Blair begin their duel with Blair getting the upper hand, Sartorius shows Jaden his future (which looks like the same dimension as the one where Jaden dueled Gravekeeper's Chief) and Jaden finally gets through Sartorius's light barrier so that he can summon Elemental Hero Neos and Glow Moss and use their powers to help him in the duel.

Episode 252 - Future Changes (rating - 3 stars)

It's time for Hassleberry's "Dino DNA" to take effect and the spirit of a dinosaur inside of him is unleashed in order to help Elemental Hero Glow Neos (and Neos and Sarina) destroy the satellite. Meanwhile, Jaden finally puts an end to the duel against Sartorius as well as the alien's control over Sartorius. Chazz is crowned the winner of the GX tournament and Sartorius and Sarina are reunited. What I liked about this episode is seeing Hassleberry as a dinosaur again, hearing him say "Shazam" and "Dynomite", watching Jaden beat the alien controlling Sartorius, the butt jokes in the duel between Chazz and Blair, and Chazz's advice to Blair (which was something that Jaden would have said). I also liked seeing Sarina again and watching her help destroy the satellite. What a wonderful way to end the season.

Next issue, we will see the start of Season 3 and meet new villains and new heroes. Until next time!

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duel disk fashion show

written in dec 2007, printed in may 2008.

Fashion Show.

Ever wonder how many different Duel Disks there are? Well, wonder no more, because here is a fashion show of all the Duel Disks that have appeared to date.

It all started 10,000 years ago, when the Orichalcos Soldiers wore the very first Duel Disks. (episode 164) (http://yugiohpics.net/doma/164/164x27.jpg)

Then 5,000 years ago, ancient Egyptians wore the "Dia Dianks". (episode 209 is my favorite pic. A close up of Shada's Dia Diank. I like the close-ups of Yami's Dia Diank in episode 207 and Isis's and Shada's in episode 210. They appear from episode 202 through 219).

The next Duel Disk was the Duelist Kingdom prototype. (pic is from Face Off, part 1) (http://yuugiou.fran-web.net/Image/Kaiba/DK-07/index.html).(episode 22 ... episode 24)

And it got an upgrade in the virtual world. (episode 43-45) (http://www.planetyugioh.com/episodeGuide/episode043.aspx).

The start of the Battle City tournament saw the brand new Duel Disks. (episode 54) (http://yugiohpics.net/bc/054/54x26.jpg).

The season "Waking the Dragons" saw the introduction to the Chaos Duel Disks. (episode 144 ... episode 182)

The GX series introduces us to the Duel Academy Duel Disks. (episode 2 ... episode 156)

Crowler and Bonaparte each have a different Duel Disk than the students. (episode 1, episode 69, episode 92)

Titan, a Shadow duelist hired by Crowler, wears a different Duel Disk than the teachers. (episode 5, episode 6, episode 41)

Gravekeeper's Chief, a Duel Monster, has a new Duel Disk in this new dimension. (episode 27, episode 28)

Duel Disk worn by Camula, a Shadow Rider. (episode 33)

Kaibaman has a Duel Disk that looks like a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. (episode 34)

Duel Disk worn by Tania, a Shadow Rider. (episode 37)

Admiral uses a Duel Disk with lots of gems on it. (episode 38)

Abidos is a Pharaoh with a new Duel Disk, too. (episode 40)

Duel Disk worn by Amnael, a Shadow Rider (episode 45, episode 46)

alien, a creature Jaden duels on another planet, has a different Duel Disk, too. (episode 62)

Adrian Gecko, a new student, has a new Duel Disk, as well as one he wants to give away as a prize. The prize Duel Disk is beautifully encrusted with diamonds. (episode 111, episode 112, episode 123)

Duel Disk worn by new student, Jim "Crocodile" Cook, looks like a boomerang. (episode 110, episode 124, episode 125, episode 129, episode 138, episode 139, episode 140)

Duel Disk worn by Axel Brodie, a new student. (episode 106, episode 108, episode 109)

Duel Disk worn by Viper, a new teacher. (episode 117, episode 118, episode 119)

Duel Disk worn by Marcel, possessed by Yubel. (episode 129, episode 130)

Duel Disk worn by The Rock Spirit, a Duel Monster. (episode 121)

Duel Disk worn by Pompadour, a student possessed by Yubel. (episode 124, episode 125)

Harpie's Brother and others wear a new world Duel Disk. (episode 132)

Duel Disk worn by Scarr, a Duel Monster. (episode 133)

Duel Disk worn by Zure, another Duel Monster. (episode 134)

Duel Disk worn by Brron, yet another Duel Monster. (episode 135, episode 136)

Duel Disk worn by Goldd, a Duel Monster. (episode 135, episode 136)

Duel Disk worn by Sillva, another Duel Monster. (episode 135, episode 136)

Jaden, possessed by the Supreme King, has a new Duel Disk. (episode 139, episode 140, episode 142, episode 143)

Jesse, possessed by Yubel, has a very strange Duel Disk. (episode 147 ... episode 152)

Yubel, a Duel Monster, has a new duel disk. (episode 153 ... episode 155)

New Duel Academy Duel Disks each have the colors of the duelist's dorm on it. (episode 157 ...)

New villain's Duel Disk. (episode 157 ...)

It will be interesting to see what new Duel Disks Season 4 will have in store for us.

by Marla Charendoff

(stuff in brackets is not for print)

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duel monster olympics

written in august, printed in october 2007. (rainbow neos is not included because season 4 hadn't started yet.)

Hi! Welcome to the first annual Duel Monsters Olympics! I am your host, Marla Charendoff! To start our competition, all Duel Monsters that have had their attack strength start with, or become at least as high as 10,000 attack points must report to the stage! After looking over all the battles that have taken place so far, I have completed my list. Stand by for your ranking.

The top 10 Duel Monsters with the highest amount of attack points are as follows:

First place Gold goes to the Knight of Destiny. After Critias and Hermos bounce their attacks back and forth with the help of the trap card "Attack Guidance Barrier" and the attack power of the three Magnet Warriors to make an attack power of infinite, they combine with Timaeus and add his attack power to theirs. So that means that their combo monster, Knight of Destiny, has an attack power of 3,300 more than infinite (2,800 + 500 bonus from Impact Revive = 3,300). This allows the Knight to destroy the monster that has the second-place prize. And that monster is:

Divine Serpent. His attack strength is infinite, but he has a payout cost - all of your Life Points and all of the cards in your hand. Plus, if you want him to attack, you have to discard the top 10 cards off the top of your deck. That means that you can only attack about 3 times. After that, if you wanted to attack again, you couldn't, because you would run out of cards to draw, and lose the duel. However, even without Life Points, as long as he is on the field, and you still have cards to draw, you can't lose. As he is not the only one with a maximum of infinite attack strength, he has to have a tiebreaker with another monster to see who will take home the Silver. After careful consideration, the judges have agreed that Divine Serpent wins and takes home the Silver, while the other monster takes home the Bronze. And that monster is:

Obelisk The Tormentor. Sure he starts off with 4,000 attack points, but if you sacrifice 2 monsters on your field, you boost his attack strength to infinite and allow him to destroy all of the monsters on the opponent's side of the field and deal out 4,000 Life Points worth of damage to the opponent. Another powerful monster runs a close 4th at his highest, (well, as close any other monster has gotten, anyways) and that is:

Cyber End Dragon. Zane Truesdale's favorite monster started out with 4,000 attack points, but gained a ton of strength thanks to Power Bond, Limiter Removal and Battle Fusion during the Graduation Match against Jaden, which ended in a tie game. At 36,900 attack points, we can see why this monster is near the top of our list. The next monster comes in a very close 5th. For that, we need to go over to the movie "Pyramid Of Light", and check out:

Thenien the Great Sphinx. We know his attack strength is 3,500 at the start, but after Anubis is done feeding it, his attack power is boosted to a powerful 35,000! Wow! Can you imagine that? And 2 of our top monsters beat him ... our 3rd place and 6th place winners: Obelisk and ...

Slifer the Sky Dragon. During Yami and Yugi's duel against Strings (Marik), Slifer the Sky Dragon's attack strength went up to about 28,000! His attack and defense powers are dependent on how many cards his duelist is holding, and thanks to "Infinite Cards", Strings (Marik) could hold as many cards as he wanted to without discarding. That meant that Slifer could have an attack strength of all the cards in the deck minus the ones that had been used. I calculate 12 cards - Humanoid Slime, Worm Drake, Polymerization, Quick Attack, Revival Jam, Jam Defender, Jam Breeding Machine, Nightmare Steel Cage, Slifer the Sky Dragon, Pot Of Greed, Infinite Cards and Card of Safe Return. Minus these cards, in a deck of 40 cards, Slifer would have an attack power of 28,000, which is 7,100 more than our 7th place winner:

Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman. At 20,900 attack points at his highest, he almost beat out Cyber End Dragon. That is, until Zane used "Battle Fusion" to boost his dragon's attack strength from 16,000 to 36,900! The Wingman's attack power starts at 2,500, plus he gains attack power from all of the Elemental Heroes that have been destroyed, giving him 4,900 attack points, plus "Battle Fusion" added Cyber End Dragon's attack strength to his own, giving him a 16,000 attack point boost! We like him much better than the Divine Serpent, who appears on the field after our 8th place winner is destroyed. That monster is:

Orichalcos Shuneros. This monster is made up of 3 parts. Shuneros is the main part. His attack strength is equal to the amount of damage Orichalcos Kyutora absorbs before it's destroyed, which, this time, happens to be 20,000 Life Points, so he has 20,000 attack points. Another piece, Orichalcos Aristeros, is in defense mode and will always have 300 more defense points than the attacking monster. The other piece, Orichalcos Dexia, is in attack mode and will always have 300 more attack points than whatever monster it's attacking. Additionally, whenever Dexia and Shuneros attack and Aristeros defends, it's points are taken out of Shuneros's attack points. At it's weakest, Shuneros had 0 attack points, and at it's strongest, Shuneros had 20,000 attack points, which is 5,500 points stronger than our 9th place winner, and that is:

Elemental Hero Electrum. With help from Professor Banner's special card, Jaden is able to summon Electrum and boost his power from 2,900 to an incredible 14,500! This is more than enough to destroy Raviel, Lord of Phantasms. Our 10th place winner has close to that attack power. And that monster is:

Guardian Eatos. She starts off with 2,500 attack points, but gains 7,500 more points from the monsters that Yami sacrificed - Dark Magician (2,500), Dark Magician Girl (2,000), Gazelle (1,500), Berfomet (1,400) and Big Shield Gardna (100). All that added up to a powerful 10,000 attack points! What a powerful monster!

And what a great way to end this list! The top 10 Duel Monsters with the highest amount of attack strength don't go any lower than 10,000 attack points at their highest!

Stay tuned next issue for another Olympic category and another top 10 list! Until next time!

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written in october 2007, unprinted.

Duel Monster Olympics

Here we are again at the Duel Monsters Olympics! Welcome, everyone! Let's start our next event right now! The top ten qualifiers from the game "Dungeon Dice Monsters" (Gameboy and Anime only, please) with the highest amount of attack strength will now report to the stage. Wow! There are just too many! OK then, here's what we need to do... we will be giving out ten awards to 16 monsters with their base strength beginning with at least 40. Here we go!

First place Gold goes to Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. With 50 attack points, 40 defense points and 60 heart points and the ability to fly, this dragon is not an easy monster to beat! Plus, he gains a ten-point bonus for attacking all spellcaster-type monsters. Since Blue-Eyes is a level four monster, he's not so easy to summon. Also, he can only move one square per turn. Of course Blue-Eyes can't defend himself without any defense crests, so those are really important. Since we have a tie for second-place, the two monsters getting the Silver are...

Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth and Gate Guardian. These monsters each have 40 attack points, 40 defense points and 50 heart points. The Great Moth has a slight advantage over the Gate Guardian because he can fly and because he is a beast-type and he gains a ten-point bonus for attacking all warrior-type monsters, like the Gate Guardian. But the Gate Guardian has the advantage of using his special ability to shift damage to one of his allies, using up 3 trap crests in the process. Both are level four monsters, so they are still tough to summon. Our Bronze winner is also a powerful monster and also happens to be one of my favorites. He is...

Black Skull Dragon. He has 40 attack points, 40 defense points, 40 heart points, and the ability to fly. As a level four monster, he's not so easy to summon, but that's ok by me. Sometimes I can summon level four monsters really easy and level one monsters take me several tries. I can strengthen his attack by summoning Petit Dragon, and if he loses heart points, I can get him more with help from Mystical Elf, or an Item summoning (level two) called Medical Aid Kit. Another monster that can benefit from these is our fourth-place winner...

Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon. This dragon has 40 attack points, 40 defense points and 30 heart points. A level four monster with the ability to fly, he's tough to summon, but he's also tough to beat. Also tough to beat is our fifth-place winners...

Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Black Luster Soldier. They each have 40 attack points, 30 defense points and 50 heart points. Each is a level four monster, but Blue-Eyes has a slight advantage because of his ability to fly. If Kaiba was playing Dungeon Dice Monsters on the show, you can bet he would have had this monster in his dice pool. After all, Blue-Eyes is his favorite monster. No doubt Yami and Yugi would have had the Black Luster Soldier in their dice pool, too, just like they might have added the sixth-place winners. And they are...

Magician Of Black Chaos and Gaia The Dragon Champion. Each of these monsters has 40 attack points, 30 defense points and 40 heart points. But Gaia has the slight advantage over the Magician because he is a dragon-type that can fly and he gains ten points for attacking all spellcaster-type monsters. Still, these level four monsters are tough to beat (aren't they all?) and the seventh-place winners are tough to beat, too. And they are...

Gaia The Fierce Knight and Summoned Skull. These monsters each have 40 attack points, 20 defense points and 40 heart points. These two monsters are tough to beat and Gaia can attack all flying-type monsters, plus, since he's a warrior-type, he gains a ten-point bonus for attacking all dragon-types like Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Just remember, no monster can defend themselves if they don't have enough defense crests to support them, and they can't attack if they don't have any attack crests, either. Gaia and Summoned Skull are two of the favorites from Yami and Yugi's deck and just as strong as their ultimate favorite, who tied for eighth place with two others. So the eighth-place winners are...

Dark Magician, Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Meteor Black Dragon. Yami and Yugi's favorite monster, as well as Joey's favorite monster and a monster that Yami and Yugi used against Seto Kaiba in the first Japanese movie, tied with 40 attack points, 20 defense points and 30 heart points each. The benefit of being dragons that can fly and gain ten points for attacking spellcaster-types give the two dragons a one-up on the Dark Magician, but the downside is that the dragons need double the amount of movement crests that the other monsters do, plus they can be slowed down by the Dragon Piper and prevented from flying by the Feral Imp. Dark Magician has the benefit (in the series) of using his Magical Hats and Mystic Box, but they require magic crests to work, so make sure that you have plenty of them stored up. Even so, these level four monsters are still tough to beat. But that doesn't mean our ninth-place winner won't try. And that monster is...

Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon. This monster has 40 attack points, 20 defense points and 20 heart points. This level three monster is easier to summon and can fly. He's a good dragon to have in your dice pool. Remember that Petit Dragon is a level one and can give all dragon-types a power boost, so you can strengthen Thunder Dragon very easily. You can also summon Lord of Dragons (level two) to the field to protect all your dragons. Once he's in play, no dragon can get hurt. Not even a Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress can be destroyed. Our tenth-place winner is also very strong, and that monster is...

Gemini Elf. This monster has 40 attack points, 10 defense points and 10 heart points. Also, this is a level three monster. Not too shabby for a spellcaster. And an easier monster to summon, too. Boost her strength by adding Mystic Lamp to the field, giving the Elf a ten-point power boost. The Energy Disc item summoning (level one) will provide all monsters who land on it with another twenty attack points! Not bad.

And not a bad way to end this list. Stay tuned next issue for another Olympic category and another top 10 list! Until next time!

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written in december, printed in february 2008.

Before I start this next olympics, I want to apologize for my error in the printed version of this olympics.

Elemental Hero Rainbow Neos isn't considered an Elemental Hero. For my goof-up, I'm sorry. Anyways...

this is the next olympics:

Welcome everyone to the Duel Monster Olympics! Let's get started right away! Would all Elemental Heroes please report to the stage! After going over all the duels that have taken place so far, the judges have completed their list. Stand by for your ranking.

The top ten Elemental Heroes with the highest amount of attack points are as follows:

First-place Gold goes to:

Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman [EEN-EN036]. With 20,900 attack points, it's easy to see why this monster made it to the top of our list. During the Graduation Match against Zane Truesdale, Shining Flare Wingman's attack points got a major boost, all thanks to "Power Bond", "Limiter Removal", and "Battle Fusion", which made him 5,400 points stronger than our Silver-place winner. And that monster is...

Elemental Hero Electrum [MDP2-EN001]. During Jaden’s battle against Kagemaru, Electrum's powers increased from 2,900 to a whopping 14,500! Professor Banner's special card allowed this monster to take down Raviel, Lord of Phantasms and save the day! Our Bronze winner is 7,000 points less than that, and he is...

Elemental Hero Neos [POTD-EN001]. During Season Four, we meet a new talking Duel Monster named "Honest", who asks for Jaden’s help in defeating a new villain. Jaden invites Honest to merge with him and Yubel to save the worlds of humans and Duel Monsters. Honest then goes into Jaden’s deck and helps increase Neos's powers to 7,500 during his next duel, allowing him to destroy Five-Headed Dragon! Wow! Now that's power! Our 4th-place winner has only 600 points less than that. And he is...

Elemental Hero Avian [TLM-EN001], [DP1-EN001], [YSD-JP007]. During Jaden’s duel against Princess Rose, Avian's attack points are given a major boost thanks to "Skyscraper" and a magic card called "Power Charger", which allows one warrior sub-type to gain the attack points of whatever monster it destroys. Also, Jaden adds another magic card called "Feather Shot", allowing Avian to attack as many times as there are monsters on Jaden’s field (in this case, there are two monsters. Avian and Burstinatrix. plus his regular attack makes three.) After the first Des Frog is destroyed, Avian has 2,900 points (1,000 plus 1,900) and after his second attack is over, he has 4,800 attack points (2,900 plus 1,900), and then he destroys the third frog, winning the duel. Technically, at duel's end, he would have 6,700 attack points (4,800 plus 1,900), which is 200 more attack points than our 5th-place winner. And he is...

Elemental Hero Flare Neos [POTD-EN032]. In their final year of Duel Academy, the students decide to have a duel party where everyone has a duel partner and Jaden is paired up with Alexis. During their tag-team duel against Blair and Hassleberry, Jaden uses "Neo Space", "H-Heated Heart", "Gift of the Martyr" (which he uses on Cyber Angel Benten), and Flare Neos's special ability (he gains 400 points for every card on the field, and there are 3 cards - "Mist Body", "Neo Space" and "Mystical Space Typhoon") to boost Flare Neos's attack points to an amazing 6,500! Our 6th-place winner has 1,300 points less than that. And he is...

Elemental Hero Wildedge [EEN-EN035]. During the Graduation Match against Zane, Jaden increases Wildedge's attack points from 2,600 to 5,200 thanks to his "Soul Union" trap card, which gives Wildedge's strength an increase from one of Jaden's destroyed monsters (in this case, it's Bladedge's 2,600 attack points). This gives him 300 more attack points than our 7th-place winner. And he is...

Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer [EOJ-EN032], [DP05-EN012]. During Aster's duel against Zane, he increases his monster's attack points from 2,500 to 3,700 all thanks to the four destroyed Elemental Heroes, and then increases his attack points again thanks to a trap card called "Destruction of Destiny", which allows him to send five more Elemental Heroes to the discard pile, strengthening his attack points all the way up to 4,900! That's enough to destroy Cyber End Dragon and win the duel! Not bad! Also not bad is our 8th-place winner with only 100 attack points less than Shining Phoenix Enforcer's. And he is...

Elemental Hero Thunder Giant [TLM-036], [DP1-EN011], [DR3-EN216], [EHC2-EN004]. During Jaden's duel against a doll spirit named Alice, Thunder Giant's attack points are doubled, thanks to a magic card called "Battle by 2", allowing Jaden to destroy Doll Chimera, because Doll Chimera's attack points are twice as high as Thunder Giant, and "Battle by 2" doubles the attack strength of any monster whose attack points are at least half the strength of the monster it's attacking. This gives Thunder Giant 200 more attack points than the monster that's in 9th place. And he is...

Elemental Hero Magma Neos [TAEV-EN043]. During the duel against Professor Viper, Jaden merges Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, Neo-Spacian Flare Scarab and Elemental Hero Neos into a 3,000 attack point monster, who gains 400 attack points for each card on the field. Since there are four cards (Magma Neos, Venom Swamp, Damage = Reptile, Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes) on the field, Magma Neos gains an additional 1,600 attack points! With 4,600 attack points, Magma Neos has enough attack strength to destroy Vennominaga and win the duel! Our 10th place winner has only 300 attack points less than that. And he is...

Elemental Hero Tempest [EEN-EN034]. During the duel against Kagemaru, Jaden uses "Skyscraper" and "H-Heated Heart" to increase Tempest's attack points to 4,300! That's enough to destroy Uria, Lord of Searing Flames! What a powerful monster!

And what a great way to end our list! The top ten Elemental Heroes with the highest amount of attack points don't have their attack strength go any lower than 4,300! Stay tuned next issue for another Olympic category and another top ten list! Until next time!

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Here we are again at the Duel Monster Olympics. Welcome, everyone! Let's get started right away! Would all spellcasters now report to the stage. Wow! There are just too many of them! OK then, here's what we need to do... we will be giving out ten awards to 12 spellcasters instead of 10. After looking over all of the duels that have taken place so far, the judges have completed their list. Stand by for your ranking.

The top 10 (12) spellcasters with the highest amount of attack points are as follows:

First-place gold medal goes to:

Orichalcos Shuneros. With 20,000 attack points at his highest, we can see why he made the top of our list. As Dartz's strongest spellcaster, his attack points were dependent on how much damage Orichalcos Kyutora absorbed, and since Kyutora had absorbed 20,000 points of damage, Orichalcos Shuneros had 20,000 attack points. At his strongest, Orichalcos Shuneros had 14,200 more points than our second-place silver medal winner. And he is...

Exodia Necross [MC2-EN003, DCR-020, DR1-EN182]. During Kaiba's duel against Gozaburo, Exodia Necross gained 1000 attack points every time that he attacked (thanks to the Right Arm of the Forbidden One in the discard pile) and since he attacked 4 times, Exodia Necross gained 4000 attack points, increasing his strength from 1800 to 5800! This made him 900 points stronger than our third-place bronze medal winner. And he is...

Dark Paladin [DMG-001, DR1-EN160, MFC-105]. During Yami Yugi's duel against Seto Kaiba at the Battle City finals, Dark Paladin's attack strength started at 2900 and was given a major boost all the way up to 4900 thanks to all of the dragons on the field! Think about how strong he would have been if the rules in this game were the same as the real ones. Paladin would have gotten another power boost thanks to all the destroyed dragons in Kaiba's and Yami Yugi's discard piles. I'm thinking 3 Blue-Eyes White Dragons, Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, 3 Thunder Dragons, Hyozanryu, Different Dimension Dragon, Luster Dragon, Spirit Ryu, Spear Dragon and from Yami Yugi, he would gain strength from Slifer the Sky Dragon, Red-Eyes Black Dragon, and maybe Curse of Dragon and Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress (16 x 500 = 8000 + 2900 = 10900!) Wow! No wonder why he is near the top of our list! That's strong enough to destroy the Blue-Eyes White Dragons without Diffusion Wave Motion! Also, Yami Yugi boosted his attack strength again to 4900 during the KC Grand Championship in the duel against Vivian thanks to all of the dragons that were destroyed. That made him 1300 points stronger than our fourth-place winner. And she is...

Magician's Valkyria [JUMP-EN009]. During the movie "Pyramid of Light", Yami brought back Valkyria (after she was destroyed) with the help of the Premature Burial magic card and then increased Valkyria's attack points from 1600 to 2600 with the help of another magic card called Mage Power, giving her an extra 500 attack and defense points for every magic/trap card on Yami's field. Then he added 2 more cards in the magic/trap zones, increasing her strength by another 1000 to 3600! Plus, her special ability allows her to protect all spellcasters on the field. Valkyria was 600 points stronger than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and 100 points stronger than our fifth-place winner. And he is...

Silent Magician [NTR-EN002]. During Yugi's duel against Yami, Silent Magician's attack strength rose from 1000 to 3500 thanks to his special ability of gaining 500 attack points every time Yami picked up a card! (5 cards x 500 = 2500) This made the magician 100 points stronger than our sixth-place winner. And she is...

Injection Fairy Lily [DB2-EN171, LOD-100, LOD-EN100]. During Lector's duel against Kaiba, and during his duel against Yami Yugi and Joey, Lector activated Lily's special ability, paying out 2000 Life Points to increase her attack power from 400 to 3400! Also, Rebecca did the same thing during her duel against Vivian. This made Lily 200 points stronger than our seventh-place winner. And he is...

Sorcerer of Dark Magic [MOV-EN002]. This monster had an attack strength of 3200 during the movie "Pyramid of Light", and was able to destroy Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon using his special ability (movie only) which was to decrease an opponent's monster's strength by 500 points for each destroyed spellcaster. He also protected Yami's cards using his other special ability (stopping magic/trap cards from activating, and then destroying them). This mage's attack power is 150 points higher than our eighth-place winner. And he is...

Kazejin [DB1-EN158, MRD-026, MRD-EN026]. This piece of the Gate Guardian was given a major boost from 2400 to 3050 during the Labyrinth brothers' duel against Yami Yugi and Joey, all thanks to a magic card called Riryoku. This made him 50 points stronger than our ninth-place winners. And they are...

Hexe Trude. During the KC Grand Championship, Leon's monster had an attack strength of 2600, but her special ability allowed her to gain 400 points when she destroyed a monster, which, in this case, was Royal Straight Slasher, so her attack power went up to 3000. However, thanks to the help of the magic cards Necromancy and Diffusion Wave Motion, she could be beaten by...

Dark Magician [BPT-001, BPT-007, DB1-EN102, DDS-002, FL1-EN002, LOB-005, PCY-004, PCY-E004, SDY-006, SYE-001]. Always there to help the Pharaoh and Yugi, Yami Yugi's favorite and most trusted monster got a 500 attack point boost when Yami made a mistake and played the Seal of Orichalcos in his duel against Raphael. He also got 500 points extra during Yugi's duel against Yami when Yami played Magician's Unite, allowing another ninth-place winner to have 3000 attack points as well. And she is...

Dark Magician Girl [MFC-000, CT2-EN004, RDS-ENSE2]. During Yami's duel against Yugi, Yugi played the Seal of Orichalcos and Magic Formula, increasing Dark Magician Girl's attack strength from 2000 to 3000 points! Wow! This made her attack power 100 points higher than our tenth-place winner. And she is...

Cosmo Queen [MP1-002]. Gozaboro Kaiba summoned Cosmo Queen during the second trip to the virtual world. Her attack power was 2900, which was more than the Dark Magician's. But he was able to defeat her thanks to Rocket Warrior's special ability. What a powerful spellcaster! And what a great way to end our list! The top 10 spellcasters with the highest amount of attack points don't have their strength go any lower than 2900 at their highest! Stay tuned next issue for another Olympic category and another top 10 list. Until next time!

Welcome everyone to the Duel Monster Olympics! Let's get started right away! Would all dragons please report to the stage! Wow! There's just so many of them! OK then, here's what we need to do... we will be giving out awards to 12 dragons instead of 10. After going over all of the duels that have taken place so far, the judges have completed their list. Stand by for your ranking.

The top ten (12) dragons with the highest amount of attack points are as follows:

First-place Gold goes to:

Cyber End Dragon [CRV-EN036, CRV-EN036u, DP04-EN012, DR04-EN036, MF02-EN003, STON-ENSE1]. During the Graduation Match between Zane Truesdale and Jaden Yuki, Zane summoned Cyber End Dragon by using the magic card "Power Bond", doubling his attack strength to 8,000. Then he added "Limiter Removal" and "Battle Fusion", increasing his dragon's attack strength again to 36,900! Wow! No wonder he's at the top of our list. That's more than enough to beat out our 2nd-place Silver-medal winner by 8,900 points! And he is...

Slifer the Sky Dragon [GB1-001, YMA-EN001, GB1-001]. During Yami Yugi's duel against Strings (Marik), Slifer the Sky Dragon's attack points went up to 28,000 thanks to the fact that he got 1,000 attack and defense point for every card Strings (Marik) was holding, and thanks to "Infinite Cards", Strings (Marik) could hold as many cards as he wanted to without discarding. Since he was holding his entire deck except for the ones on the field and the ones he had used up, he was holding 28 cards. So Slifer the Sky Dragon had 28,000 attack and defense points, which was 18,000 more attack points than our 3rd-place Bronze-medal winner. And he is...

Rainbow Dragon [TAEV-EN006, TAEV-EN006g, CT04-EN005]. During Jesse and Jaden's duel against possessed Marcel, Rainbow Dragon's special ability was activated, allowing him to gain 1,000 extra attack points for every Crystal Beast that Jesse sacrificed, boosting his dragon's strength from 4,000 to 10,000! Wow! That's 1,000 more attack points than our 4th-place winner, and he is...

Dragon Master Knight [UE02-EN001]. During the first trip to the virtual world, Yami Yugi and Seto Kaiba teamed up to take down the Big 5 by summoning Dragon Master Knight and activating his special ability of gaining 500 extra attack points for every dragon on the field and every dragon that was destroyed. Since there were 8 dragons altogether, Dragon Master Knight gained 4,000 extra attack points, boosting his strength from 5,000 to 9,000! Wow! And he's not the only dragon to get that high. There's also...

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon [GLD1-EN028, JMP-EN005]. During the movie "Pyramid of Light", Seto Kaiba added "Megamorph" to his dragon, doubling his attack strength from 4,500 all the way up to 9,000! One more dragon also managed to get that high, and he is...

Rainbow Dark Dragon [PTDN-EN003]. During possessed Jesse's duel against Zane Truesdale, possessed Jesse used Rainbow Dark Dragon's special effect and sacrificed 5 Crystal Beasts to boost his dragon's attack strength from 4,000 to 9,000! Wow! That's only 200 more attack points than our 5th-place winner. And he is...

Cyberdark Dragon [CDI-EN035, CDI-EN035u, DP04-EN014]. At the end of the duel between Zane and Syrus Truesdale, Zane summoned Cyberdark Dragon and then uses his effect to add Cyber End Dragon's attack strength to his Cyberdark Dragon (1,000 + 4,000 = 5,000) plus he used the dragon's other special effect (gaining 100 points for each dragon destroyed), adding another 3,800 attack points to Cyberdark Dragon (38 x 100 = 3,800). That made Cyberdark Dragon's attack strength 8,800! That's 251 more attack points than our 6th-place winner. And he is...

The Winged Dragon Of Ra [GB1-003, DOD-001]. During evil Marik's duel against evil Bakura and good Marik, evil Marik used Ra's special ability and transferred all but one of his Life Points to Ra, and since he had 8,550 Life Points, Ra had 8,549 attack points, which was 1,549 more points than our 7th-place winner. And he is...

Spirit Ryu [LOD-036, SKE-023, DB2-EN153]. Just before the KC Grand Championship, Yami and Yugi went up against Kaiba's duel computer using Rick's dragon deck. They summoned Spirit Ryu with the help of a magic card called "Heart of the Underdog", which also allowed them to draw 6 more dragons. Then they used Spirit Ryu's effect, discarding Curse of Dragon, Koumori Dragon, Winged Dragon Guardian of the Fortress, Hyozanryu, Crawling Dragon and Blackland Fire Dragon, increasing Spirit Ryu's attack strength from 1,000 to 7,000! Wow! That's 1,200 more attack points than our 8th-place winner. And he is...

Cyber Twin Dragon [CRV-EN035, CRV-EN035u, DP04-EN011, DR04-EN035]. During Zane and Aster's duel, Zane summoned Cyber Twin Dragon and then doubled his attack strength from 2,800 to 5,600 using the magic card "Power Bond". This made his dragon 300 points stronger than our 9th-place winner. And he is...

Amulet Dragon. During the rematch between Yami and Rafael, Yami summoned Amulet Dragon by combining the Dark Magician with The Eye Of Timaeus. Then he activated his special ability, gaining 300 extra attack points for every magic card that was used up, and since there were 8 magic cards used up, Amulet Dragon got a major power boost, from 2,900 to 5,300! Wow! That's only 100 points stronger than our 10th-place winner. And she is...

Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight. During the duel between Yami and the Orichalcos soldier, Yami combined the powers of The Eye Of Timaeus with the Dark Magician Girl in order to form Dark Magician Girl The Dragon Knight. Then he added the magic card "Excalibur" to her, doubling her attack strength from 2,600 to 5,200! Wow! What a powerful monster!

And what a great way to end our list! The top 10 dragons don't have their attack strength go any lower than 5,200 at their highest! Stay tuned next issue for another Olympic category and another top 10 list! Until next time!

top 10 warriors
top 10 fairy-types
top 10 beast-types

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test your knowledge

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

1) What was the first fusion monster summoned by Yami and Yugi?

2) What was the first monster ever summoned with "Monster Reborn"?

3) Which monster card did Tristan choose as his favorite?

4) Which set of cards was Bandit Keith concealing at Duelist Kingdom?

5) What ritual monster won the duel against Pegasus?

6) What trap card did Duke use in his duel against Joey?

7) Which monster card did Joey ante-up for his first official Battle City duel?

8) What magic card did evil Bakura use to win against Bonz?

9) Who was Tea's Deck Master during "Enter the Shadow Realm"?

10) Which card did Kaiba loan to Yami and Yugi for their duel against Marik?

11) Where do Duel Monsters live?

12) What was the card that Pegasus left for Yami and Yugi in the Pot Of Greed?

13) What ritual monster did Kaiba use in the duel against Dartz?

14) Which trap card forced Yami and Yugi to discard Rick's cards?

15) What was the attack strength of "Ancient Dragon"?

16) Which monster won the KC Grand Championship?

17) Which Millennium Item was used for fusion summons?

18) Who was responsible for creating the Millennium items?

19) What was the Pharaoh's ancient name?

20) What was Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast's attack called?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

1) What magic card did Yami and Yugi use in their first duel against Kaiba?

2) What trap card did Joey trade for on the boat to Duelist Kingdom?

3) What monster did Yami and Yugi use to destroy Suijin in the labyrinth duel?

Season 2

4) What ritual monster did Mai not want to see destroy her Harpies?

5) What magic card did Rebecca use to destroy Celtic Guardian?

6) What trap card did Johnny Steps use on Musician King?

Battle City

7) What monster did Arkana summon at the start of the duel?

8) What effect monster did Joey use to defeat Weevil?

9) What fusion monster did Strings summon against Yami and Yugi?

Enter The Shadow Realm

10) What ritual monster did Noah use as his deck master?

11) What magic card did Joey use to reduce Marik's Life Points to zero?

12) What trap card did Kaiba use to bring back Obelisk?

Waking The Dragons

13) What effect monster did Yami and Yugi first summon in "Waking the Dragons"?

14) What fusion monster did Kaiba summon in his first duel against Alister?

15) What ritual monster did Pegasus summon in his duel against Mai?

Grand Championship

16) What magic card did Zigfried use to beat Weevil and Rex?

17) What trap card did Yami and Yugi use against Vivian?

18) What effect monster did Leon use to control Rebecca's monster?

Dawn Of The Duel

19) What fusion monster did Tristan summon to help the Pharaoh?

20) What ritual monster did Kaiba have in his briefcase?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1. What was the first magic card that Pegasus used?

2. Which trap card did Yami and Yugi use against Panik?

Season 2

3. Which effect monster did Joey use to play Black Skull Dragon?

4. What ritual monster did Bandit Keith summon in his duel against Yugi?

5. What monster card did the Rare Hunter take from Joey?

Battle City

6. What trap card did Yami Yugi use to seal Exodia's Right Arm?

7. What magic card did Mako use to bring back Legendary Fisherman?

8. What ritual monster did Lumis and Umbra use against Yami Yugi and Kaiba?

Enter The Shadow Realm

9. What fusion monster did Serenity summon against Nesbitt?

10. What trap card did Joey use to save his and Yami Yugi's Deck Masters?

11. What was the first monster card Marik summoned against Joey?

Waking The Dragons

12. What was the attack strength of "Lord Of The Red"?

13. What magic card did Yami play to bring back the Eye of Timaeus?

14. What effect monster did Dartz discard to summon his Mirror Knights?

Grand Championship

15. What was the defense strength of "Dark Paladin"?

16. What was the first trap card Kaiba played against Zigfried?

17. What monster did Yami Yugi summon with the help of King's Knight?

Dawn Of The Duel

18. Which fusion monster did Seto and Karim create at the palace?

19. Which monster tablet did Aknadin throw his sword at?

20. What magic card did Kaiba use to protect the Pharaoh?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What fusion monster does Joey summon in his duel against Mai?

2) What magic card did Yami Yugi use to strengthen his Feral Imp?

3) What trap card did Kaiba use to gain Life Points on the annex roof?

Season 2

4) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi tribute to summon Black Luster Soldier?

5) Which monster did evil Bakura use to show Pegasus his past?

6) What magic card did Mai use to grab the prize card in the virtual world?

Season 3

7) What ritual monster did Mako say could beat Rex's Two-Headed King Rex?

8) What magic card did Joey suggest Mai use against Jean-Claude Magnum?

9) What trap card did Yami Yugi use against evil Bakura?

Enter the Shadow Realm

10) What effect monster did Lector choose as his Deck Master?

11) What fusion monster did Joey's opponent summon in his dream duel?

Waking the Dragons

12) Which monster did Yami first summon in his duel against Yugi?

13) Which trap card did Alister use to destroy Kaiba's Y-Dragon Head?

14) What effect monster did Joey combine with Hermos in the duel against Valon?

15) What was the attack strength of XYZ-Dragon Cannon?

Grand Championship

16) What magic card forced Joey to discard Knight of Dark Dragons?

17) What trap card did Rebecca use against Leon?

Dawn of the Duel

18) What was the defense strength of Magician of Black Chaos?

19) Which monster did Yami summon at the palace?

20) What fusion monster did Seto and Karim summon at Kul Elna?

YU-GI-OH! TRIVIA

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

BY MARLA CHARENDOFF

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) Which monster did Yami Yugi summon against Mokuba?

2) Which effect monster did Joey first use against Rex Raptor?

3) What trap card did Tea play against Mai?

4) What fusion monster did Pegasus normal summon against Kaiba?

Season 2

5) What magic card did Keith take from Joey?

6) What effect monster did Yami borrow from Relinquished?

7) Which monster did Kaiba first summon against the duel computer?

Battle City

8) What was the attack strength of The Masked Beast?

9) What trap card did Odion first use against Joey?

10) What monster did Mai first summon against Marik?

Enter The Shadow Realm

11) What was the attack strength of Shinato, King of a Higher Plane?

12) What fusion monster did Kaiba use against Joey?

13) What magic card did Yami use to win the duel against Marik?

Waking The Dragons

14) Which effect monster did Mai add Arrow Nail to in her duel against Joey?

15) What trap card did Yami use at the end of the duel against Raphael?

16) Which monster did Kaiba tribute to summon Paladin of White Dragon?

Grand Championship

17) What magic card does Grandpa first use in his duel against Joey?

18) What effect monster does Leon use to destroy Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast?

Dawn Of The Duel

19) Which fusion monster does Joey summon during "Dawn of the Duel"?

20) What trap card does Yugi use to weaken The Winged Dragon of Ra?

Yu-Gi-Oh Trivia

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What fusion monster did Yami Yugi use in the duel against Pegasus?

2) What effect monster did Tea choose as her favorite?

3) Which monster did Joey first summon in his duel against Kaiba?

Season 2

4) What magic card did Keith use on Zera The Mant?

5) What effect monster did Johnny Steps play in his duel against Yami Yugi?

Battle City

6) What trap card did Joey first use against Fortress Whale?

7) What magic card did Yugi use first at Domino Pier?

8) Which monster did Kaiba first use to attack Ishizu directly?

Enter The Shadow Realm

9) What fusion monster did Gozaburo summon against Yami Yugi and friends?

10) What effect monster did Joey use to attack Marik directly?

Waking the Dragons

11) What trap card did Yami use against Weevil?

12) What monster card did Kaiba first summon against Alister?

13) What magic card did Joey use to activate the effect of "Lord of the Red"?

14) Which effect monster did Kaiba first summon against the Mirror Knights?

Grand Championship

15) What fusion monster did the Duel Computer summon against Luke?

16) What trap card did Rebecca use to stop Vivian's attacks?

17) What magic card did Joey use to strengthen Sasuke Samurai?

Dawn of the Duel

18) What monster did Isis use to restore the Pharaoh's strength?

19) What fusion monster did Yami and Kaiba create at the palace?

20) What trap card did Yugi use to weaken Obelisk?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What monster card did Yugi use in his first duel against Joey?

2) What magic card does Panik use to protect his monsters?

Season 2

3) What fusion monster does Joey first summon against Yami Yugi?

4) What was the attack strength of Super War-Lion?

5) What trap card does the Armed Ninja use against Kaiba?

Battle City

6) What is the first monster Yami Yugi summoned against the Rare Hunter?

7) What trap card does Joey use to help him destroy the Great Moth?

8) What magic card did Marik and evil Bakura first use on evil Marik?

Enter The Shadow Realm

9) What was the first fusion monster Johnson first summoned against Joey?

10) What effect monster did Noah use first against the Magician of Black Chaos?

11) What trap card did Marik first use against Joey?

Waking The Dragons

12) What magic card did Yami Yugi use to save Queen's Knight?

13) What effect monster did Joey use to attack Mai directly?

14) What fusion monster did Kaiba use to beat Alister?

Grand Championship

15) What trap card did Zigfried first use in his duel against Joey?

16) What ritual card did Vivian use against Yami Yugi?

17) What magic card did Kaiba use to summon Luster Dragon # 2?

Dawn Of The Duel

18) Which Millennium item did Shimon use to help the Pharaoh?

19) What fusion monster did Kaiba summon against Zorc?

20) What was the defense strength of Black Luster Soldier?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What magic card did Yami Yugi use to beat Weevil? (episode 5)

2) Which monster did Joey use to win the duel against Bonz? (episode 18)

Season 2

3) What was the first trap card Mai played against Yami Yugi? (episode 29)

4) Which effect monster did Keith first use in his duel against Joey? (episode 31)

5) Which fusion monster did Yami's servants summon against Seto? (episode 52)

Battle City

6) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi use to weaken The Masked Beast? (episode 71)

7) What magic card did Odion put The Winged Dragon of Ra into? (episode 87)

Enter The Shadow Realm

8) Which monster did Tea first summon against Crump? (episode 102)

9) Which trap card did Kaiba first use against Lector? (episode 108)

10) Which effect monster did Shinato first attack? (episode 117)

11) Which fusion monster did Kaiba first summon against Yami Yugi? (episode 129)

Waking The Dragons

12) What magic card did Joey use to win the duel against Rex? (episode 162)

13) Which monster did Yami summon last in the duel against Yugi? (episode 163)

14) What trap card did Valon use to destroy "Lord Of The Red"? (episode 171)

15) Which fusion monster did Yami use to beat Dartz? (episode 182)

Grand Championship

16) What was the attack strength of Javelin Beetle? (episode 185)

17) Which effect monster did Rebecca first summon in her duel against Vivian? (episode 189)

18) Which trap card did Yami Yugi sacrifice to Emergency Provisions? (episode 198)

Dawn Of The Duel

19) Which fusion monster did evil Bakura use against Kaiba? (episode 200)

20) Which monster did Karim first summon at Kul Elna? (episode 210)

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What was the first magic card Yami Yugi used in the duel against Kaiba's dark side?

2) What monster did Sam use to beat Bandit Keith?

Season 2

3) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi use in the duel against Joey?

4) What was the attack strength of Skull Guardian?

5) Which fusion monster first attacked Yugi and friends in the virtual world?

Battle City

6) Which trap card was in Kaiba's briefcase next to the magic card Invigoration?

7) Which monster did Joey first summon in his duel against Weevil?

8) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi use to beat Strings?

Enter The Shadow Realm

9) Which ritual monster did Tristan have in the duel against Nesbitt?

10) What fusion monster did Yami Yugi use against the Big 5?

11) Which trap card did Joey use last in the duel against Kaiba?

Waking The Dragons

12) Which magic card did Yami Yugi use first against Raphael?

13) Which monster did Rebecca first summon against Valon?

14) Which effect monster did Alister summon last against Kaiba?

15) What was the attack strength of Knight of Dark Dragons?

16) What magic card did Yami use to summon Amulet Dragon?

Grand Championship

17) Which trap card did Grandpa use against Goblin Attack Force?

18) Which monster did Vivian tribute to summon "Dragon Lady"?

Dawn Of The Duel

19) Which monster did Mahad fuse with in the spellcaster's training grounds?

20) Which trap card did Yami use to summon Slifer the Sky Dragon?

Yu-Gi-Oh Trivia

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What was the attack strength of Empress Judge?

2) Which magic card did Tea use to destroy Rock Ogre Grotto #1?

3) What trap card did Mai have at the top of her deck?

Season 2

4) Which effect monster did Joey use to beat Bandit Keith?

5) Which fusion monster did Yami destroy with Magician of Black Chaos?

6) Which magic card did Duke use to beat Joey?

Battle City

7) Which trap card did Yami Yugi use to re-direct Slifer's attack?

8) Which monster did Kaiba use to activate Obelisk's effect?

9) What fusion monster did Joey use to attack Mako directly?

Enter The Shadow Realm

10) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi use to try and destroy Shinato?

11) What magic card did Joey add to M-Warrior #1 in the dream duel?

12) Which trap card did Kaiba play last against Yami Yugi?

Waking The Dragons

13) Which effect monster did Pegasus borrow from Mai?

14) Which monster did Yami summon second in his duel against Yugi?

15) What fusion monster did Kaiba use to destroy the Mirror Knights?

Grand Championship

16) Which magic card did Joey use to protect his Life Points?

17) Which trap card did Kaiba discard in the duel against Zigfried?

18) Which effect monster did Leon first summon against Yami Yugi?

Dawn Of The Duel

19) What was the attack strength of Paladin of White Dragon?

20) Which monster did Isis summon at the palace?

Yu-Gi-Oh Trivia

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What magic card did Yami Yugi use on Torike?

2) Which effect monster did Mai summon against Joey?

3) What fusion monster did Panik normal summon against Yami Yugi?

Season 2

4) Which trap card did Joey first use against Bandit Keith?

5) Which effect monster did Pegasus tribute for Relinquished?

6) Which magic card did the Duel Computer use last against Kaiba?

7) Which monster did Joey first summon against the Rare Hunter?

Battle City

8) What was the defense strength of The Masked Beast?

9) Which fusion monster did Bonz summon in his duel against evil Bakura?

10) What trap card did Marik use last against Mai?

Enter The Shadow Realm

11) Which magic card did Tea add to Maha Vailo?

12) Which monster did Kaiba summon first against Joey?

Waking The Dragons

13) Which fusion monster did Yami Yugi summon last against Raphael?

14) Which trap card did Joey use to help summon "Lord of the Red"?

15) What magic card did Kaiba use to attack Dartz directly?

Grand Championship

16) Which monster did Joey summon first against Zigfried?

17) What effect monster did Rebecca discard first against Leon?

18) Which trap card did Kaiba use to help summon XYZ-Dragon Cannon?

Dawn Of The Duel

19) Who summoned Black Luster Soldier at the palace?

20) Which Millennium Item did Kaiba give to Yami Yugi?

Yu-Gi-Oh Trivia

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What was the attack strength of Punished Eagle?

2) Which magic card did Yami Yugi use to beat Mako?

Season 2

3) Which trap card did Joey use in the virtual world for "crowd control"?

4) Which monster did Mokuba use to free Kaiba?

5) Which effect monster did Joey summon first against Duke?

6) What was the attack strength of Zera The Mant?

Battle City

7) Which monster did Joey summon last against Esper Roba?

8) Which magic card did Strings use on Humanoid Worm Drake?

9) Which trap card did Magnum use against Mai?

Enter The Shadow Realm

10) Which effect monster did Joey remember using to destroy Fortress Whale?

11) Which magic card did Yami use last on Obelisk?

Waking The Dragons

12) Which fusion monster did Rex summon against Joey?

13) What trap card did Kaiba use last against Alister?

14) What monster did Joey summon first against Mai?

15) Which effect monster did Yami summon first against the Mirror Knights?

Grand Championship

16) What magic card did Yami Yugi use to beat the duel computer?

17) Which trap card did Kaiba use last against Zigfried?

18) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi use last against Leon?

Dawn Of The Duel

19) What monster did Seto use to help Karim summon Rabid Horseman?

20) What was the defense strength of Knight Of Dark Dragons?

Yu-Gi-Oh Trivia

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What was the attack strength of Roaring Ocean Snake?

2) Which magic card did Yami Yugi use to destroy Jirai Gumo?

Season 2

3) What effect monster did Bandit Keith use last against Joey?

4) Which monster did Yami Yugi summon first against Pegasus?

5) Which magic card was in the virtual world window next to Skull Guardian?

6) Which effect monster did Johnny Steps turn Musician King into?

Battle City

7) Which trap card did Mako use first against Joey?

8) Which monster did Umbra summon first against Yami Yugi and Kaiba?

Enter the Shadow Realm

9) Which fusion monster did Johnson summon last against Joey?

10) Which magic card was displayed next to Relinquished?

11) Which trap card did Lector use first against Kaiba?

Waking the Dragons

12) Which monster did Yami Yugi first special summon against Grerimo?

13) Which effect monster did Kaiba destroy with Paladin of White Dragon?

14) What was the attack strength of Flame Swordsman?

15) Which magic card did Yami Yugi use to strengthen Timaeus's attack?

Grand Championship

16) Which effect monster was on display under Javelin Beetle?

17) Which trap card did Joey use last against Zigfried?

18) Which monster did Leon summon last against Rebecca?

Dawn of the Duel

19) Which monster did Shada summon at Kul Elna?

20) Which Millennium Item did Yugi place in the stone last?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What was the attack strength of Skelgon?

2) Which magic card did Rex use against Joey?

3) Which trap card did Yami Yugi use first on the annex roof?

Season 2

4) Which effect monster did Joey use to destroy Dark Bat?

5) Which magic card did Bandit Keith use to summon Zera the Mant?

6) What was the attack strength of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon?

Battle City

7) What trap card did Yami Yugi use first against the Rare Hunter?

8) Which monster did Weevil first summon against Joey?

Enter the Shadow Realm

9) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi use to beat Gansley?

10) Which magic card did Tea play first against Crump?

11) What trap card did Noah use first against the Magician of Black Chaos?

Waking the Dragons

12) What monster did Mai first summon against Joey?

13) Which effect monster did Duke first summon against Valon?

14) Which fusion monster did Kaiba use Critias to create first?

Grand Championship

15) What was the attack strength of Dragon Lady?

16) What magic card did Joey use first against Zigfried?

17) Which trap card did Yami Yugi use to block Forest Wolf's attack?

Dawn of the Duel

18) Which monster was hiding inside the villager?

19) What was the attack strength of Super Roboyaru?

20) Who was holding the briefcase containing Knight of Dark Dragons?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What magic card did Mai use first against Joey?

2) Which trap card did Kaiba's dark side use first against Yami Yugi?

3) Which monster did Pegasus destroy in the cavern?

Season 2

4) Which effect monster did Yami Yugi summon first against Mai?

5) What was the prize card for the Duelist Kingdom tournament?

Battle City

6) What was the attack strength of Alligator's Sword Dragon?

7) Which magic card did Umbra use to summon The Masked Beast?

8) What trap card did Joey use first against Odion?

Enter the Shadow Realm

9) Which effect monster did Yugi summon against Lizard Soldier?

10) What magic card did Joey use on Metal Dragon first?

11) Which trap card did evil Marik use first against Yami Yugi?

Waking the Dragons

12) What was the defense strength of Paladin of White Dragon?

13) What monster attacked Yami and Kaiba in the elevator?

14) What effect monster did Joey attack with Lord of the Red?

Grand Championship

15) Which monster was on display next to Dark Paladin?

16) Which magic card did Grandpa play last against Joey?

17) Which trap card did Rebecca set last against Leon?

Dawn of the Duel

18) Which effect monster did Kaiba first summon against evil Bakura?

19) What was the defense strength of Gaia the Dragon Champion?

20) What was the attack strength of Black Luster Soldier?

Test Your Knowledge:

These questions focus on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series from Season 1 through Dawn of the Duel.

Season 1

1) What magic card did Kaiba first use against Yami Yugi?

2) Which trap card did Weevil use aginst Rex?

3) Which monster did Mako summon first against Yami Yugi?

Season 2

4) Which effect monster did Bandit Keith use to destroy Thousand Dragon?

5) What magic card did Pegasus use to summon Relinquished?

Battle City

6) Which trap card did Esper Roba use against Joey?

7) Which monster did evil Bakura summon first against Yami Yugi?

8) Which effect monster did Mai first summon against Marik?

Enter the Shadow Realm

9) Which magic card did Johnson use first on Kamion Wizard?

10) Which trap card helped Noah summon Shinato, King of a Higher Plane?

11) Which monster did Joey use to beat Marik?

Waking the Dragons

12) Which effect monster did Yugi first summon against Yami?

13) What was the attack strength of Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon?

14) What ritual monster did Dartz summon against Yami and Kaiba?

Grand Championship

15) What magic card did Rebecca play second last against Vivian?

16) What trap card did Zigfried play last against Joey?

17) Which monster did Rebecca summon last against Leon?

Dawn of the Duel

18) Which effect monster did Yugi use to beat evil Bakura?

19) What were the attack points of Dragon Master Knight?

20) What was the attack strength of Magician of Black Chaos?

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happy new year! or is it?

written in october, printed online front page in december 2007.

Happy New Year! (or is it?)

This season on Yu-Gi-Oh GX, things are going to get even weirder than ever before.

Remember in the first season when Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Alexis and Professor Banner (and Pharaoh, the cat) went to another world where Jaden had to duel against Gravekeeper's Chief? Thought you'd seen the last of that world, huh? Well, you thought wrong. Most of Season Three takes place in this weird world (or one just like it), where Jaden and his friends have to duel against each other and against Duel Monsters! Yup, you read it right, they are dueling Duel Monsters. Look for some old favorites from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series (not Season 0) to make an appearance when King's Knight, Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight show up to lend the good guys a hand. Also, Aster duels against Skilled White Magician and Skilled Dark Magician, and Jesse duels against The Rock Spirit (with Jaden's help) and a Harpie Lady. Joining the list of Duel Monsters that talk and duel are: Harpie's Brother, Kozaky, Goblin Elite Attack Force, Chaos Sorcerer, Guardian Baou, Skull Knight, Battle Footballer and Dark World monsters Brron, Scarr and Zure.

But that's not all they have to deal with. By the time this article is printed, Professor Viper (who reminds me a bit of Pegasus, because they both tried to bring back their loved ones, and failed) will have given everyone "bio-bands" that drain the duelists energy and will have told everyone to duel at least once every day, Blair Flannigan will have gotten a scratch that makes her sick and Jaden and his friends have to find the cure before it's too late, and several of the students (including Syrus and Chazz) will have become zombies. We'll also have met a woman named Echo and a teacher named Professor Stein, who talks like Ben Stein, we'll have found out more about Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte and his son Marcel and we'll have gotten to see the return of Bastion Misawa, Dr. Eisenstein, Aster Phoenix, Zane Truesdale and the Sacred Beast cards. We will also have gotten some visits from Professor Banner, and seen the first three-on-three duel, as well as a duel between Jesse and Zane that's different from any other because neither player is in the same dimension. There's something else we get to see that's a real rarity, too: Professor Crowler, Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte and Chazz Princeton are being heroic! There's also a scene where Jaden, Syrus, Chazz, Alexis, Hassleberry, Atticus, Jim, Bastion and Axel each summon a monster and attack the gateway between their world and the one that Jesse is stuck in. It's nice to see such amazing teamwork. The attack from their monsters makes the gateway bigger and sends everyone that had attacked, (in addition to Crowler, Echo, Aster and Zane) to that weird world that they had just been stuck in, so that they can rescue Jesse, who's monsters sound just like celebrities. Topaz Tiger sounds like Sean Connery, Amber Mammoth sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sapphire Pegasus sounds like Christopher Lloyd, Emerald Tortoise sounds like Woody Allen and Cobalt Eagle sounds like Don Adams. Not like that hasn't happened before: a celebrity-sounding duel monster showed up in Season One. His name was Don Zaloog, and he talked like Christopher Walken. Also, Maximillion Pegasus returns this season, along with "Shadow Rider" Tania. After this article is printed, there's some more strange stuff to look forward to. Forgive me please, but I don't speak or understand Japanese, and many of the storylines and animation will change, so this is what I've seen in the Japanese series happen: We finally get to see Rainbow Dragon being played, we see an end to the "bio-bands" and we find out more about Adrian Gecko and what's really motivating him. Also, there's a Supreme King trying to possess Jaden, we say a temporary good-bye to several students, among them being Aster and Zane, and we find out the secret of Jim's "eye". Also, we get to meet a Duel Monster named Yubel, who reminds me a bit of Mahad (they both lived in a palace and sacrificed their humanoid forms to become Duel Monsters in order to protect a close friend), and find out why she's/he's so angry with Jaden.

And these monsters will also appear (outside of duels): Goblin Attack Force, Sonic Duck, Machine King, Aqua Madoor, Mechanicalchaser, Stealth Bird, Petit Angel, Wood Remains, Acrobat Monkey, Gokipon, Watapon, Thunder Kid, Garuda The Wind Spirit, Marshmallon, Jerry Beans Man, Sand Moth, Sand Stone, Maiden Of The Aqua, Dancing Fairy, Dark King Of The Abyss, Snake Hair, Clown Zombie, Witty Phantom, Boar Soldier, Green Phantom King, Praying Mantis, Treeborn Frog, Vampire Lord, King Of Yamimakai, Total Defense Shogun, Spirit Of The Harp, Amphibian Beast, M-Warrior #1, Key Mace, Guardian Of The Labyrinth, Ancient Brain, Abaki, Kaiser Dragon, Haniwa, Kurama, Freed The Brave Wanderer, Armored Zombie, Catnipped Kitty, Blast Asmodian, Skull Knight # 2, Newdoria, Goblin Zombie, Dark Ruler Ha Des, Skull Guardian, Magician of Faith, Amazoness Blowpiper, Battle Warrior, The 13th Grave, Doom Dozer, Abare Ushioni, Hyozanryu, Drillago, Garma Sword, and Dark World monsters Kahkki, Broww, Gren, Beiige, Goldd and Sillva, as well as some other monsters I couldn't identify.

That's it for now. I'll have more to say once the series is translated and more Japanese episodes have aired. Until next time!
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Yugi VS Ben, two great heroes out to save the world from evil.

Ben Tennyson is a 10 year old boy on a camping trip one summer with his Grandpa Max and his cousin Gwen when he finds a watch-looking alien object called "the Omnitrix". It allows him to turn into any one of ten different aliens for ten minutes at a time and is sent to Earth for safe-keeping by an alien named Xyleen. She intended for Grandpa Max to find it and use it (that's what it's creator, Azmuth, wanted) but Ben proves that he is worthy of having it and does a better job with it than Azmuth expected. Along with powers, Ben gains confidence and new friends, as well as enemies like Vilgax and Dr. Animo, who want to either take over the world, or destroy it and are often trying to get the Omnitrix from Ben to use it for themselves. Even the bullies from school stop picking on him, thanks to the Omnitrix. At first, Ben has fun with the Omnitrix while trying to unlock its secrets, naming his aliens and teasing his cousin Gwen, but after years of saving the world from evil, he stops having fun and gets serious with it, requiring a visit from his younger self in order to remember how to have fun. There are problems with the Omnitrix of course. Some of the problems are that he doesn't always get the aliens he picks (there are over a million aliens to choose from once the Master Control is unlocked), the watch times out at a bad time, or the alien DNA takes over. When the alien DNA takes control over Ben, he has a blackout and has no recollection of what he did as that alien. It happens again as a teenager, when he uses the Omnitrix again after five years to help stop the DNA aliens from destroying Earth. Unfortunately, Ben's grandfather is sent to the Null Void (a pocket dimension), leaving Ben on his own to gather up allies (Gwen, Kevin, Manny, Helen, Pierce, Cooper, Julie, Alan, time traveler Paradox, Azmuth, Ship...) to stop the invasion, as well as to stop those who want to take the Omnitrix from him (Vilgax, Dr. Animo, Sunder, Eon ...). Sunder even went so far as to send part of Ben to the Null Void, but ended up going there himself, Dr. Animo gave himself a fake name (D'Void) so that no-one would recognize him and Eon traveled through time in order to take over the Omnitrix and Ben so that he could activate "the Hands of Armageddon". Once his grandfather came back from the Null Void, it was easier for Ben to defeat the DNA aliens and other villains and save the world. Of course, being good-natured, he'll stop at nothing to protect anyone (family, friends, strangers, enemies) from danger. A bit naive, he reminds me of someone else I like. Hmmm... oh, I know! Yugi Muto!

Yugi Muto is a teenage boy from Domino City, Japan, who received an upside-down pyramid-shaped object called "the Millennium Puzzle", which he took eight years to piece together. This gift from his Grandpa Solomon contains a 5,000 year old pharaoh named Yami, who merges with Yugi whenever he's in trouble, such as when he was being bullied at school. The puzzle gave him confidence and unique powers, and helped him make new friends. At first, whenever Yami took over for Yugi, Yugi would have blackouts and not recollect anything until it was over, but all that started to change when they started playing a card game called "Duel Monsters" and Grandpa Solomon was kidnapped by Maximillion Pegasus, his soul sealed inside of a Duel Monster card after a Shadow Realm (a pocket dimension) game. With help from his friends Yami, Joey, Tristan, Tea and some help from Bakura, Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba and new friend Mai, Yugi is able to rescue his grandfather during a tournament on Pegasus's island called "the Duelist Kingdom Tournament". Between this tournament and the next one (Battle City), he makes more friends (Arthur, Rebecca, Duke...) and enemies (Rare Hunters). He finds out more about the Millennium Puzzle, the power inside (Yami), his destiny (to save the world from evil), and gets a Duel Disk, which is described as a watch by a businessman on the first day of the Battle City tournament. The Duel Disk allows Yami and Yugi to summon up to five Duel Monsters at a time (ten when he uses "the Seal of Orichalcos"). During the semi-finals of the Battle City Tournament, the villain of the tournament (Marik) used a Shadow Game on Yami and Yugi, trapping Yugi, as well as Marik's good side, in shadow chains. As each players Life Points decreased, parts of the trapped player disappeared into the Shadow Realm. Thankfully, Marik's good side managed to trade places with his bad side and then surrender the duel, sending his bad side to the Shadow Realm and bringing all of Yugi back to Yami's side. With help from family, friends, enemies, strangers and the thousands of duel monster cards to choose from, Yami and Yugi manage to unlock the secrets of the Millennium Puzzle, (after five years), defeat the evil that Yami locked away five millennia ago and set Yami free from the puzzle. Years later, Yugi meets Jaden Yuki and gives him a Winged Kuriboh monster card, which Jaden uses to help him save the world from evil. Unfortunately, Jaden forgets how to enjoy the game, requiring a visit into the past in order to duel Yugi, so that he can remember that the game of Duel Monsters is supposed to be fun. Eventually, another duelist named Yusei Fudo has to travel back in time to get help from Jaden and Yami and Yugi in order to stop a villain named Paradox from destroying the worlds of humans and Duel Monsters and killing Pegasus and Grandpa Solomon. Being good-natured and a bit naive, Yugi'll stop at nothing to protect anyone (family, friends, strangers, enemies) from danger, so, naturally, he and Yami agree to help Jaden and Yusei. Once the world, Pegasus and Grandpa Solomon are safe, Jaden and Yusei return to their own times.

There are more coincidences I could make between Yugi and Ben, like the fact that Yugi likes using spellcaster/magic user monster cards and Ben's cousin Gwen is a spellcaster/magic user. Also, during the episode "Don't Drink The Water", the protector of the Fountain of Youth water called the villainous Hex "dark magician". "Dark Magician" is Yami and Yugi's favourite monster card. And then there's Gwen's ability to sense mana (life energy). Mana is Mahad's (the Dark Magician's) apprentice and is able to summon another one of Yami and Yugi's favourite monsters, "Dark Magician Girl", during the season "Dawn of the Duel".

I'm sure there are more coincidences, but that's enough for now. Until next time.
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