Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of my earliest anime fixations from childhood, a brilliantly entertaining Shonen Jump series from before the days of the Big Three. I followed it religiously, collecting its cards and becoming an experienced player. I’ve long since fallen off the hobby, though, and looking back, I was irked by how its series touted yet broke its rules. While the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game is incredibly fun to play, but in the anime adaptation, especially the original story, ruined its appeal with egregious, unnecessary cheating, namely in Yugi’s Battle City bout with Seto Kaiba.

While plot armor and various thrilling twists are enough motivation to break the rules occasionally, it felt especially bothersome in the Battle City Arc when the series seemed to signal it was more attentive to these tenets. Instead of the shenanigans and incoherent gameplay shown in the first season, viewers like myself were lured into a false premise, only for its protagonist to be written out of losing many times over.

However, my postmortem of the first series, without diving into its seven spinoffs, originates from one blatant cheating incident involving the Flute of Summoning Dragons in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yami Yugi Stole the Match Against Kaiba in Battle City

A Clear Case of Rules as Written Being Ignored

Many articles discuss Yugi Mutou and his pharaoh companion, Yami Yugi (or Atem), cheating in Yu-Gi-Oh! largely to generate plot twists and for the main characters to survive. However, to simplify, Kaiba makes a relatively textbook play featuring two cards from his Starter Deck: Lord of D and the Flute of Summoning Dragon cards, bringing him the rest of his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. It’s a classic Kaiba play using his incredibly powerful cards, which, while not his most advanced, backs Yugi into a corner as he’ll lose, but then has an obnoxious “Heart of the Cards” moment.

Yugi suddenly realizes, even after Kaiba has made his move and is about to attack, that he can summon his Red-Eyes Black Dragon and use it alongside a set of trap cards to absorb the brunt of Kaiba’s assault. This rule-breaking doesn’t end the game, simply pushing Yugi closer to the brink and temporarily setting Kaiba back. It’s an absurd case of Yu-Gi-Oh! establishing a clear case of Rules as Written in the tabletop community, trumping Rules as Implied, as the Flute of Summoning Dragons is meant only for the user; Yami Yugi is a cheater.

Battle City Reminded Me That Yami Yugi is a Munchkin Protagonist

Winning at All Costs is Not a Good Look

I love Yu-Gi-Oh!’s creator Kazuki Takahashi, and revere him as a hero, especially in light of his tragic fate of drowning while saving others, according to People Magazine. His fictional franchise has created a global phenomenon. However, the gaming community would call Yugi Mutou’s Atem alter ego a “munchkin” who breaks the game and plays to win at all costs. There are many parts of the franchise where he can win through shrewd strategy or feats of skill, but often, he breaks the rules at the perfect time to win, yet Yami Yugi and other characters have done worse.

Yami Yugi’s ruthless power gaming was always apparent before Battle City, with absurd cases reaching a fever pitch when he uses Living Arrow while using Polymerization to fuse Mammoth Graveyard to Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. This becomes instances where it’s even less strictly a munchkin and just a child making up rules as they go along, as there’s no Fusion card conjoining the already-fused Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon with Mammoth Graveyard. But it’s a play made to essentially seize the victory, which, to Yami Yugi’s credit, is egregious, yet a more crucial move than in Battle City.

Still, plenty of aggravating incidents exist beyond this, including destroying the ground beneath the Egyptian God Cards, which isn’t in the rules. One instance of cheating in Yu-Gi-Oh! includes Yugi attacking a field card and having his Giant Soldier of Stone attack the Full Moon card in the “Attack from the Deep” episode. Finally, Yugi’s Deus ex Machina moments include changing effects of cards on the fly, like the Multiply card, which generated “thousands” of Kuribohs in multiple instances despite only being able to summon a maximum of five – Yami Yugi makes things up to win.

Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Rules Are Part of the Problem

The Manga and Anime Change the Card Game Rules A Lot

For those who got into the series when the Duelist Kingdom Arc began, the card game was hitting its stride in the West, soon to become the highest-selling card game. Yet, the rule set was archaic in the manga and anime, with no tributes needed even for high-level monsters, no ability to attack enemies’ Life Points, and LP being set low at 2000. Everything was set up to create thrilling duels between monsters and for matches to be concise in Yu-Gi-Oh!, but cheating and chicanery have long since been a major issue of which many characters are guilty.

The card game was known at the time in-universe as Magic & Wizards, with reverence for a combination of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, and evolved. In Battle City, Life Points were boosted to 4000, Effect monsters became the norm, and matches allowed players to attack opponents directly. By many accounts, Battle City’s ruleset was like a distilled version of the standard rules, which feature 8000 LP, albeit without absurdities like Obelisk the Tormentor’s anime ability to gain infinite attack points after sacrificing two monsters. The rules, or understanding thereof, in Yu-Gi-Oh! are part of the problem.

Following the Rules Creates a Different Issue

Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Card Game is Less Fun to Watch Than to Play

While executing strong, legitimate plays in Yu-Gi-Oh! can be thrilling for a player, spectators may have a different experience, so perhaps making up rules or cheating is an escapist measure for players in the audience. When I played the game, I built my favorite deck using mainstays from the “Legacy of Darkness” and “Invasion of Chaos” sets. I built a formidable Chaos deck featuring Yata-Garasu, Black Luster Soldier — Enjoy of the Beginning, and Kaiba’s Chaos Emperor Dragon — Envoy of the End. However, the Rules as Written for these three cards border on oppressive.

Essentially, the “Chaos” build I had would ensure that I could trade 1000 LP to discard as many cards in the opponent’s and my hands, deal 300 LP damage to my opponent for every card, and prevent them from drawing more. Black Luster Soldier would deal with any stragglers, being able to attack again if successfully destroying a monster in combat. It was a filthy play, but it was permitted briefly before being banned. Crucially, it was allowed, and this sort of gameplay, along with far more advanced plays, is still pervasive decades later in Yu-Gi-Oh!

If one has never played Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, there are countless videos of dizzying chain combos pulled within two turns for a quick victory. Following the rules in Yu-Gi-Oh! can result in brilliant plays for those facing each other on the tabletop, but for entertainment purposes, perhaps Yami Yugi has a point. Even though attacking the moon was previously more of a Piccolo move in Dragon Ball Z, its reckless disregard for the rules in Yu-Gi-Oh! is often more compelling than watching Yugi power game his way through the latest meta combo; however, it’s just not for me.

Source: People Magazine