The Yu-Gi-Oh! anime franchise is beloved by millions of fans all over the world for its amazing and engaging duels. Throughout the series, fans witnessed some of the best players in the universe utilize creative and complex strategies to be crowned as the winner in intense confrontations.

Nonetheless, when the plot required it, some duels ended up being extremely unfair for certain duelists. These duels are infamous for how blatantly one of the participants was favored over the other, especially when a villain had to proceed to the final duel of the series, trampling over secondary characters.

Manipulative tactics, divine intervention, and even time manipulation were used to ensure certain characters won their duels.

Cheating, hostage-taking, and outside forces all played a role in creating some of the most unfair losses in the series.

10

Yuya Vs. The Sledgehammer (Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V)

A Duel Interrupted by the Sudden Creation of Powerful New Cards

During his first professional duel as a Dueltainer, Yuya had to face the ruthless Sledgehammer. The young man was trying to regain his father’s honor, proving to the world that he and his father were brave duelists. Early in the game, Yuya lost the advantage and was about to lose when his desire to win created the first Pendulum Monsters in existence.

While an iconic moment, this was extremely unfair for The Sledgehammer, as his opponent acquired outstandingly powerful cards out of nowhere. Yuya went on to defeat his opponent, despite having been moments away from losing before the creation of his new cards.

9

Yugi Vs. Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters)

A Heinous Act Committed Out of Desperation

To save his brother Mokuba from the conniving Pegasus, Kaiba had to infiltrate the Duelist Kingdom tournament. As few duelists remained on the island, the young CEO had to challenge his old rival to a game, desperately wanting to get the starships necessary to challenge Maximillion.

Moments before Yugi could claim victory, Kaiba stepped near the edge of the castle they were playing on and stated that he would die if his opponent attacked. The young Muto conceded the match, with Kaiba being declared the winner. This is by far one of the most infamous duels in the series for how manipulative Kaiba was, although his reasons for acting this way are understandable for most fans.

8

Zane Vs. Camula (Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx)

Taking Someone Hostage To Win a Life-Threatening Duel

One of the Shadow Riders and the last of the vampire race, Camula was a skilled duelist willing to do anything to revive her species. She was one of the many opponents who challenged the best student at Duel Academy, Zane Trusdale. Still, the duel was anything but fair for the young man, as the vampire kidnapped his brother and threatened to take his soul away.

Without any way to prevent his sibling’s demise other than by surrendering, Zane allowed himself to be taken by Camula’s soul-draining Spell Card. Jaden had to later defeat the vampire to save Zane’s soul from being trapped inside a doll forever, putting an end to the dishonest vampire’s quest.

7

Atticus Vs. Fujiwara (Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx)

Using Time Manipulation To Know How the Duel Would Go

Fujiwara, previously one of Atticus’ best friends, was taken by the embodiment of Darkness and turned into one of its loyal servants. Atticus challenges his classmate to a duel in hopes of saving him from the primordial being’s control. Fujiwara agreed to the duel without hesitation, knowing that he had an underhanded strategy prepared.

By utilizing the power of Darkness, Fujiwara manipulated time to know every move his opponent would make before the duel even began. He designed a strategy to counter each of Atticus’ moves, never relenting in his vicious attack. By the end of the duel, Alexis’ brother was completely overwhelmed, losing the game and his soul in the process.

6

Joey Vs. Odion (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters)

A Divine Force Decides the Winner of the Game

During the Battle City arc of the original series, Marik’s adopted brother Odion was chosen as Joey’s quarter-final opponent. At this time, the grave keeper was pretending to be his brother, utilizing a fake copy of the powerful Egyptian God the Winged Dragon of Ra. Both Joey and Odin displayed outstanding skills in an incredible duel.

During the last few turns of the game, Odion managed to surpass Joey and was second away from winning. He was stopped by Marik, who mentally ordered him to summon his counterfeit Ra. When the fake deity entered the field, the real Ra became enraged, sending a lightning bolt at both duelists. Despite having the advantage, Odion ended up losing as he could not get up after being electrocuted.

5

Pegasus Vs Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters)

Using Mystical Powers To Read the Opponent’s Mind

The creator of Duel Monsters, the eccentric Maximillion Pegasus, is among the biggest cheaters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. Thanks to his legendary Millenium Eye, he was able to read his opponents’ minds, granting him knowledge about the cards they would play. This ability was first demonstrated during his duel against Kaiba.

Kaiba had exceptionally powerful cards by his side, but they were not useful at all, as Pegasus knew about every single one of his strategies. Maximillion toyed with Seto throughout the entire duel, mocking him for being unable to save his brother. If not for Yugi, Pegasus would never have abandoned his devious ways and the Kaiba brothers would have been turned into soulless husks.

4

Skye Vs Playmaker (Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains)

An Outside Force Causes a Duelist To Lose Control

One of the first duels ever shown in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains anime series was between the protagonist Yusaku and Skye Zaisen. The young woman, better known as the idol Blue Angel, was using her powerful Trickstar burn strategy to heavily damage her opponent’s life points. At some point during the duel, she drew a card called Dark Angel that had been placed on her deck by a hacker from the sinister Hanoi Knights.

This monster began to slowly corrupt her mind, causing her to enter a rampage and lose control of her actions. While she had the advantage for most of the duel, Yusaku ended up defeating her while the young woman suffered from the virus’ manipulation. Skye entered a coma shortly after, as the Dark Angel card severely affected her brain.

3

Joey Vs Marik (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters)

The Plot Forced the Clear Winner To Become Unconscious

The semi-finals of the Battle City tournament saw Joey Wheeler play against the evil and ruthless side of Marik. The villain, overconfident in his abilities, did not take the duel seriously at first, allowing his opponent to summon various of his best and most powerful cards. Terrified of losing, Marik used the power of his Winged Dragon of Ra to physically harm Joey.

The duel would have ended with Wheeler as the winner if he could have just attacked once more. Because of his heavy injuries, he was unable to do so, falling unconscious moments before he could declare an attack. Joey’s victory was stolen by the plot, as Yugi still needed to face Marik in the tournament.

2

Mai vs Marik (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters)

An Unnecessary Restriction Prevents a Monster From Being Summoned

While his encounter with Joey is the most well-known unfair duel of Marik’s dueling career, he is no stranger to underhanded strategies. Such was the case of his duel against Mai, in which he was saved from a certain defeat by an incredibly petty and unreasonable rule. The young woman managed to take Marik’s Egyptian God from his deck and tried to summon it to end the duel quickly.

The villain simply laughed at her, as he revealed that Ra could not be summoned without knowing the proper ancient Egyptian chant the deity demanded. During the next turn, Marik summoned Ra and used his power to defeat Mai and send her soul to the Shadow Realm. This moment is a clear example of how the plot tended to protect villains from being defeated by secondary characters in the series.

1

Mizar Vs Don Thousand (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal)

Blatantly Using Special Abilities To Disrupt the Opponent’s Strategy

Don Thousand is the enigmatic and final villain of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal anime. During his first duel on screen, the ancient being proved how ruthless he could be, by committing one of the most heinous acts of cheating in the franchise. His opponent, Mizar, had planned an almost flawless strategy to defeat him with his powerful dragon-type monsters.

When the young man declared his attack, he was shocked by seeing how his monsters began disappearing from the field. Don Thousand mockingly revealed that he used his powers to include a card in Mizar’s deck that would dismantle his strategy. Not only did the wicked man cheat by including a card in his opponent’s deck without him knowing, but he also used his abilities to make sure that he would use it. If not for this flagrantly dishonest move, Mizar would have won the game.