Mai Valentine is a key supporting player in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. First appearing as a rival to both Yugi and Joey, she soon becomes a close friend to both, particularly Joey, with whom she develops a rather close, possibly romantic connection. A very gifted duelist, she came in third in the Duelist Kingdom, and made it all the way to the Battle City quarter-finals, where she ultimately lost her Shadow duel with Marik Ishtar.
Mai is a highly strategic duelist, who spends hour rehearsing and planning her matches. She has a deck made almost entirely of female monsters, built around her ace, the Harpie Lady. And while the card is not necessarily the strongest, she has a slew of magic and trap cards that quickly turn the Harpie, and Mai herself, into a force to be reckoned with.
Dark Witch
Used during her Duelist Kingdom days, Dark Witch is one of the least notable members of Mai’s deck. She is never shown using the witch in any official duel, but rather as an aid during her brief virtual world adventure with Yugi, Joey and Mokuba.
With 1800 ATK and 1700 DEF, this Light monster is a good option to for the early stages of the game, or as part of an offensive strategy. Since she’s not an effect monster, however, her usage should be very carefully planned.
Amazoness Swords Woman
Once she goes into Battle City, Mai complements her deck with a slew of Amazoness cards, providing her game with some much needed diversity, outside her Harpie Ladies. Amazoness Swords Woman is not only a very solid monster, with 1500 ATK and 1600 DEF, it also has an amazing Effect,
It makes all the damage that the user would normally take from a battle involving this card, and redirects it to the opponent. However, Mai didn’t use its effect. As a matter of fact, when she played the monster, it didn’t seem to have an Effect at all.
Amazoness Fighter
During her match with Marik Ishtar, the only official Battle City duel of hers that audiences actually saw in the anime, Mai employs this ferocious-looking monster.
An Earth, 4-star card, Amazoness Fighter is one of her weaker monsters. With 1500 ATK and 1300 DEF, the Amazoness is actually on par with Mai’s Harpies, showing the consistency in her deck. However, Mai, ever the strategist and consumed duelist, also enhances her Amazoness with all kinds of magic cards, like Amazoness Spellcaster.
Dunames Dark Witch
Mai’s duel with Marik really shows how well-rehearsed her strategy is. It also shows how dependent her deck is on magic and trap cards, as she hardly had any monsters with more than 1800 ATK points.
Dunames Dark Witch is a perfect example of this. She has 1800 ATK and only 1050 DEF. Still, she was used as Mai’s opening card during the duel, and even managed to destroy several of Marik’s monsters, thanks to the carnival of magic and trap cards Mai used to support it.
Amazoness Chain Master
With 1500 ATK and 1300 DEF, Amazoness Chain Master is another card made exceptional by its incredibly useful effect. It was a key part of Mai’s strategy in her duel against Marik. Unfortunately, it was also unwillingly brought its owner’s demise.
After being sent to the graveyard, the user of Amazoness Chain Master can pay 1000 Life Points to add a card from the opponent’s deck or hand, and add it to their own hand. Mai used this trick to take control of the Winged Dragon of Ra, thinking she could wield its power. Alas, she turned out to be wrong.
The Unfriendly Amazon
Another Effect monster, The Unfriendly Amazon might seem like one of Mai’s strongest Monster cards. It has 2000 ATK, after all. However, it makes up its high attack with a very low defense of just 1000, and a rather strange effect that requires one monster to be tributed during the Standby Phase of the player’s turn. If this condition is not met, then The Unfriendly Amazon is destroyed.
Mai supports this card with a trap, Amazon Archers, briefly getting the upper hand in the duel. Marik quickly turns the tables on her, though, and destroys The Unfriendly Amazon the following turn.
Harpie’s Pet Dragon
Mai’s hidden ace, she first uses this savage beast during her duel against Yugi in the Duelist Kingdom finals. A card that’s part of Mai’s bigger strategy, Harpie’s Pet Dragon receives a boost of 300 ATK and DEF for every Harpie Lady present in the field. And considering it has a base of 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF, it’s a seriously threatening beast when played intelligently.
During her duel with Joey (Katsuya Jonouchi in the Japanese version) in the Waking the Dragons arc, Mai’s Harpie’s Pet Dragon’s attack goes as high as 3400, bringing some serious trouble for her blonde friend.
Cyber Harpie
An enhanced version of Mai’s most beloved card, Cyber Harpie has 1800 ATK and 1300 DEF, a considerable increase from the traditional Harpie.
The usage of this card is rather inconsistent throughout the anime. Sometimes it is shown as a result of the union of Harpie Lady and the magic card Cyber Shield, while others it is treated as an entirely separate card. No matter what the truth is, it ranks as one of Mai’s strongest and most valuable, and she uses it in almost all of her duels.
Harpie Lady Sisters
While technically not a card in the anime, Harpie Lady Sisters was rather the result of Mai’s use of the valuable magic card Elegant Egoist on her own Harpie Lady. Two more Harpies appeared, each with 1950 ATK and 2100 DEF, bringing her total up to three.
In the real-life game, Harpie Lady Sisters is an actual card, with 1950 ATK and 2100 DEF. Just like in the anime, it can only be summoned via Elegant Egoist. The card works as only one monster, though, seriously nerfing it in comparison to its anime counterpart.
Harpie Lady
The cornerstone of Mai’s entire deck, Harpie Lady is not only her favorite card, it’s her most used monster. Practically her entire deck is built around it, from magic cards necessary to enhance it, to trap cards designed to support it.
Harpie Lady is not the strongest monster, with 1300 ATK and 1400 DEF. However, used properly, and thanks to cards like Rose Whip, Harpie’s Feather Duster and the previously mentioned Cyber Shield and Elegant Egoist, it can turn into a real threat.
