Was Adrian About To Defeat Yubel? [The Ultimate Face-Off]

[@Mr_Wholegrain]

If Adrian was that close to winning after one sacrifice, then his actual mistake was not getting a 2nd girlfriend and also sacrificing her.

[@Intrepid_Explorer]

The only correct takeaway 😂😂😂

[@scratch2086]

Polyamory ftw

[@Amitlu]

Adrian was a douche tho.

[@Deathmare235]

@@Amitlunot really

[@spartanq7781]

Harem anime protagonists take note.

[@Cardlimits]

this duel was exactly "you killed my main combo, but I'm not out of options" which is something the meta is starting to lack.

[@namoma4922]

I d say it's not really modern Yu-Gi-Oh decks are one trick ponies, but more that generally if your opponent stops you straight in your track there s a very real chance he can and will go for game themselves

[@noelleholiday61]

​@@namoma4922There's also just the simple fact that many of the strongest counter cards are very general and non-specific. If they counter one strategy, there's a high likelihood that they'll also be able to counter the next, and the next, and the next.

[@MegaMachiOnline]

@@namoma4922Arc-V Era onwards Trap Cards are disrespected and summon spam became a lot more consistent rather than quasi inconsistent

[@cameraredeye3115]

​@@noelleholiday61They have to be, or nobody would play them often.

[@supremeking6694]

Not exactly. Usually, most decks will always have one or more generic Extra Deck monsters if their combo stops. That was the case with Verte and Dragoon/DPE (before Verte got banned).

[@Holly-khore-levina]

This really is the ultimate "missed it by this much" game, where legit several times Adrian only lost because Yubel had a card that kept forcing Adrian to lose what he needed to win. As well it gave us the first proper introduction of the big boss monster that will be so pivotal in Jaden's own duel against Yubel.

[@OmnicidalClown1992]

I still think that Yugi and Friends vs. The Big Five could work in one big marathon. That, and a video focusing on both duels of Seto Kaiba vs. Alister.

[@SerenitySpiderMonkey]

YES!!!!! I would love a Big Five marathon analysis (plus the Seto v Gozaburo duel)

[@roninwarriorsfan]

Dude...did you read my mind? I've been thinking about this for a while now

[@giovanniorellana2200]

Heck yeah! That would be so fun!

[@arenbuffaloe6578]

Like this, so he sees!

[@alcatrazvongola]

Team Yugi vs. The Big Five would be awesome!

[@VGInterviews]

that pause between "fog" and "king" was hilarious

[@mustafagad435]

Lmao 😂

[@Yojimbo16]

We Are Sofa King We Todded

[@РоманТимофеев-р3ф]

Fogking

[@ChrisPTY507]

Fawking

[@krfan5459]

@@Yojimbo16 It took me years to understand that Sofa King was merely SNL's way of skirting past the censors.

[@DjPrimeVideos]

Everyone: oh my god he sacrificed his girlfriend? Seto Kaiba: i sacrified god

[@TheMasterVictory]

kaiba sacrified a god for his dragon waifu xD

[@RenaldyCalixte]

​@@TheMasterVictoryKaiba a bigger simp than Bastion.

[@nemesisofeden]

Not only did he sacrifice a God. He won his duel.

[@beastwarsFTW]

To be fair, Seto's girlfriend is the dragon he sacrificed a god for.

[@finaldarkfire]

You know this reminded how much I love how the Sacred Beasts were used in Season 3. Like they first show up as the big scary final bosses of Season 1, get beaten and sealed away and you expect them never to get mentioned again. But then the Big Bad of Season 3 just casually swipes them for their own use as sort of 'side bosses', and even manages to use them BETTER than the Big Bad of Season 1 did! I just thought that was all really neat.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

It's an improvement over how after Battle City the Egyptian God Cards were never used again.

[@cameraredeye3115]

​@@RenaldyCalixteThe anime fixed that part up nicely though.

[@Ramona122003]

They were used again in the Millennium World arc and in the final duel with Yugi.

[@AtomizerBaT]

When the Main Villain has to change decks to face you, I'd say that's a sign you're a pretty good Duelist.

[@lenobleprince6792]

It's curious that this is the last time the sacred beasts are played, implying that they were still with Yubel and thus Jaden kept them after the series finale supposedly.

[@HopeP0H]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@lenobleprince6792well they were with yubel possessed johan, so there’s a chance that they were with johan after yubel left his body

[@artificerprime4154]

@@HopeP0HNope, since Raviel was the Level 10 Yubel used when they tried to use Super Polymerization to merge the dimensions together by summoning Super Fusion God. So we know the Sacred Beasts were still in Yubel's deck after they left Johan's body.

[@pratikroy227]

@@artificerprime4154 It doesn't matter when Judai faced Yubel she didn't use them instead used her own deck which had her alternated versions such as Yubel, Yubel Terror Incarnate and Yubel Ultimate nightmare. So pretty safe to say those secret beasts aren't with either Judai or Jessi they are with Yubel. jessi will use his rainbow dragon and his crystal beast deck and Judai his elemental hero/neo spacian deck.

[@artificerprime4154]

@@pratikroy227I.....literally said the Sacred Beasts were still in Yubel's deck, and Raviel being in there was proof of that.

[@Y0sh1no5am]

I love how muscular every character in GX are. Jesse is freaking built. Jackelberry, Adrian even Zane like bro got freaking six pack under that shirt. I just wonder which character would win in a street fight without cards. Only muscles and martial arts.

[@kanekikingstorm2113]

The power of possession by yubel. because there was no way that he was able to hide those muscles under that frilled shirt

[@jakew6162]

Don’t forget Bastion in one episode

[@lloydbagby8355]

​@@kanekikingstorm2113 Um no it realed after her duel with Jaden and she let go of Jess that actually his mucle

[@4137Swords]

What I don't get is how they're so jacked.

[@lloydbagby8355]

@@4137Swords I don't farther make sense for 5ds and kaiba during darkside and zexal or the other because it very phical demand to duel in 5ds zexal arc v vrains but in gx until yubel arc I don't why there so riped or then sex appeal but even then they tame about comparted to other anime

[@SilverHyozanryu]

This is one of my favorite underrated duels from the franchise. Adrian had her sweating at multiple points during the duel and we got to see Exodia vs Sacred Beasts. It was also refreshing to see 2 characters come close to defeating her (himself and zane) instead of the usual unbeatable except when dueling the protagonist villain. Makes Yubel seem more believable while also elevating the side characters.

[@aliastheabnormal]

Still, in the end. Adrian was no match for the Supreme plot armor that both it? And Jaden share.

[@Tanner10203]

I mean Marik came close to losing multiple times. Mai would have beat him if it weren’t for ancient Egyptian card magic. Yami Bakura came close. Joey Wheeler lost due to shadow game shenanigans… but I agree other than Marik

[@mikzpwnz_3199]

​@@Tanner10203well with 5D'S and Zexal, the final bosses only had 2 duels each, one to show how powerful they are, and the one where they get beat. However the way they won was because both Aporia and Mizael were both janking their decks to fit a playstyle they had no purpose to use it like that (though Mizael honestly got shafted by being countered by a field spell that no one knew was on the board the whole time).

[@ZenKrio]

@@Tanner10203 Marik is like the equivalent of Freeza losing to Krillin, only to have Krillin trip on a twig and die before dealing the finishing blow. Marik lost what felt like every duel he was in, and seemed like a pushover.

[@heavydonkeykong5190]

Villain vs Villain duels can be really compelling.

[@meganmartin3373]

Oh, now I remember! The reason Yubel even agreed to this duel was because defeating Hell Kaiser drained more power than expected, and since Jaden was hot on their heels, Yubel needed a top-up before the inevitable final battle. So the reason why they didn't go for the earlier win after summoning Raviel was because Yubel's actual purpose in the duel was to draw out Adrian's darkness and feed off of it; winning before then would have been pointless because it would leave Yubel too weak to deal with Jaden afterwards... I think. Gosh, I should rewatch GX again sometime. This was actually one of my favorite duels for a really long time. Eventually I cottoned on to how ridiculously overscripted it was, as well as the sheer number of times when Yubel was one turn or less from losing, but it still had an outrageous amount of cards that I always thought were really interesting, at least in theory.

[@Misclickt]

7:56 You're right that Adrian should've destroyed Hamon. In episode 130, Adrian was present during the duel Jaden & Jesse vs Yubel. Yubel summoned all 3 Sacred Beasts on the field and fused them together to summon Armityle, the same way Yubel did to Adrian. So Adrian should've known this.

[@DranzerG3]

Personally I think it's overconfidence. Not only does he have a monster that can't be destroyed by battle, with 4k atk, it's also uneffected by all effects. And on his next turn, he just needs to swing and automatically win. Heck he just beat Aster, a guy who had Plasma, and then proceeded to walk out of there on Exodius's shoulder so his overconfidence is kind of earned. Plus, Yubel also misplayed the following turn, so it's two misplays on each end and kind of evens out. Though, there was an easy way to get around that not attacking Hamon misplay. Just equip Eternal Reverse on Hamon instead. It makes more sense if Yubel is knowingly trying to go for Armatyle. Hamon can't be destroyed in battle and Uria can constantly revive himself.

[@chaosryans]

@@DranzerG3 yeah i was thinking about that too. Uria in the show can resurrect by banishing a trap card so protect hammon and it'd be the same outcome overall but without it being a misplay on adrian.

[@ChrisPTY507]

Jesse could have also changed Hamon to defense position in the previous turn and this could have prevented Exodius from attacking Uria and therefore saving Jesse from sending the equip spell Uria had equipped on it. When Hamon is in def position the opponent cannot attack any monster, only Hamon. This is another misplay that wasn’t mentioned.

[@DranzerG3]

@@ChrisPTY507 Yeah doing the math Yubel's attack with Hamon, well that damage is irrelavent since Adrian died to Yubel reflecting Grinder Golem's 3k atk and Adrian only had 1800 LP left.

[@Nemo12417]

Season 3 retconned Uria's effect to be in line with the real world. So no revival effect.

[@bigfish5544]

Honestly, this is to me one of the best duels in yugioh period. And it's not just because we get to see an actual duel between GX's Egyptian gods and exodia. It's a face-off of two very toxic ways to view love, and a character analysis more than really a fight. Amon is an extremely well developed, twisted, yet righteous character. All his life he has suffered the idea that his life was meaningless as he struggled with his desire to die due to the chains he inflicted upon himself in the real world, which is why when he reaches the other dimension, he wants to create a world without suffering, where everyone could be free and happy with no restrain. However, he's basically an emotionally detached sociopath and views his own emotions as tools to manipulate, which is why he doesn't hesitate to kill the woman he loves in order to gain the power necessary for that. On the other hand, Yubel is a masochistic psychopath who was forced to, after the endless years of suffering alone in space at the ignorant hands of Judai (who had forgotten about Yubel due to the treatment he received) convince himself that real love came from sharing pain and making your lover suffer. Thus, Yubel believes that the kind of world Amon wants to build is one that should be built at the side of your lover, and not by sacrificing them. In the end, Yubel was the one to win because Amon himself realized he couldn't fool his own emotions: in his own darkness, he regretted killing Echo and lost the will to even live in such a world, no matter how idealistic it could have turned out. I find interesting Amon is the only person killed by Yubel to not come back to life at the end of season 3. I believe he didn't have any reason to come back, and preferred to stay dead with the woman he loved. It's a very tragic story actually.

[@fracturedfuture370]

Love the analysis! It is so cool how this card game is used to portray a clash of ideologies like this.

[@dualia-s74m]

GX 3rd-4th season was peak Yugioh writing. Even if it was adapted with a children audience in mind, 4kids couldn't hide the dark subplots going on. I guess GX was about the end of childhood after all.

[@WolfPhoenix0]

I always thought that Amon ended up in one of the other nine dimensions that we didn't get to see. We got to see the real world, that sandy world and Dark World but not the other nine.

[@blastthechaos6083]

"Suffering at the ignorant hands of Judai" How the fuck is that his fault? How the hell was he supposed to predict that Yubel would get tortured by the Light Of Destruction? (A 5 year old at that) Also even before that Yubel put Judai's friends in coma for beating him in a duel and didn't seem to realize that the Judai they knew and the Judai of today are different incarnations and Current Judai doesn't remember Haou. Yubel was fucked up regardless of any Torture.

[@bigfish5544]

@@blastthechaos6083 what I was saying was that Judai was the one who sent Yubel to space, not that he made them suffer intentionally. As for Yubel, well I'd say it was more ignorance than malevolence really. They come from a much more dangerous time than the present days, and couldn't understand Judai wasn't actually in danger when just playing with his friends. Also, Judai from today and the Supreme king from the past are actually one and a same soul, such is how reincarnation works. Even if he doesn't have the same memories nor life as his past self, he is still the same individual at his core.

[@giovanniorellana2200]

I love this duel, especially in the sub. The Japanese actors and the music really make this already great duel even better!

[@DIESEL-SAVES-LIVES]

I luv the ost Wicked Grudge that plays in the duel

[@TheKpa11]

I did enjoy Jesse’s/Yubel’s English dub dialogue. Being all sarcastic and condescending to Adrian for what he’s done to get as far as he has and how it’s all been for naught cause of what he’s given up to do so

[@TheFighter411]

@@TheKpa11 I love the original Japanese subbed version but I VERY much agree with you! Just watched the English dubbed version of the duel again the other day and I never get tired of their back-and-forth!

[@anthonythomas305]

It would be so cool to see Fog Castle, Crest Burn, and Royal Sword being printed in the real world with similar effects from the anime

[@Anonymice]

An errata for Fog King would be good too lol

[@enzo991_]

This is one of my favourite duels in the entirety of the anime. The back and forth throughout the duel, Amon's ability to keep up with the Sacred Beasts deck, and the fact that he had multiple backup plans to get Exodia off all really made this duel so exciting. Of course this is not to mention Amon's best backup plan, going into the duel without shuffling his deck. Also, appreciate this being uploaded close to Valentine's Day, Amon and Exodia are YGO's best couple!

[@DranzerG3]

Adrian actually had another chance to win I think, and it's not a misplay, but it's also something some players do to their advantage. And that's abuse the chain. Instead of immedietely activating break the seal on his turn, and knowing there's a slim chance that Yubel's facedown is hand destruction, yes it's the slimmest of chances 1 in 17, but public knowledge isn't a thing in the Yugioh Anime, so he's got a reason to be cautious. So in this case just end his turn. That means that at any time once break the seal resolves, Adrian automatically wins, it doesn't matter what else is on the chain afterwards. Say hypothetically Yubel uses hand destruction on his end phase, Adrian chains Break the seal, GGs. Or even better, during the stand by phase Yubel has to send hand destruction to the graveyard. Then, selects a new card. If I remember right, Adrian can actually respond at this timing while Yubel doesn't have a set card, since Nightmare shuffle must first "during the standby phase send the selected card to the graveyard. Then,". That clause I think gives Adrian a window to win. Now keep in mind, he doesn't know Nightmare shuffle's full effect, but he does know there is a slim chance that, that facedown is the one card that can stop him, hand destruction. The only way to play around it, is to activate Break the seal second so that it resolves first and he automatically wins before hand destruction can resolve. Yes it's not a misplay, but in his shoes, I would've gone for this play, precisely because I don't have public knowledge, and this is a fancy way of guranteeing the win for me. Also, Yubel has had some absurd luck already in this duel, so I'd be wary of that. Because at any time Yubel tries to activate that facedown, I can activate mine and automatically win.

[@shwedoo-6035]

@@DranzerG3 That is a fair point but the knowledge regarding nightmare shuffle sending the set card to the grave during yubel's standby phase is crucial for this to work. Otherwise yubel would just constantly threaten hand destruction and adrian would never activate the effect of fog castle. Fog castle is the card that adds 4 monsters back, so I will assume you meant that. Fog castle is probably not a quick effect but ig he could have just waited a turn.

[@DranzerG3]

@@shwedoo-6035 Thing is though, Adrian would have to already activate Fog Castle effect for hand destruction to be worth anything, since Yubel doesn't know about Break the seal. Otherwise she'd just be giving Adrian another draw. Neither know about the other's facedown, so Adrian would definitely activate Fog Castle first, then Ybel would have to wait for one of Adrian's phases to end and then activate Hand Destruction, Adrian chains BTS, and GG. There is also the factor that Adrian would HAVE to end the duel before Yubel can get her Grinder Golem and Yubel combo off, since none of his other spells or traps can stop that

[@shwedoo-6035]

@@DranzerG3 Right, that is true, I did miss that interaction, but it still wouldn't have won him the duel most likely. Exodia's win condition has to be declared in an open game state. Even if you assemble the exodia pieces during the resolution of a chain you still have to wait for the chain to end in order to declare exodia effect. So what heppens is fog castle effect, he now has 4 exodia pieces in hand. After that cl1 hand destruction, cl2 break the seal. During resolution break the seal adds, now he has 5 exodia pieces in hand, but before he can declare his win hand destruction clears his hand. It is also heavily implied that in the anime exodia pieces have to be put on the field to do anything, sort of like inherent summoning but as soon as you do it you win the duel (yugi vs seto duel). But even if that is not the case as long as they are actually following the rules of the game adrian should not have won.

[@shwedoo-6035]

Now, if in the anime you do win the duel as soon as you get the 5th piece then you are absolutely correct. But other than in yugi's case we don't see anyone resolve exodia so there's nothing to support that (as far as I know).

[@jjhl]

I love the dialogue exchange between Jesse and Adrian when Grave Squirmer gets destroyed. Jesse: I activate Grave Squirmer's effect! Adrian: None may speak in front of the king ("speak" here referring to monster effect) Jesse: The dead are an exception! The dead are allowed to speak. I activate Grave Squirmer's effect from the Graveyard! This is obviously referring to the fact that Fog King can only negate Monster effect on the field (similar to skill drain), while effects activating from the GY are unaffected. I love it because this dialogue about the expected etiquette towards a king connects so well to the actual game mechanics.

[@TheKpa11]

I liked the English dub dialogue Jesse: (I get it voice tone) I KNOW! I KNOW! ZERO ATTACK POINTS!

[@Kerim9991]

Somehow Grave Squirmer returned

[@BStonedMage]

I have so much respect for those that have such a connection to their decks and their duels.

[@Prince-Kai1]

Going to the stars man watching that as a child didn’t realise how messed up it was. 😂

[@soukenmarufwt5224]

Also funnier "sent to the stars" is an outdated religious ritual. Which outside very obscure communities, no one knows what that actually means. I'm 100% sure 4kids had zero idea what that meant and just randomly came up with a censor to match the theme. Not realizing what that meant

[@lamarpray5324]

Go to school and tell the kid who always messed with me “you fuck with me today, and ill send your ass to the stars” 😂

[@dancostello4872]

THANK YOU! I've been waiting for this one for so long you don't even know - it's a criminally underrated GX duel & one of my personal favourites. Villain vs villain duels in YGO always go so hard & this one is one of the best!

[@RenaldyCalixte]

The original villain vs villain duel between Marik and Bakura was really good too.

[@mystery8820]

@@RenaldyCalixte Carly (Dark Signer) VS Divine was the most cathartic. Who wanted to see Divine get his just desserts and felt good about it?

[@shoken4421]

The odds of actually drawing all 5 pieces of exodia in old school Yu-Gi-Oh were so low you'd have a better chance of being struck by lightning on A CLEAR DAY then getting those cards lol

[@DarkSymphony777]

to be fair, a lot of comments have pointed out that adrian never shuffled his deck after beating aster so he knew the exodia pieces were at the top

[@anonluxor470]

I'm sorry but sacrificing your girlfriend for a children card game is probably the funniest thing I ever heard 😂

[@Aluran]

They are children in the show lol like all of them are still kids

[@MartinGasparini86]

you don't understand we Yu-Gi-Oh player with girlfriend or family we do that every time... we don't kill our gf but we take time away from them to play

[@SerenitySpiderMonkey]

ngl. I thought they were step-siblings

[@anonluxor470]

@@SerenitySpiderMonkey what made you think they were step siblings?

[@Frankly_Amazing2000]

I mean it would be understandable if it was for Dark Magician Girl

[@SuperNerdDaniel]

9:50 This is obviously just me extrapolating a bit, but I'd like to think, because Yubel had been the one to plant the idea in Adrian's head to gain the power of Exodia in the first place (based on the ending to their Duel when Yubel was still possessing Marcel), Yubel really wanted to stomp out every possible route Adrian had to the Exodia win-con because they wanted to really drill it into Adrian's head just how hopeless this all was for him, and just how much his callously sacrificing the only person on Earth who loved him unconditionally -- Echo -- was all for nothing. Really wanting to savor the disillusionment and the despair and all that (in part because of the whole "needing to feed off Adrian's darkness to refuel for the Duel with Jaden" thing, too).

[@CyberTwinDragon9999]

Funny enough, Adrian was capable to win even with Hand Destruction final activation: instead of making two separate Chains, he was able to chain on the Fog Castle final effect both the copies of Break the Seal for adding all five pieces of Exodia in the own hand at the resolution of the single chain. Hand Destruction, in that situation, not was able to interrupt the effect of Exodia. Knowing that Yubel has just take a random card from own graveyard and Hand Destruction was the only one capable of interrupt him, Adrian was able to predict that move

[@PlutoDarknight]

But you discard your hand on resolution of the Fog Castle's final effect

[@CyberTwinDragon9999]

@@PlutoDarknight Discard for Fog Castle is a cost, meaning that you not discard the card obtained by Break the Seal but only the ones these you have when you activate the effect of Fog Castle

[@SuperSayianWarrior]

So you have the right idea, but wrong execution. He'd have to activate Fog Castle's effect first, then chain break the seal, since Fog Castle being a non quick play spell means it has to be CL1,

[@CyberTwinDragon9999]

@@SuperSayianWarrior And this what change? A cost is paid when you use the card, not when you resolve it. So: CL1: Activate Fog Castle, discarding the cards currently in hand; CL2: activate the first Break the Seal; CL3: activate the second Break the Seal, this time activating the effect for send both to the graveyard. The chain resolve in reverse order, adding first the piece of Exodia with Break the Seal and immediately after the other four in the grave. Exodia activate, Adrian win. The only legit doubt with this is if you can effectively activate the effect of Break the Seal for send both immediately when you flip face up the trap, but even in that case you simply can activate both the copies before of use the effect of Fog Castle and put that effect of Break the Seal as a Chain Link 2, and the result will be the same

[@DranzerG3]

It's funny cause I don't think we get a whole lot of anime characters abusing the chain like this or interating with it much. The best examples I can think of would be Playmaker vs Ghost Girl and Yuma vs Nasch. It also makes me wonder cause I play Magic The Gathering and we have a similar system called the stack, where spells and abilities resolve backwards. However the massive difference is when resolving the stack you can respond after a spell or ability has resolves to interect with any other ability on the stack. Essentially adding another spell or ability on the stack, like a stack of pancakes. Honestly it's a much simpler system than Yugioh's chains, yes we run into very small issues with it from time to time, especially in multiplayer, but say if the chain worked like the stack, then Yubel could've chained Hand Destruction to fog castle after Break the seal resolves, but before fog castle's effect resolves. That hypotetical doesn't add much, but I alway find it fascinating seeing the differences between both games.

[@WarriorInBlack1]

Listening to the playback of this duel made me realize how cutthroat and intense it was watching the advantage shift from Yubel to Amon, then back and fourth.

[@Yojimbo16]

I love how Triangle Force serves literally no purpose while face-up on the field after resolving except for summoning Hamon.

[@kyuubinaruto17]

Well, it does have other uses. Deck thinning for one. Spell Counter type cards like Royal Magical Library. Cards that pay a field cost. Certainly not great even in the GX era, though at least it does make it easier to summon Hamon... assuming you don't draw any other copies in your opening hand and make them basically dead draws.

[@solidzack]

Other anime characters probably would've made use of them with Emergency Provisions or Storm

[@darkphoenix2745]

FINALLY, I was waiting this since the Jaden VS Yubel video, and just in time for the new Exodia cards.

[@JaimeD.]

Once again, another great Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Analysis featuring two of GX's antagonists from Season 3. Adrian gave up everything and the only person who cared for him to obtain power, and it backfired right at his face.

[@mystery8820]

And Gecko is dead, never coming back, and totally deserving of it.

[@justsomeguy2825]

One thing I love about yu gi oh as a whole is that the principle of believing in the heart of the cards giving you the exact card you need at a given point is not only carried across each anime universe, but it's also applicable to villains and rivals as well. This was shown in Atems first duel against Raphael, as Raphael believed in his deck enough to get the exact draws he needed, while Atem consistently drew suboptimal cards, and later lost when he abandoned his monsters. It's shown in this duel as well, as Adrian sacrificed his heart for power, and instead of believing in his deck, he's relying on that power giving him victory. Yubel on the other hand inserted her heart into Jesse's deck, and therefore draws the exact cards she needs to save herself. Poetically defeating Adrian with a combination of herself and a card that wasn't originally his in the end.

[@AliacadosDuelistas]

I love all 3 decks that Yubel has. Sacred Beasts, Crystal Beasts and Yubel itself are so interesting archetypes to play :3

[@CartoonKarma]

If one can roll with the insane scripted luck to get the specific counter cards at the right point throughout (though you're right to note Yubel has logical reason to tech them), this is another great GX Season Three duel both in the play-by-play, both duelists focus on their specific end game, their backup plans throughout, and of course the character arcs and themes involved on both sides and represented in the cards and moves. And of course, it does what all "main antagonist nearly loses to non-main character" duels must do, and teases their true signature card at the end that will be such a big focus in their duel against the protagonist. Yubel winning with a quasi-Lava Golem in Grinder Golem, a stylistic callback to the kinds of strategies these darkness villains like Yami Mark favour, is great too. Oh, and that it happens in the duel that gave Exodia a real workout (the last time in all series it was featured, I believe…?) really pleases me as well.

[@jjslider3026]

Yesssss finally, I’ve been wanting to see this duel analyzed for years, thank you. Can’t wait to pour through every frame in painstaking detail.

[@senny-]

I really really love this duel. GX has some of the best duels in the franchise, period. I love how Yubel's actually sweating in this.

[@Player_00X]

If Adrian had chained Break the seal to his Fog Castle's effect to return 4 from his grave, he would've won, too. Even if Yubel had chained the random-set Hand destruction, it wouldn't have done anything to hurt Adrian's strategy.

[@jegga6420]

It doesn,t work, In the order of the chain, the missing part of Exodia would have been added first, then it would have been discarded to activate the effect of Fog Castle's

[@Player_00X]

Oh, I see. The hand discard is part of the effect, and not its effect activation cost. Pre problem solving card text is fun. :D

[@nekoluxuria7721]

If Adrian activated break the seal at any other timing outside of his current turn at the time he would have outright won.

[@jegga6420]

@@nekoluxuria7721 Nop, the Fog Castle's discard your entire hand and even with that Yubel can activate his card when he wants

[@LegendRed01]

@@jegga6420 Fog Castle's discard is a cost a cost is paid on activation not on resolve so the discard would happen before Break the seal resolves

[@floodinmon14]

this should be an interesting one. I vaguely remember Yubel having near Protag luck with recycling Hand Destruction. Let's get into the duel :)

[@amity4600]

Beautiful timing. Was literally watching your yubel vs zane and hoping you'd do this one

[@roninwarriorsfan]

Ngl, i was hoping for Number Archetype trivia, but this is something i was curious about as well.

[@Dragooa]

Just realized this but Adrian could have won on his last turn by chaining break the seal to fog castle's effect. Card destrouction would have in no way be able to activate in the middle of the chain resolving. Fog Castle's handrip is a cost, meaning he would only need to discard magical mallet first before searching by break the seal.

[@Ender41948]

Not quite. What would happen is in that chain, he grabs the missing part of Exodia with Break The Seal, then Fog Castle's cost kicks in, forcing him to discard that missing part immediately. He kinda got screwed.

[@chrisshorten4406]

If not for Fog Castle's downside, we could have seen Exodia's leg kick someone to death.

[@trollmaster4523]

Awesome analysis man, this duel reminds me back in Middle School I have a friend who uses an Exodia Deck but his is more akin to that Rare Hunter who defeated Joey along with deck searchers like "Sangan" and "Different Dimension Capsule" than what Adrian have. While he have a huge win rate in each duel I'm pretty sure he didn't sacrifice anyone to get such a deck, he by unimaginable luck got it by buying random booster packs.

[@WolfPhoenix0]

Yes, finally! I've been waiting years for you to do an analysis on this duel. Now I can stop asking. 😂 This is definitely one of my favorite duels in all of Yugioh GX. The amount of prep work Adrian did was incredible.

[@crimsondragon704]

Thank you! Thanks so much, this is one of my duels I wanted you to review!

[@Sonadourge]

Omg TGS Anime. This is one of THE most exciting duels for me. I loved Adrian so much, he was hyped to be such a powerful character and so was Yubel while both being antagonists. Seeing 2 antagonists come together in battle like this was so freaking cool. Thank you for covering this amazing duel :D

[@StripesChaosGremlin]

I do absolutely find this duel to be amazing. I find duels where one character has an alternative win con to be interesting. Another card game anime with an interesting alternative win con is Vanguard's Link Joker vs Taktuo and then Aichi (our main protagonist) the win con was to quite literally lock all of the opponents rear guards slots and they would win regardless of damage. The funny thing is, if my knowledge of how Taktuo fight had panned out, had he activated a certain ability one turn later, he might have actually won his battle. But he was doomed by plot as this was Vanguards first alternative win con. Also Playmaker V Ai, I wanna know if Ai could have actually won.

[@cameraredeye3115]

Playmaker mentions that after the duel concludes. Had Ai not activated TA.I. Strike on the final turn, he would have won. The reason for that is that Playmaker has nothing left in his Extra Deck, and no way to bring back any of his Link Monsters that would have taken out Dark Templar by battle. Our boy literally ran out of gas.

[@solidzack]

Love, how Adrian had a Plan B, C and D ready, just in case his main wincon would be stopped : - Regular Exodia Wincon - Exodius Wincon - Royal Sword Burn OTK - Crest Burn + Fog Castle + Break the Seal into Exodia recovery - A feather of the phoenix + Backup Soldier into Exodia Recovery

[@Cortanarama]

Gx and maybe 5Ds really was where the deck variety and speed of the game hit the perfect balance.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

You are 100% right.

[@undeadinside3571]

Definitely up through early 5Ds was my favorite. Blackwings were insanely fun even early on, six samurai were insanely fun too. They were decently evenly matched too. Great game balance for a few years. I miss it

[@ooperblownup]

Finally, this is one of my favorite duels in GX. I hope one day you can do a video on Aster Phoenix vs Adrian

[@alster724]

YES! The GX Duel analysis I've been waiting for

[@voxxitp7919]

Love it when sam whispered Adrien strategy like yubel can hear it😂😂😂.

[@goldendarius]

Oh my God literally yeatersay night I was rewatching all the Adrian duels and I literally thought about you covering one of them, I'm so glad You should totally cover the Aster one too

[@frat]

This is probably one of my favorite duels in the series because of what Yubel says about Jaden. This one was also a duel that was built up since the beginning of the arc.

[@kampfsocke25]

Next duel analysis should be between Adrian and Viper

[@SpartanTrigger]

Finally one of my favorite GX duels 😮

[@leblanc3536]

remember, Yubel had to completely swap decks from the one she used against both Jaden and Zane to grab this W

[@RenaldyCalixte]

Yubel won by imitating Bastion. 😂. That's funny.

[@zexalbrony4799]

YES! YES! YES! I've been hoping for this Duel, just like the Duels against the Supreme King, this one is one of my all-time favorites. The back and forth was great and showed off both player's skill and how they were relatively equal to each other. Llove that stuff. Season 3 had a lot of great Duels, some of them very underrated if you ask me, so it's great to see them get analyzed. Also, I've tried to recreate this Duel on EDOPRO before, and I can tell you this, technically Yubel pulled of an illegal move with Delta Barrier, since you can't activate its effect if you're not going to take damage, it only works to both prevent damage and protect a Monster it can do them separately, as such since Yubel wasn't going to take damage since Hamon and Exodius had the same attack then she couldn't use her Ttrap cards to save Hamon.

[@mattbartels]

21:06 if it weren’t for Adrian being locked out of his battle phase that turn due to Fog Castle imagine him beating Yubel the final villain of season three and the one behind everything that happened in it with a left leg that has no other body parts attached to it.

[@dualia-s74m]

😂😂😂😂

[@karameru880]

Glad you finally cover this duel. It's one of my favorites in the whole season

[@BulletShaba]

As I think about it or and more The more I think that adrian is The only dualist in the show to have a competent exodia build.

[@v1tnir]

I just stumbled on this channel a few days ago and I’m already binging these “Was X about to defeat Y” They’re way more entertaining then I thought they would be and brings back a lot of nostalgia, keep it up!

[@VanishEclipse4867]

A whole three different ways of getting Exodia onto the hand and that includes an auto win through Fog King. I have watched this episode before but seeing it now it's still quite wild. Those plays were certainly more fun to watch than all the Exodia decks I deal with in Master Duel nowadays. Too bad the printed Exodius doesn't have a busted effect like that. For Adrian's misplay though, Uria has the effect to return from the grave by banishing a trap card and then there is Hamon if change to defense would do nothing for Adrian. In other words, Adrian kind of misplayed but Yubel also misplayed NOT putting Hamon on defense. So sadly that misplay kind of goes out of the window.

[@supremeking6694]

18:57 The one thing I realized after watching this duel was that Adrien didn’t need to use Crest Burn immediately. Dark Jesse only destroyed “Royal Sword”, meaning that Fog King was still on the field. Because of its strong effect, Jesse would have been in a much worse position (The monster “Yubel” would have been useless on the field). Depending on the cards drawn, Adrian could have just stalled with the monster, so that he could draw the cards needed to recover/get the Exodia pieces.

[@SpecsTube]

For my own curiousity and anyone else, I decided to do the math regarding Exodia. In a 40 card deck, drawing all 5 Pieces in your starting hand regardless of the 6th drawn card: 0.000001266448635%. However, completing Exodia with the 6th card: 0.000001447369868%. For the odds of the Nightmare Shuffle Play: Yubel had 12 cards in her graveyard at this point - 8.33%.

[@dualia-s74m]

Adrian simply didn't shuffle his deck😂

[@darksideofevil13]

Amazing! Thank you for doing this.

[@darksideofevil13]

Thanks for doing this one. I remember loving it.

[@vargas1445]

10:39 Literally the plot but not in the way you said. Yubel revealed to the audience(in her internal monologue) that she wanted to feed off Adrien/Amon's darkness to recover her energy (that she spent battling Hell Kaiser) before Judai arrives.

[@Notmuhrealname]

Great analysis as always. Other GX duels I'd like recommend are Bastion vs Jaden, Chazz vs Jaden(School Duel), Crowler vs Chumley, Jaden vs Viper, Jaden vs Sartorious, Hassleberry vs Jim Cook, Hassleberry vs Syrus, Jesse and Jaden vs Yubel and Adrian vs Chazz

[@dklounge7082]

I'm hoping this means that mext week we're getting a updated archetype video for Yubel with the recent american release of the new support in Phantom Nightmare

[@witchy90210]

I forget that so many people die in GX. And really most if not all seasons.

[@kallmemikey1701]

since you did an Analysis on Jaden vs. Aster (a New Breed of Hero) you should do an Analysis on their Rematch (Ep. 67 Homecoming Duel)

[@wallycastagnir]

Adrian savreficing his gf to be better at a card game is the most realistic thing in gx

[@armityle1]

I loved this duel so much, it gave the Sacred Beasts a cool final duel in the series. Also I think the reason Yubel didn't won with Raviel its because at this point Yubel was weak from her duel with Zane and wanted to absorb the darkness in Adrian's heart to heal herself. Adrian only showed this darkness after he was pushed to the limit allowing Yubel to detect Echo's spirit within him.

[@idosarts_and_krafts]

20:04 so i was just watching this video GUESS WHAT GOT ANNOUNCED FOLKS

[@SerenitySpiderMonkey]

Would you consider a marathon analysis of Chazz vs Jaden similar to your Yuma vs Kite analysis? I wanna see if Chazz had more chances to beat Jaden (I've already noticed a few already)

[@brandonmckown9952]

Another awesome video. Thank you for uploading these, keep up the good work 😃

[@PuzzlePottage1390]

Adrian did the impossible and made an Exodia deck thrilling. You knew he wasn't going to win, but seeing him nearly complete Exodia numerous times in the same duel really kept you on the edge of your seat. Decks like that don't tend to have much back and forth, so it made for a nice change of pace.

[@VanishEclipse4867]

Certainly better than most Exodia decks nowadays because at least summoning Exodius makes the whole attempt more thrilling to deal with.

[@bladersmosh]

I agree. It’s refreshing to see people like Adrian play a deck such as Exodia with one type of play style, but still has a backup strategy in case Exodia fails. The Fog King strategy he uses looks really fun and I’d like to see a retrain of King with its anime effects applied so we can make Fog Castle, Royal Sword and Crest Burn easier to print and adapt for the OCG/TCG. And honestly, in a time where most decks today rely on one strategy with little variety added to them, its so satisfying to see someone play a backup plan to keep yourself in the duel which even better can still tie into the decks primary mechanic. What do you think? Adrain might be a disliked character among certain corners of the fandom, especially when he sacrificed Echo to control Exodia, he’s still one powerful duelist.

[@soukenmarufwt5224]

OCG 99 Exodia was a tier 0 FTK deck. Only that version was competitive and it's impossible now adays

[@RenaldyCalixte]

​​@@bladersmoshAdrian/Amon defeated Aster/Edo with ease which is impressive in my opinion.

[@DarkSymphony777]

@@soukenmarufwt5224 hope for escape exodia did see play in the early 2010's

[@dranzergigs66]

Glad you did this duel, it's very underappreciated even though I think it's one of the best in GX. I legit love Fog King and hope we get its support in the TCG.

[@lordflarus]

I ask again for “Was Team Taiyo About To Defeat Team 5D’s”

[@hristomir-zw6bg]

It's so funny that both Exodia and Yubel are getting support now. And this match in the future is going to happen in more modern style 😂

[@larrytod9790]

I completely forgot about the sacred beasts. What if jaden had the sacred beast in his deck?

[@roninwarriorsfan]

He doesn't have the means to get any of them out consistently. Uria needs 3 continuous traps (Jaden has about 1), Hamon needs continuous spells, and Raviel needs 3 fiends (Jaden has 0)

[@RenaldyCalixte]

​@@roninwarriorsfanJaden could change his deck to have more continous traps and spells.

[@Intrepid_Explorer]

​@roninwarriorsfan Anime Sacred Beasts don't have those restrictions. Anime Uria can be summoned with three set normal Trap cards, anime Hamon by tributing three set normal Spell cards, and anime Raviel by tributing any 3 monsters.

[@guitarhero661]

Omg I was literally just thinking you should cover this duel and then I open up KZbin and it’s there. Freaky man.

[@Entiti3o3]

Yubel turned into Joey Wheelers 💀

[@RenaldyCalixte]

Oh yeah Joey tried that play of activating a random card from the graveyard but it failed.

[@rainbowdragon168]

This was such a great duel and it was good to see Adrian be defeated before vanishing to the stars. Yubel did a great job with preventing Adrian from fulfilling the win condition of Exodia

[@romram7984]

Idk why but i feel like this duel would be just as good if adrian just drew all 5 pieces of exodia. Im just imagining how sure Yubel was that she'd win the duel, only for him to reveal his hand and say "good game. But i won already"

[@sagacious03]

Super excited for this big analysis video! Thanks for uploading! Looking forward to more like this from you! Might comment more later!

[@eugenejoiner3106]

Sacrifice your girlfriend for a children card game is the definition of dedication

[@chrishall5570]

I always love how unique the cards in this duel are. I feel like its a good mix of what would become real world cards and anime cards that have effects that are cool without being entirely overpowered.

[@jamesturner6979]

You know you're a threat when the season's villain has to switch to an entirely different deck just to beat you. XD

[@bladert2322]

Its so weird cause I rewatched this duel a couple days again and thinking, "damn this duel has to be one of the most shenanigan losing duel in all of GX cause my god Adrian had this duel in the bag!" Thanks for covering it

[@Dire_Pants]

If I'm understanding this correctly, Adrian plays Break the Seal then Jesse chains Knightmare Shuffle, yeah? So, couldn't Adrian have chained the other Break the Seal to Knightmare Shuffle to get it to resolve first and win? Or is there a ruling I'm missing? The wiki has them going to the graveyards worded like an effect rather than a cost.

[@YourGuyAlex]

Yeeeeees this is one of my favorite duels in GX I’ve been waiting SO long for you to do this video THANK YOU

[@_Vengeance_]

To be fair about Adrian's misplay, the correct play was only available because Yubel made a misplay. The right play of course was to put Hamon in defense to ensure it wouldn't be beatable. If Yubel had done this, both players would've had 1000 more LP, which makes no difference in the duel (other than later locking out an alternative way Adrian could've won, but Adrian made the correct choice to not go for that alternative anyway). Regarding that "alternative play" I talk about there: people probably noticed that Adrian could've chosen not to use Crest Burn and just use Break the Seal to play a Forbidden One piece and attack for game. The problem with that is that Yubel had a 3x higher chance to get Delta Barrier out of Nightmare Shuffle than Hand Destruction. Adrian went for the statistically most likely way to win. Oh, and also: at the end that wasn't Adrian's darkness. Rather, Echo's sacrifice for Exodios made her (or at least her desire for Adrian to succeed) become a part of his deck. Adrian had no darkness inside of him, but Echo had (in particular here, her desire to end Yubel to protect Adrian), and that's what Yubel exploited once she discovered that Adrian's statement that Echo was in his deck was a lot more real than she initially thought.

[@orionpax8382]

Both translations I have seen for Delta Barrier require that the defending player controls 3 Delta Barriers AND a monster. Suppose Adrian summons an Exodia piece and attacks. In that case, no card in Yubel's graveyard can save her as far as I know and, if Adrian was paying attention he has perfect information on the contents of Yubel's graveyard. Choosing not to use Crest Burn is a victory for Adrian.

[@1Bolzard1]

A great duel to cover in my opinion would be Go Onizuka vs. Revolver, both because on the penultimate turn of the duel there actually IS a game losing misplay (I won't say what it is in case it ends up being a video and I don't want to spoil it, but it is a flat misplay), and because the duel is actually very entertaining and interesting from a character point of view, as the cool and collected Revolver couldn't be less alike the hot-headed and active Go Onizuka.

[@omrizubary]

It's been awhile since a dark signer duel, can you do Carly vs Jack? Or Misty vs Akiza?

[@anthonythomas305]

Or Yusei vs Dark Signer Kalin R2

[@amaryllislofgren527]

One of, if not my absolute favorite duel in all of GX.

[@jamieholmes4751]

I honestly preferred this duel to the critically acclaimed Yubel/Zane The Sacred Beasts vs Exodia/Exodios The dialogue Each duellist getting their opponent’s respective ace card off the field (Chaos Phantasm Armityle and Exodios) Superb duel 😃😃😃 I’m still baffled as to how quickly Adrian forgot about Eternal Reverse Yubel explained that Eternal Reverse protected Uria from destruction once and when Uria was still on the field after an attack, he seemed confused lol

[@vanguardplays3418]

it might have just been a tunnel vision situation. Adrian was so confident in his win condition going off that he just forgot

[@FranciscoRamirez-nb4uu]

yeah, part of me believe that the idea was that Yubel wouldn't explain the effect at first, but they made a mistake during production, because it's odd that a character get surprise by info they know

[@lionofthebluevale7170]

Yubel v Zane is better for Jesse's " now that's what I call a heart attack" line alone

[@red2794]

​@vanguardplays3418 Honestly, this happens another, even in MD. There are so many times I focus on one play and immediately shoot myself in the foot

[@kooltomax]

There has to be a weight room at Duel Academy for there to be so many jacked characters on the show. If becoming a pro duelist doesn't work out, they can easily go into professional wrestling just on looks alone.

[@The_Bearded_Critic]

I managed to pull off an exodia ftk on my brother and he still to this day says my hand was fixed

[@roninwarriorsfan]

Well the odds of getting Exodia FTK are really low

[@soukenmarufwt5224]

OCG 1999 Exodia deck says hello

[@Andrew.W1997]

Loving these videos but we definitely need a let's jump into the duel compilation 😂

[@filipvadas7602]

Who else is here after they made *Break The Seal* into a real card?

[@bladersmosh]

I am. Seen this vid a good few times (one of the best GX duels IMO) but with the announcement of Break the Seal being made into a real card in Animation Chronicle 2024, it’s appropriate to go back to certain videos which cover the duels in which it has appeared in. I know many competitive player’s who like to play Exodia think it’s too slow, but for casual rogue duelists and anime fans, I’m happy and would give it a try.

[@CD-Gaming]

I'm sorry, but we'll alwasy remember this Duel for the classic line: "Say adios to Exodios"! Plus the expression on Adrien's face when Yubel attacks Fog King with Grave Squirmer, priceless! And, of course, not forgetting: "Exodia, anyone?" Also, explaining that Grave Squirmer's Effect was Graveyard activated rather than on the Field, thus meaning it could even go off! A nice little touch, there, I always felt! I also actually run Burden of the Mighty with King Tiger Wanghu and Destiny HERO - Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer, both for the additional ATK reduction for Tiger's Effect, not least of all cuz it's not once per turn, it's only triggered whenever a Monster with less than 1400 ATK is summoned, which makes Light of Intervention invalueable in the strategy! Funny how people can find devestating uses for old cards, isn't it?

[@kingusernamelxixthemagnificent]

It was insane how many times Adrian saves his Exodia OTK strategy. It's two times, but still quite unusual.

[@QueenMonoChrome]

I think the reason Jessi-bel didn't win at 10:00 with Raviel's effect is that simply put it'd be too quick and I feel like they'd want to make sure Adrian learnt a lesson that a price like sacrificing a loved one is a step too far.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

If Adrian attacked Hamon instead of Uriah then Jesse wouldn't have summoned Raviel in the 1st place.

[@QueenMonoChrome]

@@RenaldyCalixte hey i'm just here to give logic to Jessi-bel's misplay there

[@cameraredeye3115]

​@@RenaldyCalixte Anime Uria can revive itself by banishing a Continuous Trap from Jesse/Yubel's GY so that literally does not matter. Armityle was coming out that turn regardless.