Was Joey About To Defeat Marik? [The Darkness Returns]

[@Horiobrine]

For those who were wondering, I did the Joey vs Marik duel with all their card and anime effects with all the "most optimal" plays and ignoring shadow damage. From what I tested, the duel had 2 endings. The split happens with what was mentioned in the video about how Marik didn't attack with his Helpoemer and Drillago and depending on whether Marik attacked 2 tokens or 1 token and Panther Warrior. If Marik had attacked the 2 tokens and Joey wasn't playing cautious, Joey would have won in a landslide victory. with Joey at 3900 LP remaining. But if Marik had attacked 1 token and Panther Warrior, the duel doesn't have a clear victor. However the end-board was Joey with and attack position Gearfried and Marik has only a face down malevolent catastrophe, no cards in either player's hand, with Marik at 1300 LP and Joey at 900 LP (from what I could recall). Marik draws next, and then that's where it comes down to speculation. Despite what Marik would've drawn which I think would've been a monster (unless it was card of sanctity), I believe Joey mkight've drawn something like skull dice and been able to attack for game, but then again Marik still has around 19 cards left in his deck and Joey still has about 26 cards left in his deck. (They both have to have 40 card decks since in the 4-way duel they all had to have a 40 card deck from what I could recall. Joey and Marik went straight into they're duel immediately after that so I doubt that they added more cards right before hand. Also the rest of Marik's deck could probably be reverse engineered from his duel with Yugi.)

[@michaelfellner9822]

You dont need to test anything. If you have above average knowledge of the TCG you should know that Mariks deck is without a doubt the strongest in the Battle City Arc, maybe even through all of YGO ( although i stopped watching shortly after GX ). If Marik wouldntve fooled around he wouldve beat Joey easily but well, ofc they cant just make Yugis friend get easily clapped.

[@a.jperez202]

The anime duel isn't canon. And Who cares about the anime duel when even though they added a bunch of filler turns the anime wasn't free to alter the outcome of the duel. In the manga duel Joey does not play cautious at all. He consistently attacked at every opportunity, even recklessly. In contrast to Yami Marik who does explicitly hold back in order to inflict maximum pain. Picking up on the turn where Marik plays Machine duplication in order to summon 2 more copies of Viser des, he opts to keep Joey's Panther Warrior with 500 Atk alive so that he could later attach a viser des on all 3 of Joey's monsters and inflict triple the pain. If he was serious about the duel, on that turn he would have attacked the weakened Panther Warrior with Viser Des and destroyed it (500 atk vs 500 atk) while Viser des would survive since it was immune to battle destruction. This would cripple Joey's chances big time. On his next turn he draws Gilford the lightning but with 2 viser des attached to Lava Golem and Rocket warrior he can't sacrifice them for the summon until he gets rid of the visers with Graceful Dice. More critically, with Panther Warrior gone, he does not have the 3 sacrifices needed to activate Gilford's destruction effect, and without that he can't get rid of Marik's Viser Des which has 3000 atk thanks to Graceful Dice. So he either stays with rocket warrior and the 3000 atk Lava Golem(which will continue to drain 700 lp every turn of his) or sacrifice both for a weaker 2800 atk Gilford. Either way he can't do anything to get rid of Marik's 3000 atk indestructible Viser Des and is at a major disadvantage. If he opts to keep Lava Golem, he'll go down to 1900 LP at the end of his turn to Marik's 2400 LP. Marik will then draw Monster reborn and could bring back anything he wants. If Joey sacrifices the Golem for Gilford, Marik could revive it to his side, and with two 3K monsters out, could attack for game on his next turn.

[@Horiobrine]

@@a.jperez202 I get that's what happened in the manga, but from what I can tell, the duel itself had slightly altered in the anime like with you said about there being viser des instead of plasma eel. But what was being tested was the anime and not the manga. And like you had said, Marik had kept panther warrior and other monsters alive to inflict maximum pain, and not the best moves. But I could be wrong I haven't actually read the manga, so I'm not sure how well that translates to the show. On top of that, it would be the dub version of the show, so I'm not sure what was changed from the original. The duel I tested had these results and changing certain moves in the beginning drastically changes the overall duel later on.

[@Horiobrine]

*Edit* Fixed my original comment where there was only 2 endings. I had played out the scenario wrong in the beginning resulting in one ending with no victor. - For some reason I can't edit my original comment. TLDR; 5 possible endings, 4 of which Joey wins and 1 which unfortunately does not have an ending and cannot be determined who would win or lose however is the most likely. For those who were wondering, I did the Joey vs Marik duel with all their cards and anime effects with all the "most optimal" plays and ignoring shadow damage. From what I tested, the duel had 4 endings. The first split happens with what was mentioned in the video about how Marik didn't attack with his Helpoemer and Drillago and depending on whether Marik attacked 2 tokens or 1 token and Panther Warrior. 1) If Marik had attacked the 2 tokens and Joey wasn't playing cautious, Joey would have won in a landslide victory. with Joey at 3900 LP remaining. 2) But if Marik had attacked 1 token and Panther Warrior, a second split occurs depending on if nightmare mirror can negate multiple attacks or not. If nightmare mirror can only negate one attack, then Joey wins with 2900 LP remaining. 3) But if Night mirror can negate multiple attacks, then a third split occurs depending on whether Marik can guess the monster for Question which is panther warrior in this scenario. If Marik isn't able to guess the monster, Joey wins with 2000 LP remaining. 4) But if Marik is able to guess the monster, Joey wins with 1700 LP remaining. 5) docs.google.com/document/d/1cTObR0cQ_l-3I2fJZfIbLNXc1696q_Y9QHrJ_ynuptg/edit?usp=sharing

[@xJackyHeatx]

Your right Joey had Marik and to be honest Joey should of won the tournament in the last seas

[@EclipseHedgehog]

just imagine if Joey won Ra, you can instantly hear him recite the chant in all his Brooklyn glory.

[@danortiz]

Brooklyn Rage!!!

[@Divine_Serpent_Geh]

I always wondered if Joey would’ve been able to use Ra if he had won it. Personally, I don’t think so, nor would he want to. I think Joey is such a good guy and friend that he’d immediately give it to Yugi, knowing full well that only Yugi can truly unlock their true potential and use their power to save the world. Even if he hadn’t kept Ra, I would’ve loved for Joey to beat Marik, and for all intents and purposes... he did!

[@scapegoatcomics6168]

@@Divine_Serpent_Geh I'd have liked for Ra to have accepted him once he beat Marik, like Marik crumbles from the attack and is a mess of vomit and blood and his cards seem to gush away from him as if literally abandoning him and Joey can hear the voice of the god card talking to him. Saying you won, I bow to your spirit. You beat God Obviously he's not gonna keep it for long but imagine how the duel between him and yugi would go at the end, Yugi with two gods and Joey with his Ra and they both have a duel almost like ancient times

[@lilchristuten7568]

@@Divine_Serpent_Geh I don't think he could just give Ra to Yugi, going by what Marik said, Yugi had to beat him in a duel to win Ra from him.

[@forastero54321]

I summon you wing dragon of nyyaaahhhhhh!!!

[@Pegasix21]

Marik: **Tries to kill Joey with the divine fire of Ra** Joey: **Tanks the attack like a boss** Marik: **Absolutely shits himself**

[@black97_0]

In original version, Marik actually vomited into his palm, from shere shock and devastating fear Shock that someone he barely considered a character, was able to not only hold his own against him, but could have won if he was not literally on the bring of dead And fear part is obvious

[@nasis18]

Lol

[@darkhunter5293]

@@black97_0 He was actually afraid? That's shocking, considering the fact that he's the main villain of this story arc! I can see him shitting himself after seeing someone literally tank a direct hit from Ra like that but actually showing actual fear!?

[@triforceofcourage100]

@@darkhunter5293 in his mind it’d be like a small child beating the heavy weight champion shocking and there was nothing he could do at that point to stop it

[@alster724]

Kaiba: How can he withstand Ra? I must admit Wheeler's performance today is quite impressive. I guess he's not the third-rate amateur I thought he was.

[@PIE50100]

My absloute favoroite moment of this duel is when Joey summoned Gilford the Lightning. Marik: "it looked like your strategy backfired giving ME the advantage!" Joey: "do you think I'd be dumb enough to let that happen?" Marik: "Yes!" Just blatantly without missing a beat says yes, dying of laughter.

[@johngancarcik5682]

That creased me so bad 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Realblack_m0nster]

Joey may have lost but the fact that even Kaiba commended Joey during the Duel I think is its own victory.

[@artoffacts96]

Yes i wish the dub kept that moment

[@rainbowdragon168]

@@artoffacts96 It did though. Kaiba said “Joey isn’t the third rate duelist I thought it he is,” and some other things meaning he praises Joey for his efforts through the duel.

[@MBJH17isbackonlyone]

Lmao. The next episode Joey challenged Kaiba to a duel and Kaiba laughed in his face. Keep in mind that Yami Marik loved making his opponents suffer. But the same applied to him. So its not cheating. That's also the reason he was sent to the shadow realm after the Pharaoh won via forfeit by the "the real marik".

[@rainbowdragon168]

@@MBJH17isbackonlyone But no one mentioned cheating not trying to be rude or anything

[@metis7534]

@@rainbowdragon168 in the original he says”Jounouchi even in your death in your last moments I acknowledge you as a duelist” he didn’t throw any shade calling him third rate or all that. He praised Jounouchi for being the one to defeat god

[@harryc657]

Joey: Man, look at that backrow. It's gotta be filled with traps that can destroy my monsters. I can't risk anything. I'm setting a monster and ending my turn. Jinzo: *"aM I a JoKe TO YOU?!"*

[@KavinCatastrophe]

I know right. It like a 50/50 Chance he has a spell card that can stop you.

[@themasterofw4295]

Wasn't it the monster that he was afraid may destroy Jinzo ? He was afraid of the backrow with insect queen.

[@DrakeKnight99]

Again with Marik there's no telling what hes got in the back row

[@b4history32]

Cough bottomless trap hole would have screwed Joey over right then and there.

[@sukidable]

Did Book of Moon exist at this point? Wouldn't be surprised if Marik had that. >_> Would have probably flipped my TV stand if I saw Marik BoM Jinzo.

[@supersaiyandrgnslayr]

I like to believe that the reason Joey didn't get sent to the "Shadow Realm" was because, in Marik's heart of hearts, he knew that Joey had won

[@scantyer]

it's because the shadow realm isn't a thing in the original...

[@connerzed3588]

@@scantyer shhhh 🤫 heart of hearts

[@prideguy3233]

I mean he didn't give him a penalty game though

[@Emily12471]

@@scantyer You're right, but you know what is? Hell. being banished to the shadow realm basically just used as a substitute for death by 4kids

[@dakotayoung1611]

Its because he didn't lose, he was disqualified because he couldn't continue, which meant he did not die

[@jasperjavillo686]

To quote Astral, “I have been so anxious about losing that I focused all of my attention on not losing. I never put any thought into how to win.” That was Joey’s biggest flaw early on.

[@Lonewulf321]

Hey to be fair, losing means more here than most duels

[@darknesswave100]

Well to be fair Astral was talking about something completely different than this. This duel was basically a life or death match. That changes how youd duel out of fear alone

[@jasperjavillo686]

@@darknesswave100 Every duel Astral was involved in had one of his Numbers under the ownership of his opponent. Every duel was life or death for him.

[@thomaswood8405]

Wha? Kaito was definitely about to murder Astral. It was pretty unambiguous.

[@Gogogadgetyoutubehandle]

@@jasperjavillo686 thank you for saying this i feel like a lot of people gloss over this when talking about Zexal. This also contributes to the reason why Astral is more laid back in Duel Links, as he doesn’t have the fear of being erased in the Digital World.

[@dino988]

Marik literally said “if he succeeds in attacking my life points, I’ll lose the duel and my Egyptian god card!” Dude was toying with Joey the whole duel and nearly lost because of it

[@darknesswave100]

That's what arrogance does to you. Marik should in all intents and purposes mopped the floor with Joey if I'm being honest. Him toying around showed how little he thought of Joey as a duelist and it damn near cost him everything. It's why when I play games no matter how overpowered I THINK I am stuff can sneak up on you out of nowhere and you're left losing something you should have handled easily

[@thomaswood8405]

Funny how the same thing happened with Mai. She was about to have a legitimate win against him, but threw because she tried to BM too hard. Marik was kind a of a terrible duelist lol

[@dino988]

I mean had Marik actually just dueled instead of tormenting Joey, it probably still would’ve been close because of Joey’s luck based deck

[@zeospark9715]

See that's why Odion actually put up a better fight against Joey as he took Joey seriously and was going all out against him. Odion was going to 100% win against Joey but Marik insisted Odion played that fake Ra card because he wanted to keep his identity still hidden and Joey had a feeling Odion wasn't Marik since he was dueling fairly.

[@bramderacourt9499]

@@darknesswave100 I don't know if I would say "mopped the floor". He might have had a more thorough advantage, but as discussed in the video Joey could easily have made several plays early on that would have put Marik on his back foot, and probably would have had Marik not used his duel with Mai to intimidate the others beforehand.

[@pauciloquentflibbertigibbe5217]

Marik "My strategy to physically and mentally torture my opponent until they can no longer play is the perfect plan! I see exactly zero problems with this!" Joey 'Withstands his most powerful attack and summons a monster against a defenseless Marik" Marik "I see exactly one problem with this!"

[@420mralucard]

As horrible as this thought is I have to say it. "Marik I grew up with an abusive drunk dad, I know about physical and mental torture."

[@altumurnemtzra2026]

@@420mralucard the dude grew up in the shadow realm, a drunk dad is nothing

[@AlmightySmorg]

No he didn’t, he was the evil and hatred in Marik that turned in a split personality

[@QueenOfDarknes5]

​@420mralucard Marik: "Well, mine was abusive and drunk on religion... I hate to have things in common with you"

[@diegomedina9637]

@@altumurnemtzra2026 What about a drunk Brooklyn Dad?

[@HeartYgo]

if Joey won this duel and not get DQed Jaden Yuki would be a Ra Slacker not a Slifer, LET THAT SINK IN

[@Gabrhil]

Wouldn't it be Ra Rubbish, then? Or Ra Rabble? I can't think of 'R' words meaning 'trash' or 'lazy' ...Yellow Loser? Not a 'y' but has a ring to it.

[@internetpriest7537]

Wait how I'm generally wondering

[@allx1048]

@@internetpriest7537 i don't know myself but given that kaiba made duel academy i feel like he would have a slight power over the hierarchy there, and kaiba doesn't really like joey.

[@wyomingptt]

Lol imagine if the dub called him a Ra Retard.........

[@Deathmare235]

@@wyomingptt they could’ve if it was by another company like bang zoom

[@EverybodysKuya]

Joey is hands down the best human duelist amongst the cast. And when I say that, what I mean is- Joey is the only duelist that can go toe to toe with the other duelists that have Egyptian Magic or Egyptian Gods. Yeah, he may have had Luck on his side, but even his Luck failed him sometimes throughout the series. Mad respect for Joey for hanging with the best of them.

[@DrakeKnight99]

To be fair some of the duel I'd go back and watch were this one Joey vs Keith and Joey vs Rex both S1 and S4

[@mitchelllee3821]

Swordsman of landstar

[@zackrosado3749]

Too bad he's third to Kaiba with a fourth rate deck

[@dantemitsoyu977]

Kaiba bullied Joey without his god card And Joey lost to zigfreid a regular human end of series

[@koalafromtomorrow5656]

That wasn't Cannon and that came down to luck

[@linksstruepower7443]

Fun fact! In the manga when Marik had just been declared victor, he actually vomited at the shock of having nearly lost to Joey. Marik knew that Joey had him dead to rights.

[@paxpacis2]

This happened in the anime too

[@blitz4779]

@@paxpacis2 the sub specifically. They edited it out of the dub

[@GamingTopTen]

I thought he vomited from the shadow damage he endured?

[@blitz4779]

@@GamingTopTen no. Marik was barely affected by the shadow damage as he pointed out. It was from the sheer shock that Joey almost beat him

[@GamingTopTen]

@@blitz4779 I thought he lied about that, as villains often do.

[@yoshibrosplays7033]

Very surprised no one has mentioned how Joey actually withstood all of that pain and still kept going for as long as he did, lots of respect there.

[@CosmicNova1000]

Agreed

[@deletedTestimony]

Yeah, watching this episode in Japanese was brutal. Marik is literally sadistically torturing him throughout the duel for his own enjoyment and my boy still only goes down after getting hit by GOD. AND EVEN THEN JUST BARELY

[@markmagician2471]

Joey has some of the greatest willpower if Joey was in DC Universe he would be a Green Lantern

[@Savaris96]

Not to mention that he tanked a lightning bolt that took out a guy quite a bit bigger than he was for quite a while and stood back up again a few moments later and got fried by a literal god and still recovered from that before Odion did from one comparably measly lightning bolt, not to mention the all the other damage joey sustained in his duel with marik

[@siddhartashakara5240]

That's cuz of the beatings he was used to...which is pretty dark but quite convenient for this specific situation

[@frankzhang866]

If Joey had attacked, the atlantean dragon trio would also be an Egyptian God trio

[@simbasorariku3]

Care to elaborate?

[@mog-myownbestfriend]

Oh.....OH!

[@simbasorariku3]

@@maley2552 Thanks for refreshing my memory

[@rainbowdragon168]

@@maley2552 You spelt Timaeus wrong

[@federicomacias1946]

@@simbasorariku3 the users of the three legendary dragons were Yugi joey and kaiba so it would have been another iconic trio of cards for them

[@ChouRaiyuki]

For the record the reason Joey doesn't sacrifice his three monsters immediately for Gilford the Lightning is because one of Plasma Eel's effects is that the monster it's attached to can't be tributed. That's why the Graceful Dice play was necessary; this is explained in the Japanese version so I'm not sure if the dub fails to mention that or not. I guess that still doesn't excuse Joey not summoning Jinzo/Psycho Shocker though

[@JadenOmega]

Yeah the dub mentioned that too.

[@pastorcodymitchell1456]

the dub mentions it 2

[@oxcare5]

Pretty sure Jounouchi didn't summon Jinzo due to the anime writers not being able to change away from the manga continuity for duels thst much, and in the original manga, Jinzo was level 7

[@ChouRaiyuki]

@@oxcare5 Ah that would make sense then.

[@jmansword]

that kind of explains why he didn't just sacrifice panther warrior to get rid of plasma eel

[@MasterArchfiend]

"Yugioh is for kids" Yami Marik: *plays a torture deck with the intent of messing with his opponents physically and mentally*

[@jacobjackson2275]

I heard Mai's punishment was WAY worse in the manga😅

[@LatinGiudo817]

Then there's the BDSM thing he pulled on Mai. 🤣

[@MasterArchfiend]

@@LatinGiudo817 Makes it a bit worse when you realize her Harpie deck also has a BDSM theme.

[@BloodrealmX]

@@jacobjackson2275 Instead of being at the beach, the hourglass in her mind was filled with carnivorous insects. The anime toned Yugioh WAY down from the manga, even before 4Kids ever touched it.

[@CODA96]

@@MasterArchfiend While i understand the argument, the reasoning of '''iF ItS BrUtAl ItS NoT FoR KiDs'' is off. Look at Tokyo Ghoul or Elfenlied, those 2 ONLY exist for the gory, edgy scenes, and naturally any 14yr old loved it and argued that it cant be for kids because it revolves around blood/torture.

[@1MarmadukeFan]

Having the protagonists best buddy take out the big bag guy before he faced the protagonist would have been such a unique idea. The way they did it, Joey still ends up looking respectable and Yugi the protagonist still gets to save the day, but I kind of wish they went the direction of having Joey resolve the big evil plot early.

[@Swordmaster7th]

I always felt this way. It was so surprising in a good way when that last turn came up, thinking the underdog was about to stop the big bad right then and there. But then so very disappointing when he full on collapsed. Poor Joey. :(

[@glydoughnut9432]

What would the climax of the arc have been? Kaiba VS Yugi? Actually maybe that’s not such a bad idea

[@timmyalley6621]

As much as I like Joey I would rather Marik not come so close to losing on the account of being a very intimidating villain for Yugi to take have an ultimate showdown with

[@jsb6975.ah.crapbaskets]

@@timmyalley6621 how about this: Joey manages to stay up long enough to take Yami Marik's life points to zero then dies (well clinical death, they still manage to get him help in time) and Yami Marik goes completely berserk and forces Yugi to duel him right then and there and Kaiba gives Yugi the cards he needs to just barely pull out a win before the shadow game starts and he expects them back when all is said and done. The duel goes as it did in canon with the exception of it not being the final match. Yugi does not keep Ra and instead goes to where Joey is being treated and slips it into his deck since he is technically the rightful owner of the card in this scenario (even if he can't use Ra properly, but who knows, maybe Ra will decide to throw him a bone and allow Joey to actually use him). The duel with Kaiba also goes the same as it did originally and the final match is Joey vs. Yugi. Whether Joey wins, loses, or they simply draw is up in the air honestly and I'm okay with any of the outcomes from that point forward.

[@HBKARDS]

Fair but what about the gods? The plot devices of the season. What importance would they have after that?

[@Ally.Cat.252]

I always thought it was funny when Marik said “if he attacks me I’ll lose the duel and my Egyptian god card!!” I honestly can’t see someone as evil as yami Marik just handing over their god card lol

[@Cwhirt910]

Considering it was a shadow game and what happened to Joey I don't think Yami Marik would of been upright to stop someone from taking Ra

[@JamesiaInc]

@@Cwhirt910 IIRC, you HAVE to obey the rules of a shadow game once it begins. Neither Marik nor Joey could refuse, and since it was a shadow game under tournament rules, Marik wouldn't have had a choice.

[@rikusawada6113]

He wouldn't have had a choice in the matter. Tournament rules would have forced him to give up Ra, and even if he didn't want to after losing like that Ra would likely have not obeyed him and just f'ed him up if he tried to summon it again.

[@Hecatom]

@@SackieBum then explain why he used an illegal deck according to the tournament rules 😂

[@KobeLoverTatum]

@@rikusawada6113 Tournament rules were literally broken earlier in the same episode so no

[@floodinmon14]

Joey controlled this Duel pretty well, as a whole. He never really allowed Marik to have 3 monsters on the field at once to Tribute Summon for Ra.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

Legendary Fiend and Plasma Eel were on the field at the same time. If he used monster reborn on Hepoemer then sacrificed all 3 for Ra. He would have 4000 attack and 4000 defense for Ra. 😕

[@crimansizers5840]

He had Plasma eel and machine duplication, using those two Marik could have summoned Ra. Marik choose not to use Ra because he didn't think Joey was worthy

[@floodinmon14]

@@RenaldyCalixte Marik never drew Monster Reborn until his very last turn.

[@floodinmon14]

@@crimansizers5840 I suppose. But, I do not think that would've been very effective. RA would've only had 1500 ATK with 3 Plasma Eel. kinda a waste, really.

[@crimansizers5840]

@@floodinmon14 Play in defense (3600) and give more monsters and some LP to Ra. With Ra's divine protection and 3600 DEF I do not see Joey getting past him. Marik also had 1900 LP so tribute 1 monster + 1500 LP + initial 1500 and you are looking at 3000+ ATK.

[@mariakittynight716]

Even Ra is impressed by Joey's strength to stand. If he had won then Ra would gladly be Joey's partner. I would had loved that relationship to happen but sadly.

[@kendrickfisher9319]

Their is no relationship between anyone who can use the God cards. This is not a thor type thing Simply put of you don't have ties to ancient Egypt you can't use them. Marik says this very thing after Joey's first duel. He even names the individuals and Joey wasn't one of them The gods are God's not pets

[@kazonikz]

It would fit the narrative since Yugi has slifer, kaiba had Obelisk, so Joey could have RA, he’s one of the three legendary duelists and proved in the duel that he deserves the god power, it’d be cool if Takahashi went with it

[@RodimusMinor1987]

If Joey had Won Ra, Kaiba would have changed the rules and challenged Joey as we know Kaiba would not allow Joey to own a god, But Yugi would tell Kaiba wait until the finals if he makes it, Joey is too exhausted to duel you

[@PickyPaige]

@@kendrickfisher9319 And yet Frantz and Jaden were both able to use Ra in GX!

[@bigmaxcc]

Agreed 🥺😄

[@MegaJSK123]

Joey has always been my favourite character in the series, seeing him lose, especially like this, hurt a lot! On the bright side... Kaiba's reaction was priceless!

[@digitaladventurer2142]

Well to be fair he knew going up against Marik would involve some kind of dark magic game rigged to give his opponent the edge

[@whiterabbit8243]

Kaiba blew up the duel tower when yugi won. just imagine if joey won he'd want to blow up the whole planet

[@GeteMachine]

I just wish he had a more professional deck.

[@perseusbolt3591]

Same here bro

[@tohkritxhaln2703]

Agreed on the Joey fan and how unfair it was. But, yes, Kaiba reluctantly giving Joey his due was a minor consolation prize.

[@nexusgaming2999]

Bruh joey almost got winged dragon of ra. He took so damn much damage, felt the pain of being killed several times, and he was still standing. Man's a legend

[@anthonyhenderson3625]

That shocked even Seto Kaiba and evil Marik couldn't believe it either

[@kendrickfisher9319]

He still couldn't use it

[@blitz4779]

@@kendrickfisher9319 doesn't matter, he'd have beaten the big bad

[@WillMarcC]

Cause he got that dog in him

[@NITESHADOWshouske]

@@blitz4779 Because Marik himself allowed it to happen.

[@doomzilla3568]

Mad respect to Joey in dealing with so many painful injuries that ends with him being burned alive by Ra with a sacred flame of unimaginable pain yet still stands even if it was for a few seconds. He is truly a fantastic normal duelist and easily the best.

[@gamepad3173]

and the look on Kaiba's face at the end of the duel, either shock or Impressed.

[@RodimusMinor1987]

Sadly even though Kaiba gave respect at the end, during his duel with Joey he returned to his bullying personality, like ripping into Joey for using blue Eyes, so much for giving him his respect

[@Urubu_de_terno]

The best way to face a duelist that's openly mocking/toying with you is to play as aggressively as your deck allows to show that you are neither intimidated or playing more carefully because of him/her.

[@melffyrabby1009]

I legit got mad when Joey ended up losing, I also would’ve loved an ending that had Joey win the duel and marik coming back later for a final duel against yugi outside of the tournament

[@TheSupremeKing27]

That be a cool idea Yugi would have all 3 god card Marik would come back and his stragety would be gain his Egyptian god card back maybe through some card effect that lets you take a card from your opponent deck or something like that

[@GatorOne-in7hk]

The most insulting part of this is that the manga teases us with Joey having a dream or hallucination of him having already won and Atem commending him for stopping Marik. But immediately after that he collapses. I really do wish Joey had won that duel as he deserved to.

[@tyelerhiggins300]

I think that's what was intended in the manga. I mean I think they wanted everyone to expect yugi v Joey in the final to give a nice ending to the 'true duelist' sub-plot.

[@Deathmare235]

He already lost to Joey there’s no point unless Joey is the final antagonist instead of Marik I mean it’s a tournament

[@Eric-py8yy]

@@Deathmare235 Man, no one cared about Marik

[@tuliobednarczukpecinemisko5606]

I remember when The Winged Dragon of Ra became avaliable in Duel Links,I made this card part of Joey's Deck. It was justice for Joey.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

😕...you realize that's Odion's card.

[@FrayedWires2]

@@RenaldyCalixte Yeah, but Joey could’ve easily won the card if he wasn’t so cautious.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

@@FrayedWires2 That's a logical argument but I think Odion is a better duelist.

[@FrayedWires2]

@@RenaldyCalixte Uh ok? I don’t really get why you’re saying that here, but whatever.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

@@FrayedWires2 My point is that Joey should have lost earlier in the tournament to Odion. If that happened Joey would have never faced Marik in the Semi Finals.

[@DeadAccountdotdotdot]

Even as an adult all these years later, it’s amazing to see Marik actually be afraid of when he sees Joey still standing.

[@RodimusMinor1987]

Yeah cause Joey would have won Imagine if he had, sure he would have passed out, but as we saw in the show he woke up during Yugi vs Kaiba so the finals would have been Yugi vs Joey, Joey would have not used Ra

[@NinjaLobsterStudios]

​@@RodimusMinor1987 I wish too. It would have been pretty surprising for Joey to resolve the A-plot early. Honestly I think it would have been kind of anti-climactic, so I think there'd need to be some changes to make sure the story doesn't feel rushed. But there's a lot of potential benefits if Joey were to win. Firstly, as you mentioned, we could actually get a Yugi vs Joey duel. Since the plot has already been resolved, this can just be a fun duel to give both characters the chance to go all out. I'd write this duel as a draw for reasons I will explain later. Secondly, it gives Joey some payoffs. He gets the chance for revenge against Marik, and he finally gets to prove himself as a top duelist by getting top 2 and out placing Kaiba (even if he loses to Kaiba in a direct duel). Thirdly, it offers a unique opportunity to explain how Joey gets red-eyes back. After the draw, Joey offers to give Yugi the last God card saying "it belongs to you". But Yugi refuses, saying he can't take the card for free, but he makes a trade offer: Ra for Red-Eyes. I think it would be a nice character-moment to finish off the season, I think people might tear up at it if it was done well. I think we would have to miss out on Joey v Kaiba though, which is too bad but I'd say Kaiba's ego can still be preserved because of Marik's misplays. He can say something like "the way Marik was dueling, a child could beat him. Or a dog." It also helps if Joey doesn't beat Yugi, if they have a draw then Kaiba can just end the tournament without feeling like Joey could beat Yugi

[@RodimusMinor1987]

@@NinjaLobsterStudios Sadly in the Dub Kaiba never accepted Joey as a duelist

[@zeusalternative1270]

I would argue that having a duel where you feel the pain of your monsters is a disadvantage when you go against the masoquist who has a torture based deck.

[@Eric-py8yy]

It's actually surprising he actually was standing

[@Savaris96]

@@hahmann Well, being cooked alive after being stabbed and shocked several times does that to you i´d wager, after all the pain was equivalent to the pain the monsters felt

[@jsb6975.ah.crapbaskets]

@@hahmann if anyone else in those semifinals were dealt the same kind of punishment Joey got in that duel (Marik included), I highly doubt they would've gotten back up at all.

[@ZulatobariGreatforge]

If Joey’s hair was 10 times spikier, he’d have been the main character.

[@willyperez2475]

Haha 😂 facts lol

[@WindyREDPanda]

Nah man... He's already perfect. Daddy Wheeler all day over Chad Atem.

[@SerbianSpark19]

What about jaden he has joey hair

[@faintduch6630]

God I really wanna see an alternate timeline where Joey didn’t collapse and became the new champion of the Winged Dragon of Rah

[@NinjaLobsterStudios]

I know, right? It would have been a little anti-climactic to end the conflict here but then we could have been given Joey vs Yugi. Joey gets to hang it over Kaiba's head that he got Top 2 while Kaiba gets 3rd (Joey can also get way more respect for his placement). Kaiba can cope by recognizing how bad a duelist Marik actually was, and so long as Joey doesn't beat Yugi then Kaiba can still feel like he is better than Joey. As for this other duel, I'd like to see it end in a draw (cheesy, I know, but this is the only way). Kaiba can end the tournament without a conclusive winner. Afterwards Joey offers Yugi Ra, saying he knows it belongs to Yugi. Yugi politely declines, but makes a counter offer: trading Ra for Red-Eyes. Then S4 can start with them having the proper cards.

[@harrypottermegafan1712]

Yes

[@danknhshinki73]

It's infuriating how unfair his lost was. And it made me die on the inside.😭

[@pastorcodymitchell1456]

that's what fanfiction is for ;)

[@Oxnard805]

I would have loved for Joey to beat Marik & face Yugi in the final duel of the battle city finals. That would have been a very epic duel.

[@Minato-333]

in the anime, plasma eel didnt allow the monster to be tributed. so joey actually had to use graceful dice to destroy the extra plasma eels for tributing.

[@Intrepid_Explorer]

The dub excluded that line - probably why it shouldn't be used for duel analysis videos; it always leads to mistakes in interpretation.

[@federicomacias1946]

They were like arcana force the fool basically then? A monster you give to your opponent that will nearly block you of doing something with them

[@foisopracurtir6389]

@@federicomacias1946 With a dash of Lava Golem

[@GiftedContractor]

@@Intrepid_Explorer No it didn't - he just only mentions it once when it first attaches to Panther warrior, so it's easy to forget about that effect several turns later. But the dubbed definitely mentions you cant tribute monsters with a plasma eel on them at least once

[@raze2012_]

@@GiftedContractor Joey v. Marik was 4 episodes (wow... how did they stretch this medium sized duel so thin lol). I'm not gonna bother finding the exact episodes, but I wouldn't be surprised if the plasma eels were summoned a different episode from the graceful dice play happening.

[@krfan5459]

2:36 I disagree with that statement. Rocket Warrior's ability to reduce the ATK of a monster it attacks by 500 only lasts until the end of the turn. There is proof of this when Yugi was forced to duel a mind controlled Joey back in episode 77. So it was not a misplay in my book. Edit: One other thing. @ 15:47, he had to use graceful dice to increase Plasma Eel's ATK, and destroy the two copies that were summoned by machine duplication factory. This is because when Plasma Eel is equipped to a monster, that monster cannot be tributed.

[@ericgropuis]

Joey actually used the anime effect of foolish burial with the anime effect of Graverobber in his duel against Odion. Sending Jinzo to Odion’s graveyard then reviving him to deal with all of Odion’s trap cards

[@itouch4mac]

This moment in YuGiOh genuinely broke my heart as a kid. It solidified Joey as my all-time favorite YuGiOh character. Personally, he had the most heart; the most passion; and always faced the most insurmountable odds with a smile - meaning that he never coward in the face of great adversity. He’s a genuine role model to me. He’s a fantastic character, and this duel showed the world that Joey was far from being a 3rd rate duelist with a 4th rate deck. He was the heart of Team Yugi and I’ll forever hold him up as being one of the best duelist I’ve ever seen. Also - his cards, albeit not always the most well synced together, were some of my most favorite cards in all of YuGiOh. Further, I gotta just say thank you for posting this vid. I haven’t seen many people dissect this duel as you did and it was a done so well. Great job 👍🏼

[@troyengle960]

I made a tribute video for Joey set to trains ordinary. I used all the moments that Joey almost lost but pulled out his massive luck

[@gottesurteil3201]

This duel and Mai not being able to attack with Ra in Merricks other duel are the two most infuriating moments in the anime.

[@MegaDarkpichu]

Kaiba would have shit bricks if Joey had won that duel!

[@Lucario1121]

He kinda did at the final moments of the duel

[@michaelaburns734]

In the Abridged episode Mokuba would have Mokusoft.

[@enzofontein9831]

@@michaelaburns734 mega ultra chicken

[@toxicdemon1315]

@@michaelaburns734 Come on, Mokusoft!

[@mikeortiz410]

"Wheeler's a third-rate duelist with a fourth-rate Egyptian God Card!"

[@ChromiumDome411]

I found the Official rulebook for Battle City Rules made by Kaiba himself. It states that “Joey Wheeler is not allowed to win the Finals under any circumstance”.

[@mudlio706]

“Mokuba, make sure wheeler is late.”

[@heroboygamebase2286]

@@ChromiumDome411 Kaiba does whatever he wants because he organized his tournament and paid for it.

[@ron2millionare972]

Actually, attacking Gil Garth with Rocket Warrior would have been a misplay. In both real life and the anime, Rocket Warrior's effect wears off during the End Phase, so if he did attack with it, it would have been wide open on Marik's turn. Also, he didn't summon Insect Queen because a monster equipped with Plasma Eel can't be Tributed. That's also why he had to use Graceful Dice to get rid of the other two eels.

[@phtuber5469]

That's exactly what I thought, and it was actually stated in the episode that that's the reason why he couldn't just tribute summon gilford right away. I don't know how tgs missed that detail in the video.

[@krealdawwg7857]

Ok but what about the fact machine dup is not a continuous spell card xD

[@OnEiNsAnEmOtHeRfUcKa]

@@krealdawwg7857 The anime cards are different sometimes. Shocking, I know.

[@mariachipotter6875]

@@OnEiNsAnEmOtHeRfUcKa but what does pot of greed do?

[@singleplayermoments]

@@krealdawwg7857 Anime shenanigans.

[@turnerbrawley4715]

Mariks biggest flaw in this duel was that he was playing with his food too much while joey was too nervous especially after what happened with mai.

[@4wheal]

The funny thing is that as a duelist Marik might be the weakest big bad in any yugioh show but he makes up for it because of his mind games and magic that he uses to just break his opponents.

[@devinheckethorn4552]

Virtual world deck instead

[@a.jperez202]

In the manga Joey never hesitated to go on the offensive. He was probably too eager even.

[@abc2390986]

Marik probably never gives heavy concern about the duels anyways. Most duelists in the anime are playing cards for sports. Even in some of the shadow games the villains (for example Dartz) simply intend to make a duel a high-stake gamble so both of them will fight with their best efforts. Marik isn’t like these persons at all. The reason why he wants to play shadow game is he can torture people with it. And he also likes to put himself into a safe position. Like during his duel with Yugi according to his original plan, if he wins, both Yugi die, if he losses, the true Marik will disappear and he will take over true Marik’s body entirely. Yami Marik also has little plan to take over the world. His plan is all about making Yugi and his friends feel pain. It is like Yami Marik is a real life psychopath but since this is an anime about children’s card game he can only be put into justice by a card game.

[@yoshikagek.7031]

Your commentary and Walkthrough of the duel not only makes me think of how i play the game to this day but gives me chills thinking how everything could’ve changed if this or that happened, Great vid you definitely got a new fan.

[@dr.veronica6155]

I love how Marik relies entirely on his sadism and evil magic to win, and meanwhile, totally normal mortal mook Joey Wheeler uses his maxed out Luck stat to just dump all over it. I mean, sure, Marik still won, but only because Joey had put so many points into Luck that he didn't have any left to pump his Vitality to a high enough level.

[@darkglass3011]

Who the hell invests their skills points into luck? Kaiba was right. He is a 3rd rate Duelist with a 4th rate deck.

[@Eric-py8yy]

@@darkglass3011 the Blue Eyes guy

[@daltonoakleyjr391]

Even Mai was doing well against Marik but then plot armor happen to caused her to lose the duel

[@Eric-py8yy]

To be honest Marik isn't even a good duelist to begin with, he is mediocre to best and most of time pretty much is lacking strategy and everythime he could lose he uses shadow games soo yesh

[@daltonoakleyjr391]

@@Eric-py8yy Forreal . Take away the shadow magic then any one can beat him .

[@StarGazerTom1991]

I remember being absolutely furious that Joey lost that duel. The talk in school the next day was just this duel over and over again, trying to figure out a win. 10 more seconds. Had he held on for 10 more seconds, he would have won.

[@RenaldyCalixte]

Every time I brought up how Joey got lucky against Odion my classmates at school got angry at me. Even tho it's true. Joey was lucky to face Marik.

[@silverhawkscape2677]

This makes me laugh. Back in the days when anime was big in school. Haha. Still, Seriously Joey?

[@griffingower1883]

On the upside joey did tank an attack from an Egyptian God Card

[@rainbowpegacornstudios]

I was heavily impressed by Joey in this duel. I love how he even scared the crap out of Marik when he was still standing. I just wish he was able to declare an attack with Gearfried The Iron Knight before he passed out from exhaustion.

[@sanstheskeleton3766]

Like when the blade was about to attack marik less than an inch from his face Joey falls and the monster is destroyed and marik collapses to his feet and throws up by shock he withstood all that and almost won Than puking after Joey was standing then falling to the groung

[@digitalwarrior5862]

agreed, Joey was the only person besides Yugi and Kabia that truly scared him and worried him

[@juliuswatcher1157]

I think he passing out before attacking was short of a karma(?) due to him winning agaisnt Odion due to Ra knoking both out then he getting up first, when Odion would have won through Serket direct attack but had to obey Marik and sacrifice it to summon Ra.

[@Zhortac]

Joey: Omg, I can win! I'll save the day and beat the bad guy! Yugi: yeah...no. Can't have that. Joey: What? Writters: Yeah, Yugi is the hero here Yugi: you tell him! Joey: WTF!

[@siddhartashakara5240]

I read that with Little Kuriboh's voice

[@Kanna0959]

@@siddhartashakara5240 omg same here. It just makes too much sense to do so

[@nebbynetwork2089]

Man could you imagine if joey actually won and battled yugi in the final that would have been awsome instead of hyping up a joey vs yugi duel and then getting nothing

[@BmanTheChamp]

I still say that as epic as it was, even though Marik was the big bad of the season, Yugi vs. Kaiba should have been the final

[@lewisadcock4459]

@@BmanTheChamp kaiba or joey should have beat marik and then lost to yugi.

[@Deathmare235]

Just imagine someone else that doesn’t have super powers using a god card I guess there’s Jaden but he has the power of darkness so he doesn’t really count

[@nebbynetwork2089]

I have to wonder if joey had won would he have been able to sommon the winged dragon of ra?

[@Raining_Heavily]

Joey deserves Credit for F-ing Marik !! 😄

[@digiing1992]

Didn’t those “electrocute eels” have an effect of “monster equipped with this card cannot be used as tribute”?

[@ichigokurasaki100]

It's the anime

[@thelight288]

Yes they had. Thats why he used graceful dice

[@SWad250]

I forgot how much of this duel was just Marik bluffing and not even doing that much burn damage. Just literal burn damage.

[@ninjafrog6966]

He took burn damage a little too literally.

[@renzyecoy728]

Marik had the most powerful thing in Yu-Gi-Oh!: "Plot Armor"

[@blitz4779]

Joey still deserves credit

[@noblehobolo3968]

Got infinite attack and defense, can’t be affected by spell, trap, or monster affects. Eat shit God Cards

[@Rhapsodos_X]

Joey's character arc from being a bumbling oaf of a duelist with a deck full of monster cards and that "only press W" attitude to that of a risk vs reward duelist who played albeit a little too slow for his own good in his final duel is exceptional. The very idea this video is based on "did joey actually win?" cements that. AND NOT ONLY THAT. Joey's smile as his summons Gearfried and subsequently collapses signifies that he still had the mental faculties to know he won too. Not just the actual duel but he survived Marik's blatant attempt on his life. It was a smile of triumph and faith that his best friend would finish things

[@ryansmoviereviews]

I really think Joey should have won this. That would have been a great subversion of expectations, however, I would be more accepting of this L if they had shown us the final Yugi/Joey duel.

[@lukeurbin7037]

The reason why Joey didn’t summon insect queen when he first drew it or gilford the lightning, was because a monster plasma eel is attached too can’t be a tribute. I think Marik mentioned it earlier in the duel

[@petersimpson4648]

In the manga, the monster is called "Viser Des", and looks like a spiked vice on the monster's head. Otherwise, it acts just like Plasma Eel. I guess the vices were too violent looking and had to be censored for the anime.

[@PhotonV10]

A lot of Marik's deck in manga are censored since they appear to be torture device. Moreover, his punishment for Mai Valentine's also more crueler , instead of trapping her in sand-hourglass, Malik trapped her with carnivore insects hour glass

[@clarkkent8286]

Insect Queen requires a sacrifice to attack

[@rockk9753]

Nah the real reason is because living in Brooklyn is way worse than the shadow realm lol

[@Urubu_de_terno]

The funniest thing about this duel is that Joey and Yami had a duel after the battle city conclusion and in the next seasons we see that Joey got his Red Eyes back so basically he beated Yami in his peak without a plot card like Pyramid of Light and Shining Eyes...

[@CaptainB1994]

Either that or Yami just gave it to him, since we don't see the result of the duel.

[@InvaderTan1]

One thing I loved about this episode was the quality of the line work and lighting. It's one of the best episodes for that amazing quality in the animation.

[@Stino44]

Wow 🥹

[@guythat779]

Before watching: ofc Not all he had to do was attack there was no possible response, Marik was afraid, and joey is THE MAN After watching: as stated previously, joey is DA MAN

[@slickviccomedy]

Im just stunned by the endurance Joey had. Ive watched this duel 3 times. And i get more and more shocked.

[@IonizedJB]

So does Joey

[@blitz4779]

Man has more willpower and determination then green lantern

[@levievil9220]

@@blitz4779 if he was in dc obvious green lantern right there

[@blitz4779]

@@levievil9220 he'd be a high tier one as well. Up there with John and Hal

[@levievil9220]

@@blitz4779 imagine his deck as his constructs

[@epicponedge1177]

Whether it's the anime or the manga, I'm still salty that Joey lost.

[@griffingower1883]

Yeah but he did tank an attack from a Egyptian God Card

[@calvinmcneil9824]

@@griffingower1883 that's what makes the loss worse

[@CosmicNova1000]

Yeah but lets be honest here we all know that Marik (the big bad boss of this arc) has to be defeated by Yugi

[@CosmicNova1000]

U do realize he would’ve still lost if Marik was actually trying and didn’t underestimate Joey

[@heroboygamebase2286]

@@epicponedge1177 Cruel and unfair, dude.

[@pietrocatalano4285]

Anime Foolish Burial's effect makes it sound actually foolish to play.

[@BrenTenkage]

I wonder if it would work with anime helopoemer since helpoemer's effect seems to trigger from your opponents grave right?

[@phtuber5469]

@@BrenTenkage Yes it does, but it needs to be destroyed first , so you wouldn't be able to use foolish burial because it just sends it to the graveyard.

[@BrenTenkage]

@@phtuber5469 ah then I got no way to use anime foolish burial in that case

[@jacobsexton2337]

@@BrenTenkage he can combo it with graverobber or monster reborn

[@pkmnlover3812]

unless 1 has a card with a negative grave effect

[@Lucario1121]

Theres a theory about this duel that I read online thats kinda interesting, how Takahashi originallt did wanted Joey to win the duel but a higher up at Shonen Jump convince him against it, saying itll tank his series if he did

[@rainbowdragon168]

Marik would’ve lost if Joey had declared his attack with his monster so no I don’t think Marik would’ve won. Kaiba even commented on how well Joey dueled during the duel which is something he wouldn’t do often.

[@grandwarriorwaluigi1284]

He is talking in general throughout the duel and if marik hadn't been trying with him the whole time which is what led to that moment. Had marik actually tried and not been a cocky dumbass, he could have won.

[@rainbowdragon168]

@@grandwarriorwaluigi1284 I guess but since he’s the type of guy who loves to make his opponents suffer I guess nothing much would’ve changed and that Joey would’ve still won

[@MsKeylas]

@@grandwarriorwaluigi1284 Marik still would have lost

[@dancorneanu9144]

@@grandwarriorwaluigi1284 That's Marik. He enjoeys making others suffer. His deck reflects that. It's less overconfidence, and more taking pleasure in torturing others. He duels for that. Winning just alaws him to produce more pain. He plays with his food. It's psychological. He can not play differently. It would not be Marik-like. Whinning is not the end game. Unfortuanately he found his match with Joey. His only luck was that Joey is still human.

[@rainbowdragon168]

@@dancorneanu9144 Yeah

[@blackcatbanonzai692]

Let this sink in: If Joey won against Marik, he would've gotten the most powerful Egyptian God at that time, he would've been better than anyone thanks to the sheer power of Ra, he could of been a fucking monster. OK WHERE'S A YUGIOH WHAT IF OF THIS?

[@Eric-py8yy]

Could be great

[@jsb6975.ah.crapbaskets]

Yeah, look at what he's done with the deck he already has. Give him something like Ra and he may never lose again.

[@blazelegend4602]

90% chance he couldn’t use ra though so it would have been an unplayable card in his deck

[@sjakierulez]

"he would've gotten" but later "he could of been" , so you know how it should be done

[@ssjgotenks2009]

no he wodo not jeoy cant reasd the text to summon ra he not pat of past or dos he use tiems so he cant contorl ra

[@Henry-rt6jz]

I did a little research on Plasma Eel's effect and according to the Yu-Gi-Oh wiki Page, any monster it's equipped to cannot be tributed, and that's why Joey had to use Graceful Dice on Plasma Eel first before summoning Gilford the Lightning.

[@smellycheeseanimeyes5911]

You see if he had “yu” in his first or last name he would have won, he just needed himself a simple name change

[@breakfaith3031]

joeyu wheelyu

[@wannabefriends9944]

@@breakfaith3031 I don’t why that made me laugh lol

[@LatinGiudo817]

Yuma (with his 18k losses): "Am I a joke to you?......Actually, don't answer that"

[@naos8116]

@@LatinGiudo817 Yuma's losses drastically go down over the series to be fair. Because in a similar way to Jaden, he stops playing for fun, but plays to win and survive. After a certain point, he only loses when his spirit is broken or against Kite. He manages to even defeat Astral.

[@PathBeyondTheDark]

Fun fact: regardless of optimization, the outcomes of all of Marik's duels aside from Bakura favored his opponent based solely on how they went (but its Bakura, he never wins). We know Joey would have won if he could have declared an attack and Atem just kinda embarrassed him really with how easily he stopped Ra each time. But Mai would have also won had she simply attacked with her 3 Harpie Lady instead of tributing them for Ra. It wasn't in contention since Marik had a completely open field and Mai nothing to worry about except the only real known hand trap at the time, Kuriboh (but even then, its hand effect did not become canon until Atem used it on Kaiba).

[@Eric6761]

Man it makes me think: does marik made a deck specialy for torture instead of playability

[@KillerBlaze]

Yeah, without the power of fake Ra effects and shadow game gimmicks, Marik wouldn’t have been a threat really

[@afish2281]

To be fair: how was Mai supposed to know about sphere mode? To her, Ra was just an incredibly strong monster.

[@Eric6761]

@@afish2281 technicaly Marik should been disqualified for actually having his own card effects vague

[@DarkSymphony777]

​@@Eric6761 to be fair. Every card effect is vague in the anime until "my card actually does this!"

[@Flaris]

It's understandable that Joey was stressed and made a few misplays. But not playing Jinzo when he had the chance really was brutal. His advantage would have been overwhelming.

[@logicallgaming]

We all know the top 10 reasons Joey lost: 1. Plot 2. Plot 3. Plot 4. Plot 5. Plot 6. Plot 7. Plot 8. Plot 9. Plot 10. Plot

[@legendarylancers7446]

Thank you!

[@grandwarriorwaluigi1284]

True

[@ClawWitzer]

You could say the same about any non-protagonist or antagonist.

[@legendarylancers7446]

@@ClawWitzer not really

[@ClawWitzer]

@@legendarylancers7446 Give me one example.

[@shadowking66666]

Can we just give props to Joey this guy has like no magic powers and he goes up against a lot and he should’ve won that one

[@NinjaLobsterStudios]

I absolutely love the line delivery by Yami Marik at 0:29. The entire duel he was toying with Joey, making misplay after misplay knowing Joey cannot possibly win. And then he makes a genuine mistake: he underestimates Joey's constitution and completely loses his cool (for the first time this season, I think).

[@s3n0raw3s0meness]

Joey probably had everything Marik has done throughout the arc in the back of his head psyching himself out. Considering Joey's deck is very change heavy he wasn't equipped for a conservative play style

[@heroboygamebase2286]

@@s3n0raw3s0meness Joey's unfair lost is heartbreaking to watch.

[@digitaladventurer2142]

Honestly no, at least not legitametly. He was confident Joey would die from Ra's attack and he would be declared the winner due to Joey being unable to continue. He had nothing left on his field or in his hand and knew Ra would leave the field after it destroyed Gilford so he clearly had no plan for after that turn which showed when he started freaking out when Joey was able to keep going

[@jamesfurber1099]

Winning because your opponent misplayed doesn't make a win 'not legitimate'. I'm into MtG, not Yugioh, but there have been pro level championships decided because of misplays.

[@TheJezryk]

@@jamesfurber1099 Once players are of roughly equal skill most games are decided by misplays, regardless of the specific card game you play. Capitalizing on your opponents mistake is a legitimate way to win a duel. So I agree wholeheartedly.

[@Eric-py8yy]

Marik didn't had any cards on the hand and he just could watch his defeat

[@digitaladventurer2142]

Did he swap the title or something? I could have sworn it was orignally "Was Marik about to defeat Joey?" or "Was Marik about to lose to Joey?" Thats why I phrased my answer that way.

[@fictionschmiction4478]

To add some more context to the sheer amount of damage Joey tanked, keep in mind this is RA. It dwarfs Yubel, a being who could destroy 12 universes. Joey survived an attack that could wipe out creation! Kudos to my boy.

[@silver_shu]

This is literally my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh channel

[@animeproduction401]

What about Dylan from Yu-GI-Oh everything?

[@silver_shu]

@@animeproduction401 he to sorry there also duel links meta

[@ronaldcross4895]

Same

[@ZoroarkLover98]

Same nwn

[@federicomacias1946]

@@animeproduction401 he has the best 5ds content imo

[@ClawWitzer]

Everybody saying that "Joey deserved to win, this loss was stupid" seems to forget that the exact same thing happened in Joey vs. Odion to Joey's advantage.

[@daraghokane4236]

Joey was outclassed in that duel and even said you faught fair if he didn't try to be marok he would have won easy

[@solidzack]

Now that you say it, all 3 losses from Odion, Mai and Joey were losses, where they basically won if it wasn't for one dumb decision in the end and/or the shenanigans of a shadow duel.

[@gushernandez4324]

I agree with you. I remember when Marik beat Joey, I was like damn but its fair Joey should have lost to Odion.

[@firepuppies4086]

It was practically Deus X Machina.

[@Deathmare235]

@Narciso the Salad Joey lost cause of Marik’s strategy using the power of the shadow games after Ra

[@jamjam445]

Marik's realization that he was about to lose this duel is one of my all time favorite anime moments. The first time we ever see him fearful. It gives me goosebumps.

[@CodeNameTheGamerFoo]

I would like to see a Joey vs valon break down, immediately followed with the Joey vs mai one. That duel with valon was so freaking cool when I saw it

[@garycarstens3534]

One of my all time favourites!

[@Latino-Gamer]

I still want a "What if... ?" story where Joey wins and goes to the finals with Ra.

[@megasora4]

honestly a what if might be cool. but i can only seeing it go two ways, 1: marik possess joeys mind during the duel between him and yugi. 2: marik steals ra back and takes joeys place due to joey not being able to physically duel. Option 1 is done already early on, so would just retread ground, and option 2 does not change the outcome much other then giving joey the win. No matter what, yugi needs to fight marik for the plot, as mariks goal is yamis power. i personally think its more disrespectful to our boi in the end to give him said win and make it not matter.

[@teammystic4life38]

My man gets burned by a literal god and is still standing, just long to nearly win the duel. Mad respect

[@wesleyevans2981]

In the anime, Graverobber lets you take any card from your opponent's graveyard. He used this to combo with Foolish Burial in the fight with Odion

[@LightingbladeShen]

Marik plays burn Joey has Jinzo this is what would have been better: Joey walks over, Marik is confused, Joey reads card of hell poemer, marik is shocked Joey summons jinzo, Joey wins

[@griffingower1883]

Helpoemer not hell poemer

[@nightshroud9671]

@@griffingower1883 I believed its spelled Hell Poemer like that in the OCG version.

[@Eric-py8yy]

Read what? The old cards were just the artwork and the monster stats

[@LightingbladeShen]

@@Eric-py8yy the Japanese cards werent

[@Aramyx]

Joey couldn't just sacrifice his monsters to summon Gilford because the lava eels prevented that, that's why he needed to destroy them before sacrificing them.

[@redxzone2439]

Small nod to the animators but I love how Gearfried shatters rather than just fading away.

[@maxsteelflex]

Joey lost due to ring side interference...Change my mind. (Serenity rushed in, which broke Joey's balance and concentration thus toppling him over. Think about it.)

[@RodimusMinor1987]

Surely his sisters voice should have given him the strength to win

[@maxsteelflex]

@@RodimusMinor1987 XD, but he got a concussion her voice would fall on death ears. She should've delayed and extra 2 seconds.

[@ManaLeak13]

In this duel only he evolved from a 3rd rate duelst to a top one. His deck was still 4rth rate shit though. It became slightly better in the following arks .

[@MASTERSOT]

if you see the japanese version (where it is not as censored as in English) the duel actually affects Marik as well, as when Joey (Jonouchi) attacked him with the Rocket Warrior, Marik was about to throw up, the difference though is that while Marik is definitely enjoying it he also has 2 Millennium Items in his possession of (Millennium Rod and Millennium Ring) which, as you know, the Millennium Items increase and replenish faster the overall strength and endurance of their owner, while Joey (something that even made Kaiba recognize him as a duelist) was quite overwhelming odds against him, he was able to hold on and take on the most powerful Egyptian god (in the Anime at least 😝) in a game of shadows.

[@NickWuebker]

I think, a little later in the 3rd season, Joey could've beat Kaiba had he not walked into one of the most busted traps in Yu-Gi-Oh history: Crush Card Virus.

[@griffingower1883]

Busted in the anime you mean

[@NickWuebker]

@@griffingower1883 Crush Card Virus bailed Kaiba out in the bronze medal match. If Joey gets Jinzo on the field before Seto can activate Crush Card Virus, Seto is screwed.

[@Nephalem2002]

Literally, Should have given Joey the win in this Duel.

[@whiterabbit8243]

@@NickWuebker seto can crush jinzo with blue eyes ultimate dragon

[@NickWuebker]

@@whiterabbit8243 But can he get it on the field before Joey takes all his lifepioints with Jinzo.

[@gustavoramos942]

Yami Marik was still a good guy: he didn't take Joey's Time Wizard (his rarest card) upon winning, or Mai's Harpie's Dragon....Yami Marik is merciful :)

[@gustavoramos942]

@@federicomacias1946 yugi took obelisk from kaiba, and Ra from Marik when he beat them

[@themerchantinblack6157]

maybe because torture them to the point of death was enough for him not to take their cards.

[@itachi-kun7736]

@@themerchantinblack6157 Marik didn't took any of Mai's card too

[@LatinGiudo817]

Cause their souls were more valuable to him. He also didn't take Bakura's Dark Necrofear or Destiny Board cards, just his Millenium item.

[@kidomni5283]

He also didn’t send Joey’s soul to the Shadow Realm which genuinely surprised me, given the shadow game and all.

[@triaina_]

If u can deal with the pain of sacred fire of an Egyptian god for even a second u deserve the win instantly

[@metalxmecha567]

For a long time Joey was always that “alright” guy even when it was just Yugi vs Kaiba, Kaiba always saw that Joey had it in him but at the time he just wasn’t that duelist that could go head-to-head with him. Then with Marik making his introduction, suddenly the big 2 turnt into the Big 3. During this battle I feel like it showcased how much Joey grew expeditiously throughout the tournament & with Marik being the final clear he was semi-able to reach a level of dueling that not even Kaiba nor Yugi could’ve imagined he had within him since Marik was stronger than the both of them at this time.

[@slospop1125]

Marik was really worried at the end of the duel, also can anybody just imagine Joey using the Wing Dragon of Ra against Yugi?

[@kendrickfisher9319]

He can't marik even states this after the Joey's first duel

[@TheLikenessOfNormal]

@@kendrickfisher9319 I think that was more meant to be a surface judgement about the worthiness of Joey and calling him pathetic, cause that's what everyone does to poor Joey. I'm pretty sure if his worthiness had been proven by besting Ra's chosen master it would've answered to him.

[@solidsnakeisme]

This was more proof that Joey was easily the best, most talented duelist in the entire series. He not only went toe to toe with the strongest card in the entire game but he also defeated it. Joey had at best a mid tier deck and regularly beat the best duelists in the world. He did that without a cheat device like one of the many millennium items.

[@trentonalbers3981]

It’s so heartbreaking that Joey lost that duel. Also heartbreaking that he lost to Kaiba.

[@SegaForce]

Joey: I passed out during a shadow game but at least I played my best. TSGAnime: Did you tho?

[@Yusis-o7d]

It truly is a crime that Joey didn't win Ra off of Marik! Even if Yugi/Atem would've been the ones to properly finish Marik later, Joey wielding Ra in a final duel against Yugi, letting him show off how far he'd come and how much he'd grown, would've been absolutely peak! Plus the thought of Joey reciting Ra's chant from memory, in all his Brooklyn swagger, is absolutely hilarious!

[@OjOllie]

Joey has always been my favorite character, he’s so wholesome. In the manga, he fought someone because they stole his shoes😭My boy was fighting in his socks

[@anthonyhenderson3625]

And he wanted to duel marik as revenge for what he did to her and him

[@grumboflipflorp5688]

Crouching sketchers, hidden black air forces

[@sungod9797]

If Joey had won here, the Yugi vs Joey duel at the end of the season that was never shown (where some fans like to pretend that Joey defeats Atem and wins back Red Eyes Black Dragon…) would have instead taken place in the final duel of battle city. Also kaiba would’ve been very pissed since that means Joey would’ve done better than himself… in Kaiba’s own tournament. Or maybe Joey would’ve died (or knocked unconscious or whatever in the dub) immediately after winning… and if he didn’t wake up, Yugi would’ve automatically won the finals of battle city by disqualification, and maybe even been given Ra from Joey (who won it from Malik) via this “victory.” That’s kind of weird to think about lol. In any case, if Joey had returned to full health during the Yugi vs Kaiba duel like he did in the events of the show… Joey wouldn’t have been able to summon Ra (due to his lack of knowledge of hieratic text, and also due to him having no connection to the millennium items or ancient Egypt), so it would be Yugi with two gods against Joey with an unusable Ra lol. Kind of a mismatch.

[@ssjgotenks2009]

jeoy cant beat atem joey wood lsoe to the the god cards atme jsut give joey back has card and if jeoy had win then kaiba wont sya atem is steel king of games yet he did sya he is

[@dustinvance243]

It's not really pretending when we have direct confirmation from the writers (R.I.P. Kazuki Takahashi) That this IS what happened.

[@Ramona122003]

@@dustinvance243 That was never confirmed by Takahashi. If so, please cite a source.

[@dustinvance243]

@@Ramona122003 i remember reading it in one of those old Becket Yugioh magazines. Even if you don't want to count those, the fact that Joey has Red-eyes in the episodes following it proves that he did get it back. And we know he didn't just get another copy either because if that were the case, then Yugi would still have it in his deck and we never see him play it outside of battle city. And before anyone says "well maybe he just chose not to run it since it isn't good for his deck" he still runs Summoned Skull and if he had Red-eyes, he could fuse them for Black skull dragon which is better than running gaia and curse of dragon for gaia the dragon champion and he still uses those.

[@Ramona122003]

@@dustinvance243 "the fact that Joey has Red-eyes in the episodes following it proves that he did get it back." It actually doesn't since the condition of him getting his Red-Eyes was never that he had to beat Atem. Only that he had to prove himself as a 'true duelist'. And using the anime, when Joey offered to duel Atem in the Battle Ritual, everyone stats that Atem would cream Joey and neither Joey nor Yugi rebutted this. In the manga, Joey outright tells Yugi that only he could face Atem and it's more or less implied that only Yugi has beating Atem in a fair duel, aka taking his sword. Also, in the manga Atem stopped running Summoned Skull after Duelist Kingdom.

[@phillip1052]

I remember watching this as a kid and it brought me to tears, Joey was always my favorite and forever will be

[@javierespinozacota6467]

I can imagine an alternative world where Joey won, and down the line we got a red-eyes retrain of Ra.

[@ZenoDLC]

Red-Eyes Solar Dragon

[@CornaOnTheCob]

@@ZenoDLC How about Red-Eyes Blaze Dragon? Ra's attack name is Blaze Cannon.

[@BasiliskenWrestlingFan]

Red-Eyes Dragoon of Ra 🤔😱😍

[@danortiz]

Mega Ultra Chicken

[@rory.cochrane]

In my eyes joey will always be the winner of this duel writers robber him and yugi of the championship rematch

[@heroboygamebase2286]

@@rory.cochrane The lost was cruel and unfair.

[@dely9999]

This is one of the best Fights in ANIME HISTORY not only from Yugioh cuz one of the MC friends defeated the Main Antagonist of that arc cuz techincally he had the Duel

[@Divock]

I fuckin love this duel, probably one of my favorites of any anime duel. Great premise, cool cards, and really tense. The fact that it almost sells you on the fact that Joey could've actually won is great, and I think the misplays are key to the duel being as good as it was.

[@darkknight5541]

Just imagine if Joey had managed to declare his attack, only for Marik to pull out Kuriboh or something.

[@LatinGiudo817]

"From my hand, I activate Negate Attack"

[@megasora4]

"I activates ra's 4th hidden effect from the graveyard! if i have no cards in my hand or on the field, and my opponent declares an attack, i can summon it to the field in attack mode!" Not that it has that effect, but i can see them adding it in anime only.

[@jordandillardthememeboi]

I know they had Joey lose so Yugi could eventually fight Marik but that ending was pretty upsetting. If he would have said "Attack his LP directly and it succeed then collapsed it most likely would have been really different

[@heroboygamebase2286]

@@jordandillardthememeboi It was infuriating how unfair his lost was.

[@victorleppas3067]

When you think joey may battle yugi in finale with Râ, Jinzo and Gilford... Who don't want to see this duel ?

[@HalfDemonInuyasha]

Unfortunately, Ra would be useless to Joey, as cool as it would be to see - the same problem Mai had in that Joey wouldn't be able to read the Hieratic text on Ra in order to unlock him from Sphere Mode or use his effects if Special Summoned from the Graveyard and whatnot.

[@victorleppas3067]

@@HalfDemonInuyasha yes, but imagine if joey remember the song of Râ and his effects, I know it's stupid but not more than shadow ream XD

[@HalfDemonInuyasha]

@@victorleppas3067 Only the dub has them actually saying English (or "Japanese") words. The original sub has them actually chanting a foreign language that I doubt Joey would be able to remember, lol. If anything, he'd try to copy it and end up using some other secret of Ra or end up doing something stupid, lol.

[@victorleppas3067]

@@HalfDemonInuyasha that will be fun, imagine the dragon of Râ look at Joey because he don't understand what Joey say XD

[@solidzack]

Imagine Jinzo, Insect Queen, The legendary Fisherman, Gilford the Lightning and The Winged Dragon of Ra, all in the same deck. Because consistency is overrated