Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 033

Best of Friends, Best of Duelists - Part 1, known as Duel of Friendship - Yugi vs. Jonouchi (Part 1) in the Japanese version, is the thirty-third episode of Yu-Gi-Oh!. It aired in Japan on December 5, 2000, and in the US on September 14, 2002.

Summary
It is the final match of the Duelist Kingdom finals. Yugi Muto faces Joey Wheeler and whoever wins will face Maximillion Pegasus afterwards. This is a really tough Duel for both Duelists, as they are both close friends, but must face each other to get what they want (Yugi the chance to Duel Pegasus and save his grandpa, Solomon Muto, and the Kaiba brothers. Joey the chance to win the prize money needed to pay for Serenity's eye operation). Tea and Tristan are upset about them having to Duel each other like this. Joey and Yugi fight their hardest, each turn destroying each other's monsters and lowering each other's Life Points.

Joey gets the upper hand by using Copycat as Polymerization, fusing his Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Yugi's Summoned Skull which he took with Graverobber to Fusion Summon the Black Skull Dragon. It destroys Yugi's Gaia the Dragon Champion, one of his strongest cards, and leaves him with just 550 Life Points. Joey still has 750. Who will win this Duel of friendship, Yugi or Joey?

Featured Duel: Yami Yugi vs. Joey Wheeler - Part 1
Yami's turn

Yami Normal Summons "Celtic Guardian in Attack Position (1400 ATK / 1200 DEF).

Joey's turn

Joey Normal Summons "Giltia the D. Knight" in Attack Position (1850 ATK / 1500 DEF). "Giltia the D. Knight" attacks then destroys "Celtic Guardian" (Yami: 2000 → 1550 Life Points). (NOTE: Giltia the D. Knight is a Fusion Monster).

Yami's turn

Yami Normal Summons "Gaia the Fierce Knight" in Attack Position (2300 ATK / 2100 DEF). "Gaia the Fierce Knight" attacks then destroys "Giltia the D. Knight" (Joey: 2000 → 1550 Life Points).

Joey's turn

Joey Normal Summons "Armored Lizard" in Defense Position (1500 ATK / 1200).

Yami's turn

Yami Normal Summons "Summoned Skull" in Attack Position (2500 ATK / 1200 DEF). "Summoned Skull" attacks then destroys "Armored Lizard".

Joey's turn

Joey Normal Summons Flame Swordsman in Attack Position then activates Magic Card "Shield & Sword" to switch the ATK and DEF of every monster on the Playing Field ("Flame Swordsman": 1800 → 1600 ATK / 1600 → 1800 DEF) (Summoned Skull: 2500 → 1200 ATK / 1200 → 2500 DEF). "Flame Swordsman" attacks then destroys "Summoned Skull" (Yami: 1550 → 1150 Life Points).

Yami's turn

Yami Normal Summons "Curse of Dragon" in Attack Position (2000 ATK / 1500 DEF) then activates "Polymerization". He sends "Gaia the Fierce Knight" and "Curse of Dragon" to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon "Gaia the Dragon Champion" in Attack Position (2600 ATK / 2100 DEF). "Gaia the Dragon Champion" attacks then destroys "Flame Swordsman" (Joey: 1550 → 750 Life Points).

Joey's turn

Joey Normal Summons "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" in Attack Position (2400 ATK / 2000 DEF) then activates Graverobber to Special Summon "Summoned Skull" to his side of the field in Attack Position (NOTE: The real-life effect of Graverobber lets you select 1 Spell Card from your opponent's Graveyard for 1 turn. But if you activate the selected Spell Card you will take 2000 points of damage). He then activates "Copycat" to copy "Polymerization". He sends "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" and "Summoned Skull" to the Graveyard to Fusion Summon the "Black Skull Dragon" in Attack Position (3200 ATK / 2500 DEF). "Black Skull Dragon" attacks then destroys "Gaia the Dragon Champion" (Yami: 1150 → 550 Life Points).

Duel concludes next episode.