Signature card

A signature card is a card most associated with a Duelist, and tends to be used in a majority of their Duels. Duelists may have more than one signature card. They might have a connection and the Duelist may value it. Signature cards tend to be Monster Cards and to have alternate artworks in the OCG and TCG. In some cases, signature cards are created by their owners and/or only one copy of them exist in the anime like "Elemental Hero Neos" and the "Numbers".

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, they tend to be Synchro Monsters and in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, they tend to be Xyz Monsters. Signature Monster Cards may also be called Ace Monsters.

Some video games have a similar concept known as a Key Card, in which the player selects a certain card as their "ace". Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses has "Deck Leaders".

Trivia

 * Every primary signature card for every main protagonist in the series share the same amount of ATK: 2500.
 * With the exception of Yugi Muto's "Dark Magician", every protagonist's primary signature cards share the same amount of DEF: 2000.
 * Every primary signature card for every main protagonist's rival in the series share the same amount of ATK: 3000.
 * With the exception of Declan Akaba's "D/D/D Doom King Armageddon", all rival signature cards have been Dragon-Type and share the same amount of DEF: 2000 ("Armed Dragon LV10" and "Red Dragon Archfiend") or 2500 ("Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon").