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"Best of Friends, Best of Duelists, Part 1", known as "Finals of Friendship! - Yuugi vs. Jounouchi (Part 1)" in the Japanese version and "The Final Tournament of Friendship (Part 1)" in the Odex dub, is the thirty-third episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! second series anime. It first aired in Japan on December 5, 2000 and in the United States 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 best 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). Téa 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 via "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[]

Turn 1: Yami Yugi
Yugi draws. He then Normal Summons "Celtic Guardian" (1400/1200) in Attack Position.

Turn 2: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Giltia the D. Knight" (1850/1500) in Attack Position. "Giltia the D. Knight" attacks and destroys "Celtic Guardian" (Yugi: 2000 → 1550 LP).

Turn 3: Yami Yugi
Yugi draws. He then Normal Summons "Gaia The Fierce Knight" (2300/2100) in Attack Position. "Gaia The Fierce Knight" attacks and destroys "Giltia the D. Knight" (Joey: 2000 → 1550 LP).

Turn 4: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Armored Lizard" (1500/1200) in Defense Position.

Turn 5: Yami Yugi
Yugi draws. He then Normal Summons "Summoned Skull" (2500/1200) in Attack Position. "Summoned Skull" attacks and destroys "Armored Lizard".

Turn 6: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Flame Swordsman" (1800/1600) in Attack Position. Joey then activates "Shield & Sword" to switch the ATK and DEF of every monster on the field ("Flame Swordsman": 1800 → 1600/1600 → 1800, "Summoned Skull": 2500 → 1200/1200 → 2500, "Gaia The Fierce Knight": 2300 → 2100/2100 → 2300). "Flame Swordsman" attacks and destroys "Summoned Skull" (Yugi: 1550 → 1150 LP). On Joey's End Phase, the effect of "Shield & Sword" expires ("Flame Swordsman": 1600 → 1800/1800 → 1600, "Gaia The Fierce Knight": 2100 → 2300/2300 → 2100).

Turn 7: Yami Yugi
Yugi draws. He then Normal Summons "Curse of Dragon" (2000/1500) in Attack Position. He then activates "Polymerization", fusing "Gaia The Fierce Knight" with "Curse of Dragon" to Fusion Summon "Gaia the Dragon Champion" (2600/2100) in Attack Position. "Gaia the Dragon Champion" attacks and destroys "Flame Swordsman" (Joey: 1550 → 750 LP).

Turn 8: Joey
Joey's hand contains "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", "Graverobber", "Kunai with Chain" and "Garoozis". Joey draws "Copycat". He then Normal Summons "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" (2400/2000) in Attack Position. Joey then activates "Graverobber" to steal "Summoned Skull" from Yugi's Graveyard and revive it under his control (2500/1200) in Attack Position. Joey then activates "Copycat" to copy the effect of "Polymerization", allowing Joey to fuse "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" with "Summoned Skull" and Fusion Summon "Black Skull Dragon" (3200/2500) in Attack Position. "Black Skull Dragon" attacks and destroys "Gaia the Dragon Champion" (Yugi: 1150 → 550 LP).

Duel continues in the next episode.

Differences in adaptations[]

  • Just before the Duel starts, flashbacks of Joey and Yugi together are added to the English version with "No Matter What" playing, whilst the Japanese version just shows Croquet telling the duelists to begin and an overhead shot of the Duel field.
  • Cut from the dub is a long sequence of first staring with a pan across the Duel field, then Yugi asking Joey what he is going to do next, following with Joey then staring at his hand wondering what he can do to defeat "Gaia the Dragon Champion" since his strongest monster is "Red-Eyes Black Dragon".
  • Interestingly, in the original manga, this duel does not occur because Pegasus reads the minds of Joey and Yugi and decides against having the finals as the two are friends.

Mistakes[]

  • There is an error on the VHS release. The sixth and seven turns of the Duel are skipped during the scene transition, making "Gaia the Dragon Champion" appear and "Summoned Skull" be in the Graveyard already.

Featured cards[]

The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.



Flashbacks
Other



Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 This card was played as a Normal Monster. It is a Fusion Monster in the TCG/OCG.
  2. 2.0 2.1 This card was seen in Joey's hand.
  3. This card was played as a Magic Card. It is an Effect Monster in the TCG/OCG.
  4. 4.0 4.1 This card was played as a Magic Card. It is an Trap Card in the TCG/OCG.
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