The very first Yu-Gi-Oh set to be released was The Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon, in which came a card of the same name that is perhaps more iconic than Yu-Gi-Oh itself. It’s been around two decades since that pack first released, and boy have we seen some iconic dragons since then. From Yusei Fudo’s Stardust Dragon to the modern day link monsters like Borreload Dragon, Yu-Gi-Oh has always been a game for badass dragons. But with over 600 dragons in the game (and plenty more on the way), which cards are the ones worth playing? In this list we’ll break down some of the most powerful dragon monsters in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, so you’ll know exactly which ones to play in your next deck.
15. Five-Headed Dragon
Here’s a classic dragon from the old school days of Yu-Gi-Oh. While Five-Headed Dragon may not be a competitive staple, it’s certainly one of the most powerful dragons out there. With 5000 attack, this guy is a game finisher. If your opponent doesn’t have an answer to this card’s attack, then they might be as good as dead (assuming you can get this guy onto the field). Five-Headed Dragon even comes with an effect protecting it in battle against Dark, Earth, Water, Wind, or Fire monsters. If you ask me though, I don’t think there are many monsters that would stand a chance against this guy anyways… The major drawback to Five-Headed Dragon is that it requires 5 whole dragons to fusion summon, which is pretty resource heavy. With cards like Dragon Mirror this isn’t impossible to pull off, but you’ll definitely need a few spare dragons lying around.
14. Judgement Dragon
This is a dragon monster solely for the Lightsworn archetype, and it is definitely the best monster in their arsenal. Not only can you special summon this card for free as long as you have enough Lightsworn monsters in your graveyard, but you can also pay a mere 1000 life points to destroy every other card on the field! This’ll leave your opponent entirely defenseless, taking a minimum of 2800 straight to the face. But during that end phase you then have to send the top 4 cards from your deck to the graveyard. While this may sound like a harsh cost, it’s actually a huge benefit for Lightsworn decks. Reason being that Lightsworn monsters have many effects that activate when they’re sent to the graveyard, so this ability actually helps you activate some of your strongest cards.
13. Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon
This is one of the many extra deck variants of BEWD. Blue-Eyes is a great card, don’t get me wrong. I mean, 3000 attack is never something to look down on! But in Modern Yu-Gi-Oh, having big stats isn’t enough. You need your monsters to have effects that are just as strong. Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon is a level 9 synchro, meaning all you need to summon this card is a Blue-Eyes White Dragon and a level 1 tuner (which Blue Eyes decks are absolutely full of). And when it’s synchro summoned, Azure-Eyes provides all your dragons with protection from card effects, leaving you safe to summon as many dragons as you like. On top of that, you can also bring back one normal monster from the graveyard every single turn. This means you can bring back the Blue-Eyes you used to summon this guy almost immediately. Pretty helpful.
12. First of the Dragons
If your opponent isn’t suspecting this guy, then First of the Dragons can be game winning all by itself. First off, this card is completely indestructible to effect monsters – it can only be destroyed in battle by a normal monster. The odds of your opponent actually running any normal monsters is slim to none, let alone any normal monsters powerful enough to beat this guy. Your opponent will have to use their spells and traps to get rid of this dragon, which is definitely doable. But if they don’t have that? Well, the game could easily be yours.
11. Guardragon Elpy
While a 1000 attack dragon doesn’t seem like a candidate for the “most powerful dragons” list, Guardragon Elpy’s effect makes it one of the most powerful dragons you could run. Here’s what it does: While two link monsters point to an empty zone, you can special summon any dragon monster from your hand or deck to that zone. This opens you up to so many different options. You could bring out some big beater dragon like Blue-Eyes, or bring out the exact combo pieces you need to complete whatever strategy you’re going for. With cards like this, it’s no wonder we’re seeing Dragons back in the meta.
10. Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons
The general strategy of Yu-Gi-Oh is to bring out bigger monsters than your opponent. It’s a strategy we all know and love. Well Beelze turns this strategy right on its head and can actually make having a big monster a huge disadvantage. Basically, if your opponent has a monster bigger than Beelze, all you need to do is attack it with this card and your attack stat will be an equal match! This makes running over Beelze impossible by battle – since this guy’s attack can just keep going up. The sky’s the limit with this card.
9. Black Rose Dragon
Black Rose Dragon is a bomb that you can summon whenever you like. Here’s how it works: When it’s synchro summoned, you can destroy every single card on the field all at once. This is fantastic for removing multiple threats at the same time. You’ll be able to destroy all possible field threads: spells, traps, face-up & face-down monsters, you name it. This leaves your opponent entirely defenseless, and leaves you free to attack them directly.
8. Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon
Sorry Joey, but this is without a shadow of a doubt the best Red-Eyes dragon monster out there. The cost to summon this is a single Dragon monster being banished – making this barely a tribute summon at all! Seriously, if there was a one-tribute 2800 attack monster back in the day, it probably would have been banned… But it gets even better. While Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon is on the field, you can special summon a dragon from your hand or graveyard once per turn. So this is just a Monster Reborn with an attack stat. How could you say no to that?
7. Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend
If you’ve watched then anime then you might notice that it’s not just the original series characters getting an upgrade to their signature monsters these days. Red Dragon Archfiend was the boss monster of Jack Atlas from Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds. And like all of the other boss monster upgrades, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend beats the original in every way, shape & form. This card can destroy all special summoned effect monsters with less than 3000 attack, which is basically most monsters! And this effect will then burn your opponent for 500 damage for every single card destroyed. If the burn doesn’t finish them off, then maybe the 3000 attack stat might help you take the W.
6. Chaos Dragon Levianeer
Chaos monsters have been one of the most powerful type in all of Yu-Gi-Oh, and Chaos Dragon Levianeer is the latest addition to this broken set of cards. Firstly, here’s how it’s summoned: you can banish 3 monsters (either Light, Dark, or a mix of the two) to summon this card. So it’s crazily easy to access if you run it in the right deck. And then you get different effects depending on what type of monster you banished, with each one helping your strategy in different ways. You can rip cards out of your opponent’s hand, destroy any 2 cards on the field, or bring back some of your most powerful monsters from the graveyard – the choice is yours.
5. Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Trishula is an insanely powerful synchro monster, and easily one of the best dragons in Yu-Gi-Oh. When it’s summoned, you can banish a card from your opponent’s hand, field, and graveyard. This is a fantastic piece of removal against any sort of threat – and it stops all sorts of strategies pretty quickly. But the main reason Trishula is so powerful is that it’s non-targeting removal. A lot of monsters in Modern Yu-Gi-Oh have some sort of effect saying they “can’t be targeted by card effects”. That kind of text can stop cards from being destroyed most of the time, but not with Trishula! So once you get this on the field, you can get rid of the most indestructible monsters your opponent might have.
4. Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay
In a format that’s still very much dominated by Link summoning, Fantastical Dragon Phantazmay is the perfect way to ensure your opponent won’t plow ahead & leave you in the dust. Because when your opponent link summons a monster, you can special summon this card from your hand. This gives you the perfect material to link summon on your own turn, also ensuring you can make some plays too. Plus, with Phantazmay out, you can draw cards equal to the number of link monsters your opponent controls & then shuffle back the same amount. Hand control is always a plus. Just be sure to keep a hold of those hand traps if you draw any.
3. Dark Armed Dragon
This card is ridiculously easy to summon – and back in its day, Dark Armed Dragon defined a whole format. By having 3 dark monsters in your graveyard, you can special summon this card for free. No banishing, no tributes, just summon it. It’s a 2800 attack monster! And that’s not all here. Once summoned, you can then banish a dark monster from your graveyard to target and destroy any card on the field. The crazy thing about this effect is that it isn’t once per turn in the slightest. Let’s say you have 3 dark monsters in your graveyard. Then you can destroy 3 cards all at once!
2. Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End
This card would absolutely be in the number 1 spot if it wasn’t for the errata. In case you aren’t caught up on this, errata is something not commonly done in Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s only when a card’s effect is changed permanently, usually changing the wording, or adding drawbacks to make certain cards more balanced. Originally Chaos Emperor Dragon didn’t have the clause that you “can’t use any other card this turn”. But it also was originally banned, so… The fact that this card had to be made worse to be playable again, just shows how powerful its effect is. With this card out, you can destroy every card on the field and hand, inflicting 300 points of damage for each one. If this doesn’t finish your opponent off, then they’ll have exactly one card to try and rebuild their board next turn. That’s no easy feat, even with one card combos!
1. Borreload Savage Dragon
This is easily the best dragon in Yu-Gi-Oh. You’ll be hard pressed to find a modern deck with dragons that doesn’t include this monster. Borreload Savage Dragon is a level 8 synchro, making it pretty easy to summon. All you need is two level 4 monsters, with one of those being a tuner – that’s it! Then when it’s summoned, you can target a link monster from your graveyard and equip it to this card. Borreload Savage Dragon then gains half of that monster’s attack, and gains the ability to negate as many times as it’s link rating. This means if you equip this card with, say, Borreload Dragon, then all of a sudden you’ve got a 4500 attack beast that can negate stuff 4 times over. Having that much negate power in a single card (which can also steamroll your opponent at the same time) will win you so many games.
