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Yu-Gi-Oh is one of the most celebrated manga and anime franchises of the last three decades. The original story of Yugi, Yami, Joey, Kaiba, and the others has become a classic, offering a lot of epic card duels that live in the memory of the fans that grew up during the show’s peak years. And while recent stories haven’t been as highly-regarded as those of yore, the card game is still very popular.
The Yu-Gi-Oh card game has become a cultural phenomenon in the anime community, with even international tournaments being held, and some cards fetching high prices. In that regard, here are eleven of the most expensive Yu-Gi-Oh, ranked by their rarity in the market.
Disclaimer: It is worth pointing out that the value of these cards can change from time to time based on many different factors, so these are their values as of this writing.
Cyber-Stein Shonen Jump Championship 2004 and 10 other most expensive Yu-Gi-Oh cards, ranked by their rarity
11) Exodia LOB 1st Edition ($8,000)
Exodia is not only one of the most prized Yu-Gi-Oh cards in the series but also outside of it. Being one of the first major cards of the franchise, and the fact that gathering all five cards of its body gives the holder instant victory, the first edition also has the added value of being extremely expensive due to how rare and popular it is.
In recent years, Exodia has been sold for as much as $8000, placing it eleventh on this list.
10) Cyber Dragon ($9,000)
Cyber Dragon is one of the few cards on this list that isn’t a part of the original Yu-Gi-Oh series but rather the GX edition. Regardless, it has gone on to become one of the most sought-after in the franchise, being worth about $9000, if recent sales are to be believed.
This price was a direct result of the 2022 Remote Duel Extravaganza, where the card was being sold and the asking price from the seller in question was around $9000, thus putting it in tenth place on this list.
9) Red-Eyes Black Dragon LOB 1st Edition ($10,600)
The Red-Eyes Black Dragon was one of the most popular and known cards in the original Yu-Gi-Oh series and for a good reason! Joey Wheeler’s signature card was strong, had a very cool image, and was one of those that also had an emotional background that made it very dear to Yugi’s best friend.
More than twenty years after its original publication, the first edition of the card is still highly sought-after, and it has been sold for about $10,600 back in 2021, which goes to show how much fans love this card and how rare it is in the current market.
8) Morphing Jar Tournament Pack: Season 2 promotional edition ($15,000)
Anyone that has played the Yu-Gi-Oh knows how useful the Morphing Jar can be, which is why it often becomes a key part in a lot of players’ decks. In that regard, it also made a lot of sense that the 2002 promotional edition, which was made for the second season of the Tournament Pack and only released in certain locations, held a lot of value in the market.
By the time of a sale in 2021, a perfect mint condition of this card was sold for about $15,000, thus showing how valuable this one is for a lot of players worldwide.
7) Doomcaliber Knight Shonen Jump Championship 2008 ($15,300)
Perhaps one of the least known Yu-Gi-Oh cards for the general public on this list but by far one of the most valuable in the entire market. And this time it has nothing to do with the story or the rarity of the first edition, but rather with the context of the card itself.
Doomcaliber Knight was handed to the winners of the Shonen Jump Championships, so that alone says a lot about the value it has. And in terms of pricing, it has been sold for $15,300, and that without being graded PSA 10, which is a rarity for this list.
6) Blue-Eyes White Dragon Dark Duel Stories promo ($25,100)
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is an institution of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise and enough cannot be said about it. One could argue that it is the most well-known and widely used card in the entire series. And Seto Kaiba’s signature card has had some very valuable versions in the market, with this one being the first on this list.
Back when the Yu-Gi-Oh: Dark Duel Stories videogame was released, the people in charge put six special editions of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, aptly titled Prismatic Secret Rare. There have been a couple of prismatic versions of this card over the years, but this one is usually among the most rated and the market seems to agree because it was sold in an auction for $25,1000 in February 2021.
5) Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth Dark Duel Stories promo ($30,000)
This one is a very similar case to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the previous post, but this Great Moth has another degree of rarity due to the context. While the Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a highly sought-after card, there have been a lot of special editions due to its popularity, but there haven’t been of this one, therefore giving this promo version a lot of demand in the market.
It was also released as part of the Dark Duel Stories videogame, thus becoming one of those very rare cards out there. It is also one of the four only gem mint cards in the entire world, thus making its $30,000 value in the market all the more noticeable within the Yu-Gi-Oh community.
4) Cyber-Stein Shonen Jump Championship 2004 ($30,100)
The tweet above pretty much says it all. The Cyber-Stein card was one of the rarest among Yu-Gi-Oh cards and it was given as a prize to the winner of the 2004 and 2005 editions of the Shonen Jump Championship, thus cementing its value and relevance as one of the most important cards that can be obtained in the market.
Originally, there were just 18 copies in the world, but they produced 126 more for a promotional event in 2009, bringing the total to 144 copies as of this writing. It is definitely one of the rarest and most valuable in the entire world despite not being a very prominent card in the anime adaptation or the manga.
3) Crush Card Virus Shonen Jump Championship 2007 ($50,000)
This isn’t the most popular of cards out there or the most useful during the game. Its value lies in its rarity. Given as a prize for the 2007 edition of the Shonen Jump Championship, there are only 42 copies in the entire world, thus becoming one of the rarest Yu-Gi-Oh in existence at the moment. This has made it so valuable that it was reported that one of its copies was sold for $50,000 on eBay in June 2020.
Perhaps a lot of people didn’t expect this card to be this valuable but it is and by a large margin.
2) Blue-Eyes White Dragon LOB 1st Edition ($85,000)
There was no other way around it. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon is such a sought-after card that two editions feature on this list. That’s how valuable it is.
This one in particular is a first edition of the original copies, thus becoming one of the most valuable in the entire world, at least as of this writing. It was sold for $85,000 in an auction back in October 2020.
1) Tyler the Great Warrior ($311,211)
Tyler the Great Warrior is the rarest Yu-Gi-Oh card, and it was sold for $311,211 in 2023 after being created in 2005, making it the most expensive card of all time.
The story behind this card is quite tender as it was created and designed by Tyler Gressle, a young boy that was dealing with liver cancer and, as a result of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, was given the chance to create his own Yu-Gi-Oh card. Fortunately, he is alive to this very day and was the one that sold the card at the aforementioned price.
Final thoughts
Yu-Gi-Oh has become a cultural phenomenon with a lot of reach all over the world and its card game is the main reason for that. The game has made a lot of people connect, build bonds, and simply enjoy something they have been doing since they were kids. Truth be told, very few anime and manga franchises have made the kind of impact that Yu-Gi-Oh has had.
