YuGiOh cards never usually fetch crazy money these days. You get those chase cards that push the $100 mark in the latest sets, but that’s about it.
For the most expensive cards ever, we need to go back in time. We need to take a trip down memory lane to YuGiOh sets of the past.
Today we’re going to explore some of the most expensive YuGiOh cards in the game’s history, and as a result, make our wallets cry.
For context, this list will be in USD. It will discuss graded cards only. If you own any of these cards and they’re not graded PSA 9 or above, they might not be worth as much shown.
Like me, it’ll probably make you wish you took better care of your cards as a kid.
15. Black Rose Dragon (Ghost Rare)
Ah yes, the Ghost Rare variant of Black Rose Dragon has made another list. And rightly so.
As well as its effect to nuke the whole board on summon, it also looks like a beautiful work of art worthy of being in a museum.
This is a special piece of YuGiOh history because it was one of the OG Synchro monsters. Everyone, at one point, had a Black Rose Dragon in their Extra Deck. It was the ultimate equaliser.
Fun Facts:
- Black Rose Dragon is the female counterpart to Joey Wheeler’s Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
- Black Rose Dragon was the first ‘Rose’ dragon released in the archetype.
- Black Rose Dragon is based on the design of a beautiful and deadly red rose.
Value:
$2,400
14. Monster Reborn (Ultra Rare 1st Edition)
Monster Reborn was one of the best cards in the game for a very long time. Eventually earning itself a place as one of the first ever cards on the Forbidden & Limited List in 2004.
It’s a card that Special Summons from either GY with no cost. For free. No reason. Just because.
Monster Reborn is potentially one of the most recognisable Spells in the game. It dates back to the first ever set and the original anime and remains iconic to this day.
I’ll never forget watching the YuGiOh anime as a kid and hearing Yugi shout “I activate Monster Reborn!”
Fun Facts:
- Monster Reborn was one of the first cards to be added to the F&L List in 2004.
- It got unbanned 6 years later in 2010 and remains at 1 copy today.
- It was first seen in the anime in Yugi Moto’s deck.
Value:
$2,700
13. Gaia The Fierce Knight (Ultra 1st Edition LOB)
In terms of power in the original days of YuGiOh, Gaia The Fierce Knight was a truly fierce card.
Everything about it screamed epic. A knight riding a horse that eventually fuses with a dragon. So cool.
What makes Gaia so special is the nostalgia surrounding it. Anything related to Yugi and his deck, or anything seen in the original anime, is going to be a special card in the hearts of true YuGiOh fans.
Gaia The Fierce Knight is among that list, and truly deserves its place as a rare and valuable relic in the game.
Fun Facts:
- According to Gaia’s flavour text, the horse he travels on is “faster than the wind”.
- Gaia got his own archetype that involved Curse of Dragon many years after its release.
- It was one of Yugi Moto’s ace cards.
Value:
$3,210
12. Dark Paladin (Ultra Rare 1st Edition)
Fusing Dark Magician with other cards was truly a genius move. A fan favourite card merging with other fan favourite cards. What’s not to love?
If you managed to get this card out back in the day, it truly was game over. Its effect, even today, is really, really good.
Discard 1 card to negate the activation of a Spell card. Insanity. If only it had a Fusion Spell that tutored it out of the deck for free. Fingers crossed.
The artwork for Dark Paladin is just so beautiful. It’s a pimped-out Dark Magician with Buster Blader armour. It doesn’t get much cooler than that.
Fun Facts:
- It was the first fusion of Dark Magician ever made.
- It was the first fusion of Dark Magician ever seen in the anime.
- It’s the counterpart to Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
Value:
$3,300
11. Cyber Dragon (Ultimate Rare)
Cyber Dragon was ahead of its time when it got released. A free Special Summon with 2100 attack. It was a card that showed true progression in the game’s power.
To this day, Cyber Dragon is one of the most popular archetypes going. The main reason being it was Zane Truesdale’s ace monster in the YuGiOh GX anime.
It was the OG ‘free Special Summon’ style of card. It has since been power crept by cards like Dinowrestler Pankratops and Kashtira Fenrir, etc, but never forget that Cyber Dragon did it first.
It also has an entire archetype built around it, eventually introducing cards like Cyber Dragon Infinity.
Fun Facts:
- Zane Truesdale easily beat Jaden Yuki with it.
- It’s the spiritual successor of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
- It’s a part of one of the only archetypes that use contact Fusion.
Value:
$3,500
10. Cyberdark Dragon (Ultimate Rare 1st Edition)
We’re cracking into the top 10 and oh boy, we have some absolute doozies.
Kicking off our top 10 we have Cyberdark Dragon, the Dark Fusion counterpart to the Light Cyber Dragon.
The Cyberdark archetype was a really interesting addition to the lore behind the machine-based dragons in YuGiOh GX. It’s possible to splash them in with Cyber Dragon, while also keeping them as a standalone deck.
They recently received incredible support in a structure deck, making them highly accessible to all players. Cyberdark Dragon is one of the key cards in their strategy.
Fun Facts:
- Zane Truesdale used these cards in his ‘rebirth’ arc in the YuGiOh GX series.
- They use powerful equip monsters/Spells/Traps to enhance their effects.
- It’s the Dark counterpart to the Cyber Dragon archetype.
Value:
$3,500+ USD
9. Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon (Secret Rare 1st Edition)
I’m noticing a trend here. Lots of dragons. Maybe people like dragons?
Anyway, Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon made it onto this list because, like Cyber Dragon and Cyberdark Dragon, it sits around the $3500+ mark. However, they have also been listed at prices like $3800 - $4000.
It’s a Blue-Eyes card, so we all know it’s super powerful.
The Toon monsters were introduced by Pegasus in the original YuGiOh anime. Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon is amongst one of the most powerful Toon cards in the whole archetype.
Its artwork is unique, its effect is unique, and it’s just a sought-after card from lots of collectors in the fandom.
Fun Facts:
- Like all of the Toon cards, it can’t attack the turn it’s summoned.
- You must control Toon World to summon it.
- It made its first appearance in the YuGiOh Manga in 1998.
Value:
$3,500+ USD
8. Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning (Ultra Rare 1st Edition)
Black Luster Soldier comes in many forms, but Envoy of the Beginning is perhaps the most iconic and powerful of all.
It was deemed so powerful that it even had a stint on the Forbidden & Limited List. Once released, players were shocked and fearful of what this card might do again.
Its effect, just like all BLS-like effects, involves banishing and attacking twice. It’s a card that stole the heart of many players as it’s another of Yugi Moto’s ace monsters in both the show and manga.
Fun Facts:
It appears on the artwork of E-HERO Pit Boss
Apparently, it’s a woman. Who knew?
It was the first Light attribute Black Luster Soldier card.
Value:
$3,700
7. Royal Decree (Ultra Rare Tournament Pack 4)
Royal Decree, at one point in the game, was the most hated card any player could name. It simply reads ‘Negate all other Trap effects on the field.’
A simple card with a devastating effect.
The reason Royal Decree is so high on this list is because of where this particular variant comes from. It’s quite tentative in its spot due to questionable sales prices. It could be a lot lower, or it could be a lot higher.
Tournament Pack 4 had a 1 in 108 chance of pulling an Ultra Rare. There was only 1 per set. They’re really hard to find because they were only given out during tournaments.
Fun Facts:
- 1 in 108 chance of pulling an Ultra Rare.
- They didn’t go on sale until years after their release.
- It was the only 1 of its kind in the set.
Value:
$3,800 - $4000
6. Summoned Skull (Ultra Rare 1st Edition)
Coming in at number 6 is another iconic Yugi Moto monster and honestly, just one of the coolest cards I remember playing with as a kid.
All it took to summon this was 1 tribute, which back in the day, was very powerful for a monster with 2500 attack points.
Summoned Skull will be in the hearts of a lot of players due to the nostalgia effect. I bet there aren’t many YuGiOh players who wouldn’t respect someone if they tributed this card.
Owning a Summoned Skull is like owning a piece of YuGiOh history. It’s a time capsule that keeps our childhood alive.
Fun Facts:
- It was Yugi Moto’s ace monster before he received Dark Magician from his Grandfather’s deck.
- Summoned Skull has the 2nd highest attack of all Fiend-Type monsters in the game.
- It later received support in the form of the Archfiend archetype.
Value:
$4000
5. Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End (Secret Rare 1st Edition)
Cracking into the top 5, we have Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End.
Absolutely iconic, just like Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning. CED was arguably the reason we have an F&L List in the TCG today.
Everyone wanted CED back in the day.
It was the meta-warping card that defined a format. It was the money card. The chase card. Everyone needed it to win their games.
Fun Facts:
- It has a retrained Pendulum counterpart; Chaos Emperor, The Armageddon Dragon.
- This card is arguably the reason for the existence of the Forbidden & Limited List.
- The background circle on the artwork refers to Light and Dark.
Value:
$4500
4. B. Skull Dragon (Ultra Rare 1st Edition)
Joey Wheeler and Yugi Moto are 2 of the main and most loved characters in the entire series of YuGiOh, coming together to fuse some of their most iconic monsters.
The result is B. Skull Dragon.
Red-Eyes Black Dragon and Summoned Skull. Intensely awesome.
I remember being shocked at this card when I was a kid, simply because it had 3200 attack and could easily beat Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
It’ll forever be one of the coolest Fusion cards in the game. It doesn’t even need an effect. It’s a standalone icon that just oozes nostalgia.
Fun Facts:
- As you may have guessed, the ‘B’ stands for ‘Black’ from Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
- BSD possesses Summoned Skull’s body with Red-Eyes Black Dragon’s head.
- It first appeared in the anime by defeating the Paradox Brothers.
Value:
$4600
3. Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Ultra Rare 1st Edition)
We’ve done Summoned Skull. We’ve done B. Skull Dragon. This list wouldn’t be complete without the final piece of the puzzle.
That’s right, at number 3 we have Red-Eyes Black Dragon from the Legend of Blue-Eyes set.
Ultra Rare. 1st Edition. Iconic.
Joey Wheeler’s most famous card.
The counterpart to Kaiba’s Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Everyone knows about Red-Eyes. Arguably as iconic as Dark Magician and still used in the game today to summon Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
Fun Facts:
- Blue-Eyes represent power, while Red-Eyes represent potential.
- It becomes Joey Wheeler’s ace monster after he wins it in the Battle City arc.
- It later received support in its own archetype due to much fan demand.
Value:
$4800
2. Jinzo (Secret Rare 1st Edition)
The OG Trap negator. There’s a trend of old-school cards being worth the most money when it comes to YuGiOh. Jinzo is another prime example of that.
Back in GOAT Format, Jinzo was a painful staple to every player. It fetched a high price and ruined everyone’s day.
Jinzo is special because it shuts down one of the main mechanics in the game of YuGiOh - Trap cards.
When there’s a Trap-heavy format next time, you can bet you’ll be seeing so many Jinzo’s go in the Side Decks of pro players.
Fun Facts:
- It eventually became 1 of Joey Wheeler’s ace monsters.
- Jinzo has a Spell negation counterpart in Spell Canceller.
- The background on Jinzo’s artwork was deliberately made the same colour as Trap cards.
Value:
$6000
1. Morphing Jar (Ultra Rare Tournament Pack 2)
Tournament Pack cards are such a rarity in YuGiOh these days, simply because of their exclusive nature.
Morphing Jar earned its place as number 1 on this list as one of the most expensive cards ever, costing a little short of a down payment on a house.
Morphing Jar took a long stint on the F&L List because of its effect, and quite frankly, was deservedly released quite recently.
The ‘Empty Jar’ deck was the reason for this ban, as it involved ripping your opponent's deck and hand, eventually leaving them with no cards to play with.
Give it up for Tournament Pack 2 Morphing Jar ladies and gents, it will strip your hand of cards and your bank of money, all in one go.
Fun Facts:
- It has 2 alternatives; Ancient Jar and Morphing Jar 2.
- Jinzo has a Spell negation counterpart in Spell Canceller.
- The background on Jinzo’s artwork was deliberately made the same colour as Trap cards.
Value:
$16000
