In Yu-Gi-Oh!, there are three different ways to win the game. Either the player can have their life points go to zero, they have no cards when it’s their turn to draw, or the opponent has a specific card with a condition that, if met, wins them the game.
These can range from somewhat simple to so complex that the player has almost no chance of making it happen in any practical duel.
Nonetheless, this list looks at a few of the best and most popular kinds of duel winners. We’ll talk about the card, what it does, and rank them all by their usefulness.
Updated October 13, 2022, by Daniel Furn:The game of Yu-GI-Oh! is forever evolving and adding more cards, which means that the list of cards with win conditions is only expanding. Here is an updated list of instant win Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with a few more entries that could net you an improbable but highly satisfying victory.
13 Destiny Board
Destiny Board wins the duel for the player once they get all four messages. At the end of the opponent’s turn, every turn, it takes a Spirit Message from the hand or deck in order until it spells out FINAL.
This card is cute but has a major drawback: if any Spirit Message or Destiny Board card leaves the field, they all go to the graveyard. A long time ago, when the only spot removal was Mystical Space Typhoon, Lyla, or Ryko, this wasn’t that hard to pull off. But now, pretty much every deck can create some easy spell/trap removal—Knightmare Phoenix is a generic Link-2 that can destroy a spell or trap by discarding a card.
12 Number 88: Gimmick Puppet Of Leo
Gimmick Puppet of Leo is made up of three level 8 monsters. Every turn, if the player controls no cards in their spell and trap card zone, they can detach a material from the card and place a Destiny Counter on it.
The player then has to skip their battle phase, but when Gimmick Puppet of Leo has three Destiny Counters on it, they automatically win the duel. Though Leo’s got 3,200 ATK, there are too many ways to get rid of this card for it to be very practical—particularly since the player can have NO spells or traps in the spell/trap card zone to use the effect.
11 Flying Elephant
Flying Elephant is a random level 4 monster with 1,850 ATK. During the opponent’s turn, it can protect itself from card effects. If it managed to protect itself, it gains a new effect: on the following turn, if it can attack directly, the player wins the duel.
This involves jumping through a few hoops, but they aren’t particularly difficult ones—just protect the card if they attempt to destroy it more than once, then clear their field on your turn to go for the game. Of course, with cards that can get it off the field without destroying it—like tributing it to summon something else, it’s still not a win anyone should count on.
10 Phantasm Spiral Assault
Phantasm Spiral Assault has specific requirements that are difficult to plan around, but anyone using a Phantasm Spiral Dragon deck should have this ready. Phantasm Spiral Assault allows you to win the duel if your Phantasm Spiral Dragon destroys three or more effect monsters by battle while equipped with three different Phantasm Spiral equip spell cards.
While this card will be a struggle against certain decks, it’s certainly possible - and has a neat little graveyard effect even if the instant win condition cannot be met.
9 Exodius The Ultimate Forbidden Lord
A “balanced” version of Exodia, Exodius is a level 10 monster that can only be special summoned by shuffling all monsters in the graveyard into the deck. When the card declares an attack, the player can send a monster from the hand or deck to the graveyard, and for every Normal Monster in the grave, Exodius gains 1,000 ATK.
If five different “Forbidden One” cards are in the grave because of Exodius’ effect, the player automatically wins the duel. Of course, this involves surviving five different turns while also controlling a monster that would theoretically be 5,000 ATK by the time the player won. Granted, it doesn’t have to be the same Exodius, but this still feels impractical.
8 Holactie The Creator Of Light
Holactie the Creator of Light can only be special summoned by tributing three monsters whose original names are Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. The card’s special summon can’t be negated, and the player who special summons this monster wins the duel.
This card’s primary problems are: it requires a total of nine tributes and four monsters in hand to work. It’s also the epitome of the idea of “win more” because if a player gets all three god cards on the field, they don’t need help to win the duel; their opponent can’t do anything against them anyway.
7 Jackpot 7
Jackpot 7 has an instant win condition that initially seems impractical, as it requires your opponent to send all three copies of the card to the graveyard using card effects. So if the card is banished without being sent to the graveyard first, the play is over - but the cards could still have their uses in spell counter decks or to discourage your opponent from destroying your back row.
However, a number of strategies can pull this win condition off - gifting your opponent a card with hand discard effects, such as Dark Scorpion Burglars, and then encouraging attacks can pull this off rather quickly.
6 Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo
Yes, Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo requires you to get Gimmick Puppet of Leo out anyway and therefore is even harder to summon. But Disaster Leo has a few things that Puppet of Leo does not - protection, as Disaster Leo can’t be targeted by card effects and has a better instant win condition.
Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo allows you to inflict 1,000 damage to your opponent per turn by detaching a material, which is potentially half of their life points in four turns. Better yet, if your opponent has less than 2,000 life points and Disaster Leo has no materials, that’s it. You win.
Disaster Leo is not a perfect instant win Yu-Gi-Oh! card as its requirements are still fairly convoluted, and if your opponent is below 2,000 life points, they’d likely lose anyway with Disaster Leo on the Field - but it does at least have an awesome giant lion grenade design.
5 Vennominaga The Deity Of Poisonous Snakes
This card can only be summoned via the trap card Rise of the Snake Deity, which triggers if a Vennominon is destroyed. Vennominaga gains 500 ATK for each Reptile monster in the grave. The card cannot be targeted or affected by card effects, which means battle is the only way to get over it.
If it’s destroyed, another Reptile can be banished from the graveyard to special summon this card again. Each time Vennominaga deals battle damage, it gains a Hyper Venom Counter—and after three, it wins the game. It’s a few hoops to jump through, but fewer than any other monster—only three turns need to pass by without an answer for a win.
4 Ghostrick Angel Of Mischief
Made up of two level 4 monsters, Ghostrick Angel of Mischief can also be summoned by using a Ghostrick Xyz monster, which is helpful. If Angel of Mischief had 10 Xyz materials attached to it, the player wins the duel, and once per turn, the player can attach a Ghostrick card to this card as material.
Using another Ghostrick, this would require something like seven turns. However, there are other methods involving the usage of Utopia monsters and support to do this in a single turn, which is the best usage of this instant win condition.
3 Final Countdown
Final Countdown is a simple enough card. Pay 2,000 life points to activate it; after 20 turns (counting the turn it’s activated), the player wins the duel. This card is probably the best win condition to stall for.
If it’s not negated to start, there’s nothing to be done but try to inflict six thousand damage before the duel’s over. The only thing that stops Final Countdown from being a viable strategy is Konami intentionally limiting it and stall cards that could support it, like One Day of Peace, to stop players from having to deal with it.
2 Last Turn
Last Turn is a trap that can only be activated if the player has no more than 1,000 LP. The player picks a monster they control, then sends every other card on the field and in both players’ hands to the graveyard. Then the opponent gets to special summon a monster from their deck, and both monsters immediately go into battle.
The player whose monster is still alive at the end phase wins the duel; otherwise, the game is a draw. Now that we’ve got extra deck monsters, this card is banned and could never come back—a main deck monster isn’t going to compete with the random 3,000 ATK beater summoned from the extra.
1 Exodia Is The Best Instant Win Yu-Gi-Oh! Card
The best-known instant win is also the one that’s the best to use in a duel. Exodia saw play in the 2012 Yu-Gi-Oh World Championships and even managed to win a duel or two before being eliminated.
The key to this effect is there’s an entire deck built around it—the player can draw through their full deck within only two or three turns maximum. The game is then all about being able to inflict damage (which the deck has ways to avoid taking) before the player can draw all five pieces and steal the most frustrating yet epic win possible in Duel Monsters.
NEXT: Yu-Gi-Oh: Funniest Monster Cards In The Game
