Yu-Gi-Oh! has gone through multiple different anime series, each introducing new protagonists and summoning mechanics which either altered the game or started a whole new version of it. Out of all these duelist protagonists, which of them has the most competition-ready deck?
Yugi/Yami (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
Yugi is the original hero of Yu-Gi-Oh!, back in an era when most of the game was centered around normal summons and the occasional fusion summon. In these early times, the King of Games uses his Dark Magician along with other combos to pull off victory time and time again.
From a competitive standpoint, it’s hard to rely on Yugi’s deck to win. Back then, there were very few search cards, meaning that the hand was even more important. While there are some effect monsters that Yugi uses, there weren’t as many floating cards that have effects when destroyed. His deck's greatest asset is its variety of spells and traps, with some of the more notable ones including his Swords Of Revealing Light and Magical Hats. As long as an opponent is wary of his back row and knows to expect a potential Kuriboh, his deck would be easier to beat compared to other protagonists.
Jaden Yuki (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
Jaden Yuki started schooling opponents in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX with his classic Elemental Heroes. At first, Jaden relies on a mostly Elemental Hero deck with some rare exceptions like Winged Kuriboh mixed in. Later on in the series, Jaden gains access to the Neo-Spacian archetype and mixes them in with his Elemental Heroes. Regardless of which deck he uses, they both have some reliance on the use of Fusion Monsters.
As for where Jaden stands in the competitive circuit, not all of his Elemental Heroes are used in competitive Elemental Hero decks. The archetype did have some spells and traps which kept Jaden from running out of options. Cards like Skyscraper allowed for his normal Elemental Heroes to overcome opponents’ larger monsters and bought him time to bring out the right fusion monsters. While he might have the ability to put up a fight at first, without any of the modern support he might not be able to last for long.
Yusei Fudo (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D)
Yusei Fudo rolls onto the scene of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's with his Synchro Monsters. His deck's core is based around the Junk archetype, with some key cards like Junk Warrior serving as a warm-up towards some of his more powerful synchros. Among his staple cards lies one of the series' legendary dragons, Stardust Dragon. This monster provides Yusei some protection from destruction by a card effect, a method that is perfect to counter the effects of cards such as Red Dragon Archfiend.
It's thanks to Stardust Dragon that Yusei has an extra layer of protection that earlier protagonists didn't have a lot of. His synchro monsters have some flexibility with how they can handle certain problems, such as Junk Archer banishing cards on the opponent's side of the field and Junk Destroyer destroying cards with its effect. In addition, his deck adapts to be able to summon cards that rocked the dueling circuit when it was first printed such as Shooting Quasar Dragon. The adaptability of his deck allows for it to be one of the stronger decks of the protagonists.
Yuma Tsukumo (Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal)
Yuma's story introduced to players the possibilities of Xyz monsters through Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, monsters with the same level that could combine to make a stronger monster. In this series, Number monsters were key to Yuma's deck. Yuma starts with card Number 39: Utopia as his ace, and as the series progresses he not only collects Numbers that he can use in battle but he also gains additional forms of Utopia. He rarely relies on Numbers outside of Utopia, but when he isn't using this Number Yuma also tends to play cards like Gagaga Cowboy.
Specifically in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, Yuma’s Number monsters would be fairly potent. The anime grants all Number monsters an extra layer of protection through the fact Number monsters can only be destroyed by another Number monster. This powerup is denied in the actual card game, although there is a trap card that grants Number monsters this type of protection.
Yuya Sakaki (Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V)
Yuya's place among the protagonists varies. Like other protagonists, Yuya's deck goes through some transformations during Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V. At first, Yuya's deck revolves around the use of pendulum monsters in his Performapal deck. Thanks to the scales that he makes he floods the field with his monsters, including his ace card Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. As the arcs progress and he gets exposed to the various dueling dimensions his deck somewhat adapts, incorporating certain magicians into his dueling act. By the end of the series, Yuya has access to all of the dragons that represented the various dueling dimensions he encounters, fortifying his deck with these dragons that can dominate the field.
Before Link monsters entered the scene, Pendulum decks held a special advantage over those that didn't incorporate them. Arguably, they were some of the strongest decks out there at the time. Not only could monsters freely be summoned from the hand in pendulum summons, but also pendulum monsters that were sent to the extra deck could be summoned back to main monster zones. This allowed for these monsters to have extra floating potential, as long as the right scale was set in the pendulum zones. While arguably not the worst among the protagonists, his deck has been fairly hampered by the current rules of the game.
Yusaku Fuiji/Playmaker (Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains)
Yusaku, the protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains, has a lot of potential with his deck. Yusaku uses a collection of Cyberse monsters to fuel his deck. While there are several meta-related archetypes from this anime series, Yusaku’s Cyberse deck isn’t particularly known as a top runner. Unlike the other Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonists, he has access to Link Monsters.
With the current dueling format, Link Monsters are crucial to using multiple cards from the extra deck. In the latest rules, there is only one extra deck zone that is automatically accessible to a player. Link Monsters open up additional zones for duelists to play additional cards from the extra deck. If you have the right cards, then there is also the potential to completely block out the opponent’s use of the extra deck by summoning Link Monsters whose arrows connect to each other. Regarded as an Extra Link, many characters have used this technique in their duels before.
Yuga Oudou (Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens)
Yuga’s place in comparison to the other duelists of this collection is hard to judge. With Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens, a new dueling method is introduced in the form of Rush Duels. Rush Duels function on a fundamentally different basis then the classic card game, considering additional rules such as being able to always draw until you have five cards in your hand. This change to the draw phase cancels out the need for search cards in Yuga’s deck. On top of that, the size of the field in a Rush Duel seems to only contain three zones rather than the traditional five.
However, if his cards were implemented in the traditional card game he would stand little chance against most if not all of the other duelists present. In the couple of episodes that have aired, Yuga has not used any extra deck cards. In addition to that, his deck doesn’t seem to have any special form of negation. He relies on Sevens Road Magician as his main ace card, but even comparing that to the other protagonists this monster is on the weaker end. In place of a better base stat the magician’s ability does increase his attack on his user’s turn, but beyond that Yuga wouldn’t stand much of a chance.
At the end of the day, Yusei's and Yusaku's deck have the best odds of survival in a competitive standpoint. While the former is flexible enough to be able to have synchros with varying removal effects, the latter makes use of the latest card rules to storm the field with Link monsters.