While having a mixed standing among fans, there's no denying that the Waking The Dragons arc of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime is action-packed and filled to the brim with non-stop dueling. A lot of these duels are taken on by none other than Yugi himself, as he attempts to save the world from the plans of Dartz.

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Yugi's duels during this arc are particularly dangerous, as he's constantly on the verge of losing his soul due to the power of the Seal of Orichalcos. Most of these duels are incredibly interesting, even if some aren't quite as good as others.

6 Yugi Vs. Atem's Duel Forces Atem To Go After Dartz

Yugi Vs. Atem in Waking the Dragons Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yugi Vs. Atem is the weakest duel from the anime. This is mainly due to the fact that it takes place during a point in the arc where the story really grinds to a halt, and the duel doesn't add all that much to what is happening.

This duel takes place in order for Atem to overcome his grief for what he has done to Yugi, and after defeating his other self, he is able to carry on and work toward saving the world. If this duel hadn't taken place, Atem would have never been able to push forward and stop Dartz. That doesn't mean it is all that interesting, however.

5 Yugi Vs. Gurimo Sees Yugi's First Exposure To The Seal of Orichalcos

Yugi Vs. Gurimo Duel Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yugi Vs. Gurimo isn't all that bad of a duel, it just happens to come at a point where we don't really know what's going with the Seal of Orichalcos, so we don't get to see its full potential just yet. On the positive side of things, this does add a nice air of mystery to the duel.

In it, Yugi faces off against the Seal of Orichalcos for the first time, and learns of the devastating power that it has. He's able to overcome it relatively easy, but this only sets up what is to come further on into the season.

4 Yugi Vs. Rafael's Second Duel Finally Settles The Score Between Them

Yugi Vs. Rafael 2 Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yugi and Rafael's second duel is a pivotal point in the arc. Rafael winning their first duel and taking Yugi's soul had been Atem's drive up to this point in the season, and this duel was going to settle the score that they had been carrying once and for all.

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In this duel, a lot of Rafael's backstory is revealed, including what led him to work with Dartz in the first place. While this does slow things down somewhat, the duel itself is incredibly action-packed, with both duelists bringing out their strongest monsters to take one another on. In the end, Yugi is able to pull out the win, even managing to break the influence of the Seal of Orichalcos over Rafael, meaning that no one's soul is taken in the process.

3 Yugi Vs. Weevil Sends Yugi Into A Rage

Yugi Vs. Weevil in Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yugi Vs. Weevil is a great duel, but more importantly, it's iconic for one reason. This duel takes place pretty soon after Yugi loses his soul to the Seal of Orichalcos, and Weevil makes sure to rub that in, pretending to rip a card in half that holds Yugi's soul in it. This, of course, enrages Yugi to no end, and causes the duel to take on an even more hateful aura then it already had.

While Yugi is forced to enter the duel without the help of The Eye of Timaeus, after winning, he continues to attack Weevil over and over out of sheer rage, which has spawned countless reactions from the fandom in response.

2 Yugi Vs. Rafael's First Duel Forces Yugi To Turn To His Dark Side

Atem being taken over by the seal in Yu-Gi-Oh!

In his first duel against Rafael, Yugi ends up in possession of the Seal of Orichalcos, and feels that he's backed into a corner and has no other option but to play it in order to win the duel. This causes his dark side to take over, and his trust with both his monsters and Yugi is broken as he throws away their lives in order to win the duel.

These efforts are in vain, however, as he ends up losing the duel to Rafael. When the Seal of Orichalcos comes to claim its winnings, Yugi offers himself up instead of Atem, and Atem takes control for the rest of the season in an attempt to win Yugi back.

1 Yugi & Kaiba Vs. Dartz Sees Yugi Figure Out A Way To Beat An Unbeatable Monster

Kaiba and Yugi Vs. Dartz Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yugi and Kaiba don't team up often, but when they do, it's usually to take on a great evil. In this case, they work together to take on Dartz. Kaiba ends up losing the duel about midway through, and it's up to Yugi to win it all in the end, otherwise, Dartz's master plans will go into effect. Yugi manages to do so, even defeating a monster with infinite attack points.

The way he does this is rather silly, bouncing two of the Legendary Knights' attacks off of one another until their attack is also infinite, with the final knight finishing off Dartz's Great Leviathan and winning Yugi the duel. It makes absolutely no sense, of course, but it's just the kind of ending that one can expect from the nonsensical arc that is Waking the Dragons.

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