Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the most popular card games out there, and it has been for quite a while now. The trading card game has a myriad of spells and traps, and also a wide variety of monster cards. One category that contains some of the coolest cards is the dragons. With dragons having been a mainstay since Kaiba introduced the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the first episode of the series, it's not a surprise they're some of the best cards.
Not only do they have some of the highest ATKs in the game, but they also frequently have some incredible effects. Between the anime monsters and certain cards in the TCG, dragons are frequently staples not just in the meta, but in decks that might not even use dragons normally.
Updated by Sage Ashford on November 24th, 2022: Dragons are some of the most powerful monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! Over the years, Konami has added several dragons that have become must-plays both for Dragon decks and the meta game. We've updated this list to reflect some of these changes.
10 Five-Headed Dragon Has The Highest Printed Attack At 5000
Known as Five God Dragon in Japan, the Five-Headed Dragon is a fusion card first released in 2006 and has the highest ATK and DEF stats at 5000 each. The card’s power is only balanced by its summoning requirements. Five-Headed Dragon needs the “sacrifice” of 5 dragon monsters through fusion.
Nevertheless, the fusion is worth it as it cannot be destroyed by battle with either a dark, earth, fire, water, or wind monster. The combination of high stats and almost impenetrable defense conditions truly make Five-Headed Dragon a card worth fearing.
9 Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon Is One Of The Strongest Fusion Monsters
A unique-looking monster, the Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon is a high-level dark dragon card with a 3300 ATK and 2500 DEF. Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon is fusion summoned using a “Predaplant” monster and an originally level 8 or higher Dark monster.
What makes Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon stand out is its effects both on a targeted monster and upon destruction. Once per turn, the card can essentially cripple a target by reducing its ATK to 9 and having all its effects negated. Should Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon be destroyed, you can “destroy as many monsters on the field as possible” and bring back a Level 8 or higher Dark monster from the Graveyard.
8 Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon Is An Upgrade To Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon
Although there already is a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon card, the plain one simply can’t compare to the alternative. A powerful fusion of 3 Blue-Eyes White Dragons, the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon proves to be worth its cost given its impressive 4500 ATK and 3800 DEF stats.
The Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon’s effects also provide it with additional defense and attack. The card cannot be targeted or destroyed using card effects and, once per turn, you can destroy a single card your opponent controls. The latter is enhanced if, for the fusion forming this card, a Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon is used, thereby allowing you to target 3 cards for destruction as opposed to just one.
7 Bystial Druiswurm Can Pop Up At Any Moment
One of the newer cards added to Yu-Gi-Oh!, Bystial Druiswurm was released in the Darkwing Blast set. A powerful Chaos card, Druiswurm can summon itself by banishing a Light or Dark monster in either player's graveyard to special summon itself. This can happen during either player's turn if the opponent has a monster, meaning at any moment the opponent can be staring down a 2500 ATK monster.
Even more impressive is Druiswurm's other effect – if it leaves the field, it can target a special summoned monster the opponent has and send it to the graveyard. This trigger means the opponent will have to think hard about how to get rid of it.
6 Chaos Dragon Levianeer Offers Removal For Chaos Decks
Chaos Dragon Levianeer is another card that works not just for dragons, but for Chaos decks in general. The player special summons it by banishing a mix of three light or dark monsters from the graveyard, which means the card can always be summoned if the graveyard is full. If nothing else, it'll always operate as a 3000 ATK beatstick.
On summon, Chaos Dragon Levianeer has a variety of effects that depend on which monsters were used to summon it. The absolute worst it can do is special summon another monster from the grave, but at best Chaos Dragon Levianeer is capable of destroying two cards on the field. With the kind of power this monster has, it's no surprise Chaos Dragon Levianeer continues to find its way into dragon decks years after the card was introduced.
5 Trishula, Dragon Of The Ice Barrier Is One Of The Best Synchro Monsters
Trishula is one of the most powerful synchro monsters ever created. Originally an Ice Barrier monster, the card quickly found use outside its archetype and into any meta deck that could use it. On summon, Trishula banishes a card from the opponent's hand, field, and graveyard at random.
Trishula is a devastating effect to deal with on its own, but it's truly monstrous for decks that can summon multiple copies. Three copies of Trishula on the field could force opponent to start the duel with only three cards... or even fewer if the opponent can loop Trishula summons.
4 Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon Was A Staple For Dragon Decks
Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon doesn't have the same power it once held, but this card was a must-have in any Dragon deck for almost a decade. Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon special summoned itself by banishing a face-up Dragon monster, which meant the player could swap a level 4 monster for a 2800 ATK boss monster easily.
Far more impressive was its ability to special summon any Dragon monster from the hand or graveyard. This felt like a rule-breaking effect, as Red-Eyes Darkness could revive Extra Deck monsters too. This effect was supposed to be once per turn, but players could simply summon other Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragons to use the effect again. It took Konami a decade to finally errata the effect to make it a hard once per turn. Until then, it was a terrifying effect for any opponent that had to deal with Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon.
3 Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity Is A Powerful Card For Dark Decks
Introduced in 2016, the Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity is a powerful Synchro Dragon card with stats of 4000 ATK and 3500 DEF. As its type implies, Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity requires a synchro summon with 2 tuners and a non-tuner dark dragon for materials. Although the price for summoning does seem quite steep, the card’s stats aren’t the only things making this a worthwhile summon.
Upon activation, your opponent is immobilized in a variety of ways – unable to activate cards, activate controlled card effects, responds to your card’s activation. Additionally, you can inflict direct damage to your opponent if Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity is destroyed in battle, their monster’s ATK being the amount damaging your opponent’s LP. If Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity is destroyed while in your possession, you may also “resurrect” a Level 8 or lower Dark Dragon Synchro Monster
2 Borrelsword Dragon Is A Great Boss Monster For Any Deck
Borrelsword Dragon spent years as a key card in people's extra decks for a reason. It's a 3000 ATK monster that can't be destroyed by battle, making it a problem for the opponent on every turn they can't get rid of it. But having a monster that can fight can be dangerous for the opponent too.
Whenever Borrelsword Dragon attacks a monster, it has an effect that allows it to gain half the attack of that monster, and cause that monster to lose half of its own attack. With another effect that lets it attack twice every turn by switching an Attack Position monster to Defense, Borrelsword Dragon is the ultimate close out boss monster for any deck.
1 Borreload Savage Dragon Can Negate Opponent's Effects
Borreload Savage Dragon is one of the few synchro monsters still relevant in the modern era. Much like many "Borrel" cards before it, Borreload Savage Dragon is a boss monster worth including in any deck capable of using it. On summon, Borreload Savage Dragon can equip a Link monster from the Graveyard to itself to gain both half that monster's attack, and "Borrel Counters" equal to the monster's Link rating.
The counters can later be used to negate the opponent's card effects by removing them, shutting down potential options to get the card off the field. Considering its attack is almost always going to be over 3000, Borreload Savage Dragon is a hard monster to get rid of.