With Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s on the way out and a new series on the way in, Konami felt the need to introduce a new summoning type. Enter: Xyz monsters. While Synchro monsters required players to have the right balance of tuners and non-tuners to work properly, Xyz decks weren’t nearly so complicated.

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To Xyz Summon, all players needed were two monsters of the same level. By putting one (or more0 on top of the other, they could summon Xyz monsters. This was meant to slow the game down by creating monsters which had to detach the monsters under it to use their effects. But power creep eventually hits everything, and eventually Xyz were as bad as Synchros...or worse. This list is going to look at ten of the most powerful Xyz monsters Konami ever printed.

Updated December 16th, 2020 by Johnny Garcia: Many new Yu-Gi-Oh! products have been released, and with it came many new and powerful Synchro, Link, and of course, Xyz monsters. Sets like Phantom Rage have shaken up the meta of the game by adding new and incredibly strong cards that have become staples in many decks. A reprint set has also been released in Maximum Gold, giving cheap alternatives to many strong cards for various strategies. Events have even made a return after being gone for quite some time with the rise of Remote Dueling, allowing for duelists to play and compete with one another.

15 Cyber Dragon Infinity

Cyber Dragon Infinity Yu=Gi-Oh! card art and text.

Cyber Dragon Infinity is the main boss monster of the Cyber Dragon Archetype, and for good reason. At the cost of detaching a material, Cyber Dragon Infinity can negate any spell, trap, or monster effect and destroy that card. In addition to that, it can target any Attack Position monster on the field and attach it to itself as material.

As if that wasn't enough, Cyber Dragon Infinity also gains 200 Attack for each material attached to it. It's easy to summon as well, as it can be ranked into with Cyber Dragon Nova, which only requires two level 5 Light monsters.

14 True King Of All Calamities

true king of all calamities art and text

True King Of All Calamities is one of the best cards ever printed, not just one of the best Xyz monsters. It is a bit hard to make, as it requires two (or more) level 9 or higher monsters to Xyz summon. As a Quick Effect, True King Of All Calamities can detach a material and declare an attribute.

This will make all monsters on the field that attribute, and the opponent's monsters with that attribute will be unable to attack or use their effects. Monster effects are vital in Yu-Gi-Oh! which is why True King Of All Calamities is so devastating.

13 Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL

number s0 utopic zexal art and text

Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL was fantastic, but a hard card to make as it requires 3 Number Xyz monsters with the same Rank to make. Alternatively, it could be made by using a Utopia monster after discarding a Rank-Up-Magic card. Both of these require a ton of set-up, but with the addition of Numeron monsters, Number S0: Utopic ZEXAL can be made with just one card.

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Not only can the summoning of it not be negated, but during the opponent's turn, it can detach a material from itself and make the opponent unable to activate cards or effects for the rest of that turn.

12 Dingirsu, The Orcust Of The Evening Star

dingirsu the orcust of the evening star art and text

Dingirsu, The Orcust Of The Evening Star is a generic Rank 8 monster that can also be summoned by using any Orcust Link monster as a material. When it's summoned, it has two different effects it can use.

One is attaching a banished Machine monster to itself as material and the other, much better one is sending a card the opponent controls to the Graveyard. This doesn't target or destroy, making it incredible removal. It also gives all cards on the field a ton of protection— if any card on its owner's field would be destroyed, Dingirsu, The Orcust Of The Evening Star can protect it by detaching a material instead.

11 Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder

Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS — Sky Thunder Yu-Gi-Oh! card art and text.

Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder is one of the greatest Xyz support the game that has ever been released. It can be summoned using any Xyz monster, so long that it battled that turn (and does not even need to of destroyed anything).

As a Quick Effect, Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder can detach 2 materials from itself to send all cards on the field to the Graveyard except itself. If any other card is destroyed that its controller has is destroyed, it can attach any card from the hand, Deck, or Extra Deck to it. This can get powerful cards into the Graveyard, as a simple Link summon will put it there.

10 Constellar Ptolemy M7

constellar ptolemy m7 art and text

The Constellars as a deck were a group of monsters with decent effects that never quite hung together enough to be viable. But their boss monsters were incredible. Ptolemy M7 was meant to be the big boss of the deck, and it’s effect allowed it to detach one material from itself to target a monster on the field or in either player’s graveyard and return it to the hand.

It took two level six monsters to make, though it could also be formed by using another Constellar Xyz as material, meaning the deck itself had tons of ways to get this monster out.

9 Beatrice Lady Of The Eternal

beatrice lady of the eternal art and text

Towards the end of the Xyz era, Konami stopped even pretending like they were releasing balanced cards. Beatrice normally required two level 6 monsters, but could also use the deck’s original boss Xyz Dante by sending a Burning Abyss monster from the hand to the graveyard (which would also gain its effects). Once per turn, it had the quick effect ability of detaching a material to send a card from the deck to the graveyard.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, when this card was destroyed, it could special summon any Burning Abyss monster from the Extra Deck, ignoring it’s summoning conditions. While the OCG rarely did much with the deck, it’s popularity in the TCG led to this card being limited to a single copy.

8 M-X-Saber Invoker

mx saber invoker art and text

A handful of decks from the Synchro era were lucky enough to also attain some Xyz monsters, and X-Sabers were one of them. M-X-Saber Invoker required two level 3 monsters, and once per turn a player could detach a material to special summon a level 4 Earth Warrior or Beast-Warrior directly from their deck in Defense position.

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The utility this monster had with respect to allowing players to pick what card they wanted to summon to the field opened up plays for a ton of combos especially in the Zoodiac Era, and eventually resulted in this monster being banned both in the East and the West.

7 Number S39: Utopia The Lightning

number s39 utopia the lightning art and text

Yuma’s Number 39: Utopia monster was a decent card to start off a new series (and summoning type) with, but to be honest when the Xyz began they didn’t set the world on fire. Cards like Utopia, Leviathan Dragon, and Gachi Gachi Gantetsu gave decks options, but weren’t by any means “broken” or “overpowered”.

But Konami eventually gave in to their desire to create cards in that vein, and one of the many cards that came from that was Utopia the Lightning. Though it could be created with two-level 5s, a simpler way was to overlay it onto basic Utopia. Then, by detaching two materials Lightning’s attack could become 5000, bringing a swift end to a bunch of duels.

6 Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus

super quantal mech king great magnus art and text

What can’t this card do? Though it requires three level 12 monsters, within its own deck there are far easier ways to summon it. Worse yet, the card gains effects based on how many monsters were used to summon it. At two materials, once during either player’s turn it can shuffle a card from the field back into the deck.

At four materials, it’s unaffected by card effects other than Super Quant cards. And at six materials, the opponent can’t add cards to their hand except by drawing. All this attached to a 3600 ATK monster, and it’s fortunate this deck never quite got the support it needed to go meta.

5 Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack

mecha phantom beast dracossack art and text

The Mecha Phantom Beast deck was pretty terrible when it was released, one of the few Elemental decks from the Xyz era that was unfortunate enough to have that happen, as the others—Geargia, Mermail, and Fire Fist—would go on to be pretty awesome. But they did get Dracossack, a Rank 7 Xyz that could detach a material to summon two Mecha Phantom Beast tokens.

While the player controlled the tokens, Dracossack couldn’t be destroyed by battle or card effect. And it could tribute Mecha Phantom Beast monsters to target a card and destroy it. This card became another staple in Rank 7 decks alongside Big Eye, giving players the ability to steal or destroy monsters as they pleased.

4 Number 86: Heroic Champion - Rhongomyniad

number 86 heroic champion rhongomyniad art and text

On the one hand, it’s cool that Konami created so many monsters that could easily use their “multiple materials” effects. On the other, if that’s the case why make those effects so powerful? Rhongomyniad required two or more Warrior monsters. For every monster it had, it gained more effects. With one it couldn’t be destroyed by battle. Two, it gained 1500 ATK and DEF.

Three, it was unaffected by card effects. Four, the opponent couldn’t normal or special summon monsters. Five, it could destroy all the opponent’s cards. It had to detach a monster during the opponent’s end phase every turn, but honestly if it got all five effects the player who summoned it was going to win anyway.

3 Number 16: Shock Master

number 16 shock master art and text

When this card was made, everyone realized how great it was, but it wasn’t quite an auto-include because it required three level 4 monsters. At the time, this wasn’t exactly easy to summon, so Konami left it alone for a while. But as Rank 4 Xyz plays became easier and easier, Konami was left with no choice but to ban this card.

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And why not? Once per turn, Shock Master could detach a material from itself, then declare monster, spell, or trap, and that type of card could no longer activate its effects until the end of the opponent’s next turn. For especially gifted decks, this meant shutting the opponent out of their entire turn.

2 Number 11: Big Eye

number 11 big eye art and text

Of course as Xyz monsters require bigger monsters, they get more obscene effects. Number 11: Big Eye was one of those cards that had an amazing effect but was impossible to summon.

By overlaying two level 7 monsters, players got a boss monster with 2600 ATK and the ability to detach a material and target an opponent’s monster, then steal it. Unlike most “take your opponent’s monster” cards, Big Eye’s effect is permanent. It flew under the radar for a time, then decks released which could summon multiple level 7s with ease, and the cost of the card skyrocketed.

1 Number 95: Galaxy-Eye Dark Matter Dragon

Number 95: Galaxy-Eye Dark Matter Dragon art and text

One would think a card requiring 3 level 9 monsters would be more difficult to summon. But thanks to a clause that allowed this card to be summoned by using any Galaxy-Eyes Xyz as material, that wasn’t an issue.

Dark Matter allowed players to send 3 Dragon-type monsters with different names from their deck to the graveyard to force their opponent to banish 3 cards from their own deck. In addition to weakening the opponent’s deck and loading up the player’s own graveyard though, it also had 4000 ATK and could detach a card to attack twice. This card was forbidden on both sides of the ocean, and it’ll likely stay that way.

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