[2500 Post Benchmark] Protagonist Monsters

[Draconus297]

Dark Magician

DARK - Level 7 - Spellcaster - 2500/2100

The ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense.

 

Elemental HERO Neos

LIGHT - Level 7 - Warrior - 2500/2000

A new Elemental HERO has arrived from Neo-Space! When he initiates a Contact Fusion with a Neo-Spacian, his unknown powers are unleashed.

 

Stardust Dragon

WIND - Level 8 - Dragon/Synchro/Effect - 2500/2000

1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

During either player's turn, when a card or effect is activated that would destroy a card(s) on the field: You can Tribute this card; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it. During the End Phase, if this effect was activated this turn (and was not negated): You can Special Summon this monster from your Graveyard.

 

Number 39: Utopia

LIGHT - Rank 4 - Warrior/Xyz/Effect - 2500/2000

2 Level 4 monsters

When any player's monster declares an attack: You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; negate the attack. When this card is targeted for an attack, while it has no Xyz Materials: Destroy this card.

 

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

DARK - Level 7 - Dragon/Pendulum/Effect - 2500/2000 - Scale 4

Pendulum Effect - You can reduce the damage you take from a battle involving a Pendulum Monster you control to 0. During your End Phase: You can destroy this card, and if you do, add 1 Pendulum monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck to your hand. You can only use each Pendulum Effect of "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" once per turn.

Monster Effect - If this card battles your opponent's monster, any battle damage this monster inflicts to your opponent is doubled.

 

Just a general discussion on each protagonist ace throughout the YGO series we can comment on. How do they reflect the changes in the game? Which one has the best support? The worst? Which one is your personal favorite? Which ones do you own IRL? Is the quality of the monster reflective of the quality of its anime?

[Flash Flyer - Sakura]

1. Let's see: Dark Magician came about in a time when the game was still fresh and not heavily Archetypal. GX started accelerating this trend, but still maintained the original mechanics (Neos had Contact Fusions, but the ED still remained same). Stardust started the trend of bosses being in the Extra Deck (well, GX did this to an extent, but 5Ds is where it started getting more focused). Utopia added more summoning power and gave certain Levels their own niche (though we all know Level 4 got special treatment because most accessible). ARC-V's Pendulums just added more to how quick the game became (see why OEPD found a home in a few Decks). There's Firewall Dragon, but as it's still new (and no one can obtain it for another week), leaving that out.

 

2. In reverse order:

• Odd-Eyes definitely got the better treatment, considering Pendulum support that came about (and cross-Archetype support for Yuya's stuff); also a lot of other ED evolutions that never got a chance to shine properly.
• Utopia has his many evolutions (including S39). ZEXAL Weapons are kinda iffy though (remind me if anyone used them).
• Stardust has some backrow support here and there, plus its own evolutions and stuff, but yeah.
• Neos kinda got the short stick since after GX, Konami didn't really help him improve his playstyle. (Only support that really does stuff is Grand Mole, but he's more of a solo player elsewhere; heck, they didn't even finish up the NEX series [post-legacy stuff perhaps?]. Also, TCG unlimit for Mole when?) 
• Dark Magician only got support in the ARC-V era (and required him to go Xyz); otherwise he just had DMG and other flavor cards.

3. Stardust is my favorite out of the "released" protagonist bosses. 

 

4. I know I own a couple copies of Dark Magician and Neos; former is more of the old releases (so basically, older artworks from past sets; not the newer arts). Stardust; the SHSP version (I think I still have the tin version, but haven't seen that one in a while). Only owned one copy of Utopia [dk if I still have it or what] and never Odd-Eyes (need to check if the tin version dropped in price; might be considering the game changes). 

[Expelsword]

I can't even list all the reasons I've come to hate Number 39.

It may seem hypocritical that I like Stardust, but all of its forms are unique and cool. Most of Hope's forms are stupid in their application and used as nothing more than fodder.

 

DM has awesome forms, even if some are really trash in terms of effect, and Neos' stuff is really out there.

 

Odd-Eyes had a lot going for it, but Yuya's deck really got garbled near the end. Why can cards be both Performpals and Odd-Eyes? (and for that matter, a Synchron!)

[Valkyrus]

Is the quality of the monster reflective of the quality of its anime?

 

Short answer: No

 

When you look at Dark Magician, it's just a vanilla but it represents the best anime. I'm not even influenced by nostalgia since my personal favorite is 5d's, but without the success of the original, 5d's or any of the successors would never be a thing.

 

That aside, let's break it down in 2 groups: standalone and support

 

(my opinion)

standalone ranking: (best to worst)

1. Stardust Dragon (was a staple ED monster throughout the whole Synchro Era and still has uses today. Was amazing before banishing and spinning removal became the norm.)

2. Odd-Eyes (one of the most versatile pendulum searchers, though since it was slow in an increasingly fast format it never made much of an impact. And it has a damage boost that some people probably long forgot about. Kinda bad by itself in its time however.)

3. Utopia (rather high ATK for a rank 4 + battle protection. Was only ever good because it was the first R4NK released. Actually, even then it wasn't really good.

4/5. Neos, Dark Magician. They are vanillas. Nothing much to say about them as standalone cards. Well, DM's artworks are ten times better than Neos though. Did Neos even get a single alternate artwork? Damn that's sad.

 

Support ranking

1. Odd-Eyes (too many to name. Odd-eyes as an archetype is the best among them (boss monster archetypes). Has multiple forms, many of which are useful. Has synergy with the pendulum magicians. Was a part of a meta deck)

2. Dark Magician (a decent stun deck. If only eternal soul wasn't a ticking bomb). However, Blue-eyes outshined DM when it came out and even became meta, while DM never made the cut. However, it's motherf***ing Dark Magician so he will undoubtedly get more support (if the game starts to decline in profits most probably). So DM still has the most potential as support. But for now, number 2.

3. Lightning. Nothing else worth mentioning.

4. Stardust...Starlight Road was good for a while back in the day. None of the support ever made as much of an impact as The Lightning though so I'm putting the support bellow Utopia.

5. Neos....is in a league of its own. It's such a worthless card that I kinda feel bad about how he was treated. At least Honesty Neos is a thing.

 

overall:

1. Odd-eyes

2. Stardust

3. Dark Magician

4. Utopia

5. Neos

 

hmm. You may switch 2 and 3, cause I may be a little biased.

[Darj]

Best protagonist monster :v

 

But seriously now, my personal favorite of these 4 is Stardust Dragon; it shook things up with it and Synchro monsters were introduced, and it still has some uses to this day; hey, at the very least it lets you profit from Starlight Road.

Utopia had and still has relevance, but yeah, not a big fan of the replaying self-destructive effect of standard Utopia, nor Utopia Lightning as an endgame boss denier.

[Zauls]

Stardust Dragon is the best card from the best era of YGO and will always be competitively viable, especially with Starlight Road existing. Utopia would be second as its played in most decks but only as fodder for Lightning. The card itself really sucks, as do all the others, which I don't care about at all.

[Expelsword]

Haha, ouch.

 

Another thing I can say is that Stardust has the best type when it comes to an ED monster, since Dragons have so much Graveyard revival.

[Blake]

Stardust Dragon is the best card from the best era of YGO and will always be competitively viable, especially with Starlight Road existing. Utopia would be second as its played in most decks but only as fodder for Lightning. The card itself really sucks, as do all the others, which I don't care about at all.

Even as someone who has nostalgia for Synchro, I don't get why anyone would call it the best era anymore.

 

Arc-V was far and away the best designed, balanced, and diverse the game has ever been, both on a Casual and Competitive level, and even the most offensive decks are pretty much due to overly generic cards, as opposed to archetypes.

 

the only truly overwhelming decks were Pepe/Pedra and Zoo, with the former being mostly due to Luster Pendulum (and Ptolomaeus) and the latter is just generic enough to be 99% of places.

 

Hell, Zoo even enriches the game.

 

5D's era had a ton of issues that people just gloss over, and aside from plant Synchro, nothing about it really deserves fond memories. Blackwings are basically just a meme at this point, and Infernity represents powercreep going way beyond where it ever should have, arguably even now.

 

Odd-Eyes is my favorite of them, but Stardust is definitely the most consistently good one. Dark Magician is overdone, Neos is underloved in terms of support to work, and Utopia... is hated far more than it should be, disappointing aspect of ZeXal aside.

 

Odd-Eyes had a lot going for it, but Yuya's deck really got garbled near the end. Why can cards be both Performpals and Odd-Eyes? (and for that matter, a Synchron!)

Odd-eyes Performapal isn't even new. It happened halfway through the series. It's more common at the end to showcase that Yuya has fully accepted himself and his other selves, but it's nothing new.

 

and like we've never seen multi-archetypal cards ever before nope never

[~~~~]

you forgot Firewall Dragon.

 

Anyway, I love that 4 of these 5 are still somewhat relevant.

• Dark Magician has his rouge tear deck
• Neos needs legacy support pl0x
• Stardust has seen occasional play with Starlight Road
• Utopia for UTL
• And Odd-Eyes as... idk a tech in OE magicians? Idk when this card was last played

[Blake]

you forgot Firewall Dragon.

 

Anyway, I love that 4 of these 5 are still somewhat relevant.

• Dark Magician has his rouge tear deck
• Neos needs legacy support pl0x
• Stardust has seen occasional play with Starlight Road
• Utopia for UTL
• And Odd-Eyes as... idk a tech in OE magicians? Idk when this card was last played

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Spiral_Flame_Strike

 

OEPD doesn't really see play atm, but this card means it's never going to be truly bad, alongside Sky Iris.

[~~~~]

http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Spiral_Flame_Strike

 

OEPD doesn't really see play atm, but this card means it's never going to be truly bad, alongside Sky Iris.

Ah yes. I personally really like OEPD, but I couldn't remember when it had last seen play and didn't want to look like I was gushing over it. I think I may have overcompensated.

[VCR_CAT]

Dark Magician is Dark Magician, just... really not much to say here. It's a vanilla.

 

Neos represents the most disgustingly over-supported archetypes in the game. Frickin' let them die already.

 

Stardust remains, in my opinion, as the most well-designed protagonist ace in my opinion. However, I am going to fault it for being too defensive. Its effect is simple and elegant and remains useful in many situations, but the card itself isn't much of a work-horse at all.

 

I'm going to fault Utopia for the same deal. While the anime had DUBURU UPO CHANCU to turn its effect into a massive beatstick, on its own it still might as well be a vanilla 2500 beater that dies if it uses its effect too much. The evolutions actually kinda make this card, although admittedly you only care about the good ones like The Lightning. Still, it has the most variety going for it, and each evo was similar enough to make them kinda cool.

 

OEPD has possibly the best balance in design between offense and defense utility, and its effect does make it the center-stage monster that your combos center around (unlike most of the others listed here). However, at least in the anime, its pendulum effect especially was sorely under utilized, and that more or less reflects its position as a card as a whole. It was designed to do a few different things to make it versatile and a truly ace monster you focus on. Unfortunately, it only does so much actually well, and its other utilities are more or less poor to a point that even the anime didn't really use them at all. This is a card that'll really never be bad because of its support, as Black said, but it just feels lacking in too many places. Not to mention, its main effect of double-damage just... really isn't interesting enough. It might as well be a vanilla 2500 beater, more or less.

 

I'm also going to cheat and mention FIREWALL DRAGON. Honestly, I really like its design as a card. Firewall's effect takes a different route from the other cards in that the card itself isn't versatile because it has a bunch of effects, but rather because its effect can be used in different ways. Of course it's pretty dang good in what it can do, but it's an effect that rewards smart and clever use, with its once-per-life clause restricting a player from using it willy-nilly. As far as effects go, it's a little too good for me to say it's more well-designed than Stardust or OEPD, but I honestly still really like this card.

[goodfusion]

My favourite of them is Number 39: Utopia, although literally only because I love Utopia the Lightning. I don't really care for its other evolutions and the only 2 times I remember facing a ZW deck I got OTK'd. Although I do quite like Onomatopia and the 4 archetypes it supports.

 

My second favourite is Odd-Eyes. The card is just so much fun, and I like the way its something you can build a deck around, but it can also help your plays by itself thanks its Pendulum Effect. Unlike something like Dark Magician, which is completely reliant on no monsters on the field its support to do anything. I do wish Yuya had used its Pendulum effect though...

 

My least favourite is Firewall Dragon

[~~~~]

I do wish Yuya had used its Pendulum effect though...

But why use a search effect when you have 100% consistency thanks to being an anime character?

[BlackBeartic]

But why use a search effect when you have 100% consistency thanks to being an anime character?

I thought anime OE only had that "reduction to 0" eff.

 

I remember it being used during synchro vs ENJOYYY.

 

Maybe i forgot something.

[Draconus297]

I just want to bring up the point that Dark Magician didn't even go one arc in DM where its flavor text was true- Spellcaster-Type monsters with higher stats came out before Duelist Kingdom ended.

 

Anyway, what I like about Stardust and Odd-Eyes, beyond them both being Dragons, is the way their effects wrote their respective anime. Yusei's personality was written into Stardust's effect, a self-sacrifice motif that helped cement his "Duel Jesus" reputation. Odd-Eyes's offensive power seems almost out of place in Yuya's Deck based on defensive tactics and tricks, but the plot shows how it fits in . . . and its Pendulum Effect allows it to have a purpose in any case.

 

Utopia didn’t contribute to the plot besides just being Yuma's ace, DM managed to tie into the plot but wasn't itself a plot point, and Neos literally just came out of the blue. It's not as . . . fun.

[~~~~]

I just want to bring up the point that Dark Magician didn't even go one arc in DM where its flavor text was true- Spellcaster-Type monsters with higher stats came out before Duelist Kingdom ended.

 

Anyway, what I like about Stardust and Odd-Eyes, beyond them both being Dragons, is the way their effects wrote their respective anime. Yusei's personality was written into Stardust's effect, a self-sacrifice motif that helped cement his "Duel Jesus" reputation. Odd-Eyes's offensive power seems almost out of place in Yuya's Deck based on defensive tactics and tricks, but the plot shows how it fits in . . . and its Pendulum Effect allows it to have a purpose in any case.

 

Utopia didn’t contribute to the plot besides just being Yuma's ace, DM managed to tie into the plot but wasn't itself a plot point, and Neos literally just came out of the blue. It's not as . . . fun.

Indeed! I want to say that Stardust and OEPD respectively represent a Temple of Myth and the temple being updated, but who knows with all these artsy metaphorical things they put into Yugioh anime nowadays, amirite?

[)e//!s0P]

Which one has the best support? Stardust. Plus, now he has Cosmic Flare.

The worst? I don't think Neos is that great, because contact Fusions aren't great.

Which one is your personal favorite? Utopia

Which ones do you own IRL? Dark Magician, Utopia, and Odd-Eyes. Unrelated, I also own Clear Wing

Is the quality of the monster reflective of the quality of its anime? Yes, maybe not odd eyes.

[Akiki]

personal favorite:

 

Dark Magician  > Stardust > Utopia & Neo > Odd-Eyes (never like pendulum)

 

I owned both Stardust and Utopia. Unfortunately, I don't own DM.