Summary
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cardsis a video game for the Game Boy Advance that was released in North America on June 09, 2025. It is remembered as a somewhat short game that was full of awesome dueling action, the type of stuff that makes games about the popularYu-Gi-Oh!franchise so interesting.
The story follows the Battle City arc of the anime, where Yugi and his friends participate in a Duel Monsters tournament hosted by KaibaCorp set in the middle of an urban landscape. In addition to the fun gameplay and unique story that delves into the past,players can obtain a ton of incredibly powerful monster cardswith which to crush their AI competition.
The best possess monstrously high Attack and colossal Defensewhilea few even have powerful effectsfor when sheer force is not enough. These powerhouses also come with neat little card descriptions unique to the game that elaborate on their existence and lore; a nice feature for fans of the franchise’s long history and innovative creature designs. The Egyptian God cards will be left out, as acquiring them is locked behind story events and are otherwise unobtainable for one’s deck.
Updated on July 21, 2025, by Rhenn Taguiam:With a recent teaser from Konami hinting at a new Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime might be more inspired by lore instead of solely Duels, fans of the franchise might be eager to reexplore what the franchise has to offer through its games - especially older ones such as The Sacred Cards that explore more classic rules instead of today’s combo-heavy rulesets. Fans who want to dominate combat in this older game might want to do so not just through intricate Spell and Trap plays, but through sheer power - something made possible with the game’s more powerful creatures. These include two unique Ritual Summons, a variant of the Red-Eyes reliant on a Trap Card, and a Fusion Monster which looks nothing like its constituent parts.
24Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon
Attack 2800 | Defense 2100
Appearing first in 2002’s “Metal Raiders” Booster Pack in the west, players are treated to quite the unique and grotesqueTwin-Headed Thunder Dragon. This Fusion Monster requires precisely two Thunder Dragons to form into this monstrosity. When summoned, the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon looks nothing like its original form. While the Thunder Dragon is a traditional yellow western dragon, the Twin-Headed variant seemed more amalgamated than actual fusion.
The Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon is a four-legged lizard with salamander-esque features, small eyes, and a pronounced purple horn on its snout. Most notable about its appearance is that its second head isn’t traditionally beside its first head. Rather, its second head is directly behind the first, appearing as an open mouth facing the skies. Players who want a straightforward 2800 ATK fusion can go for the Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, although the Thunder Dragon source is already a 5-Star Monster - meaning players might have to Tribute more than usual just to secure this Fusion Summon.
23Zera The Mant
Attack 2800 | Defense 2300
First released in 2007’s “Premium Pack,”Zera the Mantis amongthe first Ritual Monsters to grace the game. It is summoned through Zera Ritual (Ritual Spell), where players must tribute Monsters of Levels that equal Zera the Mant’s 8-Star classification. This blue field with a purple cloak has a face shape reminiscent of Slifer the Sky Dragon without the second mouth, although the two have no relation. While Zera the Mant has a rather straightforward 2800 ATK and 2300 DEF, players might be more interested in its “mythology.”
Belonging to the “Zera” archetype, Zera the Mant is supposedly worshipped in the land where the Warrior of Zera (Monster Card) comes from. The hilt and guard of his sword are stylized after Zera the Mant’s head. In the “Zera” archetype, the Warrior notably has different “fates.” Upon finding The Sanctuary in the Sky (Spell Card), the Warrior becomes a herald (Zeradias, Herald of Heaven), an angel (Angel of Zera), and an Archlord (Archlord Zerato) before betraying Sanctuary as a Darklord (Darklord Zerato). Alternatively, the Warrior can discover Pandemonium (Spell Card) to become an Archfiend (Mazera DeVille).
22Red-Eyes Black Metal Dragon
Attack 2800 | Defense 2400
Fans of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon who want an alternative dragon to admire can go for Joey Wheeler’s “Red-Eyes” archetype. Centered around the idea of potential, the more “flexible” variants of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon make appearances as early asThe Sacred Cards. One such unique card is theRed-Eyes Black Metal Dragon, an Effect Monster that can only be summoned after Tributing a Red-Eyes Black Dragon equipped with Metalmorph (Trap Card). The latter card isa Trap Cardthat gives its target +300 ATK/DEF, but also half the ATK of the Monster it attacks during damage calculation. Unfortunately, Black Metal Dragon doesn’t have such an effect.
Back in the weirder days of olderYu-Gi-Oh!anime, this card had an alternative origin. In its appearance during the Duelist Kingdom arc, Joey doesn’t use “Metalmorph” to transform Red-Eyes Black Dragon into Black Metal Dragon. Instead, Joey “metallizes” his Red-Eyes via Magic Metal Force (Trap Card), which turns the Trap Card’s +400 ATK/DEF into a stylish metallic Monster makeover. It should be noted that Magic Metal Force seems to be an anime-only version of Metalmorph, as they contain the same card design and have similar effects.
21Magician of Black Chaos
Attack 2800 | Defense 2600
Perhaps among the most sophisticatedmembers of the “Dark Magician” archetype, theMagician of Black Chaosis easily one of the most recognizable figures inYu-Gi-Oh!’s early days. Summoned only by Tributing Monsters with a Level equal to eight or more via Black Magic Ritual (Ritual Spell), the belt-clad Magician of Black Chaos sports a rather potent ATK 2800 and high 2600 DEF.
Appearance-wise, the Magician of Black Chaos has two curved head plates instead of the archetype’s traditional one, although he has the same staff motif with a pronounced top with a pointed edge. The Magician of Black Chaos earned anime fame during his first appearance as Yugi’s winning Monster against Maximillion Pegasus in the Duelist Kingdom tournament.
20Valkyrion The Magna Warrior
Attack 3500 | Defense 3850
While Yami Yugi is often known for hisDark Magician, his host and best friend Yugi Muto has quite a lot of go-to cards up his sleeve. Aside from Silent Magician and the Silent Swordsman, Yugi often relies onValkyrion the Magna Warriorto get him out of polarizing (no pun intended) situations. As it boasts higher firepower compared to powerhouses like Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, it makes sense for Valkyrion to come with a hefty 8-Star rating.
Not only that, but Valkyrion has a specific summoning condition: the player has to tribute the Magnet Warriors trio (Alpha, Beta, Gamma). Should players be successful, Valkyrion should be able to tank most hits from ordinary monsters. And should players find themselves in a dangerous situation, they can tribute Valkyrion to Special Summon the Magnet Warriors from the GY, essentially giving the player three cannon fodders.
19Masked Beast Des Gardius
Attack 3300 | Defense 2500
The terrifying appearance ofMasked Beast Des Gardiusin theYu-Gi-Oh!game is a mark of its grouping among the darker-themed classic cards of the series. Being an 8-Star monster, Des Gardius has a specific summoning condition: players need to tribute two Monsters and ensure at least one of them is the 4-Star “Grand Tiki Elder” or the 4-Star “Melchid the Four-Face Beast.”
This specific summon does come with a monster capable of beating the likes ofthe Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Metalzoa, and even Cosmo Queen. As a kicker, sending Des Gardius into the GY lets players activate “The Mask of Remnants” (Spell Card) from their deck and attach it to any face-up Monster on the opponent’s side of the field - taking control of it.
18The Masked Beast
Attack 3200 | Defense 1800
Prior toYu-Gi-Oh!gimmick mechanics such asXyz Summonsand Link Summons, the series only ever had Fusion and Rituals as their other special summoning techniques. InThe Sacred Cards, among the more powerful Monsters accessible through this method isThe Masked Beast, available for summoning only through the “Curse of the Masked Beast” (Ritual Spell Card). Unlike other more complicated Ritual Spells, the Curse only requires tributing Monsters from the hand or the field whose total Levels reach 8 Stars.
Compared to other Ritual Monsters, the Masked Beast doesn’t have any fancy effects. On top of its rather sinister appearance and its weird appendages, a mask with a gaping mouth for a waistband, and a staff with a mouth, the Masked Beast doesn’t offer much save for a decent 3200 ATK. This allows the Masked Beast to contend with stronger Monsters with a more specific Star-based price point, potentially making it more convenient to summon based on certain builds.
17Metalzoa
Attack 3000 | Defense 2300
Summons aren’t the only gimmick that players can encounter in theirYu-Gi-Oh!gameplay, especially whenThe Sacred Cardsalso showcases older monsters with specific summoning conditions without being part of complicated card types. Such an example isMetalzoa, a robot boasting a 1980s mecha aesthetic and 3000 ATK that places it close to the ranks of 7-Stars which also commonly have the same ATK value.
However, Metalzoa cannot be Normal Summoned via traditional tribute. Instead, players need to Tribute the 7-Star “Zoa” (Monster) that already has “Metalmorph” (Trap Card). The main perk of this summoning process involves the fact that Metalzoa can be summoned in this manner directly from the deck. Players can even give Metalzoa another Metalmorph, as the Trap Card gives +300 ATK/DEF by default to its wearer and provides half the ATK of its target during damage calculation.
16Tri-Horned Dragon
Attack 2850 | Defense 2350
TheTri-Horned Dragonis an example of a Monster that looks good on paper but can be quite difficult to summon based on its nature. In the card game, Tri-Horned Dragon is an 8-Star Monster, but only has 2850 ATK and 2350 DEF, making it a rather impractical trade-off for summons unless players focus on using weaker Monsters for cheaper tributes.
An alternate way of using Tri-Horned Dragon would be in a self-mill deck, where arevival card like Monster Reborncould potentially resurrect the Tri-Horned Dragon for free without sacrificing other Monsters that could possibly be used as cannon fodder.
15Meteor B. Dragon
Attack 3500 | Defense 2000
Seemingly an evolution of the Meteor Dragon,Meteor B. Dragonis arguably one of the strongerYu-Gi-Oh!Monster Cards in terms of sheer firepower. Boasting 3500 ATK and 2000 DEF, Meteor B. Dragon is a heavy-hitting Normal Monster that can best most other cards of its category. However, its lack of special effects means it’ssusceptible to enemy Traps, which means players may want to ensure Meteor B. Dragon is protected from Monster-destroying effects.
Not only that, its 8-Star Level means it only needs two tributes for a successful Summon, making its resource requirements just the same as the likes of Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon but with better offensive power.
