Yugiiconic victory of Kaiba in the first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the series’ most iconic moments, but it probably should never have happened. This isn’t the first time an anime has pushed the limits of credibility to give its protagonist an epic win, and it certainly won’t be the last. But what makes this unlikely incident all the more frustrating is the way it turns Yugi’s first win into an extremely lucky plot instead of a well-deserved one.
Of course, many duels in Yu-Gi-Oh! the end is by luck to determine who is the winner. The essence of the Duel Monsters card game is that if players don’t draw the cards they need to get out of a particularly difficult situation, they can easily lose. Some duels like Joey even make luck a core part of their strategy, playing multiple cards based on games of chance. But most of the time in these duels it’s not just about the cards the players draw but also how they use them, meaning these games also require a fair amount of skill to play. win. This is part of the reason that Yugi’s extremely unlikely victory is especially frustrating.
Yugi’s first win over Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh! It’s Because of Lucky Fool
In the first major battle of the series, Yugi faced Kaiba to avenge his grandfather, whom Kaiba fatally wounded and robbed of his precious Blue-Eyed White Dragons. Their duel goes back and forth for a while, until Kaiba gets extremely aggressive while Yugi is forced to stop. However, Yugi knows if he can assemble all five pieces of Exodia, he can still win the game. Believing in the Heart of Cards and the power of friendship, Yugi was finally able to assemble all five pieces in no time, defeating Kaiba in a devastating blow. Unfortunately, this victory is statistically impossible.
During the game, Yugi drew 16 cards. Assuming that his deck has 40 cards, this is the minimum allowed deck size, the probability that he draws an Exodia is equal to the number of picking 11 out of the 35 non-Exodia cards in the deck divided by the total number of combinations of 16 cards that Yugi could have drawn. This is about 0.7% chance for him to draw all of those pieces. Of course, this doesn’t completely encapsulate the game’s probability of ending on the 16th card drawn as it includes situations where Yugi draws before all five Exodia cards, but those situations are even more unlikely. than. It also assumes that Yugi doesn’t play more than 40 cards, but if he does play more his chances of drawing Exodia will be even worse.
Yugi’s most important victory has an extremely low chance of happening
Yu-Gi-Oh! The franchise is no stranger to giving protagonists incredible luck. Future series will even give their protagonists the power to decide which card they need to claim the top spot in their deck. The hearts of Yugi’s cards can even be considered a precursor to that kind of power. However, what makes the odds of Yugi won the first duel with Kaiba IN Yu-Gi-Oh! so frustrating that he basically won it based on his amazing luck instead of skill.