Duel winner

See also: Match winner

Duel winner
"Final Countdown", an example of a Duel winner card.
Anime appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL
Manga appearances
Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist
Members

Duel winners are a series of cards whose text mentions certain unique conditions that can allow a player to automatically win a Duel.

Cards that give the user a victory condition

• "Exodia the Forbidden One": If your hand contains this card along with "Left Arm of the Forbidden One", "Right Arm of the Forbidden One", "Left Leg of the Forbidden One" and "Right Leg of the Forbidden One", you win the Duel. All five of these cards are currently Limited.

• "Destiny Board": This card can place 1 "Spirit Message" card from your hand or Deck to your side of the field at the end of each of your opponent's turns, in the order of "Spirit Message "I"", "Spirit Message "N"", "Spirit Message "A"", and "Spirit Message "L"". If "Destiny Board" and all four different "Spirit Messages" are on the field, you win the Duel. (In the manga, the "Spirit Messages" were not separate Spell Cards but rather simply spectral forms that appeared above this card. In addition, it required "Dark Necrofear" to be in the Graveyard to activate its effect.)

• "Final Countdown": This card requires a cost of 2000 Life Points to activate. 20 turns after its activation, you win the Duel. This card is currently Limited in the TCG only.

• "Vennominaga the Deity of Poisonous Snakes": This card gains a Hyper-Venom Counter each time it inflicts battle damage to your opponent. If this card has three Hyper-Venom Counters on it, you win the Duel. (In the anime, this card allowed you to win the Duel three turns after it inflicted battle damage to your opponent, with no Counters involved.)

• "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord": This card sends 1 monster from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard each time it attacks. If five different "Forbidden One" monsters are in your Graveyard that were sent there by this card's effect, you win the Duel. (In the anime, the five "Forbidden One" monsters could be in the Graveyard by any method, not necessarily needing to be sent by this card's effect.)

• "Holactie the Creator of Light": The only way to Summon this card is by Tributing monsters whose original names are "Slifer the Sky Dragon", "Obelisk the Tormentor" and "The Winged Dragon of Ra" (meaning that you cannot use cards like "Phantom of Chaos" to copy any card names). If you successfully Summon this card, you win the Duel. The Summon of "Holactie" cannot be negated, so cards like "Solemn Warning", etc. cannot stop it.

• "Number 88: Gimmick Puppet of Leo": This card can gain a Destiny Counter once per turn by detaching one of its three Xyz Materials, but in order to do so, you must have no cards in your Spell & Trap Card Zone and must skip that turn's Battle Phase. If this card has three Destiny Counters on it, you win the Duel. (In the anime, this card could detach one of its Xyz Materials once per turn with no restrictions, and it allowed its controller to win the Duel if it detached all of its Xyz Materials by its own effect, with no Counters involved.)

• "Number C88: Gimmick Puppet Disaster Leo": Once per turn, you can detach an Xyz Material from this card to inflict 1000 damage to the opponent. During your End Phase, if this card has no Xyz Materials while the opponent has 2000 or fewer Life Points, you win the Duel. (In the anime, the damage was 4000 instead of 1000, and it allowed its controller to win the Duel if it had no Xyz Materials at the end of a turn, with no requirement on the opponent's Life Points.)

• "Creator of Miracles": By shouting "ZEXAL Field!", this card allows a "Number C39" monster you control to attack directly for one turn. If you have previously activated the effects of "Winning Formula" and "Creator of Hope" during that Duel, and if it successfully inflicts battle damage during that direct attack, you win the Duel. "Creator of Miracles", "Winning Formula", and "Creator of Hope" are all illegal to use in official Duels.

• "Jackpot 7": This card banishes itself when sent to the Graveyard by your opponent's card effect. When three "Jackpot 7" are banished by this effect, you win the Duel.

• "Don Thousand/Monster C": As a Boss Duel card equivalent to "Number iC1000: Numeronius Numeronia" (see below), it has the same victory condition in that during your opponent's End Phase, if they did not declare an attack that turn, they lose the Duel. However, this card does not have the attack-negating effect that the real "Numeronia" has. This card is only usable by a boss during a Yu-Gi-Oh! Day Boss Duel event.

• "Ghostrick Angel of Mischief": Once per turn, you can attach a "Ghostrick" card in your hand to this card as an Xyz Material. When this card has 10 or more Xyz Materials, you win the Duel.

• "Phantasm Spiral Assault": This card allows you to target a "Phantasm Spiral Dragon" you control, and if it goes on to destroy 3 of your opponent's Effect Monsters while equipped each time with 3 or more "Phantasm Spiral" Equip Spells with different names, you win the Duel.

• "F.A. Winners": If your "F.A." monster that has increased its Level by 5 destroys a monster and inflicts battle damage to your opponent, you can banish 1 card from your hand, field or Graveyard. This card allows you to win the Duel if you banish 3 "F.A." Field Spells this way.

• "Flying Elephant": If this card avoids destruction by an opponent's card effect with its own effect, then inflicts battle damage to your opponent by a direct attack next turn, you win the Duel.

• "Exodia, the Legendary Defender": If this card Summoned by its own effect destroys a DARK Fiend monster that is owned by your opponent by battle, you win the Duel.

• "Number iC1000: Numeronius Numeronia": During your opponent's End Phase, if they did not declare an attack that turn, they lose the Duel.

In a video game only

• "Speed Spell - Final Countdown": As a Speed Spell version of "Final Countdown", you must remove 3 of your Speed Counters to activate this card. Then, as with the original card, after paying 2000 Life Points, you win the Duel after 20 turns have passed. Like most Speed Spell cards based on actual cards, this card exists only in the later games of the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship series of video games, specifically only in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus.

Cards that give both players a victory condition

• "Last Turn": You must have 1000 or fewer Life Points to activate this card. When activated, you choose one monster you control, and all other cards on the field and in both players' hands are sent to the Graveyard. Your opponent then Special Summons a monster from their Deck. A special Battle Phase occurs in which the two monsters battle and battle damage is ignored. The player whose monster remains alone on the field at the End Phase of this turn wins the Duel. This card is currently Forbidden.

In the anime only

• "Deuce": This card allows either player to win the Duel if they damage the opponent twice in a row; however, only one monster per player may attack per turn.

• "Draw of Fate": This card negates an opponent's attack and then has both players draw 1 card. Whoever has not used their drawn card by the End Phase loses the Duel.

Cards that give the opponent a victory condition

• "True Exodia": If the only monsters on the field are this card and 4 "Forbidden One" Normal Monsters with different names, the opponent of this card's controller wins the Duel.

• "Relay Soul": This card allows you to Special Summon a monster from your hand, and prevents all damage to you while it stays face-up, but if it leaves the field, then your opponent wins the Duel. (In the anime, this card activated when the user's Life Points became 0 and prevented the user from losing, instead giving the opponent the only way to win the Duel of destroying the Special Summoned monster.)

• "Final Draw": This Skill gains a counter once per turn, and when it has 3 counters, it gives you the option to replace any draw you would perform with searching any card from the Deck. However, at the end of the turn in which you use this ability, you lose the Duel. Being a Skill, this card is only usable in the Speed Duel format.

In the anime only

• "Blackwing - Decay the Ill Wind": If a Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material is destroyed, the player loses the Duel.

In the manga only

• "Zero Gate of the Void": Similar to the anime effect of "Relay Soul", this card Special Summons "Void Ogre Dragon" when the player's Life Points hit 0 while their hand and field are empty, and gives the opponent the only way to win the Duel of destroying "Void Ogre Dragon".

See also

• Exodia OTK
• Spirit Message
• Instant Win Deck
• Final Countdown Deck
• Egyptian God

Trivia

• When successfully pulling off an alternate victory condition in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force series of video games, the game will display the text (for example) 'You won using the effects of "Exodia the Forbidden One".' Strictly speaking, this is not accurate as victory conditions are not card effects (which can be negated) but rather conditions (which cannot). This text error occurs even in the original Japanese versions of the games.