Legend of Blue Eyes was the first Yu-Gi-Oh booster set ever released.
At the time, Konami wasn’t too sure where the balanced would lay, and as such this set contains cards that are staples to this day… plus other cards that were never played ever again the second Metal Raiders came out.
So let’s dive into the LOB booster pack and see how some of its best cards hold up in today’s modern format.
10. Skull Red Bird
At the time of release, Skull Red Bird was one of the best cards in this set, due to the fact it was a level 4 monster with 1550 attack. This was the highest attack stat you could get off of a no-tribute normal summon at the time, and so if you wanted to win in Yu-Gi-Oh, you had to run 3 copies of this thing. It didn’t take long for this guy to be outclassed, though. As more sets were released, there were better normal monsters, with higher attack stats, and soon enough this card wasn’t played anymore. But credit where credit was due, this guy was the meta game for a while!
9. Mystical Elf
In Yu-Gi-Oh!, 2000 defense monsters have been a staple ever since they were released.
A lot of normal summoned monsters simply won’t have the attack to overcome this level of defense, meaning your opponent will have to tribute summon to get over it (or fusion summon, but this is 2001 Yu-Gi-Oh we’re talking about – fusion summoning was rare!)
Depending what theme your deck was going for, there were other options too.
Giant Soldier of Stone was another great 2000 defense monster, and if you were going for more of a “tough” looking deck, then this guy was for you.
Personally I love a deck filled with elves, fairies, and forest spirits, which is why Mystical Elf always has a spot in my old-school deck!
8. Blue Eyes White Dragon
The fact that this guy isn’t at number 1 shows you just how powerful some of the cards in this set are! Blue Eyes White Dragon really set the ceiling for how high attack stats could go, at least in the main deck. This guy has a whopping 3000 attack, and that’ll get over pretty much anything and everything. Sadly, it costs two monsters to tribute summon, which is pretty costly in a modern format – let alone in old-school Yu-Gi-Oh where special summons were practically unheard of. Since this cards release, we’ve also seen a whole bunch of Blue Eyes support cards come out. Blue Eyes is now a fully-fledged deck, with multiple extra deck monsters you can summon, and loads of different ways to summon the Blue Eyes himself.
7. Fissure
Getting rid of your opponent’s monsters is vital if you want to win the duel. And if you want to inflict some serious damage to your opponent, you’ll want to make sure they’ve got no monsters left to defend with. Fissure gets rid of the weakest monster your opponent controls, destroying the lowest attack monster on their field. While getting rid of the weaker monster may not sound too helpful, this actually has its advantages! Often the cards with the best defense will have worse attack stats, and so Fissure is a great way to get rid of these high defense monsters like Mystical Elf.
6. Trap Hole
Trap Hole gets rid of threats the second they hit the board. When a monster is normal or flip summoned and has more than 1000 attack, you can target and destroy that monster. Easy peasy. If your opponent is trying to win (and why wouldn’t they be?) then they’re going to be playing the strongest monsters they can. What are the odds they’ll normal summon a monster with less than 1000 attack? This ability to get rid of monsters right as they’re summoned made Trap Hole a staple card for ages! It was eventually outclassed by bigger and better versions of this card, like Bottomless Trap Hole, but in decks like Traptrix you may still see this OG card being played.
5. Swords of Revealing Light
Sometimes the game just isn’t going your way. Maybe you’ve drawn into a whole bunch of monsters that need a tribute to be summoned, but you’ve got no monsters left to tribute. Or maybe your hand is riddled with spells and traps, but no monsters to actually play. Swords of Revealing Light buys you the time you need to recover. For 3 whole turns, your opponent can’t lay a finger on you, as this card prevents them from declaring any attacks. Hopefully in those 3 turns you can draw something better and turn that game around. In modern Yu-Gi-Oh! this card is fantastic in slower-paced decks. You can slow down your opponent’s faster strategies while building up your own, without having to worry about taking any damage.
4. Dark Hole
Dark Hole is fantastic for resetting the battlefield. When it’s played, you destroy every single monster on the field. That’s face-up monsters, face-down monsters, your monsters, your opponent’s monsters, all gone in a flash! While this will also destroy all of your own monsters, in modern Yu-Gi-Oh! this can actually be really helpful. A lot of monsters now have effects that activate on destruction, and so Dark Hole may actually trigger some of the effects you need to get the upper hand. If you have a way of reviving monsters from the graveyard then Dark Hole is also a fantastic game finisher.
3. Monster Reborn
Speaking of reviving monsters, Monster Reborn is the best way of doing just that. With this powerful spell you can special summon any monster from either player’s graveyard to your side of the field. This means if you’ve just destroyed your opponent’s big boss monster, you can take it all for yourself. Monster Reborn is also great for “cheating” out monsters. Let’s say you want to summon a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but don’t really feel like paying the tribute summon. All you need to do is discard it with a card effect (Tribute to the Doomed will do nicely!), then special summon it for free with Monster Reborn. What a steal! This card is currently limited at one copy per deck, and is a staple for any deck that uses the graveyard. It’s especially good in Link decks, giving you that extra material you need to perform a link summon. But really, Monster Reborn is fantastic in any deck whatsoever. Its potential is limitless!
2. Exodia the Forbidden One
Ever since that first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh!, haven’t we all wanted to play an Exodia deck? These cards are probably more well-known than Yu-Gi-Oh itself! When you have all 5 pieces of Exodia in your hand, you win the game. Instantly. The pieces of Exodia just scream power, and it’s no surprise that people still play them to this day. There are a few decks out there that revolve entirely around this strategy. You load up your deck with a bunch of cards that let you draw (i.e. Reckless Greed, Jar of Greed), along with some cards that can stall the game (Swords of Revealing Light, Mystic Mine), then sit back and wait until the pieces crop up in your hand.
1. Raigeki
If there’s anything better than destroying all monsters on the field, it’s making sure none of your monsters get destroyed in the process. It’s no wonder Raigeki was on the ban list for multiple years. In fact, as of this writing it only recently came off of it! You can still only have one copy of this card in your deck, though. Which is completely understandable given how broken it is. Unlike Dark Hole, Raigeki leaves you with all your powerful monsters intact – while your opponent is left defenseless. This makes Raigeki the best way possible to seal the deal on the game. This card is a main deck staple in Yu-Gi-Oh, and without a doubt the best card in Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon. And you may be surprised to learn that this LOB version of Raigeki was only a super rare in this set!
