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In either the anime or the manga, has Yugi (or Yami) ever lost a duel fair and
square? By "fair and square" I mean that Yugi wasn't:

  * Against an opponent who was ~~flat out cheating~~ [using a Millennium Item](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Episode_002) to gain an unfair advantage (for instance, using the Millennium Eye to see your opponent's cards is unfair, but using the Millennium Puzzle or Ring to draw on an ancient spirit's wisdom and experience is okay)
  * [Coerced into losing](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Episode_024) because there would be consequences if he won
  * [Chose to lose](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Episode_042) to prove a point
  * [Losing in a simulation created by Kaiba](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Dark_Side_of_Dimensions#Seto_Kaiba_vs._Virtual_Atem)
  * Otherwise was not motivated to win
  * Otherwise was against an opponent who had an unfair advantage or put Yugi at an unfair disadvantage

And no, Yami losing the [Final
Battle](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Ceremonial_Battle) (a.k.a. Ceremonial
Duel) doesn't count since the two people were split and one of them had to
lose.

I would prefer duels that weren't Shadow Games, since the pressure of that can
arguably detract from the game being fair, but won't discount that completely.


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yu-gi-oh
Has Yugi (or Yami) ever lost a duel fair and square?


As Memor-X mentioned, in the Waking the Dragons Arc, Yami duelled against
Rafael and lost. Yami was compelled to use the Seal of Orichalcos that Rafael
had given him earlier in the duel because he felt like there was no other way
to win (though the power definitely went to his head afterwards!). The episode
is a three-parter, but Yami/Yugi loses in [Episode 158 - Fate of the Pharaoh -
Part 3](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Episode_158).

If you don't want to include the Ceremonial Duel, I believe that's the whole
list. All other duels where Yugi/Yami lost, he either surrendered,
deliberately misplayed (I include Yami [duelling against a spirit of
Yugi](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Episode_163) in Waking the
Dragons in that) or was against a cheater.


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## Yugi does lose a duel in the manga and Toei anime, but not in Duel Monsters

In chapters [46](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Duel_046) and
[47](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Duel_047) of the manga, and
[episode 18](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_First_Series_-
_Episode_018) of the Toei anime, Yugi plays a game of [Dragon
Cards](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon_Cards) (called Dragon Block in the
anime) against [Imori](http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Imori), a student from his
school (this was back when the series used a different game nearly every
chapter, before it changed to focus exclusively on Duel Monsters).

Imori stole Yugi's Millennium Puzzle in the hopes of harnessing its power for
himself. He broke the seal on the Dragon Cards jar, which triggered a Shadow
Game in which the loser's soul would be trapped in the jar. Without access to
Dark Yugi, Yugi couldn't formulate a winning strategy and he loses fair and
square, getting his soul sucked into the jar.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VHDzm.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VHDzm.png)

But as he collapses, Yugi touches the Millennium Puzzle, which draws out Dark
Yugi. Imori agrees to duel him, figuring that he has to defeat him as well to
control the Millennium Puzzle. Unfortunately for him, Dark Yugi ekes out a
win.

The jar can only hold one soul, so Yugi's is released, and Imori's soul is
captured within it. In the manga, his body remains lifeless and his soul is
slowly digested by the spirits of the 25 dragons in the game. In the anime, a
new, gentle soul is born within Imori and he awakens (Dark Yugi notes that
Dragon Block took his haughty soul). Imori asks Yugi to seal away the game
again so that it won't harm anyone.


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Yugi/Atem/Yami technically did lose fairly to Marik Ishtar/Dark Marik in the
final duel of the Battle City tournament. Atem did not win this duel, Yami
Marik won this duel, Odion saved Atem from suffering.

Most people think Marik was a weak duelist, yet ignore the fact that he was
praised by Kaiba, Atem, and managed to defeat the main villain of the show
(Bakura). He adapted to the new rules of the game in Battle City really
easily. Atem/Yugi would not have been able to draw a card and clearly lost the
duel, all Marik had to do was **end his turn** then Atem would have decked out
and lost. Marik is the only canon loss that Atem suffered: [Duel Monsters,
episode 142](https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_-_Episode_142)

There are three more times where he lost a duel **fairly** , but the problem
with those incidents is that they are **filler** and thus not considered
canon.

  1. Raphael truly defeated Atem & Yugi in their first duel during the Orichalcos arc. This has already been mentioned multiple times, even in their second duel Raphael would have won if he didn't sacrifice all his life points to bring his monsters back that he did not use to duel anymore. His first duel with Atem was a clear victory where Atem's life points dropped to zero.

  2. Gansley (the first member of the "big five") would have won his duel with Atem if it wasn't for the illogical plot, he literally had the opportunity to win but choose not to, he decided to drag things out instead.

Atem had low life points (only 500) and his monsters were in attack mode, he
had nothing to defend himself and it was Gansley's turn, while Gansley had two
monsters he could tribute to summon a monster with 2200 ATK points and Celtic
Guardian only had 1400 he would have done 800 points of damage defeating Atem.

Source: [Duel Monsters saga, Virtual World](https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Yu-Gi-
Oh!_-_Episode_101)

  3. Bakura (in episode 13) their first-ever duel in Duelist Kingdom rules was anime-only, Yami Bakura was literally winning the whole entire duel until the plot kicked in to save the main character from losing and Yami Bakura switched bodies with regular Bakura.

Source: Duel Monsters episode 13

Atem was a **lucky** duelist who rarely won due to skill.


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The manga and the anime are quite different indeed. The anime duels never
played the same as either the manga duels or the OCG/TCG which came
afterwards. Yugi (Atem/Yugi) is much more skilled in the manga.

Only in the anime in the last episode, it was shoehorned-in last minute the
magical handwave to explain how he pulled the card he needed in the anime.

The anime added a whole metric ton of cards to his deck that never existed in
the comic, because Konami was trying to sell trading cards, which resulted in
his deck appearing to be a 300-card pile of crap that didn't have a single
strategy.

In the comic, Yugi's deck DID actually have a control-based strategy. Largely
focused on spellcasters, fiends, and warriors, his duels were much more
consistent and thought out, and he often won through knowledge of the rules,
forethought, and clever plays. He never "cheated" in any of his duels. If he
got the card he needed, it was luck. The game, no matter what the version, is
50% skill/50% luck.

In other words, Manga Yugi didn't need the plot armor: "The Superpower!"
because he had a solid deck recipe and strategy.

So, the whole "destiny draw" thing was never mentioned in the comic, never
shown in the comic, and no-one, especially Ishizu, never even theorized on it
in the comic, because it never existed.

You could make an argument for Anime Atem because of his destiny draw that
he's not really skilled and it's just plot armor. But anime duels were always
played with a skill/deck draw power combo. It's literally explained in the
anime that if you have a close relationship with you deck, you will draw the
cards you need more often, even going as far as knowing that your deck will
supply you with the card you need at a specific time.

Yugi/atem has a close relationship with his dark magician, kuriboh and dark
magician girl; they help him by making him draw the cards he needs.

This is called "believing in the heart of the cards" and is the most important
plot point of the first anime series. Not just that, it's a skill as well. One
that can be trained/learnt. In GX for one episode, a guy actually trained in
the mountains to be able to draw any card he wanted. In GX, another guy had to
sell his soul to the grim reaper to slash-draw.

Dark Yugi has lost three duels in the manga, and five in the anime along with
Yugi. Yugi by himself has lost two additional games in the manga. Yugi (Dark
Yugi/Yugi) is the type of protagonist that wins a lot so when he loses,
regardless of circumstance, it serves as a character development moment.
Except his losses actually do this, unlike the sequel series.

Yugi Muto: 34 wins, 05 losses, 01 draw, 04 no result shown Jaden Yuki: 78
wins, 05 losses, 03 draw, 10 no result shown Yusei Fudo: 52 wins, 01 loss, 00
draws, 10 no result shown Yuma Tsukumo: 54 wins, 11 losses, 01 draw, 07 no
result shown Yuya Sakaki: 39 wins, 05 losses, 01 draws, 12 no result shown


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