Best of Friends, Best of Duelists, Part 1, known as Finals of Friendship! - Yuugi vs. Jounouchi (Part 1) in the Japanese version, is the thirty-third episode of Yu-Gi-Oh!. It aired in Japan on December 5, 2000, and in the US on September 14, 2002.

SummaryEdit

It is the final match of the Duelist Kingdom finals. Yugi Muto faces Joey Wheeler and whoever wins will face Maximillion Pegasus afterwards. This is a really tough Duel for both Duelists, as they are both close friends, but must face each other to get what they want (Yugi the chance to Duel Pegasus and save his grandpa, Solomon Muto, and the Kaiba brothers. Joey the chance to win the prize money needed to pay for Serenity's eye operation). Tea and Tristan are upset about them having to Duel each other like this. Joey and Yugi fight their hardest, each turn destroying each other's monsters and lowering each other's Life Points.

Joey gets the upper hand by using "Copycat" as "Polymerization", fusing his "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" and Yugi's "Summoned Skull" which he took with "Graverobber" to Fusion Summon the "Black Skull Dragon". It destroys Yugi's "Gaia the Dragon Champion", one of his strongest cards, and leaves him with just 550 Life Points. Joey still has 750. Who will win this Duel of friendship, Yugi or Joey?

Featured Duel: Yami Yugi vs. Joey WheelerEdit

Turn 1: Yami Yugi
Yami draws. He then Normal Summons "Celtic Guardian" in Attack Position (1400 ATK / 1200 DEF).

Turn 2: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Giltia the D. Knight" in Attack Position (1850 ATK / 1500 DEF). "Giltia the D. Knight" attacks and destroys "Celtic Guardian" (Yami 2000 → 1550 Life Points). (NOTE: Giltia the D. Knight is a Fusion Monster).

Turn 3: Yami Yugi
Yami draws. He then Normal Summons "Gaia The Fierce Knight" in Attack Position (2300 ATK / 2100 DEF). "Gaia The Fierce Knight" attacks and destroys "Giltia the D. Knight" (Joey 2000 → 1550 Life Points).

Turn 4: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Armored Lizard" in Defense Position (1500 ATK / 1200 DEF).

Turn 5: Yami Yugi
Yami draws. He then Normal Summons "Summoned Skull" in Attack Position (2500 ATK / 1200 DEF). "Summoned Skull" attacks and destroys "Armored Lizard".

Turn 6: Joey
Joey draws. He then Normal Summons "Flame Swordsman" in Attack Position. He then activates Magic Card "Shield & Sword" to switch the ATK and DEF of every monster on the Playing Field ("Flame Swordsman": 1800 → 1600 ATK / 1600 → 1800 DEF) (Summoned Skull: 2500 → 1200 ATK / 1200 → 2500 DEF) ("Gaia the Fierce Knight": 2300 → 2100 ATK / 2100 → 2300 DEF). "Flame Swordsman" attacks and destroys "Summoned Skull" (Yami 1550 → 1150 Life Points). On Joey's End Phase, the effect of "Shield & Sword" wears off, returning the ATK and DEF of "Flame Swordsman" and "Gaia the Fierce Knight" back to normal ("Flame Swordsman": 1600 → 1800 ATK / 1800 → 1600 DEF) ("Gaia the Fierce Knight": 2100 → 2300 ATK / 2300 → 2100 DEF).

Turn 7: Yami Yugi
Yami draws. He then Normal Summons "Curse of Dragon" in Attack Position (2000 ATK / 1500 DEF). He then activates "Polymerization" to send "Gaia The Fierce Knight" and "Curse of Dragon" to the Graveyard in order to Fusion Summon "Gaia the Dragon Champion" in Attack Position (2600 ATK / 2100 DEF). "Gaia the Dragon Champion" attacks and destroys "Flame Swordsman" (Joey 1550 → 750 Life Points).

Turn 8: Joey
Joey's hand contains "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", "Graverobber", "Kunai with Chain", and "Garoozis". He then draws "Copycat". Joey Normal Summons "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" in Attack Position (2400 ATK / 2000 DEF)/ He then activates Graverobber to Special Summon "Summoned Skull" from Yami Yugi's Graveyard to his side of the field in Attack Position (2500 ATK / 1200 DEF) (NOTE: The real-life effect of Graverobber lets you select 1 Spell Card from your opponent's Graveyard for 1 turn. But if you activate the selected Spell Card you will take 2000 points of damage). He then activates "Copycat" to copy the effect of "Polymerization". Joey then uses the effect of "Polymerization" to send "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" and "Summoned Skull" to the Graveyard in order to Fusion Summon "Black Skull Dragon" in Attack Position (3200 ATK / 2500 DEF). "Black Skull Dragon" attacks and destroys "Gaia the Dragon Champion" (Yami 1150 → 550 Life Points).

Differences In AdaptationsEdit

• Just before the Duel starts, flashbacks of Joey and Yugi together are added to the English version, whilst the Japanese version just shows Croquet telling the duelists to begin and a overhead shot of the Duel field.
• Cut from the dub is long sequence of first staring with a pan across the Duel field, then Yugi asking Joey what he is going to do next, following with Joey then staring at his hand wondering what he can do to defeat "Gaia the Dragon Champion" since his strongest monster is "Red-Eyes B. Dragon".
• There's a screw-up on the VHS release. The sixth and seven turns of the Duel are skipped during the scene transition, making "Gaia the Dragon Champion" appear and "Summoned Skull" be in the graveyard already.

MistakesEdit

• Both "Giltia the D. Knight" and "Flame Swordsman" are shown as Normal Monsters in the Dub even though they are generally shown as Fusion Monsters.

Duel concludes next episode.

Featured cardsEdit

The following cards appeared in this episode. Cards in italics debuted here.

NotesEdit

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} This card was seen in Joey's hand.
2. ↑ This card was played as a Magic Card. It is an Effect Monster in the TCG/OCG.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} This card was played as a Magic Card. It is an Trap Card in the TCG/OCG.