Yugioh Arc- V Duelist Power Ranking

[KingKaash]

Since the pace of the show is pretty slow, I just wanted to make a Power Ranking of all the duelist so far. So this ranking stands as of Episode 93 because I have not watched 94 yet. Remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and these are just mine. Power rankings of the duelist are based on overall strategy/versatility of the deck, ace monsters, wins and losses vs opponents, and does not include plot armor. Also I'm not going to include Yuri, Rin and Ruri because we haven't seen them in a full duel yet. And Barrett was too OP for me to take him seriously.

Honorable Mention: Dennis Macfield, Yuzu Hiiragi


10) Gong Strong Deck: Superheavy Samurai
I personally like Gong's deck. It doesn't use Spell Cards which baffles me and it uses Synchros with powerful DEF to overpower opponents. I see a lot of potential if he gets a lot more Pendulums to really be a stronger duelist character

9) Reira Akaba Deck: C/C/C
The main reason Reira makes this list is because of the versatility. Up to this point in the show, there are only 3 decks that can summon a Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz and Reira is one of them. His loop takedown of the Security was nice. Like Jack said, we all look forward to seeing him duel and hopefully its against a legit threat opponent.

8) Yugo Deck: Speedroid
I feel like Yugo should be higher on this list but his own character background holds him back. Being born in the Commons, Yugo's character is not allowed to have access to better cards with higher Levels, ATK, and effects. Speedroids are still a respectable Synchro deck and his ace Clear Wing and evolution of Crstyal Wing definitely carry him.

7) Crow Hogan Deck: Blackwing
This is where the list gets real. Coming in at #7 is Crow and he gets new additions to his Blackwings as he returned to Arc-V. Blackwings are one of the deepest archetypes in all of the game and his Crow's Phantom Synchro summon was impressive. He defeated Shun and even took down Odd-Eyes Rebellion so Crow is definitely deserving. It will be interesting to see how he does against Academia duelists.

6) Sora Shiunin Deck: Fluffal/Edge Imp
I'll admit that at first I didn't like Sora as a character nor did I like his Fusion monsters. But that duel against Yuya in between the Maiami Championship opened my eyes. He gave Yuya all he could handle by pulling out 3 Frightfurs. I honestly think he could've won that duel had it not been interrupted. His deck has power and makes Fusion summoning look easy. Add his semi-offscreen victory over Shun and you realize that Sora is one of the strongest characters in Arc-V.

5) Yuya Sakaki Deck: Performapal/Odd-Eyes
The main character of the show at only #5!? Well the losses stick out for me. I think he would've lost to Reiji the first time had it not been interrupted, he got beat by Kali Yuga the second time versus Reiji, and Jack and Sergey+Barrett took him down. Look he's the main character so he's going to get all the best cards, but he's surely one of the more weaker protagonists in all of the series (which is fine).


4) Sergey Volkov Deck: Thorn Prisoner/Earthbounds
Did the Earthbounds carry Sergey all the way up to #4 on my list. Yea you could say that. But he has my respect. I like the Thorn Prisoner concept and a little part of me still wishes that they brought that back and developed it more. He crushed Yuzu into the ground, defeated (weakened) Yuya, and pushed Jack a lot farther than anyone else has. He rocked the Earthbounds well and was basically showing the extent of Roger. He will fall on this list the next time I chose to make one. But well done Sergey.


3) Shun Kurosaki Deck: Raidraptor
How does Shun make it all the way up to #3 despite losing to guys like Crow and Sora who are lower on this list? Plot armor, that's why. For storyline reasons he had to lose to those. I know Raidraptors have a few flaws but I like the way they work against Special Summoned monsters. Shun's takedown of Sora the first time and the annihilation of those 3 LDS students was so intense. And while Dennis didn't hold up to the hype in his duel against Shun in the Friendship Cup, Shun still brought the heat. He's probably my favorite character.

2) Jack Atlas Deck: Red/Resonator
The Duel King comes in at #2 on my list. He's been the King of the Synchro Dimension for 3 years and his ace Scarlight dragon is amazing. He wiped the floor with Yuya the first time around and we all know what happens to Sergey. Even if he loses to Yuya next, it will be because of plot armor and Yuya getting the best cards. Jack Atlas was the second best in 5Ds and he stays consistent by being the second best duelist thus far in Arc-V.

1) Reiji Akaba Deck: D/D/D
Who else could possibly be #1? Reiji is the king of versatility. He is the first person in all of the series to ever drop a Fusion, Synchro and Xyz all in one duel. He would've have beaten Yuya the first time they dueled had it not been interrupted and he took down Odd-Eyes Rebellion with his Kali Yuga the second time around to win it with Yuya seething after losing Yuzu. I doubt Barrett had his Chains, but beating him was a nice win as well. The leader of the Lancers rarely duels but when he does, it doesn't feel like he'll lose. It's refreshing to see the anti-hero actually be stronger than the protagonist. Seeing all those years of Kaiba grovel at the feet of Atem made me feel for Kaiba. That's not the story this time around. Reiji will likely remain the strongest throughout the series, again not including plot armor.

[Dread Kaiser]

1, Whatever the plot requires. Yuya nearly OTK'd Jack after all
2,

Being born in the Commons, Yugo's character is not allowed to have access to better cards with higher Levels, ATK, and effects

.../faceplam
When the hell has backgrounds stopped anyone in this series? Also "higher level/ATK = good" stopped being a thing a long time ago
Yugi was just a normal person, Beat Atem
Jaden, ditto. Beat near everyone, Especially those guys who DID have the fancy backgrounds (Some Shmuck: who else wasted money at Duelist Prep School? T-T)
Yusei, Literally the same situation as Yugo sans the massive destruction that caused his Cities poverty, had more Synchros then anyone else and was near undefeated
Jack, ALSO the same background, Reigning king in ARC V, former king in 5D's. worth noting this time around Jack did NOT have an Ancient Conspiracy, Magic Dragon or anything else helping him this time around.

then there is Joey, Exemplifying the "Anyone can be awesome (some belief in friends/self/cards/whatever may be required)" theme Yugioh always had

3, Reira also solo'd some Obelisk force for a while, something only sergei and Berzerk Yuya has pulled off thus far, and he went through multiple teams

also

How does Shun make it all the way up to #3 despite losing to guys like Crow and Sora who are lower on this list? Plot armor, that's why.

Power rankings of the duelist are based on overall strategy/versatility, ace monsters, wins and losses vs opponents, and does not include plot armor.

Wut?

[KingJinzo]

I give you my current "Lancers" ranking instead. I leave Dennis out and I let Serena, Yuzu and Sora in:

10) Tsukikage (not impressive)
9) Sawatari (not really impressive)
8) Serena (too offensive)
7) Gongenzaka (solid defense)
6) Yuzu (Bloom Diva)
5) Reira (mook killer)
4) Sora (powerful Fusions)
3) Kurosaki (prepared for almost everything and damn birds)
2) Yuya (the protagonist, new cards out of nowhere)
1) Reiji (So overpowered, he would win the Friendship Cup with no doubt (give him Rituals please). Doesn't rely on one ace and has several boss monsters instead.)

[LolsterXD97]

I will rank the current Lancers first:
1)Reiji.
2)Yuya.
3)Shun.
4)Reira.
5)Gongenzaka.
6)Sawatari.
7)Tsukikage.

Tsukikage is just a bit bad dueling alone, even more than Sawatari, which has a better balance between offensive and defense, while Tsukikage is way more defensive and relies on Action Cards for his winning move, he also works better on teams rather than alone, because of his defensive cards.

[False_Revelation]

1)Reiji (I dont need to explain why. Literally everyone agrees that he's the strongest atm.)
2)Jack or Shun. It seems that all of the lancers received pendulums in standard so wouldnt Shun have them? Of course its possible he lost to crow simply bcuz he didnt draw them. Its also possible he doesnt have any...which i HIGHLY doubt. (Btw. Kaito will take the number 2 spot as soon as he hits the series.)
3)Sora
4)Crow
5)Selena(i dont believe she has plot armor)
6)Sirgay(lol)
6.5?)Reira ( he really proved himself in beating(from what i counted) AT LEAST 9 obelisk force members.
7)Gong(dont care about him)
8)Yuzu(literally a waste of screen time. wish she would just die.)
9)Sawatari(I really wish he was at least on Shun's level :/ I get tired of seeing him lose. Shingo's my 2nd fav character. If only he had the same demeanor as Reiji :/)
10)Tsukikage(nothin to say..i dont want him to be trash like he his but i want him to still be the weakest)
Overall I would be very disappointed if anyone on gongs level or lower was a part of an "elite" force out of an entire DIMENSION and they wanted to fight a long side me. The best you could do is be a bullet stopper.

[KingKaash]

1, Whatever the plot requires. Yuya nearly OTK'd Jack after all
2,
.../faceplam
When the hell has backgrounds stopped anyone in this series? Also "higher level/ATK = good" stopped being a thing a long time ago
Yugi was just a normal person, Beat Atem
Jaden, ditto. Beat near everyone, Especially those guys who DID have the fancy backgrounds (Some Shmuck: who else wasted money at Duelist Prep School? T-T)
Yusei, Literally the same situation as Yugo sans the massive destruction that caused his Cities poverty, had more Synchros then anyone else and was near undefeated
Jack, ALSO the same background, Reigning king in ARC V, former king in 5D's. worth noting this time around Jack did NOT have an Ancient Conspiracy, Magic Dragon or anything else helping him this time around.

then there is Joey, Exemplifying the "Anyone can be awesome (some belief in friends/self/cards/whatever may be required)" theme Yugioh always had

3, Reira also solo'd some Obelisk force for a while, something only sergei and Berzerk Yuya has pulled off thus far, and he went through multiple teams

also




Wut?

-I definitely agree that ATK doesn't mean much now but considering that Security mooks have stronger monsters than his Hi-Speedroid Synchros doesn't bode well for him IMO.
-Reira, Yuya, Sergey and Shun have crushed multiple Obelisk Force or Security. Yes.
-You're asking "what" about Shun losing to plot armor? Tell me how he defeats Sora the first time and then in a semi-offscreen duel he fails to summon Blaze Falcon and loses to Sora? It's clearly because the writers wanted to make Sora look like a bigger threat at the time.
-Sorry mistake there. I meant to say overall strategy/versatility of the deck*

7)Tsukikage.

Tsukikage is just a bit bad dueling alone, even more than Sawatari, which has a better balance between offensive and defense, while Tsukikage is way more defensive and relies on Action Cards for his winning move, he also works better on teams rather than alone, because of his defensive cards.

I feel bad for Tsukikage. You're right that he's not even as good as Sawatari on his own which is saying something. But maybe his school's "dueling style" was tag-teams and he lost his brother. I kinda wish he'd get carded to remove him as a character who needs to duel from time to time, but he's Reiji's right hand man so I doubt he gets removed this early.

[LolsterXD97]

I feel bad for Tsukikage. You're right that he's not even as good as Sawatari on his own which is saying something. But maybe his school's "dueling style" was tag-teams and he lost his brother. I kinda wish he'd get carded to remove him as a character who needs to duel from time to time, but he's Reiji's right hand man so I doubt he gets removed this early.

It was said by Tsukikage himself in episode 48 that he defends like the moon while Hikage attacks like the sun, so yeah, Tsukikage suits better as a Tag Duel partner and he probably worked together with his brother in Tag Duels before.

[KingKaash]

1)Reiji (I dont need to explain why. Literally everyone agrees that he's the strongest atm.)
2)Jack or Shun. It seems that all of the lancers received pendulums in standard so wouldnt Shun have them? Of course its possible he lost to crow simply bcuz he didnt draw them. Its also possible he doesnt have any...which i HIGHLY doubt. (Btw. Kaito will take the number 2 spot as soon as he hits the series.)

You really think Kite will overtake Shun and Jack? Why so just curious.

It was said by Tsukikage himself in episode 48 that he defends like the moon while Hikage attacks like the sun, so yeah, Tsukikage suits better as a Tag Duel partner and he probably worked together with his brother in Tag Duels before.

Yea I remember that. I wonder if his brother will ever come back so we can see them at full power. Because ninjas dueling is pretty cool. I have a theory that some of the Duel Soldiers of Academia will be some of those characters that have been carded already that have been brainwashed by Leo.

[Wave.]

Yugo is way too low. Having low-atk Hi-speedroids doesn't mean anything. He either uses them to synchro climb into Clear Wing or trigger Clear Wing's eff. Tbh the Clear/Crystal Wing + Chasing Wings combo he pulled of against Sawatari sort of locks down Crow, Sora, Sergey, and Jack's deck. Not saying he would beat those characters but he certainly deserves to be way higher than 8. Especially if you consider the fact he defeated Yuto who manhandled Sora way better than Shun did, and was capable of OTK'ing him with DRXD by his second turn.

Speaking of Yuto, he doesn't make the list? I suppose he doesn't have too many duels to rank him.

Also I don't know about Shun being #3. I mean theoretically he should be able to defeat everyone below him but as far as portrayal goes. He sort of did lose to Sora and Crow, the former Yuya tied, the latter Yuya beat so. Imo he should be lower than Yuya. Personally, I would have him tie with Sora or Crow.

Also no Serena? She's at the very least stronger than Gong.

My list would be:

1.) Reiji Akaba

2.) Jack Atlas

3.) Sergey Volkov

4.) Yuya

5.) Yugo

6.) Sora/Shun

7.) Sora/Shun

8.) Crow

9.) Reira

10.) Serena

[KingKaash]

Yugo is way too low. Having low-atk Hi-speedroids doesn't mean anything. He either uses them to synchro climb into Clear Wing or trigger Clear Wing's eff. Tbh the Clear/Crystal Wing + Chasing Wings combo he pulled of against Sawatari sort of locks down Crow, Sora, Sergey, and Jack's deck. Not saying he would beat those characters but he certainly deserves to be way higher than 8. Especially if you consider the fact he defeated Yuto who manhandled Sora way better than Shun did, and was capable of OTK'ing him with DRXD by his second turn.

Speaking of Yuto, he doesn't make the list? I suppose he doesn't have too many duels to rank him.

Also I don't know about Shun being #3. I mean theoretically he should be able to defeat everyone below him but as far as portrayal goes. He sort of did lose to Sora and Crow, the former Yuya tied, the latter Yuya beat so. Imo he should be lower than Yuya. Personally, I would have him tie with Sora or Crow.

Also no Serena? She's at the very least stronger than Gong.

My list would be:

1.) Reiji Akaba

2.) Jack Atlas

3.) Sergey Volkov

4.) Yuya

5.) Yugo

6.) Sora/Shun

7.) Sora/Shun

8.) Crow

9.) Reira

10.) Serena

You know I remembered the Dragon lock after I posted this and I didn't want to go back and edit it. I don't know if that lock is a consistent play for him since he never used it against Serena but that was really cool to see. My only problem with Serena is that she seems like she just wants to bring out her Fusions and attack. A very offensive approach and straightforward. Here newest ace who's name I forgot was pretty cool though.

I respect your list though. You back it well