There are very few duelists in all of theYu-Gi-Oh!anime who have the skill and pedigree of Yugi Muto. He knows how to build a powerful deck and win emphatically with it. However, that doesn't mean that he's perfect.In fact, he haslost his fair share of duels during his time.
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Whether he's losing to major villains, side characters, or even himself, Yugi's lost a few duels throughout the anime's original run. These losses actually start out with one of the very first episodes in the series, which happens as a result of a time out, not the actual duel itself.
Pegasus Before Duelist Kingdom
Before Duelist Kingdom officially starts, Pegasus invites Yugi to the tournament through a tape. This tape isn't ordinary, however. It has Shadow Magic infused in it, which allows Pegasus to speak to Yugi through it, and duel him. Pegasus places a very strict time limit on the duel, which is what causes Yugi to lose.
Hedeclares an attack but barely misses the time cutoff. While Yugi would have won otherwise, this loss sends him to Duelist Kingdom to fight to win his grandpa back, who was stolen as a result of this duel.
Kaiba In Duelist Kingdom
Yugi's next loss is another one that he really didn't lose due to a lack of skill. Instead, he lost because of Kaiba threatening to take his own life. Yugi was ready to take Kaiba down, but Kaiba stepped to the edge of the castle that they were dueling on and indicated that he'd kill himself if he lost.
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Kaiba did this because just like Yugi was trying to save his grandpa, he was trying to save Mokuba. Still, Kaiba took the win and went off to fight Pegasus, who he lost to immediately. Yugi saves everyone near the end of the season though, as is expected.
Rebecca Hawkins After Duelist Kingdom
Rebecca and Yugi duel pretty quickly after the Duelist Kingdom arc wraps. She fights over a misunderstanding, trying to win her father, Arthur Hawkins's, Blue-Eyes White Dragon back from Yugi's grandpa. She thinks that Solomon stole it, which she quickly learns isn't the case.
Yugi and Rebecca duel over this issue and wildly improbably have the exact same duel that their grandfathersdid years ago, card for card. Yugi surrenders despite being able to win, and that's the end of Rebecca until she reappears during theWaking the Dragonsarc of the show a bit later.
Joey In Battle City (Sort Of)
Joey and Yugi'sduelduring Battle City in which Joey is being mind-controlled by Marik sort of counts as a loss for Yugi. He spends the duel not actually trying to win, but to free Joey from Marik's control. In the end, he uses a card that causes Joey to snap out of it while he loses in the process.
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Throughsome anime nonsense, Joey is able to make himself lose the duel as well after Yugi has already lost, which makes no sense, but it technically ends in a draw. Then Joey is able to save the two of them from drowning with a little help from Serenity of all people.
Joey During Battle City (Probably)
Joey and Yugi duel at the end of the Battle City arc over the fate of Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Joey only wants the card back from Yugi after he can prove that he's earned it back.
The outcome of this duel is never shown, but by the beginning of theWaking the Dragonsarc, Joey is back to using Red-Eyes Black Dragon, which indicates that it's likely he won this duel against Yugi, even if it's never actually confirmed.
Rafael In Waking The Dragons
Yugi loses to Rafael during theWaking the Dragonsarc after using The Seal of Orichalcos. Yugi uses this card after he feels like he is backed into a corner, despite protest from Little Yugi and the warnings of Dark Magician Girl. Atem gives in and uses the Seal.
This causes Timaeus to give up on Yugi, and the souls of his monsters arelost with each one that he sacrifices. In the end, Atem loses this duel, but manages to keep his soul by Yugi using the power of the Millennium Puzzle to give himself up instead.
Little Yugi In The Ceremonial Duel
Of course, the final battle on this list is a duel between both versions of Yugi, Atem and Yugi. Yugi must win this duel in order to prove that he is ready to be separated from Atem. Throughout the duel, Atem fights with all his might, willing each card that he needs to win into his hand. Yugi then takes down all three Egyptian God cards and Dark Magician.
Yugi defeats every single challenge that is thrown at him in this duel, showing that he is absolutely ready to be on his own to let Atem go to rest. This duel was certainly one for the ages, and was a showdown that fans had been waiting for for years. It was certainly worth the wait in the end.
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