My Top 10 Favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! Dragons

I love dragons. And I love Yu-Gi-Oh! So it shouldn't surprise you all that I love Dragon-type Monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh!.

When it comes to the cards, a good chunk of my collection includes many various dragon-types from the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise and I even have several dragon-themed decks such as Blue-Eyes, Odd-Eyes, a generic dragon theme, Fallen of Albaz and the Legendary Dragons from the Waking the Dragons arc in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. And can you blame me? Dragons are awesome and Yu-Gi-Oh! has some of the most awesome dragons ever designed and printed onto a piece of merchandise!

And so I'm counting down my Top 10 Favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! Dragons in this post to show my love for them. For this countdown, the monsters themselves either have to be dragon-type or at least resemble a dragon and have the word "dragon" in their name. Also any monster type is illegible for this countdown. Normal, Effect, Fusion, Ritual, Synchro, XYZ, Pendulum and the like, there's no limit to what kinds of dragons can be on this list.

So without further ado, it's time to d-d-d-d-d-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-DUEL(!) with my Top 10 Favourite Yu-Gi-Oh Dragons...

Number 10: Rainbow Dragon

This thing is just beautiful. This is one of those dragons that emphasizes grace and beauty above looking vicious and scary, which makes it a standout amongst other Yu-Gi-Oh! dragons.

Rainbow Dragon is the ace monster of the Crystal Beasts archetype and while some may argue that Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder is a more practical boss monster for the archetype and Rainbow Dragon is kinda redundant as a result, I still love this thing. It has this angelic appearance to it what with the white and gold colours on its body and enormous feathery wings it has. It's like it's descended from heaven to protect people from harm and with the colourful gems on the sides of its neck and body, we can see why it's called "Rainbow Dragon". Of course, the gems represent the seven Crystal Beasts that are needed to summon it.

In terms of playability, it's pretty easy to use and has easier summoning requirements than most of its kind. You need seven Crystal Beasts with different names in the field or in the Graveyard or at the very least have some in the Graveyard and some on the field at the same time to Special Summon it (from your hand) but there are Spells and Traps that can make summoning it even easier. What you're rewarded with is this beautifully designed, powerful beat stick that can be even more powerful if you send all Crystal Beasts you control to the Graveyard to give it 1000 extra attack points for each. And it's kinda like a prototype Black Rose Dragon in the sense it can nuke the field too by shuffling all cards on the field back into the deck once you banish all Crystal Beasts monsters from your Graveyard. As it's always treated as an "Ultimate Crystal" card, it also synergizes well with Ultimate Crystal support. Whether you summon this or use it to Special Summon any of the archetype's Fusion Monsters, you've got yourself a dragon that is always going to be useful in your Crystal Beast deck.

Beautiful, majestic, powerful and well-supported, Rainbow Dragon shines just as brightly as a rainbow whenever it's on the field...

Number 9: Titaniklad the Ash Dragon

The Fallen of Albaz archetype has lots of awesome Dragon-type Fusion Monsters out there and out of all of them, THIS one is my favourite, so it's on the list.

Every time I play my Fallen of Albaz deck, this tends to be the first monster I bring out onto the field. Titaniklad just looks freaking badass with its metallic body, shining silver colours and glowing orange spikes, claws and the innards of its wings. They almost look like lava all over its body, giving it a powerful, fiery appearance that makes it look even more threatening. If I saw a dragon like this in real life, I'd run for the hills cause no way would I want to face that thing!

The Albaz archetype has many Dragon Fusions to make use of and they all have a variety of useful effects. This one I feel has some of the best effects. Not only does it require Fallen of Albaz and a monster with 2500 or more attack to Fusion Summon it, but it gains attack equal to the combined original levels of the Fusion Materials so it's always going to have more attack than what the card says once you summon it. It also can't be effected by the effects of Extra Deck monsters for the rest of the turn it's been Fusion Summoned. What's handier still is that when it ends up in the Graveyard, on the End Phase of the turn it's been sent there you can add to your hand or Special Summon a Dogmatika monster or Fallen of Albaz from your deck, thus potentially setting you up for another Fusion Summon later in the duel. I feel no Albaz deck is complete without this monster as it's a very powerful beat stick once it's Fusion Summoned and sending it to the Graveyard can potentially benefit your situation as it can add or Special Summon useful monsters to keep the archetype's playstyle going.

With a badass design and some cool effects, Titaniklad the Ash Dragon is a monster that will most certainly turn your opponent's chances of winning to ash once it's in play...

Number 8: Black Rose Dragon

Funny I should bring this up considering I was talking about Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's last week, eh?

Black Rose Dragon is most famously the ace monster of Akiza Izinski and is also the most popular of the Signer Dragons in 5D's. Yes, even more so than Stardust Dragon. While there are are other Signer Dragons I prefer over this one (and you'll see them on the list later on), Black Rose Dragon is still an awesome dragon and a Synchro Monster worth structuring your deck around. It naturally works well in plant-themed decks, especially when one of its effects revolves around banishing Plant monsters to force your opponent's monsters into Attack mode but their attack drops to 0, thus making them a big juicy target for Black Rose Dragon to destroy and eat up a lot of their Life Points. It also has its own "Rose Dragon" archetype that synergizes well with it and they have effects that support Black Rose Dragon or set up easier Synchro Summons to get it on the field.

Black Rose Dragon has a design that is both beautiful and deadly at the same time, kinda like how an actual rose is beautiful to look at but thorny to the touch. It's covered in huge rose petals all around its body and wings but they do nothing to hide how vicious it looks with its clawed feet and mouth of sharp teeth and of course, all the thorny vines around it for ensnaring its victims. And if you think it looks deadly enough, it has a field-nuking effect in where you can destroy all cards on the field when it's Synchro Summoned. Luckily, there's a Spell Card called Basal Rose Shoot which if it's destroyed while set face-down, you can Special Summon Black Rose Dragon if it's banished or in the Graveyard, thus if you nuke the field with it and destroy your own face-down Basal Rose Shoot, you can bring your dragon back and attack the opponent directly. What a combo, am I right? Its field-nuking ability is part of why it's considered a powerful card to go up against and Akiza sure earned her fearsome reputation for how effectively she could use her beloved dragon.

As beautiful and as vicious as an actual rose, Black Rose Dragon serves as a frightening reminder that every rose has its thorns, and the thorns from this rose REALLY hurt...

Number 7: Red-Eyes Black Dragon

Gotta go with one of the old classics, am I right?

Red-Eyes Black Dragon is a fan-favourite Duel Monster and most of that is down to its association with Joey Wheeler, whom is also a fan-favourite. What was once a rare Duel Monsters card belonging to Rex Raptor ended up becoming Joey's new ace monster that got him out of a few scrapes throughout the original series and Red-Eyes also went on to evolve into an entire archetype with all sorts of additional spin-off monsters built around supporting it and making it more viable in today's current gaming climate. The original monster is still my favourite of the bunch though, and not just because of nostalgia. It has an awesome design that makes it look like the deadliest creature you could ever find yourself faced with. I mean look at it! It looks like you could cut yourself just by looking at it with how sharp it is in places! I bet it could impale you with the tip of its tail if it wanted to...

The black colour, large wings, sharp looking body and red-eyes just make for one truly evil looking monster that you wouldn't want to mess with. With 2400ATK, it's also a decent beat stick and thanks to its support, it's a lot easier to get on the field than in the past, especially if you have Black Dragon's Chick, The Black Stone of Legend or Red-Eyes Baby Dragon on the field. So with the fact it's a decent beater that's easy to get on the field without needing to Tribute Summon it, you can really do some damage to your opponent and put them in a tough spot. It's also a very versatile monster not only because of the support it has, but it can be used as Fusion Material for a variety of different Dragon-type monsters be they Red-Eyes related or not. It can even be used to Fusion Summon non-Dragon-types like Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon. The best monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! are the versatile ones that can be useful in a variety of decks and Red-Eyes Black Dragon is no exception.

With its ferocious looking appearance, decent attack points, huge amount of versatility and being reliable in a variety of decks out there, Joey was certainly very lucky to get this card back in the day and should treasure it always...

Number 6: Five-Headed Dragon

You think a two or even three-headed dragon is awesome? Try one with FIVE heads!

Famously used by the Big Five in two different arcs set in the Virtual World in the original anime, Five-Headed Dragon is quite a legendary monster for boasting some of the highest attack and defence points even to this day with few, if any monsters at all topping it. I love this think for a myriad of reasons. Its design is utterly fantastic. While a five-headed dragon might be anatomically impossible, it does look cool at least and I love how all five heads have a different design going on with them with a fiery head, a sea-serpent like head, a metallic head and more. It's a clever visual representation of the fact this monster's effect is that it can't be destroyed by any monster who's attribute ISN'T Light. If your monsters are Dark, Earth, Water, Fire or Wind, you're out of luck and may need to rely on monster effects or Spells and Traps to get rid of it. All those heads on that golden body gives Five-Headed Dragon a powerful, majestic appearance that wouldn't look out of place in a fantasy novel. Imagine this being the final boss in a fantasy game... ;)

Five-Headed Dragon is a Fusion Monster with a beefy 5000 attack points, meaning you NEVER want this thing to start swinging at you and its Fusion Materials are extremely lax. You only need five Dragon monsters and presto, you have it! They're not specific materials or anything, they just have to be Dragon monsters and you need at least five of them, thus any Dragon-based deck that revolves around Fusion Summoning can make use of this behemoth. If you use cards like DNA Surgery to turn all monsters into Dragon types and then combo it with Super Polymerization or use DNA Surgery with Scapegoat or Scapeghost and use Polymerization or even use Dragon's Mirror to banish dragons from your Graveyard, you can get this beast on the field relatively easily and start swinging away. It always feels satisfying to me getting to summon this monster and it makes all the effort worthwhile, believe me.

With its incredible design, insane attack power, huge amount of versatility for Fusion and Dragon decks, Five-Headed Dragon shows that in this case, it's not two heads that are better than one, it's FIVE...

Number 5: Cyber End Dragon

Yes, I know, it's actually a Machine-type Monster and not a dragon but as I said in the rules, it has to at least LOOK like a dragon and have "dragon" in its name to be illegible for the list, ergo Cyber End Dragon makes the count.

Naturally a monster from my second favourite archetype had to make the count here and of all the Cyber Dragon monsters, this one remains my favourite. Famously used by Zane Truesdale, Cyber End Dragon was his personal ace and his entire deck strategy revolved around basically just getting this mechanical menace on the field and just obliterating his opponents with it. Cyber End Dragon keeps true to the Cyber Dragon theme by being a machine that resembles a dragon, and in this case it resembles a three-headed dragon with a long serpent body and large wings. It's kinda like the Cyber Dragon's answer to Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon in a way. Each head has its own unique design, almost as if three different machines were used to create this one and it suitably looks like a powerful machine that could easily be used to fight in some kind of war. Imagine a battlefield with an army of these things, it would be like Star Wars but with dragons! XD

Cyber End Dragon is a Fusion monster that requires three Cyber Dragons to Fusion Summon it. Luckily, in this day and age there's a loophole we can exploit to make Fusion Summoning it much easier. Most Cyber Dragon monsters nowadays have effects where the names are treated as "Cyber Dragon" so you won't only need three monsters named "Cyber Dragon", you can use anything else as long as it's on the field for its name to be treated as "Cyber Dragon". Once it's on the field, you have a 4000ATK beat stick that inflicts piercing battle damage so you can't defend against it. And given it's a Machine-type monster, it's illegible for a powerup from Power Bond to become an 8000ATK beater that inflicts piercing battle damage! Yes it doesn't have much in the way of protection from other card effects but sometimes a Power Bonded Cyber End Dragon is all you need to just win the game then and there. I know I enjoy the feel that Zane gets whenever he would pull off this combo.

With its awesome mechanical appearance, destructive capabilities and how well it works with Machine support and the Cyber Dragon archetype, Cyber End Dragon is a killing machine that will truly be the end of you...

Number 4: Black Skull Dragon

Funny I mentioned Red-Eyes support and Fusion Monsters earlier, because one of them's here on the list. XD

You may remember how last year I put this on my favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! cards list so you shouldn't be surprised to see it here on a list of my favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! dragons. Black Skull Dragon is a Fusion Monster and unlike most Fusion Monsters out there, it actually LOOKS like a mixture of its components. It's fused using Summoned Skull and Red-Eyes Black Dragon as materials and as you can see in the picture, it genuinely does look like somebody took Summoned Skull and Red-Eyes Black Dragon and tossed them into a blender to give us this beast. I feel Summoned Skull's design translates beautifully into a dragon and the skeletal appearance makes it look like some kind of undead creature from hell that's going to wreak havoc on the living. I could totally see this thing in a zombie setting or in the lair of some fiend ruler with how it looks.

Like with Red-Eyes, the anime did a lot to make this thing look cool to me as well so nostalgia does play a factor in why I like this dragon but there is more to it then that. It's a Fusion monster that is a decent beat stick with 3200 attack points and while it has no other effects, it can still get the job done if necessary. It is a little restrictive with its Fusion Summoning though as it has to be fused with Summoned Skull and Red-Eyes Black Dragon SPECIFICALLY but there are monsters who's names are treated as "Summoned Skull" out there and with Red-Eyes support, it can be easy to get the materials necessary for it. Also in today's gaming environment, Black Skull is always treated as an Archfiend card so it can synergize with Archfiend support, making it more useful now than it was back then.

It's my personal favourite Fusion Monster out there and one of my favourite Dragon Monsters as a result. It looks awesome, it's powerful and it's appearances in the anime are insanely memorable. This is one dragon that'll have its enemies looking like a skull when it's done with them...

Number 3: Stardust Dragon

This thing is EPIC and I'm glad that after getting back into Yu-Gi-Oh! after a long time away from the franchise, I now have this card in my collection and am aware of its existence.

Stardust Dragon is famously the ace monster of Yusei Fudo, one of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s most popular protagonists and needless to say, Yusei got himself a good one here. Stardust Dragon has one of the most awesome designs of any dragon in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Everything about it just screams "badass" from its enormous wings to its long tail to its tough looking body and the design of its head. It has a very elegant looking appearance too, fitting for a monster with "Stardust" in its name. It's the perfect blend of elegant and powerful and it makes this dragon look like a mighty beast that you'd be best to avoid in battle.

But it's not just its appearance that makes it so awesome. As a Synchro Monster, Stardust Dragon is easy to summon with your monsters needing to have a combined level of eight to Synchro Summon it and it only requires one tuner and one or more non-tuners so the set-up for it isn't too complicated to pull off. And once it's on the field, you have a 2500ATK monster that can negate destruction effects by using itself as a tribute so anyone with a card like Mirror Force or Raigeki can forget all about their destruction tactics. What's even better is that if Stardust Dragon's effect is activated and ISN'T negated, it comes back from the Graveyard so you can potentially exploit its effect again later in the duel. It's like it's sacrificing itself to keep your other monsters alive and then it regenerates, akin to a phoenix rising from the ashes in that sense. This makes it an extremely valuable card to have on the field as a result and with Stardust related support, it can make the card even more useful and give it more tools to play with. Yep, Yusei was sure lucky to have this dragon as his Signer Dragon.

With its majestic, elegant design, great power and destruction negation abilities, Stardust Dragon shines as bright as a star on the field and I enjoy every moment where it gets to take flight and blast away with its Cosmic Flare...

Number 2: Red Dragon Archfiend

As great as Stardust Dragon is though, Red Dragon Archfiend is just better to me. Sorry Yusei but Jack Atlas got the best Signer Dragon and you know it. =P

Red Dragon Archfiend can be considered the evil version of Stardust Dragon (even if in the anime, they're both good guys). Its appearance bares a huge resemblance to Stardust with a very similair anatomy and body shape. They even practically have the same foot design! But while Stardust's appearance is more elegant and somewhat angelic in appearance, Red Dragon Archfiend leans into a more hell inspired design with a black and red colour scheme, large ram-like horns and a demonic vibe to its appearance. If the devil himself were a dragon, THAT'S what he would look like! It looks as if it rose form hell itself and wants to raze the mortal world to the ground! And naturally, that's a big part of what it's so awesome looking.

Red Dragon Archfiend backs up its awesome appearance with its equally as awesome power. It's a big beat stick and continuing the yin/yang approach they took with it and Stardust, while Stardust negates destruction effects, Red Dragon Archfiend's all about destruction. All Defence position monsters your opponent controls are destroyed if it attacks a Defence position monster, thus setting up walls is not a viable option with this monster and you better make sure your monsters attack as well or else Red Dragon Archfiend destroys them too. This can be beneficial to players whose decks revolve around destruction effects or monsters whose effects activate in the Graveyard or when they're destroyed so Red Dragon Archfiend has a lot of synergy to put to use in duels. Its archetype especially gives it a lot of tools to work with and thus it's even more powerful to get out on the field and start swinging with. Spin-off monsters such as Scarred Red Dragon Archfiend and Hot Red Dragon Archfiend also use its destructive tactics in multiple different ways to give you more ways of destroying the opponent's opposition. With this monster and its support, the opponent often has little to defend themselves with once they get going.

With its hellish appearance, dark foil to Stardust Dragon, powerful effect and great synergy with destruction based decks and its own archetype, Red Dragon Archfiend is an absolute power force on the field and woe betide if you ever have to go up against it...

And my Number 1 Favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! Dragon is...Blue-Eyes White Dragon

Yeah, sorry to be so predictable but you can't go wrong with the classics.

Ever since I first watched Yu-Gi-Oh!, I've loved Blue-Eyes White Dragon and to this day I still love it now. Yes it's iconic and yes it's a classic monster but I assure you, I don't just love this thing out of nostalgia. It's my favourite Dragon Monster for more than that. Famously used by Seto Kaiba and is the rival to Dark Magician as Kaiba is to Yugi, Blue-Eyes White Dragon was instantly iconic due to its rival status in the anime and manga and it remains one of the best and coolest Dragon Monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh!. Its design is an absolute classic for the ages. While it's not the most inventive dragon design ever, it still looks appropriately ferocious and the white shine on its body makes it look somewhat mysterious and like something out of a fantastical legend. Its appearance alone looks as if it would ignite fear in people and that it could raze a whole city to the ground within seconds with one blast of its White Lightning attack.

As a card, it's as vanilla as they come. It's just a Normal Monster card with a beefy attack stat, nothing too fancy. Back in the day, that's all it needed in order to be powerful and anyone who got Blue-Eyes on the field was almost always guaranteed to win. As the game evolved, so did Blue-Eyes. It now has its own archetype in where most monsters associated with it have effects that get it out on the field as quickly as possible so it can start bludgeoning the opponent to death with its huge attack points and one especially useful monster, Maiden With Eyes of Blue, can Special Summon this thing in response to being attacked or targeted with a card effect so your opponent risks helping you get it on the field just by attacking it. It also has Ritual and Fusion Monsters to play around with like the mighty Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, the Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon or the Blue-Eyes Tyrant Dragon, thus adding to this monster's usefulness. There's even a Synchro monster in its archetype that can synergize brilliantly with it! It's a Dragon monster that is still very viable and extremely useful in this day and age and with all its support, it isn't just Yugi who has every reason to fear the Blue-Eyes White Dragon once it's on the field...

With its iconic appearance, great use in the anime, powerful stats, great synergy with its support and other dragon related support, myriad of tools to play with and how it's still powerful even now, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon will forever remain my Number 1 Favourite Yu-Gi-Oh Dragon...

And that's it for this countdown. I hope you enjoyed the list and I'd love to hear your thoughts down below. What are your favourite Yu-Gi-Oh! Dragons? I'd love to hear your picks.

Stay tuned for this week, my good friend and top contributor, The Wandering Fox is back again to celebrate Doctor Who's 60th Anniversary with TWO special posts for the occasion. See you then media fans!

Honorable Mentions:

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

Interplanetarypurply Thorny Dragon (yes, that's seriously its name)

Twin-Headed Behemoth

Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight

Paladin of White Dragon

Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon

Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon