TheYu-Gi-Oh!anime has plenty of legendary characters that have stuck with fans for the entirety of the card game’s run. One of the greatest is Yugi’s best friend and the third-greatest duelist in the original anime, Joey Wheeler. Joey is iconic due to his struggle to pay for his sister’s operation and his reliance on luck-based cards.
As a duelist, Joey is a reflection of any newcomer to the card game. Starting off as Solomon Muto’s hot-headed apprentice, Joey quickly became one of the best duelists in the series. Despite everything, most of Joey’s cards are more iconic than viable in the real TCG. Luckily, he did have some powerful tools at his disposal when he wasn’t throwing dice.
10Gearfried The Iron Knight
An Exploitable Card
Joey mostly used Gearfried The Iron Knight as a beatstick. With an 1800 attack and 1600 defense, it was perfectly appropriate for the era it was played in. However, it had other uses that could only be tapped into by the most skilled players of the game.
Gearfried The Iron Knight destroys any Equip Card attached to it. This created the perfect opening for an exploit that revolved around using Butterfly Dagger Alma over and over again with each use filling up Royal Magical Library for some free draws.
9Jinzo
A Trap Stopper
Joey Wheeler won Jinzo during a duel with Esper Roba in Battle City. Jinzo is one of the best early floodgates in the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG. For just one tribute, Jinzo would hit the field and make all Trap Cards null and void.
Jinzo would also stop your opponent from activating any more Traps as long as it is on the field. This made Jinzo the perfect protection against cards like Bottomless Trap Hole, Mirror Force, or any Trap that cannot stop Jinzo from being Summoned in the first place.
8Raigeki
Destroy All Monsters
Joey has used many of thezero-cost board wipesthroughout the anime. One of them is Raigeki. This card destroys all of your opponent’s monsters with no restrictions. It doesn’t matter if your opponent has them face down or in a defense position.
Once this card is played, they’re all getting destroyed unless your opponent has a negate. It’s a powerful card in Joey’s arsenal that is just as powerful in the real-life TCG. This powerful effect has seen the card banned in previous ban lists.
7Grave Robber
A Card That Never Got Updated
One special card that can be found in Joey’s deck is Graverobber. This card is unique because it rarely gets a reprint and those that do don’t give it problem-solving text. However, the general idea is that you’re able to take a Spell from your opponent’s grave and use it if you pay 2000 Life Points.
When the game was still slow enough, this card could make use of many generic Spells your opponent already used. This includes Monster Reborn, Change of Heart, Pot of Greed, and anything that could give you an advantage during your turn.
6Scapegoat
Flood The Field With Tokens
Scapegoat is one of the first few Quick Play Spells introduced in the game. It is also a surprisingly good card to be included in Joey’s lineup. These cute little sheep come in herds of four and can swarm your field, giving you protection against attacks.
As a Quick Play Spell, this card can be used toward the end of your opponent’s turn to get bodies on the board. During your turn, you can then Tribute them away for bigger monsters since you are no longer held back by the card’s summon lock.
5Bottomless Trap Hole
Keep The Board Empty
Inthe early days of Duel Monsters, Bottomless Trap Hole was a real menace. Just try to Summon a monster with more than 1500 attack and this Trap will destroy it instantly, then banish it. This card could also do this to multiple monsters as long as they were summoned at the same time.
This was one of the earlier cards to use the banish system, and it was an easy way to get your opponent to waste their Normal Summon for the turn. This card found a home in many decks that loved to control the game.
4Time Wizard
A Chance Card With A Punch
If you don’t have access to Dark Hole, Raigeki, or any of the board wipe cards in the game, Time Wizard could give you a chance at a comeback. Joey often used this card in the anime to get Baby Dragon to become Thousand Dragon. In the TCG, this card could not do this trick, but it was often listed as material for certain cards.
On the bright side, if you get the coin flip right, you could destroy all of your opponent’s monsters with a clean board wipe. However, calling wrong often means having all of your monsters wiped out.
3Giant Trunade
Get Rid Of Traps And Get Cards Back In Your Hand
Giant Trunade is one of the best Spells for getting rid of the back row. This is because it doesn’t destroy cards but sends them back to the hand. This gave Giant Trunade many different ways to be useful in a duel.
One could use Giant Trunade to get rid of Traps on your opponent’s side of the field. This forces them to set the cards again and wait for them to go live. This card could also get cards from your own back row back into your hand, so you could play them again or get rid of floodgates so you can play without their effects affecting you.
2Premature Burial
An Equip Spell With A Loophole
Premature Burial isa card so good it got banned. However, that doesn’t stop Joey from using it in his deck. Premature Burial allows you to revive a monster from the graveyard by attaching itself as an Equip Spell Card.
However, due to a loophole in the card text, Premature Burial would allow monsters to stay on the field after being revived as long as this card didn’t get destroyed. This allowed players to bounce back Premature Burial and use it again the exact same turn.
1Fiber Jar
A Never-Ending Duel
Joey’s deck contains one of the most infamous Jar cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG’s history. Fiber Jar is a Flip Monster that can reset the entire game if activated correctly. Suddenly, the graveyard would be shuffled back into the deck and each player’s hands are reset as they each draw five cards.
Fiber Jar was once used to stall out a tournament with the Jar’s effect resolving multiple times. Fiber Jar essentially lets you start your turn with minimal interference, so you can swarm the field with monsters and hit for the game easily.
