From VR to Real Life Via Anime: The Best Yu-Gi-Oh TCG Cards Featured in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS

26th September 2024 EDT FEATURES

From VR to Real Life Via Anime: The Best Yu-Gi-Oh TCG Cards Featured in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS

The Yu-Gi-Oh anime has always had a big impact on the TCG—and that includes spin-offs like Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS.

Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS is the fifth anime spin-off of the original Yu-Gi-Oh anime. Airing from May 2017 to September 2019, the series’ title is an acronym of “Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence Network System”.

Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS was set in Den City, where Yu-Gi-Oh Duelists compete in a virtual reality space known as LINK VRAINS. In LINK VRAINS, users can create unique avatars for the purpose of taking part in Yu-Gi-Oh Duels.

Taking on the pseudonym of “Playmaker”, protagonist Yusaku Fujiki battled an organization of hackers in order to keep a certain self-aware AI program out of the hackers’ hands. This AI program went on to cause a digital storm known as the Data Storm in LINK VRAINS—an event that was the in-universe explanation for the creation of Speed Duels.

Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS also placed much emphasis on Link Summoning, a Yu-Gi-Oh TCG mechanic introduced in 2017. In the anime, the use of monsters for the purpose of Link Summoning was referred to as “setting (the monster[s]) in the Link Arrows”.

Since the debut of Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS, many cards based on this anime spin-off have been released. The following cards are some of the standouts among them.

Divine Dragon Ragnarok (Flaming Eternity FET-JP002) (PSA 10 Price: ~US$134)

Although Flaming Eternity was released all the way back in 2004, more than a decade before the first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS, its Divine Dragon Ragnarok card would go on to be featured in the anime. In episode 58, an episode in which Yusaku’s duel against Bohman—a secondary antagonist of the anime—continued, a flashback revealed that former antagonist turned ally Varis included this card in his deck. Interestingly, the flashback was removed from the dubbed version of the anime.

What’s interesting about this card is despite the fact that it isn’t particularly rare or powerful, it’s nonetheless been able to garner a significant amount of value. There are two reasons why this is so. First off, Divine Dragon Ragnarok is canonically connected to a large number of other cards. It has two direct counterparts in Metaphys Ragnarok and Divine Dragon Apocralyph, can be seen in the artwork of Damage Rebound, and is the central head of Divine Dragon Titanomakhia.

Secondly, it has been a very long time since this card was last reprinted—in fact, there’s a very real chance that Divine Dragon Ragnarok might never again see a reprint. Only three Japanese versions of this card have ever been launched; the most recent was in Entry Pack, released in 2015. In English, this card is even scarcer; the most recent English iteration of Divine Dragon Ragnarok came in 2006 reprint set Dark Revelation Volume 3.

Trickstar Lycoris (OTS Tournament Pack 9 OP09-EN002) (PSA 10 Price: ~US$205)

Trickstar Lycoris is a card which was seen on multiple occasions in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS. Each time, it was used by Skye Zaizen, who first went by the pseudonym “Blue Angel” and later by “Blue Gal”. She used the card in Duels against Yusaku, Prototype AI-B, Spectre, and Theodore “Soulburner” Hamilton; these took place in episodes 7, 17, 33, and 56, respectively, with the first three as “Blue Angel” and the last as “Blue Gal”.

Trickstar Lycoris debuted in Core of the Duelist, a 2017 Core Booster directly based on Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS. However, the most desired and valuable version of this card is the one from the English-exclusive OTS Tournament Pack 9, which was released around a year and a half later. This is largely due to its exclusivity: as implied by its name, booster packs from OTS Tournament Pack 9 were only distributed at selected tournament locations.

In addition, the card is one of just three Ultimate Rares in its set; it also benefits from the usual “female character value boost” both directly (via the character portrayed) as well as indirectly (via the anime character shown wielding the card). Finally, the characters shown on cards of the Trickstar archetype have designs based on J-pop idols—a factor that further adds to the card’s demographic appeal.

Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix (Chaos Impact CHIM-JP039) (PSA 10 Price: ~US$360)

Twice, Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix was featured in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS. Its first appearance was in episode 95 when Theodore used it in a Duel against Bohman; it was Link Summoned by linking Salamangreat Parro with Link-3 Salamangreat Heatleo. In episode 116, Theodore again brought out Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix; this time, it was against Varis and showed up after Link-3 Salamangreat Heatleo and Salamangreat Salamandra were linked.

Chaos Impact, a Core Booster from 2019 based on Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS, was the set that gave us this card—and it was possible for its Japanese to come in the rarity of 20th Secret Rare in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG. The English version wasn’t left out, though—instead of a 20th Secret Rare iteration of the card, the English version got its own exclusive rarity: a Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix card that came in Starlight Rare.

That being said, of the two, the Japanese version comes out on top with regard to status and desirability. This is because the English version of the card received a reprint in the 2020 Tin of Lost Memories. On the other hand, the card from Chaos Impact is the only iteration of this card in Japanese that exists to this day, making its Quarter Century Secret Rare form a highly sought-after pull.

Allure Queen LV7 (Cyberdark Impact CDIP-EN008) (PSA 10 Price: ~US$550)

Episode 104 of Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS included the only anime appearance of this card. Fittingly, it was used by Queen, one of the higher-ranking figures at SOL Technologies. She used the card in an ill-fated Master Duel against the self-aware AI program mentioned earlier (it would turn out to be the final antagonist of the series). This is another card not initially released in a set centered around Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS; the first Allure Queen LV7 card dropped in 2006 as part of Cyberdark Impact.

Unsurprisingly, this card has its value elevated because it depicts a female character. It comes in Ultimate Rare as well; however, on a related note, this is part of the reason why the English version of this card is a far more impressive pull than its Japanese counterpart. This is because the Japanese version received a reprint in Animation Chronicle 2024. Not only that—the reprinted version only came in the rarity of Common. Since no such reprint occurred in English, the rarity and exclusivity of the English version was retained.

As far as English cards are concerned, very few cards have gone as long as Allure Queen LV7 has without being reprinted. Although two other Allure Queen cards—LV3 and LV5—from Cyberdark Impact also haven’t been reprinted, the card’s increased rarity level as well as its higher level of gameplay viability make it the standout among those cards.

Marincess Sea Horse (Rising Rampage RIRA-EN003) (PSA 10 Price: ~US$954)

This card appeared three times in the anime; all three times, it was used by Skye Zaizen—but none were as “Blue Angel” or “Blue Gal” in the card’s three appearances in episodes 85, 90, and 110. In episode 85, Marincess Sea Horse was used in a Master Duel against Harlin, a minor antagonist of the second season. Skye would bring it back in her Master Duel against Bohman five episodes later; her final use of the card in the anime was in episode 110’s Tag-Team Master Duel alongside Akira Zaizen against the previously-mentioned AI program.

Of all the cards ever shown in Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS, this one carries the largest price tag. For one thing, the card’s English version comes in Starlight Rare; this is exclusive to its English translation. As expected, cards that depict female characters, as is the case with this and all other Marincess cards, are typically highly valuable for demographic reasons. In addition, Rising Rampage was a set specifically based on Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS, making those who got into the TCG via the spin-off anime series more likely to be interested in this card.

It should also be mentioned that though such isn’t the case anymore, Marincess decks were once very much metagame-relevant and were commonly used by top Yu-Gi-Oh TCG players. Though they’ve since fallen from this status, they have nevertheless been occasionally seen in a handful of tournaments. Marincess Sea Horse is among the key cards of these decks, causing a number of serious players to be interested in this card.

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