I find it interesting that Kaibaman told Jaden that there's nothing wrong with losing, then season 3 happened where losing meant literal death.

Personally I consider Yusei's first duel against Kiryu as a loss. The show treats it as a legitimate loss and would have resulted in Yusei's certain death if his D-Wheel didn't crash, which is ironic because Yusei was actually at the brink of death because of that crash. His friends actually had to get him to surgery to save his life, which in my eyes makes it a much more devastating defeat than just mere game results. And nobody will convince me otherwise. Besides, being unable to continue results in your loss, right Jonouchi?

we all know that the best duel in the history of yugioh is joey vs marik, even if joey is not the main character, period.

I actually have to disagree with the forgetable duel explanation with Yuma and Shark.  This duel showed not only the viewer but Yuma that the Numbers were not invincible.  That with good strategy, anything can be overcome.  Yuma had come to depend on his Number monsters to win him the day and this duel even showed how scared Yuma is of losing -  so much so that he had promised Tetsuyo that he would NOT use his Numbers only for him to use Hope in the end AND STILL LOSE.  Honestly think this one could have been a bit higher on the list because of how it helped cement the idea that nothing is invincible and showed us just how 'small' Yuma is until he became better at being a duelist.

Oh come on Yusei definetly lost to Kalin the first time they dueled.

Edo vs judai comes up and my first thought is
"schmaden schmukey"

If Asana blindsiding Yuga with a Maximum puts an asterisk next to her win, it should also happen with Nail.

Doesn't Yugi vs Atem technically count aswell? They are both considered protagonists and one of them got defeated

Also I disagree with your Yuzu vs Yuya duel. Its important to note that Yuya lost that duel fair and square due to a lack of his own skill. Yuya was supposed to show off pendlum summoning only, it was still a competitive match between them, there was no scripting. The only script was that Yuzu was pretending to be the bad guy to spice up the show. When he messed up and loss, that's important because that loss made Yuya get better for his new fan, and want to practice and train so he never lost like that again. He lost, accepted the loss however painful it was, and then trained with Gongenzeka and the others to master pendlum summoning. It wasn't a fluke win on Yuzu's part, she used her effects and stuff to the full extent not holding back.

1:46 Time Out Victory
2:33 Yuzu by Yuya mistake
3:56 Rebecca by surrender
4:53 Rook
6:08 Sergey enters and wins
7:31 Shark’s Win
8:42 Asana
9:55 Roku
10:59 Kaibaman teaches Judai
12:05 Kaiser ends Judai’s win streak
13:08 Jack Atlas
14:12 Romin defeats Yuya
15:40 Seto Kaiba’s Tactical Win
17:09 Edo/Aster Plot Device
18:25 Nail
20:12 Kaito/Kite
21:16 Raphael shows The Pharaoh his own darkness
22:51 Reiji

25:17 What else is happening?

My favorite has to be Aster beating Jaden. He called Jaden out, he played a pretty mean duel, and left the protagonist in trauma without the protagonist breaking character. Both Jaden and Aster also used similar decks, especially at the beginning of the duel.

Fun fact. Tea has the best winning percentage of any duelist in the first series. She won every duel she participated in. That's a higher winning percentage than Yugi and Kaiba.

I WAS SOO BORED UNTIL HE UPLOADED THIS PERFECT 👌

1.Reiji vs yuya
2.Katio vs Yuma
3.Edo vs Judai
4.Asuna vs Yuga
5.Rapheal vs Yugi
Great duels and help the protagonists to learn and grow from there lost and an honorable mention (Kiryu vs Yusei despite his Lp didn't hit zero he definitely for sure lost when his D wheel crash).

Man I can't disagree with you more calling Shark's win over Yuma a forgettable duel, it was such a great emotional duel and a lot of emotional stakes involved with Yuma struggling with whether to summon a number or not, breaking his promise, Yuma putting his key on the line, and Shark just outplaying him and discovering the numbers' weakness.

I really can't believe you put Roku vs Yuma over this, and especially so low on the list

The kaiba vs yugi round two. When kaiba threatened to throw himself off the balcony, it wasnt just about him winning. It was also so he could save mokuba from pegasus

We got to give props to Jack Atlas though he is the only man to be 2 Yugioh protagonist ever that just true skill

Sevens bringing down the the general stakes was a good choice. Vrains went full tilt so fast I never really felt like Playmaker actually gave a shit about playing the game, so much as preventing the apocalypse. At least to me. Like Sevens characters generally feel like they can win or lose and it gets me a lot more invested.

Yusaku: Sorry can't relate.
Ryoken: Shows Flashback of Lost Incident
Yusaku: Has Vietnam Flashback

even though it was a filler arc my favorite duel and the one i most often see myself going back to rewatch again and again is the Rafael Vs. Yami yugi