Yugioh: The Most Powerful Card Exodia the Forbidden One

In the card game of Yu-Gi-Oh many have debated about what creature is the all time most powerful. Some say it's Cyber Dragon, because of his amazing power. Others point to the Sacred beasts cards, Raviel, Hammon, and Uria, for their massive attacks and effects. Still the debate rages on, but there is truly only one creature in the game that is the most powerful. This monster was so great that he actually had to be divided up onto five separate cards, and when they all come together the game ends, and the person holding these five cards is automatically declared the winner. This creature is know as Exodia, The Forbidden One.

Exodia in legend was a horrible creature that terrorized our world. To stop him Exodia was separated into five parts and sealed away. The card game has these five cards in the form of Left Leg of the Forbidden one, Right Leg of the Forbidden one, Left Arm of the Forbidden one, Right Arm of the Forbidden one, and Exodia the Forbidden one representing Exodias head. When a player hold all five of these cards in his or her hand, the game ends.

Exodia falls into a category in the victory conditions laid out by game creators that is extremely unique. On a normal basis you would have to put your opponent's life points to zero in order to win. This is done by attacking an opponent's side of the field with powerful monsters, or using spell and trap cards to inflict damage. The other way to win would be to deck out your opponent. If your opponent has no cards left in his deck to draw then the game ends, and you are declared the winner.

These two victory conditions have been in effect since the creation of the card game of Yu-Gi-Oh, but there was a third way that was implemented to win. If a player could gather all five cards of Exodia, then the game was declared over at that point and the person holding these cards would be the victor. The only problem with this idea is that it takes a lot of strategy to be able to play an Exodia deck effectively. The five pieces of Exodia are very weak, each limb only has 300 or less attack and the head has only 1000., and their defense is even less. This makes it hard to play with these creatures, and protect your life points at the same time. Since you have to hold all the pieces of Exodia in your hand to win you can play them to the field as protection. Also adding to the mix is the fact that Exodia and all his limbs are restricted, meaning that you can only have one copy of each in a deck.

Many people have tried to come up with viable strategies to make Exodia work, but not many have succeeded. In theory, you would have to use a technique known as deck thinning to toss cards out of your deck so you have a better chance of drawing Exodia and his pieces. Also draw power like Jar of Greed helps. Keepin field presence is very hard with a deck like this, but with cards like Mother Grizzly, Mystic Tomato, and others you can summon a creature each time one dies. This strategy is good, but not full proof, and with recent additions to the band and restriction list including draw cards like Pot of Greed Exodia decks are on a steady decline.

The idea of alternative victory conditions is great, they add fun and inventive game play to the Yu-Gi-Oh world. Exodia is a great idea, but maybe needs some better support cards, then it would become a great tournament oriented deck. I would love to see more Exodia decks come into the area of competitive play, and maybe with so many new players coming into the game one of them may find a way to make Exodia work. Only time will tell what will become of this forbidden creature.