Yu-Gi-Oh: 10 Most Powerful HERO Cards

No archetype has endured and evolved and remained as relevant in all of Yu-Gi-Oh as Jaden Yuki's signature brand of HERO cards. The mascots of the franchise's GX era were an array of unremarkable's at first, designed only to market the show with their superhero aesthetic. They had spin-offs with the ant-heroic Destiny HERO cards and villainous Evil HERO monsters, but they were still a novelty like most protagonist decks.

That all changed post-GX. No longer having to hold the franchise flag, HERO cards did what any sensible group of endangered workers would do and unionised under the singular HERO banner, over time adding Vision, Masked and Xtra to their ranks. With each new variant saw a new and dangerous iteration of the HERO deck creep into many tier 1 deck lists. And now following the latest Master Rule revisions, they are back again, and this time they look to be coming for the crown.

With the largest pool of cards of any archetype in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, it takes a lot to be considered a good HERO card. It takes a lot to be considered the best. And these ten are the absolute best of the best for every HERO out there.

The signature monster of ARC-V's iteration of Aster Phoenix, the franchise's second best known HERO user could really have done with this card during his run in the GX era. It's material requirement is very generous, needing only two Destiny HERO monsters to pop out of the extra deck. A 2800 ATK beat stick is good on its own, but it's effect gives it real shine.

Firstly, when summoned it can inflict damage to your opponent equal to the attack of any Destiny HERO already in the GY, provided it's level 4 or lower. Take a level 4 like Celestial, easily used for the fusion summon, and that's an easy 1600 damage already dealt to an opponent (potentially on the first turn). Additionally, the monster stays in the GY, so guys like Celestial need not be sacrificed and can still pop their effects later on!

It's second effect is where it rules the duel. While it's ATK is altered, you can destroy a card on the field at the cost of resetting any alterations. Using cards like Dread Decimator, Sunrise, Honest Neos or Dynatag, this can be done in a heartbeat, and can let you take dangerous monsters and face-down's off your opponent's board whenever you fancy. While Dystopia is not in every HERO deck, he gives fantastic field control to the ones he does grace.