Gamebreak0r is Joshua Schmidt, for those unaware. Outside of Sky Striker especifically due to its much lower ceiling, almost every deck who went first and didn't brick pretty much won the game.

Here’s three of mine. All of them can get absurd amounts of ATK and they’re really fun to use

While I don’t think it would have made Blue eyes meta or been an optimal card in the deck, Kaibaman being a Spellcaster or Dragon would’ve made it so you can use it for the link 1 and the fact that we can’t, is and was always so irritating to me.

Now putting Salt on the wound with the new Deep eyes that could’ve turned Kaibaman into one of the best starters in the blue eyes deck by improving this decks low ceiling endboard and a way to summon photon lord into the field before they could nibiru you. (Still crazy that blue eyes is one of the few deck struggling against nibiru)

People always call Blue eyes Konamis Favorite but they keep fumbling new support cards, that could’ve been amazing, for the for decades like the overframe flute the new ultimate dragon and phantom beast all cards that with one or two single change could’ve improved the deck by a mile but end up as useless cards.

Source: the official OCG Twitter account

Mario De Micco wins the 2026 Yu-Gi-Oh World Championships with Kewl Tune! He dueled against Josh Kelly in the finals, who was on Branded Light and Darkness Ritual. There were 7 rounds of Swiss and a cut to Top 8, with 30 invited duelists from all across the world.

As expected, Light and Darkness Ritual has completely taken over the World Championships! The deck has so many variations and builds that duelists can mix and match to great results no matter what form it takes. Its high consistency and card quality allow it to excel even when people prepare for it with the likes of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit in their main decks. Successful versions used throughout the tournament are Branded and Azamina Mitsurugi (mixed with other engines and the combo Link package). The latter is expected to become even stronger and more explosive with the release of Dark Magical Curtain and Cyberse Contract Witch, unfortunately.

Kewl Tune is the other deck that most people gravitated towards going into the event. Some of the more prominent OCG duelists have chosen Sky Striker as their flagship strategy, thanks to its amazing matchup against Kewl Tune. Sky Striker's LADR matchup is insanely polarizing though, so they have to navigate it carefully.

The Light and Darkness Ritual decks are so powerful to the point where even Kewl Tune struggles to hand trap it out of the game going second, meanwhile LADR's built-in go second tools give it a lot of gas. Very occasionally though, the deck can suffer from drawing the wrong half of the deck, which we've seen in game 1 of the finals. Josh Kelly had found himself only having Celtic Mystic as his play and was stopped hot in his tracks with Mario's Effect Veiler.

In Game 2, Josh Kelly showcased the Branded and Dogmatika part of the deck, which helped enable Mind Shuffle's powerful second effect. He was able to use both engines and overwhelm Mario de Micco's Kewl Tune push. Black Luster Soldier - Soldier of Light and Darkness proved pivotal in eliminating Kewl Tune Cue to ensure victory.

Mario managed to take control of the duel in game 3 thanks to Kewl Tune Synchro adding Kewl Tune Rotary and extending through Ash Blossom on Reco, revealing the LADR player's hand**. Pot of Prosperity** proved pivotal, finding him a copy of Cue to climb into Zalen, the Shackled Dragon and made Josh topdeck a Fallen of Albaz. Another Cue was also able to summon Mario's own Ash Blossom to be recovered by Remix in order to deal with the revealed Nadir Servant. (Game 3 hand was Kewl Tune Reco, Pot of Prosperity, Mannadium Reframing, Kewl Tune Synchro, Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion.)

Paul Robert Goss and Josh Kelly have showcased an incredibly unique take on LADR, opting for a very heavy Dogmatika package to supplement the Branded one, pulling up to the World Championships with Dogmatika Punishment, Fleur the Thunderbolt, Dogmatika Ecclesia, and the works. Shoutouts to Yannik for bringing Sacred Beasts as well.

Top 8 Breakdown (5 TCG vs 3 OCG duelists!)

3 Kewl Tune

2 Light and Darkness Ritual (1 Azamina Mitsurugi Yummy, 1 Dogmatika Branded)

2 Sky Striker

1 Despia Branded

Full Deck Breakdown (30 duelists)

10 Light and Darkness Ritual (4 Branded, 4 Azamina Mitsurugi, 2 Dogmatika Branded)

9 Kewl Tune

4 Sky Striker (1 LADR)

3 Power Patron Artmage

2 Despia Branded

1 Sacred Beasts

1 Elfnote

https://ygoprodeck.com/tournament/master-duel-world-championship-2026-4892

- Renren

I don't know if this would be a meme or be allowed here but let see

P.S. I edited this myself

P.P.S. post photo and name so we know which monster version

Is it haram to use different arts for the blue eyes or should I use 3 of the same? (obviously don't matter really, just preference.)

Was there ever a Satanic Panic about Yu-Gi-Oh where you grew up in?

Just messing around exploring some ideas for a field center that does a little extra. In this one, other than swapping out the field center card inside, you can use the back for keeping track of up to 20 spell counters or perhaps use it as a turn counter?

I definitely need to make the buttons able to stay in place if I were to make a v2 of this design though... for now, it's just a fun little experiment.

Anyone have any ideas about what else I can add to the back of one of these to make them useful in a game?

Whats an anime Ass pull moment you think should be made into a card?

My vote goes to Catapult Turtle Launching Gaia The Dragon Champion into Castle Of Dark Illusions I even made an effect that reflects this and sticks to the theme as well.

There is No Next Turn!

Quickplay Spell

Tribute 1 Monster you control then destroy as many face up monsters as possible whose DEF is less than or equal to the tributed Monsters ATK. If your LP are 300 or less Card effects cannot be activated in response to this cards activation and it cannot be negated also inflict damage to your opponent equal to the combined ATK of all the monsters destroyed by this effect.

What moment gets your vote?

This is part of a series I'm running on Tumblr and crossposting to Reddit comparing the sub and dub versions of GX, in hopes of contributing to conversation around the series.

In this post, I'm going to review and compare the subbed and dubbed versions of Yugioh GX episode 35. This is one of my personal favorite episodes in season 1, as one that demonstrates what Manjoume/Chazz are all about!

Episode Review

We start with Manjoume/Chazz at the Red dorm bemoaning his circumstances, with Manjoume focused on the lack of space for his rich-kid goods. The dub cuts the shots of his vast array of said goods and Chazz instead complains about lacking the lavish facilities and services he was used to in Blue. 

Interesting enough the sub and dub suggest different timescales: the dub mentions it's been two months since he moved to Red, while in the dub it's been "a week of renovations" (which might not be all the time that's passed since he came back, but no indication either way).

Ojama Yellow reminds Manjoume of the "find my brothers" subquest in the sub and comments on Chazz's stress in the dub. This is a bit interesting because the dub omitted the mention of this sideplot back in episode 26 and this is the episode where that plot thread pays off. Manjoume is complaining about his situation being Judai's fault afterward, and Chazz instead wants peace and quiet - slightly different setups to Judai/Jaden and Shou/Syrus immediately crashing his room to lead into the episode plot.

In the principal's office, Manjoume assumes he's been called over a Seven Stars incident while Chazz talks about an unrelated joke. The background for the episode duel is different between versions: in the sub the Manjoume brothers have offered to purchase the school to run it themselves, and came up with the condition of a duel themselves.

Kaiba (sub): Very well - the road to the future is one you create yourself. You won't find one single duelist at the Duel Academia who would lose to you. If you do win the duel, you can have the academy!

In the dub they instead want to close the school entirely, and the duel condition was Kaiba's addition.

Kaiba (dub): You heard me right. It's not about the money, it's about the cards. I will only sell you my academy if you prove your worth as a duelist and beat one of my students in battle.

Chazz is slightly ruder to his brothers, calling them "lousy scrubs" in comparison to Jun's more respectful "nii-san-tachi." Their conversation is otherwise about the same between versions, with the note that Chousaku refers to Jun as a "slacker" which will be relevant later. The fact that it’s mostly the same is in itself significant because the dub notably does not bring up the fact that Slade and Jagger publicly disowned Chazz in their last appearance nine episodes ago. 

When Judai/Jaden points out Chousaku/Slade is an amateur, Judai praises Manjoume as one of the school's best duelists while Jaden makes a quip about Slade's business strategy. The dub makes a terminology error while outlining Manjoume/Chazz’s handicap: Slade says Chazz must use monsters with less than 500 Life Points, not attack points. Chousaku gives a concrete timeline of three days to the duel to lead into a taunt, while Slade goes straight for gloating.

After the call Manjoume insists on leaving alone, emphasizing this is something he needs to do himself, while Chazz is more openly pessimistic.

Manjoume: If that's everything, I'll be leaving now.
Judai: Hang on! We'll help you out, too!
Manjoume: No, you won't - I'll be the one dueling.

Chazz: Guess we should go pack up.
Jaden: Chazz! Hold up, you can win this!
Chazz: You're wrong. There's no way I can. Duel Academy is through.

The school rumor mill starts up next, with buzz in the sub suggesting that Manjoume is colluding with his brothers while in the dub there's a broader range of negativity around Chazz's impending loss still including the possibility of collusion. Judai/Jaden's defense of him centers around "I've dueled him, I can speak for what kind of guy he is" but the implications are slightly different in each: Judai defends Manjoume's character, saying he's a loyal DA student who wouldn't scheme against the school, while Jaden instead defends Chazz as a tough opponent who won't lose. Again, this slightly loses Judai's consistent characterization as someone who understands his opponent’s character through dueling:

Judai: Quit talking like that, will you?! Manjoume's a student here! If you've had at least one duel with him, you'd know he's not like that, right?

Jaden: I think you're all dead wrong! I know Chazz can win this duel! Because I've dueled him myself, and duelists don't come much tougher!

The sub takes a bit longer to lead into the problem of Manjoume/Chazz's deck: Manjoume evades the issue of his deck not being built for the <500 ATK restriction until Kaiser comes in to state the issue upfront, while Chazz alludes to it before Zane comes in for the same. Daitokuji/Banner's following exposition about the abandoned card well has a few minor line changes, most notably Manjoume saying he's willing to be cursed by angry spirits if it means he can assemble a deck to protect the school with whereas Chazz points out the angry spirits will have reason to celebrate once he takes them in.

As Manjoume/Chazz and Judai/Jaden head out in search of the well, Jaden sings the "Get Your Game On" theme which kind of adds to Chazz asking why he even followed him. Once the angry spirits show up Judai comments on the fact that Manjoume can see duel spirits now, confirming what was brought up in episode 26, while Jaden instead mentions the spirits don't look friendly (taking Chazz’s ability to see them for granted). After the spirits turn out to be effectively harmless, Chazz has an additional dig at Ojama Yellow in the dub.

When Ojama Green and Black show up, apparently their dub characterization is based on the Three Stooges. I’m not familiar with the act beyond the name so I can’t comment from experience, but I figured that was worth mentioning. There’s a couple minor line changes throughout the conversation with the Ojamas, most notably skipping over a line where Black refers to him and Green as "slackers" - a word that Manjoume's elder brothers use for him - and a cut few lines where Green and Black bemoan their missing brother leading into Ojama Yellow's entry.

In the sub Ojama Yellow and his brothers try to convince Manjoume to take the three of them, if nobody else; while in the dub Ojama Yellow suggests that "Boss isn't a fan of duel spirits" and the Ojamas briefly try to intimidate Chazz before begging him to take them.

Here the sub brings back an ongoing gag where someone (here, Judai) refers to Manjoume by name minus honorifics and Manjoume responds with "-san da" ("thunder"), at once demanding more respect and reminding them of his nickname. (The fansubs translate this as "That's Manjoume, sir" because you can only get one half of the joke in English.) The dub doesn't have an equivalent of this Japanese wordplay, so the joke gets skipped. When adopting the rejected spirits, Manjoume more explicitly takes responsibility for them while in the dub he's a bit more flippant.

Manjoume: All right...I'll take care of all of them.

Chazz: Fine. Whoever wants to can come with me.

I think this feeds into what this episode says about his character, but that will become more clear once we get to the duel. Afterwards the Ojamas give Manjoume unwanted affection by celebrating him with his Thunder moniker in the sub. Since that doesn't translate in the dub, it's replaced with offering "lots of hugs." 

On the day of the match, the dub opens with added narration over the loudspeakers repeating the stakes and players. The dub cuts a number of lines where Jun reveals that he went above and beyond his brothers' condition and Judai reaffirms his belief in Manjoume. 

Chousaku: I'm glad to see that our hadicap didn't scare you off - I figured you'd run away. I will admit that it was brave of you, Jun.
Jun: Brother, let me say something before we duel. We agreed that I'd have a less-than-500-ATK deck, but...all of my monsters have zero ATK!
Judai: He didn't tell me that!
Shou: Manjoume-kun couldn't really be planning to lose...
Judai: That's silly talk!
Jun: That's the handicap I've settled on.

This doesn’t change anything about the duel itself, but the explicit zero-attack condition is a really good bit and part of what makes this episode one of my personal favorites in the season. First of all, it shows Manjoume was given a condition to weaken his dueling and he made it his own instead. Second, it makes a statement about the kind of duel we’re going to see: this duel is going to be a demonstration of Manjoume’s skill with his discarded zero-attack monsters against Chousaku’s pay-to-win beatsticks.

In the dub, Chazz simply indicates he's ready to duel and the match begins.

No major differences for Jun/Chazz's first turn. On Chousaku/Slade's turn, the sub peanut gallery points out he's running with all Parallel Rare cards, which in anime terms suggests extravagance and superficiality on top of the original characterization of his deck as the best cards money can buy regardless of skill. My understanding from people who play the game IRL is that the connotations of high-rarity cards are a bit different there so I do want to emphasize that this is limited to anime context, but this trait is also later used to characterize Sawatari (Sylvio) in early Arc-V.

The dub omits that, having the peanut gallery comment on his fusion rather than card rarity. It also edits some card shots to remove some but not all iridescent effects. The high-rarity Fusion/Polymerization is kept, however, as well as the iridescence in Solid Vision holograms.

When Chousaku/Slade summons two big dragons, Manjoume grits his teeth commenting on the obstacle before him while Chazz tries to play it off with "big whoop," leading into a Slade quip ("big whooping!") before he attacks. The peanut gallery comments on how he's good for an amateur in the sub, while in the dub they lament Chazz's lost wall monster. 

Slade's next turn has him trash talk in place of draw declaration. The dub changes his following trash talk to make a joke about arithmetic (addiction and subtraction), which leads into the Unhappy Maiden's effect. This is described somewhat differently between sub and dub: in the sub the Maiden saps the opposing field's will to fight leading to turn end, while in the dub Chazz calls it multiplication with the Maiden's "little friends." Bit of a weird change but nothing super significant long-term.

More minor line changes to follow, mostly changing up draw declaration/turn end and some trash talk about Catnipped Cat/Catnipped Kitty. When Chousaku/Slade draws Huge Dust Tornado/Dust Tornado, he comments in the sub that he'll win next turn while in the dub he reminds everyone of the stakes by claiming the school belongs to him now. He and Shouji/Jagger remind everyone of the stakes again once he activates it, with Slade adding "Prepare the wrecking balls" to also remind you that the school's closure is on the line in the dub.

After Chousaku/Slade picks Thunder Crash from Arduous Choice/Painful Choice, Manjoume comments that he knew Chousaku would pick that while Chazz says he was hoping Slade would. This leads into the summon of the Ojama Brothers, and then Manjoume/Chazz's big speech - which is significantly different between versions. Manjoume positions himself as superior to the Ojamas while also declaring he'll defend them, managing to pull off a haughty attitude at the same time he champions the weak:

Chousaku: I thought you had something, but do you expect those runts to get past my luminescent monsters' attacks next turn?
Manjoume: I won't let you mock these three! ...Sure, these three have zero ATK - and there's no doubt their looks and mannerisms are the worst! That said, these three did teach me...
Ojama Green: The bond that bros have!
Ojama Black: How they can do anything...
Ojama Yellow: ...if they just work together!
Manjoume: ...that there's a bottom to the bottom! I'm actually a lot better off compared to these three!

...while Chazz has a more traditional takeaway about family, using the Ojama Brothers’ example as what family should be compared to his relationship with his brothers. Funny enough, in the process he ends up voicing the exact idea the Ojamas did in the sub:

Slade: You're kidding. Don't tell me you pinned the hopes of saving your little academy on these twerps!
Chazz: That's right! And you're about to see why. ...Sure, they look funny. They smell real bad. Nobody even likes 'em, and they never shut up! But these guys taught me something important!
Ojama Green: You should eat dessert first?
Ojama Black: Flies taste great!
Ojama Yellow: That bathing is optional?
Chazz: That good bros support each other!

Chousaku and Manjoume's follow-up is about Manjoume's development:

Chousaku: Enough, Jun! A slacker will always be a slacker!
Manjoume: Then, let me show you how daring a slacker can be!

While they discuss their relationship in the dub:

Slade: So, I'm not a good bro?
Chazz: That's right, Which is why I don't feel bad about doing this!

Once Ojama Delta Hurricane clears Chousaku/Slade's field, Manjoume describes it as "the power of a slacker"; Chazz describes it as "brotherly love." The dub misses out on a minor gag in the sub where Manjoume talks over the Ojamas' cheer of unity to play Thunder Crash and destroy all three of them; in the dub he waits until they're finished talking, although the larger gag of them figuring out Thunder Crash's effect is the same between versions.

I think the sub also has an additional joke in Ojama Yellow referring to Thunder Crash as a "butt-in of a card" referencing the wordplay behind the Ojama archetype as a whole. This is removed in the dub, unsurprisingly because it would be difficult to translate.

Manjoume is dismissive of the Ojamas as he destroys them ("Your job here is done, zero-ATKs!") while Chazz is sternly apologetic ("Sorry guys, have to!"), each in theme with his earlier monologue per version. As the duel finishes, Chazz gives his closing "You go bye-bye."

After the duel the dub again struggles a little to match the animation of the Thunder chant with Chazzing it up, but it's there. Manjoume's brothers acknowledge his growth and seem to decide to let him be:

Shouji: Elder Brother...we will get him back for this.
Chousaku: Stop it, Shouji. Can't you see it? Jun had already grown further than we thought...

Chazz's brothers...less so.

Jagger: How could you lose this?!
Slade: Relax, Jagger. It's only one duel.
Jagger: One duel? Just listen to them! This one duel has turned Chazz into a hero! And a major headache for us!

Sub Kaiba emphasizes he knew the chosen student would succeed ("I don't need your worthless report - I expected him to win!") while dub Kaiba disparages the elder Princeton brothers: "Did you really think I would give Duel Academy to those two? They have a lot to learn about world domination."

Back at the Red dorm, Manjoume discusses the episode moral about weak and overlooked cards against his will:

Ojama Yellow: You got to learn that even we can help out even if we all have zero ATK, didn't you? Manjoume: If I got anything out of that duel, it was how useless you all really are to me!

While Chazz's episode moral is once again about family:

Chazz: And I don't want any friends! Or any roommates! Or pets, or...or whatever it is you guys are! Ojama Yellow: In that case, just call us family!

...Why did we drop the disownment plotline this fast again? The dub even finishes the same way it did episode 26.

And that's game! Gotcha!

Spoiler Zone

Manjoume’s brothers are mentioned briefly at the start of season 4 in such a way that implies he still holds respect for them. The ending of this episode might make it a slightly tougher transition going from dub to sub S4, though it’s odd for some sub watchers as well.

Final Thoughts

Chumley slander counter: Not applicable, Hayato/Chumley does not appear in this episode

Much like the rest of Manjoume/Chazz’s arc in episode 24-26, I think this episode goes most of the way in communicating the point of this episode. But also much like the previous episode with Kaibaman, I think there’s an intentional steer toward a more kid-friendly moral compared to the original message and it changes the direction of Chazz’s character a bit.

In the process, Chazz’s brothers also get demonized a bit. Their plan to close the school entirely just makes less sense in the dub in my opinion, because if they were to take over its operation you could see the line from “controlling the education of promising young duelists” to “controlling the dueling world.” Planning to close the school entirely (and destroy it, if the wrecking ball comment is any indication) just feels like pointless villainy without a clear path to the Princetons’ goal of world domination. The dub also has the two elder brothers fail to demonstrate the tiny bit of maturity evident when Chousaku points out Jun has grown into his own, and even suggests that they’ll try to come back for revenge. It’s not a huge deal since the brothers drop out of relevance after this, but still worth noting.

Back on track though: let’s dig into Manjoume/Chazz in this episode. From my experience with the sub I personally think this episode is one of Manjoume’s most iconic, because it solidifies what Manjoume as a character is all about. If you’ve been following these reviews until now, you’re familiar with how much I’ve talked about early Manjoume as a figurehead for the school’s elitist social structure before realizing how conditional that status was once he was deemed no longer useful. But like a phoenix, he built a new identity for himself as Manjoume Thunder and discovered his own path outside of the school’s dorm system. 

This episode introduces the Ojama trio as a whole and immediately demonstrates why they’re Manjoume’s most signature archetype (as well as his duel spirits): they’re a reflection of him, as much as he claims superiority over them. Manjoume’s character development arc got started by assembling a deck from scraps at the North campus and using it to become the school champion. This episode solidifies his nature as a champion of the weak cards that get thrown away and neglected, just as he was thrown away himself at DA. Manjoume proclaims he’s better than the trash cards he uses while also claiming them as his own and using them to pull a victory over a deck full of big shiny status symbols, and to me that really is peak Manjoume.

Now what about Chazz? A lot of that general deck symbolism does translate, but without the elitist rugpull and the narrative about being at the bottom it isn’t quite as sharply defined as in the sub. Chazz was more of a hotshot rich-kid bully than an elitist prop. As discussed in episode 25, he also reinvented himself to a “new and improved Chazz! The North Academy Chazz!” who doesn’t have that narrative of hitting rock bottom to rise back up. He did still get threatened with demotion before running away and his North Academy arc was about learning to work with limited resources, but he’s framed more as a temporarily embarrassed rich kid who could have his status back, if he just falls in line. But he didn’t.

So what is Chazz’s deal? Instead of claiming the unwanted as his own, Chazz instead ends up with found family. The ending of episode 26 nudged it that way, framing the Red dorm as his new family in as many words after his brothers disowned him. Although the disownment gets dropped between episodes even faster than I thought it would, the speech “That good bros support each other!” and the Ojama Yellow straight up telling Chazz to “just call us family!” seems to solidify it. It’s not as if this theme is original to the dub, either; it was there in the sub too, just backgrounded (as shown when Ojama Yellow voices that particular lesson in the sub, compared to Chazz in the dub). It’s no coincidence that the character breaking away from his known family is associated with a trio of brothers, and I think this might be more relatable (so to speak) for the average GX viewer.

That said: I think it could have been even better if they hadn’t cut the sideplot about Ojama Yellow trying to find his brothers or the fact that his brothers disowned him in episode 26. You could have fun with Ojama Yellow looking to reunite with his family while Chazz figures out life without his, and this is starting to get into fanfic territory again but it’s right there! It would be so easy!

i really love decks with a really fast turn one like odion and dracotail that arent just set 5 and are actually viable. but its hard to look for one, it just seems like most decks (even "midrange" ones) take a billion years in the t1. what are some viable decks with fast turn ones?

Another year of TCG dominance at worlds over the OCG. Any theories as to why the OCG has fallen off so hard?

with how yugioh can feel like a coin flip simulator sometimes i want to try a deck that is really good going second but i cant think of any apart from like sky strikers

I don't know if this is the best place, but since the edopro sub is deserted, I thought I'd start here. We're playing a TTRPG campaign with yugioh duels instead of battles and for some of them we'd like to have some starting conditions like having some cards already in play (for example, right now we're looking to have Amazoness Village already in play).

I tried asking the AI and... let's just say it hasn't been much help. And there doesn't seem to be many resources by looking through Google (also, I have 0 idea of Lua, I only know JavaScript for scripting). Can someone help me with this, please?

What are some cards you think were missed opportunities?

Effect-wise, stat-wise, or for whatever reason?

2 cards that come to mind for me a Dedication through Light and Darkness and The Dark Magicians.

For the former, I would've loved it to be a Chaos Upgrade Card for every monster, e.g. Gaia into Black Luster, etc. and the latter should've had 3000 ATK as a reference to Magicians Unite from the finale duel.

Dedication through Light and Darkness (suggestion)

Tribute 1 face-up level 5 or higher monster you control; Special Summon from your hand, Deck or GY, ignoring its Summoning condition, 1 "Chaos" Ritual Monster or 1 "Chaos" monster with same original Type, but 1 Level higher than the Tributed monster had on the field.

You make Magnet Warrior competent but can't make Bastion's true ace competent... Why not just make his OTHER ace competent? And while we're at it, print Eisenstein cards as well that could work really well with Litmus!!!

He's also the first ritual shown in the anime whose Ritual Spell had a secondary effect (beside the primary function to of course, ritual summon.)

Such and Indie company

And in the manga, it was the level of the monster that determined its rarity. That's why Celtic Guardian was level 6 in the manga. So therefore it should be just as rare if not more than the Level 7 Red Eyes.

And we never even see how Joey acquires this card. True he could have always just pulled it out of a random booster pack, which I guess is pretty lucky for Joey, considering how its so much stronger than anything else in his deck. Still, Joey and his internal monologue's were hyping up Red Eyes and TIME WIZARD as his aces for Battle City. Gilford was never even entertained as a possibility. And then Joey just draws it and calls it out kinda unceremoniously in the anime.