Shadow Duel Shadow Duels , known as Duels of Darkness in the Japanese version , are Shadow Game s involving " Duel Monsters " . It causes the players to suffer real damage from the effects of any card played during the Duel . Shadow Duels have been featured in all anime and manga series until " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V " . Similar concepts which are not Shadow Duels have appeared in all anime and manga series . Yu - Gi - Oh ! The first Shadow Duel to occur in the series was Dark Yugi ' s Duel with Seto Kaiba in the manga , during which the monsters were materialized and the loser suffered a Penalty Game . Kaiba was defeated and subjected to the Experience of Death . The next Shadow Duels took place between Yami Yugi and Maximillion Pegasus during the Duelist Kingdom arc . Pegasus Dueled Yami Yugi through a videotape and defeated him when the timer ran out before Yami Yugi launch a winning attack , capturing Solomon Muto ' s soul as a Penalty Game . The two later had a rematch as the prize of the finals of the Duelist Kingdom tournament , though it was not played as a Shadow Game until after " Toon World " was destroyed . This time , Yami Yugi was able to emerge victorious . Yami Yugi also played a Shadow Duel with Yami Bakura in the anime only , defeating him . Despite the claims of deathtraps that would send the loser to the Shadow Realm in the dub , none of the Duels played in the Battle City preliminaries were Shadow Games . It was not until Yami Marik took over Marik Ishtar that Shadow Duels began to appear , and all of the subsequent Duels that he took part in were Shadow Duels , save the four - way Duel to decide the semi - finals match - up . During the Dawn of the Duel arc , Yami Bakura took part in two Shadow Duels , though these differed between the anime and the manga ; Dueling Seto Kaiba inconclusively in the anime and Jonouchi in the manga , in addition to Yugi Muto in both versions . Only his Duel with Yugi ended conclusively ; the others ended with no result . Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX . Jaden Yuki mentions that the King of Games , Yugi Muto , faced many Shadow Duels and triumphed ; the fact that Yugi took part in Duels involving magic thus appears to be common knowledge in GX . During Jaden ' s first Duel against Nightshroud , he realized that Shadow Duels really existed . Unlike the Shadow Duels in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " , which were invoked with a Millennium Item , these Duels were invoked by spirits of Duel Monsters or by Shadow Charm s . Shadow Duels featured in " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " : Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s . The Dark Signers are capable of turning Duels into Shadow Duels . When a Dark Signer engages in a Duel , the arena is surrounded by a forcefield of light , taking the shape of the Dark Signers ' corresponding Nazca Line and becomes a Shadow Duel . When a brainwashed Dark Signer servant engages in a Duel , the arena is instead surrounded by a circle - shaped purple glow . When a brainwashed person loses a Shadow Duel the Dark Signers ' mark disappears and they return to their original state . Shadow Duels are damaging to the Duelists and the blasts from the attacks can be fatal and often cause damage even to the surrounding observers and area ; Jack and Trudge destroyed half a hospital . The Nazca Line shape around the area viciously tears up any objects in its path as it forms . However , such great power is also double - edged ; if a Dark Signer loses a Shadow Duel ( normal or Turbo ) , they die . It ' s also implied a Dark Signer ' s opponent will die regardless if they are actually hit by a fatal blast ; in Carly ' s vision of beating Jack ( which was not the real outcome ) , he fell off his Duel Runner , dead . Many concepts similar to Shadow Dueling have existed throughout " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " series , including the original Shadow Game s of Duel Monsters , Dueling with the " The Seal of Orichalcos " and Psychic Duel ing , as well as the technology at the disposal of Iliaster . Shadow Dueling is said to be similar to Psychic Dueling , but is much more powerful . However , unlike the past series , these Duels are never referred to as " Shadow Games . " Shadow Turbo Duel . A Shadow Turbo Duel is a derivation of a normal Shadow Duel against a Dark Signer . Unlike a normal Shadow Duel , a Shadow Turbo Duel has one advantage ; Speed World is active as a Field Spell Card , thereby bypassing the requirement for one to be active to summon an Earthbound Immortal . It possesses all the characteristics of basic Shadow Duels , except that it occurs within the rules of a Turbo Duel . Like normal Shadow Duels , all impacts coming from monster attacks and effects are real . This results in the possible damaging of a Duel Runner as occurred to Yusei Fudo . However , if a Duel Runner breaks down , the duel is canceled regardless of the dark powers involved , leaving both alive . Another consequence of this dangerous kind of Turbo Dueling is that wherever the surroundings of the area on which the Nazca Line geoglyph materializes are destroyed . As long as a Shadow Turbo Duel is occurring , the materialized attacks of either players ' monsters often indirectly results in the devastation of any objects in close proximity , as seen during the Shadow Turbo Duel between Crow and Greiger . The five Shadow Turbo Duels that have occurred have been Yusei Fudo ' s two Turbo Duels against Kalin Kessler Crow Hogan against Greiger , Jack Atlas against Carly Carmine and Yusei , Jack and Crow against Rex Goodwin . However , in the last Shadow Turbo Duel that occurred between Yusei , Jack and Crow versus Rex Goodwin , Goodwin remained at the top of altar of the Stairway to the Dragon Star , while Yusei , Jack and Crow drove their Duel Runners on the track formed by Goodwin ' s Condor geoglyph ( quite literally , unlike past Shadow Turbo Duels where the geoglyph was only the barrier that formed the track ) . This is the only Turbo Duel so far in which someone is not on a Duel Runner or a Duel Board , but as with a Duel Board , as long as someone has a " Speed World " card they can use a Duel Disk . Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL . In " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ZEXAL " , Vector , in his past life , initiated a Shadow Duel ( which he referred to as a " Shadow Game " ) against Shark / Nash , where whenever a player ' s monsters are destroyed also had their respective armies lose some of its warriors . Though Nash was victorious , his entire army was decimated due to the amount of monsters that were destroyed . Similar to " Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s " , there are several other concepts similar to Shadow Duels in the series . The Baria Sphere Cube damages its occupants when they take damage inside it , and this effect is applied to the Earth when it begins to merge with the Barian World . The souls of losing Duelists in the latter are sent to the Barian World . Dueling is also more intense in Astral World , during which Yuma was blown off his feet simply after one of his Defense Position monsters was destroyed . It is important to note that while the AR Vision technology can apparently cause shockwaves that can harm Duelists , the damage from the Shadow Duel between Vector and Nash proved far more dangerous as when either player took a hit in the Duel , the damage to the player was visibly more brutal . In the Yu - Gi - Oh Zexal manga , duels over number cards are referred to as Shadow Duels . Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V . In " Yu - Gi - Oh ! ARC - V " , while there is no direct mention of Shadow Duels , some elements are utilized in the Action Duel concept , in which the use of Solid Vision causes monsters to be physically materialized and landscapes changed according to the Action Field selected . Real damage is inflicted through shockwaves , and although harmful , they are not shown to be lethal . Noteworthy is that Duelists are allowed to physically assault the opponent , although such practices are rare . Shadow Duels have been implied when Yuto and later Shay Obsidian inflict damage without the use of an Action Field , though this appears to be a function of their Duel Disks . The only apparent mystical forms of shockwaves have occurred when Yuya Sakaki Summons " Odd - Eyes Rebellion Dragon " . The most prominent method that strongly correlates with that of a Shadow Duel are the Duels initiated by members of Duel Academy , where the losing player is sealed in a card .