Yu - Gi - Oh ! - Episode 033 " Best of Friends , Best of Duelists , Part 1 " , known as " Finals of Friendship ! - Yuugi vs . Jounouchi ( Part 1 ) " in the Japanese version and " The Final Tournament of Friendship ( Part 1 ) " in the Odex dub , is the thirty - third episode of the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " second series anime . It first aired in Japan on December 5 , 2000 and in the United States on September 14 , 2002 . Summary . It is the final match of the Duelist Kingdom finals . Yugi Muto faces Joey Wheeler and whoever wins will face Maximillion Pegasus afterwards . This is a really tough Duel for both Duelists , as they are both close friends , but must face each other to get what they want ( Yugi the chance to Duel Pegasus and save his grandpa , Solomon Muto , and the Kaiba brothers ; Joey the chance to win the prize money needed to pay for Serenity ' s eye operation ) . Téa and Tristan are upset about them having to Duel each other like this . Joey and Yugi fight their hardest , each turn destroy ing each other ' s monster s and lowering each other ' s Life Points . Joey gets the upper hand by using " Copycat " as " Polymerization " , fusing his " Red - Eyes Black Dragon " and Yugi ' s " Summoned Skull " ( which he took via " Graverobber " ) to Fusion Summon the " Black Skull Dragon " . It destroys Yugi ' s " Gaia the Dragon Champion " , one of his strongest cards , and leaves him with just 550 Life Points . Joey still has 750 . Who will win this Duel of friendship , Yugi or Joey ? Featured Duel : Yami Yugi vs . Joey Wheeler . Turn 1 : Yami Yugi Yugi draws . He then Normal Summon s " Celtic Guardian " ( 1400 / 1200 ) in Attack Position . Turn 2 : Joey Joey draws . He then Normal Summons " Giltia the D . Knight " ( 1850 / 1500 ) in Attack Position . " Giltia the D . Knight " attack s and destroy s " Celtic Guardian " ( Yugi : 2000 → 1550 LP ) . Turn 3 : Yami Yugi Yugi draws . He then Normal Summons " Gaia The Fierce Knight " ( 2300 / 2100 ) in Attack Position . " Gaia The Fierce Knight " attacks and destroys " Giltia the D . Knight " ( Joey : 2000 → 1550 LP ) . Turn 4 : Joey Joey draws . He then Normal Summons " Armored Lizard " ( 1500 / 1200 ) in Defense Position . Turn 5 : Yami Yugi Yugi draws . He then Normal Summons " Summoned Skull " ( 2500 / 1200 ) in Attack Position . " Summoned Skull " attacks and destroys " Armored Lizard " . Turn 6 : Joey Joey draws . He then Normal Summons " Flame Swordsman " ( 1800 / 1600 ) in Attack Position . Joey then activate s " Shield & Sword " to switch the ATK and DEF of every monster on the field ( " Flame Swordsman " : 1800 → 1600 / 1600 → 1800 , " Summoned Skull " : 2500 → 1200 / 1200 → 2500 , " Gaia The Fierce Knight " : 2300 → 2100 / 2100 → 2300 ) . " Flame Swordsman " attacks and destroys " Summoned Skull " ( Yugi : 1550 → 1150 LP ) . On Joey ' s End Phase , the effect of " Shield & Sword " expires ( " Flame Swordsman " : 1600 → 1800 / 1800 → 1600 , " Gaia The Fierce Knight " : 2100 → 2300 / 2300 → 2100 ) . Turn 7 : Yami Yugi Yugi draws . He then Normal Summons " Curse of Dragon " ( 2000 / 1500 ) in Attack Position . He then activates " Polymerization " , fusing " Gaia The Fierce Knight " with " Curse of Dragon " to Fusion Summon " Gaia the Dragon Champion " ( 2600 / 2100 ) in Attack Position . " Gaia the Dragon Champion " attacks and destroys " Flame Swordsman " ( Joey : 1550 → 750 LP ) . Turn 8 : Joey Joey ' s hand contains " Red - Eyes Black Dragon " , " Graverobber " , " Kunai with Chain " and " Garoozis " . Joey draws " Copycat " . He then Normal Summons " Red - Eyes Black Dragon " ( 2400 / 2000 ) in Attack Position . Joey then activates " Graverobber " to steal " Summoned Skull " from Yugi ' s Graveyard and revive it under his control ( 2500 / 1200 ) in Attack Position . Joey then activates " Copycat " to copy the effect of " Polymerization " , allowing Joey to fuse " Red - Eyes Black Dragon " with " Summoned Skull " and Fusion Summon " Black Skull Dragon " ( 3200 / 2500 ) in Attack Position . " Black Skull Dragon " attacks and destroys " Gaia the Dragon Champion " ( Yugi : 1150 → 550 LP ) . Featured cards . The following cards appeared in this episode . Cards in italics debuted here .