Yu-Gi-Oh! attributes and monster types: which are the most valuable?

Every Yu-Gi-Oh! monster has an attribute (Dark, Light, Earth, Water, Fire, Wind or Divine) and a type (Dragon, Spellcaster, Warrior and two dozen more), printed on the card. Collectors often build binders around one, and many decks are built around a type. Which ones hold the most money? The tables below are live and update with every price import.

Attributes compared

	Cards	Median	$10+	Most valuable
Dark	3565	$4.34	1025	Cyberse Contract Witch (GMR) $98,000
Light	2550	$4.03	698	Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn (Ultra Rare) $50,000
Earth	1847	$3.28	408	Shadow Tamer $20,000
Wind	862	$3.27	232	Stardust Dragon - Victim Sanctuary (GMR) $19,998
Water	852	$2.95	190	Sinister Serpent (TFK-SP001) $5,000
Fire	755	$3.22	187	Elemental HERO Burstinatrix $1,200
Divine	91	$4.44	28	Slifer the Sky Dragon (Secret Pharaoh's Rare) $264.97

Median is the middle printing's TCGplayer market price, so a few trophy cards can't skew it. $10+ counts printings worth ten dollars or more. Click any attribute for every card in it, most valuable first.

Dark and Light lead on sheer numbers: they are the two biggest attributes, so they hold the most valuable cards too. Divine is tiny (the Egyptian God cards and a few others) but almost every one is collectable.

Monster types compared

	Cards	Median	$10+	Most valuable
Dragon	1554	$4.58	476	Chaos Emperor, the Dragon of Armageddon (UR) $49,999
Spellcaster	1379	$4.71	437	Gagaga Girl - Cell Phone Subtraction (GMR) $12,000
Warrior	1343	$4.35	394	Shadow Tamer $20,000
Fiend	983	$3.47	237	Blood Mefist $25,000
Machine	977	$3.52	255	Cyber-Stein $14,000
Fairy	533	$3.95	140	Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn (Ultra Rare) $50,000
Winged Beast	337	$3.88	92	Blackwing - Sirocco the Dawn $349.98
Zombie	333	$3.10	60	Spirit Reaper $350.00
Beast	323	$3.20	74	Mulcharmy Meowls (Judge Stamp) $999.99
Aqua	306	$2.89	69	Mulcharmy Purulia (Quarter Century Secret Rare) $172.37
Beast-Warrior	266	$2.26	46	Gladiator Beast Heraklinos (UTR) $197.98
Rock	256	$2.91	40	Morphing Jar $2,146
Insect	186	$3.29	34	Maxx "C" (UTR) $261.95
Plant	181	$2.95	35	Fairy King Truesdale (TFK-EN001) $320.87
Thunder	178	$3.88	35	Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (UTR) $427.48
Psychic	167	$3.28	38	Number 89: Diablosis the Mind Hacker $20,000
Cyberse	161	$3.05	44	Cyberse Contract Witch (GMR) $98,000
Pyro	150	$3.03	41	Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (UTR) $999.97
Dinosaur	123	$3.15	28	Miscellaneousaurus (Judge Stamp) $83.50
Sea Serpent	114	$4.74	32	Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier $306.49
Reptile	105	$3.40	23	Sinister Serpent (TFK-SP001) $5,000
Divine-Beast	104	$4.66	39	Slifer the Sky Dragon (Secret Rare) $269.92
Wyrm	70	$2.11	11	Mirrorjade the Iceblade Dragon (Starlight Rare) (Extended Art) $501.62
Fish	66	$2.82	14	Fortress Whale $289.46
Illusion	60	$5.28	24	Clown Crew Biancaviso (Regional Qualifier Stamp) $249.00

Dragon, Spellcaster and Warrior are the game's three biggest types and carry its most famous cards, from Blue-Eyes White Dragon to Dark Magician. Smaller types with a high median, such as Sea Serpent, Divine-Beast and Illusion, are where a typical card is worth more than a few dollars.

What the "most valuable" column really means

The top card in each row is often a tournament prize or a one-of-a-kind printing that almost nobody buys. For what a deck or a binder actually costs, look at the median and the $10+ count, then open the hub and sort out the printings you need. A card's price depends heavily on its printing: our rarities guide and 1st Edition guide explain why the same card can cost $1 or $1,000.

Pay less for any of them

1. Every card page compares TCGplayer, eBay and every store we track, cheapest in-stock first.
2. For a whole deck, paste the list into the best basket tool: it finds the cheapest mix of stores, shipping included.
3. Check price movers before you buy: a type that gets new support in a set climbs within days.