Dark Beginning 1 Card List and Set Guide

Overview

Dark Beginning 1 is a reprint set released October 12, 2004, with 250 set codes from DB1-EN001 to DB1-EN250. Only 2 of its cards, Big Shield Gardna and Makyura the Destructor, were new, according to the catalog's release dates.

Nearly everything else first appeared in the 2002 and 2003 sets: 66 cards from Magic Ruler, 64 from Pharaoh's Servant, 45 from Labyrinth of Nightmare, 42 from Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon and 24 from Metal Raiders. It is a way to get those cards without paying for their original printings.

TCGplayer prices the set only in Unlimited, and the catalog has no 1st Edition price for any of its cards, so the prices in this guide are Unlimited. The catalog also lists 12 codes under the set without the EN letters, which this guide leaves out.

Cards and rarities

Dark Beginning 1 has 250 set codes, each starting DB1-EN and printed under the artwork on the right. Where a card comes at more than one rarity, every version shares its code, so the table counts set codes at each rarity and a code printed at two rarities is counted twice.

Each DB1-EN code is printed at a single rarity, so the rows add up to the set's 250 cards. The set has no Secret Rare. Set completion in TurnZero HQ counts the distinct set codes you own against the set's total, so a card printed at two rarities counts once, with an every-rarity count beside it for collectors chasing each version. How set completion works →

Reprinted classics

Dark Beginning 1 has no themes of its own. Its headline cards are reprints of the early sets' best-known monsters, at new rarities and codes.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon

DB1-EN098

The Level 8 LIGHT Dragon Normal Monster with 3000 ATK, reprinted from Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon as an Ultra Rare.

Jinzo

DB1-EN067

While face-up, no one can activate Trap Cards and all Trap effects on the field are negated. First printed in Pharaoh's Servant.

Dark Sage

DB1-EN096

Special Summoned from your hand or Deck by Tributing Dark Magician right after a successful Time Wizard coin toss, then adds a Spell from your Deck to your hand.

Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon

DB1-EN066

The Toon version of Blue-Eyes White Dragon from Magic Ruler, a Super Rare here.

Cards worth knowing

The set reprints many of the early game's best Spells and Traps. Fourteen of its cards are on the Forbidden & Limited List today.

Pot of Greed

DB1-EN134

Draw 2 cards. It is Forbidden, but the Super Rare reprint was the set's second most valuable card on October 23, 2026.

Mystical Space Typhoon

DB1-EN031

Destroy 1 Spell or Trap on the field, at Quick-Play speed.

Torrential Tribute

DB1-EN228

When a monster is Summoned, destroy all monsters on the field.

Big Shield Gardna

DB1-EN097

One of the set's two new cards: a Level 4 Warrior with 2600 DEF. Face-down, it negates a Spell that targets only it by flipping face-up, and it changes to Attack Position after it is attacked.

The chase card: Dark Sage

Dark Sage

DB1-EN096

Rarity Ultra Rare

Set code DB1-EN096

Unlimited market price, October 23, 2026 $65.99

The Ultra Rare Dark Sage (DB1-EN096) was the set's most valuable card on October 23, 2026, at $65.99 in Unlimited. The Super Rare Pot of Greed was next at $43.12.

It is a Level 9 DARK Spellcaster with 2800 ATK and 3200 DEF. It is Special Summoned from your hand or Deck by Tributing Dark Magician right after you call a Time Wizard coin toss correctly, and then adds a Spell from your Deck to your hand.

The catalog's first printing of Dark Sage is a promotional card, so this is not its first appearance, but it is its first in a set.

Rarity is in the foil rather than the set code, so check it before you price the copy in your hand. Reading the set code and rarity →

Chase cards and prices

Dark Beginning 1's prices are Unlimited and modest. On October 23, 2026 only Dark Sage was above $45, and most of the chase list is reprints of the early sets' Spells.

These are TCGplayer's Unlimited market prices on October 23, 2026. They move daily, so treat them as a snapshot. Each card's page shows today's price for every printing. How Yu-Gi-Oh! card prices work →

Dark Beginning 1 card list

Every set code in Dark Beginning 1, in set code order, with each rarity it is printed at: 250 set codes in all, as listed in TurnZero HQ's catalog on October 23, 2026. Each name goes to that card's page, with today's price for every printing.

Playing it

14 cards from Dark Beginning 1 are on the Forbidden & Limited List as of October 23, 2026: Card of Safe Return, Confiscation, Delinquent Duo, Giant Trunade, Imperial Order, Painful Choice, Pot of Greed and The Forceful Sentry are Forbidden; Exodia the Forbidden One, Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Leg of the Forbidden One, Monster Reborn, Right Arm of the Forbidden One and Right Leg of the Forbidden One are Limited. A Forbidden card cannot be played at all and a Limited card at one copy per deck; the rest of the set can be run at three.

Every card in the set is a legal copy of the original, so a Dark Beginning 1 Mystical Space Typhoon or Premature Burial plays exactly like the first printing.

Deck building rules and the Forbidden & Limited List →

Frequently Asked Questions