Do you think each villain was stronger than the last?

[Pyro]

In more words than the title, do you believe Marik was stronger than Pegasus, Dartz was stronger than Marik, Zigfried was stronger than Dartz, and Zorc/Balakakura was stronger than Zigfried?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

In terms of magical power/influence, that seems to be the case if ignoring filler villains. Pegasus' mind reading was something that Millennium Item users could counter and his soul manipulation only worked once he won a Shadow Game. Marik seemed slightly stronger in that he could mind control jabronis like Tea/Anzu without the need of a game and Bakura was actually who was powerful enough to cause eclipses just by being around.

In terms of actual duelling skill and OP decks, I'd say the chain probably works up until Dartz, since anyone taking on a card with Infinite ATK without giant asspulls isn't going to happen. Removing filler villains, I'd say the chain holds up since whilst Pegasus probably had the most annoying deck of the Big 3 to deal with, his over reliance on his Millennium Eye was his undoing. As for Marik VS Bakura, I'd say Bakura indeed ranks superior if comparing their main decks. I'd say Marik's Slyfer/Slime deck was probably his best and his overuse of Ra prevented his ability to use his main deck to it's full potential (eg. Almost losing to Joey when he could've beaten Joey with Lava Golem if sacrificing Ra). Bakura doesn't have as much arrogance in a single card or strategy compared to the other two.

 

[withheldforprivacy]

I'd like to see how Marik's Ra against Pegasuses toons would have played out.