Yugi's Pre-Duelist Kingdom Minor Monster Cards, Part 1: The Dragons
Now we're up to the cards Yugi used during the Duelist Kingdom arc. A lot of cards debuted there, so we'll once again go in roughly chronological order. We'll begin with the ones Yugi used at the arc's start!
Here's "Baby Dragon"!
As long-time fans know: yes, this was a Yugi card before it was a Jonouchi (Joey) card. Dark Yugi is shown drawing and looking at this card in the manga version of the Pegasus video tape duel in chapter 61. He opts not to use it on account of Pegasus's "Dragon Capture Jar", so it stays in his hand for the entire duel.
The next time we see this card is 10 chapters later, when Jonouchi uses it as his finisher in his duel against Mai. We even get to see Yugi give Jonouchi his "Baby Dragon" in a(n extremely) brief flashback:
Excerpt from "Yu-Gi-Oh!" chapter 70, "Things that Don't Change"
And truthfully, "Baby Dragon" works well as a representation for Jonouchi and his growth during the course of both of the card game-focused arcs. I like to think of it as a vital piece of a great metaphor in which the two Yugis help Jonouchi come into his own. You can also think of the card as a symbol of the friendship they share with him (along with "Time Magician" of course).
Though it's canon status is unclear, I'd be remiss not to mention the 1999 Yu-Gi-Oh! Jump Jbooks junior novel. The final chapter of this book contains a passage where Yugi obtains this card in a pack he got from his grandpa. (You can check out my post on "Time Magician" for more details.) Once again, if you're curious, tumblr user shinhoroko has posted translated chapters from this book on his blog; click here to see the relevant chapter.
I'm not fully sure if this is based on a Magic: the Gathering card. The basic concept behind this card may very well have nothing to do with that game.
Still, if "Baby Dragon" is based on a pre-existing MtG card, it would probably be Dragon Whelp:
Dragon Whelp, from Magic: the Gathering Limited Edition, released in August 1993. Image sourced from scryfall.com.
Of course, "Baby Dragon" wasn't the first dragon Yugi used in this duel...

















