Dark Magician Deck - September 2022

The one and only Dark Magician

In a previous post, I talked about my various attempts over the years to create a deck based on the Dark Magician and his various incarnations.

It has been a long and winding journey but in recent times, and thanks to the release of many supporting cards, I have managed to create a fun list that above all works!

DISCLAIMER

It is a Dark Magician-based deck and as such it is not a meta deck, so don't expect to be able to easily win the Yugioh World Championship. In addition, my decklists try to use as much as possible themed cards with the treated archetype at the expense of other useful cards against the current meta (for example the Hand Traps). Everyone is free to modify and play the decklist as he sees fit and if any of you modify it I would like you to share this build with me so that we can try and comment it together.

I hope you like my recipe and that above all it entertains you as it does me fun.

MONSTERS

DARK MAGICIAN x3

3 copies of the Dark Magician are obvious, as it is the most important card in the deck and the starting point for almost all the combos in the recipe.
It is essential to have it on the ground as soon as possible or at least in hand so that we can prepare our strategy.
In the list, there are also many cards that allow you to use it directly from the deck such as Red-Eyes Fusion and many others that need a copy of it in your hand or in the graveyard.

There are a lot of artworks but a legend says that the deck only works if you use the original artwork that also appears in the anime.

RED-EYES BLACK DRAGON x1

Before someone points the finger and says that it is not a card of Yugi but that it belongs to his friend Joey, I remind you that it was given by the latter to Yugi during the saga of the Egyptian Gods and therefore was part of the deck of the pharaoh Yami Yugi for a while.

Its usefulness consists in being used to summon "Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon" which is, as we will see later, the most important and strongest card in the deck.

SORCERER OF DARK MAGIC x1

One of my favorite cards ever and just having it in a deck and being able to use it fills me with joy.

This card was released together with the first Yu-Gi-Oh! movie and at the time it was very difficult to have on the ground two spellcasters of minimum level 6 necessary to summon him. These were dark times when monsters with flip effects were played and special summons were very rare.

Basically, it was the prehistory of the game.

However, it is really a beautiful card and not only from an aesthetic point of view. It is a beast of 3200 ATK that can cancel all the traps that the opponent activates. The beauty of this monster is that it doesn't have the limitation of using its effect to only "once per turn" but you can use it as much as you want.

When I declare an attack with this monster I feel very satisfied as it gives me a lot of confidence.

DARK MAGICIAN OF CHAOS x1

We remain in the prehistoric era of the game. This monster was first summoned in the final battle of the first season of the anime in which Yugi manages to defeat the villain Maximillian Pegasus thanks to the ritual version of this monster that has the name of Magician of Black Chaos. This ritual version, however, had no effect and therefore has never been used much and more than anything else is collector's material.

Sometime later the Dark Magician of Chaos was released. Same monster with the same ATK and DEF but this time with 2 very powerful effects for the meta at the time.

In fact, this monster every time it destroys another monster in battle removes it from the game and also, in the end-phase of the turn in which it was summoned, allows us to take any spell card from our graveyard.

It was considered so strong that it was placed on the banned card list and was only released several years later.

And now it's an integral part of my deck.

It can be summoned easily with the quick-play spell card "Dedication through Light and Darkness"

TIMAEUS THE UNITED DRAGON x1

One of the latest cards I've added to the list. This card takes us back to the third season of the Pharaoh series in which the protagonist finds himself dealing with the "Legendary Dragons" and comes into possession of one of these: Timaeus.

Fun Fact: During this season, the Pharaoh is defeated in a duel!

Our card has two simple uses:

- is special summoned from the hand and has a decently high ATK;

- allows us to summon one of the fusions from our extra deck using a Dark Magician on the ground and our priority target is always the Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.

APPRENTICE ILLUSION MAGICIAN x2

This alternate version of the Dark Magician Girl is one of the most versatile cards in the deck as it allows us to add a Dark Magician from deck to hand when she is special summoned. When she is on the ground she is a great tribute to summon Sorcerer of Dark Magic because she is level 6 and also when she is in our hand she functions as The Honest.

If one of our monsters is attacked, we can discard it to the graveyard and increase our monster's atk by 2000 points.

DARK MAGICIAN GIRL x1

The second favorite card of the pharaoh Yami Yugi, she too has received many supports over the years that would allow her to have her own deck. In this list she has several synergies and supports with a lot of effects (one of these really devastating) that help and enhance the strategy.

MAGICIAN'S ROD x3

MAGICIANS' SOULS x3

Another of the most important cards in the deck. This monster once summoned normally allows us to add to the hand a spell or trap card that mentions Dark Magician in its text, and as you can imagine the deck is full of cards that mention it.

One of the initial strategies of the deck consists in having "Eternal Soul" and "Dark Magical Circle" on the field, so at the beginning, the priority objectives to be taken with Magician's Rod will be precisely these.

Also, if this card is in the graveyard and during your opponent's turn you activate a spell or trap such as (Eternal Soul or Dark Magical Circle) you can sacrifice a monster on the field and return Magician's Rod to your hand and activate the recycle of its effect at next round.

Another great support for our deck. The first effect is pure draw power and we can use spells and traps that are not needed at the moment, to draw some cards (but I do not recommend doing this unless you are cornered).

The main effect is his ability to send any spellcaster to the graveyard to summon himself by special summon or to summon a Dark Magician from the graveyard.

In this way we can send a Dark Magician to the graveyard and summon it immediately afterwards on our field, allowing the activation of cards such as Eternal Soul, Dark Magic Circle, Magician's Salvation and many others.

SPELLS

BOND BETWEEN TEACHER AND STUDENT x2

The main card regarding the synergy with Dark Magician Girl. To activate, this card requires the presence of a Dark Magician on the field that as we have seen and will see we have many ways to summon it from the deck, from the hand or from the graveyard. If our favorite spellcaster is discovered on our field we can summon the Dark Magician Girl from the hand, deck or graveyard (let's not forget that we can send her to the graveyard with the Magicians' Souls effect). Once this is done we can place a spell card from the deck that we can choose from a list, but for this recipe, our goal will be "Dark Burning Magic", ready to be activated the next turn to devastate the entire field of our opponent.

THE EYE OF TIMAEUS x2

Lore wise we have a card that symbolizes the power of this legendary dragon and that simply allows us to summon any fusion that contains the Dark Magician. We must activate it from the hand when a Dark Magician is face up on the field and our primary objective will be to use it to summon Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon. Next, my advice is to aim for the summoning of the Dark Paladin (which is also one of my favorite cards) in order to have another monster that negates the opponent's cards.

RED-EYES FUSION x3

Three copies are absolutely necessary to increase the chances of summoning Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon as soon as possible. The strength of this card consists precisely in the possibility of summoning the fusions that have a Red-Eyes monster among the necessary materials, using monsters in the hand, in the deck or in the graveyard. The only limitation of this card is that on the turn it is activated, we can't do other normal or special summons, but considering that this deck can do a lot of summons during the opponent's turn it's not a problem for us.

POT OF DUALITY x2

This archetype is one of the very few that can afford to have the Pot of Duality on the list. This card allows us to draw three cards, add one to our hand (showing it first to the opponent) and shuffle the rest in the deck. Really powerful considering that among the cards we draw there could be the Red-Eyes Fusion or any other card necessary for the situation. The big limitation that prevents this card from being inserted into any existing deck (and which keeps it away from the banned card list) is the inability to perform special summons in the turn it is activated, but as mentioned before, this deck does a lot special summons during the opponent's turn so we can use our turn to prepare the field for the moves we will make during the opponent's turn.

UPSTART GOBLIN x1

It allows us to draw a card. Useful anytime, anywhere. Don't forget that the cards that allow us to draw other cards are always the strongest cards in the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! Game.

DEDICATION THROUGH LIGHT AND DARKNESS x1

It is the first card in the list of cards that allows us to make summons during the opponent's turn.
It allows us to summon the Dark Magician of Chaos from the deck or the graveyard by sacrificing a face-up Dark Magician on the field. It is a quick-play spell card so it can be activated in the battle phase after the Dark Magician has attacked by gaining an extra attack or during the opponent's turn.

DARK MAGIC ATTACK x1

If we have a Dark Magician face up on the field we can activate this card and destroy all of the opponent's spell and trap cards. Powerful and beautiful. We can add it to our hand via Bond Between Teacher and Student and Eternal Soul.

MAGICIAN'S SALVATION x2

Here is the field spell card for the Dark Magician archetype.

A beautiful artwork.

The first effect of the card is fundamental: we can set an Eternal Soul directly from the deck on our playing field.
The second effect allows us to summon a Dark Magician from the graveyard when a Dark Magician Girl is summoned and vice versa.
Considering that this card comes in combo with Eternal Soul summoning the Dark Magician from the hand or graveyard, you can imagine that the presence of the two wizards on the field is assured.

MAGICALIZED FUSION x1

Another card that helps us summon the fusions from the extra deck but this time we can use the monsters that are present on the field and in the graveyard. He can therefore summon Red-Eyes Dragoon when the Dark Magician and Red-Eyes Black Dragon are in the graveyard after they were sent there by Red-Eyes Fusion, or he can allow us to summon The Dark Magicians. Any spellcaster-type fusion can be summoned via this card.

In fact, in addition to the uses mentioned above, I entered it because it gives me access to the beautiful and powerful Quintet Magician (another card that I love).

DARK BURNING MAGIC x2

One of the strongest cards in the entire deck. It shows us the most that the synergy between the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician Girl can do. If the two spellcasters are on the field (probably after activating the Bond Between Teacher and Student effect) we can activate this quick-play spell card and destroy all the cards on the opponent's field. Furthermore, being a quick-play spell card we can also activate it during the opponent's turn and perhaps to interrupt the preparation of his field in case he is doing a long combo.

DARK MAGICAL CIRCLE x3

Together with Eternal Soul it is the card that we must aim to have on the field as soon as possible.

First of all, at the moment of activation it allows us to look at the first 3 cards of our deck and add to a monster card that has the name "Dark Magician" or a spell or trap that mentions "Dark Magician" in its text.
The second effect is to remove a card on the opponent's field once per turn when a Dark Magician is summoned to the field.
And as we have seen, there are many ways to summon the Dark Magician.
Fundamental to remove many dangerous cards from the field or to interrupt the opponent's combos.

After summoning the Red-Eyes Dragoon, our strategy must aim to have Eternal Soul and Dark Magical Circle on the ground.

ILLUSION MAGIC x1

This card allows us to add two Dark Magician cards to our hand from our deck by sacrificing a spellcaster face-up on the field.
Many times I have told myself that I should take it off because the deck has so many ways to take the Dark Magician.
Then comes that moment when you have no Dark Magician in hand but you have Magician's Rod, Eternal Soul, Dark Magic Circle, Magician Navigation, etc.
When you have all the cards ready to start combos but you just lack the raw material, this card becomes essential. I usually look for it through Magician's Rod and then sacrifice the latter to meet the activation cost.
Being a quick-play spell card we can set it and wait for our opponent's turn, maybe we already have Dark Magic Circle and Eternal Soul ready.

TRAPS

MAGICIAN NAVIGATION x2

This card has two uses, both of which are very strong.

The first effect allows us to summon a Dark Magician from the hand (which we can get through Apprentice Illusion Magician and Illusion Magic) and another spellcaster of level 7 or lower from our deck (I usually summon the Dark Magician Girl) and so start all our combos that take advantage of the two face-up monsters on the ground.
The second effect instead allows us to negate a spell or trap on the opponent's field simply by removing it from the graveyard.
Fundamental to protect us from the opponent's cards that aim to hinder our strategy.

ETERNAL SOUL x2

When this card was released it was hated and loved by me at the same time because on the one hand it finally allowed me to summon the Dark Magician and protect him from the opponent's cards, but on the other hand a Mystical Space Typhoon was enough to ruin everything.

Now that the deck has a lot of support and doesn't rely on Eternal Soul alone, this side effect has become affordable and I have to say that it has very rarely been activated with this recipe.

The main purpose of this card is to continually summon the Dark Magician from the hand or graveyard in order to activate the various effects of the cards that go in combo with this spellcaster and make it immune from the opponent's cards, so you can imagine how fundamental it is to this deck.

The second effect allows us to take the Dark Magic Attack from the deck, but you will rarely use this effect unless your opponent has really annoying spells and traps.

EXTRA DECK

QUINTET MAGICIAN x1

The strongest spellcaster in terms of attack and defense ever created.

If you look closely the artwork is literally the Dark Magician with blonde hair and judging by his 4500 ATK points, the hair is blonde due to the transformation into Super Sayan 3!

It can easily take down any opponent's monster and its effect that destroys all the opponent's cards when summoned makes it really useful for a possible OTK. To activate this effect it is necessary to use 5 spellcasters with different names when it is summoned via Magicalized Fusion (but in this deck the spellcasters are not lacking).

RED-EYES DARK DRAGOON x2

THE MOST IMPORTANT CARD OF THE DECK.

This card allowed this deck to be competitive and to rival its rival archetype, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon who can count on the fearsome Blue-Eyes Chaos Max Dragon which is a monster that cannot be destroyed or destroyed. targeted.

Now even the Dark Magician has access to a monster that cannot be destroyed or targeted and having it on the field gives us a lot of peace of mind.

But this is only the first of 3 effects that are contained in this card.

The second effect allows us to destroy up to two monsters on the opponent's field and inflict damage to the latter equal to the atk of the destroyed monsters.

The third effect is perhaps the most important: once per turn we can discard a card from our hand to negate the activation of a card of our opponent, be it monster, spell or trap, and if we do the atk of Dark Dragoon increases by 1000.

We can say that a copy of this monster should be inserted in every deck that's why at its release I feared for its inclusion among the banned cards.

In this recipe we summon it easily via Red-Eyes Fusion, The Eye of Timaeus, Timaeus the United Dragon, and Magicalized Fusion.

MASTER OF CHAOS x1

Very interesting card and also this one with multiple effects.

First of all, when it is summoned, it allows us to summon a light or darkness monster from the graveyard.

Later we can sacrifice a light monster (unfortunately we only have Day-Breaker in this list) and a dark one to remove all monsters present on the opponent's field.

Third and final effect, if Master of Chaos is destroyed, we can add a spell card from the graveyard to our hand.

DARK PALADIN x1

The monster that uses the Pharaoh Yami Yugi to defeat Seto Kaiba in the saga of the Egyptian Gods. The summoning of him was a spectacle and a twist as well as giving me one of my favorite cards ever.
He can simply negate any opponent's spell card by discarding a card and its effect can be activated whenever you want, just be able to pay the activation cost.

Cards that do not have the "once per turn" limitation have always been rare gems.


DARK CAVALRY x1

Great if we're having trouble with some monster that can't be destroyed in battle and stalls us, or if the opponent activates cards like Scapegoat, as this card deals piercing damage. Furthermore, this card can negate the effects that target the cards on our field by discarding a card and this effect can also be activated as many times as you can and as you want.

DARK MAGICIAN THE DRAGON KNIGHT x1

The main utility of this card is its protection factor for our face down spell and trap cards. In fact it can prevent the destruction of our Eternal Soul which will soon become the target of our opponent.
Another important thing is that this card takes on the name of "Dark Magician" when face up on the field, so it can combo with all other cards that require its presence on the field.

THE DARK MAGICIANS x1

If the Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is the first fusion to summon in terms of importance, The Dark Magicians is the second.
It has a not indifferent draw power allowing us to draw a card when the spell or trap effect is activated. If the card we draw is a trap or a spell we can set it immediately and eventually activate it.
Also, if this card is destroyed, we can summon a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl from the hand, deck or graveyard.

DARK MAGICIAN GIRL THE DRAGON KNIGHT x1

Of course, we also have at our disposal a fusion for our Dark Magician Girl. We discard a card to destroy another card on the opponent's field.

EBON ILLUSION MAGICIAN x1

This xyz monster allows us to summon a Dark Magician from the deck and every time it attacks we can remove a card on the opponent's field and if it was a monster the replay of the battle is activated. Useful to get rid of annoying cards or cards with higher atk than ours. It can also be summoned using Magi Magi Magician Gal as xyz material.

EBON HIGH MAGICIAN x1

I have used it very little but it has a really nice effect.

It allows us to activate traps and quick-play spell cards directly from the hand during the opponent's turn. Also if this xyz card is destroyed we can summon a dark spellcaster from our deck and the best target besides the Dark Magician is the Dark Magician of Chaos. Once this is done, we can also destroy a card on the field.

MAGI MAGI MAGICIAN GAL x1

We must detach a material from this xyz card and remove another card from our hand from the game to activate its effects which are:

- take control of an opponent's monster until the End Phase;

- choose a monster present in the opponent's and summon it on our terrain.

Really very versatile.
It can also be used to summon Ebon Illusion Magician.

BLACK LUSTER SOLDIER - SOLDIER OF CHAOS x1

In this hypothetical deck of the pharaoh, a Black Luster Soldier cannot be missing.
Needless to say, it's a great link monster that allows us to hold ground if things aren't going our way.
Basically, it cannot be destroyed or targeted and has 3 other effects that activate when we destroy an opponent's monster and ranging from increasing the Atk by 1500, attacking a second time or removing a card on the opponent's field.

DHARC THE DARK CHARMER, GLOOMY x1

It's not really themed and I put it in because I had slots left in the extra deck.

It is useful for summoning a monster from the opponent's graveyard on our terrain and when it is destroyed it allows us to search for Magician's Rod or Magicians' Souls.

DAY - BREAKER THE SHINING MAGICAL WARRIOR x1

Breaker the Magical Warrior is a card present in the Pharaoh's deck and I thought about inserting it also because I needed at least one light monster to activate the Master of Chaos effect.

Basically, we use his tokens to select a card on the opponent's field and destroy it.

HERE you can download this decklist

Ok, we've come to the end.

It was a bit complex to write this article by inserting all the possible info and explanations of the use of each card, but it was nice because the Dark Magician is my favorite deck.

Now I go back to review the first season of the anime because writing this article made me nostalgic!

I put a lot of love and effort into this deck, hope you like it.