Dark Magician of Chaos

This was reviewed in my 50 best cards list, shown here:

http://www.pojo.com/yu-gi-oh/FeaturedWriters/JAE/2005/3-10.shtml

Because space was limited, the actual scores weren’t explained, so let me do that. But first, let’s explain the beast himself.

I personally feel that Dark Magician of Chaos does not belong in decks outside of Strike Ninja and Zombie/Coston builds(weird, but Double Coston is searchable). I know many players use it with great success (mainly because of its extraordinary power), but it does contribute quite a bit to the instability found in most cookie cutters.

The problem is that running a two tribute monster hurts the presence of your deck, no matter when it is drawn. Certainly you can hope for a lucky Painful Choice (pre-ban) or Graceful Charity (post-ban) and revive it for free, but barring those options DMoC becomes a dead weight card. Nevertheless, it is supremely powerful, so let’s move on to the review.

This review will be interesting, because I’m going to be explaining WHY I gave a card a certain rating, instead of explaining it first and then reviewing it. So if you think my system is terrible, or if you think it’s great, you’ll gain some insight :D.

Advantage F/H: This one is pretty obvious. Dark Magician of Chaos, once on the field, has an effect that rivals both the Envoys. It basically packs a Magician of Faith effect (which is far more unstable because it is a flip) into a 2800 attack powerhouse that negates Sinister Serpent, Pyramid Turtle, Sangan, and others. It lost a shade for costing two resources, but I mean seriously it’s one of the most advantageous cards, period.

Traditional Format Score:                                         9.5

Advanced Format Score:                                           9.5

Best Draw for the Situation: Cards like Metal Armored Bug received scores of 1 in the Best Draw despite having the same stats as Dark Magician of Chaos. The effect single-handedly lifts it 5 points; there are several reasons for this. First, certain spells in the graveyard may never be used again, so DMoC can provide the only opportunity to reuse that Heavy Storm (against 4 of your opponent’s strategic sets) or Delinquent Duo. Second, those spells might actually win you the game right then. While Magician can do the same thing (and is one of the best monsters in the game), you might need that push to end the game at that moment, instead of having to wait a turn. It’s still a two-tribute monster, making it dead weight often, but it still deserves a D, which is:

T:                                                                                6

A:                                                                                6

Attributes/Effect: This is a no-brainer. One of the best effects, a DARK monster, and a Spellcaster. Take off a shade for being two-tributes, but marking it down too much for that is like openly discriminating against DARK monsters. Pojo.com is an equal opportunity employer (I’m Korean myself), so the monster’s type doesn’t matter.

T:                                                                                9.5

A:                                                                                9.5

Dependability: Again, this card loses quite a bit, but also manages to surface back up to respectable “D” score levels because of how powerful it is. For example, the spell retrieval option is basically guaranteed, and he’ll become threat #1 when he hits the field.

T:                                                                                6

A:                                                                                6

The Bottom Line: He can be a very powerful, albeit unstable, monster.

A BAD System Score—

T:                                                                                3.88

A:                                                                                3.88

FORCE System Suggestions:

++        Contributes to Field Control, Resource Management, Enemy Disruption (very slightly)

--          Detracts from On-Field Presence (Heavily).