Dark Paladin is a strange and unique card in the game. Its place in lore is well cemented by a number of factors. Besides being the monster that took out Kaiba once and for all in the anime, it was also the Dark Magician’s first fusion, which took a surprisingly long time considering Blue-Eyes White Dragon had a fusion super early (although he would get a second one only two months later in Japan – Dark Flare Knight). He was also the first nomi fusion monster ever released. And his materials are still odd to this day. There’s no legitimate way to run both Dark Magician and Buster Blader in the same deck, even with massive support for the former and legitimate support for the latter and even with a number of cards that they share in common.
 
His initial release in Magician’s Force was also strange. The 1st edition of Dark Paladin had a different art than the subsequent unlimited editions. I remember it well, because at the time I was a solo OCG player and I was surprised to see the TCG 1st edition was the OCG Duel Master’s Guide version when it wasn’t supposed to be. It was later corrected. To this day, I believe Dark Paladin is the only card in the game to have a revised art in the same booster. I held on to a copy of each, just because of how strange it was. I’m not even sure why they corrected it, because they very quickly released second and third editions of Dark Paladin with alternate arts.
 
While Dark Paladin has a great effect that holds up to this day, he’s not very playable, which is a shame. And part of this has to do with the unfortunate ruling concerning The Eye of Timaeus. Since the English version of Timaeus can’t be searched by Dark Magician support cards, the spell card is rarely used in Dark Magician decks. And Timaeus can summon Dark Paladin quite easily. If Timaeus had been able to be searched, Dark Paladin would almost assuredly have been a regular presence in Dark Magician extra decks, especially post-link. I’m hoping one day they might reverse this ruling, because it’s quite silly and it’s not even consistent across the globe. In various countries such as Germany and France, the Eye of Timaeus can be searched by Dark Magician support cards due to the linguistic nature of the dialects.
 
I doubt Dark Paladin will be silent forever. Since Dark Magician is the premier co-mascot of the game, even to this day, he will periodically receive new support. And that support could allow Dark Paladin to be playable. Should that day come, a monster that can negate any amount of spell cards will still be incredibly strong.
 
Advanced: 1.5/5
Future Potential: 3/5

This card has very fun effects but as long as it requires the use of monsters which are difficult to summon due to a high level and offer no effect and the requirement to be Fusion Summoned (by a -1 card like Polymerization), this card just never pays off.  Discard a Spell card?  You just discarded 3 cards to summon this card already?  If anything, if you were able to summon it, all of the opponents Spell cards should be negated for free
 
1.5/5

Hello Pojo Fans,
 
Today we're starting the week off with an awesome Fusion Monster: Dark Paladin.
 
Oldie that got some awesome support as of late with the Buster Blader and Dark Magician support, Dark Paladin is easier to summon now than he was years back. Just use The Eye of Timaeus on Dark Magician and straight away you've got a Dark Paladin without another fusion material. As always E-HERO Prisma in combination with any bit of fusion support is there. Now we've go the Quick-Play Destruction Swordsman Fusion to act as Poly.
 
Now, as a monster, Dark Paladin has a lot going for him. DARK, Spellcaster support, and high ATK and DEF. It's the ability to negate Spell cards that makes it better. A Magic Jammer as long as you have a card to ditch, Dark Paladin can negate any Spell Card your opponent throws at you. Then there's the ATK gain. 500ATK for every Dragon-Type on the entire field and in the grave of each player combined can add up to some heavy ATK boost if playing against the right deck or having your own dragons backing you. Even without the ATK boost, the negation ability is so important. Pendulum Monsters get negated, Quick-Plays are shut down, your opponent can't unload Spell Cards to claim resources to further their strategy. As long as you have the ability to discard, you are in business.
 
It needs its own strategy, but it has the potential now to be a viable option.
 
Advanced- 4/5
Art- 5/5- I do prefer the Magician's Force art more though.
 
Until Next Time

Well it's another tour down memory lane this week, and despite the first three cards of the week, I didn't pick this week.  Although, a special treat, especially for me, seeing as we haven't looked at me in 12 years, as I'm the Card of the Day that opens this week.  See, here's some things you may not know about the CotD site here.  During like my second week reviewing I believe, I did a Spellcaster week cause I wanted to review some of my favorite cards, and I, of course, was one of them.  I've always been a rather powerful Fusion Monster.  We didn't even see Yugi use me on the anime until the Battle City Finals, against Kaiba, and then once more in the Grand Prix arc against Vivian.  Now, what's there to know about me?  Well, I'm a Spellcaster, with an impressive attack of 2900 for my Level of 8.  I can ONLY be Special Summoned by Fusion Summon, and for a long time, that was quite an obstacle.  But there are countless ways to perform Fusion nowadays, so I'm more playable than ever.  Throw in my attack boost of 500 points per Dragon on either Field and in either Graveyard, I could be quite a force.  Furthermore, I can negate the activation of a Magic card and destroy it, so long as the player discards a card from their Hand.  Spellcasters have gotten rather better as well, since the induction of such things as Spellbooks.  For a long time, really you could only play me in a Dragon build or a dedicated Dark Magician Deck, but my playability has gone up too!  Enjoy trying me for yourself
 
Rating:  5/5

Art:  5/5 There are a handful of arts of me, and I like the one best of my midsection zoomed in up with my weapon in hand.