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JAELOVE's Smooth Journey

Article 26: The Dark Magician Deck Constructed
1.28.05

Thanks to reader participation, we have decided to continue constructing fan's decks. Article 26 brings us John's Dark Magician Deck. Let's get straight to the proceedings this evening.

F- Field Control                      f- Flip-Effect Management
O- On-field Removal                o- On-field Presence
R- Removal (Spell/Trap)          r- Resource Management
C- Counter-Defense                  c- Counter-Disruption
E- Enemy Disruption                e- Energy

Monsters: 18

3. Dark Magician + F - o

1. Dark Magician of Chaos + F r E - o

3. Skilled Dark Magician + F

3. Apprentice Magician* + f O o r C - F

2. Magician of Faith + r - F o

2. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer + F E

1. Fiber Jar + F r c E e - F r E

1. Cyber Jar + F f O o r C c E - F f O o C c E

1. Breaker the Magical Warrior + F R c

1. Magical Scientist + f O c E - o C e

* Since Apprentice Magician can search out Magician or Scientist, it gets the positive FORCE scores of both.

Spell: 15

1. Pot of Greed + r

1. Painful Choice + r

1. Change of Heart* + f e - r s

1. Snatch Steal* + F O E - e

2. Creature Swap + F E - r

1. Mirage of Nightmare + r - F o C c

2. Emergency Provisions + e - r c

1. Mystical Space Typhoon + R c E

1. Heavy Storm + R c E

1. Premature Burial + F o - e

1. Card Destruction + r E - r E

2. Book of Moon + C c E - r

* Snatch Steal doesn't provide presence any more. Change of Heart doesn't provide counter/enemy disruption the way I thought it once did. Apologies.

Trap: 7

1. Call of the Haunted + F o c

1. Torrential Tribute + O C E

1. Ring of Destruction + F O C E

1. Ceasefire + f E e - r

1. Magic Cylinder + C E e - r

2. Waboku + o C e - r

Total Field Control (Positive-Negative): 7.5*

* The Half Points come from Kycoos (1800 attack), Ring of Destruction, Creature Swap, Fiber Jar (Positive), Cyber Jar (Positive).

Total Flip Effect Management: 6

Total On-Field Removal: 5.5*.

* The Half Points come from Apprentice Magician.

Total On-Field Presence: -1*

* The Half Points come from Waboku.

Total Removal (S/T): 3

Total Resource Management: 0*.

* The Half Points come from Fiber Jar and Card Destruction (both positive).

Total Counter-Defense: 8.5

Total Counter-Disruption: 5*.

* The Half Point comes from Call of the Haunted.

Total Enemy-Disruption: 13*

* The Half Points come from Ceasefire, Fiber Jar (negative), Cyber Jar (negative), Card Destruction (positive), Creature Swap.

Total Energy: 5

DECK ANALYSIS: This deck focuses on life point gain (with two Emergency Provisions, Ceasefire, Magic Cylinder, and Fiber Jar). So the energy quotient is unusually high compared to, let's say, the Strike Ninja deck. Counter and Enemy Disruption look pretty healthy, as does flip effect management, but I'm seeing problems with the control and presence aspects. It seems almost impossible for this deck to maintain any type of presence with its high tribute monsters and lack of heavy hitters. Time to get to work.

MONSTER REMOVALS:

1. The monsters, for the most part, are far too weak to secure any sort of advantage. Also, 18 monsters seems a bit high. Thus we'll have a few monster cuts to make, the first of which is the Cyber Jar. One jar seems to be enough, and we don't need that much resource manipulation (and potential for bad luck) in there.

2. The second cut will be a Dark Magician. This is to shore up the weaker presence elements of this deck and fix it against bad situations.

3. The third cut will be an Apprentice Magician. Two seems to be more than enough.

4. Finally, let's take out a Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer. 1800 is a bit too weak in the current environment; there are better options than this spellcaster.

MONSTER ADDITIONS:

1. To fix one of the problems (on-field presence), we're going to add a Sinister Serpent. Sinister will also have great synergy with a few spells we already have (Creature Swap), and that we're going to add (Metamorphosis).

2. If you give a Mouse a Cookie…….. and so on. If you give this deck a Serpent, why not give it a Tribe-Infecting Virus to go along with it?

3. The third addition is rather unusual, but fits in well with all of the life point gain/burn going on. We'll add a Reflect Bounder. Yes, I know he's not a Spellcaster.

FINAL MONSTER COUNT: 17

SPELL REMOVALS:

1. The spells actually look fine, so we'll move on right to the additions.

SPELL ADDITIONS:

1. To go a long way towards shoring up the presence of this deck, we're going to add 2 Scapegoat.

2. Finally, we're going to add 2 Metamorphosis.

FINAL SPELL COUNT: 19

TRAP REMOVALS:

1. The two Waboku are definitely a problem. They're needless mainly because you're going to need your Apprentice Magicians to die in battle. We'll take both out.

TRAP ADDITIONS:

1. I want to try playtesting 1 Desert Sunlight. This bad boys will ensure the repeated usage of Fiber Jar, guard against Nobleman of Crossout, guarantee Magician of Faith flip effects, and also combo wickedly well with Scientist Fusions. See, if you Book of Moon a Thousand Eyes Restrict, then use Desert Sunlight on their turn, their battle phase ends. Then, you equip their monsters, recycle Emergency Provisions, and repeat.

FINAL TRAP COUNT: 6

AIMS OF THE REVISED DECK:

Opening Game: You have a number of excellent drops here, including a Skilled Dark in attack position or a set Apprentice/Sinister. This should not be a problem.

Mid Game: This is where the fusions and Thousand Eyes Restrict should begin to take hold. See, you'll probably get about 2-3 Mid Games per duel if you're doing it right, gaining life points and having your opponent run into Cylinder/Ceasefire. You should be developing a healthy lead.

End Game: By this point, they'll be paralyzed. They can't move against Reflect/Cylinder/Ceasefire, and you'll be able to recycle spells, Fiber to reset the duel, or pound them into submission with your Dark Magicians.

Strengths: You have quick access to 2500 attack heavy hitters. You also have far better spell recycling abilities than your opponent, and generally have more resources with the Mirage abuse.

Weaknesses: A lot of your monsters are weak and cannot function wholly on their own. Playing properly and within your monster's limits is absolutely essential.

FORCE Presents the Final 42 Card Deck.

Monsters: 17

2. Dark Magician + F - o

1. Dark Magician of Chaos + F r E - o

3. Skilled Dark Magician + F

2. Apprentice Magician* + f O o r C - F

2. Magician of Faith + r - F o

1. Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer + F E

1. Fiber Jar + F r c E e - F r E

1. Breaker the Magical Warrior + F R c

1. Magical Scientist + f O c E - o C e

1. Tribe Infecting Virus + F O E - r

1. Sinister Serpent + o r C - F

1. Reflect Bounder + F E e - o

Spell: 19

1. Pot of Greed + r

1. Painful Choice + r

1. Change of Heart + f e - r s

1. Snatch Steal + F O E - e

2. Creature Swap + F E - r

1. Mirage of Nightmare + r - F o C c

2. Emergency Provisions + e - r c

1. Mystical Space Typhoon + R c E

1. Heavy Storm + R c E

1. Premature Burial + F o - e

1. Card Destruction + r E - r E

2. Book of Moon + C c E - r

2. Scapegoat + o C e - r

2. Metamorphosis + F f O o - r

Trap: 6

1. Call of the Haunted + F o c

1. Torrential Tribute + O C E

1. Ring of Destruction + F O C E

1. Ceasefire + f E e - r

1. Magic Cylinder + C E e - r

1. Desert Sunlight + f c - r

FINAL MODIFICATIONS (DID I HELP?)

Total Field Control (Positive-Negative): 10* (+2.5 from Previous Deck)

* The Half Points come from Kycoo, Ring of Destruction, Creature Swaps, Fiber Jar (positive), Metamorphosis.

Total Flip Effect Management: 7 (+1 Enhanced)

Total On-Field Removal: 7* (+1.5 Enhanced)

* The Half Points come from Apprentice Magician, Metamorphosis

Total On-Field Presence: 1* (+2 Enhanced)

* The Half Points come from Metamorphosis, Magician of Faith.

Total Removal (S/T): 3 (No Change)

Total Resource Management: -5. (-5 Downgrade, not so bad).

* The Half Points come from Fiber Jar and Card Destruction (both positive).

Total Counter-Defense: 8. (-0.5 Downgrade)

Total Counter-Disruption: 6*. (0.5 Upgrade)

* The Half Point comes from Call of the Haunted, Desert Sunlight, Emergency Provisions.

Total Enemy-Disruption: 15* (+2 Upgrade)

* The Half Points come from Ceasefire, Fiber Jar (negative), Card Destruction (positive), Creature Swap.

Total Energy: 6 (+1 Upgrade)

TOTAL UPGRADES IN DECK FIX: +5

As always, send e-mails to JAELOVE@gmail.com. I still answer every e-mail.

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