Pook's Place

Pook’s New Deck: Dark Magic Attack!
By Pook

            In my article last week, I included a slight teaser, that I would soon be revealing my latest project, my fully revamped Spellcasters deck.  Well, when I have been know to disappoint?  I present to you my brand new Spellcasters deck.  But fear not, my Fire/Burn is still with me, and will not be soon phased out – I just wanted to add some variety to my gameplay. 

Deck List (41)

Tribute Monsters (6)
Dark Magician of Chaos
Dark Magician x2
Dark Magician Girl x2
Dark Magician Knight 

Normal Monsters (3)
Gemini Elf x3

Effect Monsters (10)
Skilled Dark Magician x3
Double Coston x2
Breaker the Magical Warrior
Royal Magical Library
Old Vindictive Magician
Magician of Faith
Sinister Serpent

Spells (17)

Diffusion Wave-Motion
Swords of Revealing Light
Exchange
Enemy Controller
Stray Lambs
Sage’s Stone
Creature Swap
Nobleman of Crossout
Monster Reincarnation
Snatch Steal
Dedication Through Light and Darkness
Knight’s Title
Premature Burial
Change of Heart
Pot of Greed
Mystical Space Typhoon
Heavy Storm

Traps (5)

Call of the Haunted
Magic Drain
Divine Wrath
Magic Cylinder
Sakuretsu Armor

            Ok, before I go into the deck strategy, I will address the two issues that I know everyone will have noticed with this deck – there are 6 tribute monsters, and far too many spell cards.  Believe me, I know, but there is a purpose to this.  Allow me to explain. 

            Of the 6 tribute monsters, I only really intend on using 2 most of the time – Dark Magician of Chaos and Dark Magician Knight.  The 2 Dark Magicians and the 2 Dark Magician Girls are just steps in order to acquire these two monsters.  I have two cards that require me to discard to the Graveyard – Divine Wrath and Monster Reincarnation (originally, I also had Double Spell and Magic Jammer in place of Magic Drain, but this proved too risky).  My goal with these cards is to toss a Dark Magician, Dark Magician Knight, Dark Magician of Chaos, or Sinister Serpent.  The more regular Dark Magicians I have in the Graveyard, the more my Dark Magician Girl gets boosted. 

On top of that, I have three Skilled Dark Magicians.  With three spell counters, I can sacrifice a Skilled Dark Magician to bring out a Dark Magician from my hand, deck, or graveyard (and don’t forget, I have 17 spells, that’s plenty of opportunities to get spell counters out).  Once I get a Dark Magician on the field, I can either tribute it for Dark Magician Knight (by using Knight’s Title) or for a Dark Magician of Chaos (by using Dedication Through Light and Darkness).  The beauty of both Knight’s Title and Dedication is that I don’t need to have either of the big monsters in my hand to use it – they are Special Summoned from my hand, deck, or graveyard!  That means I don’t need to be wasting space in my hand for either (more so with Knight, because that can only be Special Summoned by using Knight’s Title).  If I do run into the problem with having 2 tribute monsters in my hand, I can use Double Coston to bring out a Dark Magician or Dark Magician of Chaos, or I can use the tokens from Stray Lambs (unlike Scapegoat tokens, these can be used for tributes).  Additionally, if I can get a Dark Magician Girl on the field, I can use Sage’s Stone to Special Summon a Dark Magician, without having to sacrifice the Dark Magician Girl.  So it may seem very complicated, but after working out the strategy, this can prove to be quite dangerous for my opponent. 

Another way I get around the tribute issue is by constantly messing up my opponent with Creature Swap, Exchange, Enemy Controller, Change of Heart, and Snatch Steal.  In a duel, my opponent had 4 cards and I was holding Sage’s Stone, Dark Magician Knight, and Exchange.  I played Exchange, leaving just the two cards specific to my deck – he was screwed.  He took Sage’s Stone, which didn’t hurt my strategy at all (at that point).  Creature Swap is fun if I’ve just flipped Old Vindictive Magician or Magician of Faith, or something along those lines (I just wish I had an Apprentice Magician to get them out easier).  Snatch Steal has hurt me once in a while, but it is a problem easily fixed – if my opponent is getting too many free Life Points, I’ve got Heavy Storm, MST, and Breaker, or I can just tribute the monster.  During my testing phase for this deck, I was using Soul Exchange, but more often than not I’d be stuck holding it for too long, unable to use it – that’s in the lucky circumstance when I don’t get any of my tribute monsters in hand and I can use the awesome power of my six 1900 attackers. 

Other than that, the deck is pretty self explanatory.  I’ll be frank – this is a hard deck to run, one that probably only has a 60-70% chance of winning.  But I play it because it is fun.  I love getting a Dark Magician of Chaos out onto the field, especially when I use my opponent’s monsters to get it out.  I decided to not turn this into a Dark Paladin deck, because that was what my old Spellcaster deck was, and I felt like having a change of pace.  Anyway, feel free to try this deck (or variations of it) out.  Please, no hate e-mails about how I have too many tributes or spells or whatnot.  I accept helpful criticism, but keep in mind that I know the faults of this deck, and I continually work to improve them.  No deck is perfect, and you know me, I like a challenge.  Happy dueling!