Notes & Combos

I hit KOG with a 30-card Dark Magician list built around always opening a Spellcaster so I can use my Skill. I run a high monster count plus triple Rod, Souls, Servant, and Dark Magic Expanded, along with cards like Preparation of Rites. In a 30-card build you feel the variance, so maxing these engines is the best way to make sure almost any hand has something playable.

People often say Illusion of Chaos is useless or that you only need one. You can run one, but in my experience the deck is smoother with two or with more reliable access to it. Small tip: if I already have Illusion in hand, I use the Skill to grab spells, because Illusion only swaps with monsters.

For the Extra Deck, I’d slam Goddess in instantly if I had it. Since I don’t, I run a second The Dark Magicians because people love banishing the first, plus Draco Masters of the Tenyi, which is sometimes helpful but honestly causes more losses than wins. The real MVPs are Dark Magic Expanded, The Dark Magicians, and Soul Servant. Servant’s stacking and draw power has saved me dozens of games.

As for Magician’s Combination, you can run it if you like it, but I think Expanded is more versatile and takes less work to be impactful. Expanded also clears your board after it resolves, which often helps you reset lines, while Combination tends to clog things. I personally think you’re better off not running it.

Going first, my ideal line is simple: I use the Skill to patch what I’m missing and aim to see some mix of Rod, Illusion Magic, Souls, Secrets, or Servant. The short version is Rod into Illusion, then Secrets to fuse into The Dark Magicians, Servant to stack Navigation, draw and set it, then use Nav to put Dark Magician and Mine on Air on the field, ideally with Expanded ready. That gives me protection, a negate, and a draw engine on turn one.

Going second, I start with the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Skill to bait interruptions before I commit. This deck is big-brain; you have to understand your cards and the meta. The climb was miserable, and the deck runs out of gas fast if you don’t win in a few turns, so you need to close games quickly rather than trying to grind like Sky Striker.