Welcome to Gaia! ::

Currently my favorite is Victory Viper XX03 and Power Capsule. I get a sense of nestalgia from it. Gradius is an awesome game and I am very excited that they upgraded the old card to this. I've used it and managed to work it, against a zombie deck, to pull out 2 Options while the Gradius had been pumped to 2000. So deadly. ^^

Barrel dragon, japanese print. can you imagine having that thing for a pet?! XD i hope the make a chibi-ifed version of it...maybe call it the "pop-gun dragon" or something XD

and blowback looks...weird. Barrel FTW ><

*pokes* fangirl XP

My favorite card was, is, and always will be, the Dark Magician.

Consider. At level seven and 2500 attack, 2100 defense, the Dark Magician has a decent set of stats on him to begin with. As a dark spellcaster, he can use a lot of basic power-ups, but he also has a whole lot of tricks that are strictly his. Many of them can even be used in place of cards nixed by the ever-changing ban rules. For example, do I really need Harpie's Feather Duster when I have Dark Magic Attack, a Dark Magician specific spell? Or how about the Thousand Knives, an excelent instant kill card for those pesky little effect monsters or big bruisers that make life such a hassle? There's even a card in Japanese called Dark Magician's Magical Formula, that card with the book on it, that only powers up Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl. More on her later. And then, of course, there's Diffusion Wave Motion, a prime for a Dark Magician deck if I ever saw one.

And then there's his summoning power. The Dark Magician, contrary to popular belief, is extremely easy to summon. You can tribute summon him, of course, but where's the fun in that? I like to use Sage's Stone, Miracle Restoring, the extremely versatile Magical Dimension, the monster Skilled Dark Magician, and my personal favorite, the Dark Magic Curtain. The Curtain is not yet available in English, so I use a Japanese version. Now, to many of you, sacraficing half of your lifepoints for one mage may seem foolhardy, but I assure you, that card has saved my a** more times than I can count!

And then there's the evolution factor. Just when you think you have a Dark Magician cornered, he'll change into something completely different on you. The Time Wizard unlocks the powerful Dark Sage, who has a very respectable attack, an incredible defense, and spell-slipping abilities that can turn any duel around in an instant. And yes, it is possible to summon him. I've seen it done. Or you can always take the spell Knights Title to turn this spellcaster into the warrior-type Dark Magician Knight, who instantly bombs one card on the field, whatever you like, so he can also turn a game pretty fast. I run him myself, in my Triad deck. Then we have the Dark Eradicator Warlock, who bombs your opponent pretty heavily when you run a spell-based deck- or when your opponent does, for that matter. I have a deck built around him. And who can forget the Sorcerer of Dark Magic, the movie monster with the very, very high casting cost. Two high level spellcasters to summon, yipes! But with his trap-negating effect and extremely high attack power, many duelists think he's worth the price. This guy can blow up a Blue Eyes with no power-ups!

Then we have two different fusions. Dark Flare Knight comes forth when Dark Magician is fused with a Flame Swordsman, and while weaker than the mage, he has a good damage reduction factor and, even better, gives way to the powerful Mirage Knight. Even more widely known, and I have a deck built around this one, too, is the Dark Magician- Buster Blader fusion all dragon-decks fear- the Dark Paladin. Not only can this sword-weilding spell-slinger zap your opponents spell cards, but he gains a hefty power-up for every dragon that's been played, on the field or in any player's graveyard. Under the right circumstances, this guy can get very powerful, very fast. Dragons beware!

And then there's the other two magicians in the Dark Magician triad- the super-powerful Dark Magician of Chaos, and the ever-lovable Dark Magician Girl. I can get all three out in one turn. I have a deck based around them. These guys each deserve a paragraph of their own, I think.

Chaos, or Dmoc as he's also know, is a retake on the Magician of Black Chaos. This level eight, high-attack, high-defense monster has some really, really nasty effects from the moment he's summoned. He grabs spell cards from your graveyard, and he removes everything he destroys from play. Pair him with a Diffusion when your opponent has a full line-up of monsters, and the effects are devistating. But you have to watch out for this guy, because if he's destroyed, he's out of the game. Usually, he's done enough damage that it's really too late for the opponent to save themself by this time, though. CHaos also has his own summoning spell, Dedication Through Light and Darkness, which gives you the option of tributing one Dark Magicain instead of two other monsters. It's a quick play, so you can use it on your opponents turn. Really, really handy.

And then there's Dark Magician Girl, who remains one of the most popular cards in the game. You'd know this as well as I do if you ever went to a major Yu-Gi-Oh event dressed as her, which I have. People got down on their hands and knees and worshipped me. They also asked for autographs. Please, people, when you ask someone for their autograph, don't make them sign the card. It's... akward. Anyway, Dark Magician Girl is a level six, 2000 attack, 1700 defense spellcaster with her own built-in power-up that makes a Dark Magician in the graveyard just as dangerous as one on the field. Which is probably why people like removing mine from play, come to think of it. One of the great things about the Girl is that she can be summoned with the trap card Magician's Circle and then power-up as soon as she hits the field, so while your opponents are settling for, say, a nice 2000 point Dark Elf, you're busting out a monster with 2300, 2600, even 2900 or more attack points without breaking the rules of the Magician's Circle card. This can really mess with people's minds!

Now, as I said, I can get the whole Magician's Triad out in one turn. It would be mean of me not to tell you how, so here goes. First, play your Dark Magician Girl. You can normal summon her, or use Magician's Circle. Once the Girl is in play, use the Sage's Stone to grab a Dark Magician from your deck. Please note, there have to be at least one Dark Magician's in the deck and one in your hand to swing this combo. Congratulations. You now have a Dark Magician and a Dark Magician Girl. Now play Dedication Through Light and Darkness. Sacrafice your Dark Magician to yank Chaos from your hand, deck, or graveyard. You now have a Dark Magician Girl and a Dark Magician of Chaos, and you get to pick a spell from your graveyard. Choose Sage's Stone, play it again, and boom! Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, and Dark Magician of Chaos, all in one turn. And it IS a tournament legal move. I've done it before, in tournaments, a couple of times. No problem.

And then we look at versions of the Magician himself. There are three colorations. Three, people. There's the well known purple mage, the blue-clad, green-skinned version from the original manga, and the ever-popular (mostly because he looks cool) red. Red is the rarest version, only available in Japanese. Collectors usually can gather three or four, maybe. In my collection of 111 Dark Magicians, I only have five reds. Pity, he does look cool. And then we look at the Blue mage, and he has two different artworks for his card. The first was originally released in the LoB set and is extremely hard to come by, and the second made his debut in DB1, with the mage emerging from the stone tablet. Both were later released in starter decks, and the original has also made show in a booster tin. And we have the violet mage. He's been in starters, tins, games promos... the whole nine yards. The three have their own styles, and if you look at them side-by-side-by-side, they each have a distinct personality as well. So there's a Dark Magician for every mood. Well, no, there's not a Dark Magician for hyper-perky moods. That's why we have Dark Magician Girl. Who also has a Toon form! Did I mention the Toon? Kawaii desu ka...

I think I'm going to stop there for now. I'll edit later if I feel I missed anything. Gee, I hope I didn't miss anything... Oh, and Misty Sora Girl? I challenge you to a duel. My magicians vs. your dragons... should be fun... twisted

...no one EVER writes as much as that girl can...especially when it comes to that perticular topic -.-;;;

You should see the rants i have seen against the 2 chaos monsters.
Still thought i love my silent swordsmen (heck i have a deck on the side running light warriors) [and yes silent swordsmen can be fast if not faster than a dark magician if you are lucky enough].

Shining angel, level up, level mod (only works on lvl 7 if you summoned him normally first), last will (with the new rulings making it uber powerful), reinforcement of the army, luminous spark, the warrior returing alive, maurading captain. And the immunity to opponent's spells is fun too, but there is a down side to him. Its the fact that traps are usually what are used to take out monsters, so he is still weak to that strategy. He works with equips, but a jinzo or royal decree is his best friend. Also being a light warrior helps his parts fuel freed the brave wanderer and chaos sorcerer (for advanced format).

To tell you the truth, the main reason i like this monster is for what he represents; the symbolic hero, growing stronger with time and challenge

i thought that symbolized that with age comes wisdom, and with wisdom comes power?

stare No, the coming of age and wisdom and the gaining of strength with experience is totally the Dark Sage.