Dark Magician Guide

Overview

Dark Magician is an archetype revolving around the vanilla monster Loading... , the main ace of the characters Yami Yugi & Yugi Muto in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime. Within the past two years as of this guide's published update, the archetype has gained various new cards in Duel Links to help strengthen the Deck, with the 2023 release of cards like Loading... & Loading... , all the way to the 2025 release of cards like Loading... & Loading... . The Deck has also gained Skills in the form of Battle Chronicle , Bane of Darkness & Master of the Dark & Chaos , that make the Deck much more playable in the ever evolving meta game of Duel Links. Although the Deck is prone to various interruptions/counters that can stop the Deck dead in its tracks and may not be favoured by some, this guide aims to help those that are looking to improve their Dark Magician Decks and try new strategies to help push against all the odds and climb to the higher ranks. And most importantly, this guide aims to help others who are looking to have more fun with the Dark Magician archetype. Some abbreviations may be mentioned in this guide to shorten the guide a bit and will help players become familiar with terms used by many DM players. Not every abbreviation will be used but are notably included due to how common they are used. Here is a quick Glossary of terms you should familiarise yourself with:

Glossary

Updated Guide Contents

• September 10th 2024 Update: Bane of Darkness was released on the 27th of June 2024, along with the release of a Prismatic alternate art Loading... . The Skill provided players a brand new way to play Dark Magician, with a focus on getting either Loading... or Loading... onto the field and using them to either interrupt your opponent's plays (if you're going first) or OTK with them (if you're going second). This guide was updated to include notes, combos and Decks based on the Skill, as well as moving/adding cards into various sections based on their updated inclusion/viability. Loading... was added to the game on the 9th of September, 2024. Due to Skills at the not allowing DARK Dragons, it was mentioned in this guide as an unusable card. A 6th Extra Deck slot that players start with was added as well, increasing the maximum amount of Extra Deck slots you can have to 9! All Base Decks were been updated to reflect this.

• October 12th 2024 Update: Bane of Darkness had its text updated on the 8th of October 2024 to allow Level 7+ DARK Dragons with 2400 or less ATK, meaning that Loading... is now playable in this Skill. Guide has been updated to include this card, but other cards associated with Buster Blader are not mentioned so as to keep this guide about Dark Magician. Various cards in this guide have also been added/shifted around based on card usage and playability.

• December 6th 2024 Update: A Forbidden/Limited List was implemented that set Loading... to the Forbidden status. As such, a Deck that featured this card was swapped out with a Deck that is more accurate to the Forbidden/Limited list. Additionally, a couple of cards have been moved around based on card usage and playability, as well as more cards being added to the guide based on community recommendations!

• February 25th 2024 Update: A F2P section was been added to include an example of each Skill that works within F2P limitations as well as advice about Dream Tickets.

• October 4th 2025 Update: Master of the Dark & Chaos and 6 new cards were released on the 30th of September 2025, giving Dark Magician a whole new level of strategy and power! With these additions, card recommendations and sample Decks have been added/updated, as well as an Engine section being added for those looking to experiment! A couple of combos were updated to match the new card pool and the amount of combos for each recommended Skill have been reduced for simplicity sake. Loading... 's recommendation was removed due to it being a card choice that conflicts with DM's regular playstyle, as well as to keep this guide focused on Dark Magician. Finally, Magician's Magic as well as many other cards were moved to a new section due to being outdated and no longer recommended.

What Skill to Use?

Before thinking of what cards you'll want to play, you'll need to first figure out which Skill you will be building your Deck around. Let's take a look at the 3 main Skills that many Dark Magician players are recommended for use:

Battle Chronicle

Battle Chronicle is made to suit both Blue-Eyes and Dark Magician players, with this skill leaning towards controlling the Duel and allowing for you to setup an easy way to attack directly. This Skill can be used by Yami Yugi , Yugi Muto , Yugi Muto (DSOD) , Seto Kaiba and Seto Kaiba (DSOD) .

This Skill has 2 main conditions that will always apply during the Duel. Firstly, you can Normal Summon or Normal Set Loading... or any Normal Monster that has 2500 ATK or 2500 DEF without Tributing any monsters. A variety of monsters fit this requirement, which also includes Loading... as it is treated as a Normal Monster while in the hand! Secondly, you cannot Normal Summon or Special Summon any Effect Monsters that have a Level except for DARK Spellcasters, LIGHT Spellcasters & LIGHT Dragons. Although this means that Effect Monsters in your Main Deck & Extra Deck (Fusions & Synchros) must meet this requirement, Xyz Monsters & Link Monsters do not have levels, so they are not restricted.

The Skill's effect can only be activated once per turn if you successfully Normal Summon Loading... , or Normal Summon/Fusion Summon a Level 7 or higher monster. Once you do, you can add either 1 Loading... or 1 Quick-Play Spell Card that mentions either Loading... or Loading... from your Deck to your hand. As a mandatory cost however, you need to send 1 monster to the GY, from either your Deck/Extra Deck, whose name is not the same as what you already have on the field or in the GY. If you cannot meet this cost, the game will not let you activate the Skill's effect, so make sure you're aware of what's in your Deck, GY and on your field at all times.

Bane of Darkness

Master of the Dark & Chaos (NEW)

Choosing Your Main Deck Cards

The Extra Deck Choices

Staple Cards to Consider

Try An Engine!

Dogmatika Engine (Battle Chronicle Skill)

Sky Striker (Engine)

Invoked (Engine)

How About Some Spice?

It's Time to Combo!