Spell
ContinuousDark Magical Circle
Archetype:
Prophecy
View:
13164
When this card is activated: Look at the top 3 cards of your Deck, then you can reveal 1 of them that is "Dark Magician" or a Spell/Trap that mentions "Dark Magician", and add it to your hand, also place the remaining cards on top of your Deck in any order. If "Dark Magician" is Normal or Special Summoned to your field (except during the Damage Step): You can target 1 card your opponent controls; banish it. You can only use each effect of "Dark Magical Circle" once per turn.
Dark Magical Circle — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 55 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 52 · Deck: 57 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor · Secondary: Removal
Why it scores here
Dark Magical Circle is a Continuous Spell whose main value is a top-3 selective search for Dark Magician or a Spell/Trap that names Dark Magician, which keeps it consistently playable inside the Dark Magician ecosystem (in 400 of 400 sampled decks, 1.36 copies on average). Its second effect banishes one opposing card once per turn after a Dark Magician summon, which adds real interaction, but it is conditional on that summon and does not convert into a board on its own. Its body has no material value and its power comes from being a reliable link in the Dark Magician package rather than from raw stats. The high combo appearance (6 of 6 boards) and high average power index (93.8) reflect the strength of the boards it sits in, not a demonstrated starter or searched role, since every role counter is zero.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | The card is a Spell that must be drawn, and the search is only a top-3 filter with no recorded starter or searched appearances, so reach is moderate (inferred from text; as_starter and as_searched both 0). |
| Combo & Conversion | 60 | It appears in all 6 recorded combos with an average power index of 93.8, but role_in_combo is empty, so its conversion contribution is inferred rather than measured (observed/inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | Activating it spends itself and adds one searched card, a roughly neutral card-count exchange with top-3 reordering that costs no cards (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 55 | The once-per-turn banish of one opposing card is real interaction but requires a Dark Magician summon, so it is conditional and situational (verified text, inferred strength). |
| Material Utility | 5 | A Spell card cannot be used as material, so this axis is near zero (verified from frame_type). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 60 | As a Continuous Spell it stays on the field across turns and its banish effect is reusable once per turn, but it is exposed to Spell/Trap removal and negation (inferred from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 50 | It runs at 1.36 copies on average and sits inside a Dark Magician-centred deck, so it is a mild restriction on the build rather than a garnet or brick (observed copies per deck, inferred restriction). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Searcher/Tutor + 0.3 Removal/Negation. Intrinsic ≈ 52, Deck ≈ 57, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Reliable Dark Magician package staple, present in 400 of 400 sampled decks
- Top-3 selective search finds Dark Magician or a Dark Magician-naming Spell/Trap
- Once-per-turn banish gives interaction after a Dark Magician summon
- Continuous Spell stays on the field across turns
Weaknesses
- Its value depends on Dark Magician being summoned, so it is weak outside that archetype
- The search is a top-3 filter, not a full search, and the card is not a recorded starter or searched piece
- Material value is zero
- Exposed to Spell/Trap removal and negation while on the field
Counters / choke points
- Spell/Trap removal or destruction effects
- Spell negation on activation or on the continuous effect
- Effect negation of the Dark Magician summon that gates the banish
Best use
Searcher/Tutor with a conditional banish. Decks: Dark Magician, Prophecy, Dark Magician Girl / Magician package builds. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: a top-3 search for Dark Magician or a Dark Magician-naming Spell/Trap, and a once-per-turn banish after a Dark Magician summon; Card type is a Continuous Spell, so it cannot be material; 400 of 400 sampled decks run it, averaging 1.36 copies
- Observed: Appears in 6 of 6 recorded combos with average power index 93.8; Average starter count when present is 1.33; Spread across 44 distinct archetypes, mostly Dark Magician variants
- Inferred: Accessibility is moderate because the search is a top-3 filter with no recorded starter or searched role; The banish is conditional on a Dark Magician summon and is situational interaction; Its power comes from the Dark Magician package rather than from the card alone
- Data gaps: No banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) role_in_combo is empty in all 6 combo examples, so the card's combo role is not measured No rulings or timing clarifications supplied for the Damage Step exception Combo sample is small (6 boards)