DARK
8Dark Paladin
Archetype:
Dark Magician
ATK:
2900
DEF:
2400
View:
13445
"Dark Magician" + "Buster Blader" Must be Fusion Summoned. When a Spell Card is activated (Quick Effect): You can discard 1 card; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it. This card must be face-up on the field to activate and to resolve this effect. Gains 500 ATK for each Dragon monster on the field and in the GY.
Dark Paladin — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 58 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 56 · Deck: 59 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Negation/Interaction · Secondary: Boss/End-board
Why it scores here
Dark Paladin's score comes mainly from its quick-effect Spell negation, which costs one discard and destroys the Spell, a real but face-up-only interaction. Its 2900 ATK and the Dragon-count bonus earn nothing on their own, because the evidence shows no Dragon-count data and no boss-board conversion. The 400/400 deck inclusion mostly reflects its place in Dark Magician shells, not intrinsic strength (guardrail 3), so deck evidence only moves the score modestly.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 62 | Present in all 400 sampled decks at 1.04 average copies, but starter and searched counts are both 0 and no searcher is evidenced (observed; route inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 55 | One recorded board with power index 91 and two starters, but the card has no role tag there, so conversion is weakly supported (observed, thin sample). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | Discarding one card to negate and destroy a Spell is roughly card-neutral, with no refuel or advantage evidence (verified from text; no combo netCardAdvantage tied to it). |
| Effect & Interaction | 60 | Quick-effect Spell negation plus destruction is real interaction, but it is limited to Spells and requires face-up on the field (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 35 | Fusion-only body with 8 DARK Spellcaster stats, and material role is 0 across the sample, so no material conversion is observed (verified from text; observed count 0). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | Its effect dies when the card is removed or turned face-down, and no redundancy is shown (verified from text; inferred from the face-up condition). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 45 | Fusion-only, so it takes an Extra Deck slot and needs specific fusion materials; the cost is mild and it is single-copy (inferred from text and copy distribution). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Negation/Interaction (Removal row) + 0.3 Boss/End-board. Intrinsic ≈ 56, Deck ≈ 59, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Quick-effect Spell negation with a single discard cost
- Live in 400 of 400 sampled decks at 1 copy
- Strong combo presence in the one recorded board (power index 91)
Weaknesses
- Interaction is limited to Spells and needs the card face-up on the field
- Fusion-only, so it needs a Dark Magician-family fusion setup
- No observed starter, searcher, or material role
Counters / choke points
- Removal or bounce of the monster while it is face-up (inferred from the face-up condition)
- Negation of the Fusion Summon itself (inferred; not in the card text)
Best use
Spell-negation finisher on a fused board. Decks: Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl / Magician Girls, Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon shells. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Quick-effect Spell negation: discard 1 card to negate and destroy, card must be face-up; Fusion Summon only, 8 DARK Spellcaster, 2900 ATK / 2400 DEF; Appears in 400 of 400 sampled decks at 1.04 average copies
- Observed: One recorded combo with power index 91 and two starters; Inclusion across 62 distinct archetypes, dominated by Dark Magician shells; Usage statistics show 100% inclusion at 1 copy in 4 archetypes
- Inferred: Accessibility depends on Fusion Summon routes that the evidence does not table; Removal or bounce of the monster is the main counter to its interaction
- Data gaps: no banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) only one recorded combo; no starter, searcher, or material appearances no rulings or once-per-turn wording beyond the text usage statistics covers only 4 archetypes no evidence of Dragon-count frequency or Fusion material routes no top-card ranking; not a top card