DARK
9Dark Sage
Archetype:
Dark Magician
ATK:
2800
DEF:
3200
View:
8396
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand or Deck) by Tributing 1 "Dark Magician" immediately after applying the effect of "Time Wizard" in which you called the coin toss right. When Special Summoned this way: Add 1 Spell Card from your Deck to your hand.
Dark Sage — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 34 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 34 · Deck: 38 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor
Why it scores here
Dark Sage converts into one Spell Card search plus a large 2800/3200 Level 9 body, but only after a Dark Magician is tributed following a correctly called Time Wizard coin toss. Access is gated by a coin flip and a specific Dark Magician piece, so its practical value is narrow. The 2800 ATK and 3200 DEF earn no points on their own; the score comes from the conditional search and the forced dependence on Dark Magician, which lowers accessibility and deckbuilding cost.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 15 | Needs a Dark Magician to tribute and a correctly called Time Wizard coin toss, with no combo data to show how often that line is live (text; decks show Dark Magician in 35 of 37 decks, observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | Text shows one Spell search and a large body after the summon, but there are no recorded boards to confirm a payoff (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | The Dark Magician tribute costs a card and the Spell search returns one, leaving a net body on the field (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | The card has no negation, removal or hand-trap effect (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 40 | Level 9 Spellcaster body is usable as material, but no combo or deck evidence shows this being used (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 20 | Once summoned it has no protection or recursion, and the summon condition is a one-shot coin-gated window (verified from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 30 | Appears at 1 copy in 35 of 37 decks, but the card is dead without Dark Magician and Time Wizard support, which restricts the deck (observed deck stats plus text). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Searcher/Tutor primary, no secondary role; weights applied as-is. Intrinsic ≈ 34, Deck ≈ 38, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: self-locking restriction (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck, then -3 restriction modifier = 33.7 (rounded to 34)
Strengths
- Converts into a Spell Card search, which is a card-advantage line once the summon condition is met.
- Consistently included in Dark Magician-core decks: 35 of 37 decks also run Dark Magician, observed.
- Large Level 9 body with 3200 DEF gives a material and board presence after the summon.
Weaknesses
- Summon requires a correctly called Time Wizard coin toss, so the line fails about half the time even with the right pieces.
- Dependent on Dark Magician to tribute, which narrows the deck and blocks use outside Dark Magician shells.
- No interaction, protection or recursion once it is on the field.
Best use
Searcher/Tutor (conditional Spell search on Special Summon). Decks: Dark Magician core decks. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Summon restriction and Dark Magician tribute condition are stated in the card text.; Search effect is a Spell Card from Deck to hand when Special Summoned this way.; Card has no interaction effect in its text.
- Observed: Appears in 37 recent decks, 1 copy in 35 of them, with Dark Magician in 35 of 37 decks.
- Inferred: Net card advantage is roughly neutral after the Dark Magician tribute and the Spell search.; Level 9 body is usable as material but this is not shown in any evidence.
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) for inclusion % beyond the 37-deck sample Time Wizard co-occurrence not shown in top partners, so the coin-toss enabler's frequency is unknown no banlist token, assumed 3 copies (unlimited)