DARK
1Tuning Magician
ATK:
0
DEF:
0
View:
3976
If you have 2 "Magician" cards in your Pendulum Zones, while this card is in your hand or Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use this effect of "Tuning Magician" once per turn. If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: Your opponent gains 400 LP, then you take 400 damage.
Tuning Magician — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 55 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 54.3 · Deck: 56.8 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Extender · Secondary: Material body, Combo enabler
Why it scores here
Tuning Magician converts into a self-recycling Level-1 DARK Tuner body: once two "Magician" cards sit in your Pendulum Zones, it Special Summons itself from hand or Graveyard (once per turn) and supplies material for Synchro and link plays. Its value comes from that material/extender role inside Pendulum Magician shells, which is confirmed by 268 decks and 35.1% Pendulum Magician usage, not from its 0 ATK / 0 DEF stats. It brings no disruption and imposes a small LP drawback (opponent gains 400, you take 400), and its summon condition is unusable outside a Pendulum framework, so it stays a role-player rather than a standalone threat.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 58 | Text grants a self-Special Summon from hand or Graveyard when 2 "Magician" cards are in your Pendulum Zones, and it can also simply be Normal Summoned as a Level 1 monster (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 48 | As a Level-1 DARK Tuner that self-deploys, it adds a body toward Synchro material, but with 0 combos recorded the reach is text-only inference rather than measured board depth (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | It rebuys itself from the Graveyard for a body each turn, but the summon also gives the opponent 400 LP and deals you 400 damage, so it is roughly body-neutral rather than card-advantage positive (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | The card text contains no negation, removal, or disruption toward the opponent, so it contributes nothing to interaction on its own (verified). |
| Material Utility | 65 | It is a Level-1 DARK Tuner that converts cleanly into Synchro and link material even if its trigger effect is blanked, giving reliable body/level/attribute value (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | It is usable from both hand and Graveyard and can re-summon once per turn, but it is banished when it leaves the field and its condition requires scales to already be set (verified). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 55 | It is a compact 1.34-average copy slot with no garnet requirement and stands in the Core of the Pendulum Magician guide, but it is dead without the Pendulum "Magician" engine (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Extender + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 54.3, Deck ≈ 56.8, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-inflicted LP drawback (-1). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Special Summons itself from hand or Graveyard once per turn, supplying a repeated Level-1 body
- Level-1 DARK Tuner typing gives strong Synchro and link material utility
- Banished only when it leaves the field, so it can be reused from the Graveyard across turns
- Sits in the Core of the Pendulum Magician guide and pairs with Wisdom-Eye, Oafdragon, and Skullcrobat Joker
Weaknesses
- Provides no disruption, negation, or removal
- Requires 2 "Magician" cards in the Pendulum Zones to self-summon
- Loses 400 LP and gives the opponent 400 LP on each summon
- Unusable outside a Pendulum "Magician" framework as an extender
Counters / choke points
- Removing the Pendulum Scales disables its self-Summon condition
- Effect negation such as Infinite Impermanence or Effect Veiler on the summon trigger
- Graveyard hate like D.D. Crow or Called by the Grave to deny the GY route
- Summon negation such as Solemn Warning or Solemn Judgment
Best use
Self-summoning Level-1 Tuner extender and Synchro material body. Decks: Pendulum Magician, Odd-Eyes, Performapal, Silent Magician. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: if 2 "Magician" cards are in your Pendulum Zones, Special Summon this card from hand or Graveyard, once per turn, banished when it leaves the field; Card text: on Normal or Special Summon, the opponent gains 400 LP and you take 400 damage; Card identity: Level 1 DARK Spellcaster Tuner, 0 ATK / 0 DEF
- Observed: 268 recent decks run it in the main deck with an average of 1.34 copies; Pendulum Magician is the largest home at 94 decks (35.1%), followed by Odd-Eyes (24 decks); Top partners include Wisdom-Eye Magician (86.2%), Oafdragon Magician (84.7%), and Performapal Skullcrobat Joker (84.3%); It appears in the 'Core' section of the Pendulum Magician build guide
- Inferred: As a Level-1 DARK Tuner that self-deploys, it functions as an extender/material body for Synchro and link plays; Its 0 ATK / 0 DEF body still contributes as material when its effect is negated; Its value is contingent on already having 2 "Magician" Pendulum Scales set
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only