This deck focuses on getting Dark Armed Dragon on the field. A Dark Armed Return deck uses Destiny Hero cards such as Destiny Draw and Destiny Hero - Disk Commander to draw cards and then when you have exactly three DARK monsters in the graveyard (Prometheus, King of the Shadows is used to even out the graveyard when you have more than 3 DARK monsters) so that you can summon Dark Armed Dragon (DAD). Dark Armed Return decks tend to deal the finishing blows with cards like Return from the Different Dimension or Escape from the Dark Dimension to summon the cards removed from play by Dark Armed Dragon's effect while at the same time clearing your opponent's cards to the field. Burial from a Different Dimension could also be used to recycle DARK monsters back to your graveyard to re-use Dark Armed Dragon's effect again.

While Dark Armed Return builds are very strong, they have an established weakness against Lightsworn decks, that can swarm the field quickly and overpower the opponent before they can set up a Dark Armed Dragon combo. The banning and limiting of cards such as Dimension Fusion and Return from the Different Dimension has slowed down the deck's ability to counter the swarming abilities of Lightsworn decks. It has also lead to the deck's inability to successfully counter Gladiator Beast decks. Blackwings are also a variation for Dark Armed Dragon because they have DARK attributes, but also have a swarm capability and could use supports such as Crush Card Virus.

This deck has been crippled and nearly ineffective since the March 2010 banlist.