Spellcaster Strategies
Doug Zeeff
Since the beginning of Yu-Gi-Oh, Spellcasters have been a big part of the game. Dark Magician was Yugi's ace monster card, and there have been several other important Spellcasters since. A lot of them are forbidden for tournament use such as Dark Magician of Chaos, Magician of Faith, and Witch of the Black Forest. That being said, it's kind of strange to me that there hasn't ever really been a super-competitive Spellcaster deck. Today I'm going to talk about a few different Spellcaster strategies, and then I'll show you the way that I built mine to hopefully inspire you to make one for yourself!
The Dark Magician Deck
I figured we should start with the king of Spellcasters, the one and only Dark Magician. An interesting card in and of itself, Dark Magician is kind of comes up short in a few key places. 2500 ATK is about 100 points short of being amazing, and it's sadly even more lackluster in the eyes of a Chaos Dragon player. In addition, Level 7's are just simply not as good as Level 8's in terms of versatility (there are some noteworthy cards that only work with Level 8 monsters), so that's not all too helpful. But what Dark Magician does have is a lot of badass support cards that make the deck really unique.
Starting off, we have Dark Magic Curtain. Basically a Dark Magician-themed version of A Hero Lives, this card allows you to summon the Magician straight from your deck. It's best played in the End Phase, and allows you to make Rank 7 Xyz Summons, as well as Fusion Summons of monsters like Dark Paladin and Dark Flare Knight, should you choose to run those cards. In addition, Dark Magician also has a sick apprentice-type card in the form of Skilled Dark Magician. When spells are activated, Skilled Dark gets Spell Counters that allow you to put Dark Magician on the field from your hand, deck, or graveyard. It's pretty amazing, and if you go the Dark Paladin route you can include Skilled White Magician to summon Buster Blader as well.
Dark Magician also has his own Harpie's Feather Duster in the form of Dark Magic Attack. Taking into account just how easy it is to get Dark Magician out, Dark Magic Attack isn't that difficult to activate. If you're a fanboy that ops to use Dark Magician Girl, then Sage's Stone will be a natural fit for you. Sage's Stone has basically no cost, and nets you a Dark Magician for free, Special Summoning it from your hand or deck. Thousand Knives lets you cut down whatever monster stands in your mighty Magician's way, and also clears a path for what'll most likely be a direct attack.
Dark Magician is a classic Spellcaster, and a deck based around him can be really fun!
The Spell Counter Deck
Spell Counters have been around for a long, long time, but some relatively recent support from the Spellcaster's Command Structure Deck has definitely given this strategy a boost. In general, Spell Counters are placed on monsters when you activate a spell card. Cards like Royal Magical Library, Magical Exemplar, and Dark Red Enchanter all get really powerful as more and more spells are activated. Not all monsters require you to use spells to get Spell Counters: cards like Breaker the Magical Warrior, Defender, The Magical Knight, and Arcanite Magician all come packing their own Counters for their effects, as soon as they're Summoned.
This type of Spellcaster deck can run extremely smoothly, since the cards sort of blend together to create easy combos. The boss monster, Endymion, The Master Magician, and the key field spell card, Magical Citadel of Endymion, combine to recover spells and blow up cards. Magical Citadel is practically invincible after a few spells are activated, too, eliminating one of the major challenges facing decks that rely on field spells. Spell Power Grasp makes sure that you constantly have Spell Counters on your monsters, and it does some deck thinning at the same time. Tempest Magician can be a game ending card, capable of doing thousands of points of damage with its effect depending on how long Magical Citadel of Endymion has been sitting on the field.
Spellcasters also have a pretty cool tuner monster, Night's End Sorcerer. One of the best combos you'll want to consider running, is summoning Magical Exemplar; activating a spell to add two Counters to Exemplar; removing the two counters to summon Night's End Sorcerer to banish two of your opponent's monsters; and then Synchro Summoning Tempest Magician. Effect Veiler should be included in this kind of build too: it's not only a light attribute for Chaos Sorcerer, but also another Spellcaster tuner. While this version of the deck is powerful, I still don't think it's quiet the best version for real competitive play.
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The Secret Village Deck
For those of you that aren't aware, Secret Village of the Spellcasters is one of the best field spell cards out there. It just shuts down about one third or more of most opponents' decks. It's safe from both Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm, and as long as its effect is active it creates dead draws that clog your opponent's hand. The card is just too good in a Spellcaster deck. An on-field Secret Village paired with a face-up Royal Decree puts your opponent in an almost unbreakable lock. Keeping your opponent from activating spells and traps forces them to rely entirely on monster effects: since you can negate those with Effect Veiler or Forbidden Chalice, this strategy essentially forces them into a corner.
So what to do while they're in that corner? Beat them down with 1900 ATK beatsticks of course! Crusader of Endymion really shines here: 1900 ATK is pretty hard for most non-tribute monsters to get over. I mentioned Defender, The Magical Knight earlier, but it's most important in this particular strategy, since its effect and its 2000 DEF ensures that you have a Spellcaster on the field at all times. It should also be noted that Crusader of Endymion with his Gemini effect active, plus Defender on the field guarantees safety from most monster abilities. Crusader also allows Breaker the Magical Warrior to constantly be at 1900 ATK by placing a Spell Counter on him each turn, or lets him be played as a Mystical Space Typhoon every turn.
This is one of the few decks where Card Guard can really shine, giving either Royal Decree or Secret Village of Spellcasters protection, while Supplying an Xyz Material for a Rank 4 if needed. Unfortunately Card Guard's not a Spellcaster, but you can't win them all. Actually, Special Summoning Card Guard with Summoner Monk, coupled with Secret Village, is a strong opening play that usually prevents your opponent from doing anything for at least a few turns. Flamvell Magician can also be a strong choice, since it's a Level 4 Spellcaster tuner, but I opted to not include it in my version of the deck.
Two Pot of Duality and three Terraforming make sure you get your Secret Village on your first or second turn. Duality can also grab Royal Decree if needed, though Decree is less part of the set up and more just additional salt for your opponent's wounds. Smashing Ground and two copies of Magical Dimension destroy whatever monsters your opponent actually manages to get out, which covers most of our bases. We don't have the Spellcaster Xyz monsters yet, but we do have some neat Synchro monsters like T.G. Hyper Librarian and the aforementioned Arcanite Magician. Without further ado, here's the deck.
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In my opinion, this is the best way to run this kind of lockdown deck, and I would have to say that until the Book of Spell cards come out in Return of the Duelist this is one of the best Spellcaster decks, period. It just says “no” to everything, and only struggles to get over really big monsters, generally when there are several present all at once. That being said, you should take note to not run this deck if your locals are filled with Chaos Dragons. A Secret Village deck can deal with the monsters that strategies like Dino Rabbit and Inzektors throw at it, but it suffers the same curse of not being able to get over a certain threshold of ATK.
The side deck should include cards like two more Smashing Ground, a third Effect Veiler, and Upstart Goblin (if you're facing a really fast deck, you need to lock your opponent down as soon as possible). You could also include some copies of Thunder King Rai-Oh, as they really only affect your use of Terraforming. Keep in mind that you have to maintain a Spellcaster on the field to have Secret Village work, and your opponent also has to not have a Spellcaster themselves. Luckily, the only deck that really runs Spellcasters right now is Chaos Dragons in the form of Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and Chaos Sorcerer. You should be able to run over those cards anyway.
Final Thoughts
Kind of like my Cloudian deck, I don't expect this strategy to win any YCS's anytime soon. It's a fun deck for locals and maybe regionals, but it's really interesting and has a unique play style. It's fun watching your opponent squirm as they realize that have no options and no outs.
I'd love to hear about any Spellcaster decks you guys run, and I'd be honored to check out your own versions of this one! This deck may not always win, but it can take some swift victories once you accomplish the lockdown with Secret Village of the Spellcasters. It's important to remember that winning isn't everything, and that sometimes you just have to take a break and play with something entertaining for a tourney or two.
-Doug Zeeff
Doug Zeeff
Since the beginning of Yu-Gi-Oh, Spellcasters have been a big part of the game. Dark Magician was Yugi's ace monster card, and there have been several other important Spellcasters since. A lot of them are forbidden for tournament use such as Dark Magician of Chaos, Magician of Faith, and Witch of the Black Forest. That being said, it's kind of strange to me that there hasn't ever really been a super-competitive Spellcaster deck. Today I'm going to talk about a few different Spellcaster strategies, and then I'll show you the way that I built mine to hopefully inspire you to make one for yourself!The Dark Magician Deck
I figured we should start with the king of Spellcasters, the one and only Dark Magician. An interesting card in and of itself, Dark Magician is kind of comes up short in a few key places. 2500 ATK is about 100 points short of being amazing, and it's sadly even more lackluster in the eyes of a Chaos Dragon player. In addition, Level 7's are just simply not as good as Level 8's in terms of versatility (there are some noteworthy cards that only work with Level 8 monsters), so that's not all too helpful. But what Dark Magician does have is a lot of badass support cards that make the deck really unique.
Starting off, we have Dark Magic Curtain. Basically a Dark Magician-themed version of A Hero Lives, this card allows you to summon the Magician straight from your deck. It's best played in the End Phase, and allows you to make Rank 7 Xyz Summons, as well as Fusion Summons of monsters like Dark Paladin and Dark Flare Knight, should you choose to run those cards. In addition, Dark Magician also has a sick apprentice-type card in the form of Skilled Dark Magician. When spells are activated, Skilled Dark gets Spell Counters that allow you to put Dark Magician on the field from your hand, deck, or graveyard. It's pretty amazing, and if you go the Dark Paladin route you can include Skilled White Magician to summon Buster Blader as well.
Dark Magician also has his own Harpie's Feather Duster in the form of Dark Magic Attack. Taking into account just how easy it is to get Dark Magician out, Dark Magic Attack isn't that difficult to activate. If you're a fanboy that ops to use Dark Magician Girl, then Sage's Stone will be a natural fit for you. Sage's Stone has basically no cost, and nets you a Dark Magician for free, Special Summoning it from your hand or deck. Thousand Knives lets you cut down whatever monster stands in your mighty Magician's way, and also clears a path for what'll most likely be a direct attack.
Dark Magician is a classic Spellcaster, and a deck based around him can be really fun!
The Spell Counter Deck
Spell Counters have been around for a long, long time, but some relatively recent support from the Spellcaster's Command Structure Deck has definitely given this strategy a boost. In general, Spell Counters are placed on monsters when you activate a spell card. Cards like Royal Magical Library, Magical Exemplar, and Dark Red Enchanter all get really powerful as more and more spells are activated. Not all monsters require you to use spells to get Spell Counters: cards like Breaker the Magical Warrior, Defender, The Magical Knight, and Arcanite Magician all come packing their own Counters for their effects, as soon as they're Summoned.
This type of Spellcaster deck can run extremely smoothly, since the cards sort of blend together to create easy combos. The boss monster, Endymion, The Master Magician, and the key field spell card, Magical Citadel of Endymion, combine to recover spells and blow up cards. Magical Citadel is practically invincible after a few spells are activated, too, eliminating one of the major challenges facing decks that rely on field spells. Spell Power Grasp makes sure that you constantly have Spell Counters on your monsters, and it does some deck thinning at the same time. Tempest Magician can be a game ending card, capable of doing thousands of points of damage with its effect depending on how long Magical Citadel of Endymion has been sitting on the field.
Spellcasters also have a pretty cool tuner monster, Night's End Sorcerer. One of the best combos you'll want to consider running, is summoning Magical Exemplar; activating a spell to add two Counters to Exemplar; removing the two counters to summon Night's End Sorcerer to banish two of your opponent's monsters; and then Synchro Summoning Tempest Magician. Effect Veiler should be included in this kind of build too: it's not only a light attribute for Chaos Sorcerer, but also another Spellcaster tuner. While this version of the deck is powerful, I still don't think it's quiet the best version for real competitive play.
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The Secret Village Deck
For those of you that aren't aware, Secret Village of the Spellcasters is one of the best field spell cards out there. It just shuts down about one third or more of most opponents' decks. It's safe from both Mystical Space Typhoon and Heavy Storm, and as long as its effect is active it creates dead draws that clog your opponent's hand. The card is just too good in a Spellcaster deck. An on-field Secret Village paired with a face-up Royal Decree puts your opponent in an almost unbreakable lock. Keeping your opponent from activating spells and traps forces them to rely entirely on monster effects: since you can negate those with Effect Veiler or Forbidden Chalice, this strategy essentially forces them into a corner.
So what to do while they're in that corner? Beat them down with 1900 ATK beatsticks of course! Crusader of Endymion really shines here: 1900 ATK is pretty hard for most non-tribute monsters to get over. I mentioned Defender, The Magical Knight earlier, but it's most important in this particular strategy, since its effect and its 2000 DEF ensures that you have a Spellcaster on the field at all times. It should also be noted that Crusader of Endymion with his Gemini effect active, plus Defender on the field guarantees safety from most monster abilities. Crusader also allows Breaker the Magical Warrior to constantly be at 1900 ATK by placing a Spell Counter on him each turn, or lets him be played as a Mystical Space Typhoon every turn.
This is one of the few decks where Card Guard can really shine, giving either Royal Decree or Secret Village of Spellcasters protection, while Supplying an Xyz Material for a Rank 4 if needed. Unfortunately Card Guard's not a Spellcaster, but you can't win them all. Actually, Special Summoning Card Guard with Summoner Monk, coupled with Secret Village, is a strong opening play that usually prevents your opponent from doing anything for at least a few turns. Flamvell Magician can also be a strong choice, since it's a Level 4 Spellcaster tuner, but I opted to not include it in my version of the deck.
Two Pot of Duality and three Terraforming make sure you get your Secret Village on your first or second turn. Duality can also grab Royal Decree if needed, though Decree is less part of the set up and more just additional salt for your opponent's wounds. Smashing Ground and two copies of Magical Dimension destroy whatever monsters your opponent actually manages to get out, which covers most of our bases. We don't have the Spellcaster Xyz monsters yet, but we do have some neat Synchro monsters like T.G. Hyper Librarian and the aforementioned Arcanite Magician. Without further ado, here's the deck.
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In my opinion, this is the best way to run this kind of lockdown deck, and I would have to say that until the Book of Spell cards come out in Return of the Duelist this is one of the best Spellcaster decks, period. It just says “no” to everything, and only struggles to get over really big monsters, generally when there are several present all at once. That being said, you should take note to not run this deck if your locals are filled with Chaos Dragons. A Secret Village deck can deal with the monsters that strategies like Dino Rabbit and Inzektors throw at it, but it suffers the same curse of not being able to get over a certain threshold of ATK.
The side deck should include cards like two more Smashing Ground, a third Effect Veiler, and Upstart Goblin (if you're facing a really fast deck, you need to lock your opponent down as soon as possible). You could also include some copies of Thunder King Rai-Oh, as they really only affect your use of Terraforming. Keep in mind that you have to maintain a Spellcaster on the field to have Secret Village work, and your opponent also has to not have a Spellcaster themselves. Luckily, the only deck that really runs Spellcasters right now is Chaos Dragons in the form of Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress and Chaos Sorcerer. You should be able to run over those cards anyway.
Final Thoughts
Kind of like my Cloudian deck, I don't expect this strategy to win any YCS's anytime soon. It's a fun deck for locals and maybe regionals, but it's really interesting and has a unique play style. It's fun watching your opponent squirm as they realize that have no options and no outs.
I'd love to hear about any Spellcaster decks you guys run, and I'd be honored to check out your own versions of this one! This deck may not always win, but it can take some swift victories once you accomplish the lockdown with Secret Village of the Spellcasters. It's important to remember that winning isn't everything, and that sometimes you just have to take a break and play with something entertaining for a tourney or two.
-Doug Zeeff