May 2009

 Spellcasters: Competitive?-SirAngelis
 

Hi it's SirAngelis again. Before I start I wanted to address my previous article. Specifically, an error was made regarding Paladin Of White Dragon. Great way to make an impact with your first article, huh? Anyway, the ritual spell Advanced Ritual Art would not work due to the normal monster sent having to be of the exact level of the Ritual Monster. There are no level four vanillas in the deck, so i chose to replace it with Ritual Foregone. It has no monster requirement, and since you're going to sac it for a BEWD from deck, it doesn't matter if the thing is gonna die or can't attack. There just simply isn't enough room for the Manjus required for traditional ritual methods, so Foregone and Paladin take only 2 deckspots and get the main point of the deck done: Summon BEWD.

 

Anyway, on to today. Lately, a lot of spellcasters have been released to us, all of them many times stronger than the Dark Magician themed deck of yesteryear (which can still be ok in the right hands). Some of these cards are Secret Village of the Spellcasters, Night's End Sorcerer, Magical Citadel of Endymion, etc. I know i missed some better ones but the decklist won't. Speaking of that, here it is:

MONSTERS-19

Chaos Sorcerer

2 Dark Red Enchanter

2 Magical Marrionette

Breaker the Magical Warrior

Defender the Magical Knight

Royal Magical Library

3 Night's End Sorcerer

3 Apprentice Magician

2 Magical Exemplar

Old Vindictive Magician

2 Crystal Seer

SPELLS-16

2 Magical Citadel of Endymion

3 Spell Power Grasp

2 Secret Village of the Spellcasters

2 Magical Dimension

2 Allure of Darkness

Book of Moon

Shield Crush

Heavy Storm

Brain Control

Monster Reborn

TRAPS-5

Pitch-Black Power Stone

Bottomless Trap Hole

2 Magician's Circle

Mirror Force

EXTRA DECK-7+

3 Stardust Dragon

3 Arcanite Magician

Goyo Guardian

 

Now, I'm sure you can see the deck centers around Apprentice Magician, who is stronger than ever at three per deck. She can summon Old Vindictive Magician, Crystal Seer, and Night's End Sorcerer. If your opponent nails her with a monster first turn, bust out a Sorcerer and then you can summon another monster next turn. Well duh, SirAngelis, I know I can summon a monster per turn! The good part is that you can Magical Dimension the summoned monster for a Marionette/Dark Red Enchanter. Not only does this destroy the opponent's monster, it sets you up for a synchro summon! With Marionette you get Arcanite Magican, while Enchanter will net you a Stardust Dragon.

 

Now you are probably thinking my Stardust Dragon obsession has reached the outer limits. But yes, it does fit in the spellcaster deck and no, you are not entering the Twilight Zone. It is the 2500 atk point Solemn Judgment the deck needs. And we all know it's recurring effect, so the fun never ends. It's a Synchro, so as it doesn't clog the deck and has a killer effect, why not add it?

 

    The deck uses Enchanter to its fullest also. With Spell Power Grasp, tributing for him (which is made easy with Apprentice and Exemplar's constant special summoning) will net you a double discard. You use two cards, and one remains on the field as a 1700/2200 monster, to get rid of two of your opponent's cards. And if you are really lucky, you'll have a Night's End Sorcerer on the field for a Stardust Dragon.

   

The deck has an endless number of Spell Counter support. Apprentice Magician, Citadel, Grasp, Marionette, Enchanter, Magical Exemplar, ARCANITE MAGICIAN! This card is like the Dark Armed Dragon for spellcasters! Easy to summon, fairly good attack, comes out with two free shots plus whatever other spell counters are on the field, and those shots can be replenished! With Grasp, that's a 3400 beast of a card with three free shots! Probably more if you have any of the multitudes of spell counter cards on the field! 

 

   The spells and traps are all very obvious; draw power, spell counter support, Village locks your opponent down hardcore. Without their drawing and destruction, they have monsters and a couple easily blocked traps. Magican's Circle is huge in this deck; Night's End for two removals and a possible synchro summon, along with ANY other monster in the deck with the exception of Chaos Sorcerer.

As always, the Extra Deck is always open for your own personal changes, and the side deck is up to you, based on your area's favorites and how you play. Endymion, more Citadels, more Villages, More Royal Libraries, more Magician's Circles, a Tempest Magician or two in the extra deck, these are all viable options. Make the deck suit you!

 

Thank you for reading my article, and I dearly hope to see a competitive spellcaster deck in a Shonen Jump sometime soon (especially if they use Stardust Dragon!) The deck is plenty fast and covers all bases, and Secret Village of Spellcasters and Arcanite Magician are probably the two BEST cards for a certain theme I have ever seen (not including the Chaos Messengers).

The final verdict: Spellcasters are more than just competitive.

As always, I can be reached at sirangelis23@yahoo.com.

 

-SirAngelis