Magician (archetype)

"Magician" (, Majutsushi) is an archetype consisting of Spellcaster-Type monsters used by Yuya Sakaki that debuted in Starter Deck 2014 with "Stargazer Magician" and "Timegazer Magician". The archetype is related to the "Odd-Eyes" and "Performapal" archetypes, both of which are also used by Yuya.

Due to their Japanese names, a number of older cards, such as "Time Wizard" and "Night Wing Sorceress", also fall into this archetype. Also, several older cards, such as the "Dark Magician" archetype and "Magician of Faith", include "Magician" in their names but are not part of this archetype. However, because TCG and OCG support for this archetype only works on Pendulum Monsters, neither have been an issue.

Members
So far, the "Magician" Pendulum Monsters appear to be mostly divided in pairs, with each member of a pair having the same naming scheme of the other but representing an opposing concept, and a Pendulum Scale that allows a wide range of Level if placed with it. Additionally, each pair supports a particular Special Summoning method.

Playing style
While the "Magician" Pendulum Monsters are not powerful on their own, they have formidable effects in the Pendulum Zones, with Pendulum Effects which include swarming the field and searching out other "Magicians".

"Oafdragon Magician", "Performapal Skullcrobat Joker", "Pendulum Call" and "Wisdom-Eye Magician" keep the hand and Pendulum Scales consistent with recycling and search effects, respectively. The effect of "Skullcrobat Joker" can also be repeated with "Majespecter Unicorn - Kirin".

The Pendulum Scales of the "Magician" Pendulum Monsters are usually either very low (1, 2, or 3) or very high (8), making it easy to Pendulum Summon most monsters. Some of the "Magician" monsters, such as "Nobledragon Magician" and "Wisdom-Eye Magician", can even destroy themselves on purpose while in the Pendulum Zone to be Pendulum Summoned from the Extra Deck later. However, despite the effects' potency, continuous field control is limited to "Dragonpulse Magician" and "Dragonpit Magician".

"Xiangke Magician" has the highest ATK of all "Magician" cards, with the ability to negate the effects of a LIGHT monster once per turn, while "Xiangsheng Magician" can copy the ATK of a strong monster to eliminate it.

It should be noted that "Wonder Wand" and "Dark Renewal" do not work on Pendulum Monsters, as Pendulum Monsters cannot fulfill the "You can send both to the Graveyard" requirement correctly, due to being sent face-up to the Extra Deck.

The major strength of this archetype is having easy access to its monsters, since Pendulum Monsters that would be sent from the field to the Graveyard are instead placed in the Extra Deck, from where they can easily be Pendulum Summoned. Due to having multiple monsters at Levels 3, 4, and 7, it can easily perform Xyz Summons.

This Deck, mixed with "Odd-Eyes" cards, can easily produce some great beatsticks. For example, the player can Xyz Summon "Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon" with two Level 7 monsters, such as "Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon" and it's effect to Special Summon "Dragonpit Magician" from the Pendulum Scale, then use the effect of "Absolute Dragon" to negate a monster's attack by detaching an "Odd-Eyes" monster, then Special Summoning it. If the opponent or "Sky Iris" destroys "Absolute Dragon", it can use its effect to Special Summon "Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon", "Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon", or "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon" for additional pressure on the opponent.

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" is an asset for this archetype, since it can search for the vast majority of "Magicians" by destroying itself in the Pendulum Zone, which moves it to the Extra Deck to be Pendulum Summoned later as a strong beater. It can be searched by "Fusion Conscription", provided that "Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" is in the Extra Deck.

With "Xiangsheng Magician" or "Xiangke Magician" in the Pendulum Zones, the player can Xyz Summon "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon" more easily; most of its effects cannot be accessible if it was Xyz Summoned with non-Xyz Monsters.

As with other Pendulum-based archetypes, the "Dracoslayer" archetype can be used with this Deck, with "Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer" or "Master Pendulum, the Dracoslayer" being the main components to Summon their Extra Deck counterparts in "Ignister Prominence", "Majester Paladin", and "Dinoster Power". All three of those monsters provide support to Pendulum Monsters by destroying Pendulum cards to return other cards to the Deck, searching out Pendulum Monsters from the Deck, and protecting Pendulum cards from being destroyed by the opponent, respectively.

"Oafdragon Magician or "Performage Trapeze Magician" can each combo with "Ignister Prominence" to recycle other "Magician" Pendulum Monsters from the Extra Deck/Graveyard or perform an OTK, respectively. "Daigusto Emeral" can help recycle non-Pendulum Monsters and Pendulum Monsters that were used to Xyz Summon.

Because of their Levels, "Oafdragon" and "Dragonpit" can be used with a Level 1 Tuner monster to make Synchro Summons for Level 7 and 8 Synchro Monsters; these include "Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend", "Ignister Prominence", and "Clear Wing Synchro Dragon". "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" and "Nobledragon Magician" can also be used for Level 7 Dragon-Type monsters, which is especially useful for Synchro Summoning "Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon".

As many of the members of the archetype and their common support cards are DARK and this archetype revolves around Pendulum Summoning, they can make excellent Fusion Materials for "Starve Venom Fusion Dragon".

Red-Eyes Magician
This archetype can be combined with the "Red-Eyes" archetype, as it uses Level 7 monsters as a starting point for the Rank 7 Xyz Monsters, such as "Red-Eyes Flare Metal Dragon" and "Number 11: Big Eye". "Summoner's Art" can search for "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" to be discarded with "Cards of the Red Stone", then Special Summoned with "Return of the Red-Eyes" or Pendulum Summoned with the effect "Dark Factory of Mass Production" to assist.