Spellcaster

Spellcaster, known as Magician in the OCG, is a Type consisting of beings that control magic or some other magical force, such as witches, wizards, and mages. The majority of these creatures contain effects and can be very versatile Monsters, used often with support of Spell Cards. Many of the most well-known and powerful monster cards are Spellcasters. Also, out of all types, Spellcasters are the most present on the current Forbidden or Limited list. Examples include "Dark Magician of Chaos", "Magician of Faith", "Thousand-Eyes Restrict", "Witch of the Black Forest", and "Magical Scientist".

A high proportion of Spellcaster monsters are either LIGHT or DARK, allowing easy access to powerful cards such as Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning, and Chaos Sorcerer. Spellcasters are often the most prolific users of Spell Counters, most of the time in Spell Counter Decks.

Archetypes include Exodia, "Fortune Lady", "Gravekeeper's", Gagaga, Dark Magician-related cards, the "Charmers" and their counterparts, and "Pikeru and Curran-related cards". Spellcaster-Type LV Monsters include "Allure Queen" and "Silent Magician".

They also have two of their own Structure Decks, Spellcaster's Judgment and the Structure Deck, Lord of the Magicians, which was originally released in OCG, but now has a TCG counterpart Spellcaster's Command, which was released in March 2009, the later used as base for Spell Counter Decks.

There are currently six Spellcaster-Type Synchro monsters in the TCG: Tempest Magician released in Crossroads of Chaos, Arcanite Magician released in Crimson Crisis, Explosive Magician in Stardust Overdrive, Loki, Lord of the Aesir in Storm of Ragnarok, T.G. Wonder Magician in Extreme Victory and T.G. Hyper Librarian as a Shonen Jump promo.

Every main protagonist uses Spellcaster-Type monsters in their Decks, Yugi Muto uses Dark Magician, Dark Magician Girl, Dark Sage, Magician of Black Chaos, Breaker the Magical Warrior and many others, Jaden Yuki uses Card Ejector and Miracle Flipper, Yusei Fudo uses Effect Veiler, Arbitrator of Mediation, Stardust Phantom, Mystic Piper and Salvagent and Yuma Tsukumo uses Gagaga Magician, Gagaga Girl, Statue Dark Magician, Statue Dark Magician Girl and Flelf.

Dark Magician Beatdown
The main idea of this Deck is Summon the "Dark Magician" along with some other cards like "Cybernetic Magician", "Dark Magician Girl" or some other strong Spellcasters. If you use it wisely, it is very effective, blocking your opponent's Spell Cards with "Secret Village of the Spellcasters" and negate his or her traps with Sorcerer of Dark Magic leaving your opponent open to your attacks with your best magicians. Using base spellcasters-Special Summon cards like "Magical Dimension" or "Magician's Circle" and some field-cleaning cards like "Lightning Vortex" and "Thousand Knives" and also "Dark Magic Attack" you can fill your field fairly fast, and because this Deck doesn't use a lot of traps you could add "Royal Decree" with no problem, another advantage is that being a pure Deck you could use "Rivalry of Warlords" to stop Synchro-based Decks.

Spell Burn
The very first Deck that introduced the use of Spell Counters and reusing Spell Cards. This Deck focused on Summoning "Dark Magician", then Special Summoning "Dark Eradicator Warlock". Once Normal Spell Cards were activated, it inflicts 1000 LP damage to the opponent, no matter which player plays the Spell Card. These Decks take patience and skill. Other key cards in the Deck would be cards that allow you to re-use Spell Cards (like "Hidden Spellbook"), and cards to keep your Spellcasters alive. "Royal Decree", "Jinzo", and even "Magical Hats" can protect your Spellcasters and stop Trap Cards from getting in your way.

Spell Counter/Spell Recycling
The Structure Deck: Spellcaster's Command mostly makes use of Spell Counters to activate the effects of the Spellcasters. "Magical Citadel of Endymion" can help generate Spell Counters and can also keep all Spell Counters from your destroyed cards like "Royal Magical Library" and "Pitch-Black Power Stone". You can then Special Summon "Endymion, the Master Magician" from your hand, and keep recycling Spell Cards to destroy your opponent's key cards. You can also swarm your opponent with cards like "Magician's Circle" and "Magical Dimension". Some cards that are needed for this Deck are "Spell Reclamation", "Royal Decree", "Spell Power Grasp","Spell Absorption" and "Diffusion Wave-Motion". This Deck is also made for quick fetching of your Spellcasters so "Summoner Monk" helps a lot. Using an "Earthbound Immortal" monster can be useful as a support card, as "Magical Citadel of Endymion" with "Field Barrier" can protect the "Immortal", while also allowing you to attack directly. cockcockcock

Spellcaster Lockdown
Although probably one of the most effective strategies against any Deck when completed, it is most definitely one of the most complicated to achieve, since it takes skill and some luck. The purpose of this Deck is to stop your opponent from using Spell, Trap or Effect Monster to get any sort of advantage, hence the name. The cards needed are: "Dark Paladin", "Sorcerer of Dark Magic", and "Destiny Hero - Plasma". "Secret Village of the Spellcasters" can also be used when "Sorcerer of Dark Magic" is on the field, since it is easier to get onto the field than Dark Paladin. Because the main cards need to be Special Summoned in conditions sometimes hard to fulfill, some very useful support cards are "Magical Dimension", "Royal Decree" and "Divine Wrath", since they can be used as temporary substitutes for the main cards. Another substitute option are "Sage of Stillness" and "Sage of Silence", who are also Spellcasters, but need a power up achievable with cards like "United We Stand" or "Mage Power" to be able to activate their effects. At least one "Dark Magician" and "Buster Blader" is needed to Fusion Summon "Dark Paladin", it sometimes represents a problem to draw the right cards at the right time, so "Royal Magical Library" and "Jar of Greed" can help your chances .This Deck can benefit from a "Skilled Dark Magician" and with "Magical Citadel of Endymion" it will help you both get out a "Dark Magician and draw cards. "Mirror Force", "Trap Jammer", "Anti-Spell", or any of the more common attack blocker traps, such as "Sakuretsu Armor", "Dimensional Prison", or "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow", will help protect your combos. Since most Decks, especially in the Meta, rely on either Spell, Trap or Monster effects, their strategy will be trashed and they'll have no other way to beat you other than attack, but you can use two or "Magician's Valkyria" and a Miracle Flipper to stop even that.