Strangely enough, I won my first local tournament with a Spellcaster deck. While more reliant on combinations of cards to fall correctly than most tournament-worthy decks, the beatdown and card-drawing power of a Spellcaster deck is actually quite astounding. There are many situations where Magical Hats can actually win games as well. Frankly, there just aren’t many decks more fun to play than a Yugi-themed one (especially for fans of the anime).

The Monsters

We’ll obviously be starting with a copy of Dark Magician, Yugi’s favorite monster. He’ll be the backbone and definition of the deck, around which the rest of the Spellcasters will function.

Monsters: 19

1 Dark Magician

1 Dark Magician of Chaos

1 Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning

1 Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End

2 Cyber Dragon

1 Breaker the Magical Warrior

1 Tribe-Infecting Virus

1 Tsukuyomi

1 Witch of the Black Forest

1 Sangan

1 Sinister Serpent

1 Magician of Faith

1 Old Vindictive Magician

1 Magical Scientist

2 Apprentice Magician

2 Skilled Dark Magician

We’re breaking from the Spellcaster theme slightly to involve Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End. While I think the Envoy of the Beginning is “Yugi-like,” I wouldn’t consider the Dragon herald or the Cyber Dragon cards to be part of the theme. I’ve included them because they’ll improve the deck’s win percentage enough to excuse the slight lapse from canon accuracy.

The real power of the deck lies in its ability to abuse spells once they’ve been drawn. If you can keep your opponent from attacking by using a card such as Swords of Revealing Light or Magic Cylinder (both cards Yugi used in the show), you’ll be able to use Tsukuyomi with Magician of Faith to continuously utilize cards like Pot of Greed or Graceful Charity.

The two copies of Skilled Dark Magician are actually more formidable than they let on. They can special summon the one copy of Dark Magician from the deck or the graveyard, so he can be recycled. The Magician can plow over Jinzo without a second thought, a fact which I took advantage of quite often when I first played the deck.

When playing this strategy, remember that there are combinations you haven’t played in a while. For example, if you have Breaker the Magical Warrior and an Apprentice Magician in your hand, remember to do something remarkable and make use of that spell counter from Apprentice! This deck has the ability to play some rather strange combinations that most tournament decks can’t anymore: combinations that can pop up to save the day, like on the television show.

The Spells

You’ll notice a strong amount of hand disruption in the deck. The idea is to strip the opponent of strong plays quickly in order to take advantage of the momentary lapse and keep control over the game. If you cripple an opponent for just a couple of turns, you’ll have two turns to summon Tsukuyomi and use her power.

Spells: 15

1 Pot of Greed

1 Graceful Charity

1 Painful Choice

1 Delinquent Duo

1 Forceful Sentry

1 Confiscation

1 Swords of Revealing Light

1 Heavy Storm

1 Harpie’s Feather Duster

1 Raigeki

1 Dark Hole

1 Monster Reborn

1 Premature Burial

1 Snatch Steal

1 Change of Heart

Most often, you’ll want to take back either Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, or Delinquent Duo with your Magician of Faith. However, don’t be so quick to throw away a game-winning Change of Heart. Always be conscious of life points when playing a control deck: they’re harder to play, so making the right decision involves taking all information into account. Good reads on your opponent, smart assessment of risk-reward ratios, and correct choices on what to take from an opponent’s hand are essential.

The Traps

While I normally wouldn’t run Magic Cylinder in anything but a burn deck, I can’t think of a more Yugi Moto way of winning a game than forcing an opponent to pay for his or her own aggression. To compromise, I chose to keep Torrential Tribute, despite the assumption that Yugi wouldn’t sacrifice his own monsters to destroy his opponent’s.

Traps: 6

1 Mirror Force

1 Torrential Tribute

1 Ring of Destruction

1 Call of the Haunted

1 Magic Cylinder

1 Magical Hats

Magical Hats is probably my favorite tech in a deck that puts so much emphasis on Magician of Faith. First, you stop your opponent from killing her with (oh, why not) Magic Cylinder, flip her to return whatever spell you drew early in the game, then set Magical Hats and end your turn. When your opponent attacks your weak attack-mode Magician, you chain Magical Hats, and search for Pot of Greed or Graceful Charity (depending on whether or not you have Sinister Serpent in your hand). Your opponent probably won’t destroy the Magician before the spell you just searched your deck for hits the graveyard. That’s right: you just played Book of Moon with benefits!

Call of the Haunted is the final recursion card, of which I’ve said nothing so far. To be frank, any deck with Dark Magician of Chaos and three recursion cards can have an incredibly nasty turn, especially when it’s also packing Chaos monsters.

While the deck isn’t something most people would bring to a Shonen Jump Championship, it lines up perfectly with what a Traditional deck should be: a lot of fun to play. Who hasn’t wanted to teach an opponent a lesson by slamming him or her with Dark Magician?

I hope this article inspires a little childhood in everyone, especially during the holidays.

—Ryan Murphy