. . . What the heck?! Didn’t I just talk about this ten weeks ago? Pot of Avarice needs support! I was slightly annoyed when I saw Pot of Avarice going through a similar treatment to what it went through already in San Francisco. Pot of Avarice isn’t going to be a good card if you just toss it into your deck. I was even more shocked when I saw Robert Ackerman’s list, which didn’t even have a single copy of Mystic Tomato or Magical Merchant to help in fueling the graveyard!

He wasn’t the only one who made some choices that made me tilt my head to the side in confusion. Jerry Wang of Team Overdose also made me wonder what was going on with his deck. Don’t get me wrong, either—these players seem good. I know Overdose consists of some amazing gamers who are able to utilize psychological factors in a tournament to a high level of effectiveness. They are great, but I’ve always been slightly disappointed in the decks they actually choose to run. Jerry Wang made the Top 8 in Durham with a very bizarre stack of cards. He was running a single Pot of Avarice with few cards that interacted with filling his graveyard, aside from the single copies of Mystic Tomato and Apprentice Magician. Single copies of search monsters like these also seem like a weird choice. The single copy of Strike Ninja also seems to clash with the effectiveness of one Pot of Avarice. I’ve also felt that Dark World monsters aren’t a strong splash, but I guess I can’t argue with Jerry on this one. It saved him a game or two, according to the coverage.

Despite my gripes about the decklists, it doesn’t really undermine the fact that these eight duelists all managed to play in Day Two of what seems to be one of the most difficult Shonen Jump Championships to date. I also have to thank Jerry Wang for providing me with material for this week’s column. I felt so bad for that lonely copy of Apprentice Magician in his deck that I figured he could use some analysis to show why it’s one of the best search-monsters in the game. I’m actually surprised at myself for not taking a look at Apprentice Magician sooner, so let’s not waste any more time in giving the level 2 Spellcaster some much-needed respect.

The Basic Breakdown

Apprentice Magician is a pretty standard small monster. At level 2, it only has 400 ATK and 800 DEF, so what’s the encouragement to run this guy? Despite the low stats, Apprentice Magician has two relevant abilities in its text box. The ability of Apprentice Magician that most people remember is that you’re allowed to search your deck for a Spellcaster of level 2 or less to special summon in face-down defense position, when Apprentice Magician bites the dust as a result of battle. This effect was one of the best search abilities in the game in the last Advanced format, where having a face-down Magician of Faith was one of the most dangerous threats to your opponent. It was also perfect for evading D. D. Warrior Lady’s effectiveness, as Apprentice Magician triggers when it is destroyed as a result of battle. Even if your opponent removes his or her monster and your Apprentice Magician from play, your effect’s still going to trigger. However, Apprentice Magician also has an overlooked secondary effect, which is actually printed first on the card.

Whenever Apprentice Magician is normal summoned, flip summoned, or special summoned, you need to put one spell counter on a card that can use spell counters. This means that in casual decks, Apprentice Magician is able to charge up the effects of Skilled Dark Magician, as well as other monsters that utilize spell counters. What players tend to forget is that Apprentice Magician’s first effect can actually be very relevant in a tournament deck. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this effect can be relevant. Players tend to forget that almost every deck runs Breaker the Magical Warrior, a monster that utilizes spell counters. Do you see what I’m getting at?

Apprentice Magician has the remarkable ability to give Breaker the Magical Warrior extra spell counters, which allows you to destroy extra spell and trap cards. While this little combo can be a bit situational, these two monsters can actually turn the tide in a duel. Apprentice Magician’s ability gives your Breaker the Magical Warrior the ability to bring you even farther up on card advantage. Here are a few examples of how this effect becomes useful.

Let’s say you’re playing against Jerome McHale, who’s using a standard tournament deck. He forgot to bring his Divine Dragon deck with him, so he’s a little bummed. He summoned Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer and attacked into your face-down monster, which was Apprentice Magician. You special summon another Apprentice Magician face-down, and Jerome sets one spell or trap card before ending his turn. Now, it’s your turn. You summon Breaker the Magical Warrior and remove the spell counter you get when your mage is summoned to destroy Jerome’s face-down Sakuretsu Armor. You then flip summon your Apprentice Magician and give your Breaker the Magical Warrior a new spell counter, which boosts its ATK up to 1900. You attack Kycoo with Breaker and then smack Jerome in the head with your Apprentice Magician. Somewhere off in the distance, Jae Kim can be heard saying, “That’s savage!” thanks to your knowledge of your cards and your remarkable and rewarding play.

This situation won’t happen too many times, but Apprentice Magician’s effect does bring up an important point to remember when you’re playing a game. You must always be familiar with what your cards do. Knowing your cards’ full effects and their rulings will allow you to play through duels flawlessly. If you’re playing in a high-level event, such as a Shonen Jump Championship, it’s crucial that you know all of your card interactions. Snatch Steal can take your opponent’s Breaker the Magical Warrior and your Apprentice Magician can recharge that stolen Breaker, which will allow you to decimate part of your opponent’s field. Attacking into an opponent’s attack position monster with Apprentice Magician can allow you to remove your Apprentice Magician from attack position, and it will thin your deck and net you another spellcaster. This is very important to remember in this format, in which Don Zaloog could attack into your vulnerable attack-position Apprentice Magician.

Knowledge of card effects and of how to manipulate your card’s abilities to the fullest will give you the best shot at making Day Two of a Shonen Jump Championship. Apprentice Magician is one of the best tests for a player to see whether or not they are playing through their duels properly.

Combos and Strategies

The most popular method of using Apprentice Magician revolves around running an “Apprentice Toolbox.” This is similar to how players use a “Warrior Toolbox” with single copies of powerful Warriors that can be fetched with Reinforcement of the Army. The Apprentice Toolbox consists of multiple copies of Apprentice Magician, one copy of Magician of Faith, and a copy or two of Old Vindictive Magician. It’s notable that all three of these monsters can be used effectively with Tsukuyomi, and that this monster lineup is one of the more potent strategies a player can look into if they’re attempting to build a control deck. Jerry Wang showed some attempt at working with an Apprentice Toolbox deck at Durham, though it was only running an unorthodox single copy of Apprentice Magician. Sadly, Time Wizard has been refused access to the Apprentice Toolbox. But if you are a casual player who likes a little extra luck added to your games, Time Wizard is also a legal target for Apprentice Magician’s search effect.

The Apprentice Toolbox is also one of the key search-strategies of the “Merchant Pot Turbo” deck. The Merchant Pot Turbo (or MPT) deck is based primarily off of three copies of Pot of Avarice. These three copies are supported by an insane monster count that ranges from 25 to 28 monsters in a deck! However, these monsters include maxed-out copies of Chaos Sorcerer, Apprentice Magician, Thunder Dragon, and Magical Merchant. The goal of the deck is to earn a mountain of card advantage through your copies of Pot of Avarice, which allows you to recycle Thunder Dragons and Apprentice Magicians, the key methods of thinning your deck. Being able to return multiple copies of Apprentice Magician with Magician of Faith allows you to quickly replay Pot of Avarice in a matter or two or three turns as well!

Final Thoughts

Apprentice Magician is one of my favorite monsters in the game. Its full effect has rarely been taken into consideration, and I’ve seen players lose duels simply because they neglect to read the full effect of their little Spellcaster. However, Apprentice Magician is just an example of how important it is to know of your cards’ effects and interactions. It is through this that the line between good duelists and great duelists is determined. Hopefully the next batch of great duelists that make the Top 8 of future Shonen Jump Championships will not be continuing the trend of One Random Avarice (ORA for short) in their decks.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this or previous articles of mine, feel free to email me at Mrosenberg at Metagame dot Com. I will try my best to get back to you as soon as possible.