Apprentice Illusion Magician – Yu-Gi-Oh! Card of the Day

Dark Magician of Illusion gets a Dark Magician Girl counterpart, and it’s obvious that Konami realized how much Dark Magicians needed her to be available to the players. With one of the quickest reprints you’ll probably ever see, Apprentice Illusion Magician arrives in cheaper form and just in time, because she is vital to the archetype.

To win with Dark Magicians, you have to accomplish two tasks quickly: get Dark Magician and get Dark Magical Circle. Both tasks aren’t easy, but they’re not difficult either. And now, Apprentice Illusion Magician makes one of those tasks easier while replacing an inferior card. While Illusion Magic did just fine for Dark Magicians, the fact of the matter is that it wasn’t reliable. Needing a tribute is a much steeper cost than a discard. Apprentice Illusion Magician easily takes the place of Illusion Magic, and while that removes vital food for Dark Magic Inheritance, the positives outweigh the negatives, especially since she can boost the attack of all dark spellcasters, including Rod, which is huge. Add in her harmony with Magician Navigation, Dark Renewal, Dark Magic Veil, and others, and it’s clear that Apprentice Illusion Magician is just as much of an obvious upgrade card as Dark Magician the Dragon Knight. I won’t fault anyone for running Illusion Magic, but it should now only be a tech play. And on top of everything, Apprentice makes great use of dead weight in your hand (multiple Dark Magicians, Mahad, etc.).

I don’t think there’s too much deviation between running 2 or 3 copies of Apprentice, but you need to run at least two. Any monster that serves an archetype with three separate effects is going to be amazing, and Apprentice Illusion Magician is no exception. She’s sexy, she’s powerful, and she’s a Dark Magician. The hype is real.

Advanced: 4.5/5
Future Potential: 5/5

Hello Pojo Fans,

Mana has appeared in the TCG, and now she gets a wide release and not just a magazine subscription release.

Apprentice Illusion Magician is the Egyptian version of DMG, much like Mahad was to DM. Ditch a card to Special Summon gives her flexibility for any deck that likes easy Special Summons or does a lot of Rank 6 summoning. When summoned she’ll give a card back if you have a Dark Magician in your deck. Another search for the Dark Magician archetype, and one that won’t cost you a Spellcaster and an “Illusion Magic”. The best effect she may have though is her Kalut ability on the field or in the hand. If a DARK Spellcaster is attacking a monster, you can send multiple copies of her to the grave to pump up your monster by 2000ATK each. Get an attack in on a monster with Apprentice Illusion Magician, then attack another monster and tack on 2000 more damage. It would be better if you could use this effect when attacking directly as well, but that would be too good.

If you play the archetype, run 3 of her. She’s too easy to summon, gives you a search, and is a Kalut for any DARK Spellcaster.

Advanced-4.5/5
Art-5/5

Until Next Time
KingofLullaby

Dark Magician of Illusion is great support for a deck that has been getting great support since the game started. From the hand she can pump a Dark Spellcaster-type monster Honest style by 2000 Atk and Def. She can also Special Summon herself by discarding any other card to the grave as cost. This would trigger the Dark Magician search effect as well. She also gets the search when Normal Summoned, but that will probably be less likely.

For a Single Tribute Monster her 2000 Atk stats are not great, but her overall utility in Dark Magician is beyond reproach. Outside of Dark Magician, Apprentice Illusion Magician is an easy Level 6 summon to further any other plays. Finally, it helps summon Sorcerer of Dark Magic. Own three.

Score: 4.5/5     Art 4.5/5

It’s great for budget players and players outside America to get other ways to access former JUMP promos. Thankfully, this one got a quick reprint considering it reached $150. The card I’m talking about is Apprentance Illusion Magician.

You can Special Summon this card by discarding a card, which is neat. Also, it’s level allows you to summon it from the deck with Magician Navigation. When she is summoned, you can search for a Dark Magician. This makes your Magician Navigation and Eternal Soul live to get more board presence, and who doesn’t like board presence? Finally, when a Dark Spellcaster you control battles an opponent’s monster, you can send this gal from the hand or field to the GY to boost your Spellcaster by 2000 ATK. Having a Kalut for any deck is awesome, gotta get over those big monsters somehow.

If you are playing Dark Magician, play this. Awesome retrain for Dark Magician Girl.

Advanced Rating: 4.25/5

P.S. You might want to get a JUMP subscription now. The next card, Linkuriboh, is outstanding. It will be a great addition to any deck (just add the Instant Fusion/Thousand-Eyes combo and/or play Scapegoat, both of which do well in the OCG… maybe even Eater of Millions, another great tech in OCG). At the very least, it’s a card you can safely profit off of from your subscription.

So, a new take on Dark Magician Girl?  She’s quite an improvement, although supporting the same stats at 2000/1700 respectively.  She can be Special Summoned by discarding a card, which is still the loss of a card, although, not requiring a Tribute, which is good.  She allows you to add a Dark Magician to your Hand (when Normal OR Special Summoned) from the Deck.  During Damage calculation of either players’ turn, you can send this card from your Hand, or face-up from your Field, to have a Dark Spellcaster involved in said Battle gains 2000 attack and defense during that Battle.  Wow…if that’s not enough to save you, what will?  This is an absolute must in any variant of Dark Magician build.

Rating:  4.5/5
Art:  4.5/5

Today’s COTD is Apprentice Illusion Magician, a level 6 dark spellcaster with 2000 attack and 1700 defence. With the same stats as Dark Magician Girl, Apprentice is superior to her in almost every way.

First up Apprentice can special summon herself by discarding a card, and when she IS normal or special summoned, she replaces herself by searching out her mentor, Dark Magician. Obviously, she’s meant to be used in Dark Magician themed decks, but her quick and ease of summoning can also shine outside of it.

Her third effect is something that a number of other decks seem to have, a personal mini-Honest, as during Damage Calculation if another of your Dark spellcaster is battling, you can send her from your hand or field to boost both of its stats by 2000. And that’s incredible. Usually, the booster has to be sent from the hand only, or only gives a relatively small attack boost, but Apprentice is really giving it her all in that she can also boost the defence.

Apprentice is really going to shine outside of the Dark Magician deck, and potentially breath life back into Shaddolls. Her art is nothing to laugh at either, the soft purple tones and the dusty hair colour really contrast well with each other. Although Apprentice certainly bares more than a passing resemblance to a certain gravekeeper.

Advanced 4/5
Art 5/5