Apprentice Engine

(The power to give, destroy, strengthen, and protect all rolled into 1 card.
Versatility is it's middle name.)

Everyone knows about the D draw engine, Reckless engine, and even the Teleport Engine.

Today you'll get a chance to look at an engine that was used before but is more deadly today than it ever was in the past.

Sadly it's not being utilized much today, even though it can be splashed in most decks, including the versatile monarch build.

The apprentice engine feeds on our ability to set monsters and it gains advantage every single time your opponent attacks.

The power to set monsters and the advantage we can gain from that was explained in a previous article, and to truly understand the power of the apprentice engine you need to understand how powerful a set monster can truly be.

Enough talk though, lets analyze this engine and see what we can gain from it.

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The Central Piece

Because it's known as the Apprentice Engine, you probably guessed by now that it involves Apprentice magician. Lets blow up the card text so we can see why this card is so versatile and powerful.

When this card is Summoned, place 1 Spell Counter on a face-up card that you can place a Spell Counter on. When this card is destroyed by battle, you can Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower Spellcaster-Type monster from your Deck in face-down Defense Position.


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The Obvious Choice

The first thing everyone thinks of when they read Apprentice magician's text is using it to block attacks.

But it's much more than that and you would be better off not using all your apprentices at once.
A better choice and a far better wall against attacks would be searching an Old Vindictive Magician, to stop your opponents onslaught.

What exactly does Old Vindictive do?

FLIP: Destroy 1 monster your opponent controls

So not only will Old Vindictive stop an attack it will also destroy a monster.

With just 2 cards you can stop a 3 monster assault on your life points.

The apprentice dies, stopping one attack, the old vindictive gets attacked stopping a second, and it's effect kills the third monster that hasn't attacked yet.

All that for the price of a single card. Not to mention you just thinned your deck out a bit letting you search out the cards you need faster.

The above is a worst case scenario and the vast majority of the time your opponent will only have 1 monster. By destroying your apprentice your opponent now will have to contend with:

• 1) A vindictive flip
• 2) A possible sacrifice after the flip
• 3) A possible flip and then synchro for a 5 or 6 star synchro.

You're setting yourself for a huge power play, all because you lost 1 apprentice magician. Think of the power of the last 2 that remain, especially in an end game scenario.

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What to pick besides Old Vindictive

1) Frequency Magician

Synching these days has become a lot harder, especially because teleport is at 1 now.
But with apprentice magician, synching got a bit easier. Check out frequency magicians text:

[Spellcaster/Tuner]
When this card is Normal Summoned, place 1 Spell Counter on it (max. 1). You can remove 1 Spell Counter from this card to have 1 face-up monster you control gain 500 ATK, until the End Phase.

Next turn simply summon a level 3 or 4 monster and get a free synch to a Magical Android or a Goyo.


2) Arcane Apprentice

Basically the same as above although this card has the added ability of being more useful in a Stardust Assault mode deck.

[Spellcaster/Tuner]
If this card is sent to the Graveyard for a Synchro Summon, you can add 1 "Assault Mode Activate" from your Deck to your hand.


3) Crystal Seer

FLIP: Pick up 2 cards from the top of your Deck. Select 1 of those cards and add it to your hand, and place the other card on the bottom of your Deck.

Free drawing is never a bad thing, and if advantage is your addiction then let Crystal seer satisfy your drawing needs.

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Tactics with the Apprentice Engine

1) Crush Targets

Apprentice Magician and Old Vindictive Magician are Crush Card Virus targets.
If you want to make sure you have a crush target and one that's not useless to you, then the apprentice engine is ready to serve.

It stands it's own ground and serves as bait whenever you're ready to paralyze your opponent.

2) Creature swap

2 or 3 copies of Creature swap in a deck that runs the apprentice engine can be amazing. The amount of sheer advantage you can get and the power swings you can create are enough to end games and end them fast.

Your opponent has a 2400 monster; why not steal it with a creature swap and give him your apprentice magician.

Then when you destroy your own apprentice magician, why not put a vindictive magician on your side of the field? That or you can add a tuner and possibly synch for a stardust next turn!!!

3) The Transmigration Prophecy

Once your vindictives or your apprentices have been destroyed you can recycle them using the transmigration prophecy. Here is it's text:

Select 2 cards from the Graveyard(s), and shuffle them into their owner's Deck(s).

Transmigration prophecy then never becomes a dead draw in your hand because you can use it's effect if your opponent starts doing something sneaky or if he has absolutely no targets you can always use it to recycle your own monsters.

The main reason why Transmigration prophecy was failing was that dead draw aspect but with the apprentice engine, it won't be a dead draw ever again!

4) Lots of Darks

Some people like to explode in the end game with one of 2 powerful dark giants. Both feed off the dark monsters that rest in your graveyard and both are able to come out easier with the apprentice engine.

The first dark giant is The Dark Creator:

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card can only be Special Summoned, by having 5 or more DARK monsters in your Graveyard while you control no monsters. Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 DARK monster in your Graveyard to Special Summon 1 DARK monster from your Graveyard.

The second dark giant is Prometheus King of the Shadows:

When you Normal Summon this card, remove from play any number of DARK monsters in your Graveyard. This card gains 400 ATK for each removed card, until the end of this turn.

(Use Return from a different dimension to bring back all the cards you removed with Prometheus or Dark Creator, and attack for game. )

With the above 2 giants you can wear your opponent down and then explode mid game thanks to your apprentice engine.

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Final thoughts

Overall the apprentice engine is very flexible and because of that it strengthens a lot of deck types.

To think it's simply for Spellcasters or simply to stop attacks is to look at the card from a narrow view.

The number of combo's Apprentice magician can do and the versatility it gives you creates a kind of toolbox to use during duels.

Depending on where you are in the duel, apprentice does many different things and gives advantage in many different ways.

If you need to clear the field, vindictive is there for you.
If you need a few more cards, crystal seer has you set.
If you want to set up for a big synchro next turn, you have frequency magician and arcane apprentice.
If you want to crush, you'll never have a shortage of targets.


The apprentice engine is here to do your bidding.
All that's left for you to decide is how you want to use it.