by Overview
It’s time to shine in this Archetype Spotlight for Yu-Gi-Oh!’s favourite magical girl mascot: Dark Magician Girl! The Dark Magician’s faithful apprentice has been part of Yu-Gi-Oh! since its inception. Over the years, she has been featured in the card art of several other cards, and she even has eight different variant card arts herself! While she has spent many of her years at Dark Magician’s side, aiding him in his magical missions, 16 years after her release, she finally received archetypal support of her own! Let’s take a look!
Alongside the release of the Yu-Gi-Oh! movie “Dark Side of Dimensions,” Dark Magician Girl gained some sister magicians to help her on her magical journey. This support came in the shape of five different additional Magician Girls: Berry, Lemon, Apple, Chocolate, and Kiwi! And, when you look at those names together, you may notice it spells BLACK. This is a nod to Dark Magician Girl’s original Japanese name, Black Magician Girl. So, what do these magical girls do, exactly?
The Cards
Starting with the lowest level monster in the archetype: Berry Magician Girl. Berry is a Lv. 1 EARTH Spellcaster that allows you to search out any “Magician Girl” monster from your deck and add it to your hand. On the Field, if Berry is targeted by an opponent’s card effect, or targeted for an attack, you can change her battle position, and if you do, you can Special Summon one “Magician Girl” directly from your deck! Berry is great support for the archetype, as she allows you to get Magician Girls into your hand, and also on the Field. Having Spellcasters in your hand is important for this archetype, as you will see with the rest of the Magician Girls
Next, Lemon Magician Girl! Lemon is a Lv. 2 LIGHT Spellcaster. While on the Field, you can tribute one other “Magician Girl”, except Lemon, to add one Spellcaster monster from your deck to your hand. While you can search out literally ANY Spellcaster monster with this effect, the cost and set-up are a little painful. But, it’s Lemon’s second effect that makes her shine! If Lemon is targeted for an attack, you can Special Summon one Spellcaster from your hand and redirect the attack to it instead. And, if you do, the attacking monster’s ATK is cut in half! Pretty cool, huh?
Coming in at Lv. 3, it’s Apple Magician Girl, the FIRE Spellcaster! Like her lemon-flavoured sister, Apple also has an effect that allows you to cause mischief on the battleground! If Apple is targeted for an attack, you can Special Summon one Lv. 5 or lower Spellcaster from your hand and redirect the attack to that monster, and if you do, the attacking monster’s ATK is halved! Also, if Apple is destroyed by battle or card effect, she lets you add up to three “Magician Girl” monsters with different names from your Graveyard to your hand, allowing you to reload your hand with Spellcasters.
Everyone loves chocolate! Chocolate Magician Girl is a Lv. 4 WATER Spellcaster. Chocolate is another great support card, and not just for the Dark Magician Girl archetype. Chocolate allows you to discard one Spellcaster monster in order to draw one card. Anyone who plays Yu-Gi-Oh! knows how much power there is in drawing even one card. Chocolate’s second effect lines up perfectly with her first effect. If she is targeted for an attack, you can Special Summon one Spellcaster monster from your GY and redirect the attack to it instead. And, yes, the attacking monster’s ATK is halved.
Then we have the Lv. 5 fruity femme fatale Kiwi Magician Girl! Kiwi could be considered a handtrap in Yu-Gi-Oh! in the same way Honest is a handtrap. Kiwi allows you to discard her to the GY to increase the ATK of ALL of your “Magician Girl” monsters by 300 for EACH of your “Magician Girl” monsters with different names on the Field and in the GY! You can activate this effect on either player’s turn, and the effects last until the end of the turn. She also has an on-field effect, too. While Kiwi is on the Field, your Spellcaster monsters cannot be destroyed by card effect, and your opponent cannot target them with card effects. That is a HUGE benefit that applies to all of your Spellcasters!
“Magician Girls” today
These magical girls have a strong thematic cohesion, and their effects are unique and actually pretty effective on paper. However, the archetype has faded from play over the years. Modern Yu-Gi-Oh! plays much differently from Yu-Gi-Oh! in 2016. Today, the Battle Phase is much less important than it used to be, making the “Magician Girls”, a heavily Battle Phased-focused archetype, much less viable. And, even though Dark Magician Girl has her own archetype, she still spends most of her time as Dark Magician support.
At the end of the day, Dark Magician Girl still captures our hearts with her fun-loving spirit and her dedication to friendship! Below is a list of cards that are not necessarily part of the “Magician Girl” archetype but do feature Dark Magician Girl in the artwork, are inspired by Dark Magician Girl, or directly interact with Dark Magician Girl.
- Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight
- Dark Magician Girl the Magicians Apprentice (Shining Sarcophagus)
- Sage’ Stone
- Dark Magic Expanded
- Dark Magic Inheritance
- Dark Magic Twin Burst
- Dark Magic Expanded
- Magikuriboh
- Magician Navigation
- Palladium Oracle Mana
- Dark Burning Attack
- Dark Burning Magic
- The Dark Magicians
- Secrets of Dark Magic
- Bond Between Teacher and Student
- Magic Formula
- Timaeus the United Magical Dragon
- Magicians’ Combination
- Magicians’ Defense
- Magicians’ Souls
- Magician’s Salvation
- Toon Dark Magician Girl
- Magician’s Valkyria
- Magi Magi Magician Gal
- The Gaze of Timaeus
- The Eyes of Timaeus
- Soul Servant
