"Prophecy", known as "Magical" (
Contents
Lore
Naming
Due to their Japanese names containing
Each "Spellbook"-related "Prophecy" monster is based on a Tarot card of the Major Arcana. "Crowley, the First Propheseer" being the "creator" of the "Prophecy" monsters shows that they're based on the Thoth tarot deck. The English names come from the Rider-Waite tarot deck which uses the names "The High Priestess" and "The Hierophant" instead of "The Popesse" and "The Pope" which is found in other decks. The Japanese names of these "Prophecy" monsters make reference to French-language tarot decks.
English full name | Japanese given name | Tarot card | Tarot number |
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Fool of Prophecy | Mat | The Fool (Le Mat) | 0 |
Spellbook Magician of Prophecy | Batel | The Magician (Le Bateleur) | I |
High Priestess of Prophecy | Junon | The High Priestess (Junon) | II |
Empress of Prophecy | Trice | The Empress (L'Impératrice) | III |
Emperor of Prophecy | Empéur | The Emperor (L'Empéreur) | IV |
Hierophant of Prophecy | Hieron | The Hierophant | V |
Amores of Prophecy | Lamour | The Lovers (Les Amoureux) | VI |
Charioteer of Prophecy | Chario | The Chariot (Le Chariot) | VII |
Strength of Prophecy | Force | Strength (La Force) | VIII |
Hermit of Prophecy | Ermite | The Hermit (L'Ermite) | IX |
Wheel of Prophecy | Rouede | Wheel of Fortune (La Roue de Fortune) | X |
Justice of Prophecy | Stice | Justice (La Justice) | XI |
Stoic of Prophecy | Lepend | The Hanged Man (Le Pendu) | XII |
Reaper of Prophecy | Lamor | Death (La Mort) | XIII |
Temperance of Prophecy | Tempér | Temperance (Tempérance) | XIV |
Prophecy Destroyer | Diable | The Devil (Le Diable) | XV |
The Grand Spellbook Tower | La Maison | The Tower (La Maison Dieu) | XVI |
Spellbook Star Hall | Étoile | The Star (L'Étoile) | XVII |
Spellbook Library of the Crescent | Crescent | The Moon | XVIII |
Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere | Solein | The Sun (Le Soleil) | XIX |
Spellbook of Judgment | Divine Judgment | Judgment | XX |
World of Prophecy | Tout le Monde | The World (Le Monde) | XXI |
Playing style
The archetype focuses on Spellcaster monsters and the effects and presence of "Spellbook" Spell Cards. "Spellbook" cards focus on creating advantage, like raising a monster's ATK ("Spellbook of Power"), protecting monsters ("Spellbook of Wisdom"), or Xyz Summoning ("Spellbook of Life"), and manipulating the amount on the field, in the hand and in the Graveyard to activate effects.
Recommended cards
Recommended cards
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Weakness
The "Prophecy" archetype is overall so diverse in terms of monster stats (minus their Type) and strategies that it's almost impossible if at all to completely render this Deck moot as well-built "Prophecy" Decks can be very resilient and multi-faceted in terms of play strategies. However, there are some cards that can deter these kind of Decks:
- "Spell Canceller", "Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell", "Morphing Jar 2" and/or "Eradicator Epidemic Virus" - Can deadlock "Spellbook" Spells from being played, however the first may also lock your own Deck. The second could be a temporary reprieve if you run a good amount of Spells, but may backlash against you if your opponent gets monsters out, which well-built "Prophecy" Decks will have a diverse way of doing so. The third may often rely on chance, yet if your opponent lacks monsters in their Deck or better yet have used most of them along with having a lot of them on the Field, it could severely Deck your opponent out. The last card does not stay on the Field and forces your opponent to reveal every card they draw for a few turns, but not every Deck will be able to use it either at all or very easily, given its pre-effect Cost.
- "Spell Shattering Arrow" - While more staple S/T removal (i.e. "Mystical Space Typhoon") can also be temporary alleviators against "Prophecy" Decks too, this card in particular can be harshly judgmental by not only wiping Spell Cards en masse at no cost to the user, but also inflicting hefty damage as well.
- "Attention!" and/or "Unification" + "Gozen Match" and/or "Battle of the Elements" - These two pairs of cards go hand-in-hand as "Prophecy" monsters have a diverse range of Levels and Attributes. Even if that's not the case "Prophecy" monsters like "High Priestess of Prophecy" and "Hierophant of Prophecy" can quickly clear the field of these deterrents
- "Droll & Lock Bird", "Prohibition" and/or "Psi-Blocker" - Can stop many Spellbook-theme cards: "Spellbook of Judgment", "Spellbook Library of the Heliosphere", "Spellbook Star Hall", "Spellbook of Power", "Spellbook of Secrets", and "The Grand Spellbook Tower" as well as key "Prophecy" monsters from being used. Again though, these "one-card armies" can be easily put down, especially in the current meta, which has focused more on Field control.
- "Deck Lockdown" and/or "Mistake" plus/minus "Thunder King Rai-Oh" - "Prophecy" Decks often times substantially rely on Toolbox tactics to add "Prophecy" monsters and "Spellbook" Spells from the Deck to the Hand to keep Hand resources and play options motley. That being said, these cards can extensively make Hand advantage much more sluggish by making Toolbox card effects useless.
- "Puppet Plant" - This card can flich a high-powered "Prophecy" monster in a pinch; it's not as easy to interdict unless it is discarded beforehand or if "Mind Drain" is used. Better yet, the monster can afterwards be either Tributed, used for an effect or even as Synchro or Xyz Material (i.e. with Xyz Summons, use two of this card to embezzle two "High Priestess of Prophecy"s and then Xyz Summon "Number 11: Big Eye" (in the TCG) or "Mecha Phantom Beast Dracossack").
Trivia
- "Spellbook"-related "Prophecy" monsters share the trait of being based on Tarot cards with the "Arcana Force" archetype.
- "Spellbook"-related "Prophecy" monsters' Attributes seem to be linked with their Levels: WATER (Levels 1-2), EARTH (Level 3), WIND/FIRE (Level 4), DARK (Levels 5-6, 8), LIGHT (Level 7, 9).
- All "Spellbook"-related "Prophecy" monsters (except "Prophecy Destroyer") wear long flowing ribbons or sashes that feature magical runes on them.
- LL "Spellbook"-related Prophecy monsters, as well as the "Spellbooks" themselves, feature the mirror-like crest of the "Prophecy" archetype.
- Several "Prophecy" monsters share the same ATK/DEF as some of Yugi Muto's signature monsters.
- Several members of this archetype appears as characters in videogames:
- "High Priestess of Prophecy" appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Arena.
- "Breaker the Magical Warrior" appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! Ultimate Masters: World Championship Tournament 2006, in 2009, and in 2010.
- "Magical Merchant" appears in 2007, and in 2011.
- "Ebon Magician Curran" appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Spirit Caller, in 2007, in 2008, in 2009, and in Duel Arena.
- "White Magician Pikeru" appears in Spirit Caller, in 2006, in 2007, in 2008, in 2009, and in Duel Arena.
- "Dark Paladin" appears in 2006, in 2010, and in Duel Arena.
- "Supreme Arcanite Magician" appears in 2011.