Witchcrafter Guide

Witchcrafter Schmietta (3x)

Schmietta is one of the deck’s most important monsters. By banishing herself from the graveyard, Schmietta allows you to send a Witchcrafter card other than herself to your graveyard. This effect can be used in many different ways:

• Sending spells: When sending spells to the graveyard, the primary target is Loading... . If you already have a Holiday available, you want to send a Loading... , and If you also happen to have an Unveiling, send a Loading... - This can differ from case to case.
• Sending monsters: The primary target for sending spells is Loading... to then use her effect to either further extend your plays or to recover. Sometimes, it can also be worth to send Loading... or Loading... to revive them with a Loading... .
• Sending traps: Though it’s mostly a case by case scenario whether you should send Loading... or Loading... when sending a trap, you're more likely to send Loading... . In general, it’s worth noting that:
  • Loading... is used for the recovery of your spells, which is the most useful in the mid-to-late game.
  • Loading... is mostly used to protect your LP summoning Loading... in defense position from the deck. Occasionally, it can also be used to summon a Witchcrafter monster to then use it as a synchro material. Schmietta’s level is also something to keep in mind when considering her usage in synchro-heavy builds of the deck. She gives access to level 8 synchro monsters such as Loading... in combination with Loading... as well as access to level 7 synchros in combination with Loading... .

Witchcrafter Pittore (2-3x)

Pittore allows you to banish herself from the graveyard to then draw a card and send a Witchcrafter card from your hand to your graveyard. If you don’t happen to have a Witchcrafter card in your hand then you have to banish your entire hand. This effect is very good to extend your setup further by drawing into tech cards and combos great with a Loading... in hand to then use Schmietta’s effect in the graveyard. Another thing that makes Pittore a great card, especially in a synchro-heavy version of the deck is her level. With her level being 3, she offers great access to level 7 synchro monsters such as Loading... when used in combination with Loading... alongside giving access to Loading... in combination with Loading... .

Witchcrafter Genni (2-3x)

Genni is one of the newer additions to the Witchcrafter cards, but yet another important part of the deck. By banishing herself and a Witchcrafter spell from the graveyard, she can copy the spell's effect. This is powerful for several reasons:

• Playing around Spell / Trap negates. This effect of Genni counts as a monster effect, thus it cannot be negated by a spell / trap negate.
• Using "dead" spells. When having more than one copy of a spell, you'll only be able to add one of them back to your hand during your End Phase. Thus, the other spells are pretty much useless until your next turn. Genni allows you to still gain an advantage by using these spells.
• Further extending on plays. Especially in the Lightsworn version of the deck, Genni comes up lots of times on the first turn to establish a stronger board. She can use her effect to copy the effect of either Loading... or Loading... to get more monsters onto the board to use them for as synchro materials, for example. With her level being 1, she doesn't really give access to many useful synchro plays, though she can be used as an additional level for synchro plays e.g. with both Loading... and Loading... to access level 9 synchro monsters.

Witchcrafter Madame Verre (1-2x)

Madame Verre is the in-archetype boss monster of the deck and comes with two powerful effects:

• Her first effect allows her to negate the effects of all of your opponent’s monsters currently on the field by discarding a spell. It's crucial to note that this is a Quick Effect.
• During the Damage Calculation, if a Spellcaster-type monster you control battles an opponent’s monster, her second effect allows her to reveal a number of spells with different names from your hand to then boost the ATK and DEF of that monster by 1000 per spell that was revealed by this effect. With both of these effects, Verre is a very oppressive monster to deal with, therefore, it's one of this deck's main priorities to bring out a Verre as soon as possible to gain a massive advantage over your opponent. Your opponent will always try to get rid of Verre to swing the duel in their favour so protecting your Verre is a key factor in every match and Tech Cards such as Loading... and Loading... are being run in the deck to help with this.

Something important to note about Verres negate effect is that it works differently than something like Loading... or Loading... , it is more akin to Loading... . Once her effect resolves the effect will negate the activated effects of monsters that activate on the field, even if the monster moves away to a different zone.

Another important thing to note for the mirror match is the following:

Madame Verre's boost effect can only activate in Damage Calculation. If you activate Unveiling, then use your Turn Player priority to activate Madame Verre's boost, your opponent cannot activate their Madam's boost since Damage Calculation can only have 1 Full Chain Resolution.

Witchcrafter Edel (0-1x)

Edel is the least used Witchcrafter card and only occasionally sees play in the Lightsworn version of the deck. Her first effect allows you to special summon a Witchcrafter monster your hand (except another copy of herself) by discarding a spell. This effect, however, isn't the best as you'll rarely have a Witchcrafter monster in hand that you can't just normal summon. Her second effect is what makes her a somewhat decent card; by tributing herself, she can special summon a spellcaster monster (with a different name) from your graveyard. This effect is great to special summon non-Witchcrafter monsters from your graveyard. The two primary targets for this effect are:

• Loading... : The easiest way to summon her in Witchcrafter decks is with Edel's effect as Kiwi is a level 5 and thus normally needs to be tribute summoned - Kiwi allows you to establish an even sturdier board by basically turning all of your spellcasters into an Loading... when it comes to protection.
• Loading... : When being summoned off Edel's effect, Minerva is used for synchro plays after being either milled or already used for a synchro summon earlier. With her level being 5, Edel allows for some potential level 8 & 9 synchro plays with Loading... and Loading... . This will come up rarely though as Edel will leave the field quickly for her second effect in the majority of the cases. Edel has another way she can be used though - She has the highest ATK of any Witchcrafter monster (currently in the game) and is thus a good choice to attack into your opponent's monsters in combination Loading... to deal even more damage. When facing an open board, an Edel + a Loading... equals exact lethal.

Witchcrafter Holiday (1x)

Holiday's effect acts like a Loading... for your Witchcrafters, as it allows you to special summon a Witchcrafter monster from your graveyard. Holiday is the most important spell in the deck when it comes to re-establishing board presence and recovery, The primary target for this card being Loading... as having her out on the field swings the game heavily in your favour. Holiday is also good to bring back other Witchcrafters from the graveyard to then use them as synchro materials, for example. In the Lightsworn version of the deck, this card is incredibly important as you're milling lots of cards to the graveyard and therefore you'll have a quite high chance to mill a Loading... which you can then bring back with Holiday. Verre isn’t always the first choice though - If you want to set up for a synchro play, another monster can be a better choice to be brought back with Holiday.

With the implementation of the August 2020 banlist, this card is mostly played at 1 copy as 2 Loading... are necessary to keep the deck consistent.

Witchcrafter Unveiling (2-3×)

Unveiling allows you to special summon a Witchcrafter monster from your hand. Additionally, your opponent cannot activate any cards or effect in response to your spellcaster's effect for the rest of the turn. Unveiling's effect is very useful to unbrick your hand if you should draw into your Loading... . That's not it's only viable way of being used though - It can also be used to help with synchro plays by special summoning a Witchcrafter monster from the hand to then use it as a synchro material. In addition to that, you can just use it to prevent your opponent from activating cards or effects in response to your spellcaster monster’s effects. This can be very strong, as you can also use it during your opponent’s turn due to Unveiling being a quick-play spell to surprise your opponent. Another important fact to note is that you can dodge a card like Loading... if you use Unveiling on Chain Link 2 or higher as Floodgate misses its activation window for monsters summoned on Chain Link 2 or higher.

Witchcrafter Collaboration (1-2x)

Collaboration prevents your opponent from activating spell / trap cards if the monster targeted by it attacks. Additionally, that monster can make a second attack during the Battle Phase of the turn of this card's activation. When combined with Loading... 's second effect, this can lead to an easy lethal play. This card is used to ensure that your opponent cannot disrupt your attacks with battle traps. It's important to know a small detail of this card's text and ruling:

• The card states that: "[...] your opponent cannot activate Spell / Trap Cards until [...]". Note how it says spell / trap cards and not spell / trap cards or effects. This means that this card only prevents your opponent from flipping up new spell / trap cards. Thus, spells / traps that have already been face-up on the field can activate their effects (Loading... is a common example for this). The same applies for spell / trap cards with effects activating in the graveyard (Loading... 's effect in the graveyard is a common example for this).