20 Great Spells for "Endymion" "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Decks

The Endymion Archetype in Yu-Gi-Oh!

The Endymions are a family of spellcasters with relatively low ATK, but they compensate with swarming via pendulum summons and bonus effects used by gaining spell counters. Most of their pendulum scales gain a spell counter whenever a spell is played and can spend three to use various effects.

They also excel at hindering opposing cards; ace Mighty Master can negate spells/traps, and Reflection can bounce an opposing card back to hand, plus both tutor other cards when destroyed while bearing a spell counter.

Of course, the deck becomes drastically weaker if you can't accumulate enough spell counters to use the effects—to ensure you do, here are 20 excellent spells for Endymion Yu-Gi-Oh! decks!

20. Reinforcement of the Army

Use With: Warriors

Being limited means you can only run one copy of Reinforcement per deck, but it's an easy search, adding any level-four or lower warrior from deck to hand. Of course, the Endymions are spellcaster-type, but definitely use Reinforcement when running a few warriors; I'd recommend fellow pendulum cards Dragodies the Empowered Warrior and Dragonox the Empowered Warrior.

19. Spiral Flame Strike/Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

Use With: Odd-Eyes monsters

Spiral Flame adds a level-7 Odd-Eyes from either your deck or extra deck to hand, or if you control an Odd-Eyes card, can destroy any card on the field. Obviously, you need to use Odd-Eyes monsters to run it, but they work well with the theme, and this is one of today's few spells that isn't limited or once-per-turn, so you can play as many as you like each round.

Part of Odd-Eyes Pendulum's appeal is simply being a valid candidate for many of today's other effects, but don't overlook his own pendulum scale ability. From there, he prevents shields your battle damage when your pendulums fight and destroys himself at your end step to find a pendulum monster with 1500 or less ATK.

That's a versatile effect that can tutor the low-level Endymions (Servant and Magister) or can be used to find …

18. Archfiend Eccentrick

Use With: Anything, really. Better when going second.

Eccentrick is weak, and her scale 7 is a bit too low to help pendulum into the bigger Endymions, but she shouldn't be there long; her scale effect destroys both herself and another spell/trap.

From there, you can revive her from the extra deck, and while her stats are weak, her monster ability can tribute herself to target and destroy another monster.

17. Duelist Alliance

Use With: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Luster Pendulum the Mighty Dracoslayer

This spell requires a card in a pendulum zone (even an opponent's) to activate and adds a card with the actual word "pendulum" in its name to your hand. Usually, the best candidates for the Endymions are Odd-Eyes Pendulum and Luster Pendulum, both dragons with scale effects that can find other cards.

They're also both used as material for powerful extra deck monsters (Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon and Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer), which is an area the Endymions don't offer excel in, making them especially tempting.

16. Supply Squad

Use With: Self-destroying effects

This continuous spell fits well in any deck, simply once-per-turn drawing a card when your monster is destroyed (whether via battle or effect). You can even trigger it on your own turn if you suicide-attack an opposing monster or destroy your own monster as part of an effect; Ignister Prominence helps with this.

15. Spell Power Grasp

Use With: Spell Power Mastery

Grasp simply adds a spell counter to a valid target (in addition to any you get just from activating a spell), then adds another copy of itself from deck to hand. Admittedly, it's not an especially strong effect, and you really don't want to draw more than one in your opening hand, but it provides easy spell counters and advantage. More than that, Grasp empowers Spell Power Mastery, a card you absolutely want.

14. Future Fusion

Use With: Quintet Magician, Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon

Future Fusion has a delay, but if you can get it off, it's brutal. On your next standby phase after activation, it sends materials from deck to graveyard for a fusion summon. On your following standby, you then perform the summon.

Basically, it trades a delay for ease of use as you pull materials from deck, preserving cards in hand. Endymions don't have fusions themselves, but you can summon powerful aces like Odd-Eyes Vortex (who can negate cards) and Quintet Magician (who can nuke your opponent's whole field).

13. Sacred Sword of Seven Stars

Use With: Level 7 monsters (Endymions have some, as do Odd-Eyes)

Sacred Sword banishes a level-7 from your hand or field to draw twice. This works well for clearing up the extra zone that you've revived a pendulum monster to, and it gives you a use for Reflection after she's bounced an enemy unit.

For consistency, run three of Mighty Master and Reflection for at least six level 7s, more if you also include Odd-Eyes cards or negation-specialist Mist Valley Apex Avian.

12. Pot of Riches

Use With: Luster Pendulum the Mighty Dracoslayer

A great card for both spell counters and advantage, Riches shuffles three pendulums from your extra deck/graveyard into your deck, then draws twice.

The downside is that you can't special summon except by pendulum the turn you play it, but often the Endymions don't mind, especially since they don't heavily utilize the extra deck.

11. Emergency Teleport

Use With: Psychic hand-traps

Limited as of this writing, you can only use one Teleport per deck. It's a quick-play, so you can use it on any turn, special summoning a level three or lower psychic monster from your hand or deck, but it's destroyed at the end phase.

Of course, the Endymions themselves aren't psychic, but many of the game's most infamous hand traps (like Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit or PSY-Framegear Gamma) meet the condition.

10. Allure of Darkness

Use With: Dark-attribute monsters

Allure of Darkness draw two cards, then banishes a dark monster from hand (if you don't have one, you have to toss your entire hand). Now, it can be a little risky since the Endymion attributes are all over the place, but at least Mighty Master is dark.

So for consistency, use Allure if you're mixing in other dark themes, like Odd-Eyes, Mythical Beast, Pendulum Magicians, or even Exodia.

9. Toon Table of Contents

Use With: Toon cards

Table simply adds a Toon card from deck to hand. Thing is, it can find spells/traps, not just monsters, meaning you can pick itself, and it's not once per turn! Ideally, this means you can play three Contents back-to-back, using the last one to find a Toon monster.

The only problem is that Toon monsters don't have much synergy with Endymions; your best bet might be Toon Barrel Dragon, who, as a level-7 dark monster, can be used as fodder for both Allure of Darkness and Sacred Sword.

8. Terraforming/Set Rotation

Use With: Field spells

Here's a pair of limited spells that utilize fields. Terraforming simply adds a field from deck to hand, while Set (at quick-play speed) sets two fields with different names to each player's field zone.

Which field is best for Endymions? There's The Grand Spellbook Tower for Spellbook blends, but you'll probably want …

7. Magical Citadel of Endymion/Secret Village of the Spellcasters

Use With: Terraforming, Set Rotation

Fields work great with Endymions because they provide spell counters, work with the previous tutors, and preserve your regular spell/trap zones for pendulum scales. Magical Citadel gains a spell counter whenever a spell is played and can save itself from destruction by removing one, meaning banishment is usually the only way to get rid of it. It also takes the spell counters of your destroyed cards and lets you utilize effects using its own.

Secret Village prevents your opponent from activating spells if you control a spellcaster and they don't, but it blocks you instead if you don't have any. Consider sideboarding it to bring out against decks that don't run many.

6. One Day of Peace

Use With: Anything, especially Exodia

Another limited spell, One Day has both players draw a card, and no one takes damage until the end of your opponent's turn. So, your opponent gets a free draw, but you get a spell counter plus time to stall, often giving enough time to accrue spell counters and, in mixed decks, help gather Exodia components.

5. Pot of Desires

Use With: Decks with more than 40 cards

Desires chews through 12 cards in your deck, so it can run the risk of milling out, but it's easy advantage, banishing 10 cards from your deck face-down, then drawing two. If you want to run more than one, consider playing more than 40 cards in your deck, just in case. It also works well with the monster Eater of Millions, who gains ATK based on the number of face-down banished cards.

4. Magical Abductor

Use With: Level 1 spellcasters

While not technically an Endymion, Abductor certainly fits in their family, as both her monster and scale effects gain a counter when a spell is played. As a monster, she starts at 1700 ATK and gains 100 more per her spell counter, and can once per turn spend three to find a level-one spellcaster from your deck (try the Exodia pieces or hand traps like Effect Veiler).

She's even better as a scale, where she can spend three counters on searching any pendulum monster from your deck, even another copy of herself.

3. Spellbook of Secrets/Spellbook of Knowledge

Use With: Spellbook cards

Spellbooks offer an amazing way to nab easy spell counters. Spellbook of Secrets simply adds another Spellbook card from deck to hand, while Knowledge sacrifices either a Spellbook from hand or a spellcaster monster to draw twice. Just know that it won't work on pendulums (which aren't considered to be "sent to the graveyard").

Still, one of the theme's best opening moves is to (after playing your spell-accumulating scales) normal summon the monster Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, who tutors a Spellbook on entry. Use him to find Secrets (or use Secrets to find him), play it to find Knowledge, then use Knowledge to sacrifice Prophecy and draw two cards for massive advantage/spell counter support.

2. Upstart Goblin

Use With: Anything

Our final limited card, Upstart Goblin gives your opponent 1000 life, then simply draws a card. That's an excellent tradeoff for a bonus spell counter, and opponents rarely try to negate or otherwise impeded Upstart since they'll often want the life gain.

1. Spell Power Mastery

Use With: Spell Power Grasp

Mastery works best in tangent with Spell Power Grasp, but even without it, this is an easy three-copy inclusion. First, it finds any Endymion card (even Magical Citadel), then it can place spell counters equal to the number of Mastery and Grasp you control and in your graveyard.

That's in addition to the spell counter gained by just playing a spell, meaning at max capacity, Mastery can provide seven spell counters at once while searching an Endymion. There's just no better spell support for Endymions; nab your own Mastery for less than $3!

"Order of the Spellcasters" Structure Deck

To get an Endymion deck started and test its waters, try finding the Order of the Spellcasters structure deck, which includes at least one copy of most of your key cards (plus a paper playmat and strategy guide). You'll definitely want to build upon it (in particular, the extra deck), but it's a surprisingly solid start for the theme.

Don't forget other monsters that can benefit the theme (like Fairy Tail - Luna), but for now, vote for your favorite Endymion hybrid deck, and I'll see you at our next YGO countdown!

© 2021 Jeremy Gill