Spell
QuickA Deal with Dark Ruler
Archetype:
Archfiend
View:
3898
(This card is always treated as an "Archfiend" card.) If a Level 8 or higher monster under your control was sent to the Graveyard this turn: Special Summon 1 "Berserk Dragon" from your hand or Deck.
A Deal with Dark Ruler — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 52 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 49 · Deck: 52 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Starter / Combo enabler · Secondary: Extender
Why it scores here
A Deal with Dark Ruler is a conditional Quick-Play that turns one Level 8+ monster sent to the GY this turn into a Special Summon of Berserk Dragon from hand or Deck. It converts a specific GY event into a single body, with no card advantage, no interaction, and no material value of its own. The 45-deck sample (46.7% Archfiend, 75.6% co-occurrence with Berserk Dragon) confirms it is a practical, low-cost, low-garnet slot, not a high-ATK boss, so the score rests on conversion and deck fit rather than the Berserk Dragon's stats, which the evidence does not supply.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | Needs a Level 8+ monster sent to the GY this turn, which the text makes conditional; the deck sample shows 1.84 average copies and 45 decks, so the card is live in practice (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 55 | Text converts one GY send into one Berserk Dragon Special Summon from hand or Deck; no board size or payoff is measurable because combos_evidence is empty (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | Spends one spell card to produce one body, with no searches, draws, or recursion in the text; the deck-side Berserk Dragon from Deck is card-neutral at best (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 10 | No negation, removal, or hand-trap effect is printed on the card (verified). |
| Material Utility | 10 | A spell card is never material, and the text grants no material value from the summoned monster (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | Quick-Play can be answered and the condition must hold this turn, leaving it fragile to a single interruption; no combo or recovery evidence exists (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 75 | Typically runs 1 copy (26 of 45 decks), with no garnets or locks and a cheap slot cost (verified). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Starter / Combo enabler + 0.3 Extender. Intrinsic ≈ 49, Deck ≈ 52, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: exceptional compactness (1). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Cheap, single-copy enabler that fits Archfiend-family lists with no garnets
- Converts one qualifying GY send into a Berserk Dragon Special Summon from hand or Deck, so it works even when the Deck is empty
- Strong observed pairing with Berserk Dragon (75.6% co-occurrence in sampled decks)
Weaknesses
- Conditional on a Level 8+ monster being sent to the GY this turn, so it does nothing without that setup
- No card advantage, interaction, or material value of its own
- Quick-Play is answerable, and the condition is easy to disrupt
Counters / choke points
- Negation of the Quick-Play activation during the chain
- Interruption of the qualifying GY send before this card is activated
Best use
Conditional Special Summon into Berserk Dragon as a late-turn board extender. Decks: Archfiend, Dracotail, Regenesis, Fiendsmith. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Quick-Play Spell with a Level 8+ GY-send condition and a Berserk Dragon Special Summon from hand or Deck; Spell card cannot serve as material; No negation or interaction printed on the card; Average 1.84 copies per deck, 26 of 45 decks run 1 copy
- Observed: Present in 45 recent decks, 46.7% Archfiend; Berserk Dragon co-occurs in 34 of 45 decks (75.6%); Spread across 15 distinct archetypes
- Inferred: Conversion is limited to one body per activation; Resource economy is roughly neutral; Vulnerable to a single interruption during the chain
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion and starter/material shares are text-only inference no guides supplied no usage statistics (StatisticsCard), so archetype inclusion is inferred from the deck sample only Berserk Dragon's own stats and text are not in the evidence, so its power is not scored