Spell
NormalA Feather of the Phoenix
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3184
Discard 1 card, then target 1 card in your GY; return that target to the top of your Deck.
A Feather of the Phoenix — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 52 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 50 · Deck: 54 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery/Recursion · Secondary: Utility
Why it scores here
The card reliably converts a discard into a recycled GY card placed on top of the Deck, so it is a recursion tool rather than a board-maker. Its 178-deck sample across 28 archetypes shows it is a live, cheap, widely accepted utility Spell, and that breadth earns the accessibility and deck-portability points. High stats do not apply here because it is a Spell that cannot be material and provides no opponent interaction, so those axes stay near zero.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 72 | Normal Spell that is live in hand and is run in 178 of the recent decks across 28 archetypes at 1.72 copies average, but it needs a discard and a GY target and no starter/searched data is supplied (decks evidence, inference from text). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | Text alone shows it builds no board: it nets zero hand-to-deck and only sets up a redraw of one GY card; combo data is empty (text-only inference). |
| Resource Economy | 48 | Discard 1 then return 1 GY card to the top of the Deck is a card-neutral exchange that recycles one card, so it is roughly even rather than a refuel (verified text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | No opponent interaction is described in the text (verified text). |
| Material Utility | 5 | A Spell cannot be Xyz, Synchro, Link or Fusion material, so the body contributes nothing as material (verified text, card type). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | A single Spell with no redundancy or multi-zone use is exposed to any spell-negation response; the deck sample shows it is run, but no interaction data is supplied (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 60 | One-of or two-of utility Spell with no garnet or lock, but it needs discard fodder and a GY target that constrain the build (decks evidence plus text, observed/inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Primary role Recovery/Recursion only; no secondary blend applied (secondary Utility weights not used). Intrinsic ≈ 50, Deck ≈ 54, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Cost-light recursion: recycles one GY card to the top of the Deck without any board requirement
- Live in 178 recent decks across 28 archetypes, so it is portable across homes
- Generic text that fits many engines and does not need a specific partner
Weaknesses
- Zero opponent interaction and zero material value
- Net-neutral card economy: it recycles rather than generates advantage
- Needs a discard and a GY target, which limits early-game use
Counters / choke points
- Generic spell-negation responses could stop the activation (inference; no rulings or interaction data in evidence)
Best use
Recovery/Recursion utility Spell that recycles a GY card to the top of the Deck. Decks: Secret Six Samurai, Cyber Dragon.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Text: discard 1 card, then target 1 card in your GY and return it to the top of the Deck; Card type is Normal Spell, so it cannot be material; Formats include TCG, OCG and MasterDuel
- Observed: Present in 178 recent decks (copies avg 1.72, max 3) across 28 archetypes and 3 gameplay types; Top partners include Saryuja Skull Dread (75.8%) and Reinforcement of the Army (69.1%)
- Inferred: Net-neutral card economy because the discard and the recycle cancel out; Accessibility is high because a Normal Spell is live in hand with a GY target; Deck-level synergy is moderate because combos are absent and the deck signal is concentrated in Secret Six Samurai
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only