LIGHT
4B-Buster Drake
Archetype:
ABC
ATK:
1500
DEF:
1800
View:
824
Once per turn, you can either: Target 1 LIGHT Machine monster you control; equip this card to that target, OR: Unequip this card and Special Summon it. A monster equipped with this card is unaffected by your opponent's Spell effects, also if the equipped monster would be destroyed by battle or card effect, destroy this card instead. If this card is sent from the field to the GY: You can add 1 Union monster from your Deck to your hand.
B-Buster Drake — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 74 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 70.5 · Deck: 75.5 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Starter / Combo enabler · Secondary: Searcher/Tutor, Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
B-Buster Drake scores on its role as a repeatable Union engine piece: it is a Level 4 LIGHT Machine that can be equipped to a LIGHT Machine or Special Summoned itself, and when it leaves the field it adds a Union monster from the Deck. Its strength is access and conversion, not its 1500 ATK, which earns nothing. The equip protection (immune to opposing Spell effects, destruction redirected to this card) adds resilience but no real interaction, so effect_interaction stays low. Confidence is held at Medium because the combo sample is only 6 boards.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 85 | Present in 400 of 400 sampled decks (ABC archetype 37.2%, plus Therions, Synchron, Cyber Dragon) and a starter in 4 of 6 combos, so it is reliably live (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 78 | Appears in all 6 recorded boards with average power index 89.8 and 4 boss monsters on the top three end boards, though these are shared engine boards rather than solo conversions (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 72 | Its send-to-GY trigger adds a Union monster from Deck, and recorded boards show netCardAdvantage of 6 (observed); the description gives no once-per-turn limit on that clause, so the search is treated as repeatable (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 35 | Only protects the equipped monster from opposing Spell effects and redirects destruction; it negates nothing and removes nothing (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 40 | Zero recorded combo appearances as material and no card text about being used as material, so the value here is as a LIGHT Machine Level 4 body with equip, not material conversion (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 70 | The Special Summon/equip choice is once per turn, the equipped monster is protected from Spells, and the GY search still fires after it leaves the field; it appears in 50% of end hands (verified from text plus observed). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 75 | Average 2.05 copies per deck, typically 1 to 3 without a banlist token, and it needs a LIGHT Machine target on field so the card is not a free-roll (verified from deck data; restriction inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Starter / Combo enabler + 0.3 Searcher / Tutor. Intrinsic ≈ 70.5, Deck ≈ 75.5, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Live in opening-range hands across 400 decks with multiple archetype homes
- Recurring GY search for a Union monster keeps resource flow going
- Strong Union engine conversion in recorded combos (average power index 89.8)
- Equip protection from Spell effects and destruction redirection add resilience
Weaknesses
- No negation or removal, so effect_interaction is low
- Needs a LIGHT Machine target to equip or to enable the Special Summon route
- Only 6 recorded combos, so the conversion read is thin
Counters / choke points
- Opposing Spell-based removal cannot hit the equipped monster, but a Monster Effect or a direct Spell on the card itself can still resolve against it (inferred)
Best use
Starter and Union search engine piece in a LIGHT Machine Union shell. Decks: ABC, Therions, Synchron, Cyber Dragon, Galaxy Photon, Psy-Frame. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Equip, Special Summon, Spell immunity and destruction replacement wording from card text; Level 4 LIGHT Machine Union Effect Monster, ATK 1500 / DEF 1800; Appears in 400 of 400 sampled decks, average 2.05 copies
- Observed: Starter in 4 of 6 combos, appears in 6 of 6 combos; Average power index 89.8 and netCardAdvantage 6 on recorded boards; Top partners A-Assault Core and C-Crush Wyvern at 100% co-occurrence
- Inferred: GY search treated as repeatable because the text gives no once-per-turn limit; Deckbuilding restriction from the LIGHT Machine target requirement; Material utility is low because no combo shows it as material
- Data gaps: No banlist token: assumed 3 copies (unlimited) Only 6 recorded combos, so combo conversion is thinly sampled No usage statistics beyond 3 archetype rows and no Top-Card rankings No rulings data for the GY search timing