Trap
ContinuousBackfire
View:
2981
If a face-up FIRE monster(s) you control is destroyed and sent to the GY: Inflict 500 damage to your opponent.
Backfire — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 39 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 38 · Deck: 40 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility
Why it scores here
Backfire converts a FIRE monster's destruction into 500 damage and nothing else: it draws no cards, adds no board, and cannot be used as material. Its 26-deck footprint is real but sits almost entirely in FIRE-attribute homes (Fire King, Volcanic, Vaylantz), so it is a reliable punisher only when the opponent destroys your FIRE monsters. High deck counts and a cheap slot earned the accessibility and deckbuilding points; the card's power itself stays low because the damage is a trickle, not a conversion.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | It is a one-copy Continuous Trap that is set and waits, and it is live in 26 sampled decks, but it needs a FIRE destruction to do anything (inferred from text; deck counts observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 20 | The text yields only 500 damage per trigger and no combos were recorded, so it builds no board (verified from text; combo data total 0). |
| Resource Economy | 25 | Damage to the opponent is not card advantage, and the card gives no draw, search, or refuel (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 25 | It punishes the opponent for destroying FIRE monsters but does not stop or remove anything (verified from text; inferred as a soft deterrent). |
| Material Utility | 0 | A Trap Card cannot be material, so this axis is zero by rule (verified from card type). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | It stays on the field across turns and retriggers, but a trap-destruction effect can remove it (inferred from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 60 | Average 1.65 copies per deck and one slot keep it cheap to run, with no garnet or lock cost (observed from deck copies; inferred for slot cost). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Utility / no clear role (default), single role, no secondary blend. Intrinsic ≈ 38, Deck ≈ 40, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Live in 26 sampled decks across 12 archetypes, so it has real homes (observed)
- Cheap, one-slot continuous trap that needs no special summoning or setup (verified from text)
- Repeatable 500 damage per FIRE destruction, which gives a steady punish on the opponent (verified from text)
Weaknesses
- Dead in any hand or field where no FIRE monster is destroyed (inferred from text)
- No recorded combo boards, so its board-level value is unproven (verified from combo data)
- No draw, search, refuel, or material value (verified from text)
- Its 96% gameplay concentration in one mode limits portability (observed from deck data)
Counters / choke points
- Opponent avoids destroying FIRE monsters, which turns the trap into a dead card (inferred)
- Trap-destruction effects remove it from the field (inferred from text)
Best use
Utility. Decks: Fire King, Volcanic, Vaylantz.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: 500 damage to the opponent when a face-up FIRE monster you control is destroyed and sent to the GY; Card type is Trap Card, so it cannot be material; No combos recorded (total combos 0)
- Observed: Appears in 26 of the sampled decks, 1.65 copies average; Concentrated in Fire King, Volcanic, and Vaylantz homes, with 96.2% in one gameplay type; Frequent partners are Fire King cards such as Molten Destruction and Sacred Fire King Garunix
- Inferred: The card is a soft deterrent, not interaction, because it only punishes destructions after they happen; Its usefulness depends on the deck routinely destroying FIRE monsters; Trap-destruction effects can remove it
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no usage statistics (StatisticsCard), so archetype inclusion is inferred from the deck sample only no rulings or banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) top-card data has no ranking rows, so popularity is unknown and was not used