Spell
FieldBrain Research Lab
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2878
Once per turn, you can Normal Summon 1 Psychic-Type monster in addition to your Normal Summon or Set. If successful, place 1 Psychic Counter on this card. You can also place 1 Psychic Counter on this card instead of paying Life Points to activate any Psychic-Type monster's effect that you control. When this card is removed from the field, the controller of this card takes 1000 damage for each Psychic Counter on it.
Brain Research Lab — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 44 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 43 · Deck: 44 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Extender · Secondary: Utility
Why it scores here
Brain Research Lab is a Field Spell whose text converts Psychic-type monsters into an extra Normal Summon and a counter-based Life Point substitute, so its value depends on a Psychic board that the card does not provide itself. Its 48 recorded decks confirm it is routinely run at one copy, but the combo pack has zero boards and no searcher, so the score stays in the mid-40s rather than rising on frequency. The self-damage liability (1000 per Psychic Counter when it leaves the field) and the absence of any interaction keep it from scoring higher. High deck counts in unrelated archetypes such as Exodia and Greed are not explained by the text and were not used to raise the score.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 45 | A Field Spell that must be drawn, with no searcher in the evidence; it is run in 48 decks at about 1 copy each with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring as the top partner, which supports a hand route but not a guaranteed one (observed, inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | The extra Normal Summon for a Psychic monster and the counter-for-LP substitution are real conversion effects in the text, but combo data shows 0 appearances and no examples, so the conversion value is text-only (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 40 | No draw, search, or recursion; the counter mechanic saves Life Points, but each counter is a 1000-damage liability when the card leaves the field, which offsets the benefit (verified, inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 10 | The card has no negation, removal, or hand-trap effect in its text, so it offers no opponent interaction (verified). |
| Material Utility | 30 | It is a Field Spell, not a monster, so it provides no material, level, or attribute body value (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 35 | It occupies a single field zone with no recursion, and its counters are lost if the card is destroyed or removed from the field; Ash Blossom partnership is not evidence of resilience to field removal (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 55 | Runs at 1 copy in 47 of 48 decks with no garnet or lock restriction, but the 1000-damage-per-counter liability adds a play cost that must be managed (observed, inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Extender primary weights; no secondary blend applied. Intrinsic ≈ 43, Deck ≈ 44, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Extra Normal Summon for Psychic-type monsters, once per turn
- Converts Psychic counters into a Life Point substitute for Psychic monster effects
- Runs at a single copy in nearly every recorded deck, so it is cheap to include
Weaknesses
- Requires Psychic monsters on the board to do anything
- Each counter deals 1000 damage to its controller when the card leaves the field
- No interaction, card advantage, or recursion of its own
- Single field zone that is lost to field removal
Counters / choke points
- Field removal or destruction of the card, which also triggers the counter damage
- Opponent disruption of the Psychic monsters it depends on
Best use
Extender for Psychic boards. Decks: Psychic-type builds that need extra Normal Summons. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Once per turn extra Normal Summon of a Psychic-type monster (card text); Psychic Counter placed instead of paying Life Points for Psychic monster effects (card text); 1000 damage per Psychic Counter when the card is removed from the field (card text); Runs at 1 copy in 47 of 48 decks (deck data)
- Observed: 48 decks, 26 distinct archetypes, Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring co-occurs in 62.5% of decks (deck data)
- Inferred: Accessibility is hand-based with no searcher in evidence; Field removal is the main way to lose the counter value; Score stays provisional because the combo pack is empty
- Data gaps: no combos supplied; combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) usage statistics covers only one archetype (X-Saber, 100% inclusion), too narrow to calibrate the score deck archetypes such as Exodia and Greed are not Psychic-based, so the Psychic dependency is not reflected in their deck placement