Trap
NormalCovering Fire
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During the Damage Step, while an opponent's monster is attacking a monster you control: Target 1 other face-up monster you control; your attacked monster gains ATK equal to that target's ATK during the Damage Step only.
Covering Fire — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 41 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 43 · Deck: 39 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility · Secondary: Board breaker
Why it scores here
Covering Fire is a combat-step trick, not a card that builds a board or interacts with the opponent's cards. It only works when an opponent's monster attacks one of yours and you have a second face-up monster to target, so its value is limited to winning one battle. The 13 sample decks run it as a single copy across six archetypes, which supports a portable, cheap slot, but no combo evidence exists to show it converting into a larger win, so the score stays in the low-middle range.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 40 | Single-copy trap needing an opponent attack and a second face-up monster to be live; no starter or searcher evidence (inferred from text, with 13 decks running 1 copy each (observed)). |
| Combo & Conversion | 20 | No recorded boards include it, and it creates no body or follow-up, so conversion is text-only (inferred from text; 0 combo appearances (observed)). |
| Resource Economy | 40 | One card spent to change one battle, with no draw, search, or recovery; card-neutral at best (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 40 | Stops a battle loss for one attack but does not negate, remove, or stop the attack (inferred from text). |
| Material Utility | 5 | Trap card with no monster body, so no material value (verified from card type). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 35 | One-shot effect that depends on a specific attack timing and a valid target; little redundancy (inferred from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | Single copy in every sample deck, no garnet or lock, and it fits in any deck with a monster field (observed from 13 decks, 1 copy each). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Utility + 0.3 Board breaker. Intrinsic ≈ 43, Deck ≈ 39, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Turns a losing attack into a surviving monster with an ATK boost in one battle
- Cheap single-copy slot with no garnet or lock cost
- Shows up across six archetypes and three gameplay types, so it is not tied to one deck
Weaknesses
- Needs an opponent attack and a second face-up monster you control to be live
- Effect only lasts through the Damage Step, so it is a single-battle trick
- No starter, searcher, material, or payoff evidence in combos
- Gives no card advantage or board presence on its own
Counters / choke points
- Opponent avoiding attacks into your monsters (inferred from text)
- Opponent removing or neutralising the second face-up monster before the Damage Step (inferred from text)
Best use
Battle-step defensive trick. Decks: Vaylantz, Volcanic, Heroic, Fire King. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Trap card frame, race Normal, formats TCG/OCG/MasterDuel (evidence.card); Effect requires an opponent's attacking monster and a second face-up monster you control (card text); 13 of 13 sampled decks run exactly 1 copy in the main deck (decks_evidence)
- Observed: Spread across 6 archetypes and gameplay types 7, 4, and 3 (decks_evidence); 0 combo appearances, so no starter/material/payoff role is recorded (combos_evidence)
- Inferred: Acts only as a one-battle trick with no card advantage or board effect (text); Opponent can play around it by not attacking into a valid target (text + rules)
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token, assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard), so archetype inclusion is inferred from the 13-deck sample only Damage Step timing interactions not checked against rulings