DARK
8Cracking Dragon
ATK:
3000
DEF:
0
View:
4301
Cannot be destroyed by battle with a monster with equal or lower Level. When your opponent Normal or Special Summons exactly 1 monster (and no other monsters are Summoned) while this monster is on the field: You can make that monster lose ATK equal to its Level x 200 (until the end of this turn), and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the ATK lost by this effect.
Cracking Dragon — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 51 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 49 · Deck: 52 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Boss / End-board · Secondary: Board breaker
Why it scores here
Cracking Dragon is a 3000-ATK Level 8 body whose value comes from its battle protection against Level 8 or lower monsters and a conditional ATK-reduction effect that punishes a lone Normal or Special Summon. The 3000 ATK itself earns no points; the score rests on the card being a clean, single-copy Level 8 material and a body that shows up in 22 decks across 11 archetypes. No combo data exists, so its conversion score stays low and is based on text inference only.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 45 | Present in 22 of 22 sampled decks across 11 archetypes, which confirms a live route into the deck, but there is no as_starter or as_searched data to show how it is reached (observed deck presence, inferred route). |
| Combo & Conversion | 25 | No recorded combo boards (total_combos 0), so the card's conversion is inferred from text only; it adds a body but does not build a board on its own (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 15 | The text has no draw, search, refuel or recursion clause, and the card's effect deals damage rather than gaining advantage (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 40 | The effect only reduces ATK on a lone summon and inflicts damage; it is not a negate or removal, so interaction is soft and situational (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 55 | A Level 8 DARK Machine is a usable material for Level 8 Synchro or Xyz lines, and material use is unaffected by effect negation (inferred from text and stats). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | Battle protection applies only against Level 8 or lower monsters and is lost if the effect is negated; the 22-deck spread suggests multi-home use (verified from text, observed from decks). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 80 | Plays as a single copy in 17 of 22 decks with no garnet, lock or brick clause in the text, so it is cheap and clean to run (verified from text, observed from decks). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Boss/End-board + 0.3 Board breaker. Intrinsic ≈ 49, Deck ≈ 52, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Battle protection against Level 8 or lower monsters (verified from text)
- Clean single-copy slot in most decks with no garnet or lock clause (verified from text, observed from decks)
- Live across 11 archetypes, including Dragon Link, Rokket and Borrel (observed from decks)
Weaknesses
- The effect is conditional on the opponent summoning exactly one monster, so it is often inactive (verified from text)
- No recorded combo presence, so its board-building value is unproven (observed: total_combos 0)
- Negating the effect removes the battle protection and the ATK reduction (verified from text)
Counters / choke points
- Generic effect negation on the field would remove both the battle protection and the ATK reduction (inferred from text)
- Opponent summoning two or more monsters in one turn bypasses the ATK-reduction trigger (verified from text)
Best use
Boss / End-board body that protects itself in combat against Level 8 or lower monsters and punishes lone summons. Decks: Dragon Link, Rokket, Borrel. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Battle protection against monsters with equal or lower Level (card text); Lone-summon ATK reduction of Level x 200 with equal damage to the opponent (card text); Level 8 DARK Machine, 3000 ATK, no archetype (card data); Present in 22 sampled decks, 17 of them at 1 copy (deck stats)
- Observed: Appears in 22 of 22 sampled decks across 11 archetypes (deck stats); Top partners are Rokket and Dragon Link cards at 59 to 68 percent co-occurrence (deck stats)
- Inferred: Boss / End-board is the primary role because the body and battle protection matter more than the trigger (inferred from text); Material value for Level 8 Synchro and Xyz lines survives effect negation (inferred from text and stats); Accessibility is moderate, with no searcher or starter evidence in the pack (inferred)
- 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 the deck sample only