WATER
3Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise
Archetype:
Crystal Beast
ATK:
600
DEF:
2000
View:
4664
Once per turn: You can target 1 monster you control that attacked this turn; change that target to Defense Position. If this face-up card is destroyed while it is in a Monster Card Zone, you can place it face-up in your Spell & Trap Card Zone as a Continuous Spell Card, instead of sending it to the Graveyard.
Crystal Beast Emerald Tortoise — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 46 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 45 · Deck: 46 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
The card text gives two modest effects: a once-per-turn retarget of one attacking monster to Defense Position, and a clause that keeps it on the field as a Continuous Spell when destroyed instead of sending it to the Graveyard. Those give some survival value but no card advantage, no real negation and no searchable route, so the score stays in the mid-40s. The 3 combo boards it appears in score 87 on average, but it has no recorded starter, searched, material or payoff role there, so that board strength is not credited to the card itself. Its single-copy, unrestricted deckbuilding cost is clean, which lifts the score, while the 400-deck sample is weighted down because its archetype spread conflicts with the usage statistics.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 45 | Level 3 Crystal Beast with no recorded starter or searched role in the 3 combos, and no searcher tabled in the evidence, so access is only inferred from the archetype (inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 40 | Present in 3 of 3 combo boards (avg power index 87), but role_in_combo is empty and it is never a starter, so the conversion is not credited to the card (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 25 | No draw, search, or GY refuel; its Continuous Spell clause keeps it out of the Graveyard rather than generating advantage (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 15 | The Defense Position retarget only changes an attack target on the controller's own attacking monster; it neither negates nor removes anything (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 40 | Level 3 Aqua WATER body, but as_material count is 0 in the combo evidence, so material value is inferred from level and attribute only (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | The destruction clause keeps the card on the field as a Continuous Spell, giving it a second zone after being destroyed (verified from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 75 | One copy in 398 of 400 decks, 3 copies assumed with no banlist token, and no garnet or lock restriction (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Utility + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 45, Deck ≈ 46, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Its destruction clause keeps it on the field as a Continuous Spell, giving it a second zone after it is destroyed
- Single-copy, unrestricted, and cheap to run in its own archetype
- Appears in every recorded combo board in the sample, with high average board power
Weaknesses
- No card advantage, refuel, or negation; the retarget is narrow (only its own controller's attacking monsters)
- No recorded starter, searched, or payoff role, so the combo presence is not evidence of the card doing the work
- Its reach is limited to the Crystal Beast archetype, and the deck sample spans archetypes that do not plausibly run it
Counters / choke points
- Monster removal or destruction is only partly answered, since the card is kept on the field as a Continuous Spell
- Interaction that ignores attack targets, such as direct removal or effects that do not depend on battle, is not affected by its retarget
Best use
Utility body within the Crystal Beast archetype. Decks: Crystal Beast. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Continuous Spell replacement clause when destroyed in the Monster Zone; Once-per-turn retarget of one attacking monster to Defense Position; Level 3 Aqua WATER 600/2000 body
- Observed: 3 of 3 combo boards include the card, with average power index 87; Copies per deck: 398 of 400 decks run 1 copy; Crystal Beast archetype inclusion 80% in the usage statistics
- Inferred: Accessibility is archetype-dependent, since no searcher is tabled for the card; Material value is limited to its level and attribute, since as_material is 0; Relevance to Crystal Beast builds rests on the archetype and guide mentions, not on tabled routes
- Data gaps: Deck evidence conflicts: 400/400 decks running it, spread across 49 archetypes including Shaddoll and Kaiju, while usage_statistics lists only 2 archetypes; the deck match may be contaminated and was down-weighted No banlist token; 3 copies assumed No combo role tags (role_in_combo empty), so the combo contribution cannot be attributed to this card No rulings or Vietnamese card text beyond description_vi No searcher or searched-card entries to confirm accessibility routes