DARK
8Cucumber Horse
ATK:
100
DEF:
2000
View:
2012
This card in the Monster Zone is sent to the GY, except during the Battle Phase. At the start of the Battle Phase, if this card is in your GY: You can send 1 Plant monster from your hand or face-up field to the GY; Special Summon this card, then you can Special Summon 1 monster from either GY to your field, but send these Special Summoned monsters to the GY at the end of the Battle Phase. You can only use this effect of "Cucumber Horse" once per turn.
Cucumber Horse — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 48 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 47 · Deck: 49 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery/Recursion · Secondary: Extender
Why it scores here
Cucumber Horse converts a Plant it discards and its own GY position into a 100-ATK body during the Battle Phase, plus one temporary Special Summon from either graveyard. The value is real but narrow: the Plant cost is a card spent, the summoned monsters return to the GY at the end of the Battle Phase, and the card cannot stay on the field outside the Battle Phase. The 2000 DEF and the 100 ATK earn nothing, and the 11 decks across 9 archetypes confirm the card is a consistent Plant-shell staple, not proof that it is strong.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | The effect is activated from the GY at the start of the Battle Phase, but it needs a Plant in hand or on the field, and the 11 decks show it is played consistently across 9 archetypes (observed, verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 50 | The text gives a body plus one temporary GY revive for a Plant, which is a fair board with help rather than a full disruptive board; no combo boards were supplied to confirm (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 40 | The Plant discard is a real cost and the temporary revive returns to the GY, so the net is roughly even at best, with no repeatable card advantage (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 10 | The card has no negation, removal, or disruption effect of its own (verified). |
| Material Utility | 25 | As a Level 8 DARK Plant it has material fit, but it leaves the field at the end of the Battle Phase, so body value as material is transient and no material-usage data was supplied (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | The GY-activated effect is harder to stop on the field than most bodies, but it has one trigger per turn and a Plant-cost dependency, so a single response in the right window ends it (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 55 | It is run as a one-copy Plant-shell card (avg 1.09 copies) with no garnet or lock, but the Plant requirement restricts it to Plant-heavy decks (observed, verified). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Recovery/Recursion + 0.3 Extender. Intrinsic ≈ 47, Deck ≈ 49, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Plant-cost self-restriction (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Activates from the GY, so it is live after it is sent there, with no hand cost
- Gives a body plus one temporary graveyard revive for a single Plant, a fair Battle Phase push
- Consistent Plant-shell presence across 9 archetypes at 1 copy per deck
Weaknesses
- Requires a Plant to be discarded or sent from hand or field
- The summoned monsters return to the GY at the end of the Battle Phase, so the gain is temporary
- Cannot remain on the field outside the Battle Phase, so it is a weak material or board body
- Once per turn, and no negation or removal of its own
Counters / choke points
- Single responses that stop GY-activated effects during the window it needs (inferred, no counter data supplied)
- Opponent play that wins before the Battle Phase, since the effect only triggers then (inferred)
Best use
Plant-shell Battle Phase revive and body, one copy. Decks: Plant-based shells (Predaplant, Aroma, Sylvans, Rikka, Mystical Beast of the Forest). Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: GY-activated Battle Phase effect, Plant cost, once per turn, temporary summon from either GY; Level 8 DARK Plant, 100 ATK / 2000 DEF; ATK and DEF give no points; Played in 11 decks at 1 copy each, 100% main deck, across 9 archetypes
- Observed: Partner synergy with Sylvan Dancepione, Spore, World Carrotweight Champion, and Predaplant cards at 63.6% co-occurrence in the deck sample; Zero combo boards and zero usage-statistics rows, so no observed combo role
- Inferred: Battle Phase revive is a fair board push rather than a full disruptive board; Material value is transient because the card leaves the field outside the Battle Phase; Resilience is moderate: one trigger per turn, and a single response in the window ends it
- 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 deck sample only