Spell
ContinuousDark Contract with the Gate
Archetype:
D/D
View:
5621
During your Main Phase: You can add 1 "D/D" monster from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Dark Contract with the Gate" once per turn. Once per turn, during your Standby Phase: Take 1000 damage.
Dark Contract with the Gate — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 57 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 55 · Deck: 59 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor · Secondary: Starter
Why it scores here
Dark Contract with the Gate's value is a reliable once-per-turn search of a D/D monster from the Deck during the Main Phase, which keeps the D/D engine live in almost every hand (appears in all 400 sampled decks at 3 copies, and in 3 of 14 recorded combos as a starter). The score is held back by the mandatory 1000-damage Standby drawback, which is a real LP cost, by a search restricted to D/D monsters, and by the card being a Continuous Spell with no interaction or material value. High inclusion and the 100 power-index boards it appears in confirm the role is real and practical, but they did not raise the score beyond what the text supports.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 85 | Main Phase once-per-turn search of a D/D monster from Deck is live from the opening hand, with 3-copy inclusion in 381 of 400 decks and 3 of 14 combos starting from it (verified text, observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 70 | Appears in all 14 recorded boards at average power index 53.4, with the top examples at 100 in D/D/D Gryphon and Surveyor lines, but it is a support search rather than a finisher (observed, inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | Each use is a +1 search at no card cost, but the mandatory 1000-damage Standby drawback converts LP into the cost every turn it stays on the field (verified text, inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | No negation, removal, or opponent-facing interaction in its text (verified). |
| Material Utility | 5 | A Continuous Spell cannot be used as Link, Xyz, Synchro, or Fusion material, so it contributes no body value (verified text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | Stays on the field across turns so the search repeats, but a Continuous Spell is exposed to field removal and the search depends on a D/D target remaining in the Deck (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 45 | Restricts the Deck to D/D search targets and adds forced LP loss each Standby, though 3 copies are easy to run inside the D/D/D shell (verified text, observed copies). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Searcher/Tutor + 0.3 Starter/Combo enabler. Intrinsic ≈ 55, Deck ≈ 59, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-locking restriction (-4). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Once-per-turn Main Phase search of a D/D monster from Deck, so it is live in most hands
- Appears at 3 copies in 381 of 400 sampled decks and in all 14 recorded combos
- Searches a 0-cost card each turn, supporting a repeated +1 card per turn while it stays on the field
Weaknesses
- Mandatory 1000-damage Standby drawback each turn it remains on the field
- Search is restricted to D/D monsters, so it is dead outside a D/D shell
- No negation, removal, or material value of its own
Counters / choke points
- Field-destruction or Continuous Spell removal (inferred from card type; no counter data in evidence)
Best use
Repeatable D/D monster search that feeds the Gryphon, Surveyor and King engine. Decks: D/D/D (archetype 671, gameplay 7), D/D/D (archetype 235, gameplay 4), D/D/D (archetype 16, gameplay 3), Dark Contract (archetype 1505, gameplay 6). Suggested copies: 3.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Searches a D/D monster from Deck to hand once per turn in the Main Phase (card text); Takes 1000 damage once per turn in the Standby Phase (card text); Is a Continuous Spell with no negation or material clause (card text); Appears at 3 copies in 381 of 400 decks (deck stat)
- Observed: Appears in 14 of 14 recorded combos, 3 as starter and 3 in end hand (combo stat); Average power index 53.4 when present, top examples 100 (combo stat); Inclusion 98–100% in several D/D/D archetype homes (usage statistics)
- Inferred: Live from the opening hand with a D/D monster in Deck (text + deck stat); Vulnerable to field removal as a Continuous Spell (card type); Searcher role supported by the starter role and end-hand counts, though searched-for role reads 0 (combo stat, inconsistent with its role)
- Data gaps: no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) combo data records 0 searched-for role despite a search effect; role corroboration is partial no top-card ranking for this card (not a top-card)