WATER
3Deep Sea Minstrel
Archetype:
Deep Sea
ATK:
1200
DEF:
1500
View:
3862
You can discard this card and 1 WATER monster; look at your opponent's hand and banish 1 card from their hand face-up, until the End Phase. If this card is Special Summoned: You can send the top 3 cards of your Deck to the GY, then target 1 Level 4 or lower WATER monster in your GY, except "Deep Sea Minstrel"; place it on the top or bottom of the Deck. You can only use each effect of "Deep Sea Minstrel" once per turn.
Deep Sea Minstrel — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 55 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 53 · Deck: 56 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery / Recursion · Secondary: Extender
Why it scores here
Deep Sea Minstrel is a Level 3 WATER Tuner whose value is in its recursion: it mills 3 to put a Level 4 or lower WATER monster from the GY back on the top or bottom of the Deck, and its hand effect banishes one opposing card until the End Phase at the cost of discarding itself plus another WATER monster. It is in all 400 sampled decks and nearly always runs with the same core (99% with Atlantean Dragoons), so the deck-fit score is high. The two recorded boards show no starter, searched, material or payoff role, and no board output, so the combo score stays low; its high deck presence confirms it is played, not that it is strong.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Live as a Level 3 body across 400/400 decks with one copy typical, but its effects need a second WATER card in hand or a Special Summon, and combo data shows no starter or searched role (observed, inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 25 | Only 2 recorded boards, both Mermail Atlantean with Neptabyss, with zero end-board, boss or disruption output and average power index 22.5 (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 50 | The hand effect is a net -1 (discard self plus a WATER monster to banish one card), offset by the Special Summon effect returning one WATER monster from the GY to the Deck for a 3-card mill (verified from text, inferred net value). |
| Effect & Interaction | 35 | Its only interaction is a single-card hand banish until the End Phase, which is soft and easy to play around (verified from text, inferred). |
| Material Utility | 60 | A Level 3 WATER Tuner is a clean Synchro material, and the body stays a Tuner even if its effects are negated; no combo evidence of material use (verified from text, inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | Two once-per-turn effects give some redundancy, but both depend on conditions (a WATER card in hand, or a Special Summon) and the card is dead without them (verified from text, inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | One copy in most decks with no garnet or lock restriction, and it fits into WATER lists across 17 archetypes (observed from decks_evidence, verified from copies distribution). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Recovery/Recursion + 0.3 Extender. Intrinsic ≈ 53, Deck ≈ 56, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Present in every sampled deck with one copy typical, so it is reliably accessible for WATER lists
- Level 3 Tuner body that keeps its type when its effects are negated
- Effect 2 turns GY WATER monsters back into the Deck, which gives a recursion route after a Special Summon
Weaknesses
- Its effects need a second WATER card in hand (effect 1) or a Special Summon (effect 2)
- Combo evidence shows no starter, searched or payoff role and no board output
- Hand effect is a net -1 card and only banishes one card until the End Phase
Counters / choke points
- Opponent's hand traps or negations on the Special Summon, which stops the GY recursion
- Opponent's hand effect that discards before the banish resolves
Best use
Tuner and GY-recursion piece in WATER Atlantean/Mermail lists. Decks: Mermail Atlantean, Atlantean, Mermail, Deep Sea. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Tuner Monster, Level 3, WATER, Sea Serpent, 1200/1500 (card text); Effect 1: discard this card and 1 WATER monster to banish 1 opponent hand card until End Phase (card text); Effect 2: when Special Summoned, mill 3 then place a Level 4 or lower WATER monster from the GY on the top or bottom of the Deck, each effect once per turn (card text); In 400/400 sampled decks; 17 distinct archetypes; typical copies 1 (decks_evidence)
- Observed: 2 recorded boards, both Mermail Atlantean with Neptabyss, zero end-board or boss output, avg power index 22.5 (combos_evidence); 99% co-occurrence with Atlantean Dragoons and other core Atlantean/Mermail cards (decks_evidence); Inclusion 33–100% across 7 archetype stats, typical copies 1–2 (usage_statistics)
- Inferred: Discard location is not stated in the evidence text; the standard reading is from hand, so effect 1 needs a second WATER card in hand; Net resource value is about -1 on effect 1 and about +1 recovery on effect 2; Effect 2 can work from the GY only after a Special Summon, so its routes are limited
- Data gaps: no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) combos_evidence has only 2 boards and no role tags on either board, so combo conversion rests on a thin sample Effect 1 discard location is not stated in the evidence text No rulings or metagame sample supplied