DARK
5Diabound Kernel
ATK:
1800
DEF:
1200
View:
6454
When this card declares an attack: It gains 600 ATK. (Quick Effect): You can target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; it loses ATK equal to this card's current ATK until the end of this turn, then banish this card until the Standby Phase of the next turn. You can only use this effect of "Diabound Kernel" once per turn.
Diabound Kernel — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 54 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 53 · Deck: 55 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal / Negation · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Diabound Kernel is a Level 5 DARK Fiend body that becomes a one-for-one style disruption tool: its Quick Effect targets one face-up opposing monster and reduces that monster's ATK by this card's current ATK, then banishes this card until the next Standby Phase. Its 1800 base ATK and self-buff on attack earn no points by themselves; the score rests on the once-per-turn ATK reduction, the temporary self-banish, and the fact that it is played in 24 sampled decks across 12 archetypes with a 1.12 average copy count. Combo evidence is absent, so the combo axis is text-only inference and stays low.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Played in 24 of the sampled decks at about 1.1 copies each across 12 archetypes, but no searcher or combo route is recorded, so access is plain draw-dependent (observed for deck counts, inferred for access routes). |
| Combo & Conversion | 25 | No recorded boards; the card builds no extra bodies on its own, so its conversion value is limited to the single ATK-reduction effect (inferred from text). |
| Resource Economy | 40 | The effect costs no card advantage but also gains none; the self-banish returns the card at the next Standby Phase, so it is roughly even (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 50 | A once-per-turn targeted ATK reduction on an opposing monster that is scaled to this card's own ATK; it weakens rather than destroys and depends on the ATK gap (verified from text, inferred for strength). |
| Material Utility | 50 | A Level 5 DARK Fiend is a usable generic material for Level 5 summons, and its body remains a material when its effect is negated (inferred from card stats and text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | One targeted effect per turn that must be spent on the field, with no recorded redundancy or recovery; interaction can end it before use (inferred from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | A single-copy-friendly generic monster with no garnet, lock, or self-restriction in the text; the observed 1.12 average copies shows it runs cleanly (verified from text, observed for copies). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Removal/Negation + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 53, Deck ≈ 55, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Once-per-turn targeted ATK reduction on an opposing monster, scaled to its own ATK (verified from text)
- Generic Level 5 DARK Fiend body that fits many decks across 12 archetypes (observed)
- Clean deckbuilding: 1.12 average copies, no garnet or lock restriction (observed)
Weaknesses
- No ATK-based removal: the reduction only weakens a monster and cannot destroy it (verified from text)
- Self-banishes after use and is gone until the next Standby Phase (verified from text)
- No recorded combo boards, so its conversion value is unproven in practice (data gap)
Counters / choke points
- Monsters with ATK above this card's current ATK are only partly weakened, so high-ATK boss monsters are hard to answer (inferred from text)
- Opponent interaction that removes or negates this card from the field before activation (inferred)
Best use
Field-based monster disruption for a single targeted monster per turn, with a generic body for material. Decks: Utopia, Hole, Harpie, Synchron, Wind-Up. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Quick Effect targets one face-up opposing monster and reduces its ATK by this card's current ATK until end of turn, then banishes this card until the next Standby Phase; Gains 600 ATK when it declares an attack; Once per turn restriction on the effect; Level 5 DARK Fiend, 1800 ATK / 1200 DEF
- Observed: Appears in 24 sampled decks, 24 main-deck and 0 side-deck; Average 1.12 copies per deck across 12 archetypes; 79% of decks in gameplay type 4; Co-occurs with Sangan in 66.7% of decks and with several staples at 50%
- Inferred: Generic body is usable as Level 5 material, including when its effect is negated; Its ATK reduction is weaker against monsters with higher ATK than its own current value; Access is draw-dependent with no recorded searcher route
- Data gaps: no combos supplied; combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no usage statistics (StatisticsCard); archetype inclusion inferred from the 24-deck sample only no banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited)