Trap
NormalDominus Spiral
Archetype:
Dominus
View:
2671
During the turn in which your opponent has activated a monster effect in the hand or GY, you can activate this card from your hand. Target 1 monster your opponent controls; return it to the hand/Extra Deck, then if you have no Traps in your GY, your opponent can Special Summon 1 monster from their GY. If you activated this card from your hand, you cannot activate the effects of LIGHT or DARK monsters for the rest of this Duel. You can only activate 1 "Dominus Spiral" per turn.
Dominus Spiral — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 54 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 54.3 · Deck: 54.3 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Hand trap · Secondary: Removal
Why it scores here
Dominus Spiral is a conditional hand trap: it only activates in response to an opponent's monster effect activated from the hand or GY, and its payoff is a tempo bounce of one opponent monster to hand or Extra Deck. It does not generate card advantage, and its opponent-GY special summon clause is a real cost when you have no Traps in your GY. Its high deck count (400 of 400 sampled decks, 83 archetypes) confirms it is a practical, portable staple, but that frequency is not used to raise the score. The LIGHT/DARK activation restriction after a hand activation is a self-restriction and is taken as a modifier.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 60 | Live only in response windows against hand/GY monster effects, but the sampled decks run 2.21 copies on average with 194 decks at 3 copies, so it is reliably in hand (observed, inferred from text). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | No combo boards are supplied; its conversion is a single bounce, with no text-stated follow-up beyond the opponent's GY summon (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 30 | Bounce is a tempo trade with no draw, search or GY refuel, and the opponent's GY special summon can return value to them (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 60 | Strong answer to hand and GY monster effects, but it cannot touch board effects and the returned monster can be replayed (verified from text, inferred for replay). |
| Material Utility | 5 | A Trap card, so it provides no material body (verified from text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | Hand-only activation, once per turn by name, and it cannot be reused after resolution, so it has one live window per turn (verified from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 45 | Typically run at 2-3 copies with no garnet, but the LIGHT/DARK activation restriction is a real cost after a hand activation (verified from text, observed from copy distribution). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Hand trap + 0.3 Removal/Negation. Intrinsic ≈ 54.3, Deck ≈ 54.3, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-restriction on LIGHT/DARK monster effects after hand activation (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Interacts with hand and GY monster effects in the response window
- Portable across 83 archetypes with no archetype requirement to activate
- Usually run at 2-3 copies, so it is reliably in hand
Weaknesses
- Conditional trigger: no value without an opponent hand or GY monster effect
- Bounce is tempo only, with no card advantage
- Opponent can special summon from GY when you have no Traps in GY
- LIGHT/DARK activation restriction after hand activation
Counters / choke points
- Monsters that avoid the trigger by using only board effects
- Negation or response that ignores the bounce
- Opponent with Traps in GY, which blocks the GY special summon downside (from text)
Best use
Hand trap / tempo bounce in response to hand or GY monster effects. Decks: Dominus, Temple of the Kings, Apophis. Suggested copies: 3.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Trigger is a monster effect activated from the hand or GY; Bounce to hand or Extra Deck, then opponent GY special summon if no Traps in your GY; LIGHT/DARK effect restriction after hand activation; 400 of 400 sampled decks run it, average 2.21 copies, 83 distinct archetypes
- Observed: Top partners include Infinite Impermanence (72.8%) and Maxx C (69.5%); usage_statistics show 100% inclusion in Ashtra and Graydle, 75% in Temple of the Kings (small sample of 3 archetypes)
- Inferred: Primary role is a hand trap with secondary removal (bounce); Bounce is tempo, not card advantage
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) decks_evidence is a card-matched sample (all 400 decks run it), so 100% inclusion reflects sampling rather than true play rate no metagame sample, so meta_power is null