FIRE
4Dragonic Guard
ATK:
1500
DEF:
1800
View:
3438
Each time a monster is Normal Summoned or Set, place 1 Dragonic Counter on this card. You can send this face-up card to the Graveyard to Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type monster from your Deck whose Level is less than or equal to the number of Dragonic Counters on this card.
Dragonic Guard — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 53 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 54.5 · Deck: 51.7 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Starter / Combo enabler
Why it scores here
Dragonic Guard is a Level 4 Fire Dragon whose value is a graveyard self-send that Special Summons one Dragon from the Deck at or below its Dragonic Counter count, with counters gained from each Normal Summon or Set while it sits on the field. Its 1500 ATK and 1800 DEF earn nothing; the score comes from a reliable Dragon-into-field conversion and from being played in 7 of 7 sampled decks across 5 archetypes with near-zero deckbuilding cost. The card has no observed combo presence and no search or negation, so the score is capped by its one-for-one conversion, its dependence on counters built by its own field presence, and its exposure to removal.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | Reachable by Normal Summon from hand as a Level 4 body, but the counter engine needs it on the field first, and no searcher supports it (inferred; deck inclusion in 7/7 decks is observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 50 | The text converts the card into one Dragon from the Deck with the Level capped by counters, a fair single-body gain rather than a multi-card board (verified from card text; no combo examples recorded, so the score is text-based). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | It sends itself to the graveyard to summon one Deck card, which is roughly card-neutral with no refuel or repeated advantage (verified from card text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 10 | The effect has no negation, removal, or hand-trap reach, so opponent interaction is effectively absent (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 50 | A Level 4 Dragon body is a usable Dragon material, but it is not a Tuner and the counter value is lost if the effect is negated (inferred from card text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 35 | Once on the field it is a single face-up body that a negate or removal ends, and it needs its own Normal Summon or Set to build counters (inferred from card text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | Average 2.14 copies, no garnet or lock, and a common Level 4 body make it cheap to run and splashable across Dragon builds (observed from deck data). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Starter / Combo enabler, no secondary role applied; pure Starter profile. Intrinsic ≈ 54.5, Deck ≈ 51.7, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Converts its own graveyard send into a Dragon from the Deck, so it is not dead when removed from the field
- Played as a main-deck card in every sampled deck (7/7), across 5 archetypes
- Cheap to run with no garnet or lock, and redundant copies are fine
Weaknesses
- No negation, removal, or hand-trap reach
- Roughly card-neutral: it sends itself and summons one card back
- The counter engine needs it on the field, so it is weak as a turn-one starter from hand
- Its Level-cap summon is only as strong as the Dragons in the Deck
Counters / choke points
- Removal or negation on the field before the graveyard send is used
- Opponent interaction that stops the Normal Summon or Set counter gain
Best use
Dragon Special Summon starter from the graveyard. Decks: Guardragon, Flamvell, Hole, Solemn, Bystial. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: Normal Summon or Set places a Dragonic Counter on it; face-up self-send to the Graveyard Special Summons a Dragon-Type monster from the Deck with Level at or below its counters; Level 4, FIRE, Dragon, 1500 ATK / 1800 DEF, Effect Monster; Banlist token not supplied, so 3 copies are assumed
- Observed: Included in 7 of 7 sampled decks, all main deck, with 5 distinct archetypes; Average 2.14 copies per deck (distribution 1 copy in 3 decks, 3 copies in 4 decks); Co-occurs with Dragon support such as Alexandrite Dragon, Luster Dragon and Guardragon Justicia in 4 of 7 decks
- Inferred: Counter gain depends on the card staying face-up on the field before the send; Summon value is capped by the Dragons available in the Deck at the right Level; Its Level 4 body is a usable Dragon material, but the counter value is lost under negation
- Data gaps: No combos supplied; combo conversion is text-only inference No guides supplied No banlist token; 3 copies assumed No usage statistics (StatisticsCard); archetype inclusion inferred from the 7-deck sample only No top-card ranking data