EARTH
3Gem-Merchant
Archetype:
Gem-
ATK:
1000
DEF:
1000
View:
3609
During the Damage Step, in either player's turn, when a face-up EARTH Normal Monster you control attacks or is attacked: You can send this card from your hand to the Graveyard; that monster gains 1000 ATK and DEF until the End Phase.
Gem-Merchant — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 37 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 37 · Deck: 37 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility
Why it scores here
Gem-Merchant's only effect is a hand-activated combat trick: it sends itself from hand to the Graveyard to give a face-up EARTH Normal Monster you control +1000 ATK and DEF in a Damage Step. Its value is therefore limited to one card-for-stats exchange in combat, gated by a specific monster type, with no recorded combo or resource return. Its 1000 ATK/DEF body and its presence in 9 Gem-Knight-leaning decks confirm it is played, not that it is powerful, so those signals were not used to raise the score.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 35 | Playable from hand in either turn, but only live when an EARTH Normal Monster is attacking or being attacked, and no starter role or searched-for role evidence exists (verified text; combo data empty). |
| Combo & Conversion | 25 | Converts into one +1000 ATK/DEF buff with no recorded board, combo example, or power index contribution (inferred from text; combo data has 0 appearances). |
| Resource Economy | 15 | Costs the card itself for a temporary stat gain, with no draw, search, or Graveyard refuel stated in the text (verified from card text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 25 | Not a negation, removal, or hand trap; it only changes a battle result, so opponent interaction is soft (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 10 | Its effect works from the hand and the body is never stated as material, so there is no field-body value (verified from card text; material role is 0). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | Works from hand across both turns, and the cost is paid by sending the card, so it is not a field-dependent effect; the effect's resistance to negation is not evidenced (inferred from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 60 | Single-copy usage in 7 of 9 decks (avg 1.22 copies) with no garnet or lock; the restriction is only the EARTH Normal Monster condition (observed from deck data). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Utility default profile; no secondary role blended. Intrinsic ≈ 37, Deck ≈ 37, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Live from hand in either player's turn during the Damage Step, so it is not limited to the controller's own turn
- Converts an otherwise dead hand card into +1000 ATK and DEF on a qualifying monster
- Single-copy inclusion in observed decks makes it cheap to run
Weaknesses
- Requires a face-up EARTH Normal Monster you control to be attacking or attacked, which narrows its use considerably
- Costs the card itself for a temporary buff, with no card advantage or Graveyard refuel stated
- No combo evidence: it never appears as a starter, searched card, material, or payoff in recorded boards
Counters / choke points
- No counter evidence supplied; any opponent response to it is speculation and does not move the score
Best use
Utility / combat trick in Gem-Knight-leaning decks with EARTH Normal Monsters. Decks: Gem-Knights, Hole, Adamancipator. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Effect text: Damage Step, either player's turn, sends itself from hand to the Graveyard to give a face-up EARTH Normal Monster +1000 ATK and DEF until the End Phase; Level 3 EARTH Spellcaster Effect Monster, 1000 ATK / 1000 DEF, archetype Gem-; Appears in 9 recent decks across 6 archetypes, 7 of 9 at one copy, mainly main deck
- Observed: Co-occurs with Gem-Knight core cards in 8 of 9 decks (88.9%); Zero recorded combos in combo data
- Inferred: Primary role is a combat trick rather than a Hand trap, since it does not negate or remove; Its usefulness depends on how often the deck has an EARTH Normal Monster in combat, which the evidence does not measure
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token, assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard), so archetype inclusion is inferred from the 9-deck sample only no rulings supplied for the Damage Step timing or for how the stat change interacts with negation the share of EARTH Normal Monsters in the decks is not measured, so the trigger frequency is unknown