DARK
8Gimmick Puppet Nightmare
Archetype:
Gimmick Puppet
ATK:
1000
DEF:
2000
View:
2156
You can Special Summon this card (from your hand) by Tributing 1 face-up Xyz Monster you control. You can only Special Summon "Gimmick Puppet Nightmare" once per turn this way. When you do: You can Special Summon 1 "Gimmick Puppet Nightmare" from your hand or Graveyard. If this card is Special Summoned, you cannot Special Summon any monsters for the rest of this turn, except "Gimmick Puppet" monsters.
Gimmick Puppet Nightmare — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 56 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 58.7 · Deck: 59.2 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Extender · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Gimmick Puppet Nightmare is a hand-summoned body that can be Special Summoned by Tributing a face-up Xyz Monster, and its trigger brings out a second Nightmare from hand or Graveyard, so it converts one Xyz on board into two bodies. Its live condition (an Xyz must already be on the field) and the restriction that blocks other non-Gimmick Puppet monsters for the turn both limit the score. The 1000 ATK and 2000 DEF earn nothing; the score comes from access, the Graveyard recursion, the Level 8 material fit, and a one-copy deck cost. The 400-deck and partner statistics confirm it is a consistently run piece across 21 archetypes, but per guardrail 3 that frequency is not used to inflate the score, and the absence of combo data keeps confidence at Medium.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 70 | Hand-summonable but gated on a face-up Xyz to tribute; appears in 400 of 400 sampled decks at 1 copy (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 45 | Text shows one extra body via the trigger, but there are no recorded combo boards, so conversion is text-only inference (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 40 | The Xyz tribute is a real cost and the trigger returns a 1-for-1 body swap with no card advantage; no refuel or draw in the text (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 35 | Its only interaction is a self-restriction on other monsters this turn, not a negate or removal; no opponent-facing disruption in the text (verified). |
| Material Utility | 60 | Level 8 DARK Machine is a clean Xyz/Synchro material fit, and the body still exists when the effect is negated (inferred from text and stats). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 60 | Recurs a second copy from the Graveyard, giving multi-zone redundancy; survival against interaction is not evidenced (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 75 | One copy in 396 of 400 decks, no garnet or brick text, and a cheap slot; the archetype-specific text limits splashability (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Extender + 0.3 Material body (blended role weights). Intrinsic ≈ 58.7, Deck ≈ 59.2, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-restriction (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Hand Special Summon once per turn, giving a live body from hand when an Xyz is on board
- Graveyard recursion of a second copy, giving multi-zone redundancy
- Level 8 DARK Machine body fits Xyz and Synchro material needs
- Single-copy slot cost with no garnet or brick text
Weaknesses
- Needs a face-up Xyz Monster to tribute, so it is dead without one
- Restricts other non-Gimmick Puppet summons in the same turn
- Weak 1000 ATK / 2000 DEF body with no direct board impact
- Combo evidence is absent, so its real conversion rate is unmeasured
Counters / choke points
- Negation of the trigger or the Special Summon effect, since the body alone has little value
- Interaction on the Xyz tribute source, which removes the summon condition
Best use
Extender for Xyz-based lines: a second body from hand or Graveyard after an Xyz is on board. Decks: Branded, Bystial/Byssted, Despia, Dogmatika, Dracotail, Gimmick Puppet. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Summon condition: tribute one face-up Xyz Monster you control, once per turn; Trigger: Special Summon one Gimmick Puppet Nightmare from hand or Graveyard; Self-restriction: no other non-Gimmick Puppet monster summons for the rest of the turn; Level 8, DARK, Machine, ATK 1000, DEF 2000
- Observed: Present in 400 of 400 sampled decks, 396 at 1 copy, across 21 archetypes; Partner frequencies with Albion the Branded Dragon (96%) and Blazing Cartesia (95.8%)
- Inferred: Accessibility is conditional on an Xyz being on board; Material fit and recursion value are judged from text and stats, not combo data
- Data gaps: No combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference No rulings supplied, so timing interactions are unverified legal copies shows 0 for TCG and MasterDuel while 400 sampled decks run the card, so the format labels conflict and are not resolved here Gameplay type 7 is unlabeled, so the deck format cannot be confirmed No top-card ranking data for this card