WATER
8Graydle Dragon
Archetype:
Graydle
ATK:
3000
DEF:
2000
View:
4918
1 Aqua-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can target cards your opponent controls, up to the number of WATER monsters used for the Synchro Summon of this card; destroy them. If this card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can target 1 other WATER monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon it, but its effects are negated. You can only use each effect of "Graydle Dragon" once per turn.
Graydle Dragon — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 72 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 70 · Deck: 73 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Board breaker · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
Graydle Dragon scores on its summon trigger: it destroys up to as many opponent cards as the WATER monsters used to Synchro Summon it, which turns a Synchro into multi-card board removal. Its graveyard effect returns another WATER monster with effects negated, so the card keeps some value after it is destroyed. Its 3000 ATK and Level 8 body earn no points on their own, and the score rests on the removal trigger, the recursion, and its near-universal deck presence. Combo evidence is absent, so conversion is inferred from text and the score is held in the Medium band.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 62 | Run in 400 of 400 sampled decks at 1 copy in 399 of them, across 38 archetypes, but it needs a Synchro setup with an Aqua Tuner and non-Tuner material (observed; Synchro requirement from text). |
| Combo & Conversion | 70 | The summon trigger can destroy up to N cards, where N is the WATER materials used, so a typical 2 to 3 material summon removes several cards in one step (inferred from text; no combo examples supplied). |
| Resource Economy | 65 | One card can destroy up to N opponent cards, so a multi-material summon gains advantage, and the graveyard effect returns a WATER monster for free (inferred from text; no netCardAdvantage data). |
| Effect & Interaction | 78 | A once-per-turn mass destruction that targets and does not depend on a set trap, so it is strong, flexible removal (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 40 | A Level 8 Synchro that is usable as a generic Level 8 material, but the evidence gives no material role stats and its Tuner status is not stated (inferred; material data absent). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 70 | The graveyard effect triggers after destruction by battle or effect, and the two effects are separate once-per-turn uses, which gives redundancy across zones and turns (verified from card text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 75 | A single copy in 399 of 400 decks, with no garnet or lock restriction, though it sits in the Extra Deck and needs WATER support (observed from deck data). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Board breaker + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 70, Deck ≈ 73, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Summon trigger can remove up to as many opponent cards as the WATER materials used
- Graveyard effect recurs a WATER monster with effects negated, so it keeps value after destruction
- Present in all 400 sampled decks at 1 copy in 399, across 38 archetypes
- Single-copy Extra Deck slot with no garnet restriction
Weaknesses
- Needs a Synchro summon, which requires an Aqua Tuner and matching WATER materials
- The removal count depends on how many WATER monsters are used, so one-material summons remove little
- No combo evidence, so the conversion rate cannot be confirmed from observed boards
- Material value is untested in the evidence, since Level 8 bodies are only generic material
Counters / choke points
- Negating the Synchro Summon stops the destroy trigger (inferred from text)
- Responding to the destroy trigger with removal or negation of the targets (inferred from text)
- Interrupting the Synchro materials before the summon resolves (inferred from text)
Best use
Board breaker with graveyard recursion; Synchro Extra Deck staple. Decks: Graydle, Mermail, Atlantean, Ice Barrier, Icejade, Penguin. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Summon trigger destroys up to the number of WATER monsters used for the Synchro Summon (card text); Graveyard trigger special-summons another WATER monster with effects negated, once per turn (card text); Present in 400 of 400 sampled decks, 1 copy in 399 (deck data); Inclusion of 100% in 3 usage-statistics archetypes (usage statistics)
- Observed: Spread across 38 distinct archetypes (deck data); High co-occurrence with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (86.8%) and First Penguin (83%) (deck data)
- Inferred: Combo conversion from the destroy trigger, since no combo boards were supplied; Typical destroy count of 2 or more from common WATER material counts; Level 8 material usefulness, with no material role data; Counters are inferred from text, not observed
- Data gaps: no combos supplied: combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token: assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no material role or starter role data to confirm material utility no rulings or Tuner status in the evidence no top_card ranking data (top-card status false)