Spell
NormalHeat Wave
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6506
At the start of your Main Phase 1: Neither player can Normal or Special Summon Effect Monsters, until your next Draw Phase.
Heat Wave — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 60 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 61 · Deck: 59 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Floodgate/Control
Why it scores here
Heat Wave is a floodgate: it stops both players from Normal or Special Summoning Effect Monsters until the controller's next Draw Phase. Its score comes from reliable access (it runs in all 400 sampled decks, averaging 2.82 copies) and from the restriction it places on Effect Monster summons, which is the main thing it converts into value. It has no combo or material role, and it is a 1-for-1 with no card advantage, so those axes stay low. The high inclusion rate and the 103 distinct archetypes show the card is consistently played across many homes, but they do not raise the score on their own, since frequency is not power. A self-lock on the controller's own summons and the absence of combo data pull the final score down.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 80 | Runs in 400 of 400 sampled decks at 2.82 copies on average, so it is usually in hand (observed). The card text does not show a search route (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 20 | No combo boards are recorded and the text describes no board-building, so conversion is text-only inference that this card does little on its own (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 30 | A single-use Spell with no draw, search, or recursion in its text, so it is roughly even on cards (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 70 | Stops Normal and Special Summons of Effect Monsters for a full turn cycle, which blocks most effect-based boards and extenders (verified text, inferred impact). |
| Material Utility | 5 | Not a monster and cannot be used as material (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | Its effect lasts until the next Draw Phase, but it is a single spell with no recovery route in the evidence, so it is one-spot (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 45 | Three copies run in 342 of 400 decks with a restriction that also hits the controller's own Effect Monsters, so it is a mild self-restriction (observed, inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Floodgate/Control primary role, no secondary role. Intrinsic ≈ 61, Deck ≈ 59, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-locking restriction (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Runs in every sampled deck, so it is always available in hand
- Strong lock against effect-based boards, extenders, and summon-based lines
- Cheap single-copy spell with no garnet cost
Weaknesses
- No card advantage or board presence beyond the lock
- Hurts the controller's own Effect Monster summons
- Zero material value and no combo role
Counters / choke points
- Non-effect or Special Summon-light lines that can keep going without Effect Monsters
- Decks whose key pieces are Spells, Traps, or Tokens instead of Effect Monsters
Best use
Floodgate lock on Effect Monster summons, played as a single-copy or two-copy control card. Decks: Tenpai Dragon, Sky Striker, Light and Darkness Ritual, Mulcharmy, Branded, Kaiju. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Text: until the next Draw Phase, neither player can Normal or Special Summon Effect Monsters; Runs in 400 of 400 sampled decks, 2.82 copies on average; Spell card with no material role
- Observed: Partner synergy with Droll & Lock Bird (80.8%) and Mulcharmy Fuwalos (77%); Spread across 103 distinct archetypes; Three guides mention the card's role in Tenpai Dragon and Dark Magician lists
- Inferred: Acts as a control floodgate rather than a combo starter, from text and lack of combo data; Self-lock cost is modest because the decks listed are built around non-effect or Special Summon-light lines
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion and starter/searched shares cannot be measured no ruling or interaction data for negation or timing edge cases no metagame sample, so meta_power is null