Trap
ContinuousImperial Custom
Archetype:
Royal
View:
4288
Face-up Continuous Traps cannot be destroyed by battle or card effect, except "Imperial Custom". You can only control 1 "Imperial Custom".
Imperial Custom — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 42 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 41 · Deck: 42 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility
Why it scores here
Imperial Custom converts one Trap card into a protection effect: face-up Continuous Traps cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects, and the card itself is excluded from that protection. It has no searcher, draw, or board-building text, and no combo data is supplied, so it earns little for combo conversion or card advantage. Its breadth in the sample (110 decks across 47 archetypes, 1 to 3 copies) confirms it is a practical, cheap include, but that frequency is not treated as strength, so it does not raise the score much.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Included in all 110 sampled decks at an average of 1.75 copies, so it is usually reachable, but no starter role or searched-for role data exists to show live routes (observed, inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 15 | No combo boards are recorded and the text only protects existing Continuous Traps, so there is no board-building conversion (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 35 | Spends one card to create a persistent protection effect with no draw, search, or refuel text, so advantage is roughly even at best (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 30 | Protects friendly Continuous Traps from battle and effect destruction rather than disrupting the opponent, so interaction is soft and situational (verified). |
| Material Utility | 5 | A Trap card cannot be used as Xyz, Synchro, Fusion, or Link material, so the score is at the floor (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 35 | The card does not protect itself and is exposed to ordinary Spell/Trap removal, with only the Continuous Trap shield as value (verified, inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 65 | Typically 1 to 2 copies with a 'can only control 1' limit that is mild and easy to run, though the restriction removes redundancy (verified, observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Utility / no clear role (default); no secondary blend applied. Intrinsic ≈ 41, Deck ≈ 42, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Shields face-up Continuous Traps from battle and card-effect destruction
- Cheap to include at 1 to 2 copies with a mild self-restriction
- Practical inclusion across many archetypes in the sample (110 decks, 47 archetypes)
Weaknesses
- No card advantage, search, or refuel text
- Cannot be used as material
- Does not protect itself, and the exception clause makes its self-protection unclear
- Value depends on having Continuous Traps on board
Counters / choke points
- Spell/Trap removal aimed at Imperial Custom itself (inferred from the self-exclusion in the text)
- Opponent effects that banish, bounce, or send the card rather than destroy it (inferred)
Best use
Utility protection for Continuous Traps. Decks: Argostars, Sacred Beast, Synchron, Cyber Dragon. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: face-up Continuous Traps cannot be destroyed by battle or card effect, except Imperial Custom; can only control 1; Trap card, so it cannot be material; Included in 110 sampled decks, average 1.75 copies; Royal usage stat: 100% inclusion, typical 2 copies; Trap Monster 100%, typical 1 copy
- Observed: Breadth across 47 archetypes and gameplay types 7 and 4; Argostars cluster at 18 decks (16.4%); Not a top card in any format
- Inferred: Protection is soft interaction, not disruption; Low resource economy because no draw or search text is present; Self-protection is absent
- Data gaps: No combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference No guides supplied No banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) legal copies is empty for all formats Exception clause ('except Imperial Custom') is ambiguous about self-protection and which Continuous Traps benefit usage statistics covers only 2 archetypes