Spell
ContinuousIron Cage
Archetype:
Golden Castle of Stromberg
View:
3455
When this card is activated: Send 1 monster you control to the GY, or if "Golden Castle of Stromberg" is in a Field Zone, you can send 1 monster your opponent controls to the GY, instead. Once per turn, during your Standby Phase: You can target the monster that was sent to the GY by this card's effect; destroy this card, and if you do, Special Summon that monster to your field. You can only activate 1 "Iron Cage" per turn.
Iron Cage — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 54 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 52 · Deck: 54 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
Iron Cage scores as a removal spell that is strongest inside the Golden Castle of Stromberg shell: the Field Zone version sends an opponent monster to the GY at no cost to the player, and the Standby revival returns the sent monster to the field. Its stats earn nothing, since it is a Continuous Spell with no ATK or DEF. The score sits in the middle because there is no combo evidence, the card depends on the Stromberg engine for its best mode, and it can be removed before its Standby effect resolves.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | Present in all 12 sampled decks, with 100% co-occurrence with Golden Castle of Stromberg, but no searcher or combo route is recorded (observed, inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | Text shows a one-for-one send plus an optional Standby revive, but no recorded boards confirm a larger payoff (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | Base mode costs one of your own monsters, while the Field Zone mode costs nothing and removes an opponent monster, so advantage is even to positive (verified text, inferred value). |
| Effect & Interaction | 55 | Sends an opponent monster to the GY when the Stromberg Field Zone condition is met, a soft one-for-one removal that is not a negation (verified text, inferred strength). |
| Material Utility | 5 | Spell card with no monster body, so it cannot serve as material (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | Continuous Spell that a spell-removal effect can destroy before the Standby window, and its revive is limited to one per turn (verified text, inferred impact). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 60 | Copies run 1 to 3 (average 1.67, mode 1), with no garnet or lock restriction beyond the once-per-turn limit (observed deck data, verified text). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Removal + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 52, Deck ≈ 54, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Free removal of an opponent monster when Golden Castle of Stromberg is in a Field Zone
- Standby revival returns the sent monster to the field
- Present in all 12 sampled decks, with a strong partner link to the archetype's Field Spell
Weaknesses
- No combo evidence, so combo conversion is text-only
- Value depends heavily on the Stromberg engine
- Continuous Spell that can be removed before its Standby effect resolves
Counters / choke points
- Opponent Spell or Trap removal that destroys the face-up Continuous Spell before the Standby window (inferred)
Best use
Removal with Standby revival. Decks: Stromberg (Golden Castle of Stromberg). Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: opponent-monster send under the Stromberg Field Zone condition, own-monster send otherwise, once-per-turn Standby revive, one copy per turn; Present in 12 of 12 sampled decks, all with Golden Castle of Stromberg as a partner
- Observed: Average 1.67 copies per deck, with 8 of 12 decks in the Stromberg archetype; No recorded combo boards, so appearance is 0%
- Inferred: Removal is the primary role; Standby revival is a secondary recursion effect; Card is weaker outside the Stromberg engine
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only