LIGHT
7Lightray Daedalus
ATK:
2600
DEF:
1500
View:
2897
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by having 4 or more LIGHT monsters in your Graveyard, and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. Once per turn: You can target 1 Field Spell Card and 2 other cards on the field; destroy them.
65± 5/ 100
Power Score
Intrinsic
64
Deck
66
Lightray Daedalus — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 65 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 64 · Deck: 66 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal / Negation · Secondary: Board Breaker
Why it scores here
Lightray Daedalus scores as a solid mid-tier removal card, valued specifically in Lightsworn decks for its ability to destroy a Field Spell and two other cards in a single effect. The card's strength lies in meta-relevant disruption of Field Spell-dependent strategies, not in ATK value or combo generation—it appears in zero recorded combo lines despite 15 deck appearances, indicating it functions as a late-game control tool rather than a board-building enabler. Its 65 score reflects strong effect interaction (78) and solid resource economy from destroying three cards, tempered by poor combo conversion (20), limited splashability across only four archetypes, and reliance on the specific LIGHT graveyard condition Lightsworn naturally generates.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 65 | Accessible within Lightsworn (80% of decks) where milling generates 4+ LIGHT reliably by mid-game, but non-searchable and limited to hand Special Summon, requiring draw luck (verified from deck evidence showing consistent Raiden, Solar Recharge, and Wulf pairings). |
| Combo & Conversion | 20 | Zero combos recorded across the entire dataset despite 15 deck appearances indicates the card does not build boards or enable extended lines; it operates as reactive destruction rather than a combo enabler (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 65 | Destroys three opponent cards (1 Field Spell + 2 others) once per turn with no card draw or refuel, providing solid advantage through destruction but no ongoing card advantage generation (verified from card text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 78 | Strong, flexible destruction effect with meta-relevant Field Spell targeting; hard removal is difficult to play around and effects dependent on Field Spells cannot recover once destroyed (verified). |
| Material Utility | 50 | Level 7 Sea Serpent body is usable as material but not particularly synergistic; attribute and level lack generic value, and the card is rarely used as material in its Lightsworn home (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 60 | Once on field, reasonably resilient to most interactions; vulnerable in hand to disruption and in graveyard to removal, with no built-in recursion or recovery mechanism (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 62 | Concentrated in Lightsworn (80% of decks, 1 copy each) with low splashability across only 4 total archetypes; the LIGHT graveyard requirement severely limits adoption outside Lightsworn and milling-heavy decks (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Primary role: Removal / Negation. Intrinsic ≈ 64, Deck ≈ 66, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Strong, flexible destruction effect targeting Field Spells, providing meta-relevant disruption
- High Effect Interaction score (78) reflects reliable removal of up to three opponent cards once per turn
- Consistent home in Lightsworn with synergy to milling support (Raiden, Solar Recharge, Charge of the Light Brigade)
- Decent 2600 ATK provides board presence in addition to the destruction effect
Weaknesses
- Complete reliance on 4+ LIGHT monsters in graveyard makes it non-generic and archetype-dependent
- Zero combo data indicates minimal interaction with modern combo-heavy deck strategies
- Once-per-turn activation severely limits ongoing disruption potential
- Non-searchable, making it vulnerable to graveyard disruption and reliant on drawing naturally
- Limited splashability (only 4 archetypes across 15 total decks); 80% concentration in Lightsworn alone
- No card draw, recursion, or refuel mechanism; a pure one-time effect with no resource generation
Counters / choke points
- Field Spell protection or recovery effects in opponent's deck prevent the destruction from being final
- Negation of the Special Summon (e.g., Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring) prevents the card from ever reaching the field
- Proactive removal of LIGHT monsters from the graveyard before Daedalus can accumulate enough for summoning
Best use
Destruction and board control, particularly against Field Spell-heavy strategies. Decks: Lightsworn. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Lightsworn is the dominant archetype, appearing in 80% of decks (12 of 15 total); Card text requires 4+ LIGHT monsters in graveyard for Special Summon from hand only; Effect destroys 1 Field Spell Card and 2 other cards on field, once per turn; Always run as 1 copy in main deck; never appears in side deck (0/15 side appearances); Top deck partners are all Lightsworn-native cards (Judgment Dragon, Raiden, Wulf, Solar Recharge, Garoth, Charge of the Light Brigade)
- Observed: Zero combos recorded despite 15 recent deck appearances (latest: Sept 20, 2026) indicates the card operates as a late-game reactive effect, not a combo enabler; Card appears in only 4 distinct archetypes across the dataset, demonstrating very low splashability; Consistent 1-copy inclusion rate across all 15 decks suggests a clearly defined, role-locked card; Recency (Sept 2026) indicates this is current deck-building data, not historical artifact
- Inferred: Accessibility scored at 65 based on Lightsworn's natural milling and LIGHT monster generation through key support cards (Raiden mills, Solar Recharge discards LIGHT, Wulf self-mills); Combo Conversion scored at 20 because the card does not generate board state or enable extended combo lines; it is purely reactive destruction; Material Utility scored at 50 because a Level 7 Sea Serpent body lacks synergy with typical Lightsworn synergies and is not generically valuable; Deckbuilding Efficiency scored at 62 based on narrow archetype spread and the specialized 4+ LIGHT requirement preventing generic adoption; Resource Economy scored at 65 from the destruction of 3 opponent cards providing solid advantage relative to setup cost, though no refuel mechanism
- Data gaps: No combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference; cannot verify actual board-clearing scenarios or synergistic board states No guides supplied — cannot confirm community assessment or detailed strategic role documentation No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — cannot verify consistency across broader historical sample beyond the 15-deck snapshot No banlist data — assuming unlimited (3 copies allowed) across all formats Absence of any combo data creates moderate uncertainty about the card's practical impact in extended play and modern deck archetypes