DARKLink Decoder
ATK:
300
LINK-1
View:
6583
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1 Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster If this card is sent to the GY as material for a Cyberse Link Monster with 2300 or more original ATK: You can Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use this effect of "Link Decoder" once per turn.
Link Decoder — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 59 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 55 · Deck: 61 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery/Recursion · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Link Decoder is a 300-ATK Link-1 whose value is a single once-per-turn GY effect: when it is sent to the GY as material for a Cyberse Link with 2300+ original ATK, it returns to the field, banished when it leaves. That converts a spent Link-material body into one more body, not card advantage or interaction. It is in 400 of 400 sampled decks, almost always as one copy alongside Maliss staples, which confirms it is a practical, cheap piece of that structure rather than a strong card on its own. The high average power index of its boards mostly reflects the Maliss boards it sits in, so that number did not earn points.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 60 | It is a 1-copy staple in 400 of 400 decks with 98.8% co-occurrence with Ash Blossom, but the text gives no search route and combos_evidence shows 0 as_searched or as_starter appearances (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 45 | Its GY effect turns a used link body back into one body with a Cyberse 2300+ ATK Link condition, and it appears in 10 of 10 recorded boards while the role counts are all zero (observed, partly inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | The effect is a one-for-one body return with a banish-on-leave clause and no draw or refuel, so there is no net card advantage in the evidence (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 10 | The card has no negate, removal or hand-trap effect in its text, so it gives the opponent no interaction (verified). |
| Material Utility | 55 | As a Link-1 Cyberse body it feeds Cyberse Links, and the GY effect still works when the body is only used as material, but the material requirement is narrow (verified text, inferred use). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | The GY effect works from the graveyard and is once per turn, so it can recur across turns, but it is a single-card effect with no redundancy in the text (verified text, inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | It runs as 1 copy in all 400 decks, has no garnet or lock clause in its text, and is a single slot in a deck that already runs the Maliss package (observed, inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Recovery/Recursion + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 55, Deck ≈ 61, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Cheap single-copy slot that the Maliss-led decks run in nearly every list
- Its GY effect recurs a body once per turn and is not tied to a specific archetype
- Works as Cyberse Link material fodder while its own GY effect stays live
Weaknesses
- Adds no card advantage, negation or board presence on its own
- The effect needs a Cyberse Link with 2300+ original ATK, which narrows when it works
- The 300 ATK body is weak as a standalone monster
Best use
Recovery/Recursion body returning from GY; Cyberse Link material fodder. Decks: Maliss, @Ignister, Bystial/Byssted, Code Talker. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Text: Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster as the Link-1 material, with a once-per-turn GY effect that requires a Cyberse Link with 2300+ original ATK; Runs as 1 copy in 400 of 400 decks
- Observed: Appears in 10 of 10 recorded combos; role counts (starter, searched, material, payoff) are all zero; Co-occurs with Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring in 98.8% of decks and Maxx C in 97.5%; Inclusion of 52% to 100% across 6 archetypes in usage statistics
- Inferred: The GY effect is a one-for-one body recursion with no net card advantage; Its value comes mainly from the Maliss package it is nearly always paired with
- Data gaps: Combo role counts (as_starter, as_searched, as_material, as_payoff) are all zero despite 10 appearances, so the combo role signal is unreliable legal_copies lists only a TCG value (0); OCG and MasterDuel legality are not stated No card text covers searchability, so the accessibility claim relies only on deck and combo frequency The guide snippet mentions Maliss only and does not describe Link Decoder's role