Machina Sniper

Machina Sniper — Power Evaluation

Final Score: 56 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium

• Intrinsic: 58 · Deck: 59 · Meta: provisional
• Primary role: Floodgate/Control · Secondary: Utility

Why it scores here

Machina Sniper is a specialized archetype-support floodgate that restricts opponent attacks against Machina monsters, creating a protective wall around the deck's core pieces. The effect is powerful and hard to play around within Machina (97.6% co-deck with Machina Overdrive, 59.5% of observed decks), but its utility is almost entirely confined to that archetype—appearing in non-Machina homes as a dead card garnet in 40.5% of cases. While the Level-4 Machine body has material utility, the card's strict archetype-lock and absence of offensive value place it in the mid-range evaluation.

Axis scores

Calculation

Weight profile: Primary role: Floodgate/Control. Intrinsic ≈ 58, Deck ≈ 59, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Archetype-specific garnet penalty (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck

Strengths

• Powerful, continuous attack restriction that is difficult to play around within Machina decks
• 97.6% co-deck rate with Machina Overdrive indicates deep core-engine synergy and reliable inclusion
• Level-4 Machine body remains usable as Xyz/Synchro material even if the protective effect is negated
• No activation condition or cost—effect is live immediately upon summon

Weaknesses

• Strictly Machina-locked: 0% utility in non-Machina decks, making it a dead garnet in 40.5% of observed appearances
• Does not prevent non-combat removal, targeting, destruction, burn, or opponent card effects
• Generates no card advantage, draw, search, or resource gain—pure disruption with no offensive value
• Single removal (battle, effect, board wipe) ends the protective effect with no recovery mechanism

Counters / choke points

• Forbidden Droplet, Solemn Judgment, and multi-effect removal that bypass attack blocks
• Lightning Storm and board wipes that ignore attack restrictions
• Archetype deck-out and FTK strategies unaffected by attack blocks
• Red Reboot and similar negation effects that silence continuous effects

Best use

Core protective engine piece and attack-phase wall. Decks: Machina.

Evidence & gaps

• Verified: Card text: 'Monsters cannot attack Machina monsters, except Machina Sniper' (from card.description); Deck distribution: 42 decks total, 59.5% Machina, 97.6% co-deck with Machina Overdrive (from deck data); Archetype membership: Machina (from card.archetype); Copies per deck: average 1.81, distribution 1x (22 decks), 2x (6 decks), 3x (14 decks) (from copies per deck breakdown)
• Observed: Strong co-deck synergy with Machina core engine (Overdrive, Redeployment, Citadel, Defense Perimeter, Fortress, Possesstorage); Bimodal copy distribution (22 decks 1x vs 14 decks 3x) suggests both tech 1-of and core 3-of roles within Machina; Appears in 10 distinct archetypes but 59.5% Machina concentration; secondary appearances (Train, Gizmek, Cyber Dragon) are minority tech plays; Recent deck data: latest entry Sept 2, 2026; earliest Oct 23, 2022 (active inclusion window)
• Inferred: Continuous protective effect is a floodgate-type mechanic, hard for opponent to play around once established; Card utility is strictly Machina-locked: outside Machina context, effect has zero value (no self-protection, no card advantage, no unrelated synergy); Level-4 Machine body remains usable for Xyz Summon and Synchro as material even if effect is negated; Narrow archetype-specific design limits portability despite 10 secondary archetype appearances being tech inclusions only
• Data gaps: No combos supplied—combo conversion cannot be empirically verified; assessment is text-only inference No guides supplied—human context on meta roles, tech routes, or positioning absent No banlist token provided—assumed 3 copies unlimited (no restriction applied) Usage statistics sparse: only Gadgets archetype tracked in statistical sample, limiting confidence in secondary archetype role consistency