Trap
NormalMagic Cylinder
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13274
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Target the attacking monster; negate the attack, and if you do, inflict damage to your opponent equal to its ATK.
62± 5/ 100
Power Score
Intrinsic
61
Deck
62
Magic Cylinder — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 62 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 61 · Deck: 62 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Board breaker / Going-second · Secondary: Removal
Why it scores here
Magic Cylinder scores as a reliable going-second defensive tool that negates attacks and punishes aggressive opponents through damage scaling. It achieves widespread inclusion (400/400 sample decks, 152 archetypes) because it is generically splashable with minimal deck cost. However, its power is fundamentally situational—it requires the opponent to be attacking and cannot be proactively deployed. The high ATK numbers of opposing monsters are relevant only as damage payoff, not as indicators of this card's own strength.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 72 | Magic Cylinder runs cleanly across 152 distinct archetypes at 1–3 copies without bricking, appearing in 100% of the sample deck pool and requiring no archetype-specific searchability (verified by deck data and usage statistics) |
| Combo & Conversion | 25 | The card does not build boards or extend combo lines; it is purely reactive to opponent attacks and generates no inherent advantage or combo conversion value (verified by 0 combo appearances and card text) |
| Resource Economy | 45 | Negating one attack and dealing damage equal to the attacker's ATK is roughly break-even in card economy, with the damage providing a secondary win condition that accumulates over multiple turns (inferred from text and role) |
| Effect & Interaction | 68 | Negation of attacks is hard disruption, but heavily opponent-dependent and only activated when the opponent attacks; it lacks flexibility and cannot be deployed proactively (verified by card text and board-breaker role) |
| Material Utility | 0 | Trap Cards cannot be used as material for any summon and provide no utility as a body, name, level, or attribute provider (verified by card type) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 38 | Single-use reactive effect that dies to trap negation or lack of opponent attacks; provides no recurring value, multi-turn utility, or recovery path (inferred from trap card mechanics and text) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 82 | Highly efficient with no deck restrictions, no lock-in effects, and clean inclusion at 1–3 copies across 152 archetypes; minimal deckbuilding cost (verified by distribution and usage statistics showing consistent inclusion in Batteryman and Gravekeeper's) |
Calculation
Weight profile: Primary role: Board breaker / Going-second. Intrinsic ≈ 61, Deck ≈ 62, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Generically splashable across 152 distinct archetypes with no deck restrictions
- Hard negation that completely stops attacking monsters and converts their ATK into scaled damage
- Pairs well with other going-second defensive staples (Ash Blossom, Mirror Force, Solemn Judgment)
- Runs cleanly at 1–3 copies with healthy distribution and no forced garnet risk
Weaknesses
- Purely reactive with no proactive deployment or hand advantage generation
- Only live when the opponent is attacking; dead against control decks or non-aggressive setups
- Single-use per attack with no recurring value or multi-turn utility
- Vulnerable to trap negation and cards that prevent attack declarations altogether
Counters / choke points
- Trap negation effects (Harpie's Feather Duster, Mystical Space Typhoon, Cosmic Cyclone)
- Non-attacking strategies that develop board presence without declaring attacks
- Cards that negate Trap Card activation or effects
Best use
Going-second disruption and damage accumulation via attack negation. Decks: Going-second defensive suites across all archetypes, Batteryman (100% inclusion), Gravekeeper's (66.7% inclusion).
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Magic Cylinder negates opponent attacks and inflicts damage equal to the attacking monster's ATK (card text); Appears in 400 decks (100% of sample) across 152 distinct archetypes (deck data); Distribution: 292 decks run 1 copy, 52 run 2 copies, 56 run 3 copies (deck data); 100% inclusion in Batteryman; 66.7% inclusion in Gravekeeper's (usage statistics); Top partners are defensive staples: Ash Blossom (49.5%), Mirror Force (46%), Solemn Judgment (30.5%) (top partners); Trap Card type—cannot be summoned or used as material for any summon (card type)
- Observed: Magic Cylinder is universally played in going-second defensive strategies; Appearance in 152 distinct archetypes confirms format-agnostic utility across all gameplay types; Distribution skews toward single copies but supports 2–3 copy inclusion patterns; Consistently paired with other negation and disruption cards in top partners list
- Inferred: Activation is opponent-dependent and requires the opponent to attack with a monster; No searchability routes noted in evidence; relies on hand draw or generic trap search engines; Zero combo appearances indicate no role in established combo lines or board extensions; Effectiveness varies significantly by matchup and meta composition
- Data gaps: No combo evidence provided (0 combos in combo data)—combo conversion is text-only inference No metagame tournament rankings to confirm current meta positioning No explicit searchability routes listed in evidence (inferred from generic trap engine support) No detailed rulings on interaction edge cases or format-specific ban status in modern formats