DARK
4Magic Hand
ATK:
800
DEF:
1600
View:
3920
When your opponent adds a card(s) from their Deck to their hand, except by drawing them (except during the Damage Step): You can send that card(s) to the Graveyard, and if you do, inflict 800 damage to your opponent. This effect can only be used once while this card is face-up on the field.
Magic Hand — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 47 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 47 · Deck: 47 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Floodgate/Control · Secondary: Negation/Interaction
Why it scores here
Magic Hand scores as a situational tech card for disrupting opponent searches, particularly valuable in search-heavy archetypes like Burning Abyss and Phantom Knights. Its primary strength comes from negating opponent search effects and inflicting chip damage, but the once-per-turn limitation, weak 800 ATK stats, and soft negation (cards to GY rather than removed) significantly constrain its impact. The card demonstrates decent splashability across 5 archetypes with strong synergy to Prominence Hand (83% co-deck rate), but lacks the resilience and conversion power expected of stronger floodgates. The score reflects modest tech utility in specific metagames rather than intrinsic core strength.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 45 | Requires Normal Summon to be live on-field, and effectiveness hinges on opponent playing searches; modest accessibility evidenced by 6 decks across 5 archetypes (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 8 | This card is purely reactive and does not build or extend combos; zero combo appearances in the evidence record (verified). |
| Resource Economy | 35 | Trades a Normal Summon and deck slot for denying one opponent search plus 800 chip damage, a roughly neutral exchange unless the effect triggers repeatedly; once-per-turn limits cumulative value (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 48 | Negates opponent searches and sends them to GY, but once-per-turn restriction and soft negation (cards recycled via GY rather than removed permanently) reduce disruption quality; 800 damage is negligible (verified). |
| Material Utility | 40 | Generic Level 4 Spellcaster/DARK body with weak 800 ATK; usable as Rank 4 Xyz or Synchro fodder but not a premium material contributor (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 30 | Fragile once-per-turn effect with no protection, recovery, or multi-zone flexibility; easy removal target and dies to any field wipe (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 52 | Splashable Spellcaster with no archetype lock, but situational utility and weak stats create brick scenarios; strong 83% co-deck with Prominence Hand suggests paired redundancy strategy (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Primary: Floodgate/Control. Intrinsic ≈ 47, Deck ≈ 47, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck (decks present, combos absent)
Strengths
- Counters search-heavy archetypes effectively (Burning Abyss, Phantom Knights, Danger!, Greed)
- Splashable Spellcaster with no archetype requirement
- Strong redundancy partner with Prominence Hand for multi-trigger strategy
- Clear, straightforward card text with no timing ambiguity
Weaknesses
- Zero combo synergy; pure reactive card with no board conversion
- Extremely weak 800 ATK makes it fragile and susceptible to removal
- Once-per-turn limitation caps disruption value in longer games
- Soft negation (cards go to GY) allows recursion via BA, PK, and other archetype effects
- Brick factor: weak body means it has limited utility against non-search decks
- Requires Normal Summon—competes with deck's core summoning lines
Counters / choke points
- Decks with minimal search (go-first tempo, OTK builds) make this card dead
- Field wipes and removal easily shut down the effect before trigger
- Decks that search from hand or gravyard (not Deck) bypass the effect entirely
Best use
Tech disruption against search-heavy decks; best paired with Prominence Hand for redundancy. Decks: Burning Abyss, Phantom Knights, Danger!, Greed, Dark Magician.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text is clear and present; once-per-turn effect while face-up; Appears in 6 decks across 5 distinct archetypes (Greed, PK, Danger, BA, DM); 800 ATK, 1600 DEF, Level 4 Spellcaster/DARK; Top synergy partner is Prominence Hand at 83% co-deck rate; All main-deck copies (0 side deck inclusion)
- Observed: Appears in search-heavy archetypes (BA, PK, Danger!, Greed), suggesting role as search-disruptive tech; Flexible inclusion at 1–3 copies indicates situational, metagame-dependent usage; Modest page views (3,838) relative to more commonly-played cards; Used in parallel with Pot of Avarice (83% co-deck), both card-advantage/disruption-focused
- Inferred: Primary function is tech disruption against search-heavy decks, not core combo piece; Paired usage with Prominence Hand (identical effect trigger, same GY condition) suggests redundancy strategy; Weak ATK (800) means body value is negligible; power is entirely effect-dependent; Once-per-turn effect caps disruption at 1 search negation per turn, severely limiting impact in long games; Soft negation (GY sends, not removal) allows archetype-specific recursion (e.g., BA Dante mills, PK searches from GY)
- Data gaps: Zero combos supplied—combo conversion is text-only inference; cannot assess actual board presence or power escalation Zero guides—no human context on strategic usage, matchup spread, or metagame role No banlist token—assumed unlimited (3 copies legal in all formats) No usage statistics (StatisticsCard)—archetype inclusion % and typical copies inferred from 6-deck sample only No top card context—not a ranked/Top Card in any format (confirms niche status but limits meta grounding)