EARTH
1Magical Hound
ATK:
500
DEF:
800
View:
3355
If this card is in your hand or GY: You can target 1 face-up Spell/Trap your opponent controls; return it to the hand, and if you do, Special Summon this card. You can only use this effect of "Magical Hound" once per Duel.
Magical Hound — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 72 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 73 · Deck: 71 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal · Secondary: Material body, Hand trap
Why it scores here
Magical Hound is a versatile utility card that bounces opponent's Spell/Trap from hand or graveyard, providing targeted disruption without card cost. As a Level 1 Tuner with Earth/Machine typing, it serves as splashable material for Synchro and XYZ strategies across 64 archetypes, making it highly accessible (appearing in 100% of sample decks). However, its single-use-per-duel limitation and moderate disruption value (bounce rather than hard removal) prevent it from reaching higher power tiers; the combination of accessibility and reasonable defensive utility yields a solid midrange score.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 88 | Runs in 400/400 decks across 64 distinct archetypes and activates from hand or graveyard without searchability requirements (verified from deck evidence) |
| Combo & Conversion | 45 | Summons itself after bouncing a Spell/Trap for +1 body value, but no recorded combo lines demonstrate board extension beyond one additional material piece (inferred from card text with no combo data) |
| Resource Economy | 60 | Activation costs only a target selection with no discard or LP payment; returns opponent's Spell/Trap to hand and summons self, yielding net-zero card advantage but board tempo (inferred from card text) |
| Effect & Interaction | 70 | Bounces any face-up Spell/Trap the opponent controls, providing situational disruption that is strongest against backrow-heavy strategies but weaker than hard negation (verified from card text) |
| Material Utility | 75 | Level 1 Tuner with EARTH/Machine attributes works cleanly as Synchro and XYZ material, unaffected by the bounce effect's resolution (inferred from card typing) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 62 | Accessible from hand or graveyard but locked to one use per entire duel, limiting multi-turn utility and preventing recurring disruption (verified from card text and once-per-duel clause) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 78 | Runs at 1–2 copies per deck with no archetype lock, garnets, or brick risk; splashes cleanly into any Tuner-supporting strategy (observed from deck statistics showing 397/400 at 1x, 3/400 at 2x, and 64 distinct archetypes) |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Removal + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 73, Deck ≈ 71, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- High accessibility: runs in 100% of sampled decks across 64 archetypes
- Multi-zone activation (hand or GY) provides consistent availability
- Bounces any Spell/Trap type without build-specific requirements
- Generic Tuner status splashes into diverse strategies
- Self-summoning body adds tempo value after activation
Weaknesses
- Single use per duel severely limits utility in extended games
- Bounce effect is soft removal (card returns to hand, not destroyed)
- Once-per-duel lock prevents recurring disruption patterns
- Low ATK/DEF stats offer no inherent board presence
- Effect requires opponent to control Spell/Trap (no value against pure strategies)
- Combo conversion data unavailable limits verification of Synchro line strength
Counters / choke points
- Spell/Trap negation (Solemn Warning, etc.)
- Faster special summons before resolution
- Opponent controls no face-up Spell/Trap (effect requires a target)
Best use
Hand trap / Tuner material hybrid; bounces backrow disruption while providing Synchro/XYZ material. Decks: Ancient Gears, Stardust / Synchron, Train, Gizmek, Machina, Therions, Springans, Infinitrack.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Activates from hand or graveyard (card text); Bounces target opponent-controlled Spell/Trap to hand (card text); Special Summons itself upon successful activation (card text); Once-per-duel effect lock (card text); Level 1 Tuner with EARTH/Machine attributes (card text); Appears in 400/400 sampled decks in main deck (deck statistics); Runs across 64 distinct archetypes (deck statistics)
- Observed: Average 1.01 copies per deck (mostly 1x, some 2x runs) (deck statistics); Highest concentration in Ancient Gears (38.5%, 154 decks) and Stardust/Synchron (12.5%, 50 decks) (deck statistics); Top synergy partners include Forbidden Droplet, Harpie's Feather Duster, and archetype-specific support (deck statistics)
- Inferred: Acts as hand-trap-style removal from hand or GY when opponent controls Spell/Trap; Provides Tuner material value for Synchro-focused decks like Stardust/Synchron; Splashable tech in Machine-based strategies due to clean typing and no summon locks; Bounce effect stronger in Spell/Trap-dense metagames than pure combo formats; Self-summon provides tempo and XYZ material in XYZ-focused decks (Ancient Gears)
- Data gaps: No combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference, limiting verification of actual Synchro/XYZ combo value No guides supplied — no human strategy context available No banlist data — assuming unlimited (3 copies per deck) No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion percentages inferred from 400-deck sample only Missing combo-specific evidence for Stardust/Synchron lines despite 12.5% presence in sampled decks