FIRE
4Magma Dragon
ATK:
1600
DEF:
1200
View:
3889
When this card is Special Summoned: You can target 1 Wyrm-Type monster in your Graveyard, except "Magma Dragon"; Special Summon it in Defense Position, but its effects are negated. You can only use this effect of "Magma Dragon" once per turn. You cannot Special Summon monsters the turn you activate this effect, except Wyrm-Type monsters.
Magma Dragon — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 64 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 65 · Deck: 64 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Extender · Secondary: Combo enabler, Material body
Why it scores here
Magma Dragon is a board extender that recycles Wyrm monsters from the graveyard, gaining strong material utility and deckbuilding efficiency through its clean Level-4 Wyrm body and compatibility with Swordsoul/Tenyi archetypes. While its 1600 ATK is respectable, the score is driven by proven deck inclusion (80% co-appearance with Swordsoul Auspice Chunjun), reliable activation in Special-Summon-heavy homes, and solid synergy material potential—not by raw stats. Its lack of disruption, effect-negation of retrieved monsters, and dependence on a prior Special Summon to activate limit its power; the Special Summon lock is acceptable in Wyrm-focused decks but represents conditional flexibility rather than raw strength.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 68 | Special-Summon-dependent activation, but 80% co-appearance with Swordsoul Auspice Chunjun (a core Swordsoul enabler) confirms reliable access in its home archetypes (observed) |
| Combo & Conversion | 62 | Text indicates modest board extension through GY recursion, with effect-negation of the retrieved Wyrm limiting its utility to material/beatstick role; no combo data supplied (inferred) |
| Resource Economy | 58 | Recovers a resource from the GY at the cost of a Special Summon slot, roughly net-zero trade; useful for sustaining board but no card draw or net advantage (inferred) |
| Effect & Interaction | 28 | Card brings no negation, removal, or disruption; purely a board extension without interactive capability (verified from card text) |
| Material Utility | 74 | Clean Level-4 Wyrm body usable as Synchro/Xyz material in dedicated Wyrm archetypes; even effect-negated, remains viable material (verified) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 56 | Requires Special Summon to trigger effect; one-use per turn limits flexibility; Special Summon lock is Wyrm-friendly but restrictive; no inherent protection (inferred) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 72 | 1600 ATK body is clean and above-average for Level 4; runs as efficient 1-of (OPT effect); no archetype lock, splashable across Wyrm strategies (verified) |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7·Extender + 0.3·Combo Enabler. Intrinsic ≈ 65, Deck ≈ 64, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40·Intrinsic + 0.60·Deck (decks present, combos absent)
Strengths
- Clean Level-4 Wyrm body useful as Synchro/Xyz material in dedicated Wyrm archetypes
- GY recursion extends board presence without requiring a second card in hand
- Splashable across multiple Wyrm-based strategies (Swordsoul 30%, Tenyi 30%, Yang Zing, others) with proven 80% co-inclusion with Swordsoul Auspice Chunjun
- OPT effect prevents bricking on multiples; 1-copy efficiency is standard and clean
- No archetype lock; pure Wyrm-type requirement enables portability across 8 distinct homes
Weaknesses
- Requires a Special Summon to activate; card is dead in hand and useless if Normal Summoned
- Effect-negates the retrieved Wyrm, severely limiting its utility to material/beatstick role
- Special Summon lock (non-Wyrm summons blocked that turn) restricts deck flexibility and combo lines
- No disruption, negation, or interaction on its own; purely a board extender with no defensive utility
- GY recursion is only valuable if the GY is already stocked with Wyrms; useless in empty-GY situations
Counters / choke points
- Graveyard denial effects (Macro Cosmos, Dimensional Fissure) eliminate recursion targets
- Extra Deck lock effects (Abyss Dweller) block the Special Summon of the retrieved Wyrm
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring can negate the triggered Special Summon effect
Best use
Mid-to-late-game board extension / GY recursion engine in Wyrm-heavy archetypes. Decks: Swordsoul, Tenyi, Yang Zing, other Wyrm-based strategies. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text confirmed: Special Summon trigger, Wyrm target in GY, Defense Position placement, effect-negation, OPT clause, Special Summon lock (non-Wyrm blocked); Deck inclusion confirmed: 10 decks running 1 copy each; Archetype homes confirmed: Swordsoul (4), Tenyi (3), Yang Zing (1), others; Level-4 Wyrm type confirmed from card frame
- Observed: 80% co-appearance rate (9/10 decks) with Swordsoul Auspice Chunjun suggests tight integration with Swordsoul strategy; 80% co-appearance with Baxia, Swordsoul Strategist Longyuan, and other key Tenyi/Swordsoul cards; Distinct archetype spread across 8 different archetypes in a sample of 10 decks indicates broad Wyrm-deck portability; Main-deck only inclusion (0 side-deck copies) suggests core strategy tool rather than meta-call
- Inferred: Primary role as Extender derived from text: GY recursion provides board extension via previously-discarded Wyrm recovery; Secondary role as Combo Enabler inferred from Swordsoul/Tenyi synergy and known Wynm Synchro/Xyz requirements; Board extension mechanism inferred: Special Summoned Wyrm enables follow-up Synchro/Xyz plays in Wyrm-heavy decks; Synchro/Xyz material utility inferred from Level-4 status and Wyrm type in known Synchro/Xyz-centric archetypes; Splashability inferred from pure Wyrm-type requirement (no archetype lock)
- Data gaps: No combos supplied — combo conversion measured via text inference only; board potential in real combo lines unmeasured No guides supplied — human strategy context unavailable No banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) across all formats No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from small 10-deck sample only No match results or metagame ranking — Top Card status unknown; deck win-rate contribution unmeasured