EARTH
3Master Tao the Chanter
ATK:
1200
DEF:
900
View:
4070
If this card battles a monster, neither can be destroyed by that battle. If this card is sent to the GY: You can target 1 Illusion monster in your GY, except "Master Tao the Chanter"; Special Summon it in Defense Position, also you cannot Special Summon from the GY for the rest of this turn, except Illusion monsters. You can only use this effect of "Master Tao the Chanter" once per turn.
Master Tao the Chanter — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 58 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 56 · Deck: 59 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery/Recursion · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Master Tao converts its own send-to-GY into one Defense-position Illusion revived from the graveyard, a modest recursion that needs a live Illusion target and is capped by a same-turn GY Special Summon lock. Its strongest measured signal is deck presence (400 of 400 sampled decks, about one copy each), which confirms accessibility and cheap deckbuilding but is not treated as power under guardrail 3. The combo data shows it on 4 of 4 boards with zero starter, searched, material, or payoff tags, so the high average power index (87) belongs to the Chimera lines around it and earns little credit here. The 1200 ATK and the battle-protection clause earn nothing on their own.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 62 | Present in all 400 sampled decks at about one copy each, but zero as_starter or as_searched tags, so access is a generic staple rather than a confirmed searched route (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 45 | Appears on 4 of 4 recorded boards with no role tags, and its one-card output is a single Defense-position revive from the GY, so conversion is one extra body with help (observed, inferred from text). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | The GY trigger returns one Illusion from the GY after the card has already been sent there, a small net body gain with no recorded netCardAdvantage attributed to it (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 25 | The only interaction is battle protection for itself and the monster it fights; there is no negation, removal, or hand-trap reach (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 40 | A Level 3 EARTH Illusion, but it has zero as_material tags in combos, so material value is unconfirmed by observed data (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | The GY effect works from the graveyard after any send, which is multi-zone, but it is once per turn and the battle protection only applies on the field (verified from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | A one-copy, low-cost Level 3 body with no garnet or lock beyond a same-turn GY Special Summon restriction on Illusion-only plays (verified from text). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Recovery/Recursion + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 56, Deck ≈ 59, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Revives an Illusion from the GY when sent there, with no extra cost
- Appears in 400 of 400 sampled decks at about one copy each, a consistent slot
- Cheap to run with no garnet or brick restriction
Weaknesses
- No negation, removal, or hand-trap reach
- Zero recorded starter, searched, or material roles in combos
- Recursion is once per turn and blocks most GY Special Summons for the rest of the turn
- Battle protection only matters when it fights
Counters / choke points
- Any effect that stops graveyard effects or sends it to the GY without a valid Illusion target
Best use
Recovery/Recursion: GY Illusion revival with battle protection. Decks: Phantom Beast (Chimera) lists, Hecahands lists, Frightfur lists. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Level 3 EARTH Illusion, 1200 ATK / 900 DEF, effect monster (card text); Battle protection for itself and the monster it battles (card text); Once-per-turn GY effect: Defense-position Special Summon of an Illusion from the GY, with a same-turn GY Special Summon restriction (card text); Present in 400 of 400 sampled decks, about 1.04 copies each (decks_evidence)
- Observed: Appears on 4 of 4 recorded combo boards with zero starter, searched, material, or payoff tags (combos_evidence); Top partner Nightmare Apprentice in 97.2% of decks (decks_evidence); Frightfur and Chimera inclusion at 100% in usage_statistics (usage_statistics)
- Inferred: The GY effect gives a small body gain, not card advantage (from text); Material value is real but unconfirmed, since no board tags it as material (from text and combo tags)
- Data gaps: No banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) Combos show zero role tags for this card, so the role is text-driven rather than confirmed by combo evidence Deck sample is 400 of 400 Illusion-adjacent lists, so deck presence may reflect the sample's archetype mix rather than general pick rate Only 4 combos recorded, so combo evidence is thin No top-card ranking in any format