Spell
NormalMini-Guts
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Tribute 1 monster, then target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; its ATK becomes 0 until the End Phase. This turn, when it is destroyed by battle and sent to their Graveyard: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to its original ATK in the Graveyard.
Mini-Guts — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 40 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 41 · Deck: 40 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal/Negation
Why it scores here
Mini-Guts scores as a niche removal utility card with situational effectiveness. It trades a tribute and card slot for temporary ATK reduction and conditional damage, making it resource-inefficient in most contexts. Despite appearing in ten different archetypes, its sparse inclusion (mostly 1 copy per deck across only 20 total decks) and zero recorded combo appearances indicate weak deck integration. The damage payoff requires opponent battle destruction—a condition that rarely aligns with the control-focused strategies where this card typically appears.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 35 | Only 1–3 copies per deck across 20 total decks indicates this card is a narrow tech pick, not a practical engine piece (observed) |
| Combo & Conversion | 15 | Zero recorded combo appearances and no synergy patterns confirm the card operates as a one-off effect rather than an enabler (verified) |
| Resource Economy | 25 | Tributing a monster plus spending a card slot yields only temporary ATK reduction and conditional damage, resulting in net negative card advantage (verified) |
| Effect & Interaction | 50 | Reduces target monster ATK to 0 until End Phase, providing soft disruption but not hard negation or permanent removal (verified) |
| Material Utility | 5 | As a Spell card with no monster attributes or effects, it has zero material value and cannot contribute to summons (verified) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 20 | Resolves once as a single-use Normal Spell with no recovery or multi-turn presence, and its damage payoff depends on opponent battle destruction (verified) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 40 | Lacks searchability and appears in only 10 archetypes at minimal copies despite generic text, suggesting weak pull in competitive deckbuilding (observed) |
Calculation
Weight profile: Removal/Negation role. Intrinsic ≈ 41, Deck ≈ 40, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Broadly splashable in control-oriented decks (appears in 10 distinct archetypes)
- Soft disruption that can swing damage trades in beatdown-heavy formats
- Minimal deckbuilding restriction—no archetype lock or brick risk
Weaknesses
- Requires tribute, making it resource-inefficient (−2 total resources: tribute + card)
- Conditional damage payoff requires opponent battle destruction, a rare condition in control decks
- Zero synergy with recorded combo lines, indicating no integration into established engines
- Soft removal only; does not negate, destroy, or banish permanently
- Single-use Normal Spell with no recovery, recursion, or multi-turn presence
Counters / choke points
- Any negation of the Spell (Solemn Strike, Solemn Judgment)
- Opponent monster removal before battle destruction (negates damage payoff)
- Decks that do not rely on battle-focused strategies
Best use
Tech removal/utility in control-focused decks. Decks: Skull Servant (control/grind shell), Chronomaly (tempo disruption), Windwitch (mixed control), Relinquished (ATK-focused control), Dark Magician (tech slot). Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card is a Normal Spell with clear text: tribute 1 monster, reduce opponent's monster ATK to 0 until End Phase, inflict damage equal to original ATK if destroyed by battle; Appears in 20 main-deck slots (0 side-deck); Distributed across 10 distinct archetypes (Skull Servant, Chronomaly, Windwitch, Traptrix, Relinquished, Dark Magician, Charmer, Resonator, Solemn, Nephthys); Majority of decks run 1 copy (16/20 decks), minority run 2–3 copies; 95% of appearances in gameplay type 7 (control/beatdown); No banlist restriction; assumed 3 copies unlimited; Zero recorded combo appearances; No guide mentions
- Observed: Top partners are removal and control cards (Book of Moon, Witch of the Black Forest, Monster Reborn, trap holes), suggesting role as tech disruption; Appears in control-oriented archetype homes (Relinquished, Dark Magician, Traptrix) at low copy counts, confirming tech status; 10 distinct archetypes with only 20 total decks indicates broad generic splash but weak adoption
- Inferred: Card functions as soft removal/utility in control decks rather than as a core engine piece; Tribute cost plus conditional damage payoff make it resource-inefficient compared to standalone removal options; Conditional damage (requires battle destruction) poorly aligns with control-focused strategies that avoid combat; Generic text allows splashing into diverse shells, but low inclusion rate suggests it is outclassed by better alternatives
- Data gaps: No combo data supplied — combo conversion is entirely text-based inference; zero recorded synergy with any combo line No guide mentions — no human expert context available on the card's role or evaluation No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — inclusion percentages and copies are inferred from the 20-deck sample only, not from a larger historical sample No banlist status provided — assumed unlimited (3 copies) in all formats