Trap
NormalMirage Mirror Force
Archetype:
Mirror Trap
View:
2595
When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Special Summon 1 Illusion monster from your hand or GY, and if you do, return the attacking monster to the hand. If a face-up Illusion monster(s) you control leaves the field by an opponent's card effect, while this card is in your GY (except during the Damage Step): You can banish this card; Special Summon 1 Illusion monster from your hand or GY. You can only use this effect of "Mirage Mirror Force" once per turn.
Mirage Mirror Force — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 60 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 61 · Deck: 60 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Board breaker / Going-second · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
The card's main value is an on-attack effect: it bounces the attacking monster to the hand and Special Summons an Illusion monster, so it converts one trap into a tempo swing and a body. Its GY effect adds recursion, but only after an Illusion monster you control leaves the field by an opponent's card effect, which limits how often it fires. Deck evidence (372 decks, 1 copy in 87% of them, 40 archetypes) confirms it is a practical, low-cost slot, but that frequency is not counted as power. The high ATK-free text and 0 combo boards mean the score rests on text-based inference, not observed conversion.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 58 | A set Trap reached in most hands, but it needs an Illusion monster in hand or GY to activate and there is no searcher in the evidence (inferred; deck partners and 1-copy distribution are observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 52 | The text converts one trap into one Special Summon plus a bounce, but there are no combo boards to confirm a full line (inferred from text). |
| Resource Economy | 60 | The bounce plus a free Special Summon is roughly even on cards, and the GY banish effect gives a repeatable body, but only under a specific trigger (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 66 | A reactive bounce on any opponent attack is strong interaction, but it is a return to hand rather than destruction and requires the Illusion condition (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 15 | As a Trap it is never material and gives no body of its own; it only helps by Special Summoning other monsters (verified from text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 62 | It works from both the S/T zone and the GY, but the GY recursion needs an Illusion monster to leave by opponent effect (verified from text, inferred for timing). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 72 | Runs as a single copy in most decks with no garnet or lock, but the Illusion dependency restricts the deck it fits (observed from 1-copy distribution, inferred for restriction). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Board breaker / Going-second + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 61, Deck ≈ 60, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Reactive on-attack bounce that removes an attacker from the field without a monster on the field
- Free Special Summon of an Illusion monster as part of the same effect
- Recursion from the GY when an Illusion monster leaves the field to an opponent's card effect
- Single-copy slot in most decks with no garnet
Weaknesses
- Needs an Illusion monster in hand or GY to activate
- Bounce, not destruction, so the attacker can be replayed
- No combo evidence to confirm how often the condition is met
- The GY effect requires an opponent card effect to trigger it, so it does nothing against self-inflicted leaves
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (appears as a partner in 259 decks; cited by the evidence as a counter-style card in the deck, not verified as a counter to this card)
Best use
Single-copy reactive trap that answers an attack and recurs from the GY. Decks: Chimera (Phantom Beast) builds, Illusion-type builds such as Chimera the Illusion Beast and Eye of Illusion lines. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: on an opponent's monster attack, Special Summon 1 Illusion monster from hand or GY and return the attacker to hand if you do; Card text: GY effect requires a face-up Illusion monster leaving the field by an opponent's card effect, once per turn; deck data: 372 decks, 323 run 1 copy, 22 run 2, 27 run 3, 40 distinct archetypes
- Observed: deck data: 79.6% of decks are gameplay type 7; 14.8% type 3; Top partners include Chimera the Illusion Beast (73.4%) and Eye of Illusion (53.5%) by co-occurrence; guide data: one Chimera guide lists the card in its Spell/Trap section
- Inferred: Accessibility is moderate because the Illusion requirement limits activation; Combo conversion is text-only because no combo boards are recorded; Partners such as Chimera the Illusion Beast and Eye of Illusion are Illusion-type from their names, not from a type field in the evidence
- Data gaps: no combos supplied; combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard); inclusion measured from deck sample only legal copies per format is empty no searcher or Illusion-type tagging in evidence; Illusion dependency inferred from card text