Spell
NormalMisfortune
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3261
Select 1 face-up monster your opponent controls. Inflict damage to your opponent equal to half that monster's original ATK. Your monsters cannot attack this turn.
Misfortune — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 32 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 35 · Deck: 36 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility
Why it scores here
Misfortune is a conditional damage spell that requires the opponent to control a monster and locks your own attackers for the turn, making it a niche utility piece rather than a core engine card. While it appears in 12 distinct archetypes (primarily Control variants at 57.9%), the card generates zero board presence, zero card advantage, and zero combo synergy—it is purely a one-shot damage effect with no interaction value. The attack lock drawback severely hampers offensive tempo, and the card is completely helpless if the opponent controls no monsters or if a single negate resolves. Its modest score reflects the reality that pure, conditional damage with a built-in self-restriction occupies a narrow utility niche in the modern game.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 65 | Always live in hand as a Normal Spell, but conditional on opponent controlling a monster; decks run it at 1.74 copies on average across 19 sample decks. (verified) |
| Combo & Conversion | 5 | Zero board-building value; generates no extra materials, synergies, or extenders—purely one-shot damage with no combo synergy or role. (verified) |
| Resource Economy | 20 | Costs 1 card for conditional damage; opponent retains their board state and monsters, yielding no card advantage and net-negative tempo in aggro matchups. (verified) |
| Effect & Interaction | 15 | Pure damage effect with no removal, negation, disruption, or interactive value; opponent's field remains completely unaffected. (verified) |
| Material Utility | 8 | Spell Card type provides no body, level, attribute, or material value; contributes nothing as Synchro/Xyz/Fusion material or cost material. (verified) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 10 | One-shot spell with zero recursion, GY play, or multi-turn value; single negate (Ash Blossom, Called by the Grave, Crossout) completely nullifies the card. (verified) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 45 | Normal Spell with no searchability overhead or garnet risk; self-imposed attack lock is a real cost in beatdown and tempo strategies, though Control decks tolerate it. (verified) |
Calculation
Weight profile: Utility (default) role — no clear primary role fit. Intrinsic ≈ 35, Deck ≈ 36, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Conditional effectiveness (needs opponent board) (-2); Attack lock drawback (self-restriction) (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Simple, clear card text with no complex rulings or timing requirements
- Runs in 12 distinct archetypes, showing broad accessibility across formats
- Splashable as a 2-of in Control decks without searchability overhead
- No garnet risk or deckbuilding restrictions on inclusion
Weaknesses
- Pure damage with zero board disruption, removal, or interaction value
- Conditional effect (useless if opponent controls no monsters)
- Self-imposed attack lock severely hampers offensive tempo and synergy
- Zero card advantage, combo synergy, or recursion potential
- Highly vulnerable to negation (single negate = complete whiff)
- No GY utility or multi-turn value
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (negates Spell Card effects)
- Called by the Grave (removes from GY, negates Spell effects)
- Crossout Designator (negates any card effect)
- Opponent controls no face-up monsters (card effect does nothing)
Best use
Utility damage + board lock. Decks: Control, Dark World, Timelord, Resonator. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: Select 1 face-up monster opponent controls; inflict damage equal to half that monster's original ATK; your monsters cannot attack this turn.; Normal Spell type (no once-per-turn or OPT restriction).; Legal in TCG, OCG, MasterDuel, and DuelLinks.; Runs in 19 sample decks across 12 distinct archetypes, primarily Control at 57.9%.; Average 1.74 copies per deck, with 12 of 19 running exactly 2 copies.
- Observed: Control decks run this card at 57.9% of the sample, indicating adoption in going-second strategies.; Strong partnerships with control staples (Called by the Grave, Monster Reborn, Nibiru) in 31.6–36.8% of co-occurrence.; Zero combo board appearances across all supplied combo evidence (0 appearances).; Main deck only; no side-deck evidence supplied.
- Inferred: Conditional accessibility: live in hand as Normal Spell, but ceiling limited by opponent board state.; Zero combo conversion: pure damage spell with no synergy, extender role, or board-building capacity.; Attack lock creates meaningful deckbuilding tension in tempo-focused or aggressive strategies.; Spell type provides negligible material utility (not a body, level, attribute, or cost provider).; One-shot spell structure with zero resilience to negation or multi-turn value.; Deckbuilding efficiency is moderate: splashable but conditional and restrictive in strategy choice.
- Data gaps: No combo evidence supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference; zero observed combo instances. No guide evidence supplied — no human expert documentation of intended role, synergies, or matchup applications. No banlist token — assumed 3 copies unlimited; no restriction data provided. No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion percentages based on 19-deck sample only, not historical aggregate.