Spell
QuickMistaken Arrest
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4757
Until the end of your next turn after this card resolves, neither player can add cards from their Deck to their hand except by drawing them.
Mistaken Arrest — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 70 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 69 · Deck: 71 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Floodgate / Control · Secondary: Negation/Interaction
Why it scores here
Mistaken Arrest is a staple control piece that locks deck searches for both players—a symmetric disruption highly valued in the current meta. While it doesn't generate card advantage or enable combos, its strong effectiveness against search-heavy archetypes (Branded, Despia, @Ignister) justifies the 2-3 copy adoption across 98 distinct archetypes. The self-restriction of the symmetric lock moderates the score: it trades your own search flexibility for denying the opponent's, a cost that competitive decks accept as necessary disruption.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 85 | Quick-Play Spell playable from hand; 400 sampled decks run it across 98 archetypes with 65% running 3 copies, indicating easy access and zero garnet risk (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 20 | No recorded combo board appearances; effect generates no card advantage or board state on its own, confined to disruption only (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 35 | Costs 1 main deck slot with zero card draw or advantage generation; symmetric lock also restricts the playing player's own search access until end of next turn (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 72 | Disrupts both players' deck-search capabilities for a turn cycle; co-appears with Droll & Lock Bird in 95% of decks, confirming meta value against search-reliant archetypes (observed). |
| Material Utility | 0 | Spell Card type cannot serve as monster material and carries no special properties for synergy as deck building material (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 65 | Effect persists independently after resolution and resists negation post-activation; however, spell itself is vulnerable to removal before resolution and symmetric lock constrains the player's own flexibility (verified). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 88 | Highly splashable across 98 archetypes with consistent 2-3 copy adoption; 65% run 3 copies with minimal garnet risk or deck-building penalties (verified). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Primary role: Floodgate / Control. Intrinsic ≈ 69, Deck ≈ 71, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40·Intrinsic + 0.60·Deck (decks present, combos absent)
Strengths
- Symmetric lock disrupts search-heavy archetypes (Branded, Despia, @Ignister) at scale
- Highly splashable across 98 distinct archetypes with zero identified downsides
- Consistent 2-3 copy adoption shows low opening-hand garnet risk
- Quick-Play Spell timing allows flexible activation on either player's turn
Weaknesses
- Symmetric lock restricts the playing player's own search follow-up for a turn cycle
- No inherent card advantage, recursion, or resource generation
- Vulnerable to spell/trap removal (MST, Harpie's Feather Duster) before activation
- No combo conversion capability; requires other cards to generate winning value
Counters / choke points
- Spell/trap removal before resolution (Harpie's Feather Duster, Mystical Space Typhoon)
- Effect negation during activation window (Solemn Judgment, Solemn Strike)
- Archetypes that do not rely on deck searches (pure beatdown strategies) benefit minimally from disruption
Best use
Control/disruption staple; activated on turn 1 or turn 2 to lock opponent's search phase while accepting temporary self-restriction on follow-up. Decks: Branded, Despia, @Ignister, Springans, Fire King, Snake-Eye.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Quick-Play Spell Card; effect locks deck searches for both players until end of next turn after activation; Appears in 400 main deck lists across 98 distinct archetypes; 65% of sampled decks run exactly 3 copies; 27.75% run 2 copies; only 0.25% run 1 copy; 100% inclusion in Memento, Maliss, Fire King, and Wicked God archetypes per usage statistics; Labeled as 'Staple' in competitive deck guide (Clown Crew guide sections)
- Observed: Droll & Lock Bird is the top partner at 95% co-occurrence, indicating complementary disruption roles; High inclusion in search-intensive archetypes: @Ignister (61%, 3 copies), Springans (60%, 3 copies) despite self-restriction; Used in both Control (54.5%) and Beatdown (44%) gameplay types; No recorded appearances across the combo board sample (0% appearance rate)
- Inferred: Symmetric search lock means the activating player also loses access to deck searches until end of turn following activation, creating a resource trade-off; Effect persists independently after card resolves; cannot be countered post-activation by negation; Spell card is vulnerable to removal effects before activation window closes; Generic card text with no archetype lock or restriction enables high splashability across multiple homes
- Data gaps: No combo board appearances supplied—combo conversion effectiveness cannot be empirically verified; scored from card text alone No banlist data provided; assumed unlimited to 3 copies based on competitive sampling context Only 1 guide mentions card; limited guide narrative context for role validation No published rulings or interaction documentation; symmetric lock timing assumed standard Quick-Play activation