Mutually Affured Destruction

Mutually Affured Destruction — Power Evaluation

Final Score: 49 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium

• Intrinsic: 51 · Deck: 50 · Meta: provisional
• Primary role: Floodgate/Control · Secondary: Negation/Interaction

Why it scores here

Mutually Affured Destruction is a generic Normal Trap that reveals both hands and, for that turn, prevents either player from activating any card whose name appears in both hands — a conditional, symmetric lock rather than a raw negate or a body. Its value comes almost entirely from effect_interaction: in staple-heavy formats it can switch off shared hand traps (Mulcharmy Fuwalos is a 66.1% co-deck), but it does nothing when the two hands share no names and it also locks the controller out of their own shared cards. It builds no board and generates no advantage, so combo_conversion, resource_economy and material_utility stay low, and its 0 ATK/DEF and view_count earn no points. The 233 main-deck appearances spread over 69 archetypes confirm it is a real, splashable one-of tech trap rather than a forgotten niche pick, which is why it lands mid-range instead of at the bottom.

Axis scores

Calculation

Weight profile: 0.7 Floodgate/Control + 0.3 Negation/Interaction. Intrinsic ≈ 51, Deck ≈ 50, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Limited to 1 in Duel Links (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck

Strengths

• Turns off the opponent's hand traps and key shared cards for a full turn.
• Reveals both hands, giving complete information about the opponent's available options.
• Fully generic text makes it splashable in any trap-heavy or control deck.
• Extremely cheap to include — 1 copy is the norm and max 3 is fine.

Weaknesses

• Conditional: it does nothing if the two hands share no card names.
• Symmetric — it also locks the controller out of their own shared cards.
• Normal Trap: cannot be activated the turn it is set, so it is slow and reactive.
• No card advantage; it is a -1 that only buys a one-turn tempo swing.

Counters / choke points

• Trap removal such as Harpie's Feather Duster or Cosmic Cyclone before it resolves.
• Trap negation such as Solemn Judgment.
• Decks whose win condition shares no card names with the controller's hand.

Best use

One-of control/anti-staple tech trap to disable shared hand traps for a turn. Decks: Labrynth, Trap/control strategies. Suggested copies: 1.

Evidence & gaps

• Verified: Card text: Normal Trap that makes both players keep their hands revealed this turn, and while revealed, if both hands contain a card with the same name, neither player can activate cards with that name or their effects.; Legal at 3 copies in TCG/OCG/Master Duel; legal_copies shows Duel Links limited to 1.
• Observed: 233 decks run it, all in the main deck, at avg 1.32 copies (max 3, distribution 184/23/26).; Spread across 69 distinct archetypes; largest homes are Labrynth (10.7% and 6.0%), Sky Striker and Yummy.; usage_statistics: 66.67% inclusion in one Labrynth gameplay type at typical 1 copy.; 0 combo appearances and 0 guide mentions.
• Inferred: Disruption is conditional: it only stops a name if BOTH players hold that name, so it is strongest when shared staples are in both hands (e.g. Mulcharmy Fuwalos co-deck 66.1%).; Because it is a Normal Trap it must be set a turn before use, making it slow and reactive.; As a generic Normal Trap it fits trap-centric decks such as Labrynth that tutor traps.
• Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no dated metagame sample, so meta_power is null deck evidence confirms inclusion but gives no win-rate or impact signal