Trap
NormalNeedle Ceiling
View:
857
When there are 4 or more monsters on the field: Destroy all face-up monsters.
57± 5/ 100
Power Score
Intrinsic
56
Deck
58
Needle Ceiling — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 57 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 56 · Deck: 58 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Board breaker / Going-second · Secondary: Removal, Utility
Why it scores here
Needle Ceiling is a splashable going-second defensive tool, appearing in 100% of 400 sampled decks across 68 distinct archetypes. The card reliably wipes the opponent's board when they summon 4+ monsters, a condition met by most modern Rush Duel and Speed Duel builds. However, it does not initiate or extend combos—it appears in 6 recorded boards but never as a starter, searched piece, or payoff, serving instead as a reactive disruption layer. Its trap slot cost and reactive nature limit its power ceiling compared to combo-enabling cards.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 75 | Splashable trap appearing in 100% of 400 decks and 68 archetypes with avg 1.88 copies, though the 4+ monster condition requires board setup. (Verified) |
| Combo & Conversion | 20 | Never appears as starter, searched, material, or payoff in any of 6 recorded combos; purely defensive inclusion with no initiating role. (Verified) |
| Resource Economy | 45 | Destroys opponent's face-up monsters; roughly even card economy if both sides have 4+ monsters, positive only if opponent has significantly more. (Inferred) |
| Effect & Interaction | 50 | Soft board wipe that only hits face-up monsters and cannot stop activation effects; situationally disruptive but not hard negation. (Verified) |
| Material Utility | 0 | Trap card with no use as material, tuner, or synergy target; zero material value. (Verified) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | Reactive-only trap offering no recovery or redundant effects; survives until opponent reaches the 4-monster condition or removes it. (Inferred) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 65 | Clean splashable trap running avg 1.88 copies with no garnet risk, but consumes valuable trap deck slots. (Verified) |
Calculation
Weight profile: Primary role: Board breaker / Going-second. Intrinsic ≈ 56, Deck ≈ 58, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Splashable across all deck archetypes with no archetype locks or build restrictions
- Reliable board wipe in formats where 4+ monsters are the standard opening
- Simple, clear effect text with no timing complexity or ruling ambiguity
- Multiple copies can be run without diminishing value
Weaknesses
- Purely reactive—does nothing on its own and requires opponent to establish a board
- Cannot prevent spell/trap activations or effect resolution; only destroys after the fact
- Ineffective against decks built around face-down set monsters
- Consumes trap deck slots, a limited resource in most builds
- Does not generate advantage, extend combos, or drive the deck's primary strategy
Counters / choke points
- Decks running predominantly face-down set monsters bypass the destruction
- Opponent negating the trap before or after activation
- Opponent controlling fewer than 4 face-up monsters when the condition would trigger
Best use
Going-second defensive board wipe and field disruption layer. Decks: Dark Magician, Red-Eyes, Primite, Kuriboh, Any going-second control-hybrid line. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Needle Ceiling is a Normal Trap Card that destroys all face-up monsters when 4+ are present on the field (card description); Appears in 100% of 400 sampled decks across 68 distinct archetypes (deck data.distinct archetypes); Average 1.88 copies per deck with modal distribution of 2 copies (deck data.copies per deck); Never appears as starter, searched, material, payoff, or in end board/hand in any of 6 recorded combos (combo data all values = 0); Top partner cards are all reactive/defensive: Ash Blossom, Droll & Lock Bird, Called by the Grave (deck data.top partners); Consistently listed in 'Staple' or 'Tech' sections across 6 guides (guide data.mentions)
- Observed: 80.8% of deck runs are in Rush Duel format, 12.5% in Speed Duel (deck data.formats); Average board power index of 62.8 when card appears in combos (combo data.average power index when present); Battlewasp archetype shows 100% inclusion at 3 copies in StatisticsCard data (usage statistics); Average 0.5 starter count in combos containing the card, indicating boards initiate elsewhere (combo data.average starter count when present)
- Inferred: The 4+ monster condition is easily satisfied in modern Rush Duel and Speed Duel formats given standard deck building practices; Defensive partner patterns confirm the card's role as reactive disruption rather than combo enabler or initiator; Splashability across 68 archetypes indicates the effect is universally useful in going-second scenarios; Trap slot efficiency is justified by 100% deck inclusion and standard 1.88-copy inclusion rate
- Data gaps: No banlist token provided; assumed unlimited (3 copies legal) Limited guide explanations—listed only in 'Staple' or 'Tech' sections without detailed analysis of optimal deployment Combo sample is small (6 appearances) relative to unknown total population of combos No top-card ranking or metagame position data available Card ruling on once-per-turn status not explicitly confirmed in evidence, though standard YGO mechanics assumed