EARTH
Nine-Lives Cat
ATK:
900
DEF:
3300
View:
3482
2 Level 9 monsters Your opponent cannot target other monsters you control, that were Special Summoned from the GY, with card effects. You can detach 1 material from this card, then target 1 Level 9 monster in your GY or 1 monster in your opponent's GY; Special Summon it. You can only use this effect of "Nine-Lives Cat" once per turn.
Nine-Lives Cat — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 57 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 56 · Deck: 57 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility · Secondary: Boss / End-board, Negation/Interaction
Why it scores here
Nine-Lives Cat scores as a specialized support piece rather than a core engine component. Its strength lies in consistent accessibility within Level 9-focused decks, particularly Generaider (46% of 397 decks), where it serves as an additional Rank 9 XYZ option. The protection effect provides situational defense against effect-based removal of GY-Special Summoned monsters, while the revival capability offers contingency recursion and occasional disruption. However, the card lacks inherent combo conversion, generates no card advantage, and its 900 ATK leaves it vulnerable—classifying it as a role-player that adds utility and redundancy to established strategies rather than enabling or accelerating them.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 62 | Summoned from 2 Level 9 monsters and appearing in 397 decks across 70 distinct archetypes with strongest concentration in Generaider (46%), providing reliable access in Level 9-centric strategies. (observed) |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | No combo evidence supplied; card text analysis shows it does not generate additional bodies or extend combo lines—it provides a single revival per turn when materials remain, functioning as utility rather than engine. (inferred) |
| Resource Economy | 48 | Detaching material to revive is resource-neutral (material cost offset by monster gain), with no card advantage generation, GY refuel, or deck thinning. (verified) |
| Effect & Interaction | 55 | Protection prevents targeting of GY-Special Summoned monsters by card effects—a situational defense against effect-based removal—while revival can steal opponent Level 9s or recur own monsters, providing soft interaction. (verified) |
| Material Utility | 38 | As a Rank 9 XYZ with 900 ATK, low utility when effect-negated or converted to material; no special synergy as level/attribute provider for most plays. (inferred) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 54 | Protection persists across turns while card remains on-field and materials exist, providing multi-turn presence; however, low ATK and no self-recovery leave it exposed to direct removal and destruction. (verified) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 63 | Requires Level 9 materials; 90.4% of decks run exactly 1 copy, indicating a clean one-slot inclusion with minimal redundancy desire, splashable in Level 9 strategies with modest deck cost. (observed) |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Utility + 0.3 Boss/End-board. Intrinsic ≈ 56, Deck ≈ 57, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Provides protection for GY-Special Summoned monsters against card-effect targeting, useful defensive utility in Generaider and similar recursion-heavy strategies
- High deck presence (397 decks, 70 archetypes) signals strong accessibility in Level 9-focused homes, particularly Generaider (46% of decks)
- Revival effect offers contingency recursion of Level 9 monsters or interference by stealing opponent Level 9s in edge cases
- Standard 1-copy inclusion with minimal redundancy overhead, clean fit into existing deck shells
Weaknesses
- No combo conversion or engine-building capability; purely defensive and reactive role-player
- 900 ATK leaves it vulnerable to destruction-based removal and battle-based interaction despite protection effect
- Protection scope limited to previously GY-Special Summoned monsters, excluding other disruption vectors
- Accessibility heavily restricted to Level 9 deck strategies; near-garnet outside dedicated Level 9 homes
- No card advantage generation or resource acceleration
Counters / choke points
- Non-targeting removal (board wipes, mass destruction effects, attribute/type-based effects)
- Direct attacks exploiting low ATK (900)
- Effect negation or negation of the protection effect itself
- Removal targeting the XYZ before material depletion
Best use
Secondary Rank 9 XYZ; protection and recursion support. Decks: Generaider, Herald, World Legacy, Prediction Princess (unclear synergy), any Level 9 XYZ engine. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Requires 2 Level 9 XYZ materials to summon (card text); Opponents cannot target other monsters Special Summoned from GY with card effects (card text); Can detach 1 material to revive a Level 9 from own GY or any monster from opponent's GY, once per turn (card text); 397 decks run this card as main deck (deck evidence); Generaider is dominant home archetype (184 combined decks, 46.4%) (deck evidence); 90.4% of decks run exactly 1 copy (359 decks) (deck evidence)
- Observed: Appears across 70 distinct archetypes, indicating broad accessibility in Level 9 strategies (deck evidence); Phantom Fortress Enterblathnir is top co-deck partner at 77.3% (deck evidence); Jormungandr and Generaider support cards dominate top partners list (deck evidence); Herald archetype shows 66.67% inclusion rate at 1 copy (usage statistics)
- Inferred: Protection effect is most effective against effect-based targeting removal of recursion-heavy decks (from text + Generaider synergy); Revival capability provides contingency recursion rather than combo acceleration (from effect text + deck role); Material utility when effect-negated is minimal—900 ATK and no special attribute/level synergy (from XYZ nature + stats); Primary homes are Level 9 strategies; severe accessibility restriction outside these archetypes (from evidence concentration + material requirement)
- Data gaps: No combo evidence supplied—combo conversion assessed from card text analysis only, not from observed combo boards No banlist information—assumed unlimited (3 copies legal in all formats) No ranked format or metagame data—cannot assess competitive impact or format-specific power Single guide mention with minimal strategic detail on specific use cases Prediction Princess connection unexplained—unclear why 8.8% of decks are tagged as that archetype given Level 9 requirement