LIGHTNinja Grandmaster Saizo
Archetype:
Ninja
ATK:
2000
LINK-2
View:
3911
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2 "Ninja" monsters During your Main Phase: You can Set 1 "Ninjitsu Art" Spell/Trap directly from your Deck. You can only use this effect of "Ninja Grandmaster Saizo" once per turn. While this card points to a monster(s), this card cannot be targeted for an attack, also your opponent cannot target it with card effects.
Ninja Grandmaster Saizo — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 68 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 69 · Deck: 69 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor · Secondary: Combo enabler, Material body
Why it scores here
Saizo scores as a consistent, clean searcher for Ninjitsu Art Spells/Traps that enables Ninja deck consistency through a natural 2-Ninja Link summon. It is essential in its home archetype (100% deck inclusion, 77.6% of sample), offers mild protection via its pointing requirement, and has clean resource economy with once-per-turn tutoring. However, its score is limited by a complete lack of combo evidence — combo conversion and downstream impact of tutored cards are inferred from text only, not observed in practice. The card's 2000 ATK and other stats do not contribute to this score.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 75 | Nearly 100% deck inclusion in a 400-deck sample with 99.8% co-presence of core Ninja support (Hanzo, Jioh, other monsters) confirms reliable access in Ninja decks; Link-2 requirement is trivial given abundant Ninja monsters in archetype (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 70 | Tutoring effect provides one card consistency per turn and sets up subsequent Ninjitsu Art effects, but no combo boards recorded — impact on board extension is inferred from top partners and guide context, not observed (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 75 | Tutoring a spell/trap is clean +1 deck-to-field consistency with no resource cost beyond the natural Link summon; no drain, no mill, and downstream Ninjitsu Arts enable refuel (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 40 | Passive protection while pointing to a monster is defensive utility with no direct opponent interaction; tutoring itself does not disrupt the opponent (inferred). |
| Material Utility | 65 | Link-2 LIGHT Warrior body with 2000 ATK is reasonable material for future synths; link arrows allow pointing and free interaction, though the pointing requirement also consumes the protection utility (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 70 | Average 1.92 copies per deck (up to 3) and conditional protection while pointing provide survival in Ninja decks; no built-in recovery, but redundancy is high (observed). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 80 | 2-Ninja Link summon is a natural, cheap cost in Ninja decks where Ninja monsters are core; splashable into 7 non-Ninja archetypes (Borrel, Book of, Horus) confirms some generic utility (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.8 × Searcher/Tutor + 0.2 × Combo enabler. Intrinsic ≈ 69, Deck ≈ 69, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Exceptional compactness in Ninja (2); Combo evidence gap (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck − 1 (modifier)
Strengths
- Essential in Ninja archetype with 100% deck inclusion in sample
- Tutors Ninjitsu Art Spells/Traps for consistent setup or disruption
- Offers conditional protection via pointing effect
- Clean resource economy with once-per-turn tutoring
- High redundancy (avg 1.92 copies, up to 3 per deck)
Weaknesses
- Combo conversion is unobserved — no combo boards recorded with this card
- Protection depends on pointing to a monster (can be stranded if isolated)
- Effect interaction with opponent is indirect (only via tutored Spells/Traps)
- Limited splashability outside Ninja (7 non-Ninja archetypes, mostly engines)
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (negates the tutoring effect)
- Effect Veiler (blanks the tutoring)
- Removal before Saizo points to a monster (bypasses protection)
Best use
Consistency engine and setup enabler. Decks: Ninja, Ninja variants. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Saizo is Link-2 Ninja monster tutoring 1 Ninjitsu Art Spell/Trap per turn (card text); Requires 2 Ninja monsters to summon (card text); Offers protection while pointing to a monster (card text); Present in 100% of 400 sample decks in main (deck evidence); Average 1.92 copies per deck, max 3 (deck evidence); Present in 19 distinct archetypes, 77.6% in Ninja variants (deck evidence)
- Observed: 99.8% co-deck rate with core Ninja support (Hanzo, Jioh, Ninjitsu Art cards) (deck evidence); 50% inclusion in 2 Ninja archetypes with typical 2 copies (usage statistics); Listed in CORE section of Vietnamese Ninja guide (guides evidence); Splashable in 7 non-Ninja archetypes (Borrel, Book of, Horus, etc.) (deck evidence)
- Inferred: Tutoring provides +1 deck-to-field card advantage in consistency (from card text); Ninjitsu Arts tutored include disruption and setup pieces (from top partners and guide); Protection while pointing is useful for board survival (from card mechanics); Link summoning 2 Ninjas is cost-efficient in Ninja-heavy decks (from archetype structure)
- Data gaps: No combo evidence supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference, not observed No banlist token — assumed unlimited (3 copies) Top card ranking absent — Saizo is not a format top card No combo examples or board power analysis for Ninja decks using Saizo