Spell
QuickOnce Upon a Fairy Tail
Archetype:
Fairy Tail
View:
549
Special Summon up to 1 LIGHT "Fairy Tail" monster each from your hand, GY, and banishment, with different names, also you cannot Special Summon for the rest of this turn, except Spellcaster monsters. If this card is banished, or sent to the GY except from the field: You can Set this card, but it cannot be activated unless you control a "Fairy Tail" monster. You can only use each effect of "Once Upon a Fairy Tail" once per turn.
Once Upon a Fairy Tail — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 52 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 49 · Deck: 54 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Starter · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
Once Upon a Fairy Tail is a one-copy Quick-Play engine that Special Summons one LIGHT "Fairy Tail" monster from hand, GY, or banishment and can set itself back from the GY or banishment, so its value is reliable access to a Fairy Tail body rather than any stat line. It appears in all 400 sampled decks with near-universal partners (observed), but no combo boards are supplied, so its conversion is inferred from text only. The self-restriction on Special Summoning outside Spellcasters and the Fairy Tail-only activation condition trim the score; the card has no ATK or DEF to contribute.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 70 | Present in 400 of 400 sampled decks at about 1.1 copies each, and its enabling Fairy Tail bodies are in the same decks, but no starter role or searched-for role data exists (observed; route availability inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 55 | The text yields one Special Summon of one monster with different names, a conversion of roughly one body, and no combo examples or power index are supplied (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | The set-back clause recycles the card itself without cost, giving repeated use but no net card advantage on its own (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | No negation, removal, or hand-trap effect appears in the text (verified: card text). |
| Material Utility | 8 | A Spell card with no material, level, or attribute value; it cannot be used as material (verified: card text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | The GY and banishment recursion lets it return after being sent, but activation needs a Fairy Tail monster on the field (verified text; resilience inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 40 | One slot at 1 copy is cheap, but the Fairy Tail-only activation and the Special Summon restriction except Spellcasters constrain the deck (verified text; cost inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Starter + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 49, Deck ≈ 54, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-locking Special Summon restriction (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Reliable one-body summon route from hand, GY, or banishment inside the Fairy Tail shell
- Self-recycling via GY and banishment gives repeat use
- Near-universal presence and partner co-occurrence in the sampled decks
Weaknesses
- Activation requires a Fairy Tail monster on the field
- Special Summon restriction except Spellcasters constrains the turn
- No combo, guide, or ruling evidence to confirm conversion
- Archetype-locked; its deck-presence figures reflect a Fairy Tail-biased sample
Counters / choke points
- Generic Spell-negation and GY Special Summon interaction (inferred from text; no rulings supplied)
Best use
Starter / Fairy Tail body-access engine. Decks: Fairy Tail, Magistus, Witchcrafter, Endymion. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: summons one LIGHT Fairy Tail monster from hand, GY, or banishment with different names; Card text: rest-of-turn Special Summon restriction except Spellcasters; Card text: set-back from GY or banishment, activation requires a Fairy Tail monster; 400 of 400 sampled decks run it, average 1.11 copies
- Observed: Partners such as Fairy Tail - Luna and Fairy Tail Ball co-occur in 100% of sampled decks; Usage statistics show 60-100% inclusion across 9 archetypes at 1 copy
- Inferred: The summon route is reliable only when a Fairy Tail body is accessible; Conversion scores come from text alone because no combo boards exist
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited)