DARK
4Phantom of Chaos
Archetype:
Chaos
ATK:
0
DEF:
0
View:
5003
Your opponent takes no battle damage from attacks involving this card. Once per turn: You can target 1 Effect Monster in your GY; banish that target, and if you do, until the End Phase, this card's name and original ATK become that monster's name and original ATK, and replace this effect with that monster's original effects. You must control this face-up card to activate and to resolve this effect.
Phantom of Chaos — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 49 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 48 · Deck: 50 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility · Secondary: Combo enabler
Why it scores here
Phantom of Chaos scores in the mid-range because its generic GY-copying text enables real use across 70 distinct archetypes, and its best lines — most visibly the Sky Scourge Norleras package (co-present in 23.4% of decks) — can generate game-winning value from a single activation. However, the effect is strictly temporary (expires at End Phase), the card requires simultaneous face-up field presence and a relevant GY target, and the 'must control face-up to activate AND resolve' clause creates an acute vulnerability to removal or negation at the activation window. ATK 0/DEF 0 earned no points whatsoever — the score rests entirely on effect utility, and that utility is conditional, borrowed, and short-lived.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 48 | DARK Level 4 has search routes (Allure of Darkness co-present in 21% of decks) but two live conditions must align — Phantom face-up on field AND a suitable GY Effect Monster — which reduces practical accessibility below a pure one-card starter (inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 40 | Zero combo appearances recorded; text inference and the Foolish Burial + Sky Scourge Norleras co-occurrence pattern suggest powerful one-turn payoffs exist, but the End Phase expiry limits sustained board development and no recorded combo data confirms actual output (inferred, high uncertainty). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | Banishes the copied GY monster as cost, converting a GY resource into a temporary effect; Foolish Burial co-presence in 43.9% of decks implies the deck spends an additional card to set up the GY target, making the net economy roughly neutral at best (observed/inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 25 | Phantom of Chaos has zero inherent interaction — any disruption is entirely borrowed from the copied GY target and expires at End Phase, leaving it with no standalone answer to opponent plays (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 35 | ATK 0/DEF 0 contributes nothing to battle; as a DARK Fiend Level 4 it offers modest type and attribute material value in decks like Fiendsmith (11 decks, 5.1%) and Burning Abyss (9 decks, 4.2%), but the body is otherwise weak (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 30 | The 'must control face-up to activate AND resolve' clause means a single removal or negate at activation collapses the play entirely, and the copied effect expiring at End Phase provides no cross-turn resilience — among the most interactive-unfriendly timing constraints in the game (verified from card text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 55 | No archetype lock or hard restriction imposed; 156 of 214 decks run exactly 1 copy, confirming efficient slot usage; the Foolish Burial setup partner adds modest cost but no deck-narrowing commitment (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Utility / no clear role (default). Intrinsic ≈ 48, Deck ≈ 50, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Fully generic text: copies any Effect Monster in GY regardless of type, attribute, or archetype
- Spread across 70 distinct archetypes confirms real multi-home applicability
- Can copy devastating one-turn effects (e.g., Sky Scourge Norleras board/hand wipe) to generate game-winning value
- No archetype restriction; slots cleanly as a 1-of in most GY-heavy strategies
- Pairs naturally with Foolish Burial and other GY-fill engines already present in its home decks
Weaknesses
- Effect lasts only until End Phase — no persistent presence or cross-turn advantage
- 'Must control face-up to activate AND resolve' creates an acute window for removal or negation
- ATK 0/DEF 0 means it is trivially attacked over without setup or protection
- Completely useless with an empty GY or without a relevant GY target in hand
- No battle damage clause prevents combat contribution even when copying high-ATK monsters
Counters / choke points
- Called by the Grave (banishes the GY target before Phantom can copy it)
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (negates the GY banish trigger step)
- Infinite Impermanence / Effect Veiler (negates Phantom on field, stopping the copy effect)
- Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion (negates banishing from GY)
- D.D. Crow (banishes GY target in response to Phantom's activation)
Best use
GY effect copier that enables high-impact one-turn plays by temporarily becoming a key GY monster. Decks: Sky Scourge Norleras package, Lightsworn, Burning Abyss, Fiendsmith, Yubel. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: OPT: banish 1 GY Effect Monster to copy its name, original ATK, and original effects until End Phase; Opponent takes no battle damage from attacks involving this card; Must control face-up to both activate and resolve the copying effect; 214 decks run it across 70 distinct archetypes; Level 4, DARK, Fiend, ATK 0, DEF 0
- Observed: Co-occurrence with Foolish Burial in 43.9% of decks — strong GY setup pattern; Co-occurrence with Sky Scourge Norleras in 23.4% — indicates a specific GY nuke combo line; 156 of 214 decks run exactly 1 copy; average 1.44 copies per deck; Spread across Lightsworn (10.7%), Egyptian God (9.3%), Yubel (5.1%), Fiendsmith (5.1%), Burning Abyss (4.2%)
- Inferred: Foolish Burial sends a target to GY on the same turn so Phantom can banish-copy it immediately; Sky Scourge Norleras copy effect wipes opponent's hand — likely the primary payoff in the Norleras package; DARK Fiend Level 4 provides modest type and attribute material value in DARK-combo archetypes
- Data gaps: No combos supplied — all combo conversion scoring is text-only inference with high uncertainty No guides supplied — no human expert context on primary use cases or combo lines No banlist token — assumed unlimited (3 copies legal) No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion percentages inferred from 214-deck sample only