FIRE
8Phoenix Gearfried
ATK:
2800
DEF:
2200
View:
4294
This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is a Normal Monster on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it become an Effect Monster with this effect. ● If your opponent activates a Spell Card: You can target 1 Gemini monster in your Graveyard; Special Summon that target. During either player's turn, when a Spell/Trap Card is activated that targets a monster(s) on the field: You can send 1 face-up Equip Card you control to the Graveyard; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it.
Phoenix Gearfried — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 45 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 47 · Deck: 47 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Boss/End-board · Secondary: Negation/Interaction
Why it scores here
Phoenix Gearfried occupies a moderate power band because its most valuable effects sit behind two sequential gates: gaining Effect Monster status (via a second Normal Summon or Blazewing Butterfly's ability) and then maintaining a face-up Equip Card to fuel the quick-effect negate. Within dedicated Gemini and equip-heavy Warrior builds it delivers genuine reactive interaction — negating targeting Spell/Trap activations and recurrently pulling Gemini monsters from the GY whenever the opponent activates a Spell — but outside those shells it becomes a conditional 1-of tech that risks bricking when the equip package is disrupted. The 2800 ATK body earns no score points; all value derives from the conditional interaction and recursion suite.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 40 | Warrior type enables ROTA (top partner at 40% co-decks) and Blazewing Butterfly (37.8% co-decks) provides an efficient route to grant Effect Monster status, but the card is still Level 8 requiring multi-card setup before effects are live (inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | Zero combo board appearances — output is text-only inference; in Gemini builds the opponent's Spell activations can chain-trigger GY recursion but practical ceiling remains unverified (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 42 | The GY recursion trigger on opponent's Spell activation generates a free Gemini body, partially offsetting the Equip Card paid for the negate; net economy is roughly even with dedicated support but negative without it (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 50 | Quick-effect negate of targeting Spell/Trap activations on either player's turn at cost of 1 face-up Equip Card provides real disruption, but non-targeting mass removal bypasses it entirely (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 45 | Level 8 FIRE Warrior fits ROTA lines and provides a usable body for Synchro/Xyz plays, though the Gemini normal-monster field state complicates material timing in some zones (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 32 | The negate engine collapses if all Equip Cards are cleared, leaving only a 2800 ATK body and a reactive GY trigger; the card demands significant upfront investment before any effect is available (verified from card text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 35 | 41 of 45 decks run exactly 1 copy (avg 1.16), reflecting players' awareness of the slot overhead; requires both a Gemini enabler package and an Equip Card package, adding meaningful deck-building cost (observed from deck evidence). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Boss/End-board + 0.3 Negation/Interaction. Intrinsic ≈ 47, Deck ≈ 47, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Equip Card conditional dependency (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- ROTA searchable — Warrior type grants access across any strategy running Reinforcement of the Army
- Quick-effect negate of targeting Spell/Trap on either player's turn provides genuine reactive interaction
- Reactive GY recursion trigger generates free Gemini bodies whenever the opponent activates a Spell Card
- 22 distinct archetypes across multiple formats demonstrate broad placement across Warrior and FIRE strategies
- Blazewing Butterfly enables Effect Monster status efficiently without burning the Normal Summon
Weaknesses
- Level 8 Gemini mechanic is expensive: requires Special Summon to field plus a second Normal Summon (or Blazewing) to gain effects
- Negate is strictly gated on controlling a face-up Equip Card — dead effect if the equip engine is disrupted first
- Negate covers only targeting Spell/Trap activations; non-targeting board wipes (Raigeki, Dark Hole, Lightning Storm) bypass it entirely
- Zero combo board evidence — practical ceiling in high-power lines is unverified
- Brick risk in strategies that do not run a dedicated Equip Card package
Counters / choke points
- Destroy or banish all face-up Equip Cards to strip the negate cost engine before activating Spells
- Non-targeting mass removal (Raigeki, Dark Hole, Lightning Storm, Torrential Tribute) bypasses the negate
- Effect negation (Skill Drain, Forbidden Chalice) shuts down both effects while leaving the Gemini as a vanilla body
- Interrupt ROTA or Blazewing Butterfly to cut off the primary setup routes before Phoenix Gearfried becomes an Effect Monster
Best use
1-of boss piece providing reactive negate backup and GY recursion in equip-heavy Gemini engines. Decks: Gearfried, Geminis, Chemicritter, equip-based FIRE Warrior. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Gemini mechanic: treated as Normal Monster while face-up on field or in GY until re-Normal Summoned; Effect 1: if opponent activates a Spell Card, can Special Summon 1 Gemini monster from own GY; Effect 2 (quick-effect): when targeting Spell/Trap activates, send 1 face-up Equip Card to GY to negate and destroy it; Warrior type — searchable by Reinforcement of the Army
- Observed: Appears in 45 decks across 22 distinct archetypes spanning multiple gameplay formats; Immortal Phoenix Gearfried co-occurs in 46.7% of decks; ROTA in 40%; Blazewing Butterfly in 37.8%; 91% of decks run exactly 1 copy, average 1.16 copies per deck; Gameplay split: DuelLinks 40%, TCG 26.7%, OCG 20%, MasterDuel 13.3%
- Inferred: Blazewing Butterfly serves as the primary efficient route to grant Effect Monster status without spending the Normal Summon on Phoenix Gearfried; The negate effect pairs with equip-heavy strategies — United We Stand appears in 31.1% of co-decks confirming the package; Broad archetype spread partly reflects ROTA's reach across Warrior strategies rather than intrinsic splashability of the full Gemini-equip package
- Data gaps: No combos evidence — combo conversion and actual board output are text-only inferences No guides evidence — contextual role confirmation from human analysis is absent No banlist token — assumed 3 copies legal in all listed formats No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion relies solely on 45-deck sample Multiple gameplay formats (DuelLinks, TCG, OCG, MasterDuel) pooled — format-specific power levels are not separable