EARTH
4Planet Pathfinder
ATK:
1000
DEF:
1000
View:
6813
You can Tribute this card; add 1 Field Spell Card from your Deck to your hand.
Planet Pathfinder — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 61 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 57 · Deck: 61 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor · Secondary: Starter
Why it scores here
Planet Pathfinder earns its score as a reliable generic Field Spell searcher that stacks on top of the format-limited Terraforming, with its highest ceiling in strategies where finding the Field Spell is equivalent to finding the win condition — notably Numeron Network into an OTK. Its consistent inclusion across 66 distinct archetypes confirms genuine utility rather than hype. However, every copy costs a full Normal Summon and tributes itself, providing no material body and zero opponent interaction, which firmly caps its score. High ATK/DEF had no bearing on this evaluation.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 65 | Run at an average of 2.38 copies across all 400 sampled decks, reliably live in opening hands, but requires a Normal Summon and self-tribute to activate — a meaningful access cost (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 58 | In Numeron it bridges directly to Numeron Network enabling an OTK; in the 3 recorded Therion combos (all power_index 100) it seeds the enabling Field Spell, though specific role tags are all zero (observed/inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 42 | The effect is card-neutral on paper — 1 tribute yields 1 Field Spell — but consuming the Normal Summon is a real resource cost that lowers overall economy (verified from card text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | Card text provides no disruption, negation, or removal; it has zero interaction with the opponent's plays (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 22 | 1000/1000 Level 4 Machine offers nominal Rank 4 Xyz potential, but zero appearances as material in combo records confirm it reliably tributes itself and rarely persists as a usable body (observed). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 38 | Spread across 66 distinct archetypes shows broad applicability, but the card is single-use per copy, fully consumed on activation, and loses both the body and the search if the effect is negated (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 72 | No archetype lock, no restrictions imposed, each copy is equally useful, and running 2–3 is standard uncomplicated redundancy for any field-spell-reliant strategy (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Searcher/Tutor + 0.3 Starter. Intrinsic ≈ 57, Deck ≈ 61, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Exceptional splashability (2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Searches any Field Spell unconditionally — generic across any strategy relying on a field spell
- Stacks on top of a limited Terraforming, increasing search redundancy for field-spell-centric decks
- No archetype restrictions; completely splashable across 66+ distinct archetypes
- In Numeron, fetching Numeron Network is functionally finding the win condition
Weaknesses
- Consumes the Normal Summon — a significant opportunity cost in combo-heavy strategies
- Self-tribute means total loss if the effect is negated (body gone and no search)
- Card-neutral at best; provides no inherent card advantage beyond the field spell it finds
- Zero opponent interaction — does nothing useful if the field spell is not immediately needed
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring — negates the search after the monster is already tributed, total loss
- Effect Veiler / Infinite Impermanence — negates the effect on the field before the tribute resolves
- Droll & Lock Bird — shuts down further searches after the Field Spell enters hand
Best use
Redundant Field Spell searcher complementing a limited Terraforming. Decks: Numeron, Tenpai Dragon, Gimmick Puppet, Sky Striker, Kashtira, Any field-spell-centric strategy. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Effect text: Tribute this card to add 1 Field Spell Card from Deck to hand; Level 4 EARTH Machine Effect Monster with 1000/1000 ATK/DEF; Legal in TCG, OCG, MasterDuel, and DuelLinks with no noted copy limit (assumed 3 per data_gaps)
- Observed: Run in all 400 sampled decks at an average of 2.38 copies (max 3); Present in 66 distinct archetypes confirming strong generic utility; Gimmick Puppet (17%), Numeron (12%), Tenpai Dragon (9.5%), Sky Striker (7%) are top homes; Co-run with Terraforming in 61.2% and Numeron Network in 43.8% of decks; Appears in 3 recorded combos all with power_index 100; specific role tags are all zero
- Inferred: Acts as additional Terraforming copies in field-spell-dependent strategies where Terraforming is format-limited; Functions as a practical combo starter in Numeron by routing into Numeron Network; Normal Summon consumption is a real ceiling on its power level relative to true plus-generators; Likely functions as field-spell setup piece in the three Therion combos despite zero role tags recorded
- Data gaps: No banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) per evidence data_gaps Combo role tags all zero across 3 appearances — exact function in those combos cannot be confirmed from records Usage statistics cover only 1 archetype (Numeron at 40%) — broader archetype-level historical stats unavailable