EARTH
1Principug
ATK:
0
DEF:
0
View:
2414
You can target 1 monster you control with "Guardian" in its original name, that cannot be Normal Summoned/Set; it can make a second attack during each Battle Phase this turn. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 "Guardian" monster in your GY that cannot be Normal Summoned/Set, and activate 1 of these effects; ● Add it to your hand. ● Add 1 other card that is mentioned on that monster from your GY to your hand. You can only use each effect of "Principug" once per turn.
Principug — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 53 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 52 · Deck: 54 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
Principug's value is its graveyard-activated search: it banishes itself from the GY to add a Guardian monster, or another card named on that monster, to hand, so it converts a dead card into a live one-for-one recovery. Its first effect (a second attack for a Guardian monster) adds modest board value but does not change the score much. The Level 1 body and absence of interaction keep material and interaction scores low, and the lack of combo data limits the conversion score. Its 26-deck presence (about half in Gate Guardian) confirms it is a practical, reliably run piece, but that frequency is not used to inflate the score.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Live only once it is in the GY and a Guardian monster is also there; decks show it is run in 26 of 26 sampled decks (observed), but it has no starter or searched appearances in combo data (observed) so routes are inferred from text. |
| Combo & Conversion | 40 | Converts a single card into a Guardian monster or a card named on it, with no recorded boards to show a fuller end result (inferred from text; combo evidence absent). |
| Resource Economy | 70 | Banishing itself to add one card gives roughly +1 hand card for -1 GY card, a clean GY-refuel recovery (verified from card text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 10 | No negation, removal, or hand-trap effect in the text (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 35 | A Level 1 non-Tuner EARTH Beast with 0 ATK/DEF; usable as a Level 1 material but not a clean generic fit, and it is not a Tuner (verified from card text and attributes). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | Its search works from the GY, so it survives field-based interaction, but each effect is once per turn and needs a Guardian monster in the GY (verified from card text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | Runs as one copy in 21 of 26 decks and is never a garnet or lock piece, with a 3-copy legal limit (observed from decks; legality verified from evidence). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Searcher/Tutor + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 52, Deck ≈ 54, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Converts a dead GY card into a hand card, a clean recovery
- Live in 26 of 26 sampled decks, with 50% of them in Gate Guardian
- Cheap to run: one copy in most decks, no garnet or lock
Weaknesses
- Needs its own GY banish plus a Guardian monster in the GY, so it is not live in the opening hand
- Narrow support: its search targets Guardian-named monsters, which limits portability (9 archetypes, but all Guardian-linked)
- No interaction, and no combo evidence to show a fuller conversion
Counters / choke points
- Hand-trap or GY-based negation for the Guardian monster it targets
- Graveyard hate that removes Guardian monsters or the card itself before activation
Best use
Searcher/Tutor from the GY, adding a Guardian monster or a card named on it. Decks: Gate Guardian, Voiceless Voice, Snake-Eyes, Skull Servant, Despia, Branded. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Searcher effect: banish from GY to add a Guardian monster or a card named on it to hand, once per turn per effect (card text); Level 1 non-Tuner EARTH Beast with 0 ATK/DEF (card text); Legal in TCG, OCG, and MasterDuel (formats)
- Observed: Present in 26 of 26 sampled decks, 13 of them in Gate Guardian (50%); Usually one copy per deck (21 of 26 decks); Co-occurs with Called by the Grave and Cosmic Cyclone in 21 of 26 decks
- Inferred: GY-based searcher that gives a modest +1 hand card per use; Its value depends on Guardian monsters being in the GY
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only