EARTH
8
1Qliphort Stealth
Archetype:
Qli
ATK:
2800
DEF:
1000
View:
3788
[ Pendulum Effect ] You cannot Special Summon monsters, except "Qli" monsters. This effect cannot be negated. All "Qli" monsters you control gain 300 ATK. [ Monster Effect ] You can Normal Summon this card without Tributing. If this card is Normal Summoned without Tributing, or is Special Summoned, its Level becomes 4 and its original ATK becomes 1800. If this card is Normal Summoned/Set, it is unaffected by activated effects from any monster whose original Level/Rank is lower than this card's current Level. When this card is Tribute Summoned by Tributing a "Qli" monster(s): You can target 1 card on the field; return it to the hand. Your opponent cannot activate cards or effects in response to this effect's activation.
Qliphort Stealth — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 65 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 64 · Deck: 66 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Combo enabler · Secondary: Material body, Floodgate/Control
Why it scores here
Qliphort Stealth is a core engine piece in Qli decks, run at 2.39 average copies across all 161 sampled decks with 100% Qli inclusion. Its primary value comes from free Normal Summon without Tributes, generating a Level 4 1800-ATK body that supplies materials for the archetype's tribute-summon strategy, paired with strong partnerships including Qliphort Scout (100% co-decks), Carrier (95%), and Summoner's Art (93.8%). The card's pendulum form adds archetype lock and modest ATK buffs, while its Tribute Summon bounce offers conditional disruption. However, absence of combo evidence limits verification of its full board-building potential, and heavy archetype restriction to Qli significantly reduces generic applicability.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 75 | Free Normal Summon without Tributes as a Level 4 body; run in 100% of sampled Qli decks at 2.39 average copies with core partnerships to Scout and Summoner's Art (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 65 | Generates a Level 4 1800-ATK body and triggers bounce on Tribute Summon with Qli tribute, supporting Qli's tribute-summon strategy, but no combo examples supplied limits verification of full board power (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | Normal Summon costs no tributes (resource neutral); Tribute Summon uses one Qli material but bounces one card to hand (−1 +1 = even trade) (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 45 | Bounce effect on Tribute Summon returns target card to hand without response window, providing hard interaction; protection from Level/Rank <4 effects is situational and only while Normal Summoned/Set (verified). |
| Material Utility | 75 | Level 4 EARTH Machine with 1800 ATK (when summoned without tributes) provides clean tribute material for Qli tribute-summon bosses; high copy density (87 at 3x) indicates regular tributing (observed). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 60 | Gains protection from monster effects with lower original Level/Rank when Normal Summoned/Set, limiting some interaction; pendulum placement adds zone flexibility but locked to Qli-only summons (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 80 | Run in 87 out of 161 decks at 3 copies with minimal garnet/brick risk; pendulum effect restricts Special Summons to Qli only, but this lock is intentional to deck strategy (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Combo enabler (Starter) + 0.3 Material body blend. Intrinsic ≈ 64, Deck ≈ 66, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Free Normal Summon entry point with no tribute cost; generates Level 4 body immediately
- Appears in 100% of Qli decks at high redundancy (2.39 average copies); minimal brick risk
- Strong synergies with all core Qli pieces: Scout, Carrier, Helix, Saqlifice, Monolith
- Tribute-Summon bounce is a hard interrupt that cannot be responded to
- Pendulum position provides modest +300 ATK buff to all Qli monsters on field
Weaknesses
- No combo data means full board-building potential and conversion are unverified; text-only inference
- Heavily archetype-restricted to Qli; minimal off-theme playability (99.4% of homes are Qli variants)
- Bounce effect only triggers on Tribute Summon with another Qli tribute, making disruption conditional
- Protection clause is narrow: only blocks Level/Rank <4 effects and only while Normal Summoned/Set
- Pendulum lock to Qli-only summons restricts deck flexibility despite matching archetype intent
Counters / choke points
- Skill Drain negates both pendulum +ATK buff and monster protection effects
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring or other hand traps can interrupt Qli summon chains before Stealth entry
- Macro Cosmos or Imperial Order disrupt pendulum-dependent Qli strategies
- Cards with Level/Rank 4 or higher ignore Stealth's monster-effect protection
Best use
Free-summon combo enabler and tribute-summon material generator. Decks: Qliphort, Qliphort Pure, Qliphort Turbo. Suggested copies: 3.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card can be Normal Summoned without Tributing; becomes Level 4 1800-ATK when summoned without tributes or special summoned (card text); Run in 161 out of 161 Qli decks at 2.39 average copies per deck (deck evidence); Pendulum effect locks Special Summons to Qli monsters only and grants +300 ATK to all Qli monsters (card text); When Tribute Summoned using Qli tribute, bounces target card to hand without response window (card text); Top partners include Scout (100%), Carrier (95%), Helix (95%), Summoner's Art (93.8%), Saqlifice (88.2%) (deck partnership analysis)
- Observed: 100% of sampled decks include Qliphort Stealth in main deck; zero side deck instances (deck evidence); Average 2.39 copies per deck; 87 out of 161 decks run the maximum 3 copies (deck distribution); Strongest home in TCG Standard gameplay (56.5%), secondary homes in OCG/MasterDuel (28%) and Duel Links (14.3%) (gameplay_types); Appears in 9 archetype tags, but 95%+ are Qli variants; only 2 Gravekeeper's decks and 2 Dominus decks include it (archetype clustering)
- Inferred: Level 4 EARTH Machine with protection from Level/Rank <4 monster effects suggests design to survive mid-combo as a standing body; High copy density (2.39 average, 87 at 3x) and exclusive partnerships indicate Stealth is the primary entry point for Qli's tribute-summon strategy; Tribute-summon bounce payoff indicates card transitions from setup/materials role to mid-game disruption in the Qli game plan; Archetype lock limits applicability; even as a strong intrinsic tool, it cannot generate value outside Qli homes
- Data gaps: No combos supplied — combo conversion power is unverified; full board-building and starter-to-payoff chains are text-only inference No banlist token — assumed unlimited (3 copies legal); actual ban status across TCG/OCG/MasterDuel/Duel Links not confirmed No usage statistics (StatisticsCard rows) — archetype inclusion percentages and typical copies per archetype inferred from 161-deck sample only Limited cross-format breakdown — TCG Standard (56.5%) dominant; OCG, MasterDuel, Duel Links samples smaller and potentially less representative