EARTH
8
9Qliphort Shell
Archetype:
Qli
ATK:
2800
DEF:
1000
View:
4083
[ Pendulum Effect ] You cannot Special Summon monsters, except "Qli" monsters. This effect cannot be negated. All monsters your opponent controls lose 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. If this card is Normal Summoned by Tributing a "Qli" monster(s), it can make a second attack during each Battle Phase, and if it attacks a Defense Position monster, inflict piercing battle damage to your opponent.
Qliphort Shell — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 68 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 69 · Deck: 71 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Floodgate/Control · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
This card scores around 68 because it functions as the backbone of the Qliphort archetype, providing consistent engine value rather than high-impact disruption. The Pendulum effect's archetype lock and ATK reduction are powerful within Qliphort, but severely limit splashability; the monster effect offers flexible access and solid material synergy as a Level 4 body. Without empirical combo evidence and with heavy archetype-dependence, the card is a well-designed core piece rather than a format-shaping powerhouse. The score reflects strong archetype synergy and accessibility within Qliphort, offset by limited generic utility and unknown combo conversion.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 85 | It is included in 100% of Qliphort decks (117/117) and searchable via Qliphort Scout, with free Normal Summon access and high redundancy (1.5–3 copies per deck) confirming reliable routing within its archetype (observed: deck statistics). |
| Combo & Conversion | 42 | Zero combos are recorded in the evidence, and the card's text suggests it functions as an engine support piece rather than a combo starter or board converter, leaving combo conversion empirically unknown (inferred: absence of combo data + text analysis). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | It can be freely Normal Summoned and generates value through conditional double attacks when Tributed, roughly breaking even on card resources without card-advantage generation (verified: card text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 72 | The Pendulum effect provides a hard lock against non-Qliphort Special Summons and cumulative −300 ATK debuff on all opponent monsters, though this requires maintaining the Pendulum Scale against removal (verified: card text). |
| Material Utility | 68 | When freely summoned or Special Summoned, it becomes a clean Level 4 Machine body usable in generic Synchro lines and Qliphort-specific synergy, retaining material utility even if effects are negated (inferred: text-based level conversion and archetype membership). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 75 | The card exists in two zones (Pendulum/Monster), has built-in protection from lower-Level monster effects, and maintains high redundancy (average 1.5–3 copies per deck), making it difficult to completely disrupt (observed: deck statistics + verified: card text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 78 | The Pendulum archetype lock restricts Special Summons to Qliphort only, which is a feature in pure Qliphort but a severe brick outside it; it is searchable via Scout and maintains acceptable redundancy with no garnet risk (verified: card text + observed: deck statistics). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Floodgate/Control + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 69, Deck ≈ 71, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Archetype lock (Qliphort-only Special Summons) (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Core engine piece in Qliphort with 100% inclusion across the archetype
- Negate-proof Pendulum effect that provides hard lock against opponent Special Summons
- Flexible access via free Normal Summon and high redundancy (1.5–3 copies per deck)
- Converts to clean Level 4 material for generic Synchro lines when freely summoned
- Built-in resilience from lower-Level monster effects
Weaknesses
- Pendulum archetype lock severely limits splashability outside pure Qliphort
- No empirical combo evidence; combo conversion and board-building potential unknown
- Passive −300 ATK debuff is soft interaction, not hard removal or negation
- Dependent on maintaining Pendulum Scale; vulnerable to spell/trap removal
- Card value drops significantly in non-Qliphort contexts (complete brick due to archetype restriction)
Counters / choke points
- Spell/Trap removal (MST, Cosmic Cyclone) removes Pendulum effect entirely
- Decks with strong lower-Level monsters resist the card's protection clause
- Non-Qliphort deck builders face unusable brick status due to archetype lock
Best use
Pendulum engine piece / Material body. Decks: Qliphort.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Pendulum effect restricts Special Summons to Qliphort only (card text); Pendulum effect is negate-proof ('This effect cannot be negated'; card text); Monster effect reduces Level to 4 when freely summoned or Special Summoned (card text); Card appears in 100% of Qliphort decks in sample (117/117 decks); Qliphort Scout is top partner in 100% of running decks (deck statistics)
- Observed: High inclusion across three distinct Qliphort archetypes (52–94%; deck statistics); Average 1.5 copies per deck with max 3 copies (deck statistics: 1x77, 2x22, 3x18); Appears in 9 distinct archetypes but 93%+ concentrated in Qliphort (deck statistics); All top 10 partners are Qliphort-specific cards (deck statistics); Guides 217 lists it as core Qliphort engine monster (guide snippets)
- Inferred: Level 4 conversion makes it compatible with generic Synchro lines (text + Yu-Gi-Oh rules); Card functions as primary engine piece rather than combo starter (0 combos recorded + high archetype inclusion); Double-attack capability via Tribute is conditional value, not a reliable combo line; Pendulum Scale 9 provides ceiling control but limits flexibility in scale-heavy hands
- Data gaps: No combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference without empirical board evidence No banlist token — assumed unlimited (3 copies legal in all formats) No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from 117-deck sample only No cross-format Top-Card ranking — cannot confirm format-wide dominance