DARK
12Red Nova Dragon
Archetype:
Archfiend
ATK:
3500
DEF:
3000
View:
8405
2 Tuners + "Red Dragon Archfiend" This card gains 500 ATK for each Tuner monster in your Graveyard. Cannot be destroyed by an opponent's card effects. When an opponent's monster declares an attack: You can target the attacking monster; banish this card, and if you do, negate that attack. During the next End Phase: Special Summon this card banished by this effect.
Red Nova Dragon — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 76 ± 5 · Confidence: High
- Intrinsic: 74 · Deck: 78 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Boss/End-board · Secondary: Negation/Interaction, Resilience/Recovery
Why it scores here
Red Nova Dragon is a high-impact boss monster that caps off Resonator combo lines with perfect execution (100 power-index combos), generating 6–7 net card advantage while maintaining destruction immunity and providing attack negation utility. Its 0.8 average starter requirement demonstrates exceptional efficiency within its primary archetype home. However, its role is highly specialized—it requires a complete Resonator/Archfiend synchro engine to function and offers limited utility outside these decks, capping its overall power at a strong mid-tier level.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 75 | Accessible only within Resonator and Archfiend homes (100% inclusion in Resonators, 31.5% in Archfiend), with an average 0.8 starter count, but unsearchable and locked to specific synchro summon lines. (observed) |
| Combo & Conversion | 85 | Appears as payoff in all 5 sampled combos (100%) with perfect 100 power-index boards, generating 4 boss monsters and 6–7 net card advantage per line. (verified) |
| Resource Economy | 75 | Provides modest card advantage through GY tuner-scaled ATK and net advantage in combos, with a banish-return attack negation offering efficient resource protection without native card draw. (inferred) |
| Effect & Interaction | 70 | Destruction immunity is a strong defensive asset; attack negation is situational and does not stop non-attack effects, positioned as soft disruption rather than hard negation. (verified) |
| Material Utility | 40 | Level 12 synchro with poor conversion to further plays; never used as material in sampled combos (0% as_material), though destruction immunity preserves board presence when blanked. (observed) |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 88 | Destruction-immune with multi-turn activation potential through attack negation and return mechanic, highly resilient across multiple interaction patterns and board states. (verified) |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 76 | Fits cleanly into 26 distinct archetypes with 1.03 average copies and minimal garnet risk due to pervasive Resonator/Archfiend tutors (98.8% co-deck with Soul Resonator), though requires the full engine to function. (observed) |
Calculation
Weight profile: Pure Boss/End-board (primary role, no secondary blend given overwhelming payoff evidence). Intrinsic ≈ 74, Deck ≈ 78, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Perfect 100 power-index combo generation in Resonator lines
- Destruction immunity provides unmatched board resilience
- Efficient 0.8 average starter requirement within home archetypes
- Multi-turn attack negation with self-recovery mechanism
- Strong 6–7 net card advantage generation in combo payoff
- Broad archetype portability (26 distinct archetypes)
Weaknesses
- Highly specialized synchro summon requirement (2 Tuners + Red Dragon Archfiend)
- Unsearchable and non-tutoreable
- Level 12 difficult to convert to further synchro/xyz/link material
- Attack negation situational—does not stop monster effects or hand traps
- Minimal relevance outside Resonator/Archfiend homes
- Requires intact Tuner presence in graveyard to scale ATK
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (negates tuner effects during synchro setup)
- Effect Veiler (blocks tuner effects during synchro setup)
- Kaiju effects (forced summon overwrites destruction immunity)
- Hand traps on attack declaration (negation resolves but bounce still vulnerable)
- Board wipes that banish (Red Nova returns during End Phase, vulnerable until then)
Best use
Boss/End-board payoff monster for Resonator combo lines. Decks: Resonator (100% inclusion), Archfiend (31.5% inclusion), Resonators (17% inclusion), Bystial/Byssted (10.8% inclusion). Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Synchro requirement: 2 Tuners + Red Dragon Archfiend (card text); Destruction immunity from opponent's effects (card text); Attack negation and End-Phase special summon mechanic (card text); 100% inclusion rate in Resonators archetype (usage_statistics); Appears as payoff in all 5 sampled combos (combos_evidence); Runs 1.03 copies per deck on average (decks_evidence); ATK scaling from graveyard Tuners (card text)
- Observed: 98.8% co-deck rate with Soul Resonator and Crimson Gaia (top_partners); 100 average power-index when present in combos (combos_evidence sub_scores); 0.8 average starter count requirement (combos_evidence efficiency); 26 distinct archetypes run the card (decks_evidence archetype breadth); 78.5% of appearances in standard gameplay format (decks_evidence gameplay_types)
- Inferred: Attack negation is situational, activating only during opponent's attack declaration phase; Level 12 makes further Synchro/Xyz/Link material generation impractical; Destruction immunity provides defense against common removal patterns (Kaiju, Dark Hole effects); Banish-return mechanic allows repeated attack negation across multiple turns; ATK scaling from GY Tuners incentivizes building Tuner-heavy engine
- Data gaps: No banlist token provided; assumed unlimited/3 copies per deck No Top Card ranking data (popularity vs. competitiveness) Limited combo sample (5 combos, all Resonator-centric; no cross-archetype combos visible) No explicit going-first vs. going-second breakdown in combo evidence No usage statistics for non-Resonators/non-Archfiend homes (26 other archetypes)