WATER
4Right-Hand Shark
ATK:
1500
DEF:
1300
View:
5277
When this card is Normal Summoned: You can add 1 "Left-Hand Shark" from your Deck to your hand. If this card is in your GY and you control no monsters: You can Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field. An Xyz Monster that was Summoned using only WATER monsters as material, including this card on the field, gains this effect. ● This card cannot be destroyed by battle. You can only use each effect of "Right-Hand Shark" once per turn.
Right-Hand Shark — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 69 ± 5 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 67 · Deck: 68 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher / Tutor · Secondary: Material body, Extender
Why it scores here
Right-Hand Shark scores as a reliable searcher and material enabler for WATER Xyz strategies, primarily Shark archetypes. Its Normal Summon effect searches Left-Hand Shark for consistent +1 card advantage, while its clean Level 4 WATER typing makes it excellent material for Xyz summons like Bahamut Shark and Full Armored Utopic Ray Lancer. The card's strength lies in its efficiency and synergy within Shark decks (86.7% of sample), but it offers no direct disruption, limited resilience to interaction, and minimal splashability outside Water-focused strategies.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 75 | Normal Summon reliably accessed in draws, with 2 average copies per deck and immediate live searcher effect for Left-Hand Shark (verified from deck evidence: 100% main deck inclusion, avg 2 copies). |
| Combo & Conversion | 62 | Builds moderate boards as searcher plus material engine feeding Xyz summons; single recorded combo shows power index 52 with net +2 card advantage (observed from combo data: 100% material role, average power index 52). |
| Resource Economy | 68 | Generates +1 via Left-Hand Shark search on Normal Summon, with situational recovery from GY; no repeated advantage generation (verified from card text: searcher effect, conditional self-banishing recovery). |
| Effect & Interaction | 28 | Provides no hand traps, negations, or removals; only passive battle protection granted to WATER Xyz monsters (verified from card text: no disruptive effects, Xyz-only protection clause). |
| Material Utility | 72 | Clean Level 4 WATER Fish body well-suited for Xyz material, with strong synergy to Bahamut Shark (72% of decks) and generic compatibility despite no inherent locks (observed from deck evidence: top partner Bahamut Shark 72%, inferred from Level 4 WATER typing). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 58 | Vulnerable to immediate removal or hand traps, with recovery requiring empty field condition; mitigated by high copy redundancy averaging 2–3 per deck (verified from card text: no inherent protection, conditional recovery; observed from deck evidence: copy distribution heavy at 1 and 3 copies). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 76 | Clean Level 4 with synergistic searcher partner Left-Hand Shark, no self-locks or bricks; moderate slot cost of avg 2 copies per deck, limited splashability outside Shark homes (verified from card text: no restrictions; observed from deck evidence: 86.7% Shark concentration, 34 distinct archetypes total). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Searcher/Tutor + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 67, Deck ≈ 68, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Clean searcher compactness (2); Archetype concentration penalty (-1). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Reliable +1 card advantage via Left-Hand Shark search on Normal Summon
- Clean Level 4 WATER material for dedicated Xyz strategies
- High redundancy in deck lists (avg 2 copies) provides resilience to single-card loss
- Synergistic with tier-3 Shark archetype and multiple WATER Xyz bosses
- No self-locking restrictions; generic Level 4 compatibility
Weaknesses
- No direct disruption or hand-trap interaction; limited going-second utility
- Recovery effect requires empty field condition, severely limiting multi-turn value
- Heavy Shark-centric design limits splashability outside WATER-focused archetypes
- Vulnerable to immediate removal before searcher resolves (Ash Blossom target)
- Modest power index (52) in recorded combos suggests supporting role, not engine driver
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (blocks searcher effect on Normal Summon)
- Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion (blocks recovery from GY)
- Forbidden Droplet (can negate effects before they resolve)
- Dimensional Barrier (prevents Xyz summoning after search)
Best use
Searcher and material enabler for WATER Xyz summons. Decks: Shark, WATER Xyz, Bahamut Shark toolbox.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Normal Summon searcher for Left-Hand Shark (card text, observed in 5 guides); Recovery from GY with self-banish condition (card text); Xyz-granted battle protection for WATER monsters (card text); 100% main deck inclusion in 400 decks (deck evidence); Average 2 copies per deck (deck evidence: distribution 1/169, 2/60, 3/171)
- Observed: 100% role as material in recorded combos (combo data: material role 100%, 1 appearance); Paired with Buzzsaw Shark in 96% of decks (top partners: 384/400 co-decks); Average power index 52 when present in combos (combo data.average power index when present); Mentioned in 5 separate guides as core or tech element (guide data)
- Inferred: Searcher accessibility is high due to Normal Summon live activation and draw redundancy; Recovery effect is situational and limited by 'no monsters' field condition; Level 4 WATER Fish typing provides strong material utility for dedicated WATER Xyz lines; Primary home is Shark archetype with limited cross-archetype splashability; Modest combo power index (52) suggests supporting role rather than engine driver
- Data gaps: Only 1 combo recorded (extremely limited diversity for combo role assessment) No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) available; inclusion % inferred from 400-deck sample only No Top 8 / ranked card data across formats (top-card status false, no rankings provided) No metagame sample data for current format meta-power calculation Banlist status assumed unlimited (3 copies); no actual ban token provided No specific ruling clarifications on Xyz effect-grant timing or interaction edge cases