FIRE
7Royal Archfiend
Archetype:
Archfiend
ATK:
2400
DEF:
1000
View:
469
You can Tribute this card from your hand or face-up field; add 1 "Archfiend" card from your Deck to your hand, except "Royal Archfiend", also you cannot Special Summon from the Extra Deck for the rest of this turn, except "Archfiend" monsters, but you can Normal Summon 1 Fiend monster during your Main Phase this turn, in addition to your Normal Summon/Set (you can only gain this effect once per turn). When your Ritual Monster is destroyed by battle while this card is in your GY: You can Special Summon this card. You can only use each effect of "Royal Archfiend" once per turn.
Royal Archfiend — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 52 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 50 · Deck: 53.5 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
Royal Archfiend scores as a Tribute-cost searcher for the Archfiend archetype with a graveyard revive as a secondary role. Its 2400 ATK and Level 7 body earn nothing directly; the score rests on being almost always live in hand (82% of sampled decks run it at about 2.6 copies) and on a 1-for-1 search that does not gain card advantage. The 400-deck inclusion confirms accessibility and deck fit, not strength: the 7 recorded boards show a low average power index of 5.2 and only one starter appearance, so combo conversion stays low.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 65 | Runs 3 copies in 264 of 400 decks across 46 archetypes and appears as a starter once in 4 combo boards, so it is usually live in hand (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 30 | Only 4 of 7 recorded boards include it, the examples have power indices of 3 to 10 with empty board summaries, and its average board power is 5.2 (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | The Tribute search trades the card for one Archfiend with net card advantage 0 in the examples; the graveyard revive can refuel but is conditional on a Ritual monster being destroyed in battle (verified text, observed netCardAdvantage 0). |
| Effect & Interaction | 10 | No negation, removal or hand-trap effect; the only restriction limits the player's own Extra Deck Special Summons (verified text). |
| Material Utility | 40 | Level 7 Fiend with no recorded uses as material in the combo sample; its material value is inferred from level and race only (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | Usable from hand or field as a Tribute and again from the graveyard, across turns, but each effect is once per turn (verified text, inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 45 | Three-copy staple with no garnet requirement, but the Extra Deck summon restriction binds the player's own lines (verified text, observed copies). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Searcher/Tutor + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 50, Deck ≈ 53.5, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Extra Deck summon restriction (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Tribute cost searches an Archfiend card from Deck to hand (verified text)
- Live from hand or field, and returns from the graveyard when a Ritual monster is destroyed in battle (verified text)
- Run in 400 of 400 sampled decks at about 2.6 copies across 46 archetypes (observed)
Weaknesses
- Low combo power: average board power 5.2 across 4 appearances (observed)
- Net card advantage 0 on the Tribute search (observed, verified text)
- Extra Deck summon restriction and once-per-turn limits on every effect (verified text)
- No negation or removal, so it adds no opponent interaction (verified text)
Counters / choke points
- Floodgate-style cards the guide names as threats to the Archfiend line, such as Shifter and Dimensional Fissure (guide snippet, observed)
Best use
Tribute searcher for Archfiend support, with graveyard recursion after a Ritual monster is destroyed. Decks: Regenesis, Archfiend, Primite, K9. Suggested copies: 3.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Tribute from hand or field to search 1 Archfiend card from Deck, excluding Royal Archfiend; Limits Extra Deck Special Summons for the rest of the turn to Archfiend monsters; Normal Summon 1 Fiend monster in the Main Phase, once per turn; Special Summon from the graveyard when a Ritual monster is destroyed by battle, once per turn for each effect
- Observed: Included in 400 of 400 sampled decks, average 2.62 copies, 82% in gameplay type 7; Appears in 4 of 7 recorded combos, one as starter and one in end hand, average power index 5.2; Top-card context: not a Top Card
- Inferred: Its Tribute search is net card advantage 0 because it trades one card for one card; Its Level 7 Fiend body gives material value by level and race, though no material use was recorded
- Data gaps: no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only combo sample is only 7 boards, and 4 of them include the card no recorded combo uses the graveyard revive or material role no rulings available for the Ritual-destruction revive timing