Spell
ContinuousSamsara
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Monster Cards Tributed for a Ritual Summon are returned to the owner's Deck instead of being sent to the Graveyard.
Samsara — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 37 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 37 · Deck: 41 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery/Recursion · Secondary: Utility
Why it scores here
Samsara is a niche recovery tool that preserves resources in ritual-heavy decks by returning tributed monsters to the deck instead of the graveyard. While the resource preservation itself is genuine and valuable in context, the card is severely limited by its narrow applicability—it only functions in decks performing ritual summons, and the single deck sample (Burning Abyss) provides minimal corroboration of actual utility. No combo evidence exists to demonstrate how this recycling effect integrates into winning game lines, leaving its true strategic value uncertain despite logical merit in theory.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 35 | Continuous spells are reliably drawn and activated, but this card is a dead draw outside ritual-focused decks, and only 1 deck sample demonstrates inclusion (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 25 | The card modifies tribute mechanics but does not enable combos or build boards by itself; no combo examples exist to show concrete conversion (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 60 | Returning tributed monsters to deck instead of the graveyard prevents resource loss during ritual summons, creating genuine preservation in resource cycles (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 0 | Samsara has zero opponent interaction, negation, disruption, or removal capability (verified). |
| Material Utility | 0 | As a spell card, Samsara cannot be used as material for any extra deck summon and has no utility value even when negated (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | The continuous spell persists once active but is vulnerable to spell destruction and only functions during ritual summon phases, limiting broader utility (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 50 | The card requires a ritual-summon-heavy deck and occupies a spell/trap zone, but the single deck sample runs 2 copies without apparent bricking, suggesting acceptable slot efficiency within its narrow niche (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Recovery/Recursion + 0.3 Utility. Intrinsic ≈ 37, Deck ≈ 41, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Niche archetype restriction (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Genuine resource preservation in ritual decks by returning tributed monsters to deck instead of graveyard
- Continuous spell persists after activation, allowing multiple ritual summons to benefit from recycling
- No bricking in the single Burning Abyss deck sample (runs at 2 copies)
Weaknesses
- Strictly limited to ritual-summon decks; dead draw in non-ritual strategies
- No opponent interaction, disruption, or defensive capability
- Zero material utility as a spell card
- Vulnerable to spell destruction and bounce effects
- Single deck sample provides minimal evidence of actual strategic value
Counters / choke points
- Mystical Space Typhoon and other spell destruction effects
- Decks that skip or minimize ritual summons
- Opponent effects that prevent or negate specific summon methods
Best use
Resource recycler in ritual-summon loops. Decks: Burning Abyss. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text is unambiguous: tributed monsters return to deck instead of graveyard; Present in 1 Burning Abyss deck at 2 copies (main deck); Ritual summon mechanic interaction based on official card text; Continuous spell mechanic provides persistent activation
- Observed: Only observed in 1 Burning Abyss deck sample; Run at 2 copies, suggesting some redundancy value in context; Appears with all major Burning Abyss monsters as top partners; No combo appearances across entire recorded combo database
- Inferred: Recovery/Recursion role prevents resource loss during ritual summons; Niche accessibility limited to ritual-focused archetypes; Resource economy benefit genuine within its narrow application scope; Limited resilience due to vulnerability to spell removal; Deckbuilding cost is moderate (spell zone plus archetype dependency)
- Data gaps: No combos supplied—combo conversion is text-only inference without empirical verification Only 1 deck sample—insufficient to establish archetype-wide inclusion patterns No usage statistics (StatisticsCard)—Burning Abyss inclusion % unknown beyond this single sample No strategic guides explaining Samsara's role in Burning Abyss or other ritual decks No banlist token—assumed unlimited (3 copies per format)