Trap
CounterSeven Tools of the Bandit
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5156
When a Trap Card is activated: Pay 1000 LP; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it.
Seven Tools of the Bandit — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 54 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 55 · Deck: 53 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Negation/Interaction
Why it scores here
Seven Tools of the Bandit is a pure defensive Counter Trap: it converts a drawn card plus 1000 LP into a hard negate-and-destroy on an opponent's Trap Card activation, trading 1-for-1 while gaining Spell Speed 3 immunity to most responses. It builds nothing on its own (0 combo appearances in the sample) and offers no material or board presence, so its value sits entirely in its interaction quality and its cheap, generic slot cost. Its 264 deck appearances and 83 distinct archetypes confirm it is a splashable real option, but that frequency reflects generic accessibility rather than intrinsic strength, and none of its high trap utility comes from stats (it has 0 ATK/DEF). The score is held back by the narrow 'Trap Card only' target window, the set-then-wait Trap timing, and the 1000 LP drain.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | A generic Normal/Counter Trap with no archetype restriction that any deck can run up to 3 copies of, but it has no searcher and only becomes live the turn after it is set (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 12 | Recorded in 0 of the sampled combos and capable of producing no bodies or extension, so from a combo standpoint it converts nothing on its own (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | It functionally trades itself 1-for-1 with the negated card while additionally paying 1000 LP, leaving it roughly even-to-slightly-negative on resources (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 60 | As a Spell Speed 3 Counter Trap it delivers a hard negate-and-destroy that is difficult to respond to, but it only targets Trap Card activations, making it considerably narrower than a broad omni-negate (verified). |
| Material Utility | 3 | As a Trap Card it has no body, level, attribute or type that can be used as material for any Summon, so it contributes nothing even if its effect is irrelevant (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | The Trap must be set and survives a turn as backrow vulnerable to removal, and it is a dead card against decks that resolve few Trap Cards, limiting its cross-matchup flexibility (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 72 | It is a near free-roll generic Trap with no garnet, no locks and no engine requirement, and the sample decks average 1.53 copies across 83 different archetypes (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Single primary role Negation/Interaction (no secondary blend). Intrinsic ≈ 55, Deck ≈ 53, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Hard Spell Speed 3 negate-and-destroy that most cards cannot respond to
- Fully generic with no archetype, engine or lock requirement
- Extremely splashable — seen across 83 distinct archetypes at an average of 1.53 copies
- Co-occurs heavily with other defensive staples (Solemn Judgment, Mirror Force, Torrential Tribute), fitting trap-heavy control shells
Weaknesses
- Only negates Trap Card activations, doing nothing against Spell or monster effects
- Must be set and wait a turn before it can be used, so it is slow and vulnerable to backrow removal
- 1000 LP cost every use adds up over a game
- No offensive or combo contribution and no body for material
Counters / choke points
- Mystical Space Typhoon / Cosmic Cyclone removing it before it resolves
- Decks that win through monsters and Spells with few Traps render it dead
- Red Reboot and similar Trap-negation answers
- Solemn Judgment or other counter traps can answer it on activation
Best use
Defensive backrow negation / Trap-stopping Counter Trap. Decks: Blackwings, Gladiator Beast, Heroic, Trap-heavy control builds. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: "When a Trap Card is activated: Pay 1000 LP; negate the activation, and if you do, destroy it."; Card type is Trap Card / Counter with 0 ATK and 0 DEF and no archetype; Legal in TCG, OCG, MasterDuel and DuelLinks (no banlist token supplied, assumed 3 copies)
- Observed: 264 sampled decks run it, 264 in the main deck and 0 in the side; Average 1.53 copies per deck (156 at 1, 75 at 2, 33 at 3); Spans 83 distinct archetypes, led by Blackwings (14%), Heroic (8%) and Gladiator Beast (7.2%); 0 recorded combo appearances (no starter/searched/material/payoff/end-board usage); Top partners include Mystical Space Typhoon and Solemn Judgment (69.7% each), Mirror Force (67.4%) and Torrential Tribute (60.6%)
- Inferred: With no searcher listed it must be drawn, and as a Trap it is only live after being set for a turn; Its negation window is limited strictly to Trap Card activations, leaving it blank against Spell- and monster-effect lines; Because it produces no bodies it has no material or extension role in any line
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only no dated metagame sample, so meta power is left null/provisional