Trap
ContinuousShaddoll Core
Archetype:
Shaddoll
View:
6157
Special Summon this card as an Effect Monster (Spellcaster/DARK/Level 9/ATK 1450/DEF 1950). (This card is also still a Trap.) If Summoned this way, you can substitute this monster for 1 Fusion Material that lists an Attribute, on a "Shaddoll" Fusion Monster Card. If this card is sent to the GY by a card effect: You can target 1 "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap in your GY, except "Shaddoll Core"; add it to your hand.
Shaddoll Core — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 62 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 60 · Deck: 64 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Material body · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion, Combo enabler
Why it scores here
Shaddoll Core earns its score as an archetype-locked utility piece: it becomes a Level 9 DARK body usable as a Fusion substitute on a "Shaddoll" Fusion Monster and, when sent to the GY by a card effect, adds a "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap back from the GY — a real grindy recursion that shows up in 100% of the recorded Shaddoll combo boards and in all 400 sampled decks. Its 1450/1950 body and Trap-into-monster stats earn nothing here; the value comes from the substitute-material function and the GY recovery, which lift resource economy and material utility well above its near-zero direct interaction. Because it is an unsearchable Trap that must be drawn or set and is never the engine (starter role 0%), it cannot carry a line on its own, so it lands solidly mid-range rather than top-tier.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | It runs in 400/400 sampled decks at ~1 copy, but it is an unsearchable Trap that must be drawn or set and shows 0% starter role and 0% searched-for role in the recorded combos (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 55 | It appears in 5/5 recorded combos carrying an average power index of 79.4, yet is never the starter (avg starter count 0.6), so it supports the line rather than driving it (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 67 | Its GY trigger adds a "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap from the GY to the hand, and the boards it appears in show net card advantage of +3 to +5 (observed). |
| Effect & Interaction | 28 | The card has no negation or removal text of its own; any disruption is indirect, coming only through recovering a "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap such as Schism (verified). |
| Material Utility | 70 | Summoned as a Level 9 DARK Spellcaster, it can substitute for 1 Fusion Material that lists an Attribute on a "Shaddoll" Fusion Monster, giving clean fusion-material value even when its own effects are irrelevant (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 60 | It functions both as a monster on the field and as a GY trigger whenever it is sent there by a card effect, giving it multi-zone utility that survives being destroyed by an effect (verified). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 63 | It costs an average of 1.03 copies per deck with 390 of 400 decks playing exactly one and no locks or costs attached, a cheap slot inside its archetype (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Material body + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 60, Deck ≈ 64, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Turns into a Level 9 DARK Spellcaster body that can substitute for an Attribute-listing Fusion Material on a "Shaddoll" Fusion Monster
- GY trigger recovers a "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap (e.g. Shaddoll Fusion, El Shaddoll Fusion, Schism), giving repeated value
- Very low slot cost: 1.03 average copies and no locks or discard costs
- Works from two zones (field monster and GY) and triggers even when destroyed by a card effect
Weaknesses
- Unsearchable Trap that must be drawn or set, so it is slow and unreliable as an opening play
- Provides no direct negation, removal, or disruption of its own
- Heavily archetype-locked — near-worthless outside Shaddoll builds
- Low body stats (1450/1950) make it a poor stand-alone monster
Counters / choke points
- Called by the Grave / D.D. Crow to banish it before the GY recovery trigger resolves
- Cosmic Cyclone or other Spell/Trap removal that banishes it instead of sending it to the GY
- Macro Cosmos / Dimension Shifter-style graveyard hate that prevents it reaching the GY
- Negating the Fusion summon it is substituting into removes its main material value
Best use
Fusion substitute material and GY recursion utility. Decks: Shaddoll, Shaddoll Invoked, Shaddoll Eldlich. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: can be Special Summoned as an Effect Monster (Spellcaster/DARK/Level 9/1450 ATK/1950 DEF) while remaining a Trap; Card text: when Summoned this way it can substitute for 1 Fusion Material that lists an Attribute on a "Shaddoll" Fusion Monster; Card text: if sent to the GY by a card effect, it can add a "Shaddoll" Spell/Trap from the GY to the hand (except "Shaddoll Core"); Card is a Continuous Trap, archetype Shaddoll, legal in TCG/OCG/MasterDuel/DuelLinks with no banlist restriction token
- Observed: Runs in 400/400 sampled decks, average 1.03 copies (390 decks play exactly 1, max 3); Appears in 5/5 recorded combos (100% appearance) with average power index 79.4 and average starter count 0.6; 0% starter role, 0% searched-for role, 0% material role, 0% payoff role, 0% end-board appearances across recorded combos; Boards it appears in report net card advantage of +5, +3, and +4 in the worked examples; Top partners co-occur at 94-97% (El Shaddoll Construct, Shaddoll Fusion, Reeshaddoll Wendi)
- Inferred: As an unsearchable Trap, its access depends on drawing it or sending it to the GY by effect rather than on a searcher route; Its practical function is support material plus GY recursion rather than a starter, consistent with the 0% starter role signal
- Data gaps: no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from the 400-deck sample only combo data is very thin (5 combos) and all role tags (starter/searched/material/payoff/end-board/end-hand) are empty, so the exact role in the line is not directly confirmed