DARK
5Shadow Ghoul
ATK:
1600
DEF:
1300
View:
3038
This card gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard.
Shadow Ghoul — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 30 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 31 · Deck: 30 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Material body · Secondary: Boss/End-board
Why it scores here
Shadow Ghoul is a Level-5 tribute monster whose only effect is gaining 100 ATK per monster in the Graveyard, so it converts nothing into interaction, card advantage, or a combo line. It is essentially a DARK Zombie beatstick/body that is hard to field (one tribute, no searcher) and carries no protection, so the ATK-scaling earns it almost no credit. It shows up in 14 casual/old-school decks but in zero recorded combos, confirming it is a generic filler body rather than an engine piece; its high potential ATK does not move the score.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 22 | Level-5 tribute summon with no search or special-summon route anywhere in the evidence, so it is only live if drawn with a tribute available (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 12 | No recorded combos and the text adds nothing to a board beyond its own body, so it does nothing on its own (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 18 | Tribute-summoning it is roughly a -1 that returns only ATK, with no search, draw, or Graveyard refuel (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 3 | The text provides no removal, negation, or disruption of any kind (verified). |
| Material Utility | 28 | A Level-5 DARK Zombie body is usable as tribute/Xyz/level material and its ATK-scaling is irrelevant when blanked, but Level 5 is an awkward material level (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 20 | No protection or floating effect; a single removal or negate ends it and it has no other-zone value (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 22 | It occupies a main-deck slot that requires a tribute while providing no engine, lock, or synergy, so it is a poor slot cost (inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Material body / Normal primary (no combos recorded; played as a generic body/beatstick). Intrinsic ≈ 31, Deck ≈ 30, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- DARK Zombie typing gives it minor generic synergy with Zombie/DARK support.
- Its ATK scales with Graveyard size, so it can become a sizeable beater in a long grind game.
- Fully generic and legal in TCG, OCG, Master Duel, and Duel Links with no archetype restriction.
Weaknesses
- Level-5 tribute summon with no built-in special summon or searcher — hard to get onto the field.
- Only effect is an ATK gain; no removal, negation, protection, or card advantage.
- Zero recorded combo appearances — it is not part of any engine or end board.
Counters / choke points
- Any single removal or hand trap (Dark Hole, Raigeki, a negate) answers it before its ATK matters.
- Graveyard hate that empties the GY cuts its ATK bonus and leaves a small body.
Best use
Beatstick / material body. Decks: Casual / old-school beatdown (Duel Links-style decks), Generic DARK Zombie piles. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: gains 100 ATK for each monster in your Graveyard.; Level-5 DARK Zombie, 1600 ATK / 1300 DEF, no archetype.; 0 combos recorded across the sample.; No banlist token present; assumed unlimited (3 copies).
- Observed: 14 decks run it, 1.86 average copies, all 14 in the main deck.; Appears across 8 distinct archetype buckets but in 0 combo boards.
- Inferred: Hard to summon: one tribute required and no search/special-summon route in the evidence.; Low material value as a Level-5 non-Tuner body.; No protection or interaction means it is trivially answered.
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only