Spell
NormalShield Crush
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3620
Target 1 Defense Position monster on the field; destroy that target.
Shield Crush — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 51 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 51.42 · Deck: 50.35 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal · Secondary: Board breaker, Going-second
Why it scores here
Shield Crush converts a single drawn card into a straight 1-for-1 trade against one Defense Position monster, with no cost, no archetype lock and no once-per-turn clause, which is why it is a live, splashable removal spell in 47 recorded decks across 31 distinct archetypes. Its ceiling is capped by conditionality: it does nothing to Attack Position boards, builds no board of its own (0 combo appearances), and is a one-shot spell that cannot be used as material. Its stats-based irrelevance is deliberate here — it has no ATK/DEF to lean on, and the score comes from cheap, generic, repeatable-across-decks removal value rather than from any raw number. The result is a functional but replaceable tech card, not a power card.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 60 | Normal Spell with no cost, no archetype requirement and 3 assumed legal copies; 47/47 recorded decks run it in the main deck at 1.45 average copies (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 8 | 0 combo appearances and 0 as_starter/as_material/as_payoff counts — the card builds nothing on its own (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 42 | Text is a pure 1-for-1 trade (spell leaves for the destroyed monster), so the exchange is roughly even but never generates advantage (verified/inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 45 | Destroys one Defense Position monster (including set monsters) with no stat restriction, but is situational and blank against Attack Position boards (verified). |
| Material Utility | 5 | It is a Spell Card, so it provides no body, Level, Attribute or name for any summon (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 35 | One-shot Normal Spell with no Graveyard recursion or multi-zone use; dead in hand whenever the opponent has no Defense Position monster (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 75 | 0.7 of recorded decks run exactly 1 copy, no garnet, no restriction and no engine requirement, so it slots in for one cheap slot (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Removal/Negation + 0.3 Board breaker/Going-second. Intrinsic ≈ 51.42, Deck ≈ 50.35, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Fully generic, costless, unrestricted Normal Spell playable in any deck
- Kills any Defense Position monster regardless of ATK/DEF, including face-down sets
- Very cheap deckbuilding cost — 30 of 47 recorded decks run a single copy
Weaknesses
- Completely dead against Attack Position boards
- Builds no board and generates no card advantage (pure 1-for-1)
- No Graveyard use, no recursion, no second application of the same card
Counters / choke points
- Keeping monsters in Attack Position blanks the card entirely
- Negating or removing the targeted monster in response
- Spell/Trap negation (Solemn Judgment-style) trades up on a cheap removal spell
- Decks that win without ever leaving a Defense Position monster on field
Best use
Cheap 1-for-1 removal against Defense Position or set monsters. Decks: Generic going-second removal packages, Duel Links Gogogo / Dododo / Evolsaur builds. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: Normal Spell that targets 1 Defense Position monster on the field and destroys it; Card has no archetype, no ATK/DEF and is a Spell Card, so it cannot be used as material; Legal in TCG, OCG, Master Duel and Duel Links; no banlist token supplied
- Observed: 47 recorded decks run Shield Crush, all in the main deck, none in the side deck; Average 1.45 copies per deck; distribution 30 decks at 1, 13 at 2, 4 at 3; 31 distinct archetypes recorded, with World Chalice (10.6%) the largest single home; Top co-deck partners: Dust Tornado 48.9%, Call of the Haunted 34.0%, Raigeki 31.9%; 0 combo appearances, 0 as_starter, 0 as_material, 0 as_payoff in recorded boards; Usage statistics show 100% inclusion at 1 copy in Gogogo, Dododo and Evolsaur
- Inferred: The card is a situational 1-for-1 removal spell that is blank when the opponent's monsters are in Attack Position; It functions as a tech/sideboard-style removal rather than an engine piece, given its 1-copy usage norm; Co-occurrence with Dust Tornado, Mystical Space Typhoon and Raigeki suggests a generic removal/staple shell
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) architectures differ between decks_evidence (World Chalice, Gladiator Beast, etc.) and usage_statistics (Gogogo, Dododo, Evolsaur), so sample overlap is unclear no metagame/dated sample supplied, so meta_power is null