LIGHT
4Shining Angel
ATK:
1400
DEF:
800
View:
4789
When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck, in face-up Attack Position.
Shining Angel — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 56 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 53.7 · Deck: 54.5 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Starter · Secondary: Material body, Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
Shining Angel is a generic LIGHT recruiter: when it is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard it replaces itself with a LIGHT monster of 1500 or less ATK straight from the Deck, so it converts a battle trade into a free body and deck-thinning rather than into a real board. Its value comes from being completely unrestricted and extremely portable — 206 recorded decks across 66 distinct archetypes at an average of 2.12 copies — not from stats: the 1400 ATK is low and earns nothing, and it dies to essentially every larger body. The trigger is reactive and opponent-dependent (only battle destruction and only to the Graveyard), it brings no disruption whatsoever, and it appears in 0 recorded combos, which caps both its ceiling and its resilience. A Level 4 LIGHT Fairy body with no lock is still clean material for Rank 4/Synchro/Link plays even if the effect is blanked, which keeps it from falling into the low band.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | It is main-decked in 206 decks at 2.12 copies average (86 at 3), so drawing it is easy, but no searcher is present in the evidence and the effect is only live once it is destroyed by battle, so accessibility is capped (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | It yields exactly one replacement body from the Deck and appears in 0 recorded combos, so from a realistic start it produces a single extra body rather than a board (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 52 | Destroyed by battle, it trades 1-for-1 while pulling a monster out of the Deck, keeping card parity and thinning the deck but never generating net advantage (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | The card text contains no negation, removal, or disruption of any kind — it interacts with the opponent only by being attacked (verified). |
| Material Utility | 55 | Level 4 LIGHT Fairy with no archetype lock or summon restriction is a clean generic body for Rank 4, Synchro, Link, or LIGHT Fusion material even when its effect is irrelevant (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 35 | The trigger requires destruction specifically by battle and being sent to the Graveyard, so any non-battle removal (banish, bounce, negate) blanks it and it only functions once (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 72 | No archetype lock, no garnet, no restriction, and redundant copies are fine (up to 3 in 86 decks) across 66 distinct archetypes make it close to a free-roll splash (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Starter/Combo enabler + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 53.7, Deck ≈ 54.5, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Exceptional splashability (2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Generic LIGHT recruiter with no archetype lock, played in 206 decks across 66 distinct archetypes
- Self-replacing trade: a battle loss converts into a LIGHT monster of 1500 or less ATK summoned from the Deck
- Level 4 LIGHT Fairy body is clean material for Rank 4 / Synchro / Link / LIGHT Fusion even when its effect is blanked
- Near-free deckbuilding cost — no garnet, no lock, redundant copies (up to 3) are fine
- Deck-thinning: the summoned body comes out of the Deck rather than the hand
Weaknesses
- Effect only triggers on destruction by battle and only if sent to the Graveyard — purely reactive and opponent-dependent
- 1400 ATK rarely wins the battle that triggers it and contributes nothing on its own
- Any non-battle removal (banish, bounce, negate, effect destruction) blanks it entirely
- Zero disruption — it cannot negate, remove, or interact with the opponent's plays
- Appears in 0 recorded combos and 0 guides, so no measured ceiling or board impact
Counters / choke points
- Effect negation or negating the trigger on destruction
- Non-battle removal: banish, bounce, or destroy-by-effect so it never reaches the Graveyard via battle
- Effects that banish instead of sending to the Graveyard (e.g. macro-style replacements)
- Graveyard disruption timed to the trigger, or simply attacking with a body that prevents a favourable trade
- Boards that ignore the small 1400 ATK body and win without giving it a battle to trade in
Best use
Recruiter/Starter — trade in battle, replace itself with a LIGHT body from the Deck to keep material on board. Decks: Blue-Eyes (Duel Links / classic builds), LIGHT-attribute decks, Black Luster Soldier, Cyber Angel, Odd-Eyes. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: 'When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 LIGHT monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck, in face-up Attack Position.'; Stats/typing: Level 4 LIGHT Fairy, 1400 ATK / 800 DEF, no archetype; Legal in TCG, OCG, Master Duel and Duel Links per card.formats
- Observed: 206 recent decks main-deck it, average 2.12 copies (86 decks run 3); 66 distinct archetypes run it; top archetypes are Blue-Eyes (15.5%), Black Luster Soldier (8.3%), Egyptian God (6.3%); Top partners include Call of the Haunted (54.4%), Mystical Space Typhoon (51%), Mirror Force (43.7%), Blue-Eyes White Dragon (39.8%) and Kaibaman (32.5%); 0 combo appearances, 0 guides and not a top card in any format; usage_statistics shows 66.67% inclusion at 3 copies in the single Odd-Eyes row
- Inferred: The recruiter clause converts a battle trade into one LIGHT body from the Deck, i.e. a self-replacing 1-for-1 plus deck-thinning; Because the trigger requires battle destruction and a Graveyard destination, any non-battle removal blanks the card; Level 4 LIGHT with no lock makes it generic material for Rank 4 / Synchro / Link / LIGHT Fusion plays; The deck sample's partner list (Heavy Storm, Snatch Steal, Nobleman of Crossout, D.D. Warrior Lady) skews toward classic/Duel Links-era builds, so modern-format applicability is uncertain
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no metagame sample is supplied, so meta_power is null and the score is provisional usage_statistics covers only one archetype (Odd-Eyes) at 66.67% inclusion, a thin calibration sample deck sample skews to classic/Duel Links-era builds (Heavy Storm, Snatch Steal, D.D. Warrior Lady partners); modern-format strength is not directly measured