Soul Drain

Soul Drain — Power Evaluation

Final Score: 64 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium

• Intrinsic: 62 · Deck: 62 · Meta: provisional
• Primary role: Floodgate/Control · Secondary: Negation/Interaction

Why it scores here

Soul Drain's score comes almost entirely from effect_interaction: a permanent, non-targeting lock that switches off every effect of monsters in the GY and of banished monsters is a broad answer that keeps applying each turn, and it is main-decked in 400/400 sampled decks at 2.22 copies across 78 distinct archetypes. It pays for that with Trap speed (a turn of setup), a 1000 LP activation cost, no card advantage, no in-text search route, and zero material value, and it is a blank card against decks that never use the GY or banishment. Its 0 ATK/DEF and its view count earn it nothing here — the evaluation rests on the floodgate effect plus generic splashability, not on stats or popularity. It is a solid but matchup-dependent control piece rather than a proactive power card, which is why it lands in the mid-60s.

Axis scores

Calculation

Weight profile: 0.7 Floodgate/Control + 0.3 Negation/Interaction. Intrinsic ≈ 62, Deck ≈ 62, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Exceptional splashability (2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck

Strengths

• Continuous, non-targeting lock that shuts off every GY and banished monster effect, plus it applies to both players every turn it stays face-up.
• Completely generic: no archetype requirement, no Extra Deck cost, no self-locking restriction.
• Demonstrated real accessibility in practice — main-decked in 400/400 sampled decks at 2.22 copies and spread across 78 distinct archetypes.
• Highest average copy count band (3 copies in 194 of 400 decks) shows players treat it as a serious, repeatable control piece rather than a one-off tech.
• Pairs naturally with the trap/stun package it is seen with (Solemn Judgment, Evenly Matched, Infinite Impermanence, Harpie's Feather Duster).

Weaknesses

• Trap speed: it must be set and survive a turn before it does anything, so it is poor when drawn late or when the opponent has already built a board.
• It is a symmetric floodgate — the controlling player is bound by it too, which constrains decks that use their own GY or banished monster effects.
• 1000 LP activation cost with no card advantage generated in return.
• Face-up Continuous Trap with no protection: a single Cosmic Cyclone, Mystical Space Typhoon, or Lightning Storm answers it cleanly.
• Matchup-dependent blank: decks that only use on-field and in-hand monster effects ignore it entirely.
• No in-text search route, so access depends purely on drawing it or on generic trap tutoring.

Counters / choke points

• Cosmic Cyclone / Mystical Space Typhoon / Twin Twisters
• Harpie's Feather Duster / Lightning Storm
• Solemn Judgment or other Spell/Trap negation on activation
• Decks that operate entirely from the field and hand (no GY or banished monster effects)
• Fast combo decks that win before the Trap can be set and flipped

Best use

Symmetrical GY/banish monster-effect floodgate in a trap-heavy control shell. Decks: Temple of the Kings, Apophis, Odion, Primite, Labrynth, Psy-Frame, Chain Beat, True Draco. Suggested copies: 2.

Evidence & gaps

• Verified: Card text: 'Activate by paying 1000 LP. Monsters that are banished, as well as monsters in the GY, cannot activate their effects.'; Card type is Trap Card (Continuous), no archetype, 0 ATK / 0 DEF, no Level, no Link rating.; Legal in TCG, OCG, and Master Duel.; It cannot serve as material or a body of any kind because it is a Trap Card.
• Observed: 400/400 sampled decks run it in the main deck (0 in side) at an average of 2.22 copies; 194 decks run 3 copies.; It appears across 78 distinct archetypes, with Temple of the Kings (11%), Primite (9.8%), Apophis (8.8%), Dominus (8.5%) and Odion (8%) leading.; Recorded top partners are S:P Little Knight (73.8%), TY-PHON (71.2%), Maxx "C" (70.5%), Solemn Judgment (64.2%) and Droll & Lock Bird (64%), indicating a stun/trap-control shell.; 0 combo appearances in the recorded combo sample (appearance_pct_of_combos = 0), so it is never a starter, material, or end-board payoff in recorded lines.; No StatisticsCard usage statistics rows exist for this card.
• Inferred: Because the lock is continuous and non-targeting, it keeps applying on every subsequent turn, giving it multi-turn value once resolved.; Being a Trap, its practical accessibility is gated by set-and-wait timing rather than by search, which is why it is a control/going-first piece.; Its interaction value is matchup-dependent: it is strong against GY/banish-reliant strategies and effectively blank against decks that never use those zones.; Its 1000 LP activation cost and lack of card advantage make its resource profile roughly neutral-to-negative in raw cards.; The 78 distinct archetypes in the sample indicate the card is a generic splashable floodgate rather than an archetype engine piece.
• 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 the 400-deck sample only legal_copies is empty for all formats, so format-specific legality/limits could not be verified no dated metagame sample, so meta_power is null and the final score is provisional