Trap
NormalSoul Strike
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3335
If your LP is 4000 or less, when an attack is declared involving a monster you control and an opponent's monster: Pay half your LP, then target 1 face-up monster you control; it gains ATK equal to the deficit between your current LP and 4000 until the end of your opponent's turn. You can only activate 1 "Soul Strike" per turn.
Soul Strike — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 23 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 26 · Deck: 24 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility · Secondary: Removal
Why it scores here
Soul Strike converts a very narrow window into a single temporary ATK boost: you must already be at 4000 LP or less, an attack must be declared against a monster you control, and you then pay half your LP to grant that monster ATK equal to the remaining deficit to 4000 until the end of your opponent's turn. It generates no card advantage, no negation, and no removal beyond possibly winning one battle, and it does nothing at all before you fall behind. The card's 0 ATK/DEF and its status as a Trap earn it nothing here — its score is driven entirely by how conditional, temporary, and low-impact its single effect is. The 5 recorded decks across Elemental HERO/Neo-Spacian/Blue-Eyes confirm it is a rare niche pick, not a reliable engine component.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 18 | Normal Trap with an archetype-less, generic text, but it is only live when LP is 4000 or less and an attack is declared, so it is frequently a dead set card (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 8 | It produces no board extension or setup at all; combo data shows 0 appearances and 0 starter role/material role (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 15 | It is a straight -1 in cards and additionally pays half your LP for a one-turn ATK increase, with no search or refuel (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 14 | The only disruption is an ATK bonus on your own monster during a battle, with no negation, removal, or interaction outside that one combat (verified). |
| Material Utility | 6 | It is a Trap with no body, Level, Attribute, or name value as material (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 16 | The effect is locked behind an LP ceiling, a pay-half cost, an attack declaration, and a single activation per turn, so it is dead in most game states (verified). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 30 | It is a generic trap with no archetype lock and no garnet, but it occupies a slot for a low-impact trick and averages only 1.4 copies across the 5 sample decks (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 1.0 Utility / no clear role (default) — card has no Starter, Searcher, or Boss characteristics. Intrinsic ≈ 26, Deck ≈ 24, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Highly conditional activation (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Generic Normal Trap with no archetype restriction, so it can be slotted into any deck
- Can flip a single battle by granting a large ATK bonus when you are already at low LP
- No cost to set or hold beyond the card slot itself, and unlimited (3 copies) under assumed banlist
Weaknesses
- Requires LP of 4000 or less before it can even be activated, so it is dead early or when ahead
- Pays half your LP on top of the LP condition, pushing you further into lethal range
- ONLY a temporary ATK boost to one monster until the end of the opponent's turn — no negation, removal, or card advantage
- Hard once-per-turn activation limit of 1 'Soul Strike' per turn
- Boost scales off the deficit to 4000, so at exactly 4000 LP the gain is minimal after paying half
Counters / choke points
- Any LP gain that keeps you above 4000 makes the card completely dead
- Trap negation (Solemn Judgment, Solemn Strike, Trap negating monsters) blanks it after you pay LP
- Removing or negating the targeted monster before damage calculation wastes the paid LP
- Battle-phase skipping or non-battle removal effects dodge the attack-declaration trigger entirely
Best use
Situational battle trick that boosts a monster's ATK when you are behind on LP. Decks: Elemental HERO, Neo-Spacian, Blue-Eyes. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Text: activates only if your LP is 4000 or less and an attack is declared involving a monster you control and an opponent's monster.; Text: pay half your LP, then target 1 face-up monster you control; it gains ATK equal to the deficit between your current LP and 4000 until the end of your opponent's turn.; Text: hard once-per-turn — you can only activate 1 'Soul Strike' per turn.; Card is a Normal Trap with no archetype and 0 ATK / 0 DEF, so it has no inherent body or material value.
- Observed: 5 sample decks run it, all in the main deck, averaging 1.4 copies (4 decks at 1 copy, 1 deck at 3).; Spread across 3 distinct archetypes (Neo-Spacian 40%, Elemental HERO 40%, Blue-Eyes 20%).; combo data records 0 appearances — 0% as starter, searched, material, payoff, or end-board piece.; No guides mention the card (total guides = 0) and it is not a Top Card in any format.
- Inferred: The ATK gain is maximal only at very low LP (e.g. at 2000 LP after paying half, the deficit-based boost would be large), which means the card is a loss-mitigation tool rather than proactive power.; Because it is a Normal Trap, it must be set a turn before it can be used, adding further delay to an already narrow window.; Any LP gain above 4000 turns the card off completely, making it anti-synergistic with LP-restoring lines.
- 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 only 5 decks in the sample and all dated 2022–2023, so the deck signal is thin and stale