Spell
NormalSoul Taker
View:
4453
Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; destroy that target, then your opponent gains 1000 LP.
Soul Taker — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 54 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 54 · Deck: 52 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal · Secondary: Utility
Why it scores here
Soul Taker is a plain one-for-one spot removal Normal Spell: it destroys any one face-up monster the opponent controls with no cost, no once-per-turn limit and no archetype restriction, but hands the opponent 1000 LP. It does not build a board, generates no card advantage, and provides no negation — its value is purely the single monster it clears, so its high raw stats (there are none) earn it nothing. Its real footprint is as generic anti-monster insurance in Ritual shells (Megalith, Impcantation, Darklord) where the sample shows 67 decks running it at a healthy 2.31 average copies, but with zero recorded combo appearances it never converts into an engine. Score sits in the mid-fifties: a reliably splashable, fairly-costed removal spell, but not a card that wins games on its own.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 58 | A Normal Spell with no summon requirement, no cost and unlimited copies that is live whenever the opponent has a face-up monster, though it is not fetched by Ritual searchers like Manju (inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 18 | Appears in 0 of the recorded combos (0% as_starter/as_material/as_payoff), so there is no evidence it advances any line on its own (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 50 | Trades exactly one card for one monster with the opponent gaining 1000 LP, i.e. a roughly even trade with a small drawback (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 60 | Destroys any targeted face-up opponent monster unconditionally, but only at Normal-Spell speed and only against face-up bodies, giving solid but one-dimensional removal (verified). |
| Material Utility | 5 | As a Spell it provides no body, Level, Attribute or name for use as material even when its effect is blanked (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 40 | One-shot Normal Spell that is dead when the opponent controls no face-up monsters or negates it, with no zone or turn flexibility (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 60 | Self-contained, archetype-free, lock-free and garnet-free, so it splashes cleanly, though it competes for slots with stronger removal (inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Removal + 0.3 Utility. Intrinsic ≈ 54, Deck ≈ 52, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Exceptional splashability (1). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Unconditional destruction of any face-up opponent monster
- No cost, no once-per-turn limit, no archetype restriction
- Appears in 67 decks across 26 distinct archetypes at 2.31 average copies, confirming real accessibility
- Clean splashable removal for Ritual shells such as Megalith and Impcantation
Weaknesses
- Only affects face-up monsters, so it is dead against face-down or empty boards
- Gives the opponent 1000 LP, a small but real drawback
- Creates no advantage and advances no combo
- Normal-Spell speed makes it easy to play around and vulnerable to spell negation
- Largely outclassed by modern removal that adds tempo or card advantage
Counters / choke points
- Spell/Trap negation such as Solemn Judgment, Solemn Strike or spell-negating effects
- Monsters unaffected by card effects
- Boards with only face-down or no monsters
- Chained revival or replacement effects that keep a body on board
- Hand traps that remove the target's relevance before resolution
Best use
Generic face-up monster spot removal. Decks: Megalith, Impcantation, Darklord, Monarch, Generic Ritual. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: 'Target 1 face-up monster your opponent controls; destroy that target, then your opponent gains 1000 LP.'; Card is a Normal Spell with no archetype and no cost or once-per-turn clause; Legal in TCG, OCG, MasterDuel and DuelLinks per the formats field
- Observed: Runs in 67 sampled decks, all in the main deck (0 in side); Average 2.31 copies per deck (37 decks run 3); Spans 26 distinct archetypes, led by Megalith (17.9%) and Impcantation (17.9%); Appears in 0 recorded combos with no as_starter/as_material/as_payoff presence
- Inferred: Not searchable via the Ritual-support searchers (Manju) it co-occurs with, so it is drawn rather than tutored; Dead against face-down-only or empty opponent boards; Provides no material body or name for Extra Deck plays
- 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