Spell
NormalStardust Illumination
Archetype:
Stardust
View:
5423
Send 1 "Stardust" monster from your Deck to the GY, or if you control "Stardust Dragon" or a Synchro Monster that mentions it, you can Special Summon it instead. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 "Stardust" monster you control; increase or decrease its Level by 1 until the end of this turn. You can only use each effect of "Stardust Illumination" once per turn.
Stardust Illumination — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 58 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 55.4 · Deck: 60.3 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Combo enabler · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Stardust Illumination is a 1-copy Spell that sends a Stardust monster from the Deck to the GY, which feeds Stardust Dragon and Stardust-mentioning Synchro summons, and its GY-banish effect shifts a Stardust monster's Level by 1 for Synchro timing. It is in all 400 sampled decks at about 1.05 copies, so its role is real and practical, but that inclusion mostly reflects the Synchro and Stardust shell rather than raw strength. No combo boards were supplied, so the conversion score rests on card text and deck partners, not observed board power.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 68 | Present in 400 of 400 sampled decks with a 99.8% partner rate for Stardust Synchron, but it depends on a Stardust monster in the Deck and has no measured starter or search frequency (observed deck count, inferred route). |
| Combo & Conversion | 55 | Text shows a Deck-to-GY send enabling Stardust Dragon or Synchro Special Summon, but there are zero combo boards to confirm how far it converts (inferred from text). |
| Resource Economy | 35 | The Deck send is a resource move and the GY banish is a pure cost with no return, so there is no card advantage (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | The card has no negation, removal or hand-trap reach, so it provides no opponent interaction (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 55 | The Level +/-1 effect is a real Synchro-timing tool on a Stardust monster, and its GY activation keeps value after the card is used (inferred from text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | A Spell with two once-per-turn effects in a single copy, with no recursion beyond the GY-activated second effect and no interaction protection (verified from text, inferred from role). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 60 | A 1-copy staple with no garnet or lock and clean splash-free slotting, though it still uses a main-deck slot (observed deck copies, verified from text). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Combo enabler + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 55.4, Deck ≈ 60.3, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Live in 400 of 400 sampled decks across 30 archetypes
- Enables Stardust Dragon and Stardust-mentioning Synchro summons from the Deck
- Level +/-1 effect supports Synchro timing
Weaknesses
- Zero card advantage and no interaction
- Archetype-locked text, with inclusion driven by the Synchro shell
- No combo boards to confirm conversion
Counters / choke points
- Generic hand traps and negation can stop the Synchro line before this resolves
Best use
Combo enabler for Stardust Dragon and Synchro summons. Decks: Stardust, Synchron, Junk, Crimson Dragon. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: Deck-to-GY send, GY banish with Level +/-1 on a Stardust monster, two once-per-turn effects; 400 of 400 sampled decks run it at 1.05 average copies; Stardust archetype inclusion 90% at 1 typical copy
- Observed: Partner rate of 99.8% with Stardust Synchron and 97.2% with Assault Synchron; Distribution across 30 archetypes and 3 gameplay types
- Inferred: Role as a Stardust Dragon and Synchro enabler; Level change as Synchro timing support; Generic hand traps could interrupt the line
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token, assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no starter or searched frequency for the Deck-to-GY send one guide mention only