DARK
6Steelswarm Moth
Archetype:
Steelswarm
ATK:
2400
DEF:
0
View:
2749
When this card is Tribute Summoned by Tributing a "Steelswarm" monster: You can pay 1000 Life Points to target up to 2 cards your opponent controls; return those targets to the hand.
Steelswarm Moth — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 51 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 53 · Deck: 53 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Board breaker / Going-second · Secondary: Boss/End-board
Why it scores here
The card's power is its conditional bounce: when Tribute Summoned by tributing a Steelswarm monster, it can pay 1000 LP to return up to 2 opponent cards to the hand. That is soft tempo interaction at a life-point cost, with no card advantage and no negation. The 2400 ATK body and the Level 6 DARK Fiend frame earn little on their own, and that stat line did not add points. The score rests on the 14 of 14 sampled decks that run it in the Steelswarm home, which confirms it is practical there but does not show it is strong across formats.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 62 | Runs in 14 of 14 sampled decks at avg 1.79 copies, with Steelswarm Caller and Recurring Nightmare as top partners at 85.7% each, but the effect needs a Steelswarm tribute and no combo starter data confirms its access route (observed/inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 55 | The text gives a 2400 ATK body plus a 2-card bounce on Tribute Summon, but no recorded boards exist, so conversion from a realistic start is text-only inference (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 30 | The 1000 LP cost and a bounce with no draw, search, or GY refuel give no card advantage, so the score is low (verified text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 55 | The bounce on up to 2 opponent cards is a real but soft disruption that costs LP and is not a negation or destruction (verified text). |
| Material Utility | 40 | Level 6 DARK Fiend is a usable body, but no evidence shows it is used as material or that it converts when its effect is negated (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | The effect can be negated, which leaves a 2400 ATK body with no return; no rulings or recorded interaction data exist to show how it survives in practice (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 60 | Average 1.79 copies with a maximum of 3 and no garnet or lock text shown; the Steelswarm tribute requirement is the only cost to the build (observed/verified text). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Board breaker + 0.3 Boss/End-board. Intrinsic ≈ 53, Deck ≈ 53, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Archetype-locked tribute condition (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Live in 14 of 14 sampled decks, all as a main-deck card
- Bounce on up to 2 opponent cards is real interaction on a Tribute Summon
- Consistently paired with Steelswarm Caller and Recurring Nightmare in sampled decks
Weaknesses
- Costs 1000 LP for a bounce, with no card advantage
- Effect depends on tributing a Steelswarm monster, which locks it to one home
- No combo data, so conversion from a realistic start is unproven
Counters / choke points
- Effect negation removes the bounce and leaves only the body
- Opponent tempo or LP pressure makes the 1000 LP cost hard to pay
Best use
Board breaker. Decks: Steelswarm (Inverz).
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Tribute Summon condition: tribute a Steelswarm monster; Effect: pay 1000 LP to return up to 2 opponent cards to hand; Level 6 DARK Fiend, 2400 ATK, archetype Steelswarm
- Observed: Appears in 14 of 14 sampled decks, all main deck; Average 1.79 copies, maximum 3; 92.9% of decks are Steelswarm (Inverz); top partners co-occur in 57-86% of decks
- Inferred: Primary role is Board breaker, with Boss/End-board as secondary; Practical access comes from Steelswarm tributes and the top partners; Bounce is tempo rather than card advantage
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) for inclusion trend no banlist or legal copies token, so 3 copies assumed no rulings for the bounce and tribute timing top-card data not populated