DARK
4Summoner Monk
ATK:
800
DEF:
1600
View:
6596
While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be Tributed. If this card is Normal or Flip Summoned: Change this card to Defense Position. Once per turn: You can discard 1 Spell; Special Summon 1 Level 4 monster from your Deck, but that monster cannot attack this turn.
Summoner Monk — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 61 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 61 · Deck: 61 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Starter / Combo enabler · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Summoner Monk's score comes from being a cheap, Level 4 DARK body that is live in most hands and converts one Spell from hand into one Level 4 monster from the Deck, once per turn. Its 800 ATK and 1600 DEF earn nothing by themselves. The 400/400 deck presence across 116 archetypes raises accessibility and deckbuilding cost scores, but it is not treated as proof of raw power. Combo evidence is only two boards, so combo conversion stays near the middle and the effect-interaction score stays low because the card offers no negation or removal.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 70 | Normal Summoned from hand and live in 400 of 400 sampled decks with 1.77 average copies; it is a starter in 1 of 2 recorded combos (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 50 | One Level 4 monster from Deck per activation is one extra body; the single high-index board (Therion FTK) gives no role tag, so the link is weak (inferred from text, thin observed data). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | Discarding a Spell for a Deck Level 4 monster is roughly card-neutral (-1 Spell, +1 monster); no refuel or repeated advantage in text (verified text, inferred net value). |
| Effect & Interaction | 15 | The card has no negation, removal or hand-trap effect; its only protection is that it cannot be Tributed while face-up (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 55 | Generic Level 4 DARK Spellcaster body usable as material; the effect does not depend on being attacked or summoned face-up (inferred from text and level/attribute). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 50 | The once-per-turn effect is single-use per turn and depends on a Spell in hand; it is spread across many archetypes, which gives some redundancy (inferred, observed in deck spread). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 80 | 1 to 3 copies, no garnet or lock clause, and a generic Level 4 target, so it is cheap to run in many homes (verified text, observed copy distribution). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Primary role Starter / Combo enabler; no secondary blend applied to weights. Intrinsic ≈ 61, Deck ≈ 61, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Cheap, generic Level 4 body that fits into many archetypes (116 distinct archetypes in the sample).
- Live in opening hands as a Normal Summon, and run in all 400 sampled decks at 1 to 3 copies.
- Once-per-turn Deck-to-field Level 4 summon adds a body without a garnet or lock clause.
- Cannot be Tributed while face-up, which blanks tribute-based removal.
Weaknesses
- No negation, removal or hand-trap effect of its own.
- The effect costs a Spell from hand, so it is roughly card-neutral rather than advantage-generating.
- Normal Summon or Flip Summon forces it to Defense Position, which limits its immediate board impact.
- Only one Level 4 body per turn, and it needs a Spell in hand and a Level 4 monster in the Deck.
Counters / choke points
- Effect negation on activation (inferred from the activated effect text; no counter statistics in evidence).
Best use
Starter and Level 4 body extender in generic or archetype-specific lines. Decks: Phantom Knights, Cubic, Therion, ZEXAL, Elemental Hero, Ashened, Bamboo Sword, Utopia, X-Saber, Battlin' Boxer. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: cannot be Tributed while face-up; Normal or Flip Summoned changes it to Defense Position; once per turn, discard 1 Spell to Special Summon a Level 4 monster from Deck that cannot attack this turn.; Present in 400 of 400 sampled decks, 1.77 average copies, 116 distinct archetypes.; Combo appearances 2 of 2 with 1 as starter.
- Observed: Top archetypes by deck count: Phantom Knights 30, Cubic 20, Therion 19, ZEXAL 17, Elemental Hero 16.; Usage statistics: 12 archetypes, several at 100% inclusion with 1 to 3 typical copies.; Top partner Armageddon Knight in 39.5% of decks.
- Inferred: Primary role is Starter and Level 4 body extender because of the Deck-to-field effect.; Spell discard makes the effect roughly card-neutral in resource terms.; Level 4 DARK body is a generic material and not a unique Synchro, Xyz or Link enabler.
- Data gaps: No banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited). Combo evidence is only 2 recorded boards, so combo conversion is thinly supported. Guide evidence is a Madolche guide with a generic section mention and no card-specific analysis. No hand-trap or interaction data for counters; the counters list is inferred from text only. No Rush Duel max_atk or top-card ranking for this card.