Swords of Burning Light

Swords of Burning Light — Power Evaluation

Final Score: 40 ± 7 · Confidence: Medium

• Intrinsic: 40.7 · Deck: 44.4 · Meta: provisional
• Primary role: Floodgate/Control

Why it scores here

Swords of Burning Light is a no-monster stall floodgate: while you control no monsters it stops every opponent attack declaration, a real but narrow lock that shows up in 31 recent lists (Runick, Clear World, Malefic and other empty-field shells). It earns its points almost entirely from that attack lock — its blank 0 ATK/DEF stat line contributes nothing. The self-destruct clause (any monster you control, or the opponent holding 5+ cards) plus zero card advantage and high fragility keep combo, resource and resilience scores low, landing it in the lower-middle range.

Axis scores

Calculation

Weight profile: Single primary role Floodgate/Control (no secondary blend). Intrinsic ≈ 40.7, Deck ≈ 44.4, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-locking deck constraint (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck

Strengths

• While you control no monsters it prevents every opponent attack declaration, a hard lock on the battle phase for empty-field builds.
• Cheap continuous Spell that can be run at up to 3 copies with no extra cost or activation condition beyond an empty field.
• Appears across 11 distinct archetypes, showing it fits several stall/no-monster shells rather than a single archetype.

Weaknesses

• Self-destructs the moment you control a monster, directly conflicting with any board you build.
• Also destroyed as soon as the opponent holds 5 or more cards in hand, an easy condition to reach.
• Generates no card advantage and no board presence; it only delays.
• Removed trivially by any Spell/Trap removal, and its fragile state is telegraphed.

Counters / choke points

• Spell/Trap removal such as Cosmic Cyclone or Harpie's Feather Duster.
• Summoning any monster on your own field, which triggers its self-destruction.
• Holding 5 or more cards in hand to trigger its self-destruction.
• Effect negation or backrow interaction before the attack lock matters.

Best use

Stall floodgate that shuts off opponent attacks while you control no monsters. Decks: Runick (Mysterune), Clear World, Malefic, Stall / no-monster control. Suggested copies: 1.

Evidence & gaps

• Verified: Card text: 'While you control no monsters, monsters your opponent controls cannot declare attacks.'; Card text: 'If you control a monster, or if your opponent has 5 or more cards in their hand, destroy this card.'; Card is a Continuous Spell with no archetype, 0 ATK and 0 DEF.
• Observed: 31 recent decks run the card, all in the main deck, averaging 1.52 copies (23 lists at 1 copy, 8 at 3 copies).; It appears across 11 distinct archetypes, with Runick at 25.8% and Clear World at 22.6% of those decks.; Terraforming co-occurs in 74.2% of the decks and the Runick package (Fountain, Tip, Flashing Fire, etc.) in 48.4%.; 0 combo appearances, 0 as starter, 0 as material — no recorded combo line uses it.
• Inferred: It serves as a no-monster stall piece, live only in builds that keep their own field empty.; Terraforming cannot search this Continuous Spell, so accessibility is limited to natural draws.; The wide archetype spread reflects its use in stall-style shells, not true generic splashability.; Its self-destruct clause makes it anti-synergistic with any board the pilot builds.
• 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 no turn-order, win-rate, or end-board data to confirm the effect's practical impact