EARTH
4Tarai
ATK:
0
DEF:
0
View:
2058
If this card is in your hand: You can target 1 face-up monster in the Main Monster Zone that has activated its effect on the field this turn; destroy it, and if you do, Special Summon this card to the zone that monster was in. You can only use this effect of "Tarai" once per turn.
Tarai — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 59 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 60 · Deck: 58.8 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Hand trap
Why it scores here
Tarai's power is its hand-trap role: from hand it destroys one face-up Main Monster Zone monster that has already activated its effect this turn, then revives itself into that zone, so it trades one card for removal plus a body. Its 0-100 range comes from a conditional, once-per-turn destroy rather than a negation, and from the fact that it is a cheap, generic Level 4 Fairy. The 35 decks across 21 archetypes confirm the card is run reliably, but no combo boards were supplied, so the score does not credit any engine or combo conversion, and the high deck count is treated as accessibility, not strength. Its 1.4 average copies and generic text keep deckbuilding cost low.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Live only while in hand, and drawn in 35 of the 400-deck sample at about 1.4 copies per deck with no searcher or combo data to show a non-hand route (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | Converts a removal into a self-summoned body but builds nothing further; no combo examples or starter/payoff stats were supplied (inferred from text). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | One hand card buys a destroy plus a Special Summon of itself, so it is roughly card-neutral to slightly positive when it lands (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 55 | Destroys rather than negates, and only hits a monster that already activated an effect this turn, which narrows its reach against boss monsters (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 45 | A Level 4 EARTH Fairy body with no tuner or special material role; it is only a generic material after its own effect resolves (verified from text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 50 | Works from hand across two zones, but one negate on the hand card or a missed activation window ends it; no rulings or interaction data were supplied (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 80 | No garnet or lock restriction, a single once-per-turn clause, and 1 to 3 copies in the sample with no banlist token supplied, so it runs cleanly as a 1-of or 2-of (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: Hand trap primary; no secondary role, so no 0.7/0.3 blend. Intrinsic ≈ 60, Deck ≈ 58.8, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Hand-based interaction that removes an activated monster and leaves a body on the field
- Generic text that fits 21 archetypes, with no garnet or lock restriction
- Runs cleanly at 1 to 2 copies alongside the common hand-trap suite
Weaknesses
- Only targets a monster that already activated its effect this turn, so it cannot hit a monster that did nothing
- Destroys rather than negates, so it does not stop the effect that caused the activation
- Once per turn, and the body it leaves is only a Level 4 generic monster
Counters / choke points
- Negation or hand-trap interruption in the opponent's hand that stops the card before it is activated (general category, inferred, not checked against card text)
- Playing around the activation window by not activating effects that Tarai could punish (inferred)
Best use
Hand trap. Decks: Blue-Eyes, Jinzo, Red-Eyes. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: hand-only activation, targets a face-up MMZ monster that activated its effect this turn, destroys it, and Special Summons itself to that zone if the destroy happens; once per turn; Level 4 EARTH Fairy Effect Monster with 0 ATK and 0 DEF, legal in TCG and OCG; 35 of the sampled decks run it (25 at 1 copy, 4 at 2, 5 at 3 by the distribution shown), spanning 21 archetypes; Top partners include Infinite Impermanence (54.3%), Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring (51.4%), Effect Veiler (40.0%) and Droll & Lock Bird (37.1%)
- Observed: Average 1.4 copies per deck in the sample, with 30 decks in the Gameplay 7 bucket and 5 in Gameplay 4; Top archetype presence in Blue-Eyes (5 decks), Jinzo (4) and Red-Eyes (3); No combo boards recorded, so no measured starter, material or payoff role
- Inferred: Hand trap role follows from the hand-only, destroy-on-activation text; Deck-level value comes from its place in a hand-trap suite, not from a combo engine; Revival of itself is a body gain, not card advantage, so resource economy is only slightly positive
- Data gaps: no combos supplied, so combo conversion and starter/material/payoff roles are text-only inference no guides supplied no rulings or interaction data for the hand activation window no banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no usage statistics (StatisticsCard); archetype inclusion inferred from the deck sample only card text does not specify whose monster can be targeted; scored as written