WATER
5The Great Emperor Penguin
Archetype:
Penguin
ATK:
1800
DEF:
1500
View:
3030
You can Tribute this card; Special Summon up to 2 "Penguin" monsters from your Deck, except "The Great Emperor Penguin".
The Great Emperor Penguin — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 64 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 62 · Deck: 65 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Starter · Secondary: Combo enabler, Searcher/Tutor, Material body
Why it scores here
The Great Emperor Penguin is a Penguin-archetype engine piece that converts one body into up to two Penguin monsters summoned straight from the Deck, which is real deck-thinning and board-building value rather than a stat-line play. Its power comes from that conversion loop — 288 observed decks run it, most at three copies, and it sits beside near-identical core partners such as Nopenguin, Penguin Brave, Penguin Squire and Royal Penguins Garden, confirming a genuine archetype role. No combo records or guides exist, so the combo ceiling is inferred from text only, and its own 1800/1500 body, Level 5, scores nothing here; the score reflects reliable tutoring and material value in its home deck, not ATK. It is capped by being locked to Penguin targets, needing to reach the field first, and offering zero interaction of its own.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 72 | Deck evidence shows 288 main-deck lists, 208 running the full three copies (avg 2.66), so it is a hard-included card within the Penguin shell, though as a Level 5 it must reach the field before the effect is live (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 68 | Text lets it Tribute itself to Special Summon up to 2 Penguin monsters from the Deck, a one-card swing into multiple bodies, but combo data is empty so this is text-inferred rather than measured (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 66 | Trading one card on board for two monsters deployed from Deck is a net gain in bodies plus deck thinning and a filled Graveyard, a roughly +1 conversion (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 25 | The card itself provides no negation, removal, or disruption — any interaction comes from the bodies it summons — so its own interactive value is minimal (verified). |
| Material Utility | 62 | A Level 5 WATER Aqua body that pushes two more materials onto the field, useful for Synchro/Xyz lines such as Adamancipator Risen - Dragite seen in 85.1% of its decks, but its typing is narrow (observed). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 50 | The Tribute is paid before the summon resolves, so a negated effect leaves it in the Graveyard with nothing gained, and it is confined to the Penguin theme across both zones (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 64 | It is a clean three-of in its archetype with no apparent garnet text, but it only functions with Penguin targets in the Deck, so it is not splashable outside that shell (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Starter + 0.3 Searcher/Tutor. Intrinsic ≈ 62, Deck ≈ 65, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Converts a single on-field body into up to two Penguin monsters summoned from the Deck
- Serves as a core, near-mandatory Penguin engine card (2.66 average copies; 208 of 288 lists at three)
- Thins the deck by two while loading the Graveyard for Penguin recursion
- Deploys material that feeds Synchro and Xyz lines (e.g. Adamancipator Risen - Dragite, Icejade Gymir Aegirine)
Weaknesses
- Effect only summons "Penguin" monsters, so it is unusable outside that theme
- Level 5 means it must first reach the field before the effect can be used
- Grants no negation, removal, or disruption on its own
- Cost is a Tribute paid before resolution, so a negated effect wastes the body entirely
- No soft or hard once-per-turn wording is stated, but the "except The Great Emperor Penguin" clause prevents chaining copies of itself
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring negates the Special Summon from Deck
- Effect Veiler / Infinite Impermanence negating the effect after the Tribute cost is paid
- Called by the Grave / D.D. Crow removing Penguin targets or the summoned bodies from the Graveyard
Best use
Archetype starter/engine that swarms Penguin bodies from the Deck. Decks: Penguin, Icejade Penguin, Ice Barrier Penguin. Suggested copies: 3.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: Tribute this card to Special Summon up to 2 Penguin monsters from the Deck, except The Great Emperor Penguin; Level 5 WATER Aqua, 1800 ATK / 1500 DEF, archetype Penguin; Text reads archetype-restricted with no stated once-per-turn clause
- Observed: 288 decks run it in the main deck, 0 in the side, at 2.66 average copies (208 at three); Distinct archetypes count is 32, led by Penguin 40.3% and Icejade 18.8%; Top partners: Nopenguin 99.3%, Penguin Brave 98.6%, Penguin Squire 98.3%, Royal Penguins Garden 98.3%; usage statistics: 100% inclusion in Fishborg, 50% in Penguin
- Inferred: Primary role is Starter/Combo enabler, since it deploys bodies from deck; Trading one body for two summoned monsters plus deck thinning is roughly +1 in practical advantage; The Tribute-before-resolution cost makes the play vulnerable to a single negation
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no guides supplied no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited)