DARK
4Time Thief Chronocorder
ATK:
1000
DEF:
1000
View:
4029
During your opponent's Battle Phase (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card; the next battle damage you take from an opponent's monster's attack this turn is inflicted to your opponent instead. If a face-up Xyz Monster you control leaves the field by card effect, while this card is in your GY (except during the Damage Step): You can Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use each effect of "Time Thief Chronocorder" once per turn.
Time Thief Chronocorder — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 58 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 54 · Deck: 60 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery/Recursion · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Chronocorder converts mainly into a conditional body: its GY effect returns it to the field only after a face-up Xyz you control leaves by card effect, and it then banishes itself when it leaves. Its battle-damage redirect is a Tribute-cost, situational defensive effect, so it earns little interaction credit. Its 1000 ATK is not scored; the Level 4 DARK Machine body is what earns material credit. Deck evidence (251 decks, 37 archetypes, about 1.5 copies each, with near-total co-occurrence with the Time Thief core) confirms it is a reliably played, low-cost support piece, but the combo sample is only four boards with no starter or searched roles, so combo credit stays modest.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 50 | Run in 251 recent decks at about 1.5 copies, but it is not a searcher and its GY route needs an Xyz to leave by effect first (verified text, observed decks; inferred route reliability). |
| Combo & Conversion | 40 | Appears in all 4 recorded boards with an average power index of 88, but it is never tagged as starter, searched, material or payoff, so the board score is not attributable to this card (observed, inference). |
| Resource Economy | 50 | The GY special summon recovers a body without spending a card, but the banish-on-leave clause means it is a one-shot recursion with no net advantage from its own text (verified text, inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 25 | Battle-damage redirect requires Tribute and only applies to one attack in the opponent's Battle Phase; it is soft, situational interaction with no negation or removal (verified text). |
| Material Utility | 65 | Level 4 DARK Machine with 1000 ATK is a clean generic Rank 4 Xyz material; its material value does not depend on its effects (verified stats, inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | Two effects, each once per turn, with a Tribute cost and a conditional GY trigger; it works in the hand, field and GY but is blanked by a single targeted interrupt on the Xyz engine (verified text, inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | Single-copy-friendly, no garnet or lock, and used across 37 archetypes at about 1.5 copies, so it is cheap to run (observed decks, inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Recovery/Recursion + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 54, Deck ≈ 60, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Level 4 DARK Machine body is a clean generic Rank 4 Xyz material that converts even if its effects are negated
- GY special summon returns it to the field for free when a face-up Xyz you control leaves by card effect
- Near-universal inclusion in the Time Thief core (partners at 90%+ co-occurrence) with low copy count
- No garnet, lock or self-restriction, so it is cheap to run
Weaknesses
- No searcher or direct access route; GY recursion depends on an Xyz leaving by card effect
- Battle-damage redirect needs a Tribute and only covers one battle damage instance
- Banished when it leaves the field after recursion, so it is a one-shot recovery
- Effect interaction is soft and situational rather than negation or removal
Counters / choke points
- Inferred: GY-hate or banish effects remove the recursion route (not evidenced in the pack)
- Inferred: direct Xyz removal or Xyz-detach prevention reduces the recursion trigger (not evidenced in the pack)
Best use
Recovery/Recursion with Material body secondary: a one-copy recursion body that also feeds Rank 4 Xyz summons. Decks: Time Thief Xyz builds (archetype 644 and related Time Thief lists), Xyz decks running Level 4 Machine material bodies. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Level 4 DARK Machine, 1000 ATK, Effect Monster (card data); Quick Effect: Tribute to redirect next battle damage during the opponent's Battle Phase (card text); GY effect: Special Summon when a face-up Xyz you control leaves by card effect, banished when it leaves (card text); Once-per-turn limit per effect (card text); 251 of the attached decks run it (decks evidence)
- Observed: Appears in 4 of 4 recorded combos with average power index 88 (combos evidence); Average 1.51 copies per deck, distribution 154/66/31 for 1/2/3 copies (decks evidence); Top partners are Time Thief cards at 84-97% co-occurrence (decks evidence); Inclusion 100% in four archetypes with typical copies 1-2 (usage statistics)
- Inferred: Recursion route depends on Xyz monsters leaving by effect, so it is conditional in practice; Level 4 body makes it a practical Rank 4 material; Its power is primarily as a support recursion piece, not a standalone threat
- Data gaps: No banlist token; assumed 3 copies (unlimited) Combo sample is only 4 boards with no role tags for this card No top-card ranking context for this card Guide snippets do not describe this card's role in detail