Trap
CounterTime Thief Retrograde
Archetype:
Time Thief
View:
3808
When a Spell/Trap Card is activated while you control a "Time Thief" Xyz Monster: Negate the activation, and if you do, attach that card to a "Time Thief" Xyz Monster you control as material. You can only activate 1 "Time Thief Retrograde" per turn.
Time Thief Retrograde — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 60 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 56 · Deck: 62 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal / Negation · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Time Thief Retrograde is a conditional, once-per-turn Spell/Trap negation that also converts the negated card into Xyz material for a Time Thief Xyz, so its value is a 1-for-1 plus a material gain. It is only live while a Time Thief Xyz is face up, and it touches only Spell/Trap activations, which keeps its interaction narrow. Its appearance in all 400 sampled decks and its 100% combo presence (none as starter) confirm it is a reliable engine piece, but that frequency is not used to inflate the score. The high combo power indices belong to boards built around the Xyz engine, so they credit the engine more than this card.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Live in 400 of 400 sampled decks at about 1.29 copies, but the card is a backrow Trap with no searcher route in the evidence and no starter role or searched-for role hits (observed/inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 40 | Appears in all 4 recorded combos with an average power index of 88, but combo role is empty and it is never a starter, so it converts boards only as a follow-up (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 65 | Text gives a negate plus an attached material, a net gain of one card per use; netCardAdvantage 4 on boards is not attributable to this card alone (verified text, inferred magnitude). |
| Effect & Interaction | 55 | Negates Spell/Trap activations only, once per turn, and needs a Time Thief Xyz face up, so it is narrow and conditional (verified). |
| Material Utility | 45 | Attaches to Time Thief Xyz monsters as material, but material role is 0 in the combo evidence and it is a Trap, so this is awkward use rather than a clean generic body (verified text, observed zero). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 45 | Set in the backrow and vulnerable to backrow removal, and the Xyz-condition blocks use outside Time Thief boards; it is not hard to reach in the common spots (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 75 | Single-copy typical, no garnet or banlist restriction, and legal in all four formats; the one slot cost is a Trap slot in a Time Thief build (verified, inferred slot cost). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Removal/Negation + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 56, Deck ≈ 62, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Converts an opponent's Spell/Trap activation into an attached Xyz material, a net one-card gain
- Live in essentially every sampled Time Thief deck at one copy, so access is consistent
- Clean, single-copy, unrestricted slot with no garnet or lock cost
Weaknesses
- Negates only Spell/Trap activations, not monsters or effects of monsters
- Conditional on a face-up Time Thief Xyz monster and limited to once per turn
- Backrow Trap that is vulnerable to backrow removal and is not a searchable starter
Counters / choke points
- Backrow or Spell/Trap removal before the activation window
- Opponent plays that do not activate Spell/Trap cards, such as monster-only lines
- Board breakers that remove the Time Thief Xyz monster before the negation is needed
Best use
Negation with material gain in Time Thief Xyz boards. Decks: Time Thief Xyz builds (archetype 644 and related Time Thief homes). Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Negates a Spell/Trap activation while a Time Thief Xyz monster is controlled, once per turn, and attaches the card as Xyz material (card text); Appears in 400 of 400 sampled decks, typical 1 copy (deck evidence); Legal in TCG, OCG, MasterDuel and DuelLinks (card formats)
- Observed: Appears in all 4 recorded combos with average power index 88, but never as starter, searched, or material (combo evidence); Included at 100% inclusion rate in the Time Thief archetype usage statistics at typical 1 copy (usage statistics)
- Inferred: Accessibility is high because the card is a fixed backrow staple in the core Time Thief build, though no searcher route is evidenced; Backrow removal is the realistic failure mode, from the Trap location
- Data gaps: no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) combo sample is only 4 boards, so combo centrality is thin no meta sample, so meta power is null no role-specific searcher or rulings evidence for this card