DARK
4Trance Archfiend
Archetype:
Archfiend
ATK:
1500
DEF:
500
View:
3364
Once per turn: You can discard 1 Fiend-Type monster, and if you do, this card gains 500 ATK until the end of this turn. When this card you control is destroyed and sent to your Graveyard: You can target 1 of your banished DARK monsters; add that target to your hand.
Trance Archfiend — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 54 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 53.4 · Deck: 54 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Recovery/Recursion · Secondary: Material body
Why it scores here
Trance Archfiend is a Level 4 DARK Fiend body whose main value is the second effect: when it is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, it returns one banished DARK monster to hand, which converts a destruction into a card. The first effect (discard a Fiend for +500 ATK) is minor and does not earn points. Its 1500 ATK and stats do not earn points; the score comes from the recovery effect, its generic DARK/Level 4 body, and its clean, low-cost deck slot. The lack of combo data keeps the combo axis low and the confidence at Medium.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 45 | It is a main-deck card in all 15 sampled decks across 9 archetypes, but no combo starter or searcher evidence exists, so access depends on surrounding Dark World support (observed deck inclusion; inferred access route). |
| Combo & Conversion | 30 | The text offers only a small ATK boost and a conditional recovery, and there are zero recorded combo boards to show what it builds, so it needs help to make a fair board (inferred from text). |
| Resource Economy | 60 | The on-destruction effect returns a banished DARK monster to hand, a +1 card when it dies, but it requires a banished DARK target and a destruction event (verified from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | It has no negation, removal, or hand-trap effect, so it brings no direct opponent interaction (verified from text). |
| Material Utility | 55 | As a generic Level 4 DARK Fiend, it fits Dark World material needs, and its body still converts if its effects are negated (inferred from text and deck use). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | Destruction turns into value, which helps against destroy-based removal, but banish-based removal and effect negation stop the recovery (inferred from text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 65 | It averages 1.87 copies per deck and has no garnet or self-lock restriction, so it is cheap to run in a Dark World shell (observed deck copies; inferred cost). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Recovery/Recursion + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 53.4, Deck ≈ 54, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Its on-destruction effect returns a banished DARK monster to hand, which turns a loss into value
- A Level 4 DARK Fiend body fits Dark World and other DARK-based shells
- It appears in 15 of 15 sampled decks across 9 archetypes, mainly Dark World (7 of 15)
Weaknesses
- The ATK boost is minor and costs a discard
- The recovery requires destruction and a banished DARK target, so it is conditional
- There are zero recorded combo boards, so combo conversion is unverified
Counters / choke points
- Banish-based removal bypasses the destruction trigger that powers its recovery
- Effect negation shuts off the recovery while the body stays on the field as material
Best use
Recovery/Recursion body that turns destruction into a DARK banish recovery. Decks: Dark World. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Level 4 DARK Fiend effect monster with 1500 ATK and 500 DEF (card text); Once-per-turn discard of a Fiend for +500 ATK (card text); On destruction sent to the Graveyard, add a banished DARK monster to hand (card text); Present in 15 of 15 sampled decks, all main deck, across 9 archetypes (deck evidence); Top partners are Dark World engine cards at 80% co-occurrence (deck evidence)
- Observed: Dark World holds 7 of 15 deck slots (46.7%) (deck evidence); Average 1.87 copies per deck, distribution 1/2/3 copies (deck evidence); Zero combo appearances, so no observed starter, material, or payoff role (combo evidence)
- Inferred: Recovery value depends on having a banished DARK target at the time of destruction (inferred from text); Access comes through Dark World support rather than a dedicated searcher (inferred from partners and absence of searcher evidence)
- 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 Vietnamese description says 'Loại Beast' for the discard cost while the English text says Fiend; English text used as source of truth