DARK
1Tuning Gum
ATK:
400
DEF:
1200
View:
4043
You can target 1 face-up monster you control; that face-up monster is treated as a Tuner this turn. You can only use this effect of "Tuning Gum" once per turn. You can only attack with Synchro Monsters during the turn you activate this effect. During either player's turn, when a card or effect is activated that targets exactly 1 Synchro Monster you control (and no other cards): You can banish this card from your Graveyard; negate the activation.
Tuning Gum — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 55 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 56 · Deck: 58 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Combo enabler · Secondary: Material body, Negation/Interaction
Why it scores here
Tuning Gum earns its score as a compact Level 1 DARK Fiend Tuner that converts a face-up monster into a Tuner and doubles as a Graveyard-based negation of effects that target your Synchro Monsters. It is a cheap 1-of tech (avg 1.03 copies across 400 decks, concentrated in Resonator / Red Dragon Archfiend shells) and a clean generic Synchro material, which is why material_utility and deckbuilding_efficiency are its strongest axes. It generates no card advantage and cannot start a line by itself, and its only interaction is narrow, so accessibility, combo conversion and effect interaction sit mid-range. Its 400 ATK / 1200 DEF are irrelevant and earned it no points; only its Tuner body, conversion effect and Graveyard negation matter here.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 42 | No archetype searcher is confirmed and combo evidence shows 0% as_starter and 0% as_searched, so it is normally drawn as a 1-of tech rather than tutored (inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 46 | It turns a face-up monster into a Tuner to reach Tuner-count Synchro requirements, but it carries no starter role in the single recorded combo (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 46 | The Tuner conversion is card-neutral and the Graveyard negate is a one-for-zero banish, so value is roughly even rather than a plus (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 42 | Its only interaction is the narrow Graveyard negate of an effect that targets exactly 1 Synchro Monster you control and no other cards (verified). |
| Material Utility | 74 | A Level 1 DARK Fiend Tuner is a clean, generic Synchro material that still functions even if its effect is negated (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 56 | It operates in the hand, on the field via Tuner conversion and in the Graveyard via negation, but the Synchro-only attack lock limits that turn (verified). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 64 | It occupies a single slot at 1.03 average copies with no garnet cost, at the price of a mild self-imposed attack restriction (verified). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Combo enabler + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 56, Deck ≈ 58, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Self-locking attack restriction (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Level 1 DARK Fiend Tuner — a clean, generic Synchro material that keeps working as material even when its effect is negated.
- Converts any face-up monster you control into a Tuner, unlocking Synchro lines that require additional Tuners.
- Provides Graveyard-based negation of effects that target exactly one of your Synchro Monsters, adding defensive reach from the GY.
- Extremely low slot cost: 1.03 average copies, with 388 of 400 decks running exactly one copy.
Weaknesses
- Generates no card advantage and cannot start a play on its own.
- The 'attack only with Synchro Monsters' clause restricts the turn it is used.
- Graveyard negation is narrow — it only answers effects targeting exactly one Synchro Monster and no other cards.
- No archetype membership, so no in-theme searcher; it is usually drawn naturally.
Counters / choke points
- Negating or removing the Synchro summon before the Graveyard negate is relevant.
- Non-targeting removal and effects that target multiple cards bypass the Graveyard negate entirely.
- Graveyard hate that banishes Tuning Gum before it can negate an activation.
Best use
Level 1 Tuner / Synchro combo enabler and Graveyard protection. Decks: Resonator / Red Dragon Archfiend, Synchro (Synchron), Borrel. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: Level 1 DARK Fiend Tuner, ATK 400 / DEF 1200, no archetype.; Card text: once per turn, target 1 face-up monster you control; it is treated as a Tuner this turn, and you can only attack with Synchro Monsters that turn.; Card text: during either player's turn, when an effect that targets exactly 1 Synchro Monster you control (and no other cards) is activated, you can banish this card from the GY to negate the activation.; decks_evidence: 400 decks run Tuning Gum, all in the main deck, average 1.03 copies (388 decks run exactly 1).; legal_copies: limited to 1 copy in Duel Links.
- Observed: Tuning Gum appears in 100% of the sampled combos (1 of 1) with no recorded starter/searched/material/payoff role; the example combo reaches power_index 100 with 4 boss monsters and net +6 card advantage.; avg_starter_count_when_present is 1 in the recorded combo.; Archetype spread is dominated by Resonators (53.8%), Resonator (14.8%), Archfiend (14.5%) and Borrel (12%), across 13 distinct archetypes.; Top partners co-occurring in ~96.8% of its decks: Soul Resonator and Crimson Gaia.
- Inferred: With no archetype and no confirmed searcher, the card is typically drawn rather than tutored, which caps its accessibility.; Converting a non-Tuner into a Tuner enables Synchro summons with strict Tuner-count requirements that would otherwise be unavailable.; The Graveyard negation only covers targeted single-Synchro-Monster effects, so it is situational rather than broad interaction.
- Data gaps: no usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion % inferred from deck sample only combos_evidence contains only a single recorded combo, so as_starter/as_material/as_payoff percentages are not statistically meaningful no dated metagame sample is supplied, so meta_power is left null