Spell
NormalUnion Activation
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3358
Send 1 LIGHT Machine Normal or Union monster from your hand or Deck to the GY and add 1 LIGHT Machine monster with the same ATK but a different original name from your Deck to your hand. If you Special Summon 3 LIGHT Machine monsters at the same time, while this card is in your GY: You can banish this card; add 1 monster with 3000 or more ATK from your Deck to your hand, then immediately after this effect resolves, Normal Summon that monster. You can only use each effect of "Union Activation" once per turn.
Union Activation — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 61 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 57 · Deck: 64 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Searcher/Tutor · Secondary: Recovery/Recursion
Why it scores here
Union Activation converts a dead Normal or Union monster in hand or Deck into a LIGHT Machine with the same ATK, which is a card-neutral search that keeps the ABC engine running. Its banish-from-GY effect adds a 3000+ ATK monster and Normal Summons it, but only after three LIGHT Machines are Special Summoned together, so it is conditional. The card is in all 400 sampled decks at a typical 3 copies and appears in six recorded boards with a high average power index. High ATK is not the reason for the score: the card has no interaction and is not a material body, and its strength comes from the engine it feeds.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 80 | Runs 3 copies in 389 of 400 decks and is in every deck's main, which makes it reliably live in the opening hand (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 72 | Appears in 6 of 6 recorded combos with an average power index of 89.8, though none tag it as starter, searched, or payoff, so the conversion credit is shared with the deck's engine (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | Sends one card and adds one, so it is card-neutral on its own, plus a conditional GY banish that adds one more monster (verified text, inferred value). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | The card has no negation, removal, or disruption effect (verified). |
| Material Utility | 5 | A Spell cannot be used as material, so this axis is near zero (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 50 | Two effects, each once per turn, with one live from the GY, but no protection against common spell negation is in the evidence (verified text, inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 55 | Three copies in a deck that already runs LIGHT Machine Union monsters, so the slot cost is real but not a garnet or lock (observed, inferred). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Searcher + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion blend. Intrinsic ≈ 57, Deck ≈ 64, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Live in every sampled ABC deck at 3 copies, so accessibility is high.
- Card-neutral search from hand or Deck turns a dead Union or Normal into a LIGHT Machine.
- The GY banish can add a 3000+ ATK monster and Normal Summon it, giving late-game value.
Weaknesses
- Requires a Normal or Union monster in hand or Deck and LIGHT Machine targets, so it is tied to one engine.
- The GY effect needs three LIGHT Machines Special Summoned at once, so it is conditional.
- No interaction and no material value.
Counters / choke points
- Spell negation or Spell-targeting disruption (not in evidence; inferred from card type).
Best use
Searcher/Tutor with GY recursion for the Union engine. Decks: ABC (XYZ Union) — main deck core, 149 of 400 sampled decks, Therions, Synchron. Suggested copies: 3.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: send a LIGHT Machine Normal or Union monster to GY, then add a same-ATK different-name LIGHT Machine from Deck.; Card text: GY banish effect after three LIGHT Machines are Special Summoned together, adding a 3000+ ATK monster.; Spell card type, so it cannot be used as material.; Each effect is once per turn.; No banlist token supplied, so 3 copies are assumed.
- Observed: In 400 of 400 sampled decks at 2.95 average copies.; Present in 6 of 6 recorded combos with average power index 89.8.; Guides name it as a core card of the ABC deck.
- Inferred: Card-neutral search, since send one and add one.; Late-game value from the GY effect, which depends on a LIGHT Machine board.; Engine-dependent role, since it needs LIGHT Machine Union or Normal targets.
- Data gaps: Combo role tags (starter/searched/material/payoff) are all zero, so the combo role split cannot be confirmed. No counter or interaction data in the evidence. No banlist token supplied; 3 copies assumed. top-card data shows no ranking; popularity was not used for scoring.