Upstart Goblin — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 62 ± 6 · Confidence: High
- Intrinsic: 57 · Deck: 64 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Utility · Secondary: Starter
Why it scores here
Upstart Goblin is a pure consistency cantrip: it converts one deck slot into one extra draw and one turn of information, while handing the opponent 1000 LP that almost never decides a game. The sample confirms it is universally live — 400/400 decks main-deck it at 2.74 average copies and it appears in all 17 recorded combos — but the payoff is thin: card-neutral, no board, and zero disruption, which is why its interaction and combo-conversion subscores sit near the floor. Its high play rate earns accessibility and deckbuilding points only, and that frequency is explicitly not treated as proof of intrinsic power. Its best homes are spell-heavy strategies such as Sky Striker, where the extra dig and the Spell in the GY both matter. High ATK/DEF are irrelevant here — this card has none and gains nothing from stats.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 80 | A generic Normal Spell with no condition, cost, or timing restriction that 400/400 sampled decks run in the main deck at 2.74 average copies (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 35 | It builds nothing on its own — only a draw — and the 17 recorded combos it appears in average a 68.8 power index with 1.59 starters present, so other cards do the work (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 55 | One card spent for one card drawn is card-neutral, but the only cost is 1000 LP to the opponent, making it effectively free filtering and deck-thinning (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | The card supplies no negation, no removal, and no disruption of any kind (verified). |
| Material Utility | 15 | It is a Spell with no body, so its only material-style value is contributing a Spell to the GY for Sky Striker-style spell-count requirements (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 65 | There is no once-per-turn clause, no cost, and no timing window, and since drawing is not adding from the Deck to the hand, common add-negating hand traps cannot stop it (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 82 | It is splashable across 69 distinct recorded archetypes with 3 copies in 329 of 400 decks, with no garnet requirement and no lock (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Utility (default) + 0.3 Starter, reflecting combo evidence tagging it as a starter in 47.1% of appearances while its text is a pure consistency cantrip. Intrinsic ≈ 57, Deck ≈ 64, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Generic Normal Spell with no cost, condition, timing window, or once-per-turn clause — live in every hand it appears in
- Effectively free: the only drawback is 1000 LP to the opponent, which rarely changes an outcome
- Thins the deck and digs one card deeper, raising the consistency of whatever real starter the deck has
- Extremely splashable — played in 69 distinct recorded archetypes, with Sky Striker, Radiant Typhoon, Branded, Endymion and Dark Magician among its homes
- Contributes a Spell to the GY, which is relevant to Sky Striker's 3-Spell requirement (inferred)
- Drawing is not 'adding from the Deck to the hand', so add-negating hand traps do not answer it (inferred)
Weaknesses
- Card-neutral, not card-advantageous: one card spent for one card drawn
- Provides no board presence, no disruption, and no removal
- No search route is shown in the evidence, so it must be drawn naturally
- The 1000 LP gift slightly extends the opponent's clock and matters in very tight races
- A weak late-game top-deck when the deck no longer needs thinning
Counters / choke points
- Spell/Trap negation (Solemn-style counter traps) can answer it, though the trade is poor for the opponent
- Effects that lock or restrict Spell activation in the turn
- Decks that convert the extra 1000 LP into a real advantage (long clocks, LP-sensitive payoffs)
Best use
Consistency cantrip / deck thinner. Decks: Sky Striker, Spell-heavy 40-card consistency shells, Gravekeeper's, Metalfoes, Mythical Beast. Suggested copies: 3.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: 'Draw 1 card, then your opponent gains 1000 LP.'; Type is Normal Spell, Spell frame, no archetype, ATK/DEF 0; Legal in TCG, OCG and Master Duel per evidence.formats; legal_copies lists only 'goat: 2'
- Observed: 400 of 400 sampled decks run it in the main deck (0 side), average 2.74 copies, 329 decks at 3 copies; 69 distinct archetypes run it; largest homes are Sky Striker rows (33% + 8.8% + 6%), Radiant Typhoon (9% + 4%), Branded (3.2%), Endymion (2.5%), Dark Magician (1.8%); Top co-deck partners: Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring 79.5%, Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage! 76.5%, Sky Striker Mecha - Widow Anchor 76.2%, Sky Striker Ace - Raye 75%; Combos: 17/17 appearances, as_starter 47.1%, in_end_hand 47.1%, as_material 0%, as_payoff 0%, in_end_board 0%, avg power index 68.8, avg starter count when present 1.59; usage_statistics: 100% inclusion in Gravekeeper's, Tech Genus, Danger! and Metalfoes samples, 54% in Sky Striker (id 710) typically at 3 copies
- Inferred: Drawing is not 'adding from the Deck to the hand', so add-negating hand traps such as Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring do not stop Upstart Goblin; The 1000 LP gift is functionally negligible in most games, making the card effectively a free deck-thinner; As a Spell that goes to the GY, it can help satisfy Sky Striker's 3-Spell requirement; Its 'starter' tag in combo data reflects digging into the true starter rather than building a board itself
- Data gaps: No current TCG/OCG/Master Duel banlist or limit information in the evidence — legal_copies only contains 'goat: 2', so no banlist modifier could be applied responsibly Combo sample is small (17) and every appearance is tagged 'starter'/'in_end_hand', which conflicts with the text (the card builds no board by itself) No guide snippet discusses Upstart Goblin's role directly; guide mentions are section-level staple listings only No evidence of any search route or tutor that fetches this card usage_statistics is archetype-level only and does not describe matchup or win-rate impact