DARK
6Vanity's Fiend
ATK:
2400
DEF:
1200
View:
5270
Cannot be Special Summoned. Neither player can Special Summon monsters.
Vanity's Fiend — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 62 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 64 · Deck: 62 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Floodgate/Control · Secondary: Boss/End-board
Why it scores here
Vanity's Fiend scores on the strength of its blanket Special Summon lock, one of the few single effects that can freeze an entire modern turn, and it is highly accessible in practice at 400/400 sampled decks main-decking it at ~2.17 copies across 75 archetypes (Enneacraft control, Monarch, Runick, stun shells). Its 2400 ATK and Level-6 body earn essentially nothing: the card converts one Tribute into a persistent floodgate rather than a combo, so combo_conversion, resource_economy and resilience stay low — it is a -1 with no protection, no recursion, and combo data records zero appearances. The lock's downside is also symmetric, forcing the pilot to give up Special Summons, which only control and stun decks can afford, capping the ceiling. Overall it lands in the low 60s: a reliable, splashable lock piece whose value depends entirely on surviving on field.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 58 | Text makes it a Normal/Tribute Summon-able Level-6 main-deck monster, and deck data shows 400/400 decks running it at ~2.17 copies, so drawing it is routine even though it needs a Tribute and has no generic searcher (observed). |
| Combo & Conversion | 38 | combo data records 0 appearances, so the card builds no board of its own — it is the payoff lock itself, converting one Tribute into a Special-Summon freeze (observed). |
| Resource Economy | 35 | It is a -1 in card advantage (one Tribute for one body) with no draw, search, or GY refuel text of any kind (verified). |
| Effect & Interaction | 78 | 'Neither player can Special Summon monsters' is a hard blanket floodgate that shuts down most Extra Deck lines, but it does not negate or remove and stops working the moment it leaves the field (verified). |
| Material Utility | 45 | As a Level-6 DARK Fiend it is usable as Tribute/Synchro fodder, but 'Cannot be Special Summoned' means it can never be cheated out as free material and only functions once Tribute Summoned (verified). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 48 | The lock persists only while the body stays on field and the card has no protection, no self-recursion, and no alternate-zone use, so a single removal spell ends it (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 58 | It costs one main-deck slot with no garnet and redundant copies are fine, but the symmetric lock forces the pilot to abandon Special Summons, which only stun/control shells can build around (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Floodgate/Control + 0.3 Boss/End-board. Intrinsic ≈ 64, Deck ≈ 62, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Compact single-slot floodgate (2); Symmetrical self-locking restriction (-3). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Hard blanket lock: neither player can Special Summon while it is face-up on the field
- Runs in the main deck with no Extra Deck or combo requirement, at 2-3 copies
- Observed in 75 distinct archetypes, including control shells (Enneacraft, Monarch, Runick) that already avoid Special Summoning
- 2400 ATK lets it attack over many Normal Summoned bodies as a secondary clock
Weaknesses
- Cannot be Special Summoned, so it always costs a Tribute and a turn of setup
- Symmetric lock restricts the controller's own plays and forces deckbuilding concessions
- No protection: any monster removal ends the lock immediately
- -1 in card economy with no recursion or refuel
- Slow going second against an already-established board
Counters / choke points
- Normal Spell/Trap monster removal such as Raigeki, Dark Hole, or Lightning Storm
- Book of Moon or similar flipping it face-down, which switches off the continuous effect
- Solemn Judgment / Solemn Strike negating the Tribute Summon
- Attacking over its 2400 ATK with a bigger monster, since Special Summoning is blocked
- An opponent board already built before it lands
Best use
Main-deck floodgate lock, Tribute Summoned to freeze the opponent's Special Summons. Decks: Enneacraft, Monarch, Runick (Mysterune), Stun/Control. Suggested copies: 2.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Card text: 'Cannot be Special Summoned. Neither player can Special Summon monsters.'; Level 6 DARK Fiend, 2400 ATK / 1200 DEF, Effect Monster; No search, draw, or recursion clause exists in the card text
- Observed: 400/400 sampled decks run it in the main deck at an average of 2.17 copies (max 3); It appears across 75 distinct archetypes, led by Enneacraft (24%) and Monarch (11.2%); usage statistics shows 100% inclusion at 3 copies in Duston and 100% at 2 copies in Krawler; Top partners include Called by the Grave (47.5%), Dimensional Fissure (46.8%) and the Enneacraft engine pieces (~44%); combo data records 0 appearances and no power index for boards containing it
- Inferred: It is a -1 body that must be Tribute Summoned, so it is a payoff lock rather than a combo starter; Its symmetric restriction is nearly free in archetypes that already only Special Summon face-down or not at all (per the Enneacraft guide snippet); Any single monster removal or a face-down flip ends the lock, so resilience is low
- Data gaps: no combos supplied — combo conversion is text-only inference no banlist token — assumed 3 copies (unlimited) no dated metagame sample, so meta power is null/provisional no average power index or starter-count data for boards containing it