Spell
EquipVicious Claw
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3593
The equipped monster gains 300 ATK. If the equipped monster would be destroyed by battle, return this card to its owner's hand instead. Then, destroy 1 monster, except the one that battled the equipped monster, and inflict 600 damage to your opponent. After that, Special Summon 1 "Evil Token" (Fiend-Type/DARK/Level 7/ATK 2500/DEF 2500) on your opponent's side of the field. During the turn this card is returned to your hand, you cannot use "Vicious Claw" from your hand.
Vicious Claw — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 56 ± 8 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 54.4 · Deck: 56.6 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Removal / Negation · Secondary: Recovery / Recursion
Why it scores here
Vicious Claw is a conditional, reactive removal spell: when its equipped monster would die in battle, it returns to hand, destroys one other monster and deals 600 damage. Its real value is the interaction on that trigger, not the +300 ATK. The card gives the opponent a 2500 ATK Evil Token, which holds resource economy down, and it is dead to the battle-trigger setup. High-ATK-style stats earned no points here; the score comes from the reusable removal and the 12-of-12 presence in the sampled decks.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Present in 12 of 12 sampled decks across 6 archetypes, one copy each, with Polymerization and Super Polymerization as frequent partners, but no combo evidence on whether it is reliably live in the opening hand (observed/inferred). |
| Combo & Conversion | 50 | Text converts one equipped battle into one destroyed monster plus 600 damage, but there are no recorded boards to confirm the conversion (inferred from text). |
| Resource Economy | 40 | Returns to hand on the trigger, which refunds the card, but the opponent's 2500 ATK Evil Token offsets the destroyed monster, so the card is roughly even (inferred from text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 55 | Destroys one monster when the equipped monster would die in battle, which is reactive and needs a battle setup; it is not hand-trap reach (verified from text, observed in deck inclusion). |
| Material Utility | 5 | It is a Spell card, so it provides no material body or level or attribute value (verified from text). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 50 | Returns to hand after use so it can recur, but it depends on the equipped monster and is exposed to spell negation and battle-timing interruption (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 70 | Single-copy, non-garnet Equip Spell with no lock or brick restriction; it is cheap to run (verified from decks_evidence copies). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Removal/Negation + 0.3 Recovery/Recursion. Intrinsic ≈ 54.4, Deck ≈ 56.6, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: none. Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Conditional removal triggered by battle, with a 600-damage follow-up
- Returns to hand, so the card can be reused
- Present in 12 of 12 sampled decks across 6 archetypes at one copy each
- Cheap to run with no garnet or lock restriction
Weaknesses
- Gives the opponent a 2500 ATK Evil Token, which offsets the removal
- Reactive: needs the equipped monster to be battled and destroyed
- Cannot be used from hand in the turn it is returned, which limits repeated use
- Adds no material value
Counters / choke points
- Spell negation or spell-based interruption before the battle trigger resolves
- Avoiding the battle that would trigger the effect
Best use
Conditional removal and recursion on an equipped monster in a battle-focused deck. Decks: Heroic, Elemental HERO, Neo-Spacian, Fiendsmith, Snake-Eyes, Mikanko. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Equip Spell granting +300 ATK; Battle-trigger return to hand, destroy one monster, 600 damage, and an opponent 2500 ATK Evil Token; Present in 12 of 12 sampled decks, 1 copy each, 6 archetypes
- Observed: Partners include Dark Fusion and Super Polymerization at 83% co-occurrence in the deck sample
- Inferred: Removal is the primary role because the card's effect is a reactive destroy on a battle trigger; Returns to hand, so it recurs as a secondary Recovery role; Roughly even resource economy after the opponent's token
- 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