WATER
10Water Dragon Cluster
Archetype:
Bonding
ATK:
2800
DEF:
2600
View:
4009
Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must be Special Summoned with the effect of a "Bonding" Spell/Trap. If this card is Special Summoned: You can activate this effect; Effect Monsters your opponent currently controls cannot activate their effects for the rest of this turn, also change their ATK to 0 until the end of this turn. (Quick Effect): You can Tribute this card; Special Summon 2 "Water Dragon" from your hand and/or Deck in Defense Position, ignoring their Summoning conditions.
Water Dragon Cluster — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 45 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 51 · Deck: 48 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Boss / End-board · Secondary: Material body, Combo enabler
Why it scores here
Water Dragon Cluster earns its points from two effect units, not from its 2800 ATK: an on-Special-Summon lock that silences and zeroes every Effect Monster the opponent currently controls for the rest of the turn, and a Quick Effect Tribute that pulls two 'Water Dragon' bodies straight from the hand/Deck, ignoring their summoning conditions. That combination is a real board-swinging payoff and a removal-dodging material engine. What caps the score is access: it cannot be Normal Summoned/Set and exists only as the resolution of a 'Bonding' Spell/Trap effect, so it is a dedicated-engine garnet with zero recorded combo appearances and only 10 sampled decks (all main-deck, avg 1.4 copies). Its 2800/2600 stat line and Level 10 frame contributed nothing to the score beyond mild Rank 10 material relevance.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 33 | The card cannot be Normal Summoned/Set and is only live when a 'Bonding' Spell/Trap effect resolves, and 100% of its sampled decks pair it with Bonding - DHO, making it a dedicated-engine garnet rather than a freely drawn threat (verified). |
| Combo & Conversion | 50 | Text-only inference: with a Bonding enabler it lands one 2800 body that freezes the opponent's current Effect Monsters and then trades itself for two Water Dragons out of the Deck, but there are zero recorded combo appearances to confirm the ceiling (inferred). |
| Resource Economy | 45 | The Tribute effect converts one body into two 'Water Dragon' pulled from the Deck, but the surrounding Bonding line spends multiple Hydrogeddon/Oxygeddon/Duoterion from hand and GY, leaving the overall exchange roughly card-neutral (inferred). |
| Effect & Interaction | 72 | On Special Summon it stops every Effect Monster the opponent currently controls from activating effects for the rest of the turn and reduces their ATK to 0 — a one-turn Dark Ruler No More effect stapled to a body (verified). |
| Material Utility | 52 | A Level 10 WATER Sea Serpent that qualifies as Rank 10 Xyz material and, through its own Tribute effect, generates two Level 8 'Water Dragon' bodies in Defense Position, which is usable but not a clean generic-material fit (inferred). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 55 | Because the Tribute is a Quick Effect paid as cost, it can chain into removal and convert into two bodies instead of dying, though each copy is a one-shot and the summon lock only hits monsters already on the field at resolution (inferred). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 30 | It demands a full Bonding package — Hydrogeddon, Oxygeddon, Duoterion and Bonding - DHO at 100% co-deck rate — and is a dead card outside it, so decks run only 1.4 copies on average (observed). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 0.7 Boss / End-board + 0.3 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 51, Deck ≈ 48, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Dedicated-engine garnet (-4). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- On Special Summon it locks out every Effect Monster the opponent currently controls for the rest of the turn and sets their ATK to 0, functioning as a one-turn Dark Ruler No More on a body.
- Quick Effect Tribute summons two 'Water Dragon' from hand and/or Deck in Defense Position, ignoring summoning conditions — free material generation and a way to dodge targeted removal.
- Provides two Level 8 bodies for Rank 8 Xyz plays or further Bonding loops without spending additional hand cards.
- 2800 ATK / Level 10 WATER Sea Serpent is a legitimate Rank 10 Xyz material body when the effects are negated.
- All 10 sampled decks run it in the main deck alongside the complete Bonding package, so the role is real rather than theoretical.
Weaknesses
- Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set; it is a pure garnet that is unplayable without a 'Bonding' Spell/Trap effect.
- Zero recorded combo appearances and zero guide mentions — its practical ceiling is unmeasured.
- The engine requires many specific slots (Hydrogeddon, Oxygeddon, Duoterion, Bonding - DHO, Bonding - D2O, Fossil Dig), which is heavy deck-building cost.
- The summon lock only affects monsters the opponent controls at resolution; monsters summoned afterwards and all Spell/Trap effects are unaffected.
- The Tribute effect is a one-shot per copy — once used, the card is gone and must be re-enabled from scratch.
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring or Solemn Judgment negating the 'Bonding' Spell/Trap prevents the summon entirely.
- Solemn Strike / Solemn Warning negating the Special Summon stops the on-summon effect lock from ever applying.
- D.D. Crow or Called by the Grave removing Hydrogeddon / Oxygeddon / Duoterion from the GY breaks the Bonding setup before the Cluster lands.
- Hand traps that stop the multi-piece Bonding line before it resolves leave a dead Level 10 card in hand or Deck.
- Backrow/floodgate effects that are already active are untouched by the monster-only effect lock.
Best use
End-board payoff that locks the opponent's board and then converts into two 'Water Dragon' bodies. Decks: Bonding, Dinowrestler (Bonding hybrid). Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set and must be Special Summoned with the effect of a 'Bonding' Spell/Trap (card text).; If Special Summoned, Effect Monsters the opponent currently controls cannot activate their effects for the rest of the turn and their ATK becomes 0 until the end of the turn (card text).; Quick Effect: Tribute this card to Special Summon 2 'Water Dragon' from hand and/or Deck in Defense Position, ignoring their summoning conditions (card text).; Level 10 WATER Sea Serpent, 2800 ATK / 2600 DEF, archetype 'Bonding', legal in TCG/OCG/MasterDuel/DuelLinks (card record).
- Observed: 10 sampled decks run it, all in the main deck, 0 in the side, average 1.4 copies with a max of 3 (decks_evidence).; 100% co-deck rate with Hydrogeddon, Oxygeddon, Duoterion and Bonding - DHO; 80% with Bonding - D2O and Fossil Dig (decks_evidence).; It appears in 8 distinct archetypes in a sample of only 10 decks, i.e. one or two decks per archetype (decks_evidence).; 0 combo appearances and 0 guide mentions across the recorded corpus (combos_evidence, guides_evidence).
- Inferred: Fossil Dig at 80% can tutor the Dinosaur components Hydrogeddon/Oxygeddon, so half of the Bonding line is searchable, but no confirmed in-archetype searcher exists for the 'Bonding' Spell/Trap or for the Cluster itself (inference).; The Tribute effect produces two Level 8 'Water Dragon' bodies, enabling Rank 8 Xyz plays or feeding further Bonding-style loops (inference).; The summon lock only applies to monsters on the field at resolution; monsters summoned later in the same turn can still activate effects, and Spell/Trap effects are unaffected (inference).; Because the Tribute is paid as a cost on a Quick Effect, the card dodges targeted removal by converting instead of being destroyed (inference).
- 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 a 10-deck sample only deck sample of 10 is far too small to establish real inclusion rate or regional/format legality