Horus the Black Flame Dragon Deck #643243 — Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG

Deck — Deck Power Evaluation

Final Contextual Deck Power: 42/100 (±8 · Confidence: Low)

• Primary strategy: Midrange
• Secondary strategies: Control, Toolbox
• Format: tcg

Legality

Main 41 / Extra 15 / Side 0 — status: Legal.

Identity & game plan

• Win condition: Establish board control via King's Sarcophagus engine and recycled Horus monsters; grind through interaction; Push through with Egyptian God tributes (Ra variants) or Fusion endboards
• Turn 1 (going first): Resolve Temple of the Kings searcher chain, set up Sarcophagus lock, extend with Serket/Apophis fusion lines
• Turn 2 (going second): Break with hand traps (Ash, Impermanence), remove opponent board via Serket fusion or Trap Monster special summons, pivot to midrange pressure
• Recovery: Recycle Horus monsters and Apophis Traps via graveyard effects; Imsety, Hapi, Qebehsenuef recovery from GY under Sarcophagus
• After siding: No side deck present; unable to assess post-side strategy

Why it scores here

This Horus deck blends Temple of the Kings recursion, Serket/Apophis fusions, and Egyptian God tributes into a midrange control shell. It opens a functional core (King's Sarcophagus, Temple of the Kings searchers) roughly 57% of the time, but the deck runs only 8% of the competitive core cards recommended by archetype stats (missing Zombie Vampire, Dingirsu, core Extra-Deck tools), indicating heavy deviation. Combo evidence is absent, so median board output and choke-point resilience are inferred from card text and role interactions. The deck has no Side Deck, eliminating post-side adaptability entirely. Scoring reflects a homebrew mid-tier engine with reasonable grind potential but significant consistency liabilities, heavy tech load, and weak offensive closer power—popularity and archetype recognition did not earn points here.

Dimension scores

How the score was computed

Strategy profile: 0.65 Midrange + 0.35 Control. Structural ≈ 45, Going First ≈ 47, Going Second ≈ 50, Meta = provisional, Tournament Reliability ≈ 38. Modifiers: No Side Deck (-3); Heavy archetype deviation (-2). Final formula: 0.80*Structural(45) + 0.20*TournamentReliability(38) + Modifiers(0) = Final 42 (Meta provisional; no dated metagame sample supplied)

Probability & combo summary

• Opening a starter: P(≥1) ≈ 0.57 · key two-card combo ≈ 0.35 · full-brick estimate ≈ 0.22 (all Inferred)
• Combo output: best PowerIndex —, median —, board-per-starter —
• Turn order: 0 going-first lines vs 0 going-second lines

Strengths

• Robust graveyard recursion via Sarcophagus + Horus monsters (Imsety, Hapi, Qebehsenuef); grinding power high.
• Trap-Monster hybrid (Apophis the Swamp Deity, Apophis the Serpent) enables board presence without Normal Summon slot consumption.
• Redundant searcher core (Treasures, Temple, The Man with the Mark) for consistent engine setup.
• Hand-trap package (3× Ash, 3× Impermanence) provides going-second reaction and opening-turn disruption.
• Serket Fusion line offers monster removal + stat gain; removal-heavy matchups passable.

Weaknesses

• No Side Deck: entirely eliminates post-G1 adaptability; uncompetitive in best-of-3 format.
• Heavy deviation from archetype core (8% inclusion): missing Zombie Vampire, Dingirsu, core Extra Deck staples indicates underpowered or outdated build.
• Offensive closer power minimal: Serket (3000 ATK), Divine Serpent Apophis (2800 ATK) are mid-tier beatsticks; no piercing, direct damage, or OTK vectors.
• Combo floor low: median board ~2 interaction pieces; choke-point disruption to Temple searcher or Sarcophagus collapses lines.
• High brick potential: 4 Level 10 monsters (Ra, Anubis, etc.) + 2× Ra Sphere Mode compete for Normal Summon; conflicting summoning conditions.
• Limited Extra Deck utilization: only 1–2 Extra summons average; many slots (Link generics, Xyz) are flex/situational.

Critical choke points

• King's Sarcophagus is the primary recursion engine; negation or destruction disables Horus comeback plan.
• Temple of the Kings searcher chain: if interrupted, no access to core Trap setups or Serket setup.
• Graveyard resource: many lines depend on GY milling; banish-heavy opponents or Macro Cosmos disable recursion.
• Normal Summon conflict: Level 10 monsters and conditional Special Summons create hand clogs; opening hand without Temple/Sarcophagus often bricks.
• No Side Deck: unable to pivot post-G1; all-in on main deck strategy against unknown metagame.

Recommended changes

Evidence & confidence

• Verified: Deck is Legal under TCG rules: 41 main, 15 extra, 0 side; no copy-limit violations.; Card text confirmed for all 31 distinct cards; archetype tags (Horus, Temple, Serket, Apophis) verified.; Usage statistics show deck runs only Ash Blossom (100%) and Imsety (100%); missing Zombie Vampire (100%), Dingirsu (100%), core Xyz/Link utilities.; No Side Deck; Side Deck size = 0 confirmed.
• Observed: Archetype composition: 11 Temple of the Kings cards, 6 Horus, 5 Serket, 4 Apophis, 5 Egyptian God, 20 generic/tech.; Hand-trap density: 6 cards (Ash 3×, Impermanence 3×); 6 searchers with text-role hints (9 total searcher tags across deck).; Extra Deck: 8 Link, 4 Fusion, 3 Xyz; Fusion usage (Serket, Divine Serpent) drives removal lines; Xyz (AA-ZEUS, Bounzer, TY-PHON) situational.
• Inferred: Engine accessibility: P(≥1 Temple/Sarcophagus core in hand 5) ≈ 57%; archetype core liveness estimate based on hypergeometric draw odds.; Brick rate: ~22% estimated from 4 Level 10 monsters, 2× Ra Sphere Mode, conflicting Normal Summon slots, and high copy saturation.; Combo floor/median/ceiling: No parsed boards; inference from card text yields floor ~2 interaction pieces, median ~2–3, ceiling ~3 pieces + recursion.; Going-first board: Sarcophagus lock + set Apophis Traps + optional Serket fusion; modest interaction density (~2–3 active negation/removal effects).; Going-second plan: Break via Ash/Impermanence + Serket removal; relies on hand-trap luck (6 copies, 64% P(≥1 in hand 6)).; Resilience: Sarcophagus recursion provides grind resilience; single-choke disruption to Temple or Sarcophagus breaks lines; Trap-Monster salvage adds minor recovery.; Offensive power: Serket (3000 ATK), Divine Serpent (2800 ATK) are mid-tier; no piercing, direct damage, or OTK vectors; 3–4 turn clock realistic.; Pilotability: Sarcophagus mechanics require careful mill targeting and GY timing; 2–3 decision trees per turn; moderate skill ceiling.; Format fit: Archetype meta-share unknown; deviation from published core (8% inclusion) suggests niche or outdated build; positioning vs current metagame unquantified.
• Provisional: Meta Power: No dated metagame sample supplied. Archetype meta-share unavailable. Format fit/matchup strength provisional until tournament context given.; Tournament Reliability: Best-of-3 suitability severely compromised by absent Side Deck; ranked provisional.
• Data gaps: No parseable combo evidence: combo data.scored combos = 0 → floor/median/ceiling, board per starter, interruption-resilience depth all inferred from card text and rules, not measured boards. No tournament link: archetype meta-share, per-pilot match record, regional performance absent → Meta Power = null, format fit = Provisional. No per-archetype win-rate telemetry: brick rate, starter rate, OTK rate, matchup outcomes all inferred or unknown. No guides evidence: strategic intent, sideboard philosophy, format positioning unspecified. No Side Deck: elimination of post-G1 adaptability analysis; best-of-3 reliability uncomputable.