Phantom Knights Deck #765366 — Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Deck — Deck Power Evaluation

Final Contextual Deck Power: 65/100 (±6 · Confidence: Medium)

• Primary strategy: Midrange
• Secondary strategies: Combo, Control
• Format: master-duel

Legality

Main 40 / Extra 15 / Side 0 — status: Legal.

Identity & game plan

• Win condition: Xyz/Link boss chains (Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, Four Heavenly Dragons, Rusty Bardiche) built from Phantom Knights graveyard recursion; Rank-Up-Magic Requiem/Force extensions into higher-Rank Xyz bosses; Dark Requiem and Arc Rebellion Xyz Dragon as off-archetype finishers
• Turn 1 (going first): Opening Phantom Knights starters (Torn Scales, Silent Boots, Decayed Cloak, Doomed Soleret) that search or Special Summon into an Xyz; hold Dominus Impulse, Ash Blossom and Maxx C for the opponent's first Special Summon
• Turn 2 (going second): Use hand traps (Ash Blossom, Droll & Lock Bird, Maxx C, Dominus Spark) on the opponent's first engine, then rebuild through GY Phantom Knights effects into a Rank-Up boss
• Recovery: Banish Phantom Knights from the GY for Silent Boots, Decayed Cloak, Ancient Cloak and Umbrage Veil searches and revivals to rebuild board after a single interruption
• After siding: Not applicable: Master Duel has no side deck, so every game is played with the same 40/15 list

Why it scores here

This list reliably opens an archetype starter: the 28 Phantom Knights core copies give a 99.9% proxy chance of at least one core card in a 5-card opening hand, and the three-copy starters bring a 33.8% single-card chance on the play (Inferred from hypergeometric draws). Its strength is the system, not the individual cards: graveyard recursion (Silent Boots, Decayed Cloak, Ancient Cloak, Umbrage Veil) means one interruption rarely ends the turn, and the Rank-Up-Magic and Xyz Dragon chain gives a high ceiling. Six hand traps and Dominus Spark/Impulse give real interaction density, especially going second, though no board data exists to confirm frequency. Off-archetype Extra Deck slots (Evilswarm Ophion, Super Starslayer TY-PHON, Cherubini, I:P Masquerena) dilute the engine and lower the score. Popularity was not rewarded, and card scores were not averaged.

Dimension scores

How the score was computed

Strategy profile: Midrange primary, Combo secondary (no combo evidence; weights chosen by text). Structural ≈ 68, Going First ≈ 66, Going Second ≈ 70, Meta = provisional, Tournament Reliability ≈ 62. Modifiers: engine_dilution (-2). Final formula: 0.80*Structural + 0.20*TournamentReliability (Meta provisional) + ContextModifiers = 0.80*68 + 0.20*62 - 2 ≈ 65

Probability & combo summary

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

Strengths

• Deep archetype core (28 copies) gives high starter access
• Graveyard recursion gives repeated engine activations after disruption
• Six hand traps plus Dominus Spark/Impulse cover both turn orders
• Xyz and Rank-Up-Magic chain gives a high ceiling into boss monsters

Weaknesses

• No side deck means no post-game adaptation
• Off-archetype Extra Deck slots dilute the engine
• Multiple single-copy staples (Maxx C, Foolish Burial, Reinforcement of the Army, Requiem) add variance
• Heavy reliance on GY state makes the list vulnerable to graveyard hate

Critical choke points

• Phantom Knights starter in hand on turn 1
• Rank-Up-Magic Requiem or Force availability for the boss line
• Graveyard Phantom Knights for recursion after an opponent's negate

Recommended changes

Evidence & confidence

• Verified: Legal 40/15/0 Master Duel list with no violations; Restricted cards Foolish Burial, Maxx C and Reinforcement of the Army run at legal copies; Card texts for hand traps, Xyz and recursion effects
• Observed: Usage stats: Phantom Knights core cards at 67-90% inclusion across 30 archetype rows
• Inferred: Core starter access and brick estimates from hypergeometric draws; Interaction and recursion quality read from card text
• Provisional: Meta position and matchup fit (no dated sample); Side-deck score (Master Duel has no side deck)
• Data gaps: No recorded combos; combo floor/median/ceiling are text-only inference No tournament link; archetype meta-share and per-pilot record absent No win-rate telemetry; going-first, going-second and matchup results unknown Meta Power is provisional without a dated metagame sample