Phantom Knights Deck #770093 — Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG

Deck — Deck Power Evaluation

Final Contextual Deck Power: 35/100 (±8 · Confidence: Low)

• Primary strategy: Midrange
• Secondary strategies: Toolbox, Stun
• Format: ocg

Legality

Main 40 / Extra 15 / Side 0 — status under the rules at evaluation time: Illegal. 1 violation(s).

Identity & game plan

• Win condition: Phantom Knights Xyz/Link chain that ends in a 3000-ATK Xyz Dragon or a 2000-ATK Break Sword board, backed by hand traps.; Recursion from GY (Silent Boots, Decayed Cloak) to rebuild Phantom Knights boards after an interruption.
• Turn 1 (going first): Open a Phantom Knights starter (Torn Scales, Silent Boots, Decayed Cloak or Doomed Soleret), search or summon a second Knight, and Xyz/Link toward a DARK boss while holding Ash Blossom or Ghost Belle.
• Turn 2 (going second): Hold a hand trap (Ash Blossom, Ghost Belle, Effect Veiler, Droll & Lock Bird) to answer the opponent's first summon or search, then rebuild from the GY.
• Recovery: Banish Phantom Knights monsters from the GY (Silent Boots, Decayed Cloak, Break Sword revival) to re-enter the board after a one-card interruption.
• After siding: No Side Deck is registered, so there is no post-side plan. Evidence does not support a sided plan.

Why it scores here

The deck opens a Phantom Knights starter reliably in the main sample (about 96% of 5-card hands hold at least one archetype-core card, and each 3-copy starter has about 34% odds of appearing in the opening 5), which keeps engine accessibility in the mid-60s range. Its strongest feature is interaction: roughly 10 hand traps and 13 negation-text cards give it a layered answer set that scores well on end-board quality and going-second pressure, and graveyard recursion from Silent Boots and Decayed Cloak supports recovery after a single interruption. Closing power is credible through 3000-ATK Xyz Dragons and Break Sword, but there are no recorded boards, so the ceiling and median are text-only inference and cannot be separated from evidence. Popularity did not earn points: archetype usage is only partially matched (9 of 22 core cards present, 47% exact-name purity), and the list runs 29 off-archetype copies, which were scored on consistency, not on usage. The score was not produced by averaging card scores; the Forbidden Called by the Grave copy makes the list illegal, so the final score is capped low and treated as structural-only.

Dimension scores

How the score was computed

Strategy profile: Midrange primary; Toolbox secondary is not applied to weights (Midrange profile used as-is).. Structural ≈ 56, Going First ≈ 50, Going Second ≈ 60, Meta = provisional, Tournament Reliability ≈ 45. Modifiers: banlist_exposure (-12); no_side_deck (0); illegal_cap (-7). Final formula: 0.80*Structural(56) + 0.20*TournamentReliability(45) = 53.8; context modifiers -12 gives 42; illegal-deck cap applied to 35 (Meta provisional)

Probability & combo summary

• Opening a starter: P(≥1) ≈ 0.8 · 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

• Layered hand-trap and negation coverage (10 hand traps, 13 negation-text cards) supports going second.
• Graveyard recursion (Silent Boots, Decayed Cloak, Break Sword) gives recovery after one interruption.
• Strong archetype-core access: 96% of 5-card hands hold at least one core card (Inferred).

Weaknesses

• Illegal as built: one Forbidden Called by the Grave.
• No side deck, so no post-side adaptability.
• Low archetype purity (47%) and 29 off-archetype copies dilute engine coherence.
• No recorded boards, so the combo ceiling and median are unverified.

Critical choke points

• Forbidden Called by the Grave must be removed before the deck is legal.
• The Phantom Knights starter density (about 34% per 3-copy card in 5-card hands) means many openers depend on a single card type.

Recommended changes

Evidence & confidence

• Verified: Main 40, Extra 15, Side 0 meets OCG size rules.; Called by the Grave is Forbidden in OCG and is run 1 copy (violation).; Other restricted cards (Droll & Lock Bird 1, S:P Little Knight 1, Ash Blossom 2) are within legal copy limits.; Archetype purity 47.3%; 9 of 22 usage-core cards present.
• Inferred: Starter access, brick risk, interaction layering, going-second hand-trap coverage, and closing power were estimated from card text and hypergeometric draws.
• Provisional: Meta Power (null); matchup fit (D13 neutral) because no dated meta sample or tournament link exists.
• Data gaps: No combos supplied: combo floor, median, and ceiling are text-only inference. No tournament link: archetype meta-share and per-pilot match record absent. No win-rate telemetry for going-first, going-second, matchup, or brick rate. No side deck registered, so post-side performance is unknown. Meta Power is Provisional unless a dated metagame sample is supplied.