Tuners are getting better with each passing set, and cards like Crystron Halqifibrax make summoning synchro monsters almost too easy. With so many different synchro monsters to choose from it can be hard to make room for them all in your Extra deck. Well these are our picks for synchro staples that can work with any deck, so you can include only the best of the best in next strategy.
15. Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing
This guy is a fantastic piece of removal in practically any deck. You can target any Yang Zing monster (typically Yazi itself) and any card your opponent controls and destroy them both. Then when this card is destroyed by battle or card effect, you can then special summon any Wyrm-type monster from your deck to the field in defense position.
14. T.G. Hyper Librarian
Card advantage has always been huge in Yu-Gi-Oh. The more cards you have in hand, the more resources you have available to beat down your opponent, and the more likely you are to come out victorious. T.G. Hyper Librarian allows you to generate more card advantage by drawing a card every single time you synchro summon. In decks like Synchrons or Speedroids which revolve around synchro summons this can easily be an additional 5-10 cards every single turn, and as such this guy is an absolute staple in any synchro strategy.
13. Formula Synchron
There are plenty of powerful effects that trigger on synchro summon – for example, Black Rose Dragon blows up the entire field when it’s synchro summoned, and Trishula Dragon of the Ice Barrier banishes 3 of your opponent’s cards. Formula Synchron is a tuner synchro monster that allows you to trigger these effects during your opponent’s turn by synchro summoning monsters during your opponent’s main phase. Being able to access these powerful effects during your opponent’s main phase can be absolutely lethal. You can wait for your opponent to build up a big board of monsters, then blow them all away all at once.
12. Herald of the Arc Light
Herald of the Arc Light is absolutely insane in decks that involve ritual summoning. Not only does it act as a mini Macro Cosmos, banishing cards that are sent from the deck or hand to the graveyard, but it also acts as a one-time negate – negating any spell, trap, or monster effect activation. When this card is sent to the graveyard you can then add either a ritual monster or a ritual spell from your deck to your hand – this effect is incredibly easy to activate, especially with trap cards such as Dogmatika Punishment being able to send cards from the Extra deck straight to the graveyard.
11. Shooting Riser Dragon
Crystron Halqifibrax has completely changed how synchro summoning works in modern Yu-Gi-Oh. Halqifibrax can banish itself during your opponent’s turn to special summon any tuner Synchro monster from your extra deck, and Shooting Riser Dragon is one of the best options out there. On summon, this guy can send any monster from your deck to the graveyard to have its level reduced by the level of the sent monster, setting you up perfectly to summon practically any monster you like. This card also allows you to synchro summon during your opponents turn, allowing you incorporate more powerful on-summon effects as interruptions.
10. Black Rose Dragon
There’s nothing quite like a good board wipe. I mean, there’s a reason cards like Raigeki and Dark Hole have been on and off the ban list for many years. When Black Rose Dragon is summoned, it can destroy every single monster on the field, including itself. While this also pops your own monsters, this effect is more than worth it if your opponent has a stronger board than you. You can also combine this with effects that trigger on destruction – for example, in a Shaddoll deck, Black Rose Dragon is the perfect way to trigger a whole bunch of destruction effects all at once and can lead to some seriously powerful combos.
9. Naturia Beast
Modern Yu-Gi-Oh is all about negates – if you can go first in a duel, you’ll want to set up a bunch of negates to make it as hard as possible for your opponent to play. Naturia Beast is one of the best pieces of negation out there. Here’s how it works: Whenever a spell card or effect is activated you can mill the top two cards of your deck to negate and destroy that spell card. This has 2 major advantages compared to most negate cards – not only is this card not restricted by a ‘once per turn’ clause, but it also has an incredibly low cost. In fact, many decks actually want cards in the graveyard, and Naturia Beast is a fantastic way of getting them there while also messing up your opponent’s strategy.
8. Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon
This guy is a powerful piece of negation and an unstoppable beat-stick all wrapped up in one card. Not only does this card negate monster effects, but it gains the attack of the monster whose effect it negated. On top of that, when Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon battles an opponent’s monster it gains attack equal to the attack of the monster it’s battling. These two effects combined can lead to some seriously high attack stats, which can easily cause enough damage to win the game right then and there.
7. Wind Pegasus @Ignister
With cards like Dogmatika Punishment being able to easily dump extra deck monsters into the graveyard, synchro monsters with powerful graveyard effects are seeing more and more play. Wind Pegasus @Ignister can banish itself from the field or graveyard to shuffle 1 card your opponent controls into the deck. This is a great piece of removal that won’t trigger any effects on destruction, and a fantastic way of getting rid of powerful extra deck monsters.
6. T.G. Wonder Magician
This card is absolutely crucial in enabling the ‘Scythe Lock’, an engine that splashes perfectly into practically any deck.
When Artifact Scythe is destroyed by card effect you can special summon it to your side of the field.
When it’s special summoned during your opponent’s turn, your opponent then can’t summon monsters from the extra deck for the rest of the turn.
You can use Artifact Dagda to grab Scythe from the deck, Crystron Halqifibrax to get T.G. Wonder Magician onto the field, and T.G. Wonder Magician’s effect to pop Scythe – a ludicrously easy combo that only requires 3 slots in your Extra deck.
5. Chaos Ruler, the Chaotic Magical Dragon
Milling cards has always been incredibly powerful – with the myriad of graveyard effects available in Yu-Gi-Oh, being able to get a bunch of monsters in the graveyard all at once can give you a huge advantage. When this guy is summoned, you can mill the top 5 cards of your deck and add any excavated Light or Dark type monster to your hand. In decks like Dragon Link that are comprised entirely of Lights and Darks this is practically a free +1. Plus it’s an amazing way of setting up monsters who can special summon themselves from the graveyard.
4. PSY-Framelord Omega
Card advantage has always been incredibly important in Yu-Gi-Oh, which is why cards like Psy-Framelord Omega are so powerful. This level 8 synchro can banish itself from the field as well as one of the cards in your opponent’s hand until the next standby phase. Starting with 4 cards instead of 5 can make the difference between winning and losing, so it’s easy to see why this guy is limited on the ban list.
3. Virtual World Kyubi – Shenshen
Virtual World Kyubi – Shenshen is an amazing way of dealing with pretty much all graveyard effects and is a generic synchro monster that slots perfectly into any deck. While this card is face up on the field, any card sent from the field to the graveyard is banished instead. This will cut your opponent off almost entirely from their graveyard, which can be absolutely devastating against certain decks.
2. Borreload Savage Dragon
Borreload Savage Dragon is one of the best pieces of generic negation ever printed. When this card is synchro summoned you can target a Link monster in your graveyard and equip it. Not only does this guy gain attack equal to half the attack of the Link monster, but this will also give Borreload Savage Dragon counters equal to the Link rating of the equipped monster. Then once per turn, you can remove a counter from this card to negate any card or effect activation – that covers spells, traps, and monster effects all in one.
1. Baronne De Fleur
A common saying in Yu-Gi-Oh is that 1 interruption and 1 negation are often enough to win you the game, as long as you play them correctly. Well, Baronne De Fleur is both of these at once, providing you with a quick-effect destruction of any card on the field, and the negation of any card or effect once it’s on the field. You can also reset this negation effect with its 3rd effect: which allows you to return it to the extra deck and special summon any level 9 or lower monster from your graveyard. This sets you up with materials to synchro summon with, allowing you to bring back Baronne De Fleur in a flash – and get multiple negates and interruptions out of a single synchro monster.
