Coming to confront the ultimate synchro monster, T.G. Halberd Cannon, Meklord Astro Mekanikle steps in to the fray in the war between the T.G. and Meklord factions! It comes with base stats of 4000 attack and 4000 defense, standing toe to toe with that of T.G. Halberd Cannon in terms of raw power. His summoning conditions are much easier than that of T.G. Halberd Cannon, as he only requires sending 3 Meklord monsters from your hand to the graveyard in order to be special summoned. By using cards such as Meklord Factory or Meklord Fortress, you can easily get enough Meklord Monsters in your hand: just as T.G. monsters are capable of swarming the field, Meklord monsters can swarm your hand.

In terms of his weakness, it shares the main weaknesses that its enemy counterpart also faces: cards that can prevent attacks, create consequences for attacking, or providing consequences for being the strongest monster on the field are major problems. Though both monsters are incredibly powerful with the potential to perform OTKs through the use of Limiter Removal, in the end, it becomes a battle of wits. Prepare yourself with cards that can shut down your opponent’s moves: if T.G. Halberd Cannon is out on the field before you plan on summoning Meklord Astro Mekanikle, using Skill Drain to ensure that your summons won’t be negated is a must. Always plan out cards such as Magic Jammer and Seven Tools of the Bandit to fend off your opponent’s spells and traps. Though brute strength is good, there is no victory without the wits.

To bypass the majority of the problems you may face, you may also want to take precautions. Combining the Meklords with some strong synchro monsters can help you gain a significant field advantage when you also use cards such as Creature Swap to give your opponent your synchro monsters before equipping it to any of your Meklord Emperors/Meklord Astro monsters. Also, if you can keep cycling synchro monsters from your field, to your opponents side of the field, and then equipped to your Meklord Astro Mekanikle, you can keep shaving points off of your opponent’s life points by using those synchro monsters as a living weapon.

Overall, Meklord Astro Mekanikle gets a 9/10 rating for its incredible stats and equally incredible effects. It will, above all, stand equally against that of T.G. Halberd Cannon. It has virtually the same advantages and disadvantages, but Mekanikle is much easier to summon if you are capable of keeping your monsters alive until a window of opportunity opens up for you to overwhelm your opponent: just like with T.G. Halberd Cannon, the key is to win in as few turns as possible.

In terms of his usual summoning, it seems like the easiest way to summon him is a star 5-5-2 combination consisting of T.G. Wonder Magician, T.G. Power Gladiator (or T.G. Hyper Librarian), and T.G. Recipro Dragonfly, a combination that is relatively easy considering T.G. monsters are built for faster summons, not to mention T.G. Cyber Magician‘s ability to synchro any T.G. monster by using any T.G. monster from your hand. Alternatively, if you already have a T.G. Blade Blaster that was made up of T.G. Wonder Magician and another 5 star synchro monster, all you would need is T.G. Recipro Dragonfly to split up T.G. Blade Blaster and then synchro for T.G. Halberd Cannon. Also, by using a Star Siphon and One for One combo, you can easily summon a level 2 Synchro monster, perhaps Formula Synchron, and then tune it with other monsters totaling 10 stars (a recommendation would be 2 level 5 synchros). There are other ways of course, but the path to summoning T.G. Halberd Cannon is tough either way.

As for his base stats, he carries a whopping 4000 attack, 4000 defense, as well as a destructive effect that can negate any one summon once per turn! Through this effect, you can negate the summon of a key card your opponent needs to either swarm the field, or use for a higher level monster; heck, you can just negate the higher level monster altogether! Of course, even if your opponent does succeed at summoning a very high level monster, they’ll have a hard time fending off this monster’s 4000 attack, but if they do, keep a Power Frame or even Scrap-Iron Scarecrow ready!

His strong points, obviously, are his base stats and summon negation effect, but why not make him even stronger? Adding Mist Body to him will ensure that he would not be beaten by battle by a Five-Headed Dragon or a monster boosted up by the maximum 4000 attack points from United We Stand, and backing up your T.G. Halberd Cannon with cards like Dark Bribe and Destruction Jammer doesn’t hurt either. If you need further support, adding Imperial Iron Wall in to play will prevent your opponent from removing any cards from play, or, if you’re opponent has a clean field, using Limiter Removal to make his attack in to 8000 will more than likely finish your opponent off!

In terms of weaknesses, I’d say that the usual fare for brute attackers are cards like Mirror Force and Negate Attack. Also, if your opponent tricks you in to negating one of their summons and pulls out a Meklord Emperor, you may want to hold on to cards such as Mystical Space Typhoon or even Giant Trunade (if you have stall cards to survive the turn), to ensure your opponent does not have the advantage by equipping your monster. Also, a lot of problems can go wrong while attempting to put out your monsters on the field to synchro summon him, so try summoning as quickly as possible, while also making sure you have the cards to back up your monsters through any situations, be it battle or effect.

Overall, T.G. Halberd Cannon gets a 9.5/10 rating because of his high stats and killer effect. He may be hard to summon, but with practice and a little level manipulation, he can be one of the most important monsters to bring you out of a dire situation! Luckily, the T.G. archetype, though small, is a tightly knit set of cards that can quickly bring out as many synchro monsters as possible, and the key to unlocking the most powerful entity among them is speed.

Gate Guardian is one of those titans that focuses on brute strength rather than special effects, and the effect that it does have is just his summoning condition. he is one of the few monsters that are made by combining three other monsters: for him, he is made by tributing Sanga of the Thunder, Kazejin, and Suijin.

Ironically, the three monsters making up Gate Guardian are quite strong; if you pitted Gate Guardian against the three that make him, let’s just say that there are strength in numbers. Sanga, Kazejin, and Suijin all have the same effect of instantly lowering an opponent’s monster attacking either of them to 0 attack during your opponent’s damage calculation. For someone such as Gate Guardian where brute force is essentially everything, their effects can quickly kill him without a sweat.

So, what should you do to ensure Gate Guardian keeps up his juggernaut status? Incorporate Mist Body or Destruction Jammer to keep it busting through your opponent’s defenses, or incorporate Skill Drain to prevent it from being destroyed through monster effects. If its brute strength isn’t enough however, you can always explore other options such as tributing him for a 4950 attack Turret Warrior, or fuse him with UFOroid through Power Bond for a 9900 attack UFOroid Fighter, an OTK if you can pull it off perfectly, perhaps in conjunction with Lightning Vortex and Giant Trunade to keep your opponent’s field wide open!

Now, since all of the monsters needed to summon Gate Guardian must be on the field and require 2 tributes each, a swarming or stall deck is greatly recommended to get your monsters out as fast as possible. Incorporating cards like Soul Exchange to use one of your opponent’s monsters, or a Card Destruction/Monster Reborn combination to dump either monster in to the graveyard before special summoning them on the field can help you summon Gate Guardian as fast as possible.

Overall, Gate Guardian gets a 9/10 just for its brute strength, but just like all head on attackers, if you do use Gate Guardian, you must beware of cards like Mirror Force, Negate Attack, Hammer Shot, or Smashing Ground that could prevent Gate Guardian from attacking, having the consequence of being destroyed as a result of attacking, or having a consequence of having the strongest attack and/or defense on the field. Nevertheless, there are only a few monsters that are capable of standing toe to toe against Gate Guardian’s raw power, let alone his near-impenetrable defense. With base stats of 3750 attack and 3400 defense, your opponent will probably most likely have to rely on spells and traps to bypass this massive titan!

Among the 4 monsters in the game that prevent special summoning, Archlord Kristya is the best of them all; with base stats of 2800 attack and 2300 defense, it will take a lot from your opponent to stop her. Unlike Vanity’s Fiend, she has the capability to be special summoned, and compared to the likes of Jowgan the Spiritualist or Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo, she has more than enough attack and defense points to stand up against the majority of the monsters your opponents can inevitably muster up! However, the only thing that her other effect counterparts have against her is Fossil Dyna Pachycephalo‘s ability to destroy all special summoned monsters on the field after being flipped face up; a minor effect that Archlord Kristya can technically do without either way.

In terms of bringing out the best of her power, summoning her early in the game can give anyone who uses swarming decks a hard time to win. By dumping the 4 fairy type monsters needed to special summon her as early as possible gives you the chance to simply power past your opponent’s monsters without worrying about the higher monsters that may come in to play later in the game. If you are worried about her being destroyed mid-game though, incorporate cards like United We Stand, Mist Body, or Destruction Jammer to keep her on the field long enough to restrict your opponent’s moves.

Of course, Archlord Kristya is not without her weaknesses. She is, above all, a light type monster, therefore the Ally of Justice archetype can quickly do away with her with cards like Ally of Justice Quarantine to prevent her from being special summoned, or Ally of Justice Core Destroyer to instantly destroy her without damage calculation! You can prevent these situations from occurring by incorporating DNA Transplant and changing up Archlord Kristya’s attribute, or simply use a Shadow-Imprisoning Mirror to prevent the Ally of Justice cards and other dark monsters from activating their effects. Of course, this is just for precautions for a single type of monster, so for a much more universal solution, either use stall cards like Scrap-Iron Scarecrow to keep your Archlord Kristya alive from battles against more powerful monsters.

Overall, Archlord Kristya gets a 9.5/10 for her great effect and even better base stats. She does well enough alone, and if summoned early in the game, she can become a major hindrance against your opponents. Of course, she is still vulnerable to spells and traps, so building up your defenses with the usual Magic Jammer or Seven Tools of the Bandit is a must, but even if she does get destroyed, never fear, because she will return back to your deck, ready for another round! She is, above all, an angelic soldier that will test the limits of your opponent’s strengths and wits.

Continuing the trends of the other two Ice Barrier dragons, he is named after a weapon wielded by a deity: this time, he is named after the trident wielded by the Hindu god Shiva. Also, following Gungnir’s lead, his base offensive stats are 200 attack points higher than that of his predecessor, Gungnir.

Trishula’s effect has also been amplified and restricted compared to that of Gungnir; now, you are allowed to remove from play one card from your opponent’s hand, field, AND graveyard! His only restriction is that his effect can only be used when he is synchro summoned, so sadly, if you want to keep using his effect with a speed closer to Gungnir‘s once per turn, you would have to synchro summon Trishula over and over again.

In order to first summon Trishula, you need one tuner and at least 2 non-tuner monsters, something that would normally be hard, but is slightly easier considering that Trishula is a level 9 monster. Using cards like De-Synchro can help you keep summoning Trishula for another round, and Urgent Tuning is capable of disturbing your opponent’s battle strategies as you synchro summon Trishula during either player’s battle phase.

In terms of sheer power, Trishula sits at a good 2700 attack, 2000 defense, which slightly makes up for his one-time effect. He’s also capable of working with virtually any deck, so he can be very beneficial to utilize in most situations.

As for weaknesses, Trishula may have to rely on support cards in order to fight higher powered monsters, even though his base stats are relatively high enough to take on the majority of monsters. Also, the card Mirror of the Ice Barrier (which, incidentally, Trishula is featured on the card work) is a possible threat as it will hurt you even more if you choose to activate Trishula’s effect; once you remove any card from play on your opponent’s hand, field, and graveyard, your opponent can counter by removing 2 cards from the respective fields. Beware of cards like Imperial Iron Wall which prevents anyone from removing any cards from play, or any general deck like the D.D archetype which relies on the removed from play pile.

Overall, Trishula has a 9.3 rating for it’s one-time crippling effect and its high base stats. Like Gungnir, he is capable of fending off monsters by his strength alone, but if you would like to further cripple your opponent’s strategies, using cards that can take Trishula back to the extra deck and then quickly summoning him back on the field is potentially neccessary: the faster the cycle, the less time your opponent has an opportunity to recover. Combined with the likes of Brionac and Gungnir, however, and your victory is almost inevitable.

Because Brionac is a sea serpent, Gungnir is the first actual dragon to be released in this series, and just as Brionac was named after the spear wielded by Lugh, Gungnir is named after the spear the Norse god Odin wields. His stats are slightly better than Brionac, as his attack is 2500 and defense is 1700, a good raise with a good derivative of Brionac‘s effect.

Gungnir is capable of selecting up to 2 cards and destroy them, at the cost of the same number of discards of course. It is a near mirror of Brionac, except the fact that Gungnir’s ability is restrained to two cards once per turn. Just like with Brionac, however, the card Forced Requisition works well here, because once combined with Gungnir, both your oopponent’s cards on the field would be destroyed with the added bonus of having your opponents discards the same number of cards destroyed.

Unfortunately, Gungnir is highly restrictive compared to Brionac in the fact that he requires a non-Tuner water type monster; this lowers the number of decks that can utilize Gungnir in terms of summoning. Unless you play an Ice Barrier deck or something relatively focused with water attributes, you’ll have a hard time summoning Gungnir. Fortunately, however, once Gungnir is on the field, he becomes an equally hard obstacle to defeat since his effect can wipe out your opponent’s monsters, spells, and/or traps as well as boasting a very descent base stat to take out most monsters.

In terms of weaknesses, the same weaknesses that plague Brionac also applies to Gungnir; cards that restrict Gungnir’s abilities can greatly hinder him, however it is not as much of a serious problem due to the fact that Gungnir is slightly stronger than Brionac. Ready cards that can negate any effects such as Magic Jammer or Dark Bribe to keep Gungnir plowing through your opponent’s defenses, and also ready cards that give you a high hand manipulation to stock up on ammunition for his effect. Also, be cautious when choosing the number of cards to destroy, as cards like Remote Revenge and Starlight Road can be activated depending on the number of cards you choose to destroy.

Overall, Gungnir gets a 9/10 rating because of his destructive effects and his slightly better base stats compared to Brionac. The same strengths and weaknesses that Brionac has are highly relative to Gungnir, as both dragons’ effect conditions are the same, but Gungnir is only usable to his fullest extent through the use of water type monsters, as he is nearly impossible to summon without them. In essence, the two dragons are linked by brotherhood, so together they are a force to be reckoned with, and apart, they will inevitably fall.

Ironically, Brionac is technically not a dragon, but a sea serpent named after the living spear wielded by the Irish deity Lugh. In terms of base stat, he carries a descent 2300 attack, but a miserable 1400 defense, however, his effect of bouncing cards back in to your opponent’s hands at the cost of one discard more than makes up for his mediocre stats.

Through Brionac’s abilities, he becomes a very powerful obstacle against players who have a heavy emphasis on summoning high-powered monsters to overtake their opponent. Brionac’s effect isn’t focused on crippling any single deck, however, as it allows you to discard any number of cards to bounce back the same number of cards from the field to the owner’s hand; therefore it carries the potential to cripple any and all deck types!

Sadly, however, Brionac’s abilities rely on a very high hand maniuplation, because if you run out of cards in your hand, Brionac is left standing with relatively easy stats to overcome. Cards that allow you to draw, such as Pot of Avarice or Morphing Jar, can help you greatly, or you can take advantage of Brionac’s discard ability as a helpful tool for decks based on Infernities, Fabled, or any other archetype based on either having no hand or discarding cards from your hand. If you choose to go on the route of having as many cards in your hand, Infinite Cards is an obvious must.

As for weaknesses, if your opponent somehow manages to shut down Brionac’s abilities through means such as Goblin of Greed or Skill Drain, you’re main focus should be to either boost Brionac’s attack and defense, or focus on eliminating the obstacle(s) that restrain Brionac from using his abilities. Cards like Giant Trunade can bounce back your opponent’s spells and traps, and Raigeki Break is capable of destroying any one card at the cost of one discard.

Overall, Brionac gets an 8.8/10 rating because of his potentially crippling effect, but due to his lower stats and the potential of running out of cards, he is not entirely useful unless used with decks that focus on have little to no cards in-hand or discarding from the hand. Swarming decks are perhaps the only deck archetypes that can push Brionac at his limits, therefore Forced Requisition is perhaps the only card that could save Brionac as it forces your opponent to discard as you discard for Brionac’s effect.

Stardust Dragon is a personal favorite of mine, not because it’s one of those main storyline cards from the anime, but because it’s a frickin space dragon (among other reasons, of course)! It’s a symbol of hope and undying martyrdom, proving to be one of the most useful cards that can be used in virtually any deck with a tuner, and the right level of monsters. It in itself was designed exclusively by the creator man himself- Kazuki Takahashi! In the entire series thus far, it is probably the most supported Synchro monster in the entire game, boasting 6 evolutionary variations (4 of which are available in the U.S., 5 in Japan, and 1 currently exclusive to the manga), a “kid” version known as Debris Dragon, and various support cards scattered throughout the booster set series. Below are a list of the evolutionary variation:

Majestic: Majestic Star Dragon
Malefic: Malefic Stardust Dragon
Assault Mode: Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode
Accel Synchro: Shooting Star Dragon
Limit Over Accel Synchro: Shooting Quasar Dragon 

First off, Life Stream Dragon is the only Signer Dragon to have a pre-evolutionary variation (sort of like the Baby pokemon in the Pokemon series), the dragon everyone knows as Power Tool Dragon. He is also the first and only Signer Dragon to be a synchro tuner, as well being the strongest tuner monster in the game thus far, with Emissary from Pandemonium following at a close second. Unfortunately, Life Stream Dragon is not technically considered as a material for Accel Synchro Summoning due to the fact that it does not allow the user to synchro summon on the opponent’s turn.

In either case, Life Stream Dragon boasts a whopping 2900 attack, 2400 defense, putting it as the second strongest Signer Dragon in terms of attack AND defense, after Red Dragon Archfiend and Ancient Fairy Dragon respectively; his effects are also nothing short of extraordinary as well. Once he is synchro summoned, the player can decide whether or not to make his/her life points equal to 4000, a good effect if you’re tight on life points, but also ignorable if you’re packing life points. On top of that, Life Stream Dragon obliterates effect damage altogether by making all effect damage 0, and if he would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can remove from play any equip spell from the graveyard to protect him!

With this being said, an ideal deck for Life Stream Dragon is one that would utilize equip spells as often as possible. Seeing as Power Tool Dragon is required to synchro summon him, make use of Power Tool Dragon‘s abilities to quickly dump equip spells in to your graveyard before summoning Life Stream Dragon (either by equipping the equip spells to Power Tool Dragon before synchro summoning him, or using cards like Hand Destruction to dump those equip spells straight in to the graveyard). but if you can’t, cards like Silver Wing and Mist Body are a great way to help keep Life Stream Dragon alive through battles. Incidentally, Release Restraint Wave is also an ideal card, as it destroys one of your equip spells to wipe out all of your opponent’s spells and traps, thus leaving you one equip spell more to use in the graveyard while also eliminating any potential threats.

Some more strategies include using Star Siphon to make him in to a level 1 synchro tuner (which you can also use Synchro Boost or Delta Flyer‘s ability to make him a level 2 for an easy Shooting Star Dragon when combined with Stardust Dragon), using the effects of Wall of Revealing Light to regain lost life points, or using potentially self-destructing cards like Aegis of Gaia without the risk of getting hit by effect damage. Just like Black-Winged Dragon, this card is perfect for a Psychic based deck.

As for weaknesses, beware of cards like Necrovalley, which will lock off your graveyard for Life Stream Dragon’s destruction prevention effect. Imperial Iron Wall is also another card which can potentially ruin Life Stream Dragon, as it makes it restricts both players to remove any cards from play. Also, seeing as Life Stream Dragon is a level 8 dragon, and Power Tool Dragon is a level 7 dragon, your options are also very slim when it comes to Tuner monsters, so pack a One for One to get your tuner monster almost instantly. Also, if you find yourself in need of more equip spells in your graveyard, try De-Synchro, which allows you to bring back Power Tool Dragon and use his effect, and then Synchro Summoning Life Stream Dragon again for both his 4000 life point effect and a few more equip spells to dispose of!

Overall, I give Life Stream Dragon a 9.8/10 for it’s very powerful, very balanced stats and effects. It has the potential to save the player from being destroyed by effect damage as well as being capable of staying alive as long as the player has equip spells in his/her graveyard, but he also has the equal potential of not doing anything game changing other than being a very powerful juggernaut that will take a lot to take down.

She is the first Signer Dragon to have an effect that allows the user to gain life points, and perhaps the only Signer Dragon whose abilities were capable of wiping out the Earthbound Immortals and Malefic archetypes without a sweat, as both archetypes rely heavily on field spells to remain alive. She’s also the only Signer Dragon that can special summon another monster, but at the cost of skipping your battle phase (which is, of course, a small price to pay if you play your cards right). Using her summoning effect can potentially allow for easy synchro summoning of virtually any card, including the tuner synchros Formula Synchron and T.G. Wonder Magician.

At her best, Ancient Fairy Dragon is best as a support or a defensive force. Combining her with cards like the Stardust Dragon series or Red Dragon Archfiend series, where both carry extensive amounts of evolutionary variations, can prove useful, especially if you plan on summoning cards like Majestic Star Dragon, Majestic Red Dragon, Shooting Star Dragon, or Red Nova Dragon. By using her ability, summoning some of the hardest synchro monsters in the game just became slightly easier.

She is also the best in decks that heavily rely on field spells; decks that focus on cards like Necrovalley, Zombie World, or even The Sanctuary in the Sky (whose new structure deck based on the Agents is coming soon!), can either be helped or destroyed by Ancient Fairy Dragon. True, she does destroy field spells and gains 1000 life points as a result, but she allows the user to search for a field spell from their deck to their hand. Also, if you find your own field spells being wiped out, use cards like Regulus, another monster featured in the 5Ds arc along with Ancient Fairy Dragon, who retrieves any field spell in your graveyard and returns it to your deck; and the best part is, the effect can be activated once per turn! Cycling Ancient Fairy Dragon, Regulus, and Mausoleum of the Emperor allows you to keep summoning 1 tribute monsters without any drawbacks over and over again. Of course, if you do try this, make sure you have plenty of field spells to keep the cycle flowing smoothly.

In terms of weakness, beware of cards that can switch your attack/defense positions like Enemy Controller, reciprocate attack/defense stats such as Shield and Sword, or the Red Dragon Archfiend, which can almost guarantee an early end to Ancient Fairy Dragon. Even Stardust Dragon can potentially eliminate Ancient Fairy Dragon through her field spell ability, but only if you use it on their field spells; if you use her ability on yourself, you would still be relatively safe. To avoid any of these problems, ready yourself with cards like Earthquake to keep your Ancient Fairy Dragon in defense mode, or Reverse Trap to reverse any stat changes, but beware of both cards since they have very tight restrictions. Nevertheless, classic, efficient stall cards such as Mirror Force and Negate Attack work great in this situation, as it will help protect Ancient Fairy Dragon in most situations.

Overall, I give Ancient Fairy Dragon a rating of 9.3/10 for her incredible defense, but low attack strength. Her best terms of usefulness is limited to those who use Earthbound Immortals and/or Malefics extensively, but other than that, she remains as a better support card to help the likes of Stardust Dragon or Red Dragon Archfiend achieve a higher evolutionary variation.

What sets Black-Winged Dragon apart from the other Signer Dragons, aside (technically) from Red Dragon Archfiend, is that he carries his own archetype: the Blackwings. Unfortunately, he himself is not considered a Blackwing, but by using the Blackwing army, they can protect your Black-Winged Dragon as he plows through your opponent’s offensives.

The strategies for using Black-Winged Dragon are obvious: use the Blackwing support spells and traps to boost your own offensive and defensive lines while avoiding any effect damages. For example, once Black-Winged Dragon is on the field, you can use cards like Against the Wind to get your strongest monster, while also avoiding the card’s effect damage. And aside from being a great card for Blackwings, it’s also highly effective in a Psychic Deck, where it can absorb the effect damage of cards like Brain Research Lab and Psychokinesis!

This card is incidentally very reminiscent of the synchro fusion Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste, a card that reflects effect damage back to your opponent, so by having both cards on the field, you can potentially gain one Black Feather counter while also reflecting the same effect damage back at your opponent: a double-sting sort of strategy!

For Black-Winged Dragon to be the most effective, the key is to quickly accumulate effect damage, either from your own (which is more advantageous as it mostly comes with some benefit), or your opponent, and then taking those Black Feather counters and weakening your opponent’s strongest monster, paving the way for a powerful clean finish as well as dealing damage to your opponent equal to the attack points lost by their monster! But, if you can not accomplish this, use cards such as Silver Wing to protect him against 2 attacks and 1 destructive effect.

The weaknesses here are obvious; do not try and store up Black Feather counters for long periods of time because each counter on Black-Winged Dragon weakens him. If you must, equip big stat boost cards like United We Stand and Mage Power so he has plenty of attack points to survive, or use stall cards such as Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, Mirror Force, or Negate Attack to prevent your opponent from attempting to destroy him.

Overall, I give him a 9.5/10 for a great base stat, and an effect that can potentially cripple your opponent’s offenses. Using this card in a Blackwing deck is highly recommended due to a high level of support, but it will also work equally as well in a Psychic deck where life point manipulation is key.

She is perhaps the embodiment of Akiza herself: beautiful, yet carrying the vast potential to be very destructive. Unlike Stardust Dragon and Red Dragon Archfiend, Black Rose Dragon does not have any evolutionary variations, nor does she have any real support cards built exclusively for her, but that’s alright, because Black Rose Dragon is a card built for carrying out fast, clean assassinations, and she was never meant to be out on the battlefield for long. Most may underestimate this dragon, seeing as she does have the second lowest attack strength and the second weakest defensive power among all of the Signer Dragons, but her effect is nonetheless destructive: once she’s been synchro summon, you can wipe the field clean; yeah, that’s right, wipe all of the monsters, spells, and traps off of the field; of the Signer Dragons, only Stardust Dragon is capable of stopping her destructive tendencies. Sadly, though, she takes her own self with her effect, but for those that choose not to use her destructive abilities, there’s another option: switch a defense position monster in to attack mode and make its attack stat 0. It’s the perfect femme fatale: kill without hesitation, or kill through seduction.

Fortunately, even if you do use Black Rose Dragon’s first effect, there are ways of bringing her back from the grave. She has a kid counterpart similar to Stardust Dragon’s Debris Dragon, a dragon called Blue Rose Dragon. a dragon which can potentially be the core of any plant deck, as she allows you to special summon either Black Rose Dragon or any plant type monster from your graveyard once Blue Rose Dragon is destroyed! Even Debris Dragon works well here, as it can potentially set up the field for a very easy 7 star synchro summon; which also incidentally marks Black Rose Dragon as one of the only two Signer Dragons to have a level not equal 8.

Black Rose Dragon seems to be best, obviously, in a plant based deck. Support cards that can be used with all of the Signer Dragons is Stardust Shimmer, which will revive your fallen Black Rose Dragon to take out your opponents defenses. Make sure you utilize cards like Burial From A Different Dimension or Miracle Dig to return your removed from play monsters back in to your graveyard so you can cycle her second ability, and also utilize cards that can change your opponent’s battle positions, such as Enemy Controller, Book of Moon, and Card Rotator to ensure a perfect target. Incorporating Interdimensional Matter Transporter is also another way to keep your Black Rose Dragon alive after using her destructive effect, as it will instead remove her from play and then return her back on the field afterwards.

If there was anything you should beware of when using Black Rose Dragon, it would be cards that would stop her abilities. Beware of Skill Drain, because unlike Stardust Dragon, you do not tribute Black Rose Dragon to activate her effects, therefore you would not be able to wipe the field clean or use her secondary effect. Even Starlight Road is a potential threat, as it will stop any effect that would destroy 2 or more cards on their side of the field. Prepare back up cards like Seven Tools of the Bandit and other negation effects that would pave the way to fully use Black Rose Dragon’s ability. If you would like to use Black Rose Dragon’s first effect over and over, use cards like Pot of Avarice and Localized Tornado in combination with plant type swarming tactics to recycle Black Rose Dragon while avoiding the risk of decking out in the process.

Overall, I give Black Rose Dragon a 9/10 rating simply for her effects. She may not be the strongest Signer Dragon in terms of attack and defense strength, but her true potential lies with her powers. If you use Black Rose Dragon, a plant based deck is a must to make the most of her abilities, but if you do use her without the recommended plant deck, incorporate some strong equip cards such as United We Stand, or use quick revival cards to get Black Rose Dragon back on the field after wiping out the field for a near-guarantee of 2400 direct damage; all depending on how you’d like to use her abilities. There may not be a lot to this femme fatale at first, but through her effects, she can quickly turn the tide on almost any situation!

Red Dragon Archfiend is, indeed, a double-edged sword, capable of wiping out your opponent’s defenses (literally), but also destroying your own monsters if you did not declare an attack with them. He is the embodiment of a general who believes in a Darwinistic strongest-survives world, leaving behind the weak and only taking the strong to victory. For players who focus on complete domination, Red Dragon Archfiend is capable of serving as the leading force in any obliteration deck. And what better for the perfect war general than the perfect field? Adding Savage Colosseum to your deck not only forces all monsters on the field to attack, but it gives you a pretty nice life point boost every time you do, and it’ll wipe out all other attack position monsters if they don’t attack!

Like Stardust Dragon, however, Red Dragon Archfiend’s power is not in its power alone, but in its evolutionary variations. He has a total of 3 evolutions, as listed below:

Majestic: Majestic Red Dragon
Assault Mode: Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode
Delta Synchro: Red Nova Dragon

As a Majestic monster, Majestic Red Dragon wipes out both player’s defenses once it attacks. In addition to that, it can negate an effect monsters effect, and then gain that monster’s attack points; a potentially hefty boost to its already base stats of 4000 attack and 3000 defense! Like Majestic Star Dragon though, it’s power is only a one-shot wonder, so make the most of its destructive power as it reigns as the king of the battle charge!

Next up is Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode, which ups the ante of Majestic Red Dragon and completely all other monsters once it attacks. With a base stat of 3500 attack and 2500 defense, it may be slightly weaker than Majestic Red Dragon, but the difference is almost nothing as it will plow through your opponent as the cavalry on the battlefield. And even if your opponent manages to destroy your Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode, worry not, because Red Dragon Archfiend will come back to life to take its place!

Lastly, there’s Red Nova Dragon, a card that gains power from fallen comrades, and in this case, tuners. For every tuner that is in your graveyard, and in most chances there may be at least 3 by the time you summon Red Nova Dragon, you’ll receive a 500 attack point boost for each tuner in your graveyard, making your Red Nova Dragon at least 5000 attack points strong- that’s an additional 1500 attack point boost to its 3500 attack/3000 defense point base stats! At 5000, the only ones that could hope to rival it are Five-Headed Dragon, Malefic Truth Dragon, and Dragon Master Knight, a tie if there’s no other boosts added to them! But that’s not all there is to Red Nova Dragon’s abilities! Just like Shooting Star Dragon, it can also remove itself from play in order to negate any one attack, and then it gets resummoned at the end phase! And to top it all off? Your opponent is now forced to fight with their own brute strength as Red Nova Dragon cannot be destroyed by any effects! How’s that for a one-man army?

Some tips to control this monstrosity of power is to incorporate precautions that would be to always attack full out while also wiping out your opponent’s monsters. If you would like to keep a 4000 attack Majestic Red Dragon, use the effects of Skill Drain to keep in on the field, but at the cost of sacrificing its abilities. Or, perhaps, if your opponents are cowering before your might, show no mercy! Use Dragon Rage to incorporate piercing damage to take out your opponents through brute and absolute force. Tuner’s Barrier will protect one tuner for a turn while you prep a Red Dragon Archfiend for either Majeestic Red Dragon or Red Nova Dragon, so be careful to place some barriers to protect any monster you may plan on summoning after Red Dragon Archfiend.

For most of the Red Dragon series, the spell card Swords of Concealing Light is a must, as it flips all of your opponents monsters face down and restricts their battle positions, leaving Red Dragon Archfiend to do his thing. And if Red Dragon Archfiend somehow dies? Never fear! because the same support card that helps out Stardust Dragon, or any level 8 or higher dragon synchro for that matter, can also help Red Dragon Archfiend! Yes, that’s right: use Stardust Shimmer to revive your Red Dragon Archfiend and raise hell on your opponents once again!

Overall, I give this card a 9.6 rating for its destructive capabilities, but it’s possibilities of crippling the user are too great if used recklessly. The style recommended when using this card is complete domination, something that calls for guts and undying perseverance when taking down your opponent. Aggro-based decks are highly recommended when using either Red Dragon Archfiend or the Red Dragon series in general; this is not a card for the careful strategist. Like for most strategies, be wary of D.D. and other anti-meta decks, as they bypass destruction for the more optimal banishment (the new, much more epic term for remove from play), so prepare backup cards to aid your one-man armies to surge through enemy lines without faltering and falling, because with great power comes an almost inescapable weakness of irrationality.

E. Hero Flame Wingman’s attack and defense may not be something to really brag about, seeing that his attack is 2100 and defense is 1200, but pair this guy with the field spell Skyscraper, and whenever you attack a higher attack point monster, he suddenly becomes a 3100 attack executer that’ll knock down even a Blue-eyes White Dragon or anything under 3000 (3099 if you want to be technical) attack. Of course, you could say that the whole Flame Wingman/Skyscraper is a clique, very predictable combo, but it’s quite effective and will take down most cards your opponents throw at you. Also, his effect is quite good as well: destroy an opponent’s monster, and deal damage to your opponent’s life points equal to the destroyed monsters attack! An effect that more than makes up for his weak basic stats.

An alternative to E. Hero Flame Wingman is his evolutionary counterpart: Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman, a fusion that has stats mirroring other anime-significant cards like Dark Magician and even Elemental Hero Neos. His effect is also boosted up, as it gains 300 attack points for each Elemental Hero card in your graveyard, which if you add up even just Avian, Burstinatrix, Flame Wingman, and the Sparkman for the fusion, that’s an additional 1200 attack, bringing his total to a whopping 3700 attack! The perfect threesome at its best (no, not that kind of threesome, you dirty perv).

His weaknesses are obvious and we’ve been repeating them quite much: his stats leave something to be desired. Decks based around field swarming can easily take down this hero as stronger monsters are summoned faster, and even basic monsters like Chainsaw Insect which boasts a 2400 attack stat can easily take him down. How would you go around this particular shortcoming? Add more cards such as United We Stand or protect the Skyscraper field card with cards like Field Barrier to ensure that your field advantage does not falter. Stall cards like Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, Negate Attack, and other cards that prevent your opponent from attacking are also recommended, since Skyscraper‘s effect is an effect that can only be used on your turn. Mist Body and Fighting Spirit are also recommended, as they will protect your Flame Wingman from being destroyed by battle.

So, overall recommendations? 7.9/10 for its incredible, life points crippling effect, but because of his fairly low attack and defense stats, he’s a card that needs a lot of support around him. An effective combo to ensure 3000 points of effect damage is to give your opponents control over cards like Grinder Golem and even Lava Golem, but beware of back-up traps, so prepare, as always, the good ol’ Giant Trunade before you decide to attack.

Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning is the effect-ified version of the original ritual monster Black Luster Soldier, the cover card of Starter Deck: Yugi Evolution which released many, many years ago. His summoning conditions are quite hard unless you have a twilight-based deck, but once this bad boy’s out, you’ll have the chance to keep removing your opponent’s monsters from play with the cost of not being able to declare an attack, or have the ability to attack again if Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning destroys one of your opponents monsters! The best part? It can be activated once per your turn!

So, how does one easily acquire a Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning in even the first turn? The best card would be Painful Choice, a card that allows you to choose 5 cards from your deck, show them to your opponent, and gives you one card of your opponents choice in to your hand and the rest in your graveyard: choosing Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning, 2 Light attributes, and 2 Dark Attributes guarentees your success, and even if Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning is sent to the graveyard, bring it back with The Warrior Returning Alive or Monster Reincarnation. That, my friend, would be quite painful… to your opponent!

Though he may have a hefty 3000 ATK and 2500 DEF, his weaknesses are not to be ignored. Beware of anyone using a D.D. deck, because you may find your Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning in the Removed From Play pile in the next turn (ironic, ain’t it?). Mirror of the Ice Barrier is also another threat, as it will allow your opponents to remove any 2 cards from the same relative destination from your side of the field once you activate his Remove from Play effect! As a veteran who has gone up against this beast of a monster, my recommendation to all who may one day face this soldier is to prepare a lot of spells and traps to take him down. The solution that would bypass this threat? Ready a Giant Trunade or effect-negation spells and traps to save your Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning. Also, remember that you are not invincible just because you have an ultra, high-powered card: with great power comes great responsibility… and maybe some irrationality, a side of over-confidence, and a large helping of (very funny) stupidity (anyone seen Spider-man?).

Overall, I give this card a rating of 9.5/10 for his incredible effects, and easy summoning conditions through twilight-based decks. He may be a banned card within the tournament leagues, but he can be easily countered with cards such as Sakuretsu Armor, Mirror Force, or even Bottomless Trap Hole. Add cards such as Return from the Different Dimension, Painful Choice, and other cards capable of either returning things from the Removed from Play pile or sending cards from your deck to the graveyard in order to make Black Luster Soldier- Envoy of the Beginning nearly impossible to kill.

The card is one of the most vital cards in the new Six Samurai decks, possessing the capability to negate any spells or traps once per turn, while also saving itself from battle by sacrificing other face-up Six Samurai monsters. It’s stats are actually quite good too: a 5-star synchro monster requiring 1 Warrior type tuner and 1 or more non-tuner “Six Samurai” monsters. His attack is 2500 and defense is 1400, so attack wise, we stands up on the same level as Stardust Dragon, but his defense does leave something to be desired.

His weaknesses, although very few, are also somewhat a very steep gamble: beware of spell and trap cards that cannot be reacted to (i.e. Super Polymerization). Decks that use a card such as Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste, who requires one dragon synchro plus one warrior type, can easily use Shi En as a material through the use of Super Polymerization, so be prepared with back up cards to help protect Shi En.

Overall? I give this card an 9.5/10 rating for its incredible spell/trap negate and destroy effect and descent attack for a 5 star synchro monster, but his defenses leave a lot to be desired, so watch out for cards such as Book of Moon which can knock out his effects altogether, or for cards like Superpolymerization or Nordic Relic Laevateinn