Number 1! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

After two weeks we have here the Number One Synchro Monster in the Level 5 or less Category: T.G. Hyper Librarian.

Number 1: T.G. Hyper Librarian

His Generic Requirements along with extremely powerful effect that allows multiple pluses especially when used along with Formula Synchron made him a target for the Ban List only a few months after it's intial release. Just an example to see how broken it was last format: You Special Summon Treeborn Frog and follow with Fishborg Blaster, you Normal Summon Rescue Rabbit and activate it's effect to bring 2 Water Normal Monsters. Tune the first with Fishborg for a Librarian, revive Fishborg again and Synchro for a Second Librarian in the process. Next revive Fishborg again and Tune it with Treeborn for Formula Synchron drawing 3 Cards (!) and then Synchro Formula and the 2 Librarians for Shooting Quasar Dragon claiming game in the majority of occasions.



There are many other combos that Librarian made possible or easier in a variety of Synchro heavy Decks like Plants, Infernities, Fish, Flamvell etc. but I believe that the previous one is the most obvious example of the brokeness of Librarian. However I believe that in Limited Status he is good, useful in some Decks and not useful in others (especially now that Xyz start having their own Decks) and I disagree with those that want him to enter the Ban List. No matter what he is a great Synchro and the Best in his category.

Number 2! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

In the second place for the Top Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less there is the most commonly used Synchro of this category due to it's Generic requiremnts and to it's always good effect, Ally of Justice Catastor.

Number 2: Ally of Justice Catastor

Ally of Justice Catastor has a very good effect that allows him to destroy any non-Dark Monster in which he attacks at the start of the Damage Step. He cannot destroy face-down Monsters with his effect but he still is a great answer to almost anything. Personally I consider him as the only staple Level 5 Synchro in any Deck.

Nothing more to add. Any player knows how great Catastor is and he does not need me to confirm.

Number 3! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

For the 4th place of our Coundown we have a powerful Synchro that dominated the Duels duirng the previous format till it's Limitation by the Septemeber 2011 Ban List. I am talking about the infamous Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En.

Number 3: Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En

With a body of 2500 ATK points, Shi En stands out from most other Level 5 Monsters. This, paired to his two awesome effects equals a Monster that is extremely hard to bring down. His first effect allows one free negation of Spell or Trap Card per turn while the second allows you to destroy another Six Samurai in his place. Easily summoned by a simple Kageki-Kagemusha play and protected from destruction when being in the field with cards like Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan or Grandmaster of the Six Samurai, this card was a pain in the ass to get rid off when he was at three. Now he is much more easier just activate Solemn Warning and he is gone for the rest of the Duel.

I have seen a lot of arguements debating whether Shi En is superior to Naturia Beast or the opposite. My opinion is that even though Naturia Beast has a by far better negating effect it loses to Shi En to everything else. He has a bigger body of 2500 ATK in contrast to the small 2200 of Beast and he has a second protection effect. But his biggest advantage is the synergy he has with cards like Musakani Magatama, Double-Sword Edged Technique and Six Samurai United while Beast has very limited useful support. For these reasons Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En is the Number 3 in our Countdown.

Number 4! Top 10 Synchro Monster Level 5 or less

Today's card is a powerful Synchro that has not seen lots of play due to it's hard summoning requirements. Naturia Beast is the Number 4 in our list.

Since Beast requires Earth Monsters as it's non-Tuners the Decks he can be summoned are kind of limited: X-Sabers, T.G.s, Karakuris, Six Samurais, Gadgets(with Glow-Up Bulb) and obviously Naturias are the primary Decks that can fulill easier this cards requirements. However he worths the effort since he is able to negate a huge part of the opponent's Deck by completely locking the Spell Card while he mills the Deck (which more often than not is good).

Number 4: Naturia Beast

The downside to him is that he has a small body of 2200 ATK and no sort of protection other than his effect. So he like other cards like Steelswarm Roach shines in Decks with heavy Trap Line-Ups that are able to protect him from opposing threats while he locks the opponent with his effect. Without the Trap Support he is not all that hard to get rid off with a decent hand even though he still can cause some problems.

All in all he is a balanced card with decent effect and I am kind of glad he is not splashable everywhere since some Decks where gonna love him. I believe that Synchros like him that are limited to the Type or Attribute instead of the Archetype or the Generic ones are those that are good to the game since they are splashable to a lot of Decks but not everywhere causing problems.

Number 5! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

Today's card is one that got a lot of attention during last format and still is the primary Draw Engine of the Top Deck of the Format: Plant Synchro. I am talking of course for Formula Synchron.

Formula Synchron seems like a good card at first but it is simply amazing when it comes to actual Duels. Plants and are known for Synchro Summoning with small Level Tuners like Glow-Up Bulb and Tokens as the Non-Tuners. So the Plant Duelist instead of Synchroing Glow-Up Bulb and a Dandylion Token and a Reborn Tengu for Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier,  he can simply tune Bulb and Token for Formula drawing one card and then Synchro for Brionac while also fueling the Grave with cards for Pot of Avarice. With the arrival of T.G. Hyper Librarian this card's summon means an instant Pot of Greed with Librarian in the field and this is the primary reason it could not be left in Unlimited Status.

Number 5: Formula Synchron

But when Formula was at Unlimited Status along with Fishborg Blaster he used to shine in Frog Monarchs and Fish Synchro OTK Decks. This is because he used to nullify both drawbacks of Fishborg Blaster by Synhcro Fishborg Blaster and Treeborn Frog into Formula, drawing one card (so it made up for the cost of discarding) and then you can use Formula to Synchro into anything (bypassing the Water-Only Non-Tuners restriction of Fishborg Blaster). This gave some speed to both the aforementioned Decks but particularly in Fish Synchro it used to help a lot during the "Big Turn" Synchro Shenanigans by enabling the Summon of Monsters like Red Nova Dragon.

But Formula is also a Synchro Tuner and this means two things. First he can be used to Summon big guys like Shooting Star Dragon and Shooting Quasar Dragon and second he can be used for a Synchro Summon in the opponent's turn. This can be used to devastate the opponent's field with Black Rose Dragon or chain the Summon of T.G Hyper Librarian at the opponent's Synchro Summon to draw some cards or Summon Trishula to devastate the opponent at the time he is most vulnerable.

All in all Formula Synchron is a nasty little Synchro with much more impact to the Metagame than expected definately deserving the 5th Spot to this Countdown. Some may say the it is even higer but the cards here on are all Bosses tha win games while Formula has a support role and not a game-winning one.

Deck Profile # 9: Divine Wind Synchro

When I find a new idea about a Deck I search forums, blogs and Youtube videos in order to see if the idea have been thought before and if it has, how other players approach it. This sometimes result in some nice techs and different builds than mine so I have to rethink my own approach. But this time I got totally disappointed and I almost lost faith in Yu-Gi-Oh! Community due to the compilation of unbalanced builds, awful approaches to the idea (I mean Smashing Ground is good, BUT you can't maindeck it in every deck, even in fast Synchro Spamming ones) and combos based in wrong rulings I saw while browsing the web. So I intend to make a New Series of Articles instead of Card Review for the next couple of months to show the common mistakes many people make in Deck Building and how to avoid them.

But enough with the irrelevant matters, let me say a word about this Month's Deck:

Divine Wind Synchro is based in the underplayed Wind Attribute to generate overwhelming Synchro Monster with Divine Wind of Mist Valley. This Field Spell has the broken effect to Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Wind Monster from the Deck when another Wind Monster is returned to hand. Combined with cards like Genex Ally Birdman and Blackwing - Zephyrus the Elite returning Wind Monsters to hand is extremely easy. One of the easiest combos that the Deck can perform:Activate Divine Wind Normal Summon Reborn Tengu, return him to summon Genex Ally Birdman, another Tengu is Special Summoned from the Deck and you get a free Wind Monster from your Deck. If you chose a Level 2, you can Synchro for Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier and get your third Tengu. So basically it is a Trishula Summon and a plus one (without counting the disruption Trishula is causing to the opponent).

Now let's see the Decklist in order to explain my choices better:

Monsters x 22
Reborn Tengu x 3
Genex Ally Birdman x 3
Genex Ally Blastfan x 1
Tour Guide from the Underworld x 3
Sangan x 1
Creation Resonator x 1
Unibird x 1
Symphonic Warrior Basses x 1
Summoner Monk x 2
Vortex Trooper x 2
Blackwing - Zephyrus the Elite x 1
Effect Veiler x 2
Gorz, the Emissary of Darkness x 1

First we have a must-have in any Synhcro Deck: Reborn Tengu. Obviously since he is a Wind, in this Deck he truly shines since he is not only searchable by Divine Wind but he also comboes great with Genex Ally Birdman  in order to summon big or multiple Syncho Monsters like the example of Trishula before while you keep advantage. Genex Ally Birdman is the main Tuner of the Deck and since this is the Deck that Birdman was designed to work with it just fits perfectly by activating the effect of Divine Wind and since the majority of Monsters that are to be returned by his effect are Wind he is also a 1900 ATK beater even though this will be rarely in use. Next there is also a card designed to work with Divine Wind: when Genex Ally Blastfan is a Wind Monster which when it is Special Summoned you can add a Dark Genex from your Deck to your hand. He is great for adding Genex Ally Birdman or if you choose to run Genex Ally Duradark or R-Genex Oracle too. However there is a catch and one of the main mistakes I have seen to some other Duelists that tried to build a similiar to this Deck. When you return a Tengu (or Mist Valley Thunderbird) to your hand and you Special Summon another Tengu (or Mist Valley Thunderbird) and Genex Ally Blastfan through Divine Winds effect you miss the timing due to Tengu/Thunderbirds effect being mandatory and Blastfan's being optional. Ergo while both Monsters are Special Summoned you do not get Blastfan's effect. Since this limits the play where Blastfan is able to get it's effect I beleive that one copy is sufficient and so extra copies where removed in order to free space for other Wind Monsters to abuse the Toolboxing Abilities of Divine Wind.

Next we have the infamous Tour Guide from the Underworld in three copies accompanied obviously by Sangan and not so obviously by Creation Resonator. Well, Tour Guide is really great in this Deck since she does her usual stuff by searching for Sangan which in his Turn searches for Genex Ally Birdman and a handful of other Monsters in the Deck or by Summoning Leviair to bring back a removed Birdman or by Summoning offencive Monsters like Number 17: Leviathan Dragon or defencive ones like Wind-Up Zenmaines. But in this Deck it has other uses too: Creation Resonator is a Level 3 Wind-Attribute Fiend-Type Monster hence if you summon him through Tour Guide, you can return him to Special Summon Birdman and another Wind Monster from your Deck through Divine Wind. If the Summoned Monster by Divine Wind is Level 3 you get to Summon Trishula for a plus 0 and next turn you can use Creation Resonator for more Synchro shenanigans. The next two cards you most likely gonna need to search them in Wikia since they are not all that famous but anyway they are here mostly to give extra options to the Divine Wind Toolbox. Unibird is a Level 2 Wind Non-Tuner with a decent effect that I rarely use but it is needed in order to Summon Trishula through Tengu and Birdman. Also he can be used to revive a fallen Brionac or Catastor. Next there is Symphonic Warrior Basses, a flexible Level 1 Wind Tuner that can increase his own Level with the number of cards in your hand. He is needed to perform my favorite combo in the Deck that I am going to show to you in a moment.

Summoner Monk is a card that I really like in this Deck: Normal Summon him, use his effect to Special Summon Genex Ally Blastfan and get a Birdman from your Deck. Then return Blastfan to summon Birdman and Special Summon Symphonic Warrior Basses with Divine Wind. Synchro Monk and Birdman for Arcanite Magician to blow up two cards and then Synchro Basses and Arcanite for Stardust Dragon in order to pretect your field or Scrap Dragon for a third blow up. Next there is a kind of weird choice that it is fits the Deck surprisingly well. Vortex Trooper not only acts as a Level 3 Wind to summon Trishula through Tour Guide and Birdman but it also has a great effect: since Birdman returns to the hand many useless in hand cards like Reborn Tengu and Genex Ally Blastfan they just sit there and wait, but with Vortex Trooper these can be exchanged with new draws while the cards in hand return to the Deck where they are able to be used again through Divine Wind. Blackwing - Zephyrus the Elite is obviously included as it combos great with the Deck by either returning a Wind Monster to activates Divine Winds effect or return Divine Wind of Mist Valley itself to protect from the opposing threats or to use it's effect for a second time this turn. Closing with the Monster line-up we have two Effect Veilers and Gorz the Emissary of Darkness. These in-hand Traps are almost staples in these kind of Decks (well, one could play Maxx "C" but Veiler is my personal preference) and provide a line of Defence.

Spells x 14
Divine Wind of Mist Valley x 3
Terraforming x 3
Quill Pen of Gulldos x 2
Pot of Avarice x 1
Mind Control x 1
Mystical Space Typhoon x 1
Heavy Storm x 1
Dark Hole x 1
Monster Reborn x 1

Well the Spell Line-Up is quite easy to explain. Divine Wind of Mist Valley is obviously included at three copies along with three Teraformings to ensure you get one as soon as possible. Next there is the only card that needs a bit of explanation: Quill Pen of Gulldos. This card is so awesome! Not only it allows you to recycle your Tengus but it also enables you to return an opposing Synchro/Xyz back to the Extra Deck or to return a Wind back in hand to activate the effect of Divine Wind. From there everything is pretty much staple. Pot of Avarice and Mind Control are in every Synchro heavy Deck and Mystical Space Typhoon (I would like to add another copy but there is absolutely no space), Heavy Storm, Dark Hole and Monster Reborn are on every Deck with very few exceptions.

Traps x 4
Solemn Warning x 2
Solemn Judgment x 1
Trap Dustshoot x 1

The Trap Line-Up is even easier to justify than the Spell one. The Solemn Trio is here to negate the summons of the opponent and Trap Dustshoot for it's effect is extremely good to ignore.


Extra Deck x 15
Ally of Justice Catastor x 1
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x 1
Black Rose Dragon x 1
Arcanite Magician x 1
Ancient Fairy Dragon x 1
Scrap Archfiend x 1
Stardust Dragon x 1
Scrap Dragon x 1
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier x 1
Ally of Justice Decisive Armor x 1
Number 17: Leviathan Dragon x 1
Leviair the Sea Dragon x 1
Wind-Up Zenmaines x 1
Number 39: Utopia x 1
Daigusto Emeral x 1

Well nothing special about the Extra Deck aside from the plethora of Level 7 Synchros (remember Birdman and Tengu is the Deck's most common play). Also I have to add: why Konami bother in Limiting Pot of Avarice when they make a Xyz Monster that is essentially Pot of Avarice in legs?

Well this Deck is a different approach to Synchro Spamming than the more commonly used Plants, Nordics, T.G.s etc. and I must say that it works pretty well. It's most powerful weapon is the easiness in which Trishula can be summoned. But one must be careful: there is only one Trishula and you need to use in her maximum potential every Duel.

Thanks for reading and till next time
-Eatos


Bibliography
Even though I have found some Decklists I took no inspiration from them and if I was gonna post them it would be in order to show you mistakes that should be avoided. However I would talk about this in my new series of Articles.

Number 6! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

Placed 6th in our List is T.G. Wonder Magician a really good Archetype specific Synchro of a new Archetype T.G.'s.

First of all I must say that I like her, a lot. Not only it can be Summoned in her Deck so easily without a Normal Summon by a simple Striker - Warwolf play but it also has a variety of effect that make up for her low Attack. First of all, she is a Mystical Space Typhoon by the time she is Synchro Summoned, gaining some advantage for you instantly. Second, when destoyed she nets you a free draw tottaly nullifying the minus one you got from her Summoning.  I like cards that pay you off for your trouble to bring them to the field.

Number 6: T.G. Wonder Magician

But that's not all. Being a Synchro and a Tuner at the same time it shares the same effect with Formula Synchron by being able to be used as the Tuner in a Sycnhro Summon during the Opponent's Main Phase. If you have been in this kind of situation before you should know how devastating a Black Rose Dragon or Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier at the end of your Main Phase can be, especially since it cannot be negated by Effect Veiler.

Not much to say about today's card either, it's good but there is no big combo or anything. Next week we continue with the Top 5 Level 5 or less!

Number 7! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

In the 7th place of our list we have the first Monster of our list not being a Level 5. Armory Arm being the single Generic Level 4 Synchro Monster in the Game and with an (formerly) high abusable effect has gathered a lot of hype.

Number 7: Armory Arm

Back in time he was used (mainly in Fish Synchro OTK Deck) along with Colossal Fighter to create an easy OTK-Loop. You simply attached one or two Armory Arms to an opponent's Monster (in order to have more than 2800 Attack) and you attacked with Colossal Fighter. Since Colossal was destoyed your opponent lost 2800 life points (equal to Colossal's ATK) and Colossal was revived by his effect and ready to Attack again until the opponent's Life Points were burned out completely. A simple change to Armory Arm's rulings made this combo impossible since it was quite broken.

Now Armory Arm is used in Synchro Decks like Tengu Plants etc. mainly due to it's Level (as I said it is the only Generic Synchro in Yu-Gi-Oh!) and rarely due to it's effect (although it is very handy some times, for example: Armory Arm and BLS = 8000 of Damage is the opponent controls at least one Monster in Attack Position). No matter what it definately deserves the 7th place to our Countdown.

Number 8! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

In the 8th place of our Countdown is Fabled Ragin a really great Archetype-specific Synchro.

It's effect and uses simple. You summon him, you draw, you makea bigger Synchro with him and then possibly summon another Ragin to continue gain of Advantage and the swarm of big Synchro Monsters in the field. It is not uncommon to see a field of 4 Synchro after the "Big Turn" of a Fabled Duelist and it is all thanks to this guy since he provides the material needed for the swarm.

Number 8: Fabled Ragin

There are many ways to summon him in a Fabled Deck and I cannot explain them all (I am not the right person to be honest as I am not a Fabled Player) but a possible free Pot of Greed along a 2300 ATK beater is far too great to ignore and not include it in this List. Ergo Fabled Ragin is the Number 8 in the Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less!

Number 9! Top 10 Synchro Monsters Level 5 or less

We continue the Countdown for the Top Level 5 or less Synchro Monsters with a really good Synchro that is rarely played to to the very specific Summoning requirements. I am talking for Frozen Fitzgerald, Number 9 in our list.

Since he needs a Dark-Attribute Tuner and a Beast-Type Non-Tuner there are only a handful of ways to summon him. As a Level 5, my mind instantly goes to Junk Synchron and since Junk Synchron is Dark, it can fulfill the requirements for this Frozen Fitzgerald's Synchro Summon. Now it reamains to find a Level 2 Beast-Type. In my previous Deck Profile I have talked about this card in Ojama Decks. Not only it's a Dark, in complete contrast with the Light-Attributed Ojamas, making the addition of Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning easier but also can use any Ojama in the grave in order to summon Frozen Fitzgerald. Also since many Ojama Decks use Ojama Country to reverse the stats of Monsters on the field, he remains at the same stats since his Attack and Defence are equal (and very high for a Level 5).

Number 9: Frozen Fitzgerald

But the most common pair to summon Frozen Fitzgerald in Synchro Decks like Junk Doppel is Junk Synchron and Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter. They work quite well together anyway, the second filling the Graveyard with usable targets for the first, while also being a target. But despite it's tough summoning conditions he has two great effects and high ATK and DEF for it's level. His first effects allows him to be protected by cards like Dimensional Prison and Mirror Force which despite they rarely enter the competitive scene of Decklists yet there are still an active danger. The second effect is even better: when Fitzgerald is alone in your field and it is destroyed by battle you get to revive him in Defence Position simply by discarding a card. This mean that you can suicide him in Stardust Dragon, Legendary Six Samurai - Shi En, Naturia Barkion, Leviathan Dragon etc. destoying th opposing threat at the cost of a card in hand.

Frozen Fitgerald despite being rarely summoned in Duels is one of those cards that draw attention and the opponent wants to get around immediatly. Ergo it is a great bait for cards like Solemn Warning allowing you to play make your bigger plays after the way is cleared. All in all Frozen Fitzgerald is nice little Synchro with decent effects, great stats and tough summoning requirements totaling at a good yet underplayed Synchro.