[Guides] Synchro Cards For Your Decks In The Synchro Festival For YuGiOh Master Duel

The Synchro Festival is finally upon us, paying much love to another archetype in YuGiOh Master Duel by having players form decks around the gorgeous white-bordered cards.

For those not in the loop, Synchros are some of the most complex Special summon types in the game- you form them by having a Tuner monster, and materials whose total levels equal the level of the synchro monster. Unlike Rituals, there’s no window to go over the number- so you’ll need to be mindful of which monsters you use to form them.

On that note, here are some great cards to include in your Synchro deck for YuGiOh Master Duel- while not necessarily must-picks, they’ll definitely bolster the power of any deck you’re running if you can make the space for them.

Hot Red Dragon Archfiend

A level 8 synchro monster, Hot Red Dragon Archfiend is great for decks that like to go on the offensive. It’s a great card if you’re going second, since your opponent’s probably already set up a big board, ready to deal with you- that is, until Hot Red Dragon Archfiend activates its effect:

Once per turn, during your Main Phase 1: You can destroy all other face-up Attack Position monsters on the field. Other monsters cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.

Hot Red Dragon Archfiend simply nukes the board of any face-up Attack Position monsters on the field, clearing the way to do a quick 3000 life point damage if your opponent didn’t have any monsters in defense position set up.

That being said, this does have some flaws- Hot Red doesn’t discriminate, and will destroy your own monsters since it doesn’t specify opponent’s monsters. Similarly, even if you had immune-to-destruction cards on the board, they wouldn’t be able to attack anymore after activating his effect.

Black Rose Dragon

Another great source of board removal, Black Rose Dragon is incredibly versatile for what it does- simply summoning the monster nukes the board, not discriminating monsters, spells, or even who owns them. It’s a good way to force a turnabout- and all you’ll need is to match its level 7 cost to get its great effects:

When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can destroy all cards on the field. Once per turn: You can banish 1 Plant monster from your GY, then target 1 Defense Position monster your opponent controls; change that target to face-up Attack Position, and if you do, its ATK becomes 0 until the end of this turn.

It’s got a secondary effect too- but chances are if whatever you’re fighting is immune to the non-targeting nuke, you’re probably not gonna have much use for forcing them into attack position and reducing their attack

Baronne De Fleur

Unlike the other two which are great for just binning an entire board, Baronne de Fleur deals in more elegant playstyles. It’s got three great effects for you to use, all applicable in most duels:

Once per turn: You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it. Once while face-up on the field, when a card or effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can negate the activation, and if you do, destroy that card. You can only use the previous effect of “Baronne de Fleur” once per turn. Once per turn, during the Standby Phase: You can target 1 Level 9 or lower monster in your GY; return this card to the Extra Deck, and if you do, Special Summon that monster.

Obviously, the first two effects are straight-up top-tier. The first is pretty straightforward-unprotected key monsters can be removed from the board easily, at no cost other than keeping Baronne De Fleur alive another turn. Thankfully, it’s second effect deals with that- it’s a quick negate that also destroys the monster who had the audacity to try and deal with you.

Synchrons

Great for almost any non-specific archetypes, Synchrons are an archetype of monster built around getting your synchro summons going. Many of them have effects great for swarming the field with monsters- just perfect for getting your levels right and summoning big monsters for your Synchro Decks in YuGiOh Master Duel.

The chief of these is Junk Synchron, whose tuner-status and effect ensure you can get a level 5 synchro monster out minimum, with no problems:

When this card is Normal Summoned: You can target 1 Level 2 or lower monster in your GY; Special Summon that target in Defense Position, but negate its effects.

You’ll want to pay attention to each Synchron’s effects- these all play with the math of monster levels, such as the lovely Cyberse Synchron, who gets bigger monsters out easier by giving you a level 8 monster for synchro purposes.

Once per turn: You can target 1 Level 4 or lower monster you control; increase its Level by its original Level until the end of this turn. If your monster(s) in the Extra Monster Zone would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish this card from your GY instead. You can only use this effect of “Cyberse Synchron” once per turn.

These work well with a lot of other synchro-centric cards too- Quillbolt Hedgehog is famously paired with Junk Synchron, getting you easily up to a level 7- that’s already a Black Rose Dragon if you so desired. Junk Converter also lets you reuse your synchro materials- getting your precious tuners back and letting you summon bigger monsters with its effect.

This is far from an exhaustive list of the best Synchro cards to use in your decks for YuGiOh Master Duel. But the point stands, you’ll want to check out some of these cards if you’re struggling with deck ideas for the Synchro festival. Personally, I’d really recommend Baronne De Fleur- negates are really strong in  this game, and Baronne having that *and* removal just makes for a really powerful monster to oppress your opponent.

The important thing is to keep in mind the levels of exactly which monster you want out at any given point in time- Synchros rapid revolving door of monsters and strict requirements make it so you really need to keep your cards straight.

If you’re feeling nostalgic, don’t forget to check out our guide for the previous archetype festival- full of great Xyz monsters to build decks around too.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Release Date: 2022-01-19

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S

The definitive digital edition of the competitive card game that has been evolving for over 20 years! Duel at the highest level against Duelists all over the world.