Recently getting a bit more popular, the still criminally under-rated Yang Zing deck gets a more in-depth look to explain some of its more complicated strategies, that once known, will help you beat every single deck in the game. I had started to write this on September 6th, and in the interim, Jeff Jones won an event with them, so congrats to him!
These aren’t the Elemental Dragons you’re looking for, but these Chinese Wyrms are deceptively powerful.
Topping a couple times in most recent events, Yang Zing don’t seem to be gaining a lot of popularity. I blame this on two key factors. 1. People think they aren’t good enough due to their inherent weakness, and 2. They’re really complicated to learn on your own without a lot of practice and work. It isn’t as simple as drop Trishula no matter the match-up, or spam Triverr with face-up Continuous Trap Cards. It is however, as simple as focusing on the one card; the complexity comes from the massive decision tree the card creates.
Choose correctly, and you will win against any deck that exists, choose wrong, and you lose the duel. There are at the time of writing this 204 Synchro Monsters you can summon from this one card alone, and typically at least two different ways to summon each one. With over 200 different weapons at your disposal, and a better than 50% chance each duel to see the entire arsenal in your opening hand, Yang Zing are a force to be reckoned with. The only reason this deck isn’t winning is that the players who win events are not using this Deck.
The first Key weakness of the deck, and the thing that turns most people off of it, is that they are optional effects, that have an activation timing (they say ‘when’). This means that other resolving cards can interrupt that activation window, and since you missed your opportunity to choose whether or not to activate them, you aren’t given the choice to at all. Such a crippling weakness means that the fundamental idea of the entire deck, the great wall of china, is broken apart by any sort of destruction that occurs at chain link 2 or higher.
This sounds deck ending, but it honestly isn’t. You’re only as vulnerable as you allow yourself to be. Ritual Beasts are the only match-up in which this particular weakness really matters, but more on that later.
There are 9 Yang zing monsters, based on the 9 sons of the Dragon, and three additional Yang Zing monsters, based on another interpretation of them. These 9 monsters cover every level from 1 to 9, and all six attributes. You have the first five, spanning five attributes, and 5 levels:
1. Wind
2. Water
3. Earth
4. Fire
5. Darkness
We also have the higher levels, a level 6 Earth Pendulum monster, a level 7 DARK Synchro, a level 8 LIGHT “Syncro” and a level 9 LIGHT Synchro monster. We also have the three tuners, leveled 1 2 and 3, with LIGHT, DARK, and EARTH attributes respectively. We’ll start with the main five.
Every Yang Zing effect monster has either 0 ATK or 0 DEF. The level 1 LIGHT tuner monster has both. This is a gimmick many people originally attempted to abuse using Junk Synchron and Masked Chameleon, however the vulnerability to cards such as El Shaddoll Winda proved this strategy to be far too weak, and space is far too tight to begin with. The first thing to learn about the Yang Zing is that they all have several things in common, first of which is their destruction-based recruitment effect. If you remember Mystic Tomato, these cards are similar, but also include destruction by card effect.
“When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck in A Battle Position, except “The one that has been destroyed“. You can only use this effect of “This Yang zing Monster” once per turn.”
Seems pretty straight forward, right? When a Yang Zing is destroyed, it special summons a different Yang Zing once per turn, per Yang Zing. We call this ‘The Great Wall of China’, as they’re Chinese Dragons, and it can be used to block more than 5 attacks. Due to this, without unconventional means, your opponent would never be able to attack your life points directly; you can always block all of their attacks.
So what about battle positions? That little block above mentioned a battle position!
As we noted earlier, Yang Zing monsters have either 0 ATK, or 0 DEF. When one is destroyed, the Yang Zing you Special Summon from your Deck is forced into a specific battle position. This positional destiny is determined by which stat was 0 on the destroyed Yang Zing. In the example of the WIND one, which has 0 ATK, the monster is therefore summoned in attack position. The same is true of the FIRE one with 0 DEF, the monster is summoned in defense position. The LIGHT tuner has both 0 atk and 0 def, and therefore you get to choose which battle position to summon the Yang Zing monster.
The second effect they all have in common is:
Once per turn, during your opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Synchro Monster, using only “Yang Zing” monsters you control (this is a Quick Effect).
Pretty cool ability to have, especially with a card such as Starlight Junktion. This comes in handy with various cards you can summon that have trigger effects upon their successful Synchro Summon, such as Vulcan the Divine, or Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. It doesn’t come up often, but it’s extremely handy to remember that they have these effects. Once in a while you’re going to have your play interrupted by something like Farfa, Malebranche of the Burning Abyss, only to use this ability on their next turn to make what you wanted anyway.
The last thing they all do, is boost the abilities of the Synchro Monster you summon when use use them as materials. This is a very powerful effect that turns already powerful monsters into Forbidden-worthy creatures that your opponent at times will have absolutely no way of dealing with. Lets meet the core 5 dragons wyrms now.
Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing
When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck in Attack Position, except “Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing”. You can only use this effect of “Pulao, Wind of the Yang Zing” once per turn. Once per turn, during your opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Synchro Monster, using only “Yang Zing” monsters you control (this is a Quick Effect). A Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material is unaffected by Spell effects.
The Wind Dragon, Pulao is our level 1. He grants immunity of spell effects to any monster successfully Synchro Summoned using him as a Material. This means even something like Formula Synchron summoned using Pulao with a level 1 tuner, would be completely immune to Dark Hole. This immunity buff granted by our little green buddy is also impervious to removal or negation in the current game of Yu-Gi-Oh!. There is no card or combination of cards that negates this effect or makes it no longer apply – So long as that Synchro Monster is face-up on the field, soul drain, banishing pulao, or any other strategy will not allow you to Raigeki my Synchro Monster. This is a trait shared by all of the Yang Zing Synchro Summoning effects.
Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing
When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck in Attack Position, except “Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing”. You can only use this effect of “Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing” once per turn. Once per turn, during your opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Synchro Monster, using only “Yang Zing” monsters you control (this is a Quick Effect). A Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material is unaffected by Trap effects.
The Water Dragon, Bixi is our level 2. He grants immunity to trap effects to any monster successfully Synchro Summoned using him as a Material. Similar in every way to Pulao, except for trap cards, this means even if Skill Drain or Lose 1 Turn are face-up, your Synchro Summoned monster completely ignores them and can go about using their effects anyway.
Bi’an, Earth of the Yang Zing
When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck in Defense Position, except “Bi’an, Earth of the Yang Zing”. You can only use this effect of “Bi’an, Earth of the Yang Zing” once per turn. Once per turn, during your opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Synchro Monster, using only “Yang Zing” monsters you control (this is a Quick Effect). A Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material cannot be destroyed by battle.
The Earth Dragon, Bi’an is our level 3. He grants immunity of battle destruction to any monster successfully Synchro Summoned using him as a Material. Like his two younger brothers, Bi’an’s effect is impervious to removal so long as the Synchro Monster is face-up on the field. No more concerns about “Honest”, or “Limiter Removal” here.
Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing
When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck in Defense Position, except “Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing”. You can only use this effect of “Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing” once per turn. Once per turn, during your opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Synchro Monster, using only “Yang Zing” monsters you control (this is a Quick Effect). A Synchro Monster that used this card as a Synchro Material gains 500 ATK and DEF.
The Fire Dragon, Suanni is our level 4. He grants 500 additional ATK AND DEF to any monster successfully Synchro Summoned using him as a Material. Identically to the other three, that 500 boost is impervious to removal from a face-up Synchro Monster currently gaining it. While this may not sound like much, bear in mind 2800 ATK is the sole reason Goyo Guardian was banned. Sometimes effects as powerful as “Armades, the keeper of boundaries” are specifically designed with the monster’s ATK, and that 500 boost could mean the difference between ‘fair card’ and ‘completely banworthy, shouldn’t even exist’.
Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing
When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck in Defense Position, except “Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing”. You can only use this effect of “Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing” once per turn. Once per turn, during your opponent’s Main Phase or Battle Phase, you can: Immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Synchro Monster, using only “Yang Zing” monsters you control (this is a Quick Effect). Possession of a Synchro Monster on the field that used this card as a Synchro Material cannot switch.
The Dark Dragon, Taotie is our level 5. He grants immunity to change of control to any monster successfully Synchro Summoned using him as a Material. You get the idea by now; you cannot turn this ability off. Number 101: Silent Honor ARK is a good example of an effect that would no longer work because of Taotie’s Abilities.
So those are our five main monsters, but they all want to Synchro Summon. Naturally this requires tuners. This deck has 2 Tuner monsters, and 1 monster that has a very special tuning effect.
Chiwen, Light of the Yang zing
When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck, except “Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing”. When a “Yang Zing” monster(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard, while this card is in your Graveyard: You can Special Summon this card, and if you do, banish it when it leaves the field. You can only use 1 “Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
This little guy is full of surprises. Being both 0 ATK and 0 DEF, he has nice versatility with the other tuner, he can tutor your Yang Zing monsters in either battle position, and even has an added ability to come back from the Graveyard when a Yang Zing you control is destroyed! As our level 1 Tuner you can expect great things from this little wyrm.
Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing
When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck in Attack Position, except “Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing”. If you control no other monsters: You can send 2 “Yang Zing” cards from your hand to the Graveyard; Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster with 0 ATK and 1 “Yang Zing” monster with 0 DEF from your Deck, but banish them during the End Phase. You can only use 1 “Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing” effect per turn, and only once that turn.
I’d expand more on Jiaotu now, as he’s the best card in the deck, but as I did with Gwen in my last mega article, he’ll be getting his own section later on. The last Tuner is actually a Pendulum monster. This deck gets two Pendulums, both with pretty spectacular effects.
Zefraxi, Treasure of the Yang Zing
You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except “Yang Zing” and “Zefra” monsters. This effect cannot be negated.
If this card is Pendulum Summoned, or Special Summoned from the Main Deck: You can target 1 “Yang Zing” or “Zefra” monster you control, except “Zefraxi, Treasure of the Yang Zing”; that monster is treated as a Tuner monster this turn, also place this card on the bottom of the Deck when it leaves the field. You can only use this effect of “Zefraxi, Treasure of the Yang Zing” once per turn.
A level 3, but not really a Tuner. This one is also EARTH Attribute just like the other level 3 option, however this one comes with a wide array of abilities, including making another monster you control a Tuner monster. While he may not be the level 3 tuner to Synchro with Suanni for 7, he makes Suanni a Tuner and the two do still summon a level 7 Synchro.
Zefraniu, Secret of the Yang Zing
You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except “Yang Zing” and “Zefra” monsters. This effect cannot be negated.
When this card is Pendulum Summoned, or when this card is destroyed by battle or card effect while in your Monster Zone: You can add 1 “Yang Zing” or “Zefra” Spell/Trap Card from your Deck to your hand. You can only use this effect of “Zefraniu, Secret of the Yang Zing” once per turn.
As you can see in its picture above, Zefraniu actually gives us access to a 6 star Yang Zing monster to Synchro with as well. Having 0 ATK he’s great to grab with Jiaotu, and he can be tutored for that 2600 DEF by any of the Yang Zing monsters with ATK greater than 0. His ability is also spectacular, but just how useful is it..
The Backrow
As if these cards weren’t cool enough, they actually have some really interesting Spell and Trap cards.
Spells
Yang Zing Path
Target 3 “Yang Zing” monsters in your Graveyard; shuffle all 3 into the Deck, then draw 2 cards. You can only activate 1 “Yang Zing Path” per turn.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the best S/T in the Deck. This card is absolutely amazing, when used properly. You will want to leave at least one Bixi and one Pulao in your Graveyard if you can help it, and always try to put back as many Suanni into your Deck as you can. This can also be used to put back Synchro Monsters (and if you put back 3, you don’t shuffle your Deck, you just draw). A lovely +1 Draw card that also fuels Jiaotu and the Great Wall of China. Brilliant card.
Yang Zing Prana
This card gains these effects, based on the number of different Attributes the “Yang Zing” monsters in your Graveyard have.
● 2 or more: All “Yang Zing” monsters you control gain 500 ATK.
● 3 or more: If a “Yang Zing” monster(s) you control would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can send this card to the Graveyard instead.
● 4 or more: Your opponent cannot Set monsters. Change all face-up monsters your opponent controls to Attack Position.
● 5 or more: You can send this card to the Graveyard; destroy all cards on the field.
Criminally underrated, Yang Zing Prana’s stacking effects actually are enabled by the end of your first turn a lot of the time. Jiaotu being DARK can discard the EARTH and WATER Yang Zing monsters to tutor the WIND and FIRE ones, and after Synchro Summoning, will give you all 5 Attributes right away. Truly though, this card only needs four to be at maximum power, and it’s 2 and 3 effects are no joke. Suanni’s 500 boost with this cards 500 boost stack together allowing you to out Apoqliphort Towers with the level 7 Yang Zing Synchro, and protection from destruction the one time they can finally destroy you will really dishearten the opponents efforts (and chances at winning). It’s also pretty neat to just nuke the entire board, and have all your dudes float. I don’t run this card anymore, in the post-Norden world, but I did for a long time and never regretted it as a solid 1 of.
Traps
Yang Zing Brutality
If a “Yang Zing” monster you control battles an opponent’s monster, during damage calculation: Your battling monster’s ATK and DEF each become double its original ATK and DEF during that damage calculation only, but it is destroyed at the end of this Damage Step.
Most of your monsters have 0 ATK anyway, so really the best thing this card does is double their DEF and cause more damage to the opponent. The destruction is pretty handy to have at times, but it’s rarely a big deal as the attack would have destroyed the monster anyway. This card ultimately just serves as a sort of burn card. It can be nice with the Synchro Monsters to kill them quickly, but ultimately this card isn’t worth running.
Yang Zing Unleashed
All monsters your opponent controls must attack, if able. During either player’s Main Phase or Battle Phase: You can send this face-up card from your Spell & Trap Zone to the Graveyard; immediately after this effect resolves, Synchro Summon 1 Synchro Monster, using 1 or more “Yang Zing” monsters you control as Synchro Materials.
That first effect is pretty good. The second effect, not so much, and the first one certainly isn’t good enough to warrant using this card. At least, not in a Yang Zing deck. It’s cool to keep in mind for other decks like Kozmo though, to know that this effect exists generically in the game.
Yang Zing Creation
Once per turn, if a monster(s) you control is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 “Yang Zing” monster from your Deck. You cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck, except Synchro Monsters.
Here it is, the best Spell/Trap Card in the Deck. “Don’t they all already do this?” you may ask yourself. Yes, yes they do, however this does it again. You can activate this card in the damage step and one Yang Zing becomes two! Have this card set, while Chiwen is in your Graveyard, and the opponent attacking over your Bixi will allow you to activate this in the Damage Step, summoning Suanni, Bixi can also summon Suanni, and the Chiwen can Special Summon itself from the Graveyard. Using the Synchro effect of Suanni, we can then Summon Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier during our opponents battle phase to blow them out! This is just one of many examples of how this card will get you unbelievably far ahead. To date, I’ve never lost a single duel that I’ve resolved this card at least 1 time.
With all of that out of the way, lets get to the star attraction. We still have 3 Yang Zing monsters we haven’t been formally introduced to, that span the levels 7 through 9. These are the Synchro Monsters that tie the whole deck together.
Synchros
Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Cannot be targeted by an opponent’s card effects. You can only use each of these effects of “Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing” once per turn.
● You can target 1 “Yang Zing” monster you control and 1 card your opponent controls; destroy them.
● When this card you control is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to your Graveyard: You can Special Summon 1 Wyrm-Type monster from your Deck in Defense Position.
Its targetproof, the one thing we were missing from the other guys. Coming in at level 7 this guy tutors any wyrm, not just the Yang Zings, and comes packed with Scrap Dragons effect, so you can pop your own Yang Zings (or itself, if you want to tutor a wyrm monster)
Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Wyrm-Type monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can target cards on the field, up to the number of different original Attributes of the Wyrm-Type monsters used for the Synchro Summon of this card; shuffle them into the Deck. Once per turn: You can target 1 card you control and 1 Level 4 or lower monster in your Graveyard; destroy that card on the field, and if you do, Special Summon that other monster from the Graveyard.
The LIGHT ‘syncro’ coming in at level 8, gives us a familiar effect if you remember Madolche Queen Tiaramisu; though this one shuffles back 3 more often than it does 2. The second effect is really special too as it lets you bring back any level 4, not just Yang zing monsters, by popping any card you control. Setting MST and using this effect can even bring back Herald of the Arc Light or Elder Entity Norden!
Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
While this Synchro Summoned card is on the field, your opponent cannot activate effects of monsters with the same original Attribute(s) as the “Yang Zing” monster(s) used for the Synchro Summon of this card. When this Synchro Summoned card is destroyed by battle or card effect and sent to the Graveyard: You can add 1 Tuner monster from your Deck to your hand. Once per turn, when a monster(s) your opponent controls is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can Special Summon 1 Wyrm-Type monster from your Deck, in Defense Position, whose original Attribute matches the original Attribute that 1 of those destroyed monsters had on the field.
There is a book of rulings on this guy, seriously. There’s almost too much for me to go over, so simply save us both the effort and head over to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia and check up on all the rulings in regards to things like Book of Moon or Creature Swap and this card.
HOLY EFFECTS. Just wow this card gave a huge edge to an already fantastic deck. Naturally you can disable WATER and DARK monsters on turn 1 with Jiaotu, which answers Nekroz and Burning Abyss pretty fervently, but the other ways you can summon this card are spectacular and even Ritual Beasts can have a hard time because of this guy. When he’s destroyed, you get any tuner in the entire game to your hand! Ghost Ogre, Effect Veiler, and more! He even grabs more Yang Zing monsters from the Deck, if anyone you control kills anyone they control. This guy is really cool.
So there you have it. All 12 Yang Zing monsters. We should have a pretty firm understanding of the deck and its interactions now, so lets begin discussing strategy and meta.
Other cards you run
I’m not going to put the effects of these cards, you can find them on your own and most of us know what they do already. These are just ideas to help you
Monsters
Ghost Ogre and Snow Rabbit
Effect Veiler
Night Dragolich
Lindbloom
Spells
Dark Hole
Soul Charge
Anti-Magic Arrows
Celestia – Use this to pop your own cards as well, but it’s dangerous to use this and Yang Zing Path together. It was better when Djinn wasn’t banned.
The MST Brigade
Mystical Space Typhoon
Night Beam
Galaxy Cyclone
Traps
Torrential Tribute
Imperial Iron Wall
The Effect Negation Brigade
Fiendish Chain
Lose 1 Turn
Breakthrough Skill
Typically, you want to put your focus into stopping their backrow so you can resolve your summons, and use the MST brigade, OR you want to just get your summons through protecting you from spells and/or traps, and use effect negation to keep you there, via the Effect Negation Brigade.
Both versions are fine of course, some are better than others in each matchup, so analyze what you’re struggling against and build accordingly.
With all of that kept in mind, You should take this time to try and make a decklist now for yourself. I’ll wait, go build something you think will work. Then come back and read the rest.
Jiaotu Guide
Jiaotu, like Gwen before him, is probably the best card in the format right now. A resolved jiaotu summons over 200 different synchro monsters, in more than 500 different possible creatures varying in immunities. Summoning Pulao and Suanni gives you a spell immune super creature, and Summoning Bixi and bian gives you a battle immune monster that is unaffected by trap cards. With Yazi’s inherent immunity to targeting effects, he can be a complete nightmare to deal with, and he floats to boot. If you have Imperial Iron Wall on the field, and resolve Jiaotu for Bixi and Suanni, you can simply end your turn and baxia them at the perfect moment, shuffling any backrow they lay down before they can chain any of it, or disrupting a key summon or play they try to make. Do not underestimate the potential of this card.
Extra Deck Long List – This is every Synchro Monster you can summon using the effect of Jiaotu. If I missed any, let me know in the comments below!
It’s your first turn. You’ve opened Jiaotu, two Yang Zing cards, and three blanks. Your opponent has summoned a monster with 500 ATK, and has a generic blank backrow. This is the full list of what you can make.
This is going to be broken into categories. The total possibilities will be in each category. Please note that these have all been individually checked, and some are pretty crafty. We’re perfectly aware that Arcanite Magician requires Spellcasters; but there’s a way using only Jiaotu and 2 in-hand YZ cards, to summon Arcanite Magician.
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (86)
Accel Synchron 5
Ally of Justice Catastor 5
Ally of Justice Light Gazer 8
Ancient Fairy Dragon 7
Ancient Pixie Dragon 7
Angel of Zera 8
Armades, Keeper of Boundaries 5
Armory Arm 4
Ascension Sky Dragon 10
Assault Blackwing – Raikiri the Sudden Shower 7
Black Rose Dragon 7
Black Rose Moonlight Dragon 7
Black Winged Dragon 8
Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon 8
Blackwing – Gram the Shining Star 5
Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight 6
Blood Mefist 8
Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier 6 (Traditional Format Only)
Catapult Warrior 5
Celestial Wolf Lord, Blue Sirius 6
Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing 9
Clear Wing Synchro Dragon 7
Cloudcastle 9
Colossal Fighter 8
Crimson Blader 8
Dark Strike Fighter 7
Deskbot Jet 10
Flamvell Uruquizas 6
Formula Synchron 2
Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth 6
Giganticastle 9
Goyo Chaser 5
Goyo Guardian 6
Goyo Predator 6
Gravity Warrior 6
HTS Psyhemuth 6
Herald of the Arc Light 4
Hi-Speedroid Chanbarider 5
Hi-Speedroid Kendama 6
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend 8
Iron Chain Dragon 6
Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree 10
Lightning Warrior 7
Magical Android 5
Mecha Phantom Beast Concoruda 7
Metaphys Horus 6
Mighty Warrior 6
Mist Bird Clausolas 3
Odd-Eyes Meteor Burst Dragon 7
Old Entity Cthugha 4
Old Entity Hastorr 4
Orient Dragon 6
PSYFrame Lord Omega 8
PSYFrame Lord Zeta 7
Phonon Pulse Dragon 4
Power Tool Dragon 7
Power Tool Mecha Dragon 7
Powered Inzektron 6
Psychic Lifetrancer 7
Psychic Nightmare 6
Puralis, The Purple Pyrotile 2
Red Dragon Archfiend 8
Red Dragon Archfiend Scar-Right 8
Red wyvern 6
Samsara, Dragon of Rebirth 5
Scarred Warrior 5
Scrap Archfiend 7
Scrap Dragon 8
Seven Swords Warrior 7
Splendid Rose 6
Star Eater 11
Stardust Assault Warrior 6
Stardust Dragon 8
Stardust Spark Dragon 8
T.G. Hyper Librarian 5
T.G. Power Gladiator 5
T.G. Recipro Dragonfly 2
Tatsunoko 3
Tempest Magician 6
Thought Ruler Archfiend 8
Underworld Fighter Balmung 4
Virgil, Rock Star of the Burning Abyss 6
Vulcan the Divine 6
X-Saber Urbellum 7
X-Saber Wayne 5
Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing 7
1 Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters (4)
Ally of Justice Decisive armor 10
Ally of Justice Field Marshall 9
Mist Wurm 9
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier 9
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner LIGHT monsters (4)
Avenging Knight Parshath 8
Light End Dragon 8
Vylon Delta 7
Michael, the Arch-Lightsworn 7
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner DARK monsters (1)
Dark End Dragon 8
1 Tuner + 1 non-Tuner DARK Dragon-Type Synchro Monster (2)
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Abyss 9
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend Belial 10
1 Tuner + 1 or more EARTH monsters (1)
XX-Saber Gottoms 9
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner FIRE monsters (5)
Laval Dual Slasher 5
Laval Stennon 7
Laval the Greater 6
Lavalval Dragon 5
Lavalval Dragun 6
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner WATER monsters (2)
Dewloren, Tiger King of the Ice Barrier 6
Gungnir, Dragon of the Ice Barrier 7
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Dragon-Type monsters (1)
Exploder Dragonwing 7
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Spellcaster-Type monsters (2)
Arcanite Magician 7
Explosive Magician 6
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Plant-Type monsters (1)
Queen of Thorns 6
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Psychic-Type monsters (1)
Hyper Psychic Blaster 9
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Machine-Type monsters (2)
Karakuri Shogun mdl 00 “Burei” 7
Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00X “Bureido”
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Beast-Type monsters (1)
Lightning Tricorn 8
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Winged Beast-Type monsters (1)
Vortex the Whirlwind 5
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Wyrm-Type monsters (1)
Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing 8
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner “X-Saber” monsters (2)
X-Saber Souza 7
XX-Saber Hyunlei 6
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner “T.G.” monsters (1)
T.G. Wonder Magician 5
1 Tuner + 1 Level 3 non-Tuner monster (1)
Sea Dragon Lord Gishilnodon 5
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Normal Monsters (1)
Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon 9
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Gemini monsters (1)
Black Brutdrago 8
1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Pendulum Monsters (1)
Ignister Prominence, the Blasting Dracoslayer 8
1 Tuner + “Power Tool Dragon” (1)
Life Stream Dragon 8
1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 1 or more non-Tuner Synchro monsters (3)
T.G. Blade Blaster 10
Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon 10
Stardust Warrior 10
1 Tuner Synchro Monster + “Stardust Dragon” (1)
Shooting Star Dragon 10
1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 2 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters (3)
Shooting Quasar Dragon 12
Stardust Sifr Spark Dragon 12
T.G. Halberd Cannon 12
2 Tuners + 1 non-Tuner DARK Dragon-Type Synchro Monster (1)
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend King Calamity 12
2 Tuners + 1 non-Tuner “Vylon” monster (1)
Vylon Omega 10
2 Tuners + “Red Dragon Archfiend” (1)
Red Nova Dragon 12
1 LIGHT Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (2)
Ancient Sacred Wyvern 7
Vylon Epsilon 8
1 LIGHT Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner LIGHT monsters (1)
Vylon Sigma 7
1 LIGHT Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner DARK monsters (1)
Chaos Goddess 8
1 DARK Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (3)
Infernity Doom Dragon 8
Void Ogre Dragon 8
Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons 8
1 DARK Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Beelzeus of the Diabolic Uberdragons 10
1 DARK Tuner + 1 non-Tuner Insect-Type monster (2)
Dark Diviner 4
Underground Arachnid 6
1 DARK Tuner + 1 non-Tuner Beast-Type monster (1)
Zeman the Ape King 7 (if the opponent has a monster with less than 1000 positional stats)
1 DARK Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Fiend-Type monsters (1)
Hundred Eyes Dragon 8
1 DARK Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Machine-Type monsters (1)
Dark Flattop 8
1 DARK Tuner + 1 non-Tuner Dragon-Type monster (1)
Dragocytos Corrupted Nethersoul Dragon 10
1 EARTH Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner EARTH monsters (4)
Naturia Barkion 6
Nautira Leodrake 9
Nautira Beast 5
Naturia Landoise 7
1 FIRE Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Horse Prince 6
1 FIRE Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Pyro-Type monsters (1)
Ancient Flamvell Diety 7
1 FIRE Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner “Fire Fist” monsters (1)
Brotherhood of the Fire Fist – Kirin 8 (while you cannot complete the summon, the materials are there)
1 Dragon-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Winged Beast-Type monsters (5)
Dragunity Knight – Barcha 8
Dragunity Knight – Gae Bulg 6
Dragunity Knight – Gae Dearg 6
Dragunity Knight – Trident 7
Dragunity Knight – Vajrayana 6
1 Dragon-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Dragon-Type monsters (1)
Trident Dragion 10
1 Beast-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (2)
Thunder Unicorn 5
Voltic Bicorn 7
1 Fiend-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (2)
Stygian Sergeants 5
Chaos King Archfiend 8
1 Fiend-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Fiend-Type monsters (1)
Dark Highlander 7
1 Aqua-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Graydle Dragon 8
1 Warrior-Type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Warrior-Type monsters (1)
Driven Daredevil 7
1 “Vylon” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Vylon Alpha 9
1 “Scrap” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Scrap Twin Dragon 9
1 “Blackwing” Tuner + 1 or more non Tuner monsters (2)
Blackwing Armed Wing 6
Blackwing Armor Master 7
1 “Blackwing” Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendent 8
1 “Blackwing” Tuner + 1 or more “Blackwing” non-Tuner monsters (1)
Blackwing Tamer – Obsidian Hawk Joe 7
1 “Fabled” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (5)
Fabled Leviathan 10
Fabled Ragin 5
Fabled Valkyrus 8
The Fabled Unicore 4
The Fabled Kudabbi 4
1 “Genex” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (2)
Genex Ally Axel 8
Genex Ally Triforce 7
1 “Genex” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner DARK monsters (1)
Locomotion R-Genex 9
1 “Genex” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner WIND monsters (1)
Vindikite R-Genex 8
“Genex Controller” + 1 or more non-Tuner WIND monsters (1)
Windmill Genex 7
1 “D/D” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
D/D/D Gale King Alexander 7
1 “Reptilianne” Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Reptilianne Hydra 6
1 “Scrap” Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Atomic Scrap Dragon 10
1 “Nordic Alfar” Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Loki, Lord of the Aesir 10
1 “Nordic Ascendant” Tuner + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Odin, Father of the Aesir 10
“Jet Synchron” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Jet Warrior 5
“Road Synchron” + 2 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Road Warrior 8
“Turbo Rocket” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Turbo Cannon 3
“Junk Synchron” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (5)
Junk Destroyer 8
Junk Berserker 7
Junk Archer 7
Junk Gardna 6
Junk Warrior 5
“Turbo Synchron” + 1 or or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Turbo Warrior 6
“Drill Synchron” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Drill Warrior 6
“Nitro Synchron” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Nitro Warrior 8
“Fleur Synchron” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Chevalier de Fleur 8
“Majestic Dragon” + “Red Dragon Archfiend” + 1 non-Tuner monster (1)
Majestic Red Dragon 10
“Supay” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Moon Dragon Quilla 6
“Fire Ant Ascator” + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters (1)
Sun Dragon Inti 8
1 Level 5 or Higher Tuner + 1 Level 5 or Higher non-Tuner, both of the Same Level (1)
Ultimaya Tzolkin 12
Cannot make by only using the effect (28)
Archfiend Zombie skull (requires plaguespreader zombie)
Cosmic Fortress Gol’gar (alien ammonite)
Daigusto Eguls (non-Tuner “Gusto” monsters)
Daigusto Falcos (non-Tuner “Gusto” monsters)
Daigusto Gulldos (non-Tuner “Gusto” monsters)
Daigusto Sphreez (non-Tuner “Gusto” monsters)
Doomkaiser Dragon (requires plaguespreader zombie)
Frozen Fitzgerald (non-tuner beast monster)
Genex Ally Triarm (Genex Controller)
Geo Genex (Genex Controller)
Hydro Genex (Genex Controller)
Ignoble Knight of High Laundsallyn (Noble Knight non-Tuner)
Jurrac Giganoto (non-Tuner Dinosaur monsters)
Jurrac Meteor (non-Tuner Dinosaur monsters)
Jurrac Velphito (non-Tuner Dinosaur monsters)
Legendary Six Samuai – Shi En (Warrior-Type Tuner monster)
Majestic Star Dragon (requires Majestic Dragon)
Malefic Paradox Dragon (Malefic Parallel Gear)
Mecha Phantom Beast Jaculuslan (Mecha Phantom Beast Tuner)
Mist Valley Thunderlord (non-Tuner Mist Valley)
Overmind Archfiend (Psychic Tuner)
Revived King Ha-des(plaguespreader)
Superheavy Samurai Ogre Shutendoji (Superheavy Samurai monsters)
Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo (Superheavy Samurai monsters)
Thermal Genex (Genex Controller)
Thor, Lord of the Aesir (Nordic Tuner)
Wattchimera (Watt Tuner)
Watthydra (Watt Tuner)
Extra Deck Short List – The Viable Candidates
Sure, you can waste a ton of resources and space to summon Road warrior, but why would you? I’ve compiled a small list of Synchros for you to pick from that are more competitively viable options, the rest is up to you to decide!
Level 3
Mist Bird Clausolas
Tatsunoko
Level 4
Herald of the Arc Light
Underworld Fighter Balmung
Old Entity Hastorr
Level 5
Armades, Keeper of Boundaries
Ally of Justice Catastor
Samsara, Dragon of Rebirth
Hi-Speedroid Chanbarider
Level 6
Metaphys Horus
Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight
Vulcan the Divine
Goyo Guardian
Hi-Speedroid Kendama
Orient Dragon
Level 7
Yazi, Evil of the Yang zing
Clear Wing Synchro Dragon
Blackrose Dragon
Black Rose Moonlight Dragon
Ancient Fairy Dragon
Ancient Sacred Wyvern
Level 8
Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing
Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons
Scrap Dragon
Thought Ruler Archfiend
Hot Red Dragon Archfiend
Stardust Dragon
Stardust Spark Dragon
Crimson Blader
Colossal Fighter
Level 9
Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier
Chaofeng, Phantom of the Yang Zing
Level 10+
Leo, the Keeper of the Sacred Tree
Ascension Sky Dragon
Star Eater
When dueling against Shaddolls, I find that using Jiaotu to make Clear Wing Synchro Dragon via Pulao and Suanni to be very effective. The same materials making Yazi instead is equally brutal against Burning Abyss, in some cases completely blowing them out. The 3000-ATK Clear Wing Synchro Dragon is also pretty difficult for Nekroz to deal with, and of course Chaofeng helps in the two previous matchups. Metaphys Horus on a Qliphort Scout can be pretty unsettling, and Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons can out Apoqliphort Towers, while also giving you something impervious to Ritual Beast Steeds and Blaze Accelerator Reload. Yazi using Bixi can be real trouble for Ritual Beasts. You’re going to want to duel a lot to learn how all the decks in the game work, and realize what they can and can’t do to you, and Synchro Summon accordingly. The Extra Deck is ever evolving in this archtype as new stuff comes out, and new decks to worry about rotate in popularity.
A Decklist
Make the last extra deck card whatever you want from the above list! I personally would use a second Herald of the Arc Light.
As you can see, the idea is to maximize the potential to get Jiaotu to the board, as he is our win condition. We’re running 3 of everyone that we can normal summon on turn 1 and either Dark Hole, or simply suicide it into their creature, so we can get to Jiaotu right away. We run effect negation brigade because of how early we’re going for it, we don’t need as much backrow hate, and Anti-Magic Arrows covers us for the most part there anyway. The goal is to Jiaotu hard and fast, and watch as they can do literally nothing about it.
With all of that learned, go top yourself an event. Maybe even win one if you’re a skilled enough player. I hope this guide has helped you gain an appreciation for this deck, as far too many people are simply missing out on it.
I’m also happy to announce a full move over to our forum. You can read more about that here. This is officially the last article to be posted on Ygorganization.com that will have a comments section. We’ve loved hearing from you guys, and hope to continue doing so, over at the YGOrganization Forums!
