Content

Synchro Summon Guide: The Advent of Synchros in Duel Links

How to perform Shynchro Summon in Duel Links, Skills helping you perform Synchro Summon, Synchro Monsters.
update 24/09/2018

Overview

“Synchro Summoning” is the act of Special Summoning a Synchro Monster from the Extra Deck by sending to the Graveyard a Tuner and one or more non-Tuner Monster(s); the monsters used as “Synchro Materials” must all be face-up on the field, their combined Levels has to match the Level of the Synchro Monster and, unless a card states otherwise, they can even Tokens and/or Trap Monsters.

This is, in short, what Synchro Summoning is, but how will this mechanic affect the game? I’m here to discuss this subject while also providing some commentary on the Skills and the cards that have something to do with it.

Whether Synchro Summoning will have an immediate impact on Duel Links or not is completely up to the developers of the game and to what cards they are going to release, but one thing is for sure: something is going to change.

The introduction of this mechanic means that cards like Paleozoic Canadia and Floodgate Trap Hole will become even stronger and more relevant because, as I mentioned, in order to be used as Synchro Materials, the monsters on the field must be face-up; other cards like Mithra the Thunder Vassal will instead become worse as they essentially give the opponent something that they could then utilize for a generic Synchro Monster.

Tuners

As you can imagine, since at least one monster of this type is required in order to perform a Synchro Summon, Tuners are very important. What makes a good Tuner monster?

There are many factors that contribute in making a good Tuner: its Level, its effect and the support available for it.

The Level of a Tuner monster is what determines what you can Special Summon with it: a lower Level will grant more versatility, whereas a higher Level will give you easier access to higher Level Synchros.

The effect of a Tuner may give it the ability of Special Summoning itself or of Special Summoning another monster, making it easier to then Synchro Summon with. Junk Synchron is a pretty good example of the second scenario I mentioned as its effect allows you to Special Summon a Level 2 or lower monster from the Graveyard, giving you instant access to a Level 5 Synchro.

The archetype, Type, Attribute, ATK and DEF determine what kind of support a Tuner can take advantage of; a Normal Dragon, Warrior or Spellcaster could be searched by Blue Dragon Summoner, whereas a Level 4 or lower LIGHT monster could be Special Summoned by Photon Lead—just to make some examples.

Synchros

Since you are “sacrificing” at least two monsters in order to Special Summon one of them, it better at least be worth it. Not all Synchros are created equal: some have very powerful effects, some have only raw stats to sport and others don't have either of these two. What makes a good Synchro?

The main things you should look for in this case are: the Synchro Materials, the Level, the effect, the stats and the support available.
The materials required in order to summon a Synchro monster are crucial: some monsters ask for very generic materials, the classic “1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner”, whereas others may ask for monsters of a specific Type, Attribute and/or archetype.

The Level determines how easy it is to summon the monster: a lower Level Synchro will require less materials, whereas a higher Level Synchro will require either more materials or higher Level materials.

The effect of a Synchro monster may make up for how difficult it is to summon it or simply make something already easy to get out even better.
While not being the primary focus, stats are still important: we only have 4000 Life Points to work with in Duel Links, so a big monster will always be a threat; a decent ATK and DEF is complementary to a monster with a good effect.
The last factor is what I defined as “support”: an archetype, a group of cards or a Skill that allows you to easily summon it are what makes a Synchro monster with a powerful effect and/or stats even greater.

No Main Phase 2

This is a great limitations that certain archetypes and, in this case, an entire summoning mechanic will suffer from in Duel Links: the absence of a second Main Phase between the Battle Phase and the End Phase.

In the TCG the U.A. archetype can go on the offensive and then easily switch the monsters on the field with ones more appropriate for a defensive role before the opponent's turn, but in this particular format that would not be possible and, in the same manner, Synchro Summoning will also be affected.

Skills and Cards

In this section I will analyse every Skill and card that has to do with the upcoming summoning mechanic, looking at both what will be added with the 5D’s Update and what we already have.

Let’s start from a Skill we already have and look at how it would interact with Synchros.

Draw Sense: Attribute

This type of Skill is quite common and most characters have at least one. What could be the purpose of it? Drawing into a Tuner. Just like Spellbook decks can take advantage of Draw Sense: Water in order to draw Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, any other Draw Sense Skill could give you direct access to a certain Tuner. If Junk Synchron was the only DARK monster in your deck, Draw Sense: Dark would be a viable option.

Next I’m going to look at cards that are already in the game and that will likely see more play in the next months.

Confronting the "C"

With the addition of a new summoning mechanic, Confronting the "C" might finally see some play: the ability to Special Summon itself when the opponent Special Summons a monster from the Extra Deck will make it a viable option in a meta in which most decks focus on Synchros. Confronting the “C” gains immunity to targeting monster effects when Special Summoned by its own effect, making for a pretty good line of defense between the opponent’s monsters and your Life Points.

Chaos Hunter

You might have already seen this card around; Chaos Hunter has a similar effect to Confronting the “C”, but its summoning requirements are less specific.

Paleozoic Canadia

I know I have already mentioned this for its ability to prevent the opponent from performing a Synchro Summon, but there’s more to it: Paleozoic Canadia can be Special Summoned from the Graveyard and become a Level 2 WATER Aqua-Type monster that you could then use as material. Whoever decided to invest into Valiant Souls made the right decision because this card is surely not going to go anywhere and will likely stay in the Popular Cards List for a long time.

Stygian Dirge

This Continuous Trap lowers the Level of all monsters on the opponent’s side of the field, making it very difficult to Synchro Summon if not completely impossible. Right now this card has nearly no use, but in the future it might even become a staple in every deck.

Other Cards

Cards that can Special Summon themselves like The Tricky and Dynatherium are going to be great in the 5D’s format; you Normal Summon is very important, so being able to get something out without wasting it is great.

Next I’m going to look at some of the Skills that will be added with the new characters.

Mark of the Dragon

With the introduction of Synchro monsters the Extra Deck becomes sort of a toolbox from which we can pick the card we need at the right moment, but, as you know, the space dedicated to it in Duel Links is very limited. Instead of simply expanding the Extra Deck, it looks like the developers found another way to fix this problem: the “Mark of the Dragon” Skills.

This type of Skill works similarly to something we already have in the game, Grandpa's Cards, as it essentially adds more cards to both the Main Deck and the Extra Deck. The first problem that the “Mark of the Dragon” Skills have is pretty clear: we have to build a deck first, with a minimum of 20 cards, and then more cards are going to be added, reducing its consistency.

Mark of the Dragon - Head

[Skill] descriptionUser
Mark of the Dragon - Head
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Junk Synchron" to your deck and 1 "Stardust Dragon" to your Extra deck.
Yusei Fudo
Yusei Fudo

This is Yusei Fudo’s version of the Skill, it adds 2 cards to the Main Deck and 1 to the Extra Deck.

I’ve already talked about Junk Synchron, so I’m not going to repeat myself, but so far he is not a bad Tuner compared to the ones that have been revealed so far.

Mark of the Dragon - Wings

[Skill] descriptionUser
Mark of the Dragon - Wings
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Dark Resonator" to your deck and 1 "Red Dragon Archfiend" to your Extra deck.
Jack Atlas
Jack Atlas

Jack’s version of the Skill adds Dark Resonator to the Main Deck, which is not a particularly great monster; the only thing this card brings to the table is its “once per turn” protection from destruction by battle, which is not always going to be enough to keep it on the field until another monster is summoned.

Mark of the Dragon - Tail

[Skill] descriptionUser
Mark of the Dragon - Tail
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North" to your deck and 1 "Black-Winged Dragon" to your Extra deck.
Crow Hogan
Crow Hogan

Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North is not that different from Junk Synchron, their effects are actually very similar; Duel Links is not the slow game it once was, but we don't have many cards that allows us to summon multiple monsters on the field unless they are part of a specific archetype, so having this type of effect makes this Winged Beast a pretty decent Tuner on release.

Mark of the Dragon - Foot

[Skill] descriptionUser
Mark of the Dragon - Foot
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Copy Plant" to your deck, and 1 "Black Rose Dragon" to your Extra deck.
Akiza Izinski
Akiza Izinski

Copy Plant is a pretty versatile Tuner: its effect allows it to copy the Level of another Plant-Type monster you control. Plant-Type monsters can take advantage of different support cards we have in the game, ranging from the Special Summoning effect of Rose Lover to the Additional Normal Summon of Aromage Jasmine. The only problem there is with this monster is that copying the Level of another monster means that their combined Levels will always be an even number, whereas Black Rose Dragon has 7 stars.

Mark of the Dragon - Heart

[Skill] descriptionUser
Mark of the Dragon - Heart
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Morphtronic Lantron](/c/j0nu56jn)" to your deck, and 1 "Power Tool Dragon" and "Life Stream Dragon" to your Extra deck.
Leo
Leo

While Morphtronic Lantron doesn't look that appealing, Life Stream Dragon seems like a great card; in the TCG players have 8000 Life Points, so the first effect of this card may not be always useful, but in Duel Links? You can recover all of your Life Points by summoning it.

Mark of the Dragon - Hand

[Skill] descriptionUser
Mark of the Dragon - Hand
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Spore" to your deck and 1 "Ancient Fairy Dragon" to your Extra deck.
Luna
Luna

Spore is a great Tuner and it has synergy with Sylvans, whereas Ancient Fairy Dragon works well with Aromages; this Skill and these two monsters in general have a lot of potential based on what we already have in the game.

The following Skills are not named “Mark of the Dragon -”, but they still work in a similar way.

Quickdraw Warriors

[Skill] descriptionUser
Quickdraw Warriors
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Quickdraw Synchron" to your deck and 2 random "Warrior" Synchro monsters which need "Synchron" tuner to your Extra deck.
Yusei Fudo
Yusei Fudo

Quickdraw Synchron is similar to the Tricky, but it’s a Tuner monster and it can substitute any “Synchron” monster as material for a Synchro Summon. The monsters that will be added to Extra Deck are random and that’s the biggest issue: the options are not all bad, but some are clearly better than others.

A Bond Entrusted

[Skill] descriptionUser
A Bond Entrusted
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Stardust Dragon" to your Extra deck. When your LP is 1000 or below, set 1 "Wicked Rebirth" only once.
Yusei Fudo
Yusei Fudo

The main appeal of this Skill is the fact that it adds 2 Stardust Dragon to your Extra Deck, the part about Wicked Rebirth is hardly going to come into place, but it’s still an extra card. If you have no intention in diving into the new Main Box, but you still want to play with Yusei’s ace monster, this is a good option.

Courage and Strength

[Skill] descriptionUser
Courage and Strength
At the beginning of the Duel, add 2 "Morphtronic Remoten" to your deck and 1 "Power Tool Dragon" to your Extra deck.
Leo
Leo

Leo already has a pretty good “Mark of the Dragon -” Skill, but this one gives you a better Tuner monster at the cost of Life Stream Dragon.

Assault Mode

“/Assault Mode” monsters are essentially stronger versions of already-existing Synchro monsters, they have a higher Level, ATK and DEF and more powerful effects; both Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas received a Skill that supports this type of monster.

Assault Exchange

[Skill] descriptionUser
Assault Exchange
Shuffle 1 "/Assault Mode" card from your hand into the Deck. Add 1 "Assault Mode Activate" from your deck to your hand, This skill can be used once per turn.
Jack Atlas and Yusei Fudo

This Skill is very similar to My Name is Yubel, but it’s even better for this mechanic: “Assault Mode Activate” can only Special Summon the “/Assault Mode” counterpart of a monster from the Deck, so, if you draw your only copy of that monster, you would end up with a dead card in hand and at least another one still in your Deck;

Assault Exchange shuffles back the monster into the deck and gives you the Trap Card that would Special Summon it. You still need to get the Synchro version on the field first, but, if you are planning on playing “/Assault Mode” monsters, then this is without a doubt the best Skill to pair with your deck.

Three New Beatdown!

ATK Booster: Synchro Warriors

[Skill] descriptionUser
ATK Booster: Synchro Warriors
Until the end of your turn, "Warrior" Synchro monsters you control gains 100 ATK x their level. This skill can be used once per turn.
Yusei Fudo
Yusei Fudo

How this Skill will perform depends entirely on what Synchro Warrior-Type monsters will be released, but we can already see that it’s similar to the current Beatdown! in terms of effect.

Junk Warrior has a base ATK of 2300 and it’s a Level 5 monster, so this Skill will give it a 500 ATK boost in addition to its own effect; 2800 ATK is definitely above average and it ties already with a some of monsters that are currently popular in Duel Links.

King of the Archfiends

[Skill] descriptionUser
King of the Archfiends
Untile the end of your turn, "Archfiend" Synchro monsters you control gains 100 ATK x their level. This skill can be used once per turn.
Jack Atlas
Jack Atlas

Red Dragon Archfiend is not the only Synchro monster in the archetype, there are actually quite a lot. This Skill is very similar to ATK Booster: Synchro Warriors; Archfiend Synchros usually have a high Level and pretty strong effects, so this might be a good Skill going forward.

Blackwing Rising

[Skill] descriptionUser
Blackwing Rising
Until your opponent's next end phase, "Black-Winged Dragon" and "Blackwing" Synchro monsters you control gain 200 ATK per "Black Wing" monsters you control. This skill can be used once per turn.
Crow Hogan
Crow Hogan

The ATK boost is limited to Black-Winged Dragon and Synchro monsters, but it does last longer than Beatdown! and The Tie that Binds; Black-Winged Dragon can debuff opponent's monsters and then inflict heavy damage thanks to this Skill.

Level Manipulation

The Level of the monsters on the field is very important since it has to be equal to the one of the Synchro monster you want to summon.

Level Duplication / Augmentation / Reduction

These Skills are pretty self-explanatory, they essentially make it easier to Synchro Summon.

Comments

Hot New Top
Anonymous
hello
Anonymous
I need some help. I used lightwave tuning on my 4 star light monster and I wasn't able to syncho summon anything even with my Blue Eyes on the field. What am I doing wrong?
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
syncho summon = math equation.

4star + 8star = 9star? thats why you can't summon it.

if you have 12star monster in your extra deck. Yes, you can summon it.
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
Pay attention to the tutorial next time. Or watch the anime. I never needed the tutorial since I already knew how to Synchro Summon, and by extension XYZ summon if Zexal gets released, before it came to Duel Links
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
What do those LIGHT Machine Unions have to do with Zexal, though
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
Even he wrongly wrote Xyz as XYZ, but he said "XYZ summon" ofc it's refer to the summon mechanic. Duh
Zontany
Is there a Level 3 spellcaster tuner other than Eccentric Boy?
<< Anonymous(Zontany)
Anonymous Reply
Geomancer of the Ice Barrier

Level 3 Water Tuner that has a discarding effect.
<< Anonymous(Zontany)
Anonymous Reply
yah genex level 3 tuner
Anonymous
Blackwings took the 1st place of white stone of the ancients as the best / most used tuner in the game.
Brain dead fools
These comments are hilarious it takes like 5 seconds to understand how to synchro summon and these people need to ask others on how to do it
<< Anonymous
Coronel Brute Reply
Lmaoooo u serious?
<< Anonymous(Coronel Brute)
Anonymous Reply
Oh, look. Someone pretending the guy meant the Union monsters despite the fact he was obviously talking about the Rank monsters. It's not like I've already read it a hundred 🔥ing times in this website.
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
1. Writing XYZ instead of Xyz is intentionally taking more effort to be wrong, since one requires longer press of the capslock key. They are two different things in Yugioh, period.
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
2. Why bother taking more effort to intentionally write Xyz incorrectly when you don't do the same to Fusion, Synchro, Ritual, Effect, and Normal? The same people who still write Xyz incorrectly after more than 7 years, never also write Fusion as FUSION or Synchro as SYNCHRO. Why it's always only Xyz?
Anonymous
Black wings can’t currently thrive until they increase the amount of monster zones
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
and give us better blackwing monsters in general.
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
The amount of zones is not an issue, the real issue is that the Blackwings we have right now are mostly bad ones.
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
Also duel links is speed dueling so don't expect them to ever add more zones
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
Yeah, they should at least give us the good BW Synchros.
Anonymous
Synhcro what?
<< Anonymous
Anonymous Reply
A pic of Junk Gardna would have been more appropriate lol
help!
i have thousands of gold and i dont know what pack to buy!
<< Anonymous(help!)
help! Reply
i play for a year but i am noob at synchros so i gathered a lot of gold!
Anonymous
need maxx C
<< Anonymous
Random Guy Reply
No we dont
<< Anonymous
sop19971 Reply
Oh? And I suppose we also "need" broken cards like upstart goblin and rota? No we don't need Maxx c but what you do need is a good slap in the face Mister "I want duel links to be broken like the tcg" ugh smh
Anonymous
SYNCHRO SHOKAN !
Kryptic
Can anyone tell me why I cant summon either junk warrior or stardust dragon ??
<< Anonymous(Kryptic)
Anonymous Reply
you must have exact total level (1 tuner junk synchron 3+ 1 non-tuner level 5 monster) for summoning
<< Anonymous(Kryptic)
Anonymous Reply
for Junk Warrior, you need Junk Synchron + a level 2 non-Tuner, since Junk Synchron is level 3 (3 + 2 = 5, Junk Warrior is level 5)

for Stardust Dragon, you need the total combined Level of the Tuner and non-Tuner(s) to equal EXACTLY 8.
<< Anonymous(Kryptic)
Anonymous Reply
Someone didn’t pay attention to the tutorial...
Anonymous
Tutorial for synchro summoning level 4 synchro monsters: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xCtRPtjGGXI#

Commens and feedback

Recommend

Thank you for visiting Duel Links wiki by GameA! We update this Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links community day by day to provide quality guides and the latest news.

Duel Links Wiki Updates

Duel Links News & Events

Duel Links World Championship 2023

Raid Duel - The Last Survivor of Mankind: Zone! Unlock Event

Structure Deck EX: Secret of Magicians

45th Main Box: Raider's Requiem

Yugioh! Card Game 25th Anniversary Campaign

"Power Pros" App x "Yu-Gi-Oh!" Collaboration Campaign

6th Anniversary Campaign on 12 January 2023

Upcoming events [March]

Leaked Characters

Yu-Gi-OH Vrains

Vrains Characters

How to beat/farm Legendary Duelists Lvl 40

Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V

Arc V Characters

How to beat/farm Legendary Duelists Lvl 40

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal

Legendary Duelists

How to beat/farm Legendary Duelists Lvl 40

Other Zexal Duelists

Yu-Gi-Oh Dark Side of Dimension [DSOD]

Legendary Duelists

How to beat/farm Legendary Duelists Lvl 40

Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's

Legendary Duelists

How to beat/farm Legendary Duelists Lvl 40

Useful links

Forums

Decks

Decks to farm LD Lvl 40

Characters (Legendary Duelists)

Yu-Gi-Oh! (DM)

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Related pages

Accessories

Card Sleeves & Game Mats

Booster packs/Card Trader

Card Trader & Ranked Rewards

Card TraderRanked Rewards

Card Trader

Ranked Rewards

Card box

Available card boxes
The Ultimate RisingAge of DiscoveryNeo-ImpactFlame of the TyrantValkyries Rage
Wonders of the SkyChaotic ComplianceLand of the TitansCrimson KingdomDawn of Destiny
Electric OverloadEchoes of SilenceServants of KingsGalactic Origin
Blades of Spirit Primal BurstResonance of ContrastAbyss EncounterRampage of the Forest
Valiant SoulsVisions of IceCrusaders BattlegroundClash of WingsBurning Nova
Empire of ScarletGaia GenesisStardust AccelerationPower of BraveryBlackstorm Rising
Secrets of the AncientsRevolution BeginningTornado of PhantomsAbsolute InfernoDimension of the Wizards
Warriors UniteLords of ShiningBlazing RoseGuardians of RockCybernetic Rebellion
Curse of DreadValhalla CallingDark DimensionSpirit of the BeastAerial Assault
Soul of ResurrectionFuture HorizonMasters of ShadowJudgement ForceFortress of Gears
Truth UniverseFlames of the HeartWitchs SorceryChronicle of GloryInfernity Destruction
Arena of SanctuaryShining HopeVoltage of the MetalShark FangRage of Volcano
Infinite RayPhotons of GalaxyAntinomic TheorySign of HarpiesEternal Stream
The King of VermillionDarkness GimmickArts of AtlantisPendulum GenesisIdea of Armageddon
Chaotic SoldiersForce of InfinityFantastic ArcPhantom of RebellionMaximum Gustav
Heart of XyzShining SunriseStars of SynchroLink RevolutionStage of Trickstar
Braver VictoryArms of GiantFuture CircuitLord of BorrelRaiders Requiem

Selection Box

Selection Boxes
Selection Box Vol. 01Selection Box Vol. 01 MiniSelection Box Vol.01 Super MiniSelection Box Vol. 02Selection Box Vol. 02 Mini
Selection Box Vol. 03Selection Box Vol.03 MiniSelection Box Vol.04Selection Box Vol.04 MiniSelection Box Vol.05
Selection Box Vol.06

Special Packs

Special Pack
Special Pack Vol. 01Special Pack Vol. 02Special Pack Vol. 03Special Pack Vol. 04Special Pack Vol. 05

Structure decks

Structure decks
Sorcerers AllianceDragonic ForceHero RisingLegendary WarriorsDestiny Rulers
Dragonic KnightsSpellbound SilenceSynchro ConnectionThe White Dragon of LegendSwordbound Silence
Ancient Gear AwakeningNeos FusionReturn of the Red-EyesFull Metal DesperadoMaster of Chaos
Kings ResonanceDragunity OverdriveGladiators StormHERO GenerationReturn of the Fire Kings
Gagaga XyzTales of the Noble KnightsBlue-Eyes EvolutionStardust NexusRise of Gaia
Evil DominationMagicians ArcD/D/D ApocalypseCyber Style ExtremeSword of Paladin
Tellarknight AdventBrave HopeRuddy Rose BurningCyberse CodeThousand Illusion
Imperial JokerSecret of Magicians

Other Pages

Duel Links Basics

FAQ

Standard duelists & Legendary Duelist Lvl 30

Ranking

Comments (updated every hour)

Add me and play 888-503-525
If you look at what they did to lava golem, yes. Honestly it doesn't matter to me as long...
Planet level elephant pretty cool.
> Go to the latest comments

Popular Decks

Popular Cards

QA

Another Game Site