Yesterday, we took a look at 2 of the new Blackwing monsters available in Premium Gold: Return of the Bling. Today, we’ll be checking out the two new Synchro Monsters that you can Synchro Summon with those monsters: Blackwing Tamer – Obsidian Hawk Joe and Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight!

Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight is a Level 6 Synchro Monster with 2400 ATK. It can be Synchro Summoned by combining any Tuner with 1 or more non-Tuner monsters. If it’s Special Summoned, your opponent loses 800 Life Points, and one of his or her monsters loses 800 ATK and DEF. Nothung also lets you Normal Summon an extra Blackwing monster during your Main Phase once per turn.

Nothung is a great card for lots of reasons.

First, it’s easy for a Blackwing Duelist to Summon. Blackwing monsters quickly swarm to the field, and assembling a Tuner and non-Tuner whose Levels add up to 6 is a breeze.

Here are just a couple of ways for a Blackwing Duelist to Summon Nothung:

• Summon Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North (Level 2 Tuner) and activate its effect to Special Summon Blackwing – Kris the Crack of Dawn (Level 4 non-Tuner) to instantly Synchro Summon Nothung.

• Summon Blackwing – Kalut the Moon Shadow while Black Whirlwind is on your field, activate the effect of Black Whirlwind to add Blackwing – Breeze the Zephyr to your hand, Special Summon Breeze with its own effect, and then Tune Breeze with Kalut to Synchro Summon Nothung.

• Activate the effect of Blackwing – Vayu the Emblem of Honor to banish it from your Graveyard along with Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn and Special Summon Nothung. (Nothung’s effect will be negated by Vayu, but you’ll still get a 2400 ATK monster, bigger than Blackwing Armed Wing.)

Second, Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight’s effect that deals 800 points of damage to your opponent can be a Duel-ender. It’s not uncommon for Duelists to use Gagaga Cowboy’s effect to deal the last 800 points of damage needed to win a Duel. Nothung works the same way. Summon it while your opponent has 800 or fewer Life Points, and you’ll win the Duel.

Nothung’s ability to strip an opponent’s monster of 800 ATK and DEF may also turn the tide of a Duel once in a while, by allowing you to destroy a powerful monster in battle, or allowing you to deal more damage while attacking a weaker one.

Third, Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight adds to the Blackwing strategy of swarming the field with monsters by letting you Normal Summon an extra Blackwing monster each turn.

Since Nothung can be Synchro Summoned without using any Blackwing monsters as Synchro Materials, it’s a powerful card in an Extra Deck supporting just about any Synchrocentric strategy. That means that you can get the game ending power of Gagaga Cowboy without having to run Cowboy, Level 4 Monsters, or any Xyz Monsters in your Extra Deck at all.

Blackwing Tamer – Obsidian Hawk Joe, on the other hand, is tough to Summon outside of dedicated Blackwing Decks.

Obsidian Hawk Joe is a Level 7 Synchro Monster with 2600 ATK. You can Synchro Summon it by combining a Blackwing Tuner with 1 or more non-Tuner Blackwing monsters. Fortunately, since there are lots of easy-to-Summon Level 3 Blackwing Tuners and Level 4 Blackwing non-Tuners, Joe is easy to Summon in a Blackwing Deck. Summon Blackwing – Kris the Crack of Dawn or Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite alongside Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind or Blackwing – Pinaki the Waxing Moon, for example, and you’ll be all set to Synchro Summon Joe.

Obsidian Hawk Joe has a few awesome effects that reward a Blackwing Duelist for Summoning it. Once per turn, you can activate Joe’s effect to Special Summon a Level 5 or higher Winged Beast from your Graveyard. Use Joe’s effect to revive your fallen Blackwing Synchro Monsters or Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn.

Joe also lets you use other Blackwing monsters to shield itself. When your opponent activates a card of effect that targets only Joe, or when your opponent targets Joe for an attack, you can change that target to a different Blackwing monster you control. This will help Joe stick around to Special Summon more Blackwing monsters that can protect it.

Blackwings fell out of favor with many Duelists by the end of the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s era, but Premium Gold: Return of the Bling breathes new life into Blackwing Decks! You can make a Blackwing Deck stronger than ever before when Premium Gold: Return of the Bling releases on March 20^th!