Synchron Extreme brings a brand new Level 10 Synchro Monster to aim for: Stardust Warrior! While Stardust Dragon can block Spells, Traps, Spell/Trap effects, and monster effects, Stardust Warrior cleans up by blocking the one thing that Stardust Dragon can’t: Summons!

Stardust Warrior works just like Stardust Dragon, except you use its effect when your opponent would Special Summon a monster during an open game state or any time a Chain isn’t currently resolving. It’ll negate that Summon and destroy the monster(s) that would have been Summoned, then Special Summon itself back during the End Phase. This works on a Summon of any size, from a single monster Xyz or Synchro Summon, to the Special Summon of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning, to a huge 5-monster Pendulum Summon.

Stardust Warrior also takes a page out of Shooting Quasar Dragon’s book and has another effect if your opponent somehow manages to get rid of it. If it’s destroyed by battle or leaves the field due to your opponent’s card effect, you get to Summon one of Yusei’s various “Warrior” Synchro Monsters from your Extra Deck, and you get to count it as a Synchro Summon! That last bit is especially useful because cards like the new Jet Warrior only get their effects when Synchro Summoned.

If you’re going to build your Extra Deck around a Level 10 monster that requires 1 Tuner Synchro Monster + 1 or more non-Tuner Synchro Monsters as its Synchro Materials, you need to make sure that you include the appropriate cards in your Extra Deck to make that happen. It’s best to start with Tuner Synchro Monsters because there are fewer of them and it’ll help to guide the rest of the Extra Deck creation process. Counting the new Accel Synchron, the Card Database tells you that there are a total of 7 of them.

Life Stream Dragon is too Material-specific and too high-Level to help Summon Stardust Warrior, so it’s out. T.G. Wonder Magician is an incredibly useful card, but it requires “T.G.” non-Tuners, so it’s best to sideline it until you start building your Main Deck. Of the remainder, Formula Synchron is great, Tatsunoko is a good multi-purpose card, and Phonon Pulse Dragon can shift its Level around, making it a wild card. It can even become Level 1, meaning you could theoretically use it in a Synchro Summon with Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier in order to Summon Stardust Warrior!

It’s good to have a variety of monsters in your Extra Deck, so it’s hard to go wrong with taking one each of Formula Synchron, Tatsunoko, Phonon Pulse Dragon, and Accel Synchron. You could also tentatively add a second Accel Synchron as a flex Tuner that you could switch out for T.G. Wonder Magician if you find yourself wanting T.G. Warwolf or T.G. Rush Rhino in your Deck.

With Tuner Synchro Monsters taken care of, it’s time to turn your attention to non-Tuner Synchro Monsters. Assuming you play 2 copies of Stardust Warrior and 4 Tuner Synchros, that leaves 9 slots left for regular Synchro Monsters. At minimum, you want to have at least 1 Synchro at Levels 5 through 8 to pair with your Tuners, and probably 2 “Warrior” Synchro Monsters to use with Stardust Warrior.

In this type of strategy, T.G. Hyper Librarian is always welcome for the extra draw you get each time a monster is Synchro Summoned while it’s on the field, so it’s a great candidate for Level 5. Jet Warrior has a great effect, and its Tuner, Jet Synchron, is good for putting together multiple Synchro Summons, so it’s worth playing as well. If you’re willing to commit to a lot of EARTH monsters, Naturia Beast is a great option here as well.

At Level 6, Goyo Guardian, HTS Psyhemuth, Blackwing – Nothung the Starlight, Vulcan the Divine, and Hi-Speedroid Kendama are all worthy of consideration, as is Drill Warrior. Hi-Speedroid Kendama is good at pressing for damage and giving you Synchro Material to work with out of nowhere, so it’s highly recommended.

At Level 7, Black Rose Dragon, Yazi, Evil of the Yang Zing, Black Rose Moonlight Dragon, and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon are all viable.

Finally, at Level 8, there are tons of choices! You can use the Card Database to sort them all out, but Stardust Dragon is almost always a great choice, Scrap Dragon is great at clearing the road, and Road Warrior makes for a good “Warrior” Synchro Monster to Summon with Stardust Warrior – replacing one 3000 ATK monster with another.

There’s also the matter of Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. If you’re building your Deck to be able to Synchro Summon a lot, you should probably be taking advantage of Trishula when possible due to its extreme power level!

Have you decided how you’re going to build your Extra Deck? You can pick up the Synchron Extreme Structure Deck tomorrow!