Synchros are back! Synchro Summoning Decks like Infernoids and Yang Zings are making big showings in Regional Qualifier tournaments this season, and the powerful effect of Elder Entity Norden revives a Tuner for instant Synchro Summoning. Assembling Synchro Materials has never been easier.

That’s great news, because the High-Speed Riders booster has lots of all-new Synchro Monsters, plus several more that up until now, were only available as manga promos. That meant they weren’t legal for play in places like Europe and Latin America.   But that’s all in the past now, as two powerful Synchros make their worldwide debut – Stardust Spark Dragon and Black Rose Moonlight Dragon.

Stardust Spark Dragon’s a Level 8 Synchro, making it a popular pick lately in Infernoids. Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn is a Level 4 Tuner, so if you Tune it to a Level 4 like Infernoid Patrulea or Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress you’ll have everything you need for your Synchro Summon. If you don’t have a Level 4 non-Tuner, you can use Infernoid Decatron’s effect to switch its Level and match it to whatever you have in your hand.

Yang Zings Summon Stardust Spark Dragon really easily too, and since Yang Zings give a Synchro Monster extra bonuses when you use them as Synchro Materials, you can really power up your Stardust Spark Dragon. There are lots of ways to make Level 8 Synchros with Yang Zings, but the fastest is to Special Summon Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing and Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing with the effect of Jiaotu, Darkness of the Yang Zing. Bixi will protect Stardust Spark Dragon from Trap Cards, while Suanni boosts it up to 3000 ATK. The same combo can Synchro Summon Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons, but Spark Dragon can protect some of your best cards…

Once per on either player’s turn, Stardust Spark Dragon’s effect lets you target one of your face-up cards and protect it from being destroyed, one time for the turn. That means you can protect Spark Dragon itself, shield other monsters, or protect your backrow from simple removal like Mystical Space Typhoon.

That last part’s really important, because it means you can protect game-winning Trap Cards that stop your opponent from making important actions. You can force a Nekroz player to find two answers to your Mistake before they can use their Deck searching effects, or lock down Kozmos or Ritual Beasts with Imperial Iron Wall. Vanity’s Emptiness is a popular combo with Stardust Spark Dragon too; since Emptiness destroys itself whenever another of your cards goes to the Graveyard, Spark Dragon can protect it from its own effect. That leaves your opponent stuck trying to beat your monster without Special Summoning.

Stardust Spark Dragon’s just the beginning. Another re-trained Synchro Monster’s been appearing in tournament Decks, and it happens to be an awesome combo with some of the biggest cards going…

Black Rose Moonlight Dragon has a Trigger Effect that activates when it’s Summoned, and will activate again once per turn whenever a Level 5 or higher monster’s Special Summoned to your opponent’s side of the field. It targets one of your opponent’s Special Summoned monsters, then return that target to its owner’s hand.

You can play Black Rose Moonlight Dragon virtually anywhere, thanks to the new Elder Entity Norden from the 2015 Mega-Tins and the recent popularity of Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit. By sending Snow Rabbit to the Graveyard for its effect, you destroy one of your opponent’s cards and load your Graveyard with a Level 3 Tuner. Special Summon Norden with Instant Fusion, use its effect to revive Snow Rabbit, and you can make a Level 7 Synchro for one card and 1000 LP. Suddenly any strategy can have a Level 7 Synchro Summoning engine.

Moonlight Dragon’s ability triggers off a Level 5 Special Summon, but it can target any Special Summoned monster as long as it’s on your opponent’s side of the field – you don’t have to target the monster that triggered the effect, and you can bounce monster can be any Level you like – even an Xyz Monster with no Level. It’s a great way to clear any big Special Summon giving you trouble, but it’s especially great at mopping up a monster that would activate a powerful effect if it hit the Graveyard…

Dante, Traveler of the Burning Abyss returns a “Burning Abyss” card from your opponent’s Graveyard to their hand if it’s sent to the Graveyard. El Shaddoll Construct gets your opponent back a “Shaddoll” Spell or Trap in the same fashion. Remember, returning a monster that came from the Extra Deck to the hand sends it back to the Extra Deck, so neither of these monsters’ effects work if you bounce those cards off the field and back to your opponent’s hand instead of destroying them, and since Black Rose Moonlight Dragon’s effect can activate once per turn, it can make big problems for some of the best strategies going. Remember, returning a monster that came from the Extra Deck to the hand sends it back to the Extra Deck

High-Speed Riders unleashes Stardust Spark Dragon and Black Rose Moonlight Dragon upon the world at large for the first time ever, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect! Ask yourself how these two monsters could fit into your strategy; With the global debut of these monsters at hand and new trends that make Synchro Summoning easier, they could have a big impact moving forward.