Synchro Monsters are back with a vengeance in Savage Strike, and Borreload Savage Dragon is leading the charge!  With 3000 ATK, two amazing effects and generic Synchro Materials, it’s a face-stomping negation powerhouse that can dominate your Duels…if you play it right.

Synchro Summoning Borreload Savage Dragon is as easy as gathering any Tuner monster and one or more non-Tuners – they just have to add up to 8 Levels of Synchro Material.  That’s cool because there are no specifics: your Synchro Materials can be any Attribute or any Type, Token Monsters are fine, and you can use as many or as few monsters as you want.

BUT, you’ll need to play Borreload Savage Dragon in Decks that can Link Summon – ideally Decks that can Link climb by using one Link Monster as Link Material for the next.  Why?  Because Link Monsters are essential for Borreload Savage Dragon’s awesome effects.

When you Synchro Summon Borreload Savage Dragon you can equip a Link Monster to it from your Graveyard.  If you do, you get to place Borrel Counters on it equal to the equipped monster’s Link Rating (Link-1, Link-2 and such).  The Dragon gains ATK equal to half the Attack Points of the equipped monster, but the Borrel Counters are the best part: once per turn when your opponent activates a card or effect, you can remove a Borrel Counter from Borreload Savage Dragon to negate the activation.

So to recap: Borreload Savage Dragon starts with 3000 ATK, it grabs a Link Monster from your Graveyard to gain half of that monster’s ATK, and then it can negate something for free every turn.  It’s pretty nuts, and the craziest part is how easily you’ll set it up.  Let’s talk about some of the Decks that can run it.

Dark Heroes are a top control Deck right now, and all you need to run Borreload Savage Dragon is a Tuner.  Everything else is already there.  Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights is a Link-2 that can Special Summon Dark Grepher or Armageddon Knight, and both have effects that send Dark monsters from your Deck to the Graveyard.  Just make Isolde, Special Summon one of those monsters, and then work on loading your Graveyard with Plaguespreader Zombie and Destiny Hero – Malicious.

You can banish Malicious to Special Summon another Malicious from your Deck, and you can place any card from your hand on top of your Deck to revive Plaguespreader Zombie.  Tune them together and you’ll have the Level 2 Tuner and Level 6 non-Tuner you need to unleash Borreload Savage Dragon.

You can even Link the Armageddon Knight or Dark Grepher to Isolde for another Link Monster, putting into the Graveyard.  Equipping Isolde gives Savage Dragon +800 ATK and two Borrel Counters for negations.  With Knightmares, Summon Sorceress, and big Link-4’s like Borreload Dragon and Borrelsword Dragon in the mix, there are lots of options to beef up Borreload Savage Dragon.

Pendulum Magicians could make a bit of a comeback thanks to Borreload Savage Dragon!  Magicians have a really easy time Synchro Summoning Level 8’s, because Harmonizing Magician’s a Level 4 Tuner that can Special Summon a free Level 4 Magician from your Deck.  It’s an instant Synchro Summon with anything like Black Fang Magician or Purple Poison Magician.

The deck hinges on Heavymetalfoes Electrumite, and with cards like Wee Witch’s Apprentice, Underclock Taker, LANphorhynchus and Zefra Metaltron in the Extra Deck there’s no shortage of Link Monsters to load up with once Borreload Savage Dragon hits the field.

So where else can you play it?

If you’ve got Link Monsters it’s not tough to add a few cards to your Deck and get Borreload Savage Dragon going.  Instant Fusion can get you to Sea Monster of Theseus, a Level 5 Tuner that comes straight out of your Extra Deck.  If you already play Tuners in your Main Deck you can use Instant Fusion for non-Tuner Fusion Monsters instead and get your Synchro Materials that way.

A lot of the best hand traps are Level 3 Tuners: you might be playing Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries, or Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion already, which means you just need to find a Level 5 non-Tuner to finish out your Summon.

Glow-Up Bulb and Destrudo the Lost Dragon’s Frisson are even easier to use in the right Decks: both have effects that can revive them from the Graveyard, so all you have to do is get them there and bring them back with their abilities.  They’ve appeared in some of the most powerful combo strategies over the years and now there’s another huge reason to give them a shot today.

Borreload Savage Dragon fits into a lot of strategies featured in Savage Strike too: Rokkets can use all the splashable Tuners we just mentioned, but they also have Rokket Synchron.  Orcusts have the same options, but they can make big plays with Orcust Brass Bombard as well.  Both strategies make lots of Link Summons to set up a successful Savage Dragon.

Is Borreload Savage Dragon the next big thing in Synchro Summoning?  You can get your copy when Savage Strike releases February 1st!