Synchronized swimmers (ON MOTORCYCLES) Part 1

Over the course of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yusei has been using a number of Synchron monsters as Tuners to Summon his famous Synchro Monsters. And as expected of the main character, most of them have been released as actual Cards one way or another. Despite being weak monsters, they are really useful as Tuners, which also have the ability to Summon some powerful Synchro Monsters which are restricted to these Tuners. We already reviewed Change Synchron in a TSHD article, but let's take a look at the rest:

The most famous Tuner used by Yusei is Junk Synchron:

When this card is Normal Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 2 or lower monster from your Graveyard  in face-up  Defense Position. That monster's effect(s) is negated.

Junk Synchron has an Optional Trigger Effect activated upon its Normal Summon, so it can be negated by Pulling the Rug. It targets a low Level monster in your Graveyard. The negation is a Condition set on the Summoned monster, which is not related to Junk Synchron in any way. Even if Junk Synchron stops being face-up, the negation remains. This negation affects any effects that apply on the Field, or activate on the Field, regardless of the location of the monster Card. So, for example, a Card like Cyber Valley would have all of its effects negated (since they all activate on the Field), even if the first effect Removes it from Play as a cost. On the other hand, a monster like Cross Porter, which activates its effect in the Graveyard, won't be negated. As usual, flipping the affected monster face-down would remove this condition.

Junk Synchron is one of the most versatile Synchron Monsters, allowing you to Summon 3 otherwise exclusive Synchros. The first being the always popular Junk Warrior:

"Junk Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, it gains ATK equal to the total ATK of all Level 2 and lower monsters you control.

Junk Warrior has a mandatory Trigger Effect activated upon its Synchro Summon. It can be negated by Swallow Flip. The ATK of the monsters is counted at its resolution, and it is counted only once. The ATK boost remains fixed even if the ATK of the low Level monsters varies (or if they appear or disappear). This is worth noting, as the anime treats this effect as a Continuous Effect. Don't pay too much attention to it.

The next Synchro for Junk Synchron is Junk Archer:

"Junk Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
Once per turn you can remove 1 monster your opponent controls from play. During the End Phase, the removed monster returns to the opponent's side of the field, in the same Battle Position.

Junk Archer has an Ignition Effect. It targets an opponent's monster, and this effect Removes that from Play temporarily. It sets a Condition on the affected monster to return it to the Field afterwards. Since the Condition is set on the monster, the return of the monster does not depend on Junk Archer's existence. It will still return even if Junk Archer is no longer face-up.

The last Synchro Monster associated to Junk Synchron is the recently released Junk Destroyer:

"Junk Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned, you can select and destroy cards on the field, up to the number of non-Tuner monsters used as Synchro Material Monsters for this card.

Destroyer has an Optional Trigger Effect that targets a number of Cards up to a certain number. It can be negated by Swallow Flip, and if you choose more than 2 targets, it can be negated by Starlight Road too.

The next Synchron Monster is Nitro Synchron:

If this card is sent to the Graveyard  for the Synchro Summon of a "Nitro" Synchro Monster, draw 1 card.

Nitro Synchron has a Mandatory Trigger Effect activated upon the successful Synchro Summon of a monster. It can be negated by Swallow Flip. Note that being mandatory, you must draw a Card, so if you don't have any Cards left, you lose the Duel.

Nitro Synchron enables you to use Nitro Warrior:

"Nitro Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner Monsters
Once during each of your turns, if you activated a Spell Card(s), this card gains 1000 ATK during its next attack, for damage calculation only. Once per turn, if this attacking card destroys an opponent's monster by battle, you can change 1 face-up Defense Position monster your opponent controls to Attack Position, and attack it with this card.

Finally something juicy, rulings wise. Nitro Warrior has two effects. The first effect is Continuous, or rather, it doesn't use the chain. In order for Nitro Warrior to gain ATK, it must be face-up when the Spell Card is activated and when it resolves, and also, it must remain on the same side of the Field during that process. For example, if my opponent uses Brain Control on my Nitro Warrior, then Nitro is face-up when Brain Control is activated and when it resolves, but it did not remain on the same side of the Field during the process. And so, my opponent cannot apply the ATK gain. This effect is applied immediately at Damage Calculation during the first attack performed by Nitro.

The second effect is a little turbulent. Its an Optional Trigger Effect. Currently, you activate it at the End of the Damage Step. When you activate it, it targets an opponent's monster, and then changes it to Attack Position. This Card then attacks that monster. This attack is treated like any normal attack, with steps like Attack Declaration and the Damage Step. However, note that the only legal Attack Target for this attack is the monster that you had targeted. If a replay occurs for any reason, Nitro Warrior cannot choose any other attack targets (or attack directly).

Moving on, we have Turbo Synchron:

When this card declares an attack, you can change the attack target to Defense Position. When you take Battle Damage while this card is attacking, you can Special Summon 1 monster  from your hand  with ATK equal to or less than the Battle Damage you took.

Turbo Synchron has two Optional Trigger Effects. The first one is activated it upon attack declaration. It doesn't target. The second effect is activated at the "After Damage Calculation" Sub-Step. It doesn't target either (the monster is in the Hand). You must take Battle Damage in order to activate the effect. In other words, you cannot activate it if you had activated Waboku earlier in the turn, in order to Special Summon a 0 ATK monster.

Turbo Synchron enables Turbo Warrior:

"Turbo Synchron" + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
When this card attacks a Level 6 or higher Synchro Monster, halve the monster's ATK until the end of the Damage Step. This card cannot be targeted by the effects of Level 6 or lower monsters.

Turbo Warrior has two effects. The first effect is a Mandatory Trigger Effect. It's activated upon Attack Declaration, and it doesn't target. The Synchro Monster must be face-up when this Card attacks in order for the effect to activate. Since the effect doesn't target, if the attack target changes, then the new attack target has its ATK halved, even if it's not a proper Synchro Monster. The second effect is Continuous, and it's simply a protection effect.

Stay tuned for the second part of the Synchron monsters! If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an e-mail at ness00[at]gmail[dot]com.