It was roughly a month ago when Konami first revealed the Power of Fellows structure deck. Advertised to contain 8 new cards, only half were shown at the time. Now, Konami is tipping their hand a little as they’re showing 2 of the remaining 4 new cards for the Yusei-focused structure deck.
Scrap Synchron
Machine/Tuner/Effect Monster
For a Synchro Summon, you can substitute this card for any 1 “Synchron” Tuner. You can only use the 1st and 2nd effect of this card's name each once per turn.
(1) If you Synchro Summon a monster that mentions a “Synchron” Tuner as material, this card in your hand can also be used as material.
(2) If a monster(s) you control that mentions “Junk Warrior” and/or is a Synchro Monster with “Warrior” in its original name would be destroyed by battle or card effect, you can banish this card from your field or GY instead.
It looks like the design team had decided to adapt a page from the Killer Tune archetype. Scrap Synchron slightly emulates the Killer Tune’s gimmick by allowing itself to be used as material from the hand. It can even be used to substitute for any specific “Synchron” tuner as needed.
There is some room for clarification, though, as we’re not sure if the controlling player needs another tuner monster on the field first to initiate the synchro summon or not, even with Scrap Synchron’s ability to be used from the hand.
As for Scrap Synchron’s overall design, it feels a little lackluster. At the very least, it feels like this card was designed for an earlier point in Yu-Gi-Oh’s lifespan.
Its ability to be a Synchron tuner substitute and material from the hand is uncommon and could find some niche uses. That said, the extra deck monsters that Scrap Synchron is pushing for aren’t necessarily competitive, barring a couple of exceptions and potential niche cases.
There could be an argument for Junk Warrior and some OTK (One-Turn Kill) strategies, and the one-time destruction protection is a nice touch, but overall design for Scrap Synchron has pretty limited use for an upcoming card.
Unless Scrap Synchron becomes the easier way to summon a pretty ludicrous synchro monster, and that possibility still exists because of the remaining two cards yet to be revealed, then we don’t see this card as particularly threatening.
Scrap Warrior
Warrior/Synchro/Effect Monster
“Scrap Synchron” + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
You can only use the 1st effect of this card’s name once per turn.
(1) If this card is Synchro Summoned: You can add to your hand, or send to the GY, 1 “Junk Synchron” or 1 card that mentions “Junk Warrior” from your Deck.
(2) The activated effects of monsters you control that mention “Junk Warrior” and/or are Synchro Monsters with “Warrior” in their original names cannot be negated, except “Scrap Warrior”.
We have to give Konami props for at least trying to make Scrap Synchron relevant. The forced use of Scrap Synchron to bring out Scrap Warrior is a little on the nose, though.
As for Scrap Warrior’s overall design, for its archetype, it’s a pretty okay combo extender. You use Scrap Synchron, get this body out, and you can get another card into rotation. If the other monster cards you’re using happen to fall under Scrap Warrior’s protection, then that’s just a bonus and could potentially allow you some breathing room for your plays.
That said, the forced use of Scrap Synchron does bring down Scrap Warrior a little, even if they’re both members of the same archetype. That said, Scrap Warrior isn’t as easily accessible because it technically negates Scrap Synchron’s substitution capability.
A lot of modern decks, even at the casual level, would like to easily pivot to their different extra deck pieces due to the amount of disruption effects prevalent in the game. Ultimately, Scrap Warrior's forced recipe can diminish its appeal for some players.
New World Premiere
Queen of the Blazing Domain
Pyro/Effect Monster
Cannot be destroyed by card effects. If this card is in your hand: You can target up to 2 cards you control, including a face-up Spell/Trap; destroy them, and if you, Special Summon this card. If you destroyed 1 card, return this card to the hand during the End Phase of the next turn, or if you destroyed 2, this card gains this effect instead.
- Any monster sent from the field to your opponent's GY is banished instead.
You can only use this effect of "Queen of the Blazing Domain" once per turn.
Queen of the Blazing Domain was surreptitiously added to the 25th Anniversary Tin that Konami has been peddling as of late.
For a world premiere, Queen of the Blazing Domain can end up being a surprising side deck option for any Yummy match-ups, or any match-up in general that likes to do graveyard antics.
As far as her overall design, she’s a standard beater with some anti-destruction protection that likes to moonlight as a Dimension Shifter.
She’s not exactly the best due to her single-minded design. Her prerequisites for staying on the board and for activating her ability can easily turn away players due to the tediousness you’d have to go through.
Her Dark Pyro nature, however, makes her a potential Choatic Elements target for easier access. Given Queen of the Blazing Domain’s similar motif to the Ashened archetype, she could herald the start of a new wave of support for the somewhat disappointing performance Ashened has had in the Trading Card Game (TCG).
While it's unlikely that Queen of the Blazing Domain will rock the competitive scene, adventurous players could easily slot her in as a tool for very specific match-ups as a floodgate option.