Chapter 155. Does "Water Machine" Create All Things from a Single Card? The Savior of Synchro That Also Destroyed Synchro?
After duelists across all the Duel Worlds grasped this point, they started valuing hand traps even more!
What "top-tier deck" are you playing?
Aren't you still going to run Maxx "C", Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring, Infinite Impermanence, and other hand traps?
Heard there's a Forbidden & Limited List?
Why would hand traps panic? They don't even flinch!
So this is the value of hand traps?
Strong!
Too strong!
Worth it!
So worth it!
Satisfying!
So satisfying!
Hand traps—strong, worth it, satisfying!
Remember those three and you're set!
At the same time, the chat group was full of discussion and sighs about Zoodiac's final chapter.
Yugi Muto: "What a shame. A theme with real character, yet Drident still isn't released."
Jaden Yuki: "Feels like the current situation means it can be released now, right? Even the Dragon Rulers are being tried."
Yusei Fudo: "Hard to say. You all know why 'K-snake' releases or un-releases cards."
Maximillion Pegasus: "Good—perhaps they'll unban it when Zoodiac gets another batch of support."
Main World.
Sei Yuki had also finished watching the life story of Zoodiac.
At the same time, the corner of his eye noticed the chat group's veterans chatting away.
But the focus right now wasn't Zoodiac.
It was a single card that would be crucial in this same era!
That's right!
The next short video was—Crystron Halqifibrax!
Back when he was watching Zoodiac, Sei Yuki had already wanted to play this "Halq creates all things" topic.
Now that Zoodiac was done—
He clicked into this brand-new short video with great anticipation!
At the same time, the title immediately synced across every Duel World!
"Halq Creates All Things! The Synchro Savior and Destroyer That Was Banned and Hit the Trending List!"
"Halq"?
The unfamiliar term instantly put baffled looks on all duelists' faces.
But the key phrase "save Synchro" was quickly captured by the duelists of the 5D's world!
Save the Synchro world?
Destroy the Synchro world?
What, are you also Z-ONE and the Timelords, "Halq"?
No, that can't be it.
So what exactly is this "Halq" referring to?
Just as Yusei Fudo, Crow Hogan, and the others grew curious and puzzled, the short video had already begun.
Yu-Gi-Oh! F&L Explainer: "Hello! Good evening, duel gang!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! F&L Explainer: "Welcome to today's Forbidden & Limited explain video!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! F&L Explainer: "Today's featured card—our Synchro star!"
"The most splashable Extra Deck piece in Yu-Gi-Oh!—a guaranteed 'two-for-three' legend!"
"The savior of Synchro! The connector to Auroradon!"
"The backbone of the New Master Rule, the Witch's best ally!"
"The designated relay station for performers and storytellers!"
"A card that fought 'K-snake' at the July list and fell heroically!"
"That's right!"
"This card is—Crystron Halqifibrax!!!"
"Let's give the warmest applause to the king of splashability—more universal than Predaplant Verte Anaconda!"
[Card Name: Crystron Halqifibrax (Link-2)]
[Attribute: WATER]
[Type: Machine]
[ATK: 1500]
[Link Arrows: —]
[Materials: 2 monsters, including a Tuner]
[You can only use each effect of "Crystron Halqifibrax" once per turn.]
[If this card is Link Summoned: You can Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower Tuner from your hand or Deck in Defense Position, but it cannot activate its effects this turn.]
[During your opponent's Main Phase or Battle Phase (Quick Effect): You can banish this card you control; Special Summon 1 Tuner Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck (this is treated as a Synchro Summon).]
After hearing the uploader's introduction, duelists still steeped in Zoodiac's retrospective were instantly dumbfounded!
DM World.
Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba wore faces of shock and confusion.
Joey Wheeler, Maximillion Pegasus, and the others stared blankly at this card with a mountain of accolades!
No mistake? Is this a mistake?
This card—does it deserve so many titles?
This card—worthy of those titles?
Is this serious?
Or just a joke?
Even if they didn't get each title, they could tell this card wasn't simple!
GX World.
Jaden Yuki, Aster Phoenix, and the rest were equally at a loss!
The students and teachers of Duel Academy froze where they sat!
"Huh? This card—its power is that absurd?"
"Don't get it, but if it's Forbidden, it must be busted!"
"Indeed, and what's this 'Crystron'—is the whole theme a meta tyrant?"
"Uh? Then why not forbid the other Crystron cards?"
Their chatter only shrouded the card in more mystery.
5D's World.
What Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, and Akiza Izinski cared about wasn't anything else.
It was those honorifics.
Savior of Synchro!
That title isn't something you can just throw around!
Yusei Fudo could be said to have saved Synchro.
He could be called Synchro's savior.
But this—this mere Link Monster!
A Link Monster, for crying out loud!
What does it even have to do with Synchro?!
Daring to call itself Synchro's savior?
Isn't that nonsense?
While every Duel World looked on with curiosity and doubt, the short began an all-round analysis to explain this card's power.
Yu-Gi-Oh! F&L Explainer: "Alright, into the main segment!"
Yu-Gi-Oh! F&L Explainer: "I gave it that many titles for a reason!"
"Let's start here!"
"'The most splashable Extra Deck piece in Yu-Gi-Oh!—a guaranteed two-for-three legend!'"
"How do you understand that?"
"First, Halq belongs to the Crystron archetype, yes."
"But in practice, this card isn't just for Crystron."
"It slots into any Synchro or Link deck."
"Remember—any Synchro or Link deck!"
"Why? Because Crystron Halqifibrax brings a guaranteed two-for-three resource exchange."
"You make a Link-2 Halq, then use its effect to pull a Level 3 or lower Tuner."
"For example, Blackwing – Steam the Cloak, Glow-Up Bulb, Jet Synchron, and so on."
"And Steam is the heavyweight."
"Together with Halq, you can rapidly generate Link materials."
"Because Steam has an effect: if this face-up card leaves the field, Special Summon 1 Steam Token (Aqua/WIND/Level 1/ATK 100/DEF 100)."
"That Token can keep Linking."
"And in the Graveyard, Steam can Tribute a monster to revive itself—then when it leaves again, you get another Token."
"In other words, you are guaranteed at least three pieces of Link material right there."
"With those pieces coming online, Halq instantly becomes a two-for-three or two-for-four resource engine."
"Also, Halq plus Jet Synchron can make Summon Sorceress (Link-3)."
"That card targets a monster it points to and Special Summons from the Deck a monster of the same Type with its effects negated, setting up further plays."
"That means Sorceress with Jet can fetch Mecha Phantom Beast O-Lion."
"When O-Lion is sent to the Graveyard, it generates a Token."
"Your resources start to snowball."
"Of course, Sorceress's handling and status have changed over time."
"The Sorceress of now isn't the Sorceress of then."
"A pity, in a way."
Just finishing Point One had duelists across the worlds bursting out of their seats!
VRAINS World.
Masters of Links that they were, the moment they heard Halq plus Sorceress as a combo and that any Level 3-and-under Tuner could be pulled, Yusaku Fujiki and Ryoken Kogami (Revolver) nearly spat blood!
What the heck?
This card seems absurdly broken!
One card can mobilize practically every Level 3-and-under Tuner in Yu-Gi-Oh?
Combo details aside, just that effect alone is enough to make every Link duelist yield!
It's guaranteed Link-3 worth of material!
Think how hard they had to work to scrape together a Link-3.
And now you tell me Halq can go one-card Link-3?
Even Link-4, Link-5, and beyond?
Disgusting!
So disgusting!
This is the terrifying support power of Halq?
Yu-Gi-Oh! F&L Explainer: "With this simple logic understood, I believe no one doubts Halq's value, or why Summon Sorceress is called its best ally."
"Next question!"
"Why call it the Savior of Synchro, the connector to Auroradon?"
"That one's simple."
"First, get Halq's second effect straight."
"During your opponent's Main Phase or Battle Phase (Quick Effect): banish this card you control; Special Summon 1 Tuner Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck (treated as a Synchro Summon)."
"In other words, this card turns into a Tuner Synchro at Quick Effect speed on the opponent's turn."
"Well then—Synchro wins big!"
"Its first effect already fetches a Tuner with surgical precision."
"Even more value!"
"And the second effect is the savior of Tuners! You directly, at Quick Effect speed, become Formula Synchron, T.G. Wonder Magician, Shooting Riser Dragon, and so on—cards that accelerate Synchro plays."
"That means Halq equals an on-demand Tuner Synchro—equals Accelerate Synchro."
"Formula draws a card, Wonder Magician destroys a card, Riser adjusts Levels—making Accel Synchro go off the charts."
"And about 'the connector to the Hundred-Headed Dragon'—that's actually Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon."
"It's a Link-3, exactly what Halq hands off into."
"On summon it Special Summons three Mecha Phantom Beast Tokens (Machine/WIND/Level 3/ATK 0/DEF 0)."
"Because of its own restriction, you cannot Link Summon for the rest of the turn."
"So you use those Level 3 monsters, together with O-Lion, to go into Synchros."
"See it now?"
"Halq equals Auroradon—equals creating all things!"
"That's the second reason it's 'one card creates all things.'"
Numb. Completely numb.
5D's World.
Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan, Akiza Izinski, and the others were already numb and mentally broken.
Wait—so this is how Halq's effects are used?
Just the first effect dispatching a Level 3-and-under Tuner already means over half the Tuner roster can be mobilized.
What shocked Yusei even more was the second effect.
It directly solves your Accel Synchro setups.
Bruno looked like he might cry.
He worked so hard to comprehend Accel Synchro, and now you tell him a single Link Monster can make Accel Synchro easy-mode?
Can you believe this?
"I'm truly numb! This isn't 'creating all things'—this is Synchro's dad!"
"Of course! The community's acknowledged big dad! The search and the second-effect morph—unstoppable!"
"No wonder—those honorifics at the start, I finally get them!"
"So—when did this card die? I'm curious how long it lived!"
Other Synchro duelists also heard how outrageous this card was.
The more they discussed, the more their hearts raced.
This card—K-snake really printed it without thinking!
No wonder people say it has little to do with the Crystron deck itself.
With these effects, using it inside Crystron is practically under-utilizing it.
If you also slapped on Crystron's self-restriction, the power would probably drop by more than half.
Yu-Gi-Oh! F&L Explainer: "With all that understood, let's finish with why it also destroyed Synchro."
"Why say this card also destroyed Synchro?"
"Simple—on the January 2019 list, when it posted—"
"You're thinking Halq got Forbidden?"
"No; Halq was only Limited to 1."
"Instead, Blackwing – Steam the Cloak, Glow-Up Bulb, Dandylion, and other cards were sent to the 'little dark room.'"
"Because Halq survived, it indirectly killed Steam."
"But that still wasn't the end of days."
"Because after that list, Halq shifted from raw resource profit into a pure Synchro support piece."
"But its power remained explosive."
"During that stretch, many duelists felt this card would definitely be hit next time."
"Yet each time, it dodged the list."
"So everyone got used to Halq."
"Remember—used to."
"Put simply, if you play a Synchro deck, or build one, the first thing you consider is Halq, not anything else."
"Hence people may have defaulted to thinking this card's power wasn't that high—that it was merely a Synchro savior."
"And while Auroradon, mentioned earlier, found new glory alongside Halq, what was the meta back then?"
"Tearlaments, Toadally Awesome."
"So that engine didn't get too much attention."
"Until the final list—July 2022."
"Halq was Forbidden."
"The painful news spread across the duelist circle."
"At the time, Halq's ban hit everyone like a bolt from the blue."
"They couldn't believe Halq still ended up Forbidden."
"After dodging so many times—why couldn't it dodge the end?"
"Memes flew; some rejoiced and some grieved."
"But Halq had lived too long—its sudden loss left many Synchro players at a loss."
"So, 'destroyer of Synchro,' in my view, isn't a literal destruction."
"It's a destruction in the heart."
Bewildered, at a loss.
Everyone across the Duel Worlds heard the last message and fell into a daze.
Halq—Forbidden?
Like an old friend who accompanied you for years—
Just like that, it left.
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