Saryuja Skull Dread is going to be one of the biggest cards from Extreme Force, and one of the hottest new monsters at your Sneak Peek this weekend.

A Link-4 Monster with 2800 Attack Points and all the Link Arrows you could ask for, Saryuja Skull Dread gains up to three effects based on the number of monsters you use for its Link Summon.

If you use two monsters for Saryuja Skull Dread it gains an ability that boosts any monster Normal or Special Summoned to any of the zones Saryjua points to: those monsters gain 300 ATK and 300 DEF.

Use three monsters and you’ll get that effect plus another: once per turn, you can Special Summon a monster from your hand.

Use four monsters for your Link Summon and you get a third ability: when Saryuja’s Link Summoned you can draw 4 cards, then put 3 cards from your hand on the bottom of your Deck in any order.

So to recap, a full four-monster Link Summon gets you up to a 900 ATK and DEF bonus, a free Special Summon from your hand every turn, and a double Graceful Charity that nets you an extra card. That last effect is a monster: it digs you four cards deeper into your deck, gets you a free draw, and can effectively “fix” your entire hand in one go. It can set up whatever play you want.

And if that all sounds crazy to you, that’s only because it absolutely is. Saryuja Skull Dread is an amazing card that’s going to be played in any deck that can run it. The catch? You can only use differently-named monsters as its Link Materials. How hard is that?

The surprising answer is, “not very.”

In fact, you can Link Summon Saryuja with four unique Link Materials off just one card. The Agent of Creation – Venus has an effect that lets you pay 500 LP to Special Summon a Mystical Shine Ball from your hand or deck – it’s a Normal Fairy-type with 500 ATK and 500 DEF. If you Normal Summon Venus and Special Summon three Shine Balls you wind up with four monsters on the field.

From there you have to turn two of those Shine Balls into monsters with different names to get all of Saryuja’s effects. Link Spider and Imduk the World Chalice Dragon are both Link-1’s that require Normal Monsters as their Link Materials. Use two of your Shine Balls to Link Summon Spider and Imduk, and suddenly you can go straight into your Link-4.

You trade The Agent of Creation – Venus and 1500 LP for Saryuja Skull Dread. From there you can Special Summon another monster from your hand with Saryuja’s second ability and nab a free card with its double Graceful Charity effect. That’s a crazy return on your investment.

Don’t like Fairy-types? Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio has got you covered, though it’ll cost you an extra card to unleash Saryuja. Just start with Scorpio and any monster in your hand.

-To begin, Normal or Special Summon Scorpio. If you don’t have it, you can always Summon it straight from your deck with Lonefire Blossom, making this combo super consistent.

– Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio’s effect triggers when you Summon it, letting you send a monster from your hand to the Graveyard to Special Summon another “Predaplant” monster from your Deck. You’ll choose Predaplant Darlingtonia Cobra.

-Cobra’s effect adds a “Polymerization” or “Fusion” Spell Card from your Deck to your hand when you Special Summon it with the effect of a Predaplant, so use it to search Brilliant Fusion.

-Activate Brilliant Fusion, send Gem-Knight Garnet and Performage Trick Clown to the Graveyard from your Deck, and Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Seraphinite when Brilliant Fusion resolves.

-When Trick Clown’s sent to the Graveyard you can revive a “Performage” monster, taking 1000 damage in return. So revive Performage Trick Clown itself.

At that point you’ve got Scorpio, Cobra, Seraphinite, and Trick Clown on the field, and can Link Summon Saryuja Skull Dread with all three of its effects! The end cost to you is Predaplant Ophrys Scorpio and whatever monster you discarded for Scorpio’s ability, plus 1000 LP for Trick Clown. You’ll break even on cards when you Link Summon Saryuja and grab your free card with its “draw 4, put back 3” ability, leaving you with a 2800 ATK beater, a Special Summon every turn, ATK and DEF bonuses, and three Link Arrows pointing to your Monster Zones.

The coolest part is that many 60-Card strategies already run the Predaplants, Brilliant Fusion, Seraphinite, and Trick Clown anyways. Saryuja Skull Dread is an instant upgrade to any of those Decks, so 60-Card Lightsworn Zombie players are about to get a big leg up.

Saryuja Skull Dread is an incredibly powerful Link Monster that’s deceptively easy to play, if you can rework your Deck to take advantage of it. Watch for it at your Sneak Peeks this January 27th-28th, and expect to see it in tournament play.