Junk Warrior
Generation 3: 5D's
User: Yusei Fudo
Artwork:
We start off Generation 3 with the very first Synchro monster ever created. For those of you who left off before their introduction, Synchro Monsters are summoned from the Extra deck by tributing 1 Tuner-Type Monster and any number of non-Tuner monsters so that their combined levels are equal to the level of the Synchro monster you want to summon.
The lore behind Synchro Summon is that the Tuner monster synchronizes it's energy with the non-tuners, allowing the Synchro monster to manifest.
Like Jaden, Yusei pretty much has 2 Ace Cards, as Junk Warrior serves as Yusei's main monster during most of season 1. Yusei is a pretty poor dude in a land where only criminals and other society's outcasts live, so he has to build his deck by dumpster diving and finding cards the rich people from the neighboring city discard, hence the "Junk" theme on his cards.
Simply put, Junk Warrior's design has an energy that I felt was missing from many GX-era cards. The background is very colorful and evokes high speed, the main theme of 5D's Duels. The monster itself looks so freaking cool, the pose makes it look like he just noticed you mid-flight and turned around to see you, the armor looks like it was made wiith high speed aerodynamic movement in mind, it's robotic fist is clenched and ready for action, the scarf and goggles really sell the idea that this is a robot adventurer wandering at high speeds through some dystopian world. If you're gonna take the risk of introducing a new type of card to a fanbase that's been used to the same kind of cards for years, Junk motherfucking Warrior is how you sell it.
And it's not only it's design, but it's first appeareance too, unlike GX where the fusion of monsters is kind of glossed over and not very dramatic from episode 1 onwards, when Yusei Synchronizes his level 3 Tuner monster "Junk Synchron" and his level 2 "Speed Warrior" to, for the first time ever, Synchro Summon this Level 5, DARK, Warrior-Type Synchro Monster....Well it's treated like a freaking event. Hell, let's look at it:
The music, the sound effects, the animations, everything just oozes a style and energy that is unique to 5D's and Gen 3 much like Gen 1 has it's own kind of flavor. I knew 5D's would be special from that clip alone.
Junk Warrior's 2300 ATK is pretty good for a level 5 monster, and his ability to increase his ATK if low level monsters are on the field perfectly encapsulate Yusei's belief that no card is trash, it just needs the right strategy. Junk Warrior as a card has been pretty much outclassed by many other "Synchro Warriors" that came later to support Yusei's main deck, however a few support cards referencing it have been released here and there
While not nearly as useful like in it's glory days, and burdened by the Link-Era rules limiting Extra Deck Monsters, Junk Warrior remains a 10/10 in my heart.
Trivia Time! This card is the first and last Synchro Monster Yusei summoned in his show.
I definitely stopped watching yugioh at some point during GX, why on earth are people dueling on motorcycles now lol
