Phonon Pulse Dragon – #OP16-EN008
1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner monsters
When this card is Synchro Summoned: You can declare a Level from 1 to 3; this card becomes that Level, also you cannot Special Summon for the rest of this turn, except for a Synchro Summon using this card as material. You can only Special Summon “Phonon Pulse Dragon(s)” once per turn.
Date Reviewed: December 7th, 2023
Rating: 2.43
Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale. 1 is awful. 3 is average. 5 is excellent.
Reviews Below:
King of
Lullaby
Hello Pojo Fans,
Phonon Pulse Dragon is a Throwback Thursday Synchro choice that is one of those low level Synchro Monsters you occasionally see.
Level 4 Synchro Tuner that can change its Level to something lower than its original Level. Made to be an aid to archetypes with small monsters and small Tuner monsters, Pulse Dragon is meant to assist in synchro climbing, though I’m not sure you’d want to use two monsters on this unless it was to trigger any grave effect(s) those monsters have, or you were hard-pressed and needed to make a Level 1-3 Tuner in addition to whatever you had/will have on the field. In terms of Level 4 Synchro Tuner monsters, I’d argue that Cupid Pitch could be better. While it cannot manipulate its own Level, it can get you a monster with 600DEF or less from your Deck to your hand and do a small bit of burn damage when used for a Synchro Summon.
Synchro climbing is meant to be fast and many archetypes do it that way. I’m not sure if a Level 4 Synchro Tuner is in the cards for decks like that, but with the ability to manipulate its own Level, Phonon Pulse Dragon makes a case to be tested, though you are likely to have ways to make the levels PPD would allow you to make with its level adjusting regardless.
Advanced-2.5/5 Art-4/5
Until Next Time
KingofLullaby
Crunch$G
Throwback Thursday this week brings us to an older Synchro Tuner with Level Modulation you can use for your Mannadium and other Synchro goods potentially: Phonon Pulse Dragon.
Phonon Pulse is a Level 4 DARK Dragon Synchro Tuner with 1900 ATK and 800 DEF. ATK is good for a Level 4, DARK/Dragon is always great, and a Level 4 Synchro Tuner is fine. Materials are any Tuner and non-Tuner(s), which we always like generic Synchros. The lone effect this card has is when Synchro Summoned, you can declare a Level from 1 to 3 to have this card’s Level become that Level. It’s fine if you need a Synchro Tuner from Levels 1 to 3 but can only make a 4, letting you go into this and adjust accordingly based on what you want to go into. To note, after you change this card’s Level, you can only summon a Synchro Monster using this card as material for the rest of the turn in terms of summoning, so a major restriction if you don’t save this for the very end of your combo lines. Hard once per turn on this effect. Phonon Pulse is fine for a Level 4 Synchro Tuner since there aren’t many of those to go around. If you need the Level Modulation, you can of course use it, but don’t plan to summon more than whatever you want to Synchro Summon with this for the rest of the turn. There could always be a Deck that could potentially use this, it’s not bad perse, just needs the right combo lines for it to be used in.
Advanced Rating: 2.5/5
Art: 3.5/5 A lot of colors going on here to make for an odd design.
Mighty
Vee
This week’s Throwback Thursday is a bit of an oddity; Phonon Pulse Dragon is a level 4 DARK Dragon Synchro Tuner monster from Primal Origin. While it has generic materials, only needing a Tuner and any number of non-Tuners, it’s ironically pretty hard to make in Mannadium considering all of their level 2 monsters are Tuners. That said, being a DARK Dragon is always nice (even if I struggle to think of a use for it at the moment). Phonon has typical stats for a low level Tuner, with a middling 1900 attack and a meager 800 defense, so get it off the field ASAP.
Phonon can only be Special Summoned once per turn, which explains why it has a single effect that triggers when it’s Synchro Summoned to modulate it to a level between 1 and 3, at the absurd cost of locking you into only Special Summoning using Phonon for the rest of the turn. This might’ve been a fair trade at the time, but in the modern era, there’s no need to put such a harsh lock on an extender. Phonon does help some decks climb into odd-numbered levels; as just an example, fringe Dragon Link combos could use it (even though they already have that covered with Rokket Synchron). It’s hard to justify playing Phonon unless you really need a level 4 Synchro Tuner that can modulate itself into a lower level. Otherwise, it’s largely outclassed by Crystron Quandax and to an extent even Cupid Pitch depending on your combo lines.
+Can provide flexible Synchro climbing
+Good type and attribute
-Horrendous lock
-Better alternatives unless you’re locked
Advanced: 2.25/5
Art: 3.75/5 Very shiny
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