They don’t have the hefty cost to summon that Link 4 monsters are burdened with, but they often have effects that are just as powerful – if not more so! If you’re looking to incorporate Link summoning into your strategy, and you’re not quite sure where to begin, well then let’s have a look at some of the better link 3 monsters worth checking out.
10. Mecha Phantom Beast Auroradon
The Mecha Phantom Beast cards were all about generating tokens, making them a popular choice of deck in the Link era where tokens can now be used for Link summoning. While you can’t link summon for the rest of the turn after you summon this card, you can either save those tokens for next turn, or tribute them for different effects! By destroying 1 token you can destroy any 1 card on the field. This still leaves you with 2 tokens to link summon with next turn, while also getting rid of any threats your opponent may have on their board. Alternatively, you can destroy 2 tokens to special summon any Mecha Phantom Beast from your deck (amazing for setting up XYZ summons), or 3 tokens to add any trap card from your graveyard to your hand.
9. Zefra Metaltron
I never thought Zefra decks would survive the shift to Link summoning. They’re a pendulum deck that are highly reliant on stacking up the extra deck with pendulum monsters, so being able to summon less of them at a time was a huge hit to the deck. However, Zefra Metaltron came to the decks rescue – and boy has it improved the strategy! It has 3 downwards pointing arrows, meaning you can go from summoning 1 pendulum monster from the extra deck at a time to 3 all at once! This takes me back to the good old days of pendulum summoning, when you could fill a board up with pendulum monsters and just keep bringing ‘em back. In fact, these downwards pointing arrows make Zefra Metaltron a great choice for any link-summoning deck, simply because it opens up your field so much. Zefra Metaltron also allows you to get rid of threats that come from the extra deck. You can banish a monster that was special summoned from the extra deck on both sides of the field, then banish both until the end phase.
8. Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians
If you’re playing a spellcaster strategy than Selene, Queen of the Master Magicians is simply a must-have for your extra deck. When it’s special summoned you can put spell counters on this card, equal to the number of spell cards that are on the field and in the graveyard. Modern Yu-Gi-Oh is all about utilizing powerful spells, so this number can build up very quickly. Once per turn, by removing 3 spell counters from anywhere on your side of the field, you can special summon a spellcaster monster from your hand or graveyard to any zone this card points to. With 3 downwards pointing arrows to boot, you’ve got a lot of options to play around with!
7. Knightmare Unicorn
Even in non-Knightmare decks, this card is absolutely insane. When it’s link summoned you can target any card on the field and shuffle it into the deck. If this card was co-linked when you activated this effect (i.e. Knightmare Unicorn’s link arrows point at a link monster, whose link arrows are also pointing back at Knightmare Unicorn) then you also get to draw a card. Now if you’re playing a Knightmare strategy, this is where Unicorn gets even better. Knightmare Unicorn allows you to skip the draw phase, then for every co-linked Knightmare monster on your side of the field you can draw a card. With the right board set up this is practically a Pot of Greed every single turn. How can you say no to that kind of draw power?
6. Salamangreat Heatleo
If you’re new to link summoning and not quite sure where to start out, then I highly recommend checking out Salamangreats. They’re a fire-attribute Cyberse deck, and they’re one of the best Link summoning decks out there. Their boss monsters (including this guy) gain special abilities if you link summon them using themselves (i.e. using one copy of Salamangreat Heatleo to summon another). While this isn’t usually a legal move in Yu-Gi-Oh, it is when their field spell is out! When this card is link summoned either way, you can target a card in your opponent’s spell and trap card zone and shuffle it into their deck. Then once per turn, if this card was link summoned using itself, you can target 1 monster on the field and make its attack equal to the attack of a monster in your graveyard. You can either use this to buff up your weaker monsters, turning them into super-strong goliaths using your dead boss monsters – or you can weaken your opponent’s strongest monsters by matching it to your graveyard’s weakest ATK card. Either way, your opponent is gonna be taking some pretty hefty battle damage, that’s for sure!
5. Decode Talker Extended
The original Decode Talker is pretty awesome. But Decode Talker – Extended beats it in every single way possible! Like the original, this card gains 500 attack for each monster it points to. With 3 link arrows (1 up and 2 down), that’s a maximum gain of 1500, bumping this guy up to a possible 3800 attack. And during your battle phase, if a monster that this card points to is destroyed by battle or sent to the graveyard (ideally the card pointed at by this cards up arrow), then you can have Decode Talker – Extended attack all over again.
4. Topologic Trisbaena
Topologic refers to the study of shapes, which makes sense because I can’t tell for the life of me what shape this guy is trying to be. Something abstract for sure. But its effects aren’t so abstract: If a monster(s) is special summoned to a zone this card points to, then you can banish as many of those monsters as possible, alongside every spell and trap card on the field. Not only does this get rid of your opponent’s monster (providing they summoned into this cards top arrow), but you can clear their entire backrow all at once! Topologic Trisbaena then inflicts 500 damage to your opponent for each of their cards that were banished, making this guy a nifty way to burn your opponent for some serious damage.
3. Tri-Gate Wizard
Tri-Gate is a fantastically diverse link monster that gets better the more monsters you have co-linked to it. With 2 side arrows and one up arrow, this card is pretty easy to get to 3 co-links – as long as your opponent is running at least 1 link monster. With one or more co-links, your co-linked monsters will inflict double the amount of battle damage they normally would to your opponent. This is an amazing way of racking up the damage against your opponent, as 2 monsters attacking with double damage will add up quick! With two or more co-links you can target and banish a card on the field every single turn. This is an amazingly consistent removal tool that you can use every single turn, as long as you’ve got some link monsters on board. Finally, with three of more co-links, you can once per turn negate any card or effect at quick effect speed – then also banish that card! This runs alongside the previous effect, allowing you pretty much banish 2 of your opponent’s cards every single turn.
2. The Phantom Knights of Rusty Bardiche
Phantom Knights aimed to dominate the world of XYZ summoning, and also managed to pick up one of the best Link monsters out there at the same time. During your main phase, you can send any Phantom Knight monster from your deck to the graveyard, or you can set any Phantom Knight spell or trap straight from the deck. The Phantom Knights have some seriously powerful Rank Up Magic spells in their arsenal, and Rusty Bardiche is the perfect way to access those whenever you like. On the XYZ front, if a dark XYZ monster is summoned to a zone that this card points to (once per turn) you can target and destroy any card on the field. If there’s any deck out there that can get through XYZ monsters, it’s Phantom Knights. So you’ll definitely get a lot of use out of this second effect.
1. Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Chaos
Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Chaos isn’t just the best Link 3 monster… It’s also one of the best link monsters of all time! With a whopping 3000 attack, this guy has the strongest attack stat out of any link 3 monster – and can go head-to-head with most link 4 monsters in combat too. Whenever this card destroys a monster in battle, you can choose from one of 3 incredible effects: You can either have this card gain 1500 attack (note how this is a permanent attack increase!), have this card attack twice during your next battle phase, or straight-up banish any 1 card on the field. There truly is an effect for everything – if you’re looking to get over some high attack monsters, then this cards first effect is amazing for building up an unstoppable war machine. Alternatively, being able to non-target banish any card on the field is an amazing way of disrupting your opponent. And you can put a stop to all sorts of powerful cards regardless of their card type. This versatility has definitely been recognized by the meta game, and sadly you’re unlikely to find a copy of this guy for less than $100 (as of this writing). And that’s not even considering the ghost rare upgrade this guy got!
