There are Link monsters to suit every occasion, too. Whether you’re after protection, combo extenders, or even boss monsters to crush the field. And in this list I’ll be showing you the best there is.
20. Pentestag
If you want to overrun your opponent with superior ATK, the best strategy your opponent can use is to set their monsters in defense and slow the game down. This card punishes them for doing that. Pentestag is a Link-2 with 1600ATK. And if a linked monster attacks a Defense Position monster, your opponent takes piercing damage. This is a great card to use with a deck like Dinosaurs, as their boss monster can force cards into Defense Position. Your opponent can face you head-on and lose, or try and hide and, well, lose. Their choice.
19. Infinitrack Fortress Megaclops
This monster is low on the list because of its hefty requirement of 3 XYZ Monsters. But if you pull it off, you may just win the duel. Infinitrack Fortress Megaclops is a Link-3 with 4000ATK, and it’s immune to monster effects and destruction from battle – unless the monster it battles is an XYZ. You can also Special Summon an XYZ monster from your Graveyard and use one of your opponent’s as material for it, if you feel like being nasty. If you do this, though, any battle damage your opponent takes is halved. This card is great. But if you have 3 XYZ monsters on the field, you’re probably winning anyway.
18. Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres
For as weird as the name and artwork are, I promise this card is great for a Dragon deck. Hieratic Seal of the Heavenly Spheres is a Link-2 with 0ATK. But it has 2 strong effects. If this monster is in the Extra Monster Zone, you can Tribute a monster to return a card to the hand – which bypasses almost all protection effects. And when this monster is tributed, you can Special Summon a Dragon, but it’s ATK/DEF become 0. This may sound bad. But it isn’t a problem if you use it as material for something stronger.
17. Saryuja Skull Dread
Many of the best Link Monsters are great in battle – but this one has a toolbox of effects to go with that. Saryuja Skull Dread is a Link-4 with 2800ATK. And it gains effects based on how many monsters were used to summon it. This monster’s effects can give a 300ATK/DEF boost, and let you Special Summon a monster from your hand – which can be a game-changer. Plus it can let you draw a card from the top 4 cards in your deck. Saryuja Skull Dread gives you options and a ton of power to go along with it.
16. Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Chaos
There have been a few Black Luster Soldier cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! And most of them are very dangerous. The Link monster is no different. Black Luster Soldier – Soldier of Chaos is a Link-3 with 3000ATK. Plus if you used a LVL7 or higher as material, this card can’t be targeted or destroyed by effects – making it very hard to remove. And when it destroys a monster, you can choose to gain more ATK, or attack twice next turn, or banish a card. Whichever is worse for your opponent.
15. Knightmare Phoenix
There are a few Knightmare Link monsters that could have made this list. But Knightmare Phoenix can deal with your opponent’s back row, which makes it just that little bit better. Knightmare Phoenix is a Link-2 with 1600ATK and when it’s Link Summoned, you can discard a card to target and destroy a Spell/Trap on the field. If this card was co-linked when you do this, you can also draw a card. Not the most dangerous pick, but this monster gives great utility and disruption.
14. Topologic Bomber Dragon
If your opponent has a lot of powerful monsters then it can feel impossible to fight back. But if you can Summon this monster, you may just get your chance. Topologic Bomber Dragon is a Link-4 with 3000ATK, and here’s what you get with it: If a monster is Special Summoned to a zone a Link Monster points to, everything in a Monster Zone gets destroyed. Remember, this doesn’t target. So there won’t be many monsters left after this. To stop this being completely broken, your other monsters cannot attack for the rest of the turn. And if this card battles a monster you can inflict burn damage equal to that monster’s ATK as well. I did say you’d get your chance!
13. Tri-Brigade Shuraig the Ominous Omen
At the time of this writing, Tri-Brigade decks are making an absolute killing in competitive Yu-Gi-Oh! And they have access to some nasty Link monsters, too! Tri-Brigade Shuraig the Ominous Omen is a Link-4 with 3000ATK. And it has a great disruption effect: When it or another Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged-Beast is Special Summoned, you can banish a card on the field. This effect is non-targeting too! Plus, when this card goes to the Graveyard you can add a specific monster from your Deck to your hand – but the banishing effect is why this card makes the list.
12. Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix
Few decks are as reliant on Link Summoning as Salamangreat. So it only makes sense that their Boss monster is this good. Salamangreat Pyro Phoenix is a Link-4 with 2800ATK, and if it was summoned using another Pyro Phoenix as material (the field spell helps with this) you can completely wipe your opponent’s field! If your opponent uses Link monsters you can Special Summon one from their graveyard to their side of the field too, and then inflict damage to their Life Points equal to that monster’s ATK. So if the field wipe and 2800ATK aren’t enough, this can be a cheeky way to burn your opponent out of the duel.
11. Linkuriboh
Kuriboh is an adorable monster. But honestly, it’s pretty bad. The Link version, however, is far from bad – and it’s actually very useful. Linkuriboh is a Link-1 with only 300ATK. But when an opponent’s monster attacks, you can Tribute Linkuriboh to reduce that monster’s ATK to 0. This can take the sting out of powerful monsters, and you can bring Linkuriboh back from the Graveyard by tributing a LVL1 monster as a Quick Effect. Without a doubt, Kuriboh has never been better!
10. Salamangreat Almiraj
This cute little Salamangreat is quite versatile, and works in so many decks. Salamangreat Almiraj is a Link-1 with 0ATK and requires a Normal summoned monster with 1000 or less ATK to Link Summon. You can then tribute this monster at any time to make one of your monsters immune to card effects. Effects like these are great for burning through your opponent’s resources. And any time one of your Normal monsters is destroyed by battle, you can bring Salamangreat Almiraj back from the Graveyard to use its effect again.
9. Accesscode Talker
If you use a Cyberse deck, this is a great boss monster. At the time of this writing it’s also very expensive! Accesscode Talker is a Link-4 with 2300ATK – but it gains ATK equal to one of its materials Link Rating x1000. So Accesscode Talker can have up to 5300ATK (which is ridiculous!) You can also Banish a Link Monster from your Field or Graveyard to destroy a card your opponent controls. This is the monster you end the Duel with.
8. Borreload Dragon
Many of the strongest monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! are tied to a certain deck (well, if you want to make the most out of them). But that isn’t the case for this monster. Borreload Dragon is a Link-4 with 3000ATK and can’t be targeted by monster effects – that’s always a good start! In addition, this monster has a Quick Effect that can reduce any monster’s ATK/DEF by 500. That can be enough to win a battle by itself. And here’s something even better: if it battles a monster, you can steal it. The stolen monster then goes to the Graveyard at the end of the turn, but nothing is stopping you from using it as material before that.
7. Borrelsword Dragon
This one goes hand in hand with Borreload Dragon: It can fit in any deck, and is a threat your opponent will need to deal with quickly if they don’t want to lose. Borrelsword Dragon is a Link-4 with 3000ATK and can’t be destroyed by battle. It also has a Quick Effect where you can change a monster to defense position, and it can attack twice. Oh, your opponent also can’t activate anything in response either. We’re still not done! When Borrelsword Dragon attacks a face-up monster it can gain half of that monster’s ATK, just in case 3000 isn’t enough.
6. Topologic Zeroboros
Many decks fall apart when their cards get banished. If you want to abuse that, I think you’ll like this monster. Topologic Zeroboros is a Link-4 with 3000ATK which also gains 200ATK for every banished card. Don’t have a way to banish cards? No problem! If a monster is Special Summoned to a Zone that a Link Monster points to, every card on the field gets banished. And during the next standby phase you can bring Topologic Zeroboros back to finish the job.
5. I:P Masquerena
Summoning on your opponent’s turn is great, as it’s always disruptive. If you want to make sure your opponent never feels safe, even on their own turn, this is the Link monster to use. I:P Masquerena is a Link-2 with 800ATK, but its value is in its Quick Effect: This lets you Link summon a monster during your opponent’s Main Phase, as long as you use it as a material. If you’ve got monsters on the field then you can pull a Boss monster out of thin air when it’ll hurt the most.
4. Predaplant Verte Anaconda
Fusion monsters can be very powerful in Yu-Gi-Oh! And you can argue that their power is balanced, as they require a Fusion/Polymerization spell to use… at least, you could argue that, if this monster didn’t exist. Predaplant Verte Anaconda is a Link-2 with 500ATK. And you can make any monster DARK type until the end of the turn, which has its uses… But its 2nd effect is borderline broken. You can pay 2000 Life Points to send a Fusion/Polymerization spell card from your Deck to the Graveyard, and this monster gains that spell card’s effect (but not the cost if there is one). Just note that you can’t Special Summon after using this effect. But that’s probably the one thing keeping this card off the ban list!
3. Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax
Incredible effects and easy summoning requirements make this an awful Boss Monster to deal with. Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax is a Link-4 with 3000ATK. And this monster can’t be targeted with effects, and is the only monster your opponent can attack. This means unless they can beat 3000ATK, there really isn’t much they can do. Also, if Mekk-Knight Crusadia Avramax battles a Special Summoned monster, it gains ATK equal to that monster. So it will always win. Granted, this effect can only be used once per battle. But it would basically be invincible otherwise! And when this card leaves the field, you can also shuffle any card on the field into the deck, just in case you needed non-targeting removal as well!
2. Crystron Halquifibrax
Here’s a card that has such incredible effects, that other monsters ended up on the Ban List because of it. Crystron Halquifrax is a Link-2 with 1500ATK. And when it’s Link Summoned you can summon a LVL3 or lower Tuner from your deck. This alone gives you countless options, as you have a free search for every Tuner in your deck. But it also has a Quick Effect where you can banish Crystron Halquifibrax to Special Summon a Tuner Synchro Monster from your Extra Deck – and you can do that on your opponent’s turn too.
1. Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess
There’s a ton of raw power on this list. But in many situations, disruption is more important. Apollousa, Bow of the Goddess is a Link-4 monster. And its ATK becomes 800x the amount of materials used to summon it (2 minimum). And you’ll want to use as many materials as possible here, as this monster has an effect where you can trade 800ATK to negate a monster effect. This is a Quick Effect, too. So your opponent will have to deal with disruption on their turn as well. The funny thing (and why this card tops the list) is that its effects aren’t limited to once per turn. As it stands, this card can negate as long as it still has ATK points. And that’s just incredible.
