/ Assault Mode " / Assault Mode " , known as " / Buster " ( バスター " Surasshu Basutā " , read as " Slash Buster " ) in the Japanese version , is an archetype of Effect Monster s that are powered - up versions of already - existing Synchro Monster s , which are Special Summon ed by using " Assault Mode Activate " on the corresponding Synchro Monsters . Aesthetically , the " / Assault Mode " monsters are re - armored counterpart s of the original monster . This archetype was localized to " / Assault Mode " in order to convey a greater sense of power , according to Dan Scheidegger ( an Upper Deck Entertainment employee ) in a post on Pojo . Statistics . " / Assault Mode " versions have the same name as its counterpart , but with " / Assault Mode " at the end . They have 500 more ATK and DEF , two more Level s and a more powerful version of the Synchro Monster ' s effect ( ex . " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " can be Tributed whenever a Spell / Trap / Monster effect is activated whereas " Stardust Dragon " can only be Tributed to negate a Spell / Trap / Monster effect that would destroy a card on the field ) . When the " / Assault Mode " monster is destroy ed , the regular version may be Special Summoned from the Graveyard . Appearances . Evolving Duel ! Stardust VS Red Demons . In the anime tour special episode , " Evolving Duel ! Stardust VS Red Demons " , Yusei Fudo and Jack Atlas had a Duel in which they both Summoned " / Assault Modes " of their dragons . Jack Summoned " Red Dragon Archfiend / Assault Mode " first and began to boast about it but Yusei quickly brought out " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " . A lot of the Duel consisted of both players using various cards to protect their dragon and take out their opponent ' s . Eventually , both " / Assault Modes " were destroyed and the regular " Red Dragon Archfiend " and " Stardust Dragon " returned . Yusei increased " Stardust Dragon ' " ATK so it could defeat " Red Dragon Archfiend " and used " Synchro Destructor " to take out Jack ' s remaining Life Points . Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s World Championship 2009 : Stardust Accelerator . In " " , Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode and Red Dragon Archfiend / Assault Mode appear as opponents , that can be unlocked by Summoning their card form in a Duel . The characters Assault Mercenary and Night Wing Sorceress also use " / Assault Mode " Decks . Playing style . " / Assault Mode " monsters are extremely powerful , but in order to be used effectively their user must have very good control over their own deck and be able to summon the desired Synchro Monster with ease . A deck that is too dedicated to supporting " Assault Mode Activate " may not support the Synchro Monster properly enough to be able to summon it quickly . On occasion , an " / Assault Mode " monster ' s effect may not be as desirable as the original ( " Hyper Psychic Blaster / Assault Mode " does less damage with its effect , generally , than its original version ' s Piercing Damage , and " Red Dragon Archfiend / Assault Mode " has a severe drawback ) . Strengths . Depending on how you build it , this deck can be very fast and very quick to kill your opponent . Decks that work slowly or take a while to get started , like a Spellcaster Deck or Frog Deck are at risk of destruction . " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " makes short work of most Monarch decks and Blackwing Decks and " Red Dragon Archfiend / Assault Mode " destroys Zombie Decks . A way to deal massive damage to your opponent ' s life points is to have your Synchro Monster of choice on the field . " Hyper Psychic Blaster " will deal the most damage but " Stardust Dragon " has the greatest chance of working . Attack with the Synchro Monster , then use " Assault Mode Activate " . You can also chain " Assault Mode Activate " to a " Mirror Force " or " Dimensional Prison " to avoid the loss of your monster and maintain field advantage . Then , attack with the / Assault Mode Monster . Activate " Assault Overload " and inflict damage to both players equal to the / Assault Mode Monsters ' level X 200 . Then attack with your original Synchro Monster and if your opponent has a clear field or you used " Hyper Psychic Blaster / Assault Mode " then you will win . Weaknesses . Adding / Assault Mode support to your deck adds a new level of difficulty . Anti - Meta Decks will annihilate this deck . Always make sure to have a good side deck to deal with these decks . Also , because these decks are completely dependent on the use of " Assault Mode Activate " the deck can be shut down by " Prohibition " so make sure to have Spell and Trap removal cards such as " Dust Tornado " or " Mystical Space Typhoon " . Cards that can negate " Assault Mode Activate " like " Dark Bribe " and " Trap Stun " are very effective against this deck type because you still lose your Synchro Monster . Another / Assault Mode deck weakness is that if you draw an / Assault Mode monster it will waste your draw . A way to solve this problem is to use " Hand Destruction " or " Card Destruction " , then use " Pot of Avarice " to return them to the deck , so make sure you have some of those cards in your deck . Also , your opponent must discard cards as well so there is an added bonus to running these cards . If an / Assault Mode Monster ( except Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode where it can negate effects ) is destroyed by " Ryko , Lightsworn Hunter " , its original form cannot be revived because Ryko ' s self - milling is the last thing to happen , not the destruction , due to Missing the timing . Deck Types . Doomkaiser Assault . The deck that " Doomkaiser Dragon " fits best into is one built around " Zombie World " , allowing you to Special Summon monsters from either player ' s graveyard . Possible uses for these monsters include tribute fodder , such as for " Beast King Barbaros " and the ability to easily activate its field - clearing effect ; Synchro Summons , if you revive Tuner monsters ; or fodder for anything that needs large amounts of monsters on the field . Arcanite Assault . To use " Arcanite Magician " and " Arcanite Magician / Assault Mode " in a Spell Counter Deck can be tough but the deck is not impossible and makes for an interesting deck type to use . " Magical Exemplar " makes Special Summoning much easier and saves time to Synchro Summon your key monster , " Arcanite Magician " . " Instant Fusion " works very well with " Magical Exemplar " because you can use it to Special Summon a " Musician King " and use " Exemplar ' s " effect to Special Summon a " Night ' s End Sorcerer " from your hand or graveyard . " Arcane Apprentice " is a better choice because you get " Assault Mode Activate " to you hand after you Synchro Summon with it . Also , a very good card to have in this deck is " The Tricky " since he is level 5 and a Spellcaster and when used with " Arcane Apprentice " , not only will you be able to quickly Special Summon " Arcanite Magician " but her / Assault Mode version as well because of " Arcane Apprentice ' s " effect . A very important thing to think about is getting " Arcanite Magician / Assault Mode " out onto your side of the field as quickly as possible . This means getting " Assault Mode Activate " to your hand as soon as possible . " Threatening Roar " , " Mirror Force " , and " Dimensional Prison " will help keep her on the field so that your efforts will not go to waste . Another good card to add to your Extra Deck would be " Tempest Magician " . Her special effect allows you to add Spell Counter s to any monster by discarding any number of cards from your hand . This is a useful way to increase the ATK of " Arcanite " and Counters if it runs out . " Crusader of Endymion " or an " Alchemist of Black Spells " can help " Arcanite Magician " and " Arcanite Magician / Assault Mode " gain ATK and Spell Counters . You can also use " Spell Power Grasp " to put counters on either " Arcanite " . Use " Magical Citadel of Endymion " and remove spell counters from it so that your " Arcanite " or " Arcanite / Assault Mode " will not lose ATK when using their effects . Lastly , you can use " Miracle Synchro Fusion " . Since / Assault Mode monsters are useless in the graveyard , you can fuse a used - up " Arcanite Magician / Assault Mode " with " Tempest Magician " or " Arcanite Magician " to make " Supreme Arcanite Magician " . It ' s slower than either Arcanite but it is much more powerful and can allow you to draw cards . Stardust / Red Dragon / Colossal Assault . Because " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " has what is considered to be the most powerful effect of any / Assault Mode monster - and because of how easy the original " Stardust Dragon " is to summon , especially with the release of " Starlight Road " , - this is the most popular / Assault Mode deck in tournaments . This variant can use many combos to bring out " Stardust Dragon " . " Instant Fusion " is very useful in this deck as you can Special Summon a Level 4 or 5 Fusion Monster to tune with a Level 3 or 4 Tuner . " Destiny Hero - Malicious " is also used with " Emergency Teleport " , which can Special Summon the Level 8 " Stardust Dragon " with ease : " Emergency Teleport " also combos with " Instant Fusion " if " Psychic Commander " is included in the deck . Once " Stardust Dragon " is summoned it is important to Special Summon " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " quickly ; thus , " Assault Beast " is used to support " Assault Mode Activate " . Once the " Stardust / Assault " is out it is extremely difficult to remove from the field - its effect will negate ATK modifiers , destruction effects and more . The three weaknesses for this card are cards to negate " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode ' s " effect , like " Divine Wrath " , cards that banishes monsters from the graveyard , such as " D . D . Crow " , and monsters that have ATK higher than or equal to 3000 without using an effect , such as " Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür " . To speed up this deck you might want to add " Foolish Burial " to send your " Destiny Hero - Malicious " graveyard in order to activate its effect , then summon " Arcane Apprentice " . This way you can easily Special Summon " Stardust Dragon " and get an " Assault Mode Activate " . " Mystic Tomato " can be useful too as it can summon " Destiny Hero - Malicious " from your deck . Add " Plaguespreader Zombie " to help you return your " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " or " Destiny Hero - Malicious " from your hand to your deck . Flamvell Assault . While relying on Malicious to Synchro Summon " Stardust Dragon " can be unreliable , using Flamvells to summon a Stardust can be surprisingly easy . Destroy one of your opponent ' s monsters with " Flamvell Firedog " ( Level 4 ) and Special Summon " Flamvell Magician " ( Level 4 tuner ) . Tune them together for a " Stardust Dragon " . Also , once a sufficient amount of Flamvells have been added to your Graveyard , " Rekindling " is a quick and easy way to Synchro again for " Stardust Dragon " . This deck is based on tuning Level 8 Synchro Monsters using " Flamvell Magician " and " Flamvell Firedog " . " Firedog " Special Summons " Magician " quickly with his Effect and they could tune to make a Level 8 Synchro Monster in Main Phase 2 after " Firedog ' s " Effect and the only thing you have to do is activate " Assault Mode Activate " as soon as you can . Also , you can activate " Rekindling " to return Flamvells and tune them again . Strategy of this deck is simple and you just have to summon " Firedog " as quick as you can and blow away your opponent with Synchro Monsters and / Assault Mode Monsters . Dragunity Assault . Use the field spell " Dragon Ravine " to send " Dragunity Phalanx " to Graveyard and search out " Dragunity Dux " ; Normal Summon it and use it ' s effect to equip " Dragunity Phalanx " ; Special Summon " Dragunity Phalanx " and Synchro Summon " Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana " because it can equip " Phalanx " again , letting you summon " Stardust Dragon " . This deck is based on tuning Level 4 non - Tuner Winged Beast monsters with Level 2 Dragon Tuner to summon " Dragunity Knight - Vajrayana " . Special Summoning " Dragunity Arma Mystletainn " from hand can lead to summoning " Stardust Dragon " . Strategy of this deck is simple and you just have to use " Dragon Ravine " as early as possible to spam Synchro Monsters and / Assault Mode Monsters . Psychic Assault . This deck is quite possibly the easiest of the Assault Mode decks to use due to the usability of " Overdrive Teleporter " and " Hyper Psychic Blaster " being a Level 9 Synchro Monster . Thus , Special Summoning " Hyper Psychic Blaster " is as simple as Tribute Summoning " Overdrive Teleporter " , Special Summoning at least one " Psychic Commander " and tuning " Teleporter " and " Commander " to Synchro Summon " Blaster " . From there , activate " Assault Mode Activate " as soon as possible . A notable feature of " Hyper Psychic Blaster " is the summoning condition . Unlike other Level 9 Synchro Monsters , such as " Mist Wurm " and " Trishula , Dragon of the Ice Barrier " , " Hyper Psychic Blaster " only needs 1 other monster ( at minimum ) to Synchro Summon it . Most of these decks take advantage of this valuable fact as much as possible . Rarely known as Plantic , Plant s have a great swarm relation to Psychic s . Plantic decks that involve " Hyper Psychic Blaster / Assault Mode " are surprisingly powerful . Using level 3 Plants ( like " Lonefire Blossom " ) , level 3 Psychics ( like " Psychic Commander " ) , level 6 Plants ( like " Gigaplant " ) and level 6 Psychics ( like " Overdrive Teleporter " ) , summoning " Hyper Psychic Blaster " is as simple as putting 3 and 3 and 3 together . If the deck is Plant - Heavy you can use " DNA Surgery " to change all Type s to Psychic for ease of summoning . Ultimaya Tzolk ' in Assault Mode . This build is centered around " Hieratics " and throwing out " Ultimaya " using " Labradorite Dragon " and going for " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " with setting " Assault Mode Activate " . The Deck is fairly straight forward and easy to learn , and you have access to all of the other " Hieratic " staples . You also should run " Quickdraw Synchron " and " Magical Mallet " so you can shuffle " Stardust Dragon / Assault Mode " back to the Deck . It also helps against dead hands , which happens often in " Hieratics " . For getting " Ultimaya " out , you can run cards like " Cyber Dragon " and " Wattaildragon " . Any Level 5 vanilla Dragon is also a option , but is not recommended . You can also run " Instant Fusion " , but lowers the speed of the Deck . The Deck has access to all Level 7 & 8 Dragon Synchros , such as " Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons " and " Black Rose Moonlight Dragon " .