New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions
Sunday, April 28th, 2019 12:05am CDT
Category: Game NewsPosted by: #Sideways# Views: 42,001
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CHARACTER CARDS
"Oooohhh myyyyyyyy!"
Before I dive into the character card itself, I would like to point out that Alpha Trion's vehicle mode is actually original artwork by the Wizards crew -- something that I've spoken at length about being a fantastic sign of the longevity of Transformers as a card game. I certainly hope that more characters get original artwork in the future. Of course, all Battle Cards have original artwork -- but it seems that it's even more widespread than we thought! I can't wait to see where else they go with it.
But as for Alpha Trion himself, he's something of a "Baby Battlefield Legend", if you will. He can play a free Action -- albeit a specific color of Action -- when he attacks, and return an Action -- again, specific color of Action -- to your hand on Vehicle mode flip. I really enjoy the gameplay flow of Optimus Prime, so being able to play essentially two of them on the same team is just as welcome. You already favor a blue deck with Battlefield Legend, at least in many circumstances, so Alpha Trion fits exceptionally well into that mold. Even more than that, George Tak-- Er, Alpha Trion can return the ever-useful Reckless Charge to your hand to power up Battlefield Legend's next attack even more than you already are naturally.
I really and truly do like Alpha Trion, but I do doubt his usefulness over Battlefield Legend in many circumstances. Battlefield Legend is arguably the best character card in the game, though, so that's not saying much; but it is an interesting idea. In many circumstances, Battlefield Legend's high point cost constrained the pool of potential partners for him. With Alpha Trion, you don't really have that problem; here, you can use two seven star characters, a six and an eight, or even a ten and a four star! You can use a lot more partners with Alpha Trion, and whereas your deck will likely have to be more balanced than you're used to to make full use of his abilities, you're going to get a lot of value out of him regardless.
All in all, I am extremely excited for Alpha Trion and his prospects. His utility is extremely high for an 11 Star character, and even moreso than that, you can use him in many more team combinations than Battlefield Legend. He's not perfect, and his stats are a little lacking, but with the right Actions, all things are possible. Look out for this guy!
"On T.R.O.O.P.S., all suspects are guilty. If they were innocent, they wouldn't be suspects, now would they?"
Prowl kind of sucks. Weapons don't really stick around for that long in Transformers, thanks to both Power Punch and Grenade Launcher both being mainstays of many decks offensive engine. Of course, with Battle Masters being a thing, you could technically punish decks that rely on them for damage, but to be perfectly frank, there are an absurd amount of weapon-scrapping effects that would be better for that punishment.
As for his stats, he's rather lackluster in all but HP. His moderate offensive stats are average for his Star cost, and his defensive stats are mediocre at best. Prowl is a car, which is nice, but at a point, I would actually rather run Ruckus at a slightly higher point cost instead, and he's... Well, Ruckus.
I get it -- he's a Common -- but it looks to me like the card is just as bad as the toy mold it's based on.
"How am I going to stop a mean Mother Hubbard from tearin' me a structurally superfluous behind?
The answer? I'm going to use a gun. If that don't work? Use more gun."
The answer? I'm going to use a gun. If that don't work? Use more gun."
Cog is cool -- an expensive kind of cool. Cog is the first Weaponizer we've seen in the TFTCG, and with him come implications. Foremost of these being: Are we going to see more of them? I did a little digging, and I didn't come up with much in terms of the toyline, but with the unprecedented new artwork, who knows what could come next in terms of Weaponizers?
But that's beside the point. The main point is that Cog is a Weaponizer, and Cog is very good. I can't put to words how excited I am at the prospects of pairing him with three Micromasters/Combiner parts and using his absurd Weaponizer ability to power up your entire squadron instantly. I'm also extremely excited the prospects of powering up a multi-weapon Razorclaw with the combination of Tooth and Claw and Cog, but I'm a sucker for Razorclaw so that shouldn't be a surprise.
I just wish that his stats in robot mode were better. Just four attack is a bit lackluster, but with his explosive ability in Weapon Mode, I find it hard to be disappointed. For instance, you could use him to soften something up for one of your other characters to finish off. Plus, he can still dumpster some Combiner Parts or Micromasters -- it's just going to be harder to find robot mode value against decks of normal stature.
Cog's stats aren't all mediocre, though; 12 is still a high number, and your opponent might be hard-pressed to KO him in one hit. It's for this reason that I can't help but to think about Heroism or Bravery, both being used to draw a second attack from your opponent away from one of your squishier targets for a second turn in a row. Simply put, your opponent doesn't want to have to attack Cog -- they'd rather leave him alone until all of your other characters have been KO'd so they don't have to deal with his Weaponizer effect.
This also lends itself to a potential entire team of Micromasters. Since all Micromasters have Stealth when untapped, your opponent can't target them on the first turn of the game. In other words, you're essentially forcing your opponent to attack Cog, and if he's still alive at that point, you can attack with him and force your opponent to waste another attack on him again, only to power up your entire field.
I could go on about the nuance of Cog's playstyle, but I think I'll leave that to your imagination. Anyway, who do you think will be another Weaponizer? I haven't seen any hardline Weaponizers in my research, but now that I think about it, Megatron could be a Weaponizer with his gun mode! Oh, my, the mental image of that makes me swoon. But enough dreaming! On to the next!
The new season of Black Bullet looks great!
Nightstick is... Well, he's something, all right. On one hand, he's a playable Decepticon Specialist which is something of a commodity outside of Flamewar and Breakdown, but on the other hand, he's kind of dismal in his robot mode. His stats are agonizing at best, and whereas I realize you're supposed to play him with heavy black pips, you're probably going to swing for an astounding two damage on average.
I realize that most Battle Masters have two to three attack, but most of the time, they do something to justify it, like draw a card, high Bold or have a high amount of Tough. Nightstick does neither of those things. Regardless, you don't play a Battle Master for their robot mode: You play them for their weapons!
So, as for Nightstick's, well... Night-stick, it's actually an interesting weapon. With the influx of black pips, one could build their deck to accommodate it rather well. The offensive boost isn't the real reason you'd play him, in fact: It's the defensive boost combined with the hand control effect. I mean, just to put it in perspective, with Shockwave -- Cybertron Commander, you could attach Nightstick and when you attach a Multi-Mission Gear the next turn, you will end up with a shocking five defense.
With that, you can even use the hand scrapping effect with Shockwave to deal chip damage -- it's almost like the two were made for each other! But, anyway, Nightstick might be used in select lists. But, with hand destruction not being as good in Transformers as it is in other games, I can't help but to feel like Nightstick's usefulness will be just about as limited as his robot mode.
"Who're you callin' pinhead?"
Needlenose? In Cybertronian form? Oho, if you couldn't have guessed, this is entirely new artwork of Needlenose in Tetrajet form. The artwork for him blends seamlessly in with the other artwork for the other characters, and I can't help but to love the little things, like the asymmetrical guns in his vehicle mode.
Regardless, Needlenose is actually impressive in many different regards. For one, he's the cheapest character who can return an Action (or Upgrade, but who plays Star Upgrades?) to your hand, and on top of that, he can combo especially well with Leap of Faith and Bolt of Lightning, dealing a damage to an enemy of your choice for each. That powerful effect makes for an interesting conundrum: Just how many Star Cards would you play, and which ones?
Bolt of Lightning comes to mind to start -- being able to snipe for 4 directly is an immensely powerful effect, and it certainly makes up for his mediocre at best attack power. But, getting those specific cards into your hand when you need them is something of a crap-shoot. You never know when you're going to flip them during a battle, and then you need to use two of your Transform actions just to get it back and use it to its full effect, and all of this hoping that your opponent doesn't just, y'know, kill him.
It's for that reason that I think that Leap of Faith must be played alongside Bolt of Lightning. I know, I know; you're playing six Star Cards -- a full character's worth -- you have to realize that you're probably doing more with your Leaps and Bolts than you could probably do with a six star character, anyway, aside from having them eat an attack for you. Plus, Leap of Faith can also trigger a Bolt of Lightning, dealing five damage instead of the normal four. On top of that, you can Brainstorm a Leap of Faith and a Bolt, and who knows what you can get off the Leap flips to compound that damage?
I digress slightly. Needlenose being eight stars allows you access to smaller teammates, making room in your deck for more stars. You deal a massive amount of pressure damage outside of combat with a deck consisting of mostly stars, but I can't help but to feel like his stats lack a bit of "umph" to push him that extra mile that he so desperately needs. Only 11 HP with only one defense is a bit lackluster, and in a format of increasing aggression, I worry that his frailty may cost you in the short run.
All in all, Needlenose is going to be a neat rogue deck. I don't think he'll be a mainstay in the mainstream metagame thanks to that frailty of his, but I do think that he'll be fun to play regardless.
Cutter no more.
Trailbreaker is back, guys! I was so excited to see the card's name, and then I looked at the card's effect. First, let me say, searching out a Force Field at the start of the game is actually kind of nutty. It confirms that your opponent will avoid Trailbreaker like the plague, and that means that he'll likely have full health going into your first turn. But, that being said, if you fill your team with Stealth characters other than Trailbreaker, you can force your opponent to attack into your Force Field on the first turn of the game, but after that you have a team of Micromasters that couldn't dent tin foil even if they tried, so perhaps that strategy is something of a miss.
Other than that, Trailbreaker has only a few things really going for him, and most of it revolves around having an Armor attached. But, as I've said before, Armor doesn't tend to stick around that long after Bashing Shield's advent. That makes him more of a liability than anything else, with his zero defense compounding the loss of your Force Field. Pretty much, if you ever lose your Force Field, you can preemptively notify his next of kin -- he's a dead man walking.
But that's kind of all he does. Sure, his five attack isn't bad at all, but there are plenty of cheaper options who do that, too. His Brave effect is good, don't get me wrong, and starting the game with a Force Field is very good, but if your opponent plays any Upgrade removal at all, you are going to get next to no value out of him.
"Damn it, Jim! I'm a doctor, not a mechanic!"
Let me preface this by saying that Ratchet is one of my favorite characters. The crotchety doctor is one of my favorite archetypes, with Bones being one of my favorite characters from Star Trek in general. The type of character that can do anything with a scalpel, and they won't be happy about it when you give them lip. Unfortunately, Ratchet just doesn't live up to that hype.
He's something of a byproduct of the times, sadly. Healing just doesn't have that much of an impact, and when you only deal +1 for each damage you heal, you're not getting much offensive power from it, either, and when he's an eight star character with zero defense, he's not going to give you back that much value in the long run. It's not that he's bad per-se, in fact, if the format slows down a bit (or a lot) then his Medic! search will see a lot of value.
Until then, however, Ratchet's just too expensive for what he brings to the table.
It's poetry in motion / She's turned her tender eyes to me
Deeper than any ocean / As sweet as any harmony
Mm, she blinded me with science!
Deeper than any ocean / As sweet as any harmony
Mm, she blinded me with science!
Wheeljack is really quite interesting. On one hand, he is completely lackluster compared to his previous iteration, but the idea of starting the game with a Brainstorm in-hand is definitely appealing. His stats are seemingly in-line with most other characters his cost, and his Car status could prove to boost him slightly, but in a Car list, wouldn't you rather play Wave 1 Wheeljack instead for his draw and Bold effects?
But either way, what are Siege Wheeljack's merits? Well, my favorite part about his kit is that he's an Autobot specialist, making him an available bachelor for the Red Heat Combo archetype. Early playtesting with Skywarp have been going very well, and I wonder how it would turn out, starting the game with a Brainstorm in-hand? Even more than that, his Autobot nature allows you to play the ever-useful Confidence, digging just a little bit farther into your deck for those Peace Through Tyranny. Something that's not as useful but still welcome is his draw effect in his robot mode, where you can try and refund some of your massive hand expenditure.
But other than in Combo, Wheeljack probably won't see much play compared to his Wave 1 iteration. His effects just aren't as useful as Wave 1's, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
"INJUSTICE RAAIINNSS FROM ABOVE!"
Visper is kinda freaky. I don't know whether I love him or despise him, but regardless of that, I know that his effect is good. Regardless of whether or not Visper is viable otherwise, his effect when built correctly is immensely powerful. Removing your opponent's hand on the first turn of the game is strong (albeit lucky) and in doing so, you're more or less confirming that your opponent will likely not be able to retaliate against your more important partners like Shockwave.
The biggest problem with hand destruction is that your opponent can always retaliate. This is no different, but when done early enough, you curb that until far later. Now, I realize you're also dumping your own hand, but that's what Work Overtime and character-based draw is for. Plus, if you're a magician or just really bad at shuffling, you can potentially draw three cards to replace the ones you've discarded if they all share the same name.
Not to say that he's going to be doing much after that, but Micromasters have always been one-trick ponies anyway and I'm not complaining. It's for that reason that I don't really care too much about his HP -- whereas your opponent has no hand, they probably won't find it too hard to one-hit the poor guy unless you flip well. Remember, they still get to draw at the start of their turns; they're going to be able to play something. You should just hope that it's not a Grenade Launcher.
You could also potentially save Visper until mid to late game where you have a swarm of green pips in your hand, and potentially three of a kind. That way, you could scrap all three and get the full effect of Visper's ability. But at that point, the damage has kind of already been done by your opponent, don't you think? They've already been able to play most of their cards, and at that point, your characters are going to be wholly softened for them to swing into.
The problems I have with Visper are the same problems I have with hand destruction in general. He's not a bad pick, especially with the right partners, but the problem with him is more systemic than anything else to do with him specifically. I don't know. Maybe I'm being too critical of him, but until hand destruction is good, Visper likely won't be.
(A)(v)(^) (A)(v)(^)
Storm Cloud is the partner of Visper, and he's just as niche. He belongs in the same kind of list that Visper does, with more than a little green pips and a lot of luck. However, there is something that makes him instantly more viable than Visper: Early aggression paired with a tiny point cost. Storm Cloud is four Stars, and he can give one of your bigger, more powerful characters a lot of Bold on top of potentially the Bold they had to start with. You can even use him on the first turn of the game to give a staggering amount of Bold to a character to more or less confirm the KO on the first turn, in the same vein as Thrust. In fact, you could use him in concert with Thrust to deal an astounding level of damage before your opponent even gets to take a turn -- something I'm actually quite a fan of.
I mean, I realize you're almost never going to be able to use him to his fullest on the first turn of the game, but still, Bold 3 is nothing to sneeze at before the game really begins. Take, for instance, this lineup: Ramjet at 10 Stars, Thrust at 9 and capping everyone off with Storm Cloud at 4, making a total of 23 making plenty of room for Missile Launchers to be flipped on the first turn of the game. You can stack oodles and oodles of damage modifiers on Ramjet, dealing upwards of approximately 15 damage with somewhat average flips (five orange and two white, not counting double pips) to whatever you want. Now imagine if you flipped well.
Sure, you're tapped out afterwards, and if you don't get the OHKO you're probably going to be in a world of hurt, but it's an interesting concept nevertheless. Again, if you manage to pull a super hot hand out of your hat on the first or second turn of the game with all three copies of something in your hand, power to you. Other than that, though, just settle for the Bold 3 and have fun at your opponent's expense.
Hey, man, what the Flak?
Flak is actually better than Storm Cloud in early pressure, and you can't change my mind. Let me explain: With Storm Cloud, you need to build your entire deck around his features. Then, you add a variable amount of damage to a character that will then have to wade through your obnoxious green pipped cards to hopefully hit a double orange or two and after all of that, you still don't have much in the ways of next turn.
Not with Flak. With Flak, you can play a Grenade Launcher on Thrust on the first turn of the game, then Thrust will add a total of 7 damage to Ramjet, totaling in 14 base damage before flips. There is less variation, less milling of resources and, yes, a plan for the next turn since Thrust now has a weapon on him. You could say the same thing about some other decks out there. For instance, you could, instead of playing Ransack/Chop Shop in Insecticons, you could play Flak. Flak could then add one of your many weapons to Kickback on the first turn, acting as something of a "baby Thrust".
Now, I know what you're thinking: "Well, Storm Cloud is four stars and he gives Bold, and I like Bold better than damage boosts!"
Well, first off, the difference between four and five stars is not the end of the world, and two, you could always add a Power Punch to one of your characters to essentially do the same thing -- while still discarding less cards from your hand. I realize that he's an Autobot, and that means you can't use Swindled, but a turn one KO might just be worth it regardless.
Plus, he's a Tank, and that means you can use him with Demolisher, Starter Megatron and Barrage to make three-wide aggro Tanks, drawing two cards off Demolisher and attaching up to three Armor cards with Hunker Down. It's probably not the best use of his abilities, but it's an interesting concept to explore nevertheless.
Regardless, I'm excited to see where he goes -- and I definitely think he'll be going somewhere. Just where that is remains a mystery.
someBODY once told me / The world is going to roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool / in the shed
I ain't the sharpest tool / in the shed
Mudslinger looks cool, but does next to nothing. You see, this is a fairly fast-paced game, and characters can't take a lot of punishment. Meaning, Mudslinger doesn't really have too much value to attain. I mean, if healing isn't good for Ratchet, how is healing one by tapping a character worth it at all?
The answer? It's not. The only thing I can possibly think of is dealing one damage to Skrapnel to potentially make him a 2HKO, but as far as that goes, I'd rather just play a Zap. He's cool looking, but I'm afraid looks aren't everything.
"Go get 'em, tiger."
Some Battle Masters are kind of awful, in fact, most Battle Masters are. Most have mediocre offensive potential, and a middling weapon to boot. Lionizer is not most Battle Masters.
Having an innate Bold 4 is monstrous -- he swings about as hard as Demolishor does in an all orange build, and he might, against certain builds, take a hit to boot. His HP, his defense and his offensive potential are all high for Battle Masters, and his weapon is anything but disappointing.
Not only does his weapon, Firesteel Saber, transfer his Bold 4 to the Upgraded character, but he also adds in a solid Plan 1 to make things even better than initially thought. I adore that about him, and the thing I love about Lionizer the most is his versatility in lists. In many cases, the kind of Battle Master you play is dictated by the list you use, but in this case, Lionizer works in nearly every list.
I can't say enough good things about Lionizer. He's extremely versatile, and just as powerful.
BATTLE CARDS
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words especially hurt me.
It's amazing how they made a blank orange and black pipped card!
All jesting aside, Rock Toss does just a bit more damage as actually tossing a rock at a card. You're not going to be doing much noticeable damage by playing the card, but you're going to like the pips in black lists. Something else that should be noted is that, as it stands, this is almost 100% better than Zap. Zap, whereas it can target anything, doesn't have that Pierce 1 effect -- and let's be frank here, you're probably not going to be targeting anyone with Zap other than than the thing you're about to attack.
My words are rather harsh, but I gotta be honest, I'm not even that against it. In a black deck, orange boosts are definitely a worthwhile consideration, especially if you happen to be named "Jazz and Omega Supreme". White/Black Omega Jazz is an archetype, guys -- you'll see!
There's not much else to say about it, so I won't.
"What do you have?"
"A knife!"
"NO!"
"A knife!"
"NO!"
This Combat Dagger has merit in certain black builds, but not a lot. Something you need to realize about black builds is that Black/Orange in an orange core is probably not going to get you very far compared to other options. Although the concept of Black/Orange as an entire engine might actually have merit, the concept of splashing black cards into orange lists is somewhat useless since it doesn't really boost anything.
It's for this reason that Combat Dagger is niche. I love the black and orange pips, but only having Bold 1 isn't going to be doing you many favors for a weapon attachment. I can see playing it in Black/Orange OmegaJazz, or perhaps some other unseen Rakdos-colored decks, but outside of that, I can't really justify playing it in any other lists. There are just usually better weapons to play. That's not a bad thing per se, but it is worthy of note.
Either way, Combat Dagger will likely see play in black decks -- but outside of them, I really don't think that there's much of a spot for this butter knife.
GIMME THE JUICE
Well that's a whole lotta pips! Fuel Cache is the first triple-pipped card we've seen in the game, and before I talk about what it really does, I'd like to ask you something: How far will you go for pips alone?
I'm sure we've all put Improvised Shield or Handheld Blaster in our mono orange or blue decks, and those cards do literally nothing when played in their respective lists. We play Peace Through Tyranny in Predacons, even though we technically can't play the card even if we wanted to. There are just a few cards out there that effectively do nothing -- and yet we play them anyway, just for their pips alone.
So let me ask you again: Is it worth it? Now how about when it costs a star?
I'm pretty stingy when it comes to Star Cards. There aren't that many things out there that can even remotely compare to Leap of Faith, and when they do they usually involve drawing cards. I usually err on the side of Actions because you see their power quickly and easily, with Upgrades being more of a "slow build". Generally speaking, as a Star Card, Fuel Cache has to contend with not only Leap of Faith, but Universal Network Access as well as the respective extra double pipped cards for a spot in a list.
Speaking of which, let's talk about what Fuel Cache actually does, aside from its pips. If you couldn't tell, it looks at the top three, and if their composite colors match or exceed one of each primary color, it ends up putting all three into your hand. If you whiff, well, you can kiss all three cards goodbye.
So, how is that better than drawing three cards with Universal Network Access? Or playing two out of three of them with Leap of Faith? It's not. Occasionally drawing three cards is definitely not a good effect compared to the other options vying for the same spot.
In fact, it reminds me of Recon System, a card I've been outspoken about being literally worse Bold and Tough 1. Is Fuel Cache literally not just the same thing but for draw? I can forgive it for its fantastic pips, but I just can't really justify it over some of the other options. In my opinion, so long as Leap of Faith is in the format, you can pretty much count on it being played over any other Star Card, likely regardless of pips.
But, that being said, if you're going balanced and you don't really care about Leap of Faith (say, for instance, you only have one star to play with), look no further than Fuel Cache. Its pips have plenty of merit, and I would definitely put money on not drawing it if it's a one-of.
REPRINTS
The following cards are all reprints, but they all have new, original artwork! Check them out below:
CLOSING
Well, those were some reveals. I am especially excited about Alpha Trion, Flak and Lionizer. I really, truly think that both of those cards will see a lot of play in the future, and I can't wait to see what people do with them. Visper is another card to look out for in niche rogue decks (likely with Shockwave), and whereas I'm not the biggest fan of his, I can still appreciate what both he and his partner are capable of.
As for the reprints, they aren't going to majorly shift the format -- but they are going to shift around a few of the cards in my collection! The artwork is seriously fantastic, with Medic! being my favorite of the bunch. I really hope that they use this opportunity to push a plotline in the same vein as Magic has, using the card reveals, artwork and flavor text to push a story. I suppose I won't be seeing that any time soon, but a boy can dream, can't he?
In fact, in a recent interview, Drew Nolosco mentioned that they were, in fact, pushing a Siege plotline about the fall of Cybertron for the next sets. I'm actually all for that, in fact. Every story has to have a beginning -- and an end -- and generally, the best beginning for Transformers is on Cybertron.
What about you? Are you hoping they push the story elements further or are you happy with the artwork doing the talking for them? Are you excited about the plethora of Battle Masters and Micromasters coming into the game? Think George Takei will be proud of Alpha Trion's power level? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you next time!
This article was last modified on Monday, May 13th, 2019 11:32pm CDT
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Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020021)
Posted by DerrikDGreat on April 28th, 2019 @ 1:08pm CDT
Posted by DerrikDGreat on April 28th, 2019 @ 1:08pm CDT
Anybody else notice that Alpha Trion’s alt mode is the Daedalus from Robotech?
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020025)
Posted by Hydrargyrus on April 28th, 2019 @ 2:05pm CDT
Posted by Hydrargyrus on April 28th, 2019 @ 2:05pm CDT
On Weaponizers:
I’ve been thinking about a gun-mode Megatron for a very long time, and you might be right about a Weaponizer being the way to do it.
Additionally, Siege Brunt and Sixgun (whose design is used in the Metroplex deck version) are the other Weaponizer toys we know of. I’m not sure if that’s the info you couldn’t find, but there it is.
Thanks for the analysis. I always enjoy reading them, and I don’t even play the game (although I’m thinking about trying it, as it seems to be getting more interesting).
I’ve been thinking about a gun-mode Megatron for a very long time, and you might be right about a Weaponizer being the way to do it.
Additionally, Siege Brunt and Sixgun (whose design is used in the Metroplex deck version) are the other Weaponizer toys we know of. I’m not sure if that’s the info you couldn’t find, but there it is.
Thanks for the analysis. I always enjoy reading them, and I don’t even play the game (although I’m thinking about trying it, as it seems to be getting more interesting).
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020028)
Posted by Ultra Markus on April 28th, 2019 @ 3:44pm CDT
Posted by Ultra Markus on April 28th, 2019 @ 3:44pm CDT
DerrikDGreat not really the front looks similar to the Prometheus the other ship
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020058)
Posted by #Sideways# on April 28th, 2019 @ 10:41pm CDT
I didn't see Brunt at all! I did a bit of digging around on TFWiki, and it looks like the pages I did the digging on (mostly the page on the C.O.M.B.A.T. mechanic) weren't updated with Brunt. He could be the Decepticon one! Good eye!
Six-Gun might actually be really interesting for weaponizer purposes, but I wonder how that might work with the one with Metroplex? After all, the two are somewhat joined at the hip, or the, uh... Everywhere considering the G1 toy.![:lol:]( "Laughing")
But yeah, those could definitely work. I really hope that they do go with the Megatron idea, though -- Megatron needs more gun modes!
Thanks for reading! I'm glad you're thinking of checking it out; it's a great game, and I'm really excited to see how far it's come, especially from its grassroots beginnings.
Posted by #Sideways# on April 28th, 2019 @ 10:41pm CDT
MagicDeath wrote:On Weaponizers:
I’ve been thinking about a gun-mode Megatron for a very long time, and you might be right about a Weaponizer being the way to do it.
Additionally, Siege Brunt and Sixgun (whose design is used in the Metroplex deck version) are the other Weaponizer toys we know of. I’m not sure if that’s the info you couldn’t find, but there it is.
Thanks for the analysis. I always enjoy reading them, and I don’t even play the game (although I’m thinking about trying it, as it seems to be getting more interesting).
I didn't see Brunt at all! I did a bit of digging around on TFWiki, and it looks like the pages I did the digging on (mostly the page on the C.O.M.B.A.T. mechanic) weren't updated with Brunt. He could be the Decepticon one! Good eye!
Six-Gun might actually be really interesting for weaponizer purposes, but I wonder how that might work with the one with Metroplex? After all, the two are somewhat joined at the hip, or the, uh... Everywhere considering the G1 toy.
But yeah, those could definitely work. I really hope that they do go with the Megatron idea, though -- Megatron needs more gun modes!
Thanks for reading! I'm glad you're thinking of checking it out; it's a great game, and I'm really excited to see how far it's come, especially from its grassroots beginnings.
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020069)
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 29th, 2019 @ 4:08am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 29th, 2019 @ 4:08am CDT
Okay so I'm looking at taking the plunge in this game soon but have no idea what the current meta game is, what the best way to start is or what. Will the bee vs Megs starter set be a good place to start?
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020084)
Posted by Counterpunch on April 29th, 2019 @ 11:45am CDT
First off dude, I really appreciate you doing these reviews. Well done.
Without commenting on the whole thing, I think I disagree about Ratchet. His star cost is less than Wheeljack with one more life. The 0 health thing is bad, but like you said, it's an environment that favors attacks.
What I would argue is that healing is not necessarily a way to endure or to play defensively, but rather a way to force the opponent into an extra attack that would otherwise have been a confirmed kill. Most bots are either a one shot or two shot death. Using the math of the moment to extend that can really unbalance the tempo of the turn order.
This is all theory craft of course as we have not had an opportunity to use healing in a meaningful way. Medic aside, the more versatile "Team Up Tactics" comes to mind. Pair him up with Trailbreaker and Arcee, use the extra star slot for a Leap of Faith and there may be something brewing there as a resilient build.
Could it stand up to Cars, Bugs, etc? Probably not. But I think something may be in the mix.
Posted by Counterpunch on April 29th, 2019 @ 11:45am CDT
#Sideways# wrote:snip
First off dude, I really appreciate you doing these reviews. Well done.
Without commenting on the whole thing, I think I disagree about Ratchet. His star cost is less than Wheeljack with one more life. The 0 health thing is bad, but like you said, it's an environment that favors attacks.
What I would argue is that healing is not necessarily a way to endure or to play defensively, but rather a way to force the opponent into an extra attack that would otherwise have been a confirmed kill. Most bots are either a one shot or two shot death. Using the math of the moment to extend that can really unbalance the tempo of the turn order.
This is all theory craft of course as we have not had an opportunity to use healing in a meaningful way. Medic aside, the more versatile "Team Up Tactics" comes to mind. Pair him up with Trailbreaker and Arcee, use the extra star slot for a Leap of Faith and there may be something brewing there as a resilient build.
Could it stand up to Cars, Bugs, etc? Probably not. But I think something may be in the mix.
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020095)
Posted by #Sideways# on April 29th, 2019 @ 1:01pm CDT
I think that it'd be a great place to start! You get an array of staples that you can place in your decks in the future. However, the Wave 1 starter set might give you more value, character-wise. If you'd like to jump in the deep end and start with combiners, you should try either the Predacons or Devastator -- either are good starts. You can also check out Metroplex if you're in for something a little more unorthodox.![;)]( "Wink")
As for the meta, again, it favors aggro rather well. If you'd like to check out some deck profiles, check out my channel. It has a few decks that'll get you started.
Thanks! I'm glad you like them.
As for Ratchet, I do agree that Trailbreaker is a good partner for him, but instead of Arcee I might try out Skrapnel, since Trailbreaker is for 10, Ratchet for 8 and Skrapnel for 7. I think the main thing that really excludes healing in general from other lists is that defense isn't as good as it could be. Put simply, it doesn't defend enough to make the healing that impactful, even to make two shots into three shots.
I think, however, you might be on to something with Trailbreaker. With the Skrapnel and Force Field effects being as it may, one could use Stealthiness as well as Bravery combined with Trailbreaker's own Brave to effectively force your opponent into attacking Skrapnel and/or into Force Field, where you can then heal it off. Essentially, a less luck-based OmegaJazz but with healing.
![:-?]( "Thinking")
Posted by #Sideways# on April 29th, 2019 @ 1:01pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:Okay so I'm looking at taking the plunge in this game soon but have no idea what the current meta game is, what the best way to start is or what. Will the bee vs Megs starter set be a good place to start?
I think that it'd be a great place to start! You get an array of staples that you can place in your decks in the future. However, the Wave 1 starter set might give you more value, character-wise. If you'd like to jump in the deep end and start with combiners, you should try either the Predacons or Devastator -- either are good starts. You can also check out Metroplex if you're in for something a little more unorthodox.
As for the meta, again, it favors aggro rather well. If you'd like to check out some deck profiles, check out my channel. It has a few decks that'll get you started.
Counterpunch wrote:First off dude, I really appreciate you doing these reviews. Well done.
Without commenting on the whole thing, I think I disagree about Ratchet. His star cost is less than Wheeljack with one more life. The 0 health thing is bad, but like you said, it's an environment that favors attacks.
What I would argue is that healing is not necessarily a way to endure or to play defensively, but rather a way to force the opponent into an extra attack that would otherwise have been a confirmed kill. Most bots are either a one shot or two shot death. Using the math of the moment to extend that can really unbalance the tempo of the turn order.
This is all theory craft of course as we have not had an opportunity to use healing in a meaningful way. Medic aside, the more versatile "Team Up Tactics" comes to mind. Pair him up with Trailbreaker and Arcee, use the extra star slot for a Leap of Faith and there may be something brewing there as a resilient build.
Could it stand up to Cars, Bugs, etc? Probably not. But I think something may be in the mix.
Thanks! I'm glad you like them.
As for Ratchet, I do agree that Trailbreaker is a good partner for him, but instead of Arcee I might try out Skrapnel, since Trailbreaker is for 10, Ratchet for 8 and Skrapnel for 7. I think the main thing that really excludes healing in general from other lists is that defense isn't as good as it could be. Put simply, it doesn't defend enough to make the healing that impactful, even to make two shots into three shots.
I think, however, you might be on to something with Trailbreaker. With the Skrapnel and Force Field effects being as it may, one could use Stealthiness as well as Bravery combined with Trailbreaker's own Brave to effectively force your opponent into attacking Skrapnel and/or into Force Field, where you can then heal it off. Essentially, a less luck-based OmegaJazz but with healing.
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020096)
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 29th, 2019 @ 2:14pm CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 29th, 2019 @ 2:14pm CDT
Thanks Sideways ![:)]( "Smile")
I'll have a look at those options, I know I can still get the first starter set for a good price. I'll have to look into your channel as unlike magic, I've got no idea on how to build decks ![:lol:]( "Laughing")
I'll have a look at those options, I know I can still get the first starter set for a good price. I'll have to look into your channel as unlike magic, I've got no idea on how to build decks
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020099)
Posted by Counterpunch on April 29th, 2019 @ 3:24pm CDT
I've had a really rough time running Skrapnel outside of his theme. I think people are really aware of how to play around him at this point, but he remains effective in Bugs because he gives just enough cover for them to get at least 2 really nasty attacks in (prior to the untap).
Posted by Counterpunch on April 29th, 2019 @ 3:24pm CDT
#Sideways# wrote:I think, however, you might be on to something with Trailbreaker. With the Skrapnel and Force Field effects being as it may, one could use Stealthiness as well as Bravery combined with Trailbreaker's own Brave to effectively force your opponent into attacking Skrapnel and/or into Force Field, where you can then heal it off. Essentially, a less luck-based OmegaJazz but with healing.
I've had a really rough time running Skrapnel outside of his theme. I think people are really aware of how to play around him at this point, but he remains effective in Bugs because he gives just enough cover for them to get at least 2 really nasty attacks in (prior to the untap).
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020107)
Posted by #Sideways# on April 29th, 2019 @ 7:11pm CDT
Yeah, right? When I first started out, I put so much unnecessary draw in my earliest lists. In Pokemon, the game I mostly played before Transformers, you had to have a draw card every turn otherwise you ended up losing the game. In Transformers, building your deck is usually focused on redundancy -- something I wasn't really used to until recently.
For instance, you need to play multiple weapons, multiple copies of each of them, and likely multiple damaging Actions as well. That, and the double pips. It's really an interesting game.
I have actually heard of a few decks taking him and placing him with Battlefield Legend alongside Arcee. Mostly for his tapping effect, yes, but still, your opponent is wholly unlikely to one-hit him. Which is the reason I like him with Ratchet; Skrap's ability being as it may, your opponent is really not likely to one-hit him. With potent healing and Trailbreaker having essentially innate Brave, you can force your opponent to never one-hit your characters pretty much ever.
I dunno, maybe. It's a thought, at least.
Posted by #Sideways# on April 29th, 2019 @ 7:11pm CDT
ZeroWolf wrote:Thanks SidewaysI'll have a look at those options, I know I can still get the first starter set for a good price. I'll have to look into your channel as unlike magic, I've got no idea on how to build decks
Yeah, right? When I first started out, I put so much unnecessary draw in my earliest lists. In Pokemon, the game I mostly played before Transformers, you had to have a draw card every turn otherwise you ended up losing the game. In Transformers, building your deck is usually focused on redundancy -- something I wasn't really used to until recently.
For instance, you need to play multiple weapons, multiple copies of each of them, and likely multiple damaging Actions as well. That, and the double pips. It's really an interesting game.
Counterpunch wrote:I've had a really rough time running Skrapnel outside of his theme. I think people are really aware of how to play around him at this point, but he remains effective in Bugs because he gives just enough cover for them to get at least 2 really nasty attacks in (prior to the untap).
I have actually heard of a few decks taking him and placing him with Battlefield Legend alongside Arcee. Mostly for his tapping effect, yes, but still, your opponent is wholly unlikely to one-hit him. Which is the reason I like him with Ratchet; Skrap's ability being as it may, your opponent is really not likely to one-hit him. With potent healing and Trailbreaker having essentially innate Brave, you can force your opponent to never one-hit your characters pretty much ever.
I dunno, maybe. It's a thought, at least.
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020134)
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 30th, 2019 @ 3:03am CDT
Posted by ZeroWolf on April 30th, 2019 @ 3:03am CDT
I used to play pokemon back in the day (the day base set 1 released, swiftly followed by Jungle and Fossil) it seems like such a different beast since then
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020844)
Posted by Wolfman Jake on May 7th, 2019 @ 11:20pm CDT
Posted by Wolfman Jake on May 7th, 2019 @ 11:20pm CDT
The Transformers Trading Card Game by Wizards of the Coast is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. If collectible card games are your thing, fellow Seibertronians, then enjoy these reveals of new cards joining the line-up! First, we have "Raider Road Hugger," a classic G1 Micromaster. You can check out some strategies and information on this card from designer and creative lead Matt Smith's Facebook page. Next up is fan favorite "Private Arcee!" Designer Scott Van Essen shows off this new card on his Facebook page, along with tips and tricks to getting into the Transformers Trading Card Game if you're so inclined, but feeling a bit lost with all the information and options out there. Finally, design lead Ken Nagle shows off two new Star Cards, "EMP Wave" and "Full Loadout," on his Facebook page. His article, linked here, explains the basics on what star cards can do for you and your deck strategies. Check out the pictures of all four of these new card reveals below!
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Are you excited to add these new cards to your Transformers Trading Card Game decks? Have the articles from the designers above inspired you to take the plunge into collectible card gaming? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest news on all things Transformers!
Are you excited to add these new cards to your Transformers Trading Card Game decks? Have the articles from the designers above inspired you to take the plunge into collectible card gaming? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned to Seibertron.com for the latest news on all things Transformers!
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020867)
Posted by Rodimus Knight on May 8th, 2019 @ 7:25am CDT
Posted by Rodimus Knight on May 8th, 2019 @ 7:25am CDT
That image for full loadout looks like wheeljack is either fitting prime for a bra or in the middle of sexually harassing him.
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020878)
Posted by The_Cryptid_Person on May 8th, 2019 @ 8:08am CDT
To be fair, that could definitely be a Brestforce drone partner.![:P]( "Razz")
Posted by The_Cryptid_Person on May 8th, 2019 @ 8:08am CDT
Rodimus Knight wrote:That image for full loadout looks like wheeljack is either fitting prime for a bra or in the middle of sexually harassing him.
To be fair, that could definitely be a Brestforce drone partner.
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020979)
Posted by #Sideways# on May 8th, 2019 @ 10:54pm CDT
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So many reveals so little time. But before we get into them, I think we should probably address the elephant in the room -- or to be more specific, the cassette player in the room!
If you couldn't tell from the teaser up top, we're going to be getting Soundwave as well as his cassettes this wave! Now, it is currently unknown what they're going to look like given the line "drastically altered their appearance", but we can guess that they're going to look something like their Siege incarnations. We also have literally no idea how they're going to work given that the guys at Wizards have stated that they had a specific playstyle that was unlike anything we've seen before.
My mind is reeling this early in an article? Criminey Christmas! Someone, start the spoilers, quick, before I start speculating... And hey, what's with this cassette deck on the table? I thought those were out of style since... Bah. Let's get to the reveals!
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Arcee is an interesting, and a surprisingly competent, character. This is the second Arcee card we've gotten, with this form being in the form of her G1 design. With her comes Focus, a new type of keyword-based ability. Let's dig into that, shall we?
Focus, when used, is a pre-attack ability similar to Plan where you look at the top card of your deck and decide whether or not to keep it. Basically, just think of Aerial Recon where you can Surveil the top card of your deck to hopefully make your next attack better. But here's the thing. I've said this time and time again, even with Recon System: Focus and other attack-based effects like it, if you really think about it, are just worse versions of Bold.
Put it this way; which of the two would you rather do?
Focus: Look at the top of your deck, decide you don't like it and scrap it. Then, you flip the next two cards, with the end result being you seeing the top three cards of your deck with the standard two flips.
Bold: Flip three cards. The top card of your deck wasn't what you wanted, but the other two were. The end result is that you see three cards off the top of your deck with Bold 1 and and the standard two flips.
If you think those things are anything other than exactly the same, then you're fascinatingly wrong.
But here's the thing: If they're the same, then what makes Focus worse? I must have been exaggerating, right? Well, let's take a look at that same scenario again but let's change the top of the deck to something we want to keep instead of something we want to scrap. Let's see what happens:
Focus: You look at the top card of your deck and you decide to keep it. This means you won't be seeing another card off the top card of your deck, and this means you're only seeing two in total and you're doing the damage that would entail.
Bold: You flip three cards, including the card you wanted to keep, dealing more damage than Focus would allow.
Empirically speaking, Focus is worse than Bold. Now, this is not to say that Focus in itself is bad per se, in fact, I'd much prefer Arcee to have Focus instead of being vanilla, but you have to understand that unless it's in extremely high numbers, Focus won't do much for you outside the first turn or two.
Now, where does that leave Arcee? Well, since we know that having Focus is better than nothing, we can safely say that her vehicle mode lands solidly in the "somewhat mediocre" slot. Hey, it's better than "bad" or "unplayable", right? I may be harsh but I'm not heartless!
But what of her robot mode? Well, my friends, that's where I'm actually slightly excited. Now, I am an excitable person, but in balanced builds Arcee might actually see value. You see, we're in an anti-Armor meta with Bashing Shield making aggro decks extremely powerful against their more defensive opponents. It's why Force Field isn't as powerful as it could be.
So, when I saw that Arcee could retain Tough with only a weapon, I was intrigued. There is no anti-Weapon cards that are played to any notable degree with the innate lack of permanence that many of the most powerful weapons have. So, you could make whatever armor you have on you far more potent, or you could play her in an all-blue list to make her mediocre defensive stats higher.
But here's another reason to be excited for Arcee in aggro lists, as well: She makes every weapon attached to her provide Bold 1. You could use a Power Punch to give her Bold 3, stacking with her innate ability to give her a thick total Bold 4. Which reminds me, if you manage to put a Superior Blaster or Lionizer's weapon mode, you can give her a monstrous Bold 5 not even counting any Actions you've played.
Of course, one could make the argument that one could just play Wave 1 Wheeljack. He has Bold 3 innately, after all. Naturally, I agree. If it's one or the other, Wheeljack is definitely the better option. However, I wonder if she won't have a claim to a spot alongside him instead of Wave 2 Prowl thanks to her Tough and higher HP adding to her survivability?
Who knows? I just write here.
All in all, she's interesting. I can definitely see her getting played in certain balanced lists for her Bold/Tough split, but I can also see a case for her use in Cars. I wouldn't count on it, of course, but she certainly has potential.
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Flamewar has as many cards as her toys. I really don't have that much to follow that up with, but I just thought it was an interesting point at how we have a hilarious lack of Flamewar representation in the toyline. But, is her card just as dismal as her representation?
Well, not really. Somewhat. Kinda. That'll take some explaining.
Firstly, I've spoken at length about low numbers of Focus and how it's basically just Bold but with more steps and less payoff. Now, with Flamewar's Focus 2, you can still look at the top of your deck to arrange them however you want or scrap them. Something about Focus that I didn't exactly touch on is that the high number of Focus (say, for instance an Upgrade gives you Focus 3 plus the innate Focus 2) you can potentially arrange not just the next attack but potentially the defense afterward. I'm not saying that this is confirmed to happen, but it would be fascinating if it did.
I mean, you could pair it with Plan 2 to put two cards for Flamewar's attack on the top of your deck after arranging the next two cards for defensive purposes. I don't know if that's viable given Flamewar's... Rather dismal defense to say the least. Arcee could get away with it with her Tough 1, but Flamewar isn't so lucky. Of course, you could always try out the Plan combo I was talking about to hopefully rig the topdeck to your defensive purposes, but that only goes so far.
But enough about Focus! Let's talk about the stats of everyone's Decepticon waifu: Flamewar! If you couldn't tell, Flamewar is a cheap-ish Motorcycle, which means she can finish out a full team of Motorcycles worth 25 Points with Chromia at 8, Wave 1 Arcee at 5, Wave 1 Flamewar at 5 and using those 7 points, Specialist Flamewar to round out the whole list.
Now, is there any point to a full Motorcycle list other than the novelty of saying that you, in fact, have four Motorcyles on the field?
Not anymore. You remember Swap Parts, right? The banned card? Yeah, that card was kind of important for the Motorcycle's explosive playstyle given the Specialist support that the archetype relied upon. It kinda stinks because Motorcycles were seemingly about to get their hayday with a fourth Motorcycle Specialist to join their ranks and more cards to use in their combo. Now that Swap Parts is banned, who knows if they have the power to be viable anymore?
Who knows? Either way, I just know that Specialist Flamewar will be played in the list. Will she be played anywhere else? Probably not. She doesn't have the amount of power that other seven starred characters have, and despite her Stealth in vehicle mode, not that much bulk to back up the opposite end of the spectrum.
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Something about Infinite Combo being uncounterable?
Let's be honest, here, this is the epitome of a hard counter to the Infinite Combo. Ironhide can't take non-attack damage, which is kinda the entire win condition of the Combo deck, and his stats are high enough that we can pretty well say that Combo can't pull off the KO on him pretty much no matter what. Remember, Combo is not dead -- it's just more complicated. Red Heat makes it a competent composition, albeit a more counterable one.
But Ironhide? Ironhide counters it in the same vein that Acid Storm counters Dinobots. His very existence means that, in all likelihood, you will be able to punish their flimsy composition. This is not to say that it's an autowin, but you're guaranteed to at least have Ironhide alive and likely at nigh full HP when their combo inevitably ends. When it does, Red Heat is going to be tapped, and as such, you can more or less annihilate him and his flimsy stats, likely ending the combo for good.
Ironhide can also do a good bit of work against Aerialbots and similarly geared direct damage decks. These aren't played as much as other decks, but it's nice to know that Ironhide is roughly impervious to their entire deck in the same vein that Motormaster makes the rest of his team effectively invincible to direct damage.
Of course, there is more to Ironhide than his vehicle mode. His robot mode is something of an interesting novelty. With the weapon trading effect, you can retrigger weapon effects like Armed Hovercraft, or swap an Armed Hovercraft for a more potent weapon like Energon Axe. Sadly, this happens before flips, meaning you can't swap a Bold weapon with a damaging weapon after the Bold triggers.
Regardless, the Armed Hovercraft combo is something that I'm fascinated by. I've always loved Armed Hovercraft and cards like it such as Photon Bomb, and his synergy with them is titillating. I just wish that it could be with any weapon, not just blue weapons. That way you could put a Superior Blaster on him, bypassing the Tech Research stipulation.
Either way, Ironhide is an interesting little Rare card. I'm not quite sure if we'll see him out in the field thanks to his middling stats and above average cost, but in his own deck or maybe partnered with Ultra Magnus? Now you're cookin' with gas.
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Roadhugger is basically baby Thrust and I love him.
I know, I know, I said the same thing about Storm Cloud, but let's be fair here. What you lose in a single point for playing Roadhugger, you could say that you're gaining consistency. Instead of requiring you to discard three green pips (in some cases three of the same green pip), you need only to discard a single blue pip to get roughly the same value. If you consider that most of the time Bold is just +1 damage (not counting extra white pips, blanks or double orange cards), you're effectively getting the same value for a much more manageable cost.
Roadhugger, however, does require you to play blue cards in an orange deck and I am not super in love with that. However, there is a silver lining. There are cards like Matrix of Leadership or Roll Out which have one of each, as well as playing Backup Beam or Scoundrel's Blaster to have a green pipped green that doesn't really make you lose out on damage with their being weapons.
Plus, he's a Car, which means that you can untap him in a car deck rather easily to be used again (if he survives)! All in all, I think Roadhugger might replace Storm Cloud in most lists that don't care about alternate modes. In decks that want to field a lot of planes, Storm Cloud's your guy, but if you don't care about that single point and you don't mind having a car... Well, look no further.
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Hey, wait a minute! Laserbeak? Where's your...? Ah, nevermind.
Laserbeak is both amazingly good and amazingly worrying at the same time. On one hand, you have Laserbeak's horrible stats in both modes. On the other, however, you get to play a "free" Secret Action during your turn as well as a little extra draw support with his neat little draw ability in alternate mode. Now, this would be even better if we knew what kind of things we could look forward to in terms of Secret Actions. But, as it stands, we have no idea other than a simple Draw + Plan card as to what we're going to have access to.
But, to be perfectly frank with you, Laserbeak was probably not meant to be played alone. Even though he actually could be competent in terms of his Secret Action engine, he's basically just a slightly worse Micromaster at that point. Why do I say this, you ask? Well, look closely: He's a Micromaster in all areas except the most important: Stealth.
On the first turn of the game, Laserbeak has a great many chances to get annihilated by any and every aggro deck you ever have the displeasure of facing. I gripe, of course; with proper blue support, you have just as many chances at survival, as well, but I can't help but to be worried about the little guy.
In closing, Laserbeak may be frail, but he brings unquestionable utility with his Secret Action ability. We don't know all of those Secret Actions, or any beyond the first to be exact, but playing free Actions never hurt anybody.
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Ravage is surprisingly good, and he makes up for Laserbeak's less-than-stellar offensive power and bulk by being... Well, both of those things. In terms of five star cassettes, he's going to be able to take quite the beating in his alternate mode. But that's not all that this little bugger can do: In his robot mode, he can do a bit of chip damage here and there, and start pounding on some more dense targets.
I do realize that his chip damage makes him a bit lackluster in many (most) compositions, but do keep in mind that his chip damage actually turns out to be a bit useful in certain scenarios. For instance, he can turn Skrapnel into a 2HKO, and he can pop Six-Gun for one damage to negate the Force Field. Sometimes one damage is all you need, and whereas I still stand by Zap being one of the worst Actions in the game, I can still find justification for Ravage's abilities seeing as he's always there and not a constant threat of cluttering your hand.
Now, the down side. His stats are nothing to write home about other than his high defense in cassette mode, and his survivability in robot mode is actually markedly worse than Laserbeak's. In fact, Laserbeak is actually better at attacking than Ravage could ever hope to be with his innate Pierce 2, but with any luck Ravage won't need to be doing any head-on attack damage, anyway.
All in all, I think that Ravage will probably be passed up on in most compositions outside of cassettes. Laserbeak is just better value for his point cost, including the ability to deal two damage to a high-armored target through Pierce. Plus, there are just better Micromasters, including Roadhugger, in defensive lists for the same cost.
Okay but real talk: We can now have just an entire team of cats. Lionizer, Rampage, Razorclaw and now Ravage. There is literally no actual reason to have that team other than the fact that they are all cats, but like... You have an entire team of cats.
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Soundwave? Wait... Soundwave? Hey, wait a minute... Where'd that cassette player go?
Oh. Well, my own blindness aside, let's peel apart the mystery and see just what Soundwave can really do!
Looking over his stats to start off, we see that he is 11 Stars -- not bad, but still not that great for having three five starred characters paired with him. But there's more to him than meets the eye. You see, he also has two abilities directly tied to another team keyword: "Spy Patrol". These are undoubtedly his cassettes (see below) and both of his abilities are equally as powerful.
First, I think I can safely state that giving passively +1 Defense to your cassettes is absolutely insane. Now, sure, your opponent is probably not going to use much effort in KOing them and instead focus on Soundwave given their high defense (especially Ravage), but it's a very interesting idea to transform Laserbeak to robot mode on the first turn and attack with Ravage, forcing them to attack into his monstrous defense. After all, Soundwave can use his robot mode the next turn to completely refund that entire transaction.
How? Well, when he attacks, he untaps your cassettes. Thus, after you've tried to punch your opponent with a literal cassette tape turn one, you can prevent Ravage or Laserbeak from being double targeted and reuse their tap abilities to boot. You probably don't need me to tell you this, but this effect is extremely powerful.
Something else that is worthy of note is that Soundwave doesn't have any innate effects to force you into playing orange or blue. Thus, I would probably say that the best way to play Soundwave is defensively so that Ravage or Laserbeak can survive their first hit, and Soundwave can get more value. This lower attack in the blue version is mitigated by Ravage being able to put out some surprising amounts of damage on heavily armored targets. Now, I realize that he's not going to be winning any awards or dominating any games, but adding on a little bit of damage on a turn where you can't or don't want to play a Secret Action with Laserbeak can't be understated.
But finally, something that I want to touch on slightly is this: Soundwave and his cassettes are entirely 21 stars. This means that, unless you wanted to play four Star Cards, you could play Storm Cloud or perhaps -- and no, the irony is not lost on me -- a Constructicon. Now, again, we don't have all the facts. Buzzsaw could be revealed tomorrow, Ratbat the next day, or perhaps Frenzy, Rumble or even Overkill. There are so many options to fill that fourth spot, but the big question I want to ask is... Just who could it be, and just what could they do?
I think I'll leave that question unanswered for now. But I for one welcome Soundwave. He might be janky, but you can't deny that his monstrous 15 HP and his cassettes' utility is not to be understated. I worry about his low damage output, but perhaps there could be Secret Actions to save him from that fate? Or perhaps a third cassette? Until we know, there's no way to tell. But that being said... I can't wait to see how Soundwave does in the meta. I think we're going to see a lot of him, jank or otherwise.
So, I might have forgotten to show off the starter set when it came out, but I figured I might drop them here and share my opinions on them anyway just to get the news out there! Remember, you can buy the starter set in stores now, and it's a good start to teach people how to play the game!
Just as a disclaimer, my opinions below only reflect the constructed competitive mentality, not from a new player, casual mentality. The set is still a good start to get people into the game, but I fear that may be the only use for it.
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No.
Just say no.
There are just so many better options, like W2 Prowl, Hot Rod, Sunstreaker... Well, you get the picture. He might make a good proxy back, though!
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One day we'll get a good Windblade. One day.
So, I suppose one could make the argument that she is an Autobot Plane who also happens to cost a solid 5 Stars. Now, that's actually quite something, isn't it? Of course, we could try putting her in a five-wide Autobot Plane list, essentially cutting Alpha Bravo from the Aerialbots and making a passing attempt at pulling off the fabled Photon Bomb + Bombing Run combo with five Planes in play. Of course, it's hard enough to pull that off with the Aerialbots on the regular that I daresay that it wouldn't be any easier taking out one of the Aerialbots -- a Specialist at that -- and replacing him with someone who is essentially a vanilla.
To make matters worse, Aerialbots get a lot of power out of Superion, especially on the turn of combination.
I just can't imagine her in anything else, and it sucks because I do love Windblade as a character. Hopefully, one day, she'll have her moment in the sun; but for now, it looks like she'll just have to keep having her moment in the tsun tsun.
Remind me to never make that pun ever again.
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Megatron might actually have some potential. Think about this: Demolishor has 6 points. Flak has 5. Warpath has 6. Those tanks total 17 points, and you know what that means? You can fit a fourth Tank in that list.
Now, quad tanks might be lacking in quite a bit of defensive power, but consider for a moment the idea of running offensive tanks, with Demolishor being the mainstay. You can Hunker Down your whole field with Force Field as well as Bashing Shields to make your life easier, and your spare Armor could be Scrapper Gauntlets to draw even more cards than you already will with Demolishor. You can even play a Full Loadout with your spare Star to make Demolishor hit even harder.
And, backing him up, is Megatron. Megatron can be used in tandem with Full Loadout, Attack Drones or Flak to boost his damage to similar levels that Thundercracker has. Megatron can boost his damage to startlingly high levels for his point cost when you crank out several Upgrades at once.
The Bold in his vehicle mode won't do you much good, sadly, given his measly 2 Attack. But, at least he is a tank. Demolishor couldn't be happier for it.
But, that being said, I could also see playing him alongside Megatron -- Living Weapon. You can use Living Weapon's alternate mode to boost Baby Megatron's damage, with the two Upgrades from that alone boosting his attack to a very respectable 5, not counting the weapons. Plus, you can use Flak to put a third Upgrade on him, boosting his damage to 6, still not counting the Weapons. Fully stocking him with Upgrades certainly sounds nice, though I do worry for his staying power given his mediocre stats otherwise -- I mean, it always sucks to put all of your eggs in one basket; sucks even more to do it twice. But, he might just have the power necessary to have the payoff.
In total, Megatron alone might make this set purchaseable. He can be used as a nice backup attacker, something similar to Baby Buzzwole in the Pokemon TCG in many fighting decks. Good as a one-and-done, but has diminishing returns. Whether he's in as a fourth member to a Tank list or as a backup to someone double his size, Megatron has a lot of value in a little package.
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Starscream might have potential. Stop laughing, I'm serious.
Okay, so, remember when I talked about how Megatron could fit into a quad list? Or Windblade in a five-wide? You could say the same thing about Starscream, here, except he has something extremely powerful going for him that Windblade doesn't have, and that Megatron can't take advantage of in the same way:
His name is Starscream.
So if you remember, way, way, way in the past -- around September -- you might remember a Starscream being released that had Bold 2 innately, but more importantly had a very special vehicle mode ability tied to how many Planes you had on the field. Now, back then, the Planes list was something of a misfire. Starscream loved having Planes, but he couldn't get the right planes.
Thundercracker just didn't belong in the list despite his vehicle ability, and Skywarp was... Well, W1 Skywarp was W1 Skywarp. Thus, Starscream rather fell into the wayside for other lists. I still tried to keep the dream alive with more and more variations, but all fell rather flat on their faces.
So, then, how does Baby Starscream help with that?
Well, for one, he has five stars. This means you can play Starscream -- Air Commander at 11 stars, Starscream -- Decepticon Lieutenant at 5, Storm Cloud at 4 and Fireflight at 5 to round off the list with a solid Brave effect to keep both Starscream safe. This means you have four Planes on the field, which means you can use Starscream -- Air Commander's vehicle mode effect to its fullest potential of a good three damage. I don't think you'll be progressing too hard in the direct damage route for this build, though, and that's for good reason.
Reason being, you now have two Starscream in the list. Meaning, you can make full use of Null Ray of Starscream to add a whole mess of damage to Air Commander as well as making Baby Starscream's competent four attack an astonishing 5 base with Bold 2 stacked on. Just imagine Storm Cloud getting involved in that mess with his Bold effect, too!
Now, I realize Baby Starscream is about as frail as one can be, likely being in an all orange list to make your Bold deal the most it can, and his Tough 1 can't make his 7 HP last through a soul-shattering 0 Defense. But that being said, you will likely get a lot of value out of him before he falls, potentially one-hitting many threats out there.
Don't mark this guy up to binder bait just yet. I think he might just have a bright future ahead of him.
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Full Loadout is kind of nutty. Not only is it a double orange pip -- a blessing in aggro decks with one star to spare -- but it has an effect that is quite ridiculous in many decks.
So, I want you to imagine something. You're sitting there across from a Megatron -- Cybertronian Tyrant and you just went first. You think that your Battlefield Legend is safe, and you decide to swing into their Warpath with just enough to KO them. Not a bad start, and Megatron is too slow to possibly get up enough Upgrades to threaten you on the first turn of th-- Surprise! He is completely powered up with three Upgrades, boosting his damage to 6 base plus a Grenade Launcher and his level of damage and survivability go through the roof with his Force Field and Data Pad.
Battlefield Legend is nearly one-hit out of nowhere.
Now, the effects of Full Loadout are a bit amplified on my cherrypicked Baby Megatron scenario, but playing three Upgrades for essentially free should not be understated in its usefulness, especially if it's on a double orange pip. Now, again, you need to have the Weapon, Utility and Armor in your hand in order to get the full effect of its power and that means you're highly unlikely to get it off on the first turn of the game. But, later on, you can get some shocking comebacks by exploding upgrades on a character out of nowhere.
As for which is better between Mounted Missiles or Full Loadout, I think that should be fairly obvious. Mounted Missiles is neat, but they've never had that powerful burst that you really need to justify playing them on your turn. Sure, you can play it in a Utility or Armor slot, but really, wouldn't you rather just play a regular weapon? Or rather, wouldn't you rather play a Weapon, a Utility and an Armor?
Just saying.
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This card is lying to you.
EMP Wave taps all characters, both yours and your opponents. So, what happens when all characters are tapped? Everyone untaps. This means that you are untapping all characters on the field going into your opponent's next turn, effectively giving them their choice of whomever they want to attack on their turn. You don't get to attack with one of your characters -- instead, you're forfeiting that last attack to tap everyone.
Now, there is actually merit to doing so if you happen to be behind in the character trade or the untap game. If, say, you face cars and they're -- per usual -- more or less completely untapped during the turn where you would be completely tapped out, you could potentially play an EMP Wave to negate your opponent's trademark Car Dogpile where they get to attack you with all of their characters.
But, to be perfectly frank, is that worth the star? Maybe. I don't really like Energized Field that much, especially given that it flat out begs you to play orange cards in a blue deck, and EMP Wave's limited use is probably better than Energized Field's practical disuse. Regardless, it's an interesting card. Whether or not it'll see play for its effect or just its pip still remains to be seen, but I think we'll probably see it over Energized Field regardless.
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Battering Ram is not the best at everything, but it does its job very, very well. Now, you might be asking, "Hey, what is that job, exactly?" and that is a good question, and I'm afraid it has a simple answer.
Combiners hate Battering Ram because they really, really like being able to combine during a game. Battering Ram not only slows Combiners down to a crawl, but in some cases outright denies combination in general. I mean, think about it. Every time you attack with your truck, you keep undoing their hard-earned flips and it stalls their combiner for another turn.
Wasting turns combining is the kiss of death for many Combiners, and I can definitely see running Battering Ram for the combiner mirror in many decks. Take Stunticons, for instance, who have two Trucks that can use Battering Ram, with Motormaster being effectively unpunishable in his robot mode. You could also say the same for a control-based Sentinel list, though that is played to a lesser degree.
Battering Ram, however, can also be something of a double-edged sword. Take, for example, Metroplex. People love giving Metroplex a seizure and flipping him multiple times in a turn. With Battering Ram, you effectively give them a free transformation into Base mode, spitting out another one of his smaller characters.
This isn't the only case, either. Like, for instance, Megatron -- Arrogant Ruler can play a free Upgrade when Battering Ram swings into him, or returning a non-pipped card from your Scrap to your hand in terms of Skywarp. A double-edged sword, it is.
But, honestly? I think Battering Ram's usefulness against Combiners more than makes up for its peculiarity against other lists to include it in any Truck-based deck. I could even see a case for it in non-traditional "Truck" decks, like Nemesis Prime. After all, slowing your opponent down is something that Nemesis will always enjoy.
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Device Virus is coming from fellow content creator "TCG Roll Out!" on Twitter, and I have to say, Device Virus is probably the best black-pipped Action we have by a large margin. Everything else is either split colors with a black pip with a lackluster card effect when you play it, but Device Virus is different.
It's basically Super Energy Removal, something you'll remember if you played Pokemon during the fledgling years. Of course, there's a big difference between Energy and Upgrades, but it's pretty much the same effect. But, when you realize that you can combo Device Virus with other Upgrades, things start getting a little interesting.
You see, Device Virus has the potential to remove three Armor cards in one turn when used in tandem with Bashing Shield. You can play a Bashing Shield, scrap an Armor, then Device Virus the Bashing Shield to scrap two more Armor. You could say the same about Weapons with Enforcement Batons or Utilities with Crushing Size.
Of course, such an effect necessitates playing all of those things, so it really depends on what your deck looks like and what matchups you want to beat with it. But, if you're afraid of decks like Predacons which bust out the Upgrades -- usually weapons -- quickly, especially when combined, Device Virus might be for you.
At the end of the day, though, it's a black pip and we still have yet to see how good it is in a blue/black or mono black deck. But, if the black pips we have yet to see are anything like Device Virus, I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of them in lists.
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Repurpose is the only black draw card we've seen thus far, and I can't mention too much about it because it's nothing too much to write home about. It's a very basic cycling card that replaces itself and one other card in your hand with the top two cards of your deck, essentially.
It's a black pipped card that also happens to draw cards. I mean, in a black deck, do you really want too much else out of it? Let's be fair here. You won't play it in any other deck that doesn't play black pips, but if you play black, then you'll be needing this.
Can I just say this?
Soundwave.
That is all.
But in all seriousness, I can't wait to see how Soundwave will be playing out in this meta. Perhaps more than that, I can't wait to see how his cassettes will fare under stress. The whole composition just seems a bit frail from my perspective, but I haven't really touched it in physical form (yet) and I suppose we won't find out for sure how good he is until we see him in action.
The other characters aren't too much to write home about save the Ironhide. Being able to dance Armed Hovercraft makes me happy, and having an effective autowin against Red Heat Infinite is a brilliant thing to have just as an alternate mode.
As for his female compatriots, Focus is an interesting new mechanic, as well. I think, if we get effects for high Focus, we may very well see balanced decks other than Metroplex make a comeback in the game. Until then, however, just give me Bold and call it a day, hm?
As for the Battle Cards, there were a ton of reveals. I can't say that some of them were overtly good or overtly bad, but I can definitely say that many of them had a ton of potential like Device Virus.
What did you like the most? Roadhugger? Soundwave? W2 Starter Bumblebee? Maybe not that last one. Let me know in the comments below, and as always, thanks for reading! If you want to check out more of my content, go to my YouTube Channel, Nanomachines, where I do deck profiles and other competitive content.
You never know... Something interesting might happen there in the next few days. Who knows?
Posted by #Sideways# on May 8th, 2019 @ 10:54pm CDT
CHARACTER CARDS
'Cause I'm a cowboy / On a steel horse I ride
And I'm wanted / Dead or alive
And I'm wanted / Dead or alive
So many reveals so little time. But before we get into them, I think we should probably address the elephant in the room -- or to be more specific, the cassette player in the room!
If you couldn't tell from the teaser up top, we're going to be getting Soundwave as well as his cassettes this wave! Now, it is currently unknown what they're going to look like given the line "drastically altered their appearance", but we can guess that they're going to look something like their Siege incarnations. We also have literally no idea how they're going to work given that the guys at Wizards have stated that they had a specific playstyle that was unlike anything we've seen before.
My mind is reeling this early in an article? Criminey Christmas! Someone, start the spoilers, quick, before I start speculating... And hey, what's with this cassette deck on the table? I thought those were out of style since... Bah. Let's get to the reveals!
CHARACTER CARDS
I, for one, look forward to the Robo-Smasher card.
Arcee is an interesting, and a surprisingly competent, character. This is the second Arcee card we've gotten, with this form being in the form of her G1 design. With her comes Focus, a new type of keyword-based ability. Let's dig into that, shall we?
Focus, when used, is a pre-attack ability similar to Plan where you look at the top card of your deck and decide whether or not to keep it. Basically, just think of Aerial Recon where you can Surveil the top card of your deck to hopefully make your next attack better. But here's the thing. I've said this time and time again, even with Recon System: Focus and other attack-based effects like it, if you really think about it, are just worse versions of Bold.
Put it this way; which of the two would you rather do?
Focus: Look at the top of your deck, decide you don't like it and scrap it. Then, you flip the next two cards, with the end result being you seeing the top three cards of your deck with the standard two flips.
Bold: Flip three cards. The top card of your deck wasn't what you wanted, but the other two were. The end result is that you see three cards off the top of your deck with Bold 1 and and the standard two flips.
If you think those things are anything other than exactly the same, then you're fascinatingly wrong.
But here's the thing: If they're the same, then what makes Focus worse? I must have been exaggerating, right? Well, let's take a look at that same scenario again but let's change the top of the deck to something we want to keep instead of something we want to scrap. Let's see what happens:
Focus: You look at the top card of your deck and you decide to keep it. This means you won't be seeing another card off the top card of your deck, and this means you're only seeing two in total and you're doing the damage that would entail.
Bold: You flip three cards, including the card you wanted to keep, dealing more damage than Focus would allow.
Empirically speaking, Focus is worse than Bold. Now, this is not to say that Focus in itself is bad per se, in fact, I'd much prefer Arcee to have Focus instead of being vanilla, but you have to understand that unless it's in extremely high numbers, Focus won't do much for you outside the first turn or two.
Now, where does that leave Arcee? Well, since we know that having Focus is better than nothing, we can safely say that her vehicle mode lands solidly in the "somewhat mediocre" slot. Hey, it's better than "bad" or "unplayable", right? I may be harsh but I'm not heartless!
But what of her robot mode? Well, my friends, that's where I'm actually slightly excited. Now, I am an excitable person, but in balanced builds Arcee might actually see value. You see, we're in an anti-Armor meta with Bashing Shield making aggro decks extremely powerful against their more defensive opponents. It's why Force Field isn't as powerful as it could be.
So, when I saw that Arcee could retain Tough with only a weapon, I was intrigued. There is no anti-Weapon cards that are played to any notable degree with the innate lack of permanence that many of the most powerful weapons have. So, you could make whatever armor you have on you far more potent, or you could play her in an all-blue list to make her mediocre defensive stats higher.
But here's another reason to be excited for Arcee in aggro lists, as well: She makes every weapon attached to her provide Bold 1. You could use a Power Punch to give her Bold 3, stacking with her innate ability to give her a thick total Bold 4. Which reminds me, if you manage to put a Superior Blaster or Lionizer's weapon mode, you can give her a monstrous Bold 5 not even counting any Actions you've played.
Of course, one could make the argument that one could just play Wave 1 Wheeljack. He has Bold 3 innately, after all. Naturally, I agree. If it's one or the other, Wheeljack is definitely the better option. However, I wonder if she won't have a claim to a spot alongside him instead of Wave 2 Prowl thanks to her Tough and higher HP adding to her survivability?
Who knows? I just write here.
All in all, she's interesting. I can definitely see her getting played in certain balanced lists for her Bold/Tough split, but I can also see a case for her use in Cars. I wouldn't count on it, of course, but she certainly has potential.
Can we please get more Flamewar toys? Other than BotCon exclusives, that is.
Flamewar has as many cards as her toys. I really don't have that much to follow that up with, but I just thought it was an interesting point at how we have a hilarious lack of Flamewar representation in the toyline. But, is her card just as dismal as her representation?
Well, not really. Somewhat. Kinda. That'll take some explaining.
Firstly, I've spoken at length about low numbers of Focus and how it's basically just Bold but with more steps and less payoff. Now, with Flamewar's Focus 2, you can still look at the top of your deck to arrange them however you want or scrap them. Something about Focus that I didn't exactly touch on is that the high number of Focus (say, for instance an Upgrade gives you Focus 3 plus the innate Focus 2) you can potentially arrange not just the next attack but potentially the defense afterward. I'm not saying that this is confirmed to happen, but it would be fascinating if it did.
I mean, you could pair it with Plan 2 to put two cards for Flamewar's attack on the top of your deck after arranging the next two cards for defensive purposes. I don't know if that's viable given Flamewar's... Rather dismal defense to say the least. Arcee could get away with it with her Tough 1, but Flamewar isn't so lucky. Of course, you could always try out the Plan combo I was talking about to hopefully rig the topdeck to your defensive purposes, but that only goes so far.
But enough about Focus! Let's talk about the stats of everyone's Decepticon waifu: Flamewar! If you couldn't tell, Flamewar is a cheap-ish Motorcycle, which means she can finish out a full team of Motorcycles worth 25 Points with Chromia at 8, Wave 1 Arcee at 5, Wave 1 Flamewar at 5 and using those 7 points, Specialist Flamewar to round out the whole list.
Now, is there any point to a full Motorcycle list other than the novelty of saying that you, in fact, have four Motorcyles on the field?
Not anymore. You remember Swap Parts, right? The banned card? Yeah, that card was kind of important for the Motorcycle's explosive playstyle given the Specialist support that the archetype relied upon. It kinda stinks because Motorcycles were seemingly about to get their hayday with a fourth Motorcycle Specialist to join their ranks and more cards to use in their combo. Now that Swap Parts is banned, who knows if they have the power to be viable anymore?
Who knows? Either way, I just know that Specialist Flamewar will be played in the list. Will she be played anywhere else? Probably not. She doesn't have the amount of power that other seven starred characters have, and despite her Stealth in vehicle mode, not that much bulk to back up the opposite end of the spectrum.
Let's just agree that Ironhide is basically the Doomslayer but with a Southern accent.
Something about Infinite Combo being uncounterable?
Let's be honest, here, this is the epitome of a hard counter to the Infinite Combo. Ironhide can't take non-attack damage, which is kinda the entire win condition of the Combo deck, and his stats are high enough that we can pretty well say that Combo can't pull off the KO on him pretty much no matter what. Remember, Combo is not dead -- it's just more complicated. Red Heat makes it a competent composition, albeit a more counterable one.
But Ironhide? Ironhide counters it in the same vein that Acid Storm counters Dinobots. His very existence means that, in all likelihood, you will be able to punish their flimsy composition. This is not to say that it's an autowin, but you're guaranteed to at least have Ironhide alive and likely at nigh full HP when their combo inevitably ends. When it does, Red Heat is going to be tapped, and as such, you can more or less annihilate him and his flimsy stats, likely ending the combo for good.
Ironhide can also do a good bit of work against Aerialbots and similarly geared direct damage decks. These aren't played as much as other decks, but it's nice to know that Ironhide is roughly impervious to their entire deck in the same vein that Motormaster makes the rest of his team effectively invincible to direct damage.
Of course, there is more to Ironhide than his vehicle mode. His robot mode is something of an interesting novelty. With the weapon trading effect, you can retrigger weapon effects like Armed Hovercraft, or swap an Armed Hovercraft for a more potent weapon like Energon Axe. Sadly, this happens before flips, meaning you can't swap a Bold weapon with a damaging weapon after the Bold triggers.
Regardless, the Armed Hovercraft combo is something that I'm fascinated by. I've always loved Armed Hovercraft and cards like it such as Photon Bomb, and his synergy with them is titillating. I just wish that it could be with any weapon, not just blue weapons. That way you could put a Superior Blaster on him, bypassing the Tech Research stipulation.
Either way, Ironhide is an interesting little Rare card. I'm not quite sure if we'll see him out in the field thanks to his middling stats and above average cost, but in his own deck or maybe partnered with Ultra Magnus? Now you're cookin' with gas.
Contrary to popular belief, he's not much of a hugger.
Roadhugger is basically baby Thrust and I love him.
I know, I know, I said the same thing about Storm Cloud, but let's be fair here. What you lose in a single point for playing Roadhugger, you could say that you're gaining consistency. Instead of requiring you to discard three green pips (in some cases three of the same green pip), you need only to discard a single blue pip to get roughly the same value. If you consider that most of the time Bold is just +1 damage (not counting extra white pips, blanks or double orange cards), you're effectively getting the same value for a much more manageable cost.
Roadhugger, however, does require you to play blue cards in an orange deck and I am not super in love with that. However, there is a silver lining. There are cards like Matrix of Leadership or Roll Out which have one of each, as well as playing Backup Beam or Scoundrel's Blaster to have a green pipped green that doesn't really make you lose out on damage with their being weapons.
Plus, he's a Car, which means that you can untap him in a car deck rather easily to be used again (if he survives)! All in all, I think Roadhugger might replace Storm Cloud in most lists that don't care about alternate modes. In decks that want to field a lot of planes, Storm Cloud's your guy, but if you don't care about that single point and you don't mind having a car... Well, look no further.
Can we all just agree that Laserbeak was the main antagonist of DOTM?
Hey, wait a minute! Laserbeak? Where's your...? Ah, nevermind.
Laserbeak is both amazingly good and amazingly worrying at the same time. On one hand, you have Laserbeak's horrible stats in both modes. On the other, however, you get to play a "free" Secret Action during your turn as well as a little extra draw support with his neat little draw ability in alternate mode. Now, this would be even better if we knew what kind of things we could look forward to in terms of Secret Actions. But, as it stands, we have no idea other than a simple Draw + Plan card as to what we're going to have access to.
But, to be perfectly frank with you, Laserbeak was probably not meant to be played alone. Even though he actually could be competent in terms of his Secret Action engine, he's basically just a slightly worse Micromaster at that point. Why do I say this, you ask? Well, look closely: He's a Micromaster in all areas except the most important: Stealth.
On the first turn of the game, Laserbeak has a great many chances to get annihilated by any and every aggro deck you ever have the displeasure of facing. I gripe, of course; with proper blue support, you have just as many chances at survival, as well, but I can't help but to be worried about the little guy.
In closing, Laserbeak may be frail, but he brings unquestionable utility with his Secret Action ability. We don't know all of those Secret Actions, or any beyond the first to be exact, but playing free Actions never hurt anybody.
"Check out my mixtape, man, it's pretty catty!"
Ravage is surprisingly good, and he makes up for Laserbeak's less-than-stellar offensive power and bulk by being... Well, both of those things. In terms of five star cassettes, he's going to be able to take quite the beating in his alternate mode. But that's not all that this little bugger can do: In his robot mode, he can do a bit of chip damage here and there, and start pounding on some more dense targets.
I do realize that his chip damage makes him a bit lackluster in many (most) compositions, but do keep in mind that his chip damage actually turns out to be a bit useful in certain scenarios. For instance, he can turn Skrapnel into a 2HKO, and he can pop Six-Gun for one damage to negate the Force Field. Sometimes one damage is all you need, and whereas I still stand by Zap being one of the worst Actions in the game, I can still find justification for Ravage's abilities seeing as he's always there and not a constant threat of cluttering your hand.
Now, the down side. His stats are nothing to write home about other than his high defense in cassette mode, and his survivability in robot mode is actually markedly worse than Laserbeak's. In fact, Laserbeak is actually better at attacking than Ravage could ever hope to be with his innate Pierce 2, but with any luck Ravage won't need to be doing any head-on attack damage, anyway.
All in all, I think that Ravage will probably be passed up on in most compositions outside of cassettes. Laserbeak is just better value for his point cost, including the ability to deal two damage to a high-armored target through Pierce. Plus, there are just better Micromasters, including Roadhugger, in defensive lists for the same cost.
Okay but real talk: We can now have just an entire team of cats. Lionizer, Rampage, Razorclaw and now Ravage. There is literally no actual reason to have that team other than the fact that they are all cats, but like... You have an entire team of cats.
The big question is, does he have a good Constructicon matchup?
Soundwave? Wait... Soundwave? Hey, wait a minute... Where'd that cassette player go?
Oh. Well, my own blindness aside, let's peel apart the mystery and see just what Soundwave can really do!
Looking over his stats to start off, we see that he is 11 Stars -- not bad, but still not that great for having three five starred characters paired with him. But there's more to him than meets the eye. You see, he also has two abilities directly tied to another team keyword: "Spy Patrol". These are undoubtedly his cassettes (see below) and both of his abilities are equally as powerful.
First, I think I can safely state that giving passively +1 Defense to your cassettes is absolutely insane. Now, sure, your opponent is probably not going to use much effort in KOing them and instead focus on Soundwave given their high defense (especially Ravage), but it's a very interesting idea to transform Laserbeak to robot mode on the first turn and attack with Ravage, forcing them to attack into his monstrous defense. After all, Soundwave can use his robot mode the next turn to completely refund that entire transaction.
How? Well, when he attacks, he untaps your cassettes. Thus, after you've tried to punch your opponent with a literal cassette tape turn one, you can prevent Ravage or Laserbeak from being double targeted and reuse their tap abilities to boot. You probably don't need me to tell you this, but this effect is extremely powerful.
Something else that is worthy of note is that Soundwave doesn't have any innate effects to force you into playing orange or blue. Thus, I would probably say that the best way to play Soundwave is defensively so that Ravage or Laserbeak can survive their first hit, and Soundwave can get more value. This lower attack in the blue version is mitigated by Ravage being able to put out some surprising amounts of damage on heavily armored targets. Now, I realize that he's not going to be winning any awards or dominating any games, but adding on a little bit of damage on a turn where you can't or don't want to play a Secret Action with Laserbeak can't be understated.
But finally, something that I want to touch on slightly is this: Soundwave and his cassettes are entirely 21 stars. This means that, unless you wanted to play four Star Cards, you could play Storm Cloud or perhaps -- and no, the irony is not lost on me -- a Constructicon. Now, again, we don't have all the facts. Buzzsaw could be revealed tomorrow, Ratbat the next day, or perhaps Frenzy, Rumble or even Overkill. There are so many options to fill that fourth spot, but the big question I want to ask is... Just who could it be, and just what could they do?
I think I'll leave that question unanswered for now. But I for one welcome Soundwave. He might be janky, but you can't deny that his monstrous 15 HP and his cassettes' utility is not to be understated. I worry about his low damage output, but perhaps there could be Secret Actions to save him from that fate? Or perhaps a third cassette? Until we know, there's no way to tell. But that being said... I can't wait to see how Soundwave does in the meta. I think we're going to see a lot of him, jank or otherwise.
STARTER SET
So, I might have forgotten to show off the starter set when it came out, but I figured I might drop them here and share my opinions on them anyway just to get the news out there! Remember, you can buy the starter set in stores now, and it's a good start to teach people how to play the game!
Just as a disclaimer, my opinions below only reflect the constructed competitive mentality, not from a new player, casual mentality. The set is still a good start to get people into the game, but I fear that may be the only use for it.
_______
"Another one."
No.
Just say no.
There are just so many better options, like W2 Prowl, Hot Rod, Sunstreaker... Well, you get the picture. He might make a good proxy back, though!
"Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was: 'Oh no, not again.' "
One day we'll get a good Windblade. One day.
So, I suppose one could make the argument that she is an Autobot Plane who also happens to cost a solid 5 Stars. Now, that's actually quite something, isn't it? Of course, we could try putting her in a five-wide Autobot Plane list, essentially cutting Alpha Bravo from the Aerialbots and making a passing attempt at pulling off the fabled Photon Bomb + Bombing Run combo with five Planes in play. Of course, it's hard enough to pull that off with the Aerialbots on the regular that I daresay that it wouldn't be any easier taking out one of the Aerialbots -- a Specialist at that -- and replacing him with someone who is essentially a vanilla.
To make matters worse, Aerialbots get a lot of power out of Superion, especially on the turn of combination.
I just can't imagine her in anything else, and it sucks because I do love Windblade as a character. Hopefully, one day, she'll have her moment in the sun; but for now, it looks like she'll just have to keep having her moment in the tsun tsun.
Remind me to never make that pun ever again.
"Big things from small beginnings..."
Megatron might actually have some potential. Think about this: Demolishor has 6 points. Flak has 5. Warpath has 6. Those tanks total 17 points, and you know what that means? You can fit a fourth Tank in that list.
Now, quad tanks might be lacking in quite a bit of defensive power, but consider for a moment the idea of running offensive tanks, with Demolishor being the mainstay. You can Hunker Down your whole field with Force Field as well as Bashing Shields to make your life easier, and your spare Armor could be Scrapper Gauntlets to draw even more cards than you already will with Demolishor. You can even play a Full Loadout with your spare Star to make Demolishor hit even harder.
And, backing him up, is Megatron. Megatron can be used in tandem with Full Loadout, Attack Drones or Flak to boost his damage to similar levels that Thundercracker has. Megatron can boost his damage to startlingly high levels for his point cost when you crank out several Upgrades at once.
The Bold in his vehicle mode won't do you much good, sadly, given his measly 2 Attack. But, at least he is a tank. Demolishor couldn't be happier for it.
But, that being said, I could also see playing him alongside Megatron -- Living Weapon. You can use Living Weapon's alternate mode to boost Baby Megatron's damage, with the two Upgrades from that alone boosting his attack to a very respectable 5, not counting the weapons. Plus, you can use Flak to put a third Upgrade on him, boosting his damage to 6, still not counting the Weapons. Fully stocking him with Upgrades certainly sounds nice, though I do worry for his staying power given his mediocre stats otherwise -- I mean, it always sucks to put all of your eggs in one basket; sucks even more to do it twice. But, he might just have the power necessary to have the payoff.
In total, Megatron alone might make this set purchaseable. He can be used as a nice backup attacker, something similar to Baby Buzzwole in the Pokemon TCG in many fighting decks. Good as a one-and-done, but has diminishing returns. Whether he's in as a fourth member to a Tank list or as a backup to someone double his size, Megatron has a lot of value in a little package.
Same song, second verse.
Starscream might have potential. Stop laughing, I'm serious.
Okay, so, remember when I talked about how Megatron could fit into a quad list? Or Windblade in a five-wide? You could say the same thing about Starscream, here, except he has something extremely powerful going for him that Windblade doesn't have, and that Megatron can't take advantage of in the same way:
His name is Starscream.
So if you remember, way, way, way in the past -- around September -- you might remember a Starscream being released that had Bold 2 innately, but more importantly had a very special vehicle mode ability tied to how many Planes you had on the field. Now, back then, the Planes list was something of a misfire. Starscream loved having Planes, but he couldn't get the right planes.
Thundercracker just didn't belong in the list despite his vehicle ability, and Skywarp was... Well, W1 Skywarp was W1 Skywarp. Thus, Starscream rather fell into the wayside for other lists. I still tried to keep the dream alive with more and more variations, but all fell rather flat on their faces.
So, then, how does Baby Starscream help with that?
Well, for one, he has five stars. This means you can play Starscream -- Air Commander at 11 stars, Starscream -- Decepticon Lieutenant at 5, Storm Cloud at 4 and Fireflight at 5 to round off the list with a solid Brave effect to keep both Starscream safe. This means you have four Planes on the field, which means you can use Starscream -- Air Commander's vehicle mode effect to its fullest potential of a good three damage. I don't think you'll be progressing too hard in the direct damage route for this build, though, and that's for good reason.
Reason being, you now have two Starscream in the list. Meaning, you can make full use of Null Ray of Starscream to add a whole mess of damage to Air Commander as well as making Baby Starscream's competent four attack an astonishing 5 base with Bold 2 stacked on. Just imagine Storm Cloud getting involved in that mess with his Bold effect, too!
Now, I realize Baby Starscream is about as frail as one can be, likely being in an all orange list to make your Bold deal the most it can, and his Tough 1 can't make his 7 HP last through a soul-shattering 0 Defense. But that being said, you will likely get a lot of value out of him before he falls, potentially one-hitting many threats out there.
Don't mark this guy up to binder bait just yet. I think he might just have a bright future ahead of him.
BATTLE CARDS
Shortly thereafter, Optimus put together an " Avoiding Sexual Harassment Class", to which Wheeljack was invited.
Full Loadout is kind of nutty. Not only is it a double orange pip -- a blessing in aggro decks with one star to spare -- but it has an effect that is quite ridiculous in many decks.
So, I want you to imagine something. You're sitting there across from a Megatron -- Cybertronian Tyrant and you just went first. You think that your Battlefield Legend is safe, and you decide to swing into their Warpath with just enough to KO them. Not a bad start, and Megatron is too slow to possibly get up enough Upgrades to threaten you on the first turn of th-- Surprise! He is completely powered up with three Upgrades, boosting his damage to 6 base plus a Grenade Launcher and his level of damage and survivability go through the roof with his Force Field and Data Pad.
Battlefield Legend is nearly one-hit out of nowhere.
Now, the effects of Full Loadout are a bit amplified on my cherrypicked Baby Megatron scenario, but playing three Upgrades for essentially free should not be understated in its usefulness, especially if it's on a double orange pip. Now, again, you need to have the Weapon, Utility and Armor in your hand in order to get the full effect of its power and that means you're highly unlikely to get it off on the first turn of the game. But, later on, you can get some shocking comebacks by exploding upgrades on a character out of nowhere.
As for which is better between Mounted Missiles or Full Loadout, I think that should be fairly obvious. Mounted Missiles is neat, but they've never had that powerful burst that you really need to justify playing them on your turn. Sure, you can play it in a Utility or Armor slot, but really, wouldn't you rather just play a regular weapon? Or rather, wouldn't you rather play a Weapon, a Utility and an Armor?
Just saying.
Everyone at the ice cream eating contest was quite confident until the third bowl produced some unforeseen consequences.
This card is lying to you.
EMP Wave taps all characters, both yours and your opponents. So, what happens when all characters are tapped? Everyone untaps. This means that you are untapping all characters on the field going into your opponent's next turn, effectively giving them their choice of whomever they want to attack on their turn. You don't get to attack with one of your characters -- instead, you're forfeiting that last attack to tap everyone.
Now, there is actually merit to doing so if you happen to be behind in the character trade or the untap game. If, say, you face cars and they're -- per usual -- more or less completely untapped during the turn where you would be completely tapped out, you could potentially play an EMP Wave to negate your opponent's trademark Car Dogpile where they get to attack you with all of their characters.
But, to be perfectly frank, is that worth the star? Maybe. I don't really like Energized Field that much, especially given that it flat out begs you to play orange cards in a blue deck, and EMP Wave's limited use is probably better than Energized Field's practical disuse. Regardless, it's an interesting card. Whether or not it'll see play for its effect or just its pip still remains to be seen, but I think we'll probably see it over Energized Field regardless.
Gives a whole new meaning to getting a "Ram Truck".
Battering Ram is not the best at everything, but it does its job very, very well. Now, you might be asking, "Hey, what is that job, exactly?" and that is a good question, and I'm afraid it has a simple answer.
Combiners hate Battering Ram because they really, really like being able to combine during a game. Battering Ram not only slows Combiners down to a crawl, but in some cases outright denies combination in general. I mean, think about it. Every time you attack with your truck, you keep undoing their hard-earned flips and it stalls their combiner for another turn.
Wasting turns combining is the kiss of death for many Combiners, and I can definitely see running Battering Ram for the combiner mirror in many decks. Take Stunticons, for instance, who have two Trucks that can use Battering Ram, with Motormaster being effectively unpunishable in his robot mode. You could also say the same for a control-based Sentinel list, though that is played to a lesser degree.
Battering Ram, however, can also be something of a double-edged sword. Take, for example, Metroplex. People love giving Metroplex a seizure and flipping him multiple times in a turn. With Battering Ram, you effectively give them a free transformation into Base mode, spitting out another one of his smaller characters.
This isn't the only case, either. Like, for instance, Megatron -- Arrogant Ruler can play a free Upgrade when Battering Ram swings into him, or returning a non-pipped card from your Scrap to your hand in terms of Skywarp. A double-edged sword, it is.
But, honestly? I think Battering Ram's usefulness against Combiners more than makes up for its peculiarity against other lists to include it in any Truck-based deck. I could even see a case for it in non-traditional "Truck" decks, like Nemesis Prime. After all, slowing your opponent down is something that Nemesis will always enjoy.
"Yes. My perfect plan. The virus will be on the computer, and the only clue they'll have to the infection is the giant Decepticon logo on the background! I am a genius!"
Device Virus is coming from fellow content creator "TCG Roll Out!" on Twitter, and I have to say, Device Virus is probably the best black-pipped Action we have by a large margin. Everything else is either split colors with a black pip with a lackluster card effect when you play it, but Device Virus is different.
It's basically Super Energy Removal, something you'll remember if you played Pokemon during the fledgling years. Of course, there's a big difference between Energy and Upgrades, but it's pretty much the same effect. But, when you realize that you can combo Device Virus with other Upgrades, things start getting a little interesting.
You see, Device Virus has the potential to remove three Armor cards in one turn when used in tandem with Bashing Shield. You can play a Bashing Shield, scrap an Armor, then Device Virus the Bashing Shield to scrap two more Armor. You could say the same about Weapons with Enforcement Batons or Utilities with Crushing Size.
Of course, such an effect necessitates playing all of those things, so it really depends on what your deck looks like and what matchups you want to beat with it. But, if you're afraid of decks like Predacons which bust out the Upgrades -- usually weapons -- quickly, especially when combined, Device Virus might be for you.
At the end of the day, though, it's a black pip and we still have yet to see how good it is in a blue/black or mono black deck. But, if the black pips we have yet to see are anything like Device Virus, I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of them in lists.
"Thinking quickly, Wheeljack constructs a homemade megaphone using only some string, a squirrel and a megaphone."
Repurpose is the only black draw card we've seen thus far, and I can't mention too much about it because it's nothing too much to write home about. It's a very basic cycling card that replaces itself and one other card in your hand with the top two cards of your deck, essentially.
It's a black pipped card that also happens to draw cards. I mean, in a black deck, do you really want too much else out of it? Let's be fair here. You won't play it in any other deck that doesn't play black pips, but if you play black, then you'll be needing this.
CONCLUSION
Can I just say this?
Soundwave.
That is all.
But in all seriousness, I can't wait to see how Soundwave will be playing out in this meta. Perhaps more than that, I can't wait to see how his cassettes will fare under stress. The whole composition just seems a bit frail from my perspective, but I haven't really touched it in physical form (yet) and I suppose we won't find out for sure how good he is until we see him in action.
The other characters aren't too much to write home about save the Ironhide. Being able to dance Armed Hovercraft makes me happy, and having an effective autowin against Red Heat Infinite is a brilliant thing to have just as an alternate mode.
As for his female compatriots, Focus is an interesting new mechanic, as well. I think, if we get effects for high Focus, we may very well see balanced decks other than Metroplex make a comeback in the game. Until then, however, just give me Bold and call it a day, hm?
As for the Battle Cards, there were a ton of reveals. I can't say that some of them were overtly good or overtly bad, but I can definitely say that many of them had a ton of potential like Device Virus.
What did you like the most? Roadhugger? Soundwave? W2 Starter Bumblebee? Maybe not that last one. Let me know in the comments below, and as always, thanks for reading! If you want to check out more of my content, go to my YouTube Channel, Nanomachines, where I do deck profiles and other competitive content.
You never know... Something interesting might happen there in the next few days. Who knows?
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2020981)
Posted by Hydrargyrus on May 8th, 2019 @ 11:31pm CDT
Posted by Hydrargyrus on May 8th, 2019 @ 11:31pm CDT
Focus triggers on defense as well. Wouldn’t that make it sort of a worse version of Bold AND Tough (rather than just Bold)?
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2021014)
Posted by #Sideways# on May 9th, 2019 @ 10:16am CDT
Ope, you're right. I guess I misread it!![:lol:]( "Laughing")
That being said, my opinion isn't changed that much. Low levels of Focus is juat as you said, worse Bold and Tough. That being said, I wager it makes Flamewar marginally better given it increases her survivability.
Posted by #Sideways# on May 9th, 2019 @ 10:16am CDT
MagicDeath wrote:Focus triggers on defense as well. Wouldn’t that make it sort of a worse version of Bold AND Tough (rather than just Bold)?
Ope, you're right. I guess I misread it!
That being said, my opinion isn't changed that much. Low levels of Focus is juat as you said, worse Bold and Tough. That being said, I wager it makes Flamewar marginally better given it increases her survivability.
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2022073)
Posted by Stargrave on May 20th, 2019 @ 1:28pm CDT
Posted by Stargrave on May 20th, 2019 @ 1:28pm CDT
Seibertronians I hope you’re wearing your asbestos long johns for this one because just in from Kotaku are images of the new Firecon set from the War For Cybertron Siege set!
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
Transformers G1 1988 Flamefeather (Sizzle) Gallery
That’s right Cindersaur, Sparkstalker, and Flamefeather are all set to make their debut later this June. This is noted as being the first time the creative team for the cards were authorized by Hasbro to spearhead their redesign as there is no previously existing or planned molds for these characters. If you are a fan of the card art so far you will be pleased to know artist Marcelo Matere drew up the actual redesigns. The original characters originally sold for about $3.00 US per figure, and were primarily based around the ‘cold spark’ gimmick where a button could be pressed down causing an internal wheel to grind against a magical substance, probably Unobtainium, which would cause an awesome storm of sparks to fly from the characters mouths! Fans of G1 will remember this same gimmick being used for the Autobot Monsterbots. Anyone who loved the cheesier aspects of G1 gimmickry or those who found new substance in these characters towards the latter half of the IDW run will no doubt smile when seeing this set is on its way. Let us know your thoughts in the forum!
Source: Kotaku
Transformers G1 1988 Flamefeather (Sizzle) Gallery
That’s right Cindersaur, Sparkstalker, and Flamefeather are all set to make their debut later this June. This is noted as being the first time the creative team for the cards were authorized by Hasbro to spearhead their redesign as there is no previously existing or planned molds for these characters. If you are a fan of the card art so far you will be pleased to know artist Marcelo Matere drew up the actual redesigns. The original characters originally sold for about $3.00 US per figure, and were primarily based around the ‘cold spark’ gimmick where a button could be pressed down causing an internal wheel to grind against a magical substance, probably Unobtainium, which would cause an awesome storm of sparks to fly from the characters mouths! Fans of G1 will remember this same gimmick being used for the Autobot Monsterbots. Anyone who loved the cheesier aspects of G1 gimmickry or those who found new substance in these characters towards the latter half of the IDW run will no doubt smile when seeing this set is on its way. Let us know your thoughts in the forum!
Source: Kotaku
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2022095)
Posted by Rodimus Knight on May 20th, 2019 @ 4:13pm CDT
Posted by Rodimus Knight on May 20th, 2019 @ 4:13pm CDT
Have they given the reason why every character in wave three has some sort of position or title before their names (Sergent, raider, etc)
Re: New Cards Revealed for Transformers TCG like Wheeljack and Air Strike Team + Strategies and Descriptions (2022098)
Posted by o.supreme on May 20th, 2019 @ 4:23pm CDT
![:lol:]( "Laughing")
![:lol:]( "Laughing")
While I never smoked myself, Plenty of my family have, thank goodness for young minds that don't recognize a flint ![;)]( "Wink")
Posted by o.supreme on May 20th, 2019 @ 4:23pm CDT
00Stargrave00 wrote:The original characters originally sold for about $3.00 US per figure, and were primarily based around the ‘cold spark’ gimmick where a button could be pressed down causing an internal wheel to grind against a magical substance, probably Unobtainium, which would cause an awesome storm of sparks to fly from the characters mouths! Fans of G1 will remember this same gimmick being used for the Autobot Monsterbots.
While I never smoked myself, Plenty of my family have, thank goodness for young minds that don't recognize a flint 
