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"Flipping Out" -- TFTCG Reveals and Strategies

Date: Wednesday, October 9th 2019 9:29am CDT
Categories: Toy News, Site Articles, Game News
Posted by: #Sideways#

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FLIPPING SIDES

So, this is going to be something of a doozy of an article. To put things in a nutshell, I've been granted to release a brand new card by the wonderful guys and gals over at Wizards of the Coast! That said, and with the frankly stunning amount of reveals we've had over the past week or so, I'm going to trim down this article to go over a few of the highlights instead.

But those highlights are a bit cherry-picked, you see, as most of the characters have the distinct pleasure of having at least minor synergy with the card that I am about to reveal. See if you can tell which ones! But, how can you if you don't know what the card is? Ready to see it?

I give you... Showing Off!



I revealed this card on my YouTube channel, Nanomachines! If you'd like to hear my opinions on this card, or at least want something to listen to for the next few minutes, please check out the video below!

CHARACTERS

Crosshairs is a guy with a lot of potential on his shoulders.

Sure, Crosshairs doesn't have a whole lot of offensive punch for a guy known for his guns, but when you consider the Battlemasters we've had lately like Sights or Turbo Board, you start to see how his prowess is not defined by the offensive power of his guns, but in the thickness of his Armor.

This might seem obvious given the fact that he has, well, two Armor slots. But when you consider the fact that you could flood his team with characters like Nightstick, Sights, Vanguard or Turbo Board, all of which giving him +1 Defense at the least, you start to realize just how strong his defensive capabilities are.

Let's do some quick math. With Nightstick and Sights on his person, he gets +2 Defense from them alone. This, combined with the fact that he gets +2 Defense from his own ability, total in 4 Defense before your Armor. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention: He has two Armor slots, and with his synergy with the ever-powerful Hunker Down, you can spam Armor on the guy like there's no tomorrow. I mean, with the newest Tank-exclusive Upgrade, Composite Armor (see in the Battle Card Section) which gives +3 Defense, combined with a Blast Shield, you have a total of 9 Defense before you flip, which is frankly nausiating.

Now, is that practical to set up? Probably not, to be frank. You're not doing too much damage to pressure your opponent out, which means your opponent is going to be able to take their sweet time while they build up something big to deal more damage to you than you're likely able to handle. Still though, with the use of Vanguard, Nightstick and friends, you can count on your defense being able to withstand most basic attacks.

Most.



Spinister is very, very good. How? Well, let me jump into this guy by telling you why Battle Masters have such good value.

You see, when you play Transformers, you're usually not going to want to swing with a character in alternate mode. It's inefffecient, it's low damage and honestly it usually ends up putting one character at risk. Battle Masters turn that on its head. Given the fact that they start in their most efficient mode, and since they are effectively unpunishable when you KO them via an attack, you are free to just swing with them at will.

Since you can swing with them at will, you can transform one of your other characters beforehand, making your life easier in terms of crucial flipping time. That's also where Spinister comes into the picture. Given the fact that your first turn will usually involve flipping another character and swinging with a Battle Master, Spinister turns that advantage into an even greater one given his robot mode effect. I mean, just imagine on the first turn of the game, swinging with Lionizer for more damage than he already does. That's what makes Spinister so strong.

Making matters better, when your Lionizer (or whomever else you're playing him with) dies, you can attach them to Spinister, not only giving him a solid attack boost but also being the secondary weapon to whatever card -- like Grenade Launcher -- you wanted to play. This means that the clapback from KOing your Battle Master is even stronger than ever before, and I honestly cannot wait to see where Spinister will go.



Barricade is freaking awesome.

So, simply put, he makes every blank pip in your deck infinitely more consistent. Given the fact that he can not only pull potentially bad cards out of your deck, making your deck more consistent flip-wise, but he can also use them on-demand. I mean, just think about it:

You have Barricade and Prowl alive after Wheeljack died a horrifying, early death. Now, you realize that you've probably lost the game in terms of staying power, but you also realize that your opponent is completely tapped out with Prowl being the only untapped character. Barricade has an I STILL FUNCTION! underneath him, and you realize that you can use the Start Your Engines in-hand to start off an impressive combo.

So, you play the Start Your Engines, untapping Barricade and flipping both he and Prowl to alt mode, activating their effects. You choose Barricade to activate first, bringing an alternate mode Wheeljack back from the dead, and Prowl's effect activates afterwards, giving all of them Bold 2. Then, you flip Wheeljack into robot mode and swing with him, Prowl and Barricade all at once, dealing disgusting damage to your opponent's field and their ego.

Sound like a fantasy? Not so. This is something you can pretty much count on happening with Cars, and was Cars' entire raison d'être, but the biggest problem was doing it all at once. Bumblebee from Wave 2 is oft regarded as the only out to this combo usually, as he plays an Action when you flip him, but now? Now there's a new sheriff in town, and this town isn't big enough for the two of them.

With 'Bee and 'Cade fighting for that same spot, it's easy to see their rivalry coming through even in the card game. But, with Barricade's lower point cost and higher consistency, I think there isn't much mystery on who my money's on.



Lockdown is really, really neat. He channels his inner Nemesis Prime while also having access to every Car card in the book. He might seem a bit difficult to pop off with, but I would put good money on that not being the case. Allow me to explain for a moment.

You see, when you use Lockdown with cards like Coup, Contract Contingency and Dual Wielding, you're going to start amassing cards beneath Lockdown farily quickly. Given the ease of such buildup, you'll find that you're also going to be drawing quite a few cards as well, which can facilitate that growth in much the same way, drawing into your Bounty-triggering cards and highly damaging cards like Dual Wielding.

I aboslutely adore the potential that Lockdown has, and at 10 Stars, we can tell that he's not exactly cheap, but he's not expensive, either. We can play several characters alongside him to promote his growth, and we can play him in several different archetypes. Whether you want him in a blue/black list or an aggressive list, you'll find that his powerful effects can only grow with time.

Lockdown has the potential to raw carry games, and when you consider the fact that he also opens up the use of certain Mercenary cards, you'll find yourself with more potential partners with him than you'll know what to do with.



Detritus is the first Rare Mercenary that we have in the game and... Well, he's sadly not that great. But he could be!

His stats, his point cost and now his effects just aren't that good. Mercenaries need to be able to do damage to characters in order to actually use their powerful Bounty effects, and unfortunately neither his damage, Star Cost nor his Bounty Effect are good enough to warrant his introduction into many -- if any -- roster.

But hey! He's the first Junkion in the game, and he's not carrying around Wreck-Gar's severed head yet, so let's give him a fair shake and see what bubbles to the surface. Given the fact that Detritus is a healing character with a likely defensive playstyle, one could play him in a defensive list, abusing the black pips that Mercenaries ever so adore to make him able to trigger his Bounty effect multiple times over the course of a few turns. Through the use of Contract Contingency especially, you'll find that Detritus can heal quite a bit.

Plus, when you consider that you could play him with cards like Dazzlestrike, Ratbat and other healing characters, you might be surprised how long he sticks around.

Healing is a tough balance to strike. Either you're like Pokemon and have intense healing cards that can be everywhere and can be oppressive at times, or you're like Transformers, where healing is pretty much the least used mechanic in the game outside of certain niche scenarios. Here, though, I think there might finally be a good balance between solid healing and fair tactics.

But, you have to ask the question whenever a healing card comes out: Is it enough? Personally, I don't think he has enough on his own to warrant it -- but hey! We'll get more healing cards later. Plus, it isn't like you don't have Team Up Tactics to help you out in the meantime.



Octone is the first Mercenary Super Rare there is, and boy do I think he has some potential. Why? Well, for one, his stats are very solid, his abilities are good and his Bounty is good as well! Sounds simple enough? Well, there's actually a few other reasons that I like him.

You see, Octone can start the game in his most effective mode, his Truck mode, given how many Autobot-focused decks are running about these days. This mode gives you a powerful attack stat, powerful HP and moderate defensive capabilities to make him extremely hard to remove -- and hard to withstand -- from the get-go. Even if your opponent is running all Decepticons, you can flip him to his Plane mode to deal even more damage to them given the fact that your opponent has to ping one of their Decepticons for one damage. This can compound itself if you happen to activate his Bounty effect during the course of a game, sending two more damage their way.

Octone, best of all, doesn't really warrant a list one way or another. You could run him aggressively and use busted cards like Dual Wielding, or you could run him defensively to abuse his large health pool. The point being, it doesn't matter how you run him, just that he is strong no matter which one you choose.

That said, in terms of 13 point cards, I think we know someone else who has just as much value if not more value than Octone, do we not? Something, something, Battlefield Legend? Oh, yeah. Still though, he's a quite solid card. But you need to ask yourself if you'd rather run him or Battlefield Legend -- those 13 stars aren't going to choose for you.



Nightbird is a very strong promo card.

We haven't seen a good promo card yet, as the only one that came close was Omega Supreme and he's only usable in super niche concepts. But with Nightbird, we get not only a powerful vehicle mode effect, but a strong Bounty effect all wrapped up in the cheapest Mercenary on the market at the moment. By the way, did I mention that she's a Car? Because she's a Car.

Nightbird allows you to use a variety of Mercenary-exclusive cards, like Opportune Repairs, and can be splashed in various lists that need a Mercenary that isn't going to eat up most of their points. In fact, Nightbird has so much value in her that I think that, at the moment, she's probably the most useful Mercenary to have on your team.

Plus, if your opponent is playing a ton of Actions during their turn through Barricade, Brainstorm, Multi-Mission Gears and so on, she punishes their greediness by placing quite a few damage counters on your opponent's characters at will. Plus, when you finally soften up your opponents enough, you can play some extra cards with her Bounty effect.

In fact, in a Car setting, you can use her Car nature to untap her until you would attack with all of your characters at once. Then, while you do so, you get to use one of your opponent's Reckless Charge from their Scrap Pile to boost your next attack! Sure, it might not be the most reliable ability, but it's certainly the only one of its kind.

Truly, Nightbird earns her keep in many different ways. But personally? I'm just excited to have a promo that's actually good for once!



So, remember when I said that healing in games are either great or awful? Blackjack is the epitome of the latter.

You see, when you use a team of Micromasters like Blackjack wants (much akin to Powertrain, in fact), you'll find that you're going to be fairly frail, regardless of if you're playing blue or not. I mean, your other Sports Car Patrol characters have either 6 or 7 HP and either 0 or 1 defense, meaning they're not going to defend much even if you try your very hardest, with Flamewar as an ally and a stockpile of armor.

I just can't help but to feel as though Blackjack's ability could have been better, especially considering Powertrain's effect turning his allies into DPS machines. Perhaps one could use Vanguard instead of Flamewar in an attempt to buy their safety through his effect instead of sheer willpower alone?

Looking at his robot mode, however, I could be persuaded to like his minor stat change over Powertrain's. Having more damage while still having 4 defense at maximum isn't exactly awful, and using Roadhugger's damage boosting effect isn't half bad either. But when you consider the fact that not only does Powertrain give his entire team Bold but also has synergy with more -- and better -- Battlemasters does it become apparent that Powertrain's Off-Road Patrol will be far more viable than Blackjack's Sports Car Patrol.

BATTLE CARDS

Composite Armor is quite possibly one of the best Armors in the game. Not only does it give a monstrous +3 Defense, but it also gives +1 Attack and deals damage when you defend with it. I mean, sure, it scraps itself after you defend with it, but holy crap man. Hunker Down, obviously, would make this card not just easy to reuse, but also extremely powerful for certain characters. Let's go over some of those combos, shall we?

Lord Megatron is the first of these, as you can mill more cards from your opponent's deck when you use a Hunker Down, but you also have the effect of boosting your Attack when your opponent reshuffles their deck, as well. But, personally, I think one of the most powerful uses for this card is with Demolishor.

Demolishor, with his extra flipping effect, prizes having more defense when you attack. Let's show you this with an example. Let's say that you play a Power Punch on him for turn, and then play a Hunker Down to attach a Composite Armor. Demolishor already flips six cards when he attacks neutrally, but with a Composite Armor on him, you flip three more cards. Then, with that Power Punch, you'll end up flipping three more cards, putting him at a monstrous twelve cards in total, and that's not counting any white pips in your deck.

Did I mention that you already boosted his attack by +1 beforehand thanks to Composite Armor? Because you already boosted his attack by +1 beforehand.

Composite Armor is kinda insane. When you consider the implications of that absolutely disgusting +3 Defense, plus everything else about the card, there is absolutely no reason that you wouldn't want to run this card in every Tank deck you have at your disposal, regardless of the pip color.



Contract Contingency is a downright necessary card for decks that run Mercenaries. You might find that Mercenaries won't be able to use their Bounty abilities all too often -- especially since it requires the death of a character to activate. Lockdown, Detritus and every other one won't pop off as hard if they can't use their Bounty effects, and Contract Contingency makes that possible.

Lockdown especially will find Contract Contingency even more of an auto-include than before. Given the fact that it not only allows you to build his stock of cards beneath him, Contract Contingency also boosts his damage whilst being a double black card, making the base 4 damage that easier to get. You'll be boosting Lockdown, healing Detritus, playing cards with Mudflap, poking with Octone and... Well, doing Mercenary things with your Mercenaries!

Contract Contingency is an auto include in pretty much any list that runs a Merc, and there's no two ways around it.



Something else that might find its way into a few Mercenary lists is Coup. With Coup, you can use effects like Octone's or Lockdown's as a form of clap-back for one of your characters being KO'd. Certainly interesting when you consider how vital Bounty is to playing Mercenaries, but something a little more interesting is... Well, how it actually works.

See, this is a pretty non-controversial card. If you're playing some cheaper, more malleable Mercenaries like Mudflap or Nightbird, you'll like it because you're able to play more allies to make Coup use your Bounty effects more and more. But, something that I'm wondering about is when it can activate.

You see, the way Coup reads states that it doesn't matter whose character is KO'd -- just so long as a character is KO'd. This could even mean, from what I've seen here, that it could potentially activate on your own turn through your own KOing of a character, either yours or your opponents. Now, I could be misreading this thing (it wouldn't be the first time, amiright?), but my money is on my instincts and my instincts are telling me that I'm right.

So, where does that leave us?

Well, you could use Coup to bolster your own effects, like Octone, Nightbird or Lockdown when you KO one of your opponent's characters during an attack. If you'd like to be even spicier, you could potentially play Coup through Laserbeak's tap effect, allowing you to play Peace Through Tyranny to use one of your own characters to fuel Bounty triggers.

Of course, it might not work that way, but either way it still isn't an awful card to fuel some Bounty triggers on your opponent's turn, especially considering how important it is to certain characters like Lockdown. It might not see too much widespread play, especially if I'm wrong about it, but I'm still interested to see where it might end up in the long run.



Shoulder Holster is actually really quite interesting in aggressive decks. Sure, it's a blue pip, but when you consider that certain cards like Jetfire can take full advantage of it, there could be some fascinating combos you can pull off with it. Let's go over some examples.

Like I said before, Jetfire can be something of a monster with both Shoulder Holster as well as Defensive Configuration as options, where you can get free Upgrades on him in either aspect. Now, regardless of optimal pip usage for the moment, we can still abuse Jetfire's ability to play Shoulder Holster in order to play a free weapon. This can open up your hand to play a second weapon on him, potentially stacking a second, heavily damaging weapon on him to deal a potentially disgusting amount of damage through potentially double stacking Grenade Launchers or Power Punch.

But the best deck that will love every moment of Shoulder Holster as well as Defensive Configuration is the always Upgrade-hungry Omnibots. Since you can play either card with Overdrive, you'll find that your first turn will have far more burst than you're used to, potentially exploding more Upgrades on the first turn to facilitate your characters board presence. I mean, there is always the chance that you whiff the extra Upgrade off the top of your deck, of course, but either way you're still getting an extra Weapon or Armor slot, y'know?

I really quite like both Holster and Configuration. They're inconsistent, of course, but when they're used in tandem with interesting cards like the Omnibots, things become more interesting. I mean, just think of how you could use Shoulder Holster to play a Multi-Tool! Sure, you're not exactly gaining anything stat-wise -- pretty much nothing at all, for that matter -- but you're getting Upgrades on the field to fulfill other effects like General Megatron or Equipment Enthusiast.

It might not have immediate gratification, of course, but its combo potential cannot be ignored.



Dual Wield is the best Mercenary card. Period.

You like that Grenade Launcher on Lockdown? You do? Sick! Well, how about we give him another one from your Scrap Pile? Yeah, that sounds pretty neat to me. So not only does this open up the possibility to swing with two weapons at once, but it also opens up your Upgrade for turn to be something that's not a Weapon -- in other words, Force Field.

Dual Wield allows you to not only play it hyper-aggressively, but it also allows you to play it defensively as well. Remember, even though your extra weapon slot disappears at the end of your turn, if you only have one Weapon on one of your characters, it won't disappear with the slot if it's a weapon like Energon Axe. This means that you can use a scrapped Weapon from your Scrap Pile while also playing an Armor from your hand to buff a Mercenary to the gills in a single turn without breaking so much as a sweat.

I'm not exaggerating, and even though flexing my hyperbole muscle is one of my favorite pastimes, I'm dead serious when I say that Dual Wield will shape the Mercenary format.



Crude Club is one of those super hot combo cards that you just know will be the centerpiece of a super neat strategy. When you consider the fact that Shoulder Holster, Extra Padding, Attack Drones and Dual Wielding can all increase Crude Club's effectiveness, you start to realize how strong this card can be in combo decks.

Crude Club does +1 for every Upgrade on that character. So, let's try to do as much as possible with some quick math: Three Extra Padding, one Shoulder Holster, three Attack Drones in one weapon slot, one Crude Club in another slot, and with a Brainstormed double Dual Wielding, we can play both of our other Crude Clubs in both other slots. This runs a quick calculation of the following:

3 + 1 + 3 + 3 = 10 Upgrades in total. Now, let's factor in the damage that those Upgrades can do on their own as well: +3 Damage for the Drones, +10 damage for each instance of the Crude Clubs, all pieced together to create an unholy final score of: +33 Damage!

Imagine getting that in a game. If you pulled this off against me, I'd be hard pressed not to just sign the match slip the moment it happened. I mean, you probably deserve the win at that point. In fact, I think you could probably do more damage thanks to more Brainstorm chaining and Cargo Trailers instead of the Shoulder Holster. Who knows? Maybe someone can come up with more impressive numbers using Predaking or perhaps Dreadwing? All I know is that Crude Club should not be underestimated, and I think, understated.

I don't think that it'll be practical to pull off, but Timmy's and Johnny's rejoice! A brutal combo card your way comes!



Wedge Formation is... Well, it's something all right.

To be perfectly frank with you, the effects of Wedge Formation has some of the least value I've ever seen on a card. On one hand, it's still not the worst card effect out there -- that Raspberry Award probably goes to Rest and Relaxation -- but it certainly does a whole lot of things to get nothing out of it.

I mean, sure, you're drawing a card, you could maybe heal something from one of your characters, and Plan 1 isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you consider the fact that cards like Diagnosis does effectively the same thing but on a more neutral white pip, you can see how I'd be hard-pressed to find a spot for it on its card effects alone.

However, it should be clear enough at this point that this card's value clearly comes not from playing it from your hand, but using it in more niche strategies. With three pip colors on it, you'll find that cards like Blowpipe and Grapple want to play as many as possible in order to activate their effects. But, perhaps there is another reason to run it?

You see, Overwhelming Advantage requires you not just to have every color combination possible Upgraded on a character, but also flipping the same amount of colors on your attack. When playing at least one Decepticon on your team, you can use Overwhelming Advantage to Plan Wedge Formation on the top of your deck to make your flips that much easier. It would be all too easy to deal massive damage to one of your opponent's charactes.

Perhaps Overwhelming Advantage is simply too niche of a strategy to pull off correctly, but when you consider how easy it is to flip all of the colors in the game when three of them are taken up by Wedge Formation alone, I start to wonder if Overwhelming Advantage might just work after all.



Valuable Contract is... Okay I guess? I mean, it's not going to win any awards, and Star Cards are strictly okay at best, but with cards like Contract Contingency and Coup, could this card actually be the start of an interesting combination? Let's dive in and find out!

So, with Valuable Contract, it might seem odd, but you don't need to use it on a Mercenary. In fact, it might be better not to use it on a Mercenary in order to get the full use out of your Bounty activations. Regardless, what would be the best use of Valueable Contract and how would you make the most of it?

Well, let's say that we can use cards like Coup and Contract Contingency to activate Valuable Contract's Bounty effect. If you do, you can grab far more Star Cards from outside the game than normal. In fact, you'll probably be able to do so almost every turn given proper draw support. What could you possibly grab with Valuable Contract's effect if you did manage to pop it or something similar off every turn? Well, let cut to the chaff and let me toss out a neat idea that I just had.

Okay, so, Hot Rod can be used to build up a slow yet powerful control effect when he gets a card beneath him, right? Plus, when he has full HP, he has Safeguard, making his bulk that much better. So, how do we capitalize on this? For one, we can use cards like Blast Suit to reduce your opponent's damage by an astronomical amount, but I think more importantly, you could also use Heroic Resolve turn after turn if you were able to stream Bounty effects and/or Unleash Potential. Plus, since it goes to the KO pile after using it, you could run an aggressive version of the deck and not have to worry about shuffling a bunch of blue cards back into your deck.

But what might make it viable is through the use of Needlenose. With Needlenose's damaging ability, we are able to ping our opponents for a bit of damage every turn since we are effectively trying to play one of those cards every turn, and to facilitate that end, Needlenose can also return Blast Suit and other Star Cards from your Scrap to your hand to be used again. The end result of this is by being mostly able to stream Heroic Resolve and Blast Suit every turn, increasing your survivability exponentially, especially considering Hot Rod's double Action ability.

I don't know, it's just an idea that I had randomly. But the point being, Valuable Contract is of cardinal importance to that combo, and I honestly wonder whether there are other combos out there with it or not. After all, Wizards keeps making more Star Cards and people still seem reluctant to play them. Perhaps at one point they'll end up making a broken one and cards like Valuable Contract will be the catalyst to another broken combo deck?

Who knows? It's just a thought.



Opportune Repairs is exactly the kind of repair card that I have been wanting. Healing one damage isn't great, healing two for the cost of a pip just feels awful, but Opportune Repairs healing three whilst still having a useful pip? Yes, please!

First off, I'd like to say why I love this card. Remember what I spoke about briefly in my last article? Safeguard is a very good effect, and when you play Safeguard Cars, or The Safety Dance as I'm starting to call it, you're going to have a lot Safeguard on the field to play with, and with it, more opportunities to heal off your characters.

See, that's what I love the most about it. Safeguard protects your character by capping the damage they would take from an undamaged state to (usually) three damage. Now, with that said, you can use healing cards like Opportune Repairs to heal off those three damage counters, reactivating Safeguard and giving that character another clean attack. So long as your opponent doesn't play any non-combat damage cards and you draw enough healing, Safeguard will keep coming back.

The Safety Dance can play several different Cars to take advantage of their Safeguard abilities, namely Hot Rod, Smokescreen and Greenlight, all equating to 24 Stars in total. But, since Opportune Repairs requires a Mercenary on the field in order to use it, you might want to play Deadlock, Nightbird or even Lockdown to fill that slot -- all piecing one little bit of their own power or utility to help out in your ultimate goals of outlasting your opponent.

Plus, they're all Cars, so... Yeah, it kinda works out.

Either way, I'm not quite certain that Opportune Repairs will be played in anything else that doesn't at least play instances of Safeguard. Safeguard is such a good ability, though, that Safeguard cards could be splashed into other lists rather easily, and if they are, you can bet that Opportune Repairs will be first on my list to try to work in.



Similar to Opportune Repairs, but lending itself to a startlingly great damage boosting Action, Opportune Offensive is a lot of power in a little package. It's like a better version of The Bigger They Are or Heavy Handed -- one that only requires your own team composition to grant Pierce and a damage buff. I mean, just off the bat it's a way better version of Leap Into Battle, and it even has better pips to boot. The question changes from "Should I use this card?" to "Who should I use this card with?"

In fact, the same characters that Opportune Repairs would want to play might be quite fine to play in a blue list alongside Opportune Offense, except perhaps playing Detritus as well since healing is almost always better in a defensive circumstance than an offensive one. Lending to that idea, the fact that Opportune Offense grants a Pierce buff alongside a blue/black pip coloration shows us that the best place for it is in a blue/black list.

So, to that, I simply have to say that it's kinda impossible to say what it's good with because it's such a universal card. I mean, what else do you want from it? It makes you do more damage and Pierce! It's great!



Seven damage. Wow. That sounds like a lot, doesn't it? I mean, just think about it! You're doing so much more damage than you would otherwise, right?

Can you feel my sarcasm?

Okay, so this sounds like an amazing card, and for characters like Tote or his other Micromaster friends who start with two or three Attack, then 4-Wheel Drive seems like a strong addition to the deck, and it is. But, when you consider all of the other Trucks who start off at four or five attack, you're not going to get any value out of 4WD that you would otherwise get out of a Leap Into Battle of all things.

4WD may seem incredibly strong, but when you realize that playing a Leap Into Battle gets you effectively the same thing and you get to attack with that character in robot mode, I can't really get too much behind it outside of Powertrain or similarly small decks. Perhaps I'm just being overly critical and a bit of a pedant, but I just can't see this being used as well as Leap Into Battle or some of the other cards like Opportune Offense.

Again, maybe it's just me, but I can't help but to feel that there's less to this card than meets the eye.

CONCLUSION

As always, it is such an amazing feeling to help release cards to the public. I certainly love making all of this content for everyone, and getting to show off new stuff while I do makes me absolutely swoon. Thanks again to Wizards of the Coast for allowing me the opportunity to show it off, and thank you for reading and watching it!

As for the recent reveals, I'm sorry that I couldn't get to all of them in one article like last time. Honestly, though, it was kind of... Well, bloated. Like me. Oof.

Anyway, in all seriousness, I am absolutely ga-ga over the Mercenaries. I think they're a fantastic addition to the game, and they really spice up the dulled Faction system. I really hope that we get more reasons to play all Decepticons, Mercenaries or Autobots soon, though! With all of these faction-specific cards, though, I think that's closer than we think.

What do you think? Are you flipping out about Showing Off? Hooked on Lockdown? Or maybe you're ready to hit with Blackjack? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you next time!

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" -- TFTCG Siege II Strategic Analysis

Date: Wednesday, September 25th 2019 8:21pm CDT
Categories: Site Articles, Game News
Posted by: #Sideways#

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Views: 52,103

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

So, lately, if you hadn't noticed, there were a few cards that were revealed over the past week or so. Not only were there literally dozens of cards that were revealed, but there were also several things that happened over the past week -- including the European Energon Invitational!

At that Invitational, the meta almost completely shifted from the aggro-dominant to a more aggro neutral meta, with a seemingly even balance between aggressive as well as defensive decks. This far more varied meta is a welcome one, especially given the fact that defensive decks usually have to be far more inventive in terms of dealing damage than the more simplistic aggressive ones. It makes for a far more interesting viewing experience in most cases, at least.

That said, the defensive decks that did extremely well were almost entirely comprised of Major Shockwave decks that out-consistency'd their opponents through the use of his intensely defensive compatriots and supporting them with defensive Secret Actions. As it so happens, the deck that eventually won was not aggressive, however.

You see, even though four of the top eight were Major Shockwave decks, the winner of the overall tournament was that of a Blaster/Firedrive combination that used Blaster's knack for playing extra cards and Steeljaw's innate Bold effects to combo together damaging Actions, Upgrades and everything in between to deal a shocking amount of damage. Of course, with Blaster you can also run Ramhorn to add a nicely defensive side to the deck, playing free Force Fields.

As far as the development of the late Siege meta, I've noticed something of a pendulum swing in terms of deck styles. First, it started off with everything being defensive all the time. Second, everyone remembered "Oh hey, Battlefield Legend is pretty strong" and then the whole format went orange. But now, it seems everyone has realized just how strong defense is again -- and how good aggro is as well. In this peaceful harmony, it seems that defensive and aggressive decks can get along with the swing card becoming Press The Advantage.

Press, as I've mentioned in the past, is one of the strongest cards and one of the biggest reasons that the aggressive metagame came to be. The question isn't if an Autobot deck can make headway against a Decepticon deck, it's how much.

Will these reveals change that? Let's find out!

CHARACTER CARDS

Astrotrain is kind of insane in almost every single way. I absolutely adore this guy -- not only can he completely carry a game, but he can also survive far and away longer than most. Let me explain by going through the basics of what the developers no doubt intended for him: Pokemon.

Pokemon involves evolving a Pokemon from Basic, to Stage 1, to Stage 2 over the course of three turns while using Energy Cards to power up a character little by little. The more Energy, usually the stronger the character. When we look at Astrotrain, though, we get the sense that Astrotrain follows that same game curve. On the first turn, you're going to have the ability to attach one Upgrade to him, activating his Spaceship effect. Then, on the next turn, you are supposed to attach a second Upgrade to activate his second effect. Then, when you use a third Upgrade to activate his Robot Mode.

At least, that's what you're supposed to do. See, there happens to be a very, very strong card by the name of Extra Padding. Extra Padding creates a nutty, nutty combination, being that you can place them all at once, or at least come close. When you do hit that magic number -- and you will hit that magic number -- you will be blessed with a four defense, nine attack behemoth in a defensive deck that will make him defend even farther. Mind you, that's pretty much comparable or in some cases better than Nemesis Prime after reshuffling your deck.

The best part about it, though, is that he's also a Decepticon Leader. That means that you can use Callous Leadership to move 5 damage counters from him -- effectively making him live far longer than normal, especially with a base attack of four and whatever Armor you've slapped on him. This isn't even counting whether or not you're playing Flamewar and/or Ravage alongside him, boosting him to heights never before seen.

He swings for a massive amount, and can take even more. Astrotrain is a character with boundless potential, and I don't think that it's a question of if we will see him, but when.




Brunt is... Interesting. On one hand, he seems to be a fantastically defensive card by all but turning off Bold, but on the other, he seems uniquely suited to being offensive as well. I would say that he would be fantastic in a balanced composition for that reason, but when you consider the state of his stats being as mediocre as they are, you begin to wonder if his cost begins to outweigh his benefits.

But that's not what Brunt is here for, right? How about his gun mode... Gun modes?

If you couldn't tell, this is the first dual-piece Weaponizer. You can choose to spread them around however you wish, with either one or both upgrade forms of Brunt on one of your characters. It is with these pieces that we begin to understand a few things. With once piece, we see that Brunt is not just an effectively permanent Grenade Launcher with his Weapon form, but also literally the best Armor in the entire game with not just a permanent Blast Shield, but also the added benefit of having Tough 1 on top of all of that. When you realize that you can attach both pieces to one character, however, one realizes the power level of Brunt is actually astonishing.

Let me put it this way. Have you played Overwatch at all? If you have, then you know about Ana, the support. She has an Ultimate ability called Nanoboost, where you can power up one of your characters so much that they sweep the entire enemy team. Brunt is the same way. You can use him to power up a character to the point that they become effectively unstoppable, giving them an astronomical attack boost and an almost insurmountable defense at the same time.

The only question at that point is, logically, who would be the best partners for him?

One could say that Battlefield Legend could be interesting, and by putting both Weapons onto him, he could be come effectively unstoppable. But I think that might be a little short-sighted, or at least a little obvious. I just don't think that a Weaponizer could do well in a Tall setting, but be sure to mark down this quote in your notebook because I might end up wrong later.

Nay, I think one of the better way to play this is in an aggressive list with the most oft-forgotten cards in the game at the moment: Demolishor. Demolishor loves having both three attack and Bold 1, but more than anything else, he loves having an Armor that gives him +2 Defense. Since he flips extra cards for each defense that he has, you will flip over Kickback-levels of cards whilst having one of the highest defenses possible in an aggressive deck.

The best part is? He's only 6 stars.

Brunt will only be usable in the kind of list that can support him to his fullest, if it wasn't obvious enough already. Since he's so radically different than everything else, you'll want to use him to his full power level. Admittedly, I don't know for sure if Brunt will ever see play if Cog's lack of usage is anything to go by, but when you consider that Brunt has potentially more value than Cog in the short run, it gets just slightly easier to see him in a team.

But just slightly.




Dazzlestrike is not good.

Not only does Dazzlestrike completely suck at dealing damage in her(?) robot mode, but she also isn't exactly special in her alternate mode in terms of damage, either. Unfortunately, whereas she heals her user, she also damages them back to where they were whenever she's inevitably removed via an Enforcement Baton or something similar. Since it's in your best interest to attach a Battle Master near the start of the game, you'll find that the character that you're attaching her to won't be damaged.

This makes her effectively a negative to attach to anyone who cannot keep her, as whenever your opponent discards her from play they will effectively get to deal three damage for free off the play of an Enforcement Batons.

Now, remember when I said that she's not bad on a character who can hold on to her? Well, for your consideration, I give you Greenlight:




Greenlight is... Interesting. Making use of her Safeguard isn't exactly difficult, but her green pipped ability is deceptively strong. Since it doesn't matter if it's an Action or an Upgrade, you get to play both to boost her attack to a formidable six while also playing two of the most powerful cards in recent memory: Bashing Shield and Press The Advantage.

Given that there are also other cards that can be used with green pips, there are potentially higher damaging combinations through the use of Focus Fire. Since you get to play three of them at once, you'll find that playing a Bashing Shield and your Focus Fire all at once will get you a solid eight attack and Bold 6.

Of course, the hardest thing about that strategy is, y'know, staying alive long enough to actually use it. With her Safeguard, you're almost guaranteed two turns to pull it off, but we both know that's not enough. You see, in her alternate mode, she has the effect that her Upgrades can't be scrapped from her. With this in mind, we know that we can attach a Force Field to her with absolute impunity. But, perhaps moreso than that, we can use Dazzlestrike to heal her just enough to use Safeguard again, and you can't be punished by removal effects until you're ready to pop off with her in her robot mode.

Is this a viable strategy? I don't know. Probably not? It just seems too tech-y to be pulled off, but who knows? I guess we'll never know unless we get the green light from the rest of the set!




Fixit is one of, if not the best 4 Star character on the market. Period.

His extremely powerful, effectively universal draw mixed with competent stats (for a Micromaster, that is) make his value off the charts in almost every way. The simple fact of the matter is that, if you're running a deck that needs to dig for something in particular, or perhaps even moreso in a deck that runs more white pips than most, I can think of no better character to play for your money. He's just universally good -- he can scrap your opponent's useful green-pipped card -- like a Bashing Shield, Enforcement Batons, Enigma or all of the above -- on-demand, while also having the ability to net you a new hand of cards to play with.

Oh, yeah, all of this is without using your Action for the turn. Which brings me to the thing I want to touch on:

Since he's universal, there aren't that many decks that wouldn't want to take him along for that added consistency. But, there is a deck that can only work with him on-board, and that's W1 Shockwave. Shockwave needs to chain as many hand-scrapping effects as it can in order to place as many damage counters as possible. When you realize that Fixit can use his ability alongside a System Reboot for your turn, you realize that you can force your opponent to take roughly 8 damage for effectively free, not counting any card effects like Testify to put more cards in their hand.

With proper use of Bravery and similar effects, Fixit will be safe from attacks and Shockwave will be able to spread the love (by which I mean damage) far faster and far more consistently than anyone thought possible.




Is he good or just cool? Because I'm not so sure that he's good.

You see, he's got the look, and he's definitely got a sick power level in terms of raw stats, but when you consider the fact that he's 15 freaking stars, you gotta start to wonder if he's worth it or not. Metroplex, for example, has a lot of attention on him because of his even larger stats, but I've personally played him quite a bit and trust me, 35 HP sounds like a lot, but when your opponents swing for 13 a piece you start to wonder how long you're going to last.

Now, this General Prime -- typically called "Galaxy Prime" by most -- can avoid some of this by attaching Energy Pack (usually for free) and cards like Urban Camo to keep yourself alive more. But it begs the question, and I ask myself this question a bit too much from time to time, but consider this:

Is it enough to survive? Or do you want to live?

That wisdom is something I chew on in my own life, but with cards, it takes on a different meaning. What is "living" in a card game? Isn't remaining on the board enough?

Well, no. Galaxy Prime may stay on the field for a while, but he's so big points-wise that he'll likely be the only competent attacker on your team, making him not just priority #1 for your opponent but when he goes down, you'll lose the game almost instantly. Remember, he's got similar offensive power to Battlefield Legend, and Battlefield Legend only has 13 stars compared to Galaxy Prime's 15.

But, as a whole, I don't think that matters as much as I make it out to. Galaxy Prime has a lot of power in his kit, and I think he'll definitely be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, but in an innately Balanced deck, can you really count on him to pull through?




Highjump confirmed my suspicions! Given the fact that Highjump is a 4 Star character, the pattern of Micromasters holds true! That means that you can play the full team of Off-Road Patrol members, with the total cost of all four of them coming to a solid 18 Stars. That said, we know now that Powertrain can reach those high stats that we so desperately crave, and can also be played with a 7 Star friend.

But what about Highjump? Is there any place for him anywhere else?

Well, I mean, you can play him in a heavily black list to draw some cards, I guess, but why play him when you could play someone like Fixit? Regardless, he's a black-pipped card that can still make some use out of its inclusion if you have the black pips to support him.

But again, I ask you this: Why not Fixit?




Impactor is probably bad. But, when you consider that he could be used in Aggro Tanks alongside Demolishor, Flak and Starter Megatron, he becomes a little less awful. You see, since you can use the highly underutilized Hunker Down to flip your characters all at once, you get the benefit of Demolishor's draw and Impactor's momentary Bold 1.

Of course, since he also has Bold 1 in his robot mode, he'll be a little bit easier to have deal damage, but beyond that his usefulness comes to an end. In fact, you can't really justify using him as someone to spread a lot of Bold 1 when you realize that Flamewar would be straight better. I mean, she does the same thing but for 5 Stars, after all!

Why are all of these Wreckers so bad, anyway? I mean, Springer was bad in W2, Kup was bad in Wave 1 and now Impactor is bad in W4! The Wreckers are getting wrecked.




Kickback is insane. On one hand, his vehicle mode is the reciprocal of his Wave 1 iteration, being a busted force for defense on a blue Bugs team, but on the other hand, his robot mode makes standard Bugs even better.

First, the concept of Blue Bugs, the version of Insecticons with, well, blue. With bugs. There have actually been several potential candidates for Blue Bugs over the past few sets, most notably W1 Bombshell, Ransack and Chop Shop to name a few, but to make a long story short they focus mostly on tanking the damage instead of spastically run over your opponent as quickly as possible.

That's where this Kickback will surely find his footing the easiest, using both of his abilities to assist his allies. But what of his other abilities? Well, let me tell you a secret: His robot mode ability is actually super strong in a fully orange Bugs.

Why? Well, let me tell you.

You see, Kickback states that when one of your Insecticons flips at least one blue pip, you get to ping the defender for 1 damage. That doesn't mean that the pip you flip has to be exactly one blue pip. You could, for example, play Roll Out in your Bugs list to facilitate this ability. Having both blue and orange pips on the same card, Roll Out doesn't bog down your flips with any unnecessary blue cards, and you can still deal the free damage that Kickback is looking to pass out with them included.

Even better, Roll Out isn't even a bad card in your deck given the powerful effects of Skrapnel, Chop Shop and Ransack upon flipping to their alternate modes. Given that he's an alternate 6 Star to include, you're likely to drop Ransack in your list for him. But something that I think is worth experimenting with, however, is dropping Barrage for him, instead. This allows you to play a Full Loadout, as well as getting just a little ahead on the Transformation game through attacking with Ransack in his alternate form first, transforming Kickback to take full advantage of him from the get-go.

Of course, that's just a spitball -- but it's still an interesting idea regardless.




Lord Megatron will dominate any sealed event ever. With half decks, Megatron will get to activate somewhere close to every single round, sometimes more than once. He'll get to deal a frankly disgusting amount of damage at a similarly sickening pace. Remember, if you use weapons that boost his Attack stat, he'll get to deal more damage when your opponent reshuffles!

The thing I don't like about this guy, though (aside from the misprint saying that his alternate mode's attack stat is 5) is that his alternate mode is actually a bit useless. Milling your opponent is okay, for sure, but when you're milling your opponent for a maximum of five cards it's just... Underwhelming. That said, he is a Tank, which means in a non-sealed format, you can use Hunker Down to flip Megatron and mill your opponent for free, while attaching the ever-useful Armor.

As it so happens, though, Lord Megatron gets markedly worse in a constructed format. Given the fact that your opponent will have a far larger deck to play with, you'll have a far harder time finding value out of him unless your opponent is playing frankly moronic amounts of Bold and milling themselves regardless of Megatron's abilities.

I guess that's the real reason to run Megatron. Not as a strategy per-se, but perhaps as a deterrent. I mean, if your opponent realizes that they have to effectively KO one of their characters when they reshuffle their deck, don't you think that they might hold off on playing a Bold card or two?

Just a thought.




Sandstorm is sadly not as strong as his opposite, Astrotrain. Whereas Astrotrain makes his value known through sheer defensive willpower, Sandstorm seems to be a Jack of All Trades, Master of None.

He's got a little of everything, and a little for anything. His whole game plan is to be exactly what he needs to be for as long as it takes. I am certain that there will be games where you'll just keep him in his Car mode, or his Helicopter mode, or even flashing his robot mode here and there.

Simply put, I love the idea of running a deck that's incredibly versatile, where you can tech your deck or sideboard to counter everything. To that end, I'd like to point out that the Reflex Circuits, Covert and Sturdy Armor can all be attached to Sandstorm through careful planning of his alternate modes, giving you outs to more defense than your opponent will likely be used to, especially in Helicopter mode.

Unfortunately, his robot mode leaves much to be desired (much like the missing attack and defense icons on the bottom of the Helicopter mode) in terms of versatility and usability. Maybe it's just me, but I wish that it did something more than just ping someone for one damage. I realize that it's better than nothing, and that Major Shockwave is slowly becoming a Major meta mainstay, but other than him most Specialists are just supports instead of major threats.

Something I just realized, though, is that he's basically doing Springer's job from Wave 1, except way better -- and on a Common no less! I mean, think about it; Springer was supposed to be a Jack of All Trades as well, but he kind of sucked at his job a bit given the fact that he relied on Bold and Tough. Sandstorm, however, doesn't deal with any such things.

I guess it really is true what they say: Jack of All Trades, Master of None, but still better than a Master of One.




Fixit may be the king of white, but Sidetrack is most certainly the king of orange. But, you might ask, didn't I just say that Fixit was the undisputed king of all Micromasters ever? What makes Sidetrack the best orange-based Micromaster and why doesn't Fixit simply take that cake?

Well, consider for a moment how many white pips you need to play in your deck to make Fixit anything close to consistent, and now consider for a moment just how many orange pips you might play in an aggressive deck. If you realize now how many orange pips are in your deck and how often they are going to be in your hand, you're going to realize how consistent that Sidetrack is going to be.

Plus, Fixit discards your hand, whereas Sidetrack can help build it instead. Sure, you are going to miss out on any Actions on the top of the deck, but honestly, who cares? They're going to be back in the deck after just a little while, anyway, and the short term benefits of putting a bunch of Upgrades into your hand shouldn't be discounted.

The only thing I actually dislike about Sidetrack is his extremely unfortunate HP. If you notice, he's only set up with 3 HP -- making him an ideal candidate for your opponent to play a One Shall Stand to take a free KO. You may think that people might not play it, but consider for a moment the fact that One Shall Stand has become an increasingly prevalent card in the metagame after Battlemasters came out.

This increasingly relevant and prolific card has become something of a mainstay for the metagame, and when your opponent can take a KO for effectively free on their first turn, you aren't exactly favored in that matchup, simply put. So with that said, is Sidetrack good at all?

Yes, still, he is a powerful utility for decks with the points to spare, especially in an aggressive Tank deck that wants to play Demolishor to his fullest potential. But beware -- your opponent might be just as glad that you're playing Sidetrack as you are.




Wasn't Sights an Autobot originally?

Anyway, Raider Sights is kinda mediocre. Sure, we basically shouldn't talk about most Batlemasters in terms of their robot modes because of how "blah" they are with few exceptions, like Aimless or Lionizer for example, but Sights just feels uniquely mediocre. I dunno, maybe I've just gotten a bit jaded to this kind of thing. But the real reason you play a Battlemaster (at least, usually) isn't their robot mode, it's their alternate mode.

Which is also kinda mediocre.

Focus 2 isn't really a sought-after effect, even worse given the fact that it takes 6 Stars off your team in order to run it, and the benefits that it provides outside of that aren't exactly amazing, either. I mean, sure, boosting defense on a Utility is pretty neat since you still get to use an Armor to do so, and in Blue/Black lists you wouldn't mind taking advantage of Focus in order to do your Pierce damage, so it's not that Sights is bad per-se, it's just that he's not as great as some other Battle Masters that boosts Attack and Defense for the same cost like Nightstick.

One thing that I should probably touch on, though, is using Sights on Siege Flamewar like the artwork advises us to do. Since she has an innate Focus 2, you can use Sights to boost that to Focus 4, making a balanced deck show you effectively whatever flips you want whenever you want them. It honestly doesn't even seem half bad, and with Pop A Wheelie making Motorcycles have a reason to exist, I don't think it would be a bad idea to use Sights if you had the spare points. But, that's the extent of what I'd expect to use him in, frankly, given the other options.




Six-Gun is kinda really neat. He's the kind of Weaponizer that I really enjoy -- the ones that force your opponent to deal with them, the ones that get so much value out of their robot modes that your opponents have to focus them -- which in turn activates their Battle Master or Weaponizer effects, and the clap-back from a suped-up character is painful at worst.

Six-Gun epitomizes this by having an extremely powerful character trait of being able to boost his own attack, comboing with other weapons already attached to him and Actions played from your hand. In total, you can create a massive amount of value out of his robot mode, and the best part is, you want your opponent to deal with him as well because his weapons are still powerful.

In fact, Six-Gun isn't likely to focus his Upgrades on the same character given the nature of Pierce and the powerful effects therein. Oh, and did I mention the fact that the Guided Missile Launcher can be placed in a Utility slot, meaning you can pair it with another weapon. This creates powerful combo potential in itself, and the Anti-Gravity Cannon also creates wondrous opportunities for smaller characters to deal damage to larger ones.

All of this being wrapped in a little shell of only 9 Stars makes Six-Gun a wonderful little package. Now, whether or not that will make him see play is still beyond me, but I can't help but to feel that Six-Gun is going to have a lot of potential value from his robot mode alone.




So let's talk about Safeguard Cars for a minute.

Safeguard Cars (Safecars, if you will) kinda fixes the biggest problem I've found with Cars since launch: They lose when they die. Now, I realize that sounds a bit obvious, but let me explain. You see, Cars as a general idea is a simple one: Don't die, untap, attack at once. This strategy dies almost instantly when it faces something more aggressive than it, something like Bugs who can effectively OHKO one of your characters from the get-go. You see, you can't untap or attack with something that's, well, dead as it turns out, and it plunges your damage output through the floor.

That's why I love Safecars so much. You still deal similar amounts of damage through use of Press The Advantage, Grenade Launcher, all that ilk, but you are all but confirmed to survive whatever your opponent throws at you so that you can untap your characters how you wish. Plus, to make matters better, you'll still have enough HP to take full advantage of Force Field, with Greenlight being able to take its advantage to the fullest with her alternate mode ability.

Now, as for Smokescreen, I think he's an obvious addition to this archetype. Having 4 Attack in his alternate mode and potentially 5 Attack in his robot mode for the cost of 7 Stars makes him an easy inclusion for the archetype, despite not too many interesting things happening with his kit. This is not to say that other Safeguard Cars will be revealed, and perhaps they will be better than Smokescreen, but until that time I think Smokescreen is a great character to run for the archetype, even if his use is limited outside of it.




Thundercracker is pretty neat.

So, Thundercracker makes something of a splash when you consider how much Pierce Power has been in Siege 2 thus far, his abilities are far more consistent than you might think. But, truly, is scrapping cards from your opponent's hand even that great? And is it worth basing an entire deck around when you're only doing Pierce damage? And who do you even play in such a deck?

Well, take for example the idea of playing Thundercracker, Nova Storm and Nightstick on the same team -- now that we have double black pips and more useful black cards, we can use their abilities far easier than initially thought. See, since Thundercracker chooses a card from your opponent's hand and scraps it, you can choose exactly what you want to scrap -- and Nightstick scraps another one afterwards. Then, afterwards, you can use Nova Storm's ability and Thundercracker's ability to move several damage counters from each of your characters at once. Plus, you'll have plenty of stars left over that you could use on Leap of Faith, or perhaps something like Pincer Maneuver.

Now, with all of that said, does Thundercracker have potential outside of that niche composition? Maybe. You see, since he has only 9 Stars, you can use him alongside a smorgasbord of smaller Planes where you can use Photon Bomb to set up a potentially disgusting amount of damage to be moved to one of your opponents. Let me explain with an example.

Thundercracker is 9 Stars, Storm Cloud is 4 Stars, Visper is 5 Stars, and we can toss in Skydive to flesh out the whole squad. Now, let's say for example that you start by going first and you just transform Thundercracker and swing with him. Then, after your opponent swings at you, you can use a Photon Bomb, spreading two damage to each character. That dealt a lot of damage to your opponent, eh? Well, how about a little more? Because, you can transform Thundercracker and reveal one of many double black pips in your deck to move every single damage counter on your characters (8 in total) to one of your opponent's character for a total number of 10 damage on one of their characters for an easily done combo.

Mind you, that's enough to KO a Bug or a Car for effectively free. What's not to love?

I think this isn't the last we've seen of Thundercracker. He's got a lot of potential in his alternate mode as well as his robot mode, and I think that it's going to be interesting to see whether or not those combos can come to fruition.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It has come to my attention that I appear to have misread this card, skipping over "one of" in terms of his flip ability. My apologies for the confusion, as this does change quite a bit of power in this Thundercracker and rather invalidates many of my points. Now, as it happens, I still stand firm on his potential in terms of damage movement and the new double black pipped cards that you will see at the end of the article; moving two damage from one of your characters shouldn't be taken lightly, and I do think that there is a significant level of potential with running him with Nova Storm given her damage movement abilities. That being combined with Bombing Run, you suddenly have a very deadly combination. Plus, you can't deny the usefulness of Bombing Run combined with Photon Bomb in terms of damage potential, especially in a four-wide setting.



Vanguard is busted.

There are no two ways about it -- this guy is on the verge of being broken. Giving not just one, not just two, but all of your characters an effective Force Field that never goes away is just insane. I mean, sure, you need to flip a white pip, yada, yada, who cares? Just play more white pips if you're worried about it. The point being, you can block any useful amount of damage from someone by flipping one of many white pips that you'd play in your deck for a simple five stars.

To make matters better for defensive decks that might want to play him, you get a free +2 defense when your opponent inevitably targets him down. But here's the thing: Do you want to play him in a defensive deck at all? Because I'm actually quite certain that you'd want to play him in an aggressive deck given the circumstances. I mean, effectively turning all of your characters into Skrapnel certainly doesn't seem to be a bad thing, and pinging one of your opponent's characters for a bit more damage doesn't seem half bad, eh?

I mean, even with Decepticons -- the more defensive faction, oddly -- can benefit from this guy because of Callous Leadership. It and Vanguard both have the magic number of 5 damage to make use of their abilities, making Callous Leadership into something of a Max Potion for your Decepticon Leaders. The simple fact of the matter is that Vanguard enables literally everything to be live forever; Autobot or Decepticon.

That means that your opponent will invariably try their hardest to focus him from the get-go. Our little R2-D2 here certainly doesn't like being in the spotlight, and his stats reflect that, but when you consider the use of Stealthiness or Hiding Spot in order to protect him throughout the game, you're looking at a Battle Master that will only die when you want him to.

I think that Vanguard is busted enough to be warranted in any deck that can fit him. Literally any deck that can run him effectively probably should. I mean, who wouldn't want to live longer, right?




Acute Reflexes isn't that great.

You don't see it as a boost to your attack, and Focus 1 isn't a stellar boost to consistency, and the defense side of it could also be just an Urban Camo to serve the same job. I don't see this getting much play outside of maybe some decks that play a crapload of white cards, with Vanguard or Fixit for example.

I dunno. I could be wrong. But until someone proves that to me, I think I'll just binder it and move on.




Double black pips, boyos! Double black pips are not only real, but there are three different ones, meaning you can put a total of nine double black cards in your deck for your flipping pleasure. I think that this is exactly what black needed as a concept, since Pierce 1 here and there simply wasn't enough to warrant playing it overall. But now that we have full double black pips, I'm ecstatic to see where it goes. Will the black or blue pipped Bold cards see play to get to those astronomical numbers of Pierce that only Arcee could dream of? Who knows!

But until we find out, we need to take a look at the cards in their individual rights and see if there are any that you could actually play on your turn and not feel awful about.

Let's start it off with Crowbar, which has the nice effect of being a Grenade Launcher -- if that Grenade Launcher was terrible. I mean, you're going to be playing this for the pips, but really and truly, if you're attacking Crowbar during your turn instead of anything else, you're probably in a bad spot. I mean, Primary Blaster is a better weapon than this and it's, well, Primary Blaster. But, it's still good to know that if you draw it, you're not going to be exactly losing anything, unlike drawing an Improvised Shield in an orange deck, because you can scrap it so easily that it'll be back in your deck before you know it.

As for Minor Medic Kit... I think that it exists, and that's certainly not a bad thing. It's not going to exactly give you the "Wow!" factor that attaching something like Energy Pack or something similar is going to give you, but it's at least something, especially in a defensive deck. Unfortunately, if you attach it, you're not exactly going to have too many chances to scrap it outside of replacing it or letting the upgraded character die, which is kinda the opposite goal of the game in most cases.

As for Designated Target, it's everything I wanted and more. Given the fact that it has Pierce 2 in the deck as well as in your hand means that you're not losing any Pierce power by drawing into it, and you're still playing it from your hand to be reshuffled into your deck afterwards. Designated Target is also excellent in decks that can attack more than once in a turn, like with Cars or perhaps Motorcycles, given the fact that you are giving your entire team Pierce to play with. Of course, it is an Action, and there are certainly better Action-based damaging cards to play on your turn, but as far as double black pips go? I can't think of a better one to have in a deck.

Double black pips are fantastic news for the future of the color. I've been trying to get as many versions of black to work through the use of orange or blue counterparts, but many times I've felt that the black pips were simply a random side-effect that didn't give enough power to warrant its inclusion outside of a few niche character effects. Now, not only can you use those niche character effects easier, but you can also rest easy knowing that you'll have the amount of Pierce that you want, pretty much whenever you want it.

I mean, around a quarter of your deck will be made up of double black pips, y'know?



Triplechangers, for the most part, haven't been stellar. They've either been too goofy to pull off like Blitzwing, or they've been too inconsistent to be powerful, like Springer. But, the worst sin of them all, was that most of them had one useless -- or at least incredibly niche -- mode.

For Springer, it was usually regarded as his robot mode. For Blitzwing? Also his robot mode. For Sandstorm, his robot mode fits that bill perfectly, having a one-and-done effect that will leave you either defenseless to attacks or pillow-fisted for your next attack. At least, that's what it seemed like, until Conversion Engine came along.

You see, that's what Conversion Engine seeks to repair: Mode consistency. Let's take Sandstorm, for example. On one hand, you have a dismal robot mode with a useful alternate mode, each with their own advantages for separate versions of characters. Normally, you'd try to avoid his robot mode like the plague; but with Conversion Engine, you can consistently transform him to Robot Mode and then back to one of his more useful modes afterwards.

But, I think Bliztwing is one of the better ones to take advantage of this. Given the fact that you're not only hoping but praying that your top cards activate his flip effect as not to leave you high and dry in his frail robot mode, Conversion Engine allows just a little bit of leeway to allow you to flip him back to one of his alternate modes. It's just a little bit of consistency, just a bit easier to work with than it was before.

Now, does this card instantly make Blitzwing, Springer or anyone else instantly meta? No, probably not. In fact, Astrotrain could care less about this card, to tell you the honest truth. But does it mean that I won't be thinking just a little more about the Triplechangers of yesteryear? You bet your tailpipe I will.




Involuntary Promotion is absolutely insane. It's basically an "I STILL FUNCTION!", but also... Not an ISF. It's a bit wonky, but it has the same if not more implications that ISF has.

Let me explain: Involuntary Promotion isn't just a one-and-done like ISF is, where it brings someone back, you usually attack with them, and then they go away. In this case, you get to bring someone back in total, while keeping the upgrades from the previous character. This means that, in decks where you have a very specific character that holds the entire deck together (Wheeljack in Cars, for example, where you could swap him with Bumblebee), you can simply swap out a lesser useful character for them and continue on your way.

It's a great card already, but the fact that it keeps your previously attached upgrades after the swap makes it even better for defensive decks. For example, you can, potentially, reuse Flamewar after she's KO'd, or you could bring back a character like Headstrong -- Upgrades already online thanks to your previous character.

Something else that I'd like to mention is the fact that you can use it alongside the Constructicons to boost your Tower. Let me explain this through an example: Your opponent goes first, and they happen to one-hit your Hook. That's when you laugh to yourself, give them a wry grin and tell them that they're a second-rate duelist with a third-rate deck, capping off your bravado by bringing back Hook and swapping him with Bonecrusher. In this scenario, you are not only bringing back Hook, a character with 7 HP, in exchange for a character like Bonecrusher, a character with 4 HP, but also boosting Devastator's HP by 3, potentially. But that's not all -- since you're KOing Bonecrusher, you're also building your tower by one level because it KO's Bonecrusher.

I'm always trying to find ways to make Constructicons meta. Does this fit the bill to push Constructicons ever-closer to being meta? Well, uh, yeah. It kinda does, actually -- but can it alone make Constructicons good? No. But can it make them better? Abso-freakin'-lutely.



Now, I'm not gonna lie -- when I first saw this, I thought it was kinda awful.

I figured, "Oh, hey, look -- it's another card that doesn't realize that aggressive decks don't actually use more than one Upgrade!"

It took me more than a moment to realize that this card is not actually meant to counter offensive decks. You see, when you realize that defensive decks usually stack quite a few Upgrades upon them, you start to realize that this deck is for defensive Decepticons during the mirror match -- especially against decks that happen to be playing cards like Extra Padding, where they stack upon each other.

With Backfire against a fully-loaded character, you're going to be dealing a solid three damage to them. Against a character with Extra Padding upon them, however, you're going to be dealing an extremely powerful five damage to them. Now, your opponent could play into this and simply not attach their Extra Padding, to which I ask you, is that not a win in itself? You are forcing your opponent not to play their most powerful cards simply out of the simple threat of a card that you might not even have in your sideboard!

The simple threat of it is what I love about it. Your opponent will be wary of making the mistake of putting down a card that they cannot remove from themselves, and you will reap the rewards.



Decipher is a really, really weird card. There are specific sideboard cards like Backfire, there are specific mainboard cards like Bashing Shield, and then there are specific character-hate cards like Decipher. If you hate Major Shockwave with a fierce, burning, immolating passion, then Decipher is the way to go.

See, Major Shockwave can put out his fair share of Secret Actions, and he's incredibly defensive. That's where Decipher can make your opponent's day sour. Not only is Decipher a black pip, "Pierce"ing Shockwave's "major" defenses, but it's also a green pip. Since you can consistently put it into your hand when you need it, you can abuse your opponent's Secret Action play pretty much all game.

It's a mean, green, niche machine that won't do much against pretty much anything other than Major Shockwave. Take that for what you will, but if you're really, really afraid of that one matchup, then by all means, Decipher will have a sweet spot in your sideboard.




Okay, so hear me out: This card could be good in a defensive deck.

Don't let that orange pip fool you into thinking that it doesn't belong! Even though it's the same thing as putting a blank pip in your deck, you gotta realize that being off-color doesn't necessary denote inconsistency. I mean, just look at it from the angle of you putting a blank pip into your deck and you'll be fine. But, all of that being said, when you look at the rest of the card, things start to get a bit spicy.

So, in a defensive deck that plays plenty of Armor, you can play a Defensive Configuration. Before you ask, no, you aren't really expecting to get the free Armor off the top of your deck: In fact, you're more after the second Armor slot -- the free Armor is just extra. I mean, have you seen a Dreadwing with a Reinforced Plating and an Extra Padding on him? How'd you like to have that on any character?

That's my point. But, with that said, I wouldn't be comfortable playing this alongside another blank pipped card. You're just flooding your deck with inconsistent cards at that point, so you'll have to decide between using Defensive Configuration or a truly blank pip in your deck. After all, Tough is the best way to get defensive value at the moment, and putting non-blue cards in your deck mustn't be taken lightly.

All of that said, Defensive Configuration certainly isn't for everyone. I mean, aggro decks won't like it at all, and Galaxy Prime might not find as much value out of it as people might think. But, in defensive decks like Major Shockwave, I think a dark horse might just be riding from the abyss.

As a side note, can you imagine a Dreadwing deck with two of these things on him? Four Armor slots, my guy. Four. Armor. Slots. Nightmare fuel, man. Nightmare fuel.




So, this is basically the defensive form of Erratic Lightning, and it's kinda missing an important piece of the puzzle that made Erratic Lightning so good: The blue pip.

Okay, yeah, sure. You just read my Defensive Configuration piece and now you're scratching your head, but hear me out. On one hand, Defensive Configuration is an orange pip -- effectively blank in a defensive deck -- but it also has an extremely powerful effect that can bolster your defenses even further than before. But, get this: It doesn't actually make you lose anything for playing it. It's just a boon. Sure, it might take you a turn to get that boon, but you're still getting there.

Guarded Posture kinda feels like the opposite of that. With Guarded Posture, you're actually losing a bit of the ever-important attack stat. If you've played a defensive deck, you'd know this by heart: Your cards don't do any damage whatsoever. Sometimes, dealing damage comes down to one point of damage between defenses and when you decrease it, you're making your job a lot harder -- certainly harder than Erratic Lightning ever did for aggro.

Which brings me to the second problem I have with this card: Aggro doesn't care about its defense. Most characters in an aggro deck have one or two defense, and they most certainly don't care about getting OHKO'd. Guarded Posture cutting your attack makes your only win condition (i.e. KOing your opponent's characters) way, way harder to pull off, and that gives your opponent time to eventually overpower your defenses. Something, mind you, that is easier now that you play non-blue pips in your deck.

That's my biggest problem with it. If it had one of the two stipulations, either an orange pip or an attack decrease, it'd be busted. But since it has both, I can't help but to think that we have a better secondary Armor option that rhymes with Schblast Schield.




This card is broken.

I'm not joking. Hidden Fortification just made defensive decks way, way better, and Major Shockwave is chief of these. It'd be good if it was only Tough 2, but at Tough 3 you can combine it with your Armor to drown out any pathetic attempts at damage your opponent throws at you. The best part about it is, though, is that it's also a blue pip. The fact that it gives Tough 3 along with a blue pip makes it just insane. The fact that it's a common, too, makes it incredibly readily available for anything from a constructed deck to a sealed deck, as well.

I can't actually write much here because it's so universally good for blue that there really isn't a defensive deck that wouldn't want to play it. I'm serious; look out for this one.




Jam Signals is another in a vast sea of defensive cards that have an orange pip. Some believe that this is meant to counter defense, and whereas it's a nice concept, playing effectively counterspells in an aggressive deck is almost never good. Simply put, you're already using all of your space for more aggressive cards, so you won't have the time nor space to play Jam Signals.

So, the question becomes: "Who does?" In a word? Defense. You see, it isn't uncommon to play a line or two of blank pips in your deck for their powerful effects. So, why not play an orange pip in its place if its effects are better than the other blank pips that you could play, especially if it helps you beat mirror matchups?

That's why I don't mind the idea of putting Jam Signals in a defensive deck's sideboard. Since many defensive decks can use cards like Heavy Handed or The Bigger They Are in order to deal damage to you, you can use Jam Signals to effectively remove that potential threat from play. I am a big fan of making my opponents regret existing, and Jam Signals helps with that.

But, I can't help but to wonder if it'll see any play whatsoever. Infiltrate sees some play, but I can't help but to see this card as being the odd, kookie uncle to a solid card. I mean, there will definitely be people willing to try it out, but I think at the end of the day, it'll likely be bindered.




Kinetic Converter is a somewhat odd card that made me realize how Apeface is probably going to be the only one to want to use this (or the next) card. But, since we have no idea what Apeface will actually do, I'll go ahead and remark a bit solemnly about what uses that Kinetic Converter has, by which I mean it doesn't have any.

I mean, sure, you're effectively playing less cards in your deck when you look at it from the angle of you're playing a card to draw a card, but when Upgrade attachments are so, so important in this game, simply using Kinetic Converter to draw a single card is going to be firmly in the "inefficient" category.

Now, I'm being a bit harsh, here. That isn't to say that it doesn't have at least a little potential with some more niche concepts. For example, Metroplex is known to flip several times during a turn, meaning Kinetic Converter could draw you a fair amount of cards. Bluestreak and Blitzwing, too, flip themselves over per their attack, and thus you could use Kinetic Converter to facilitate draw; Cosmos could use it to draw cards after using a UFO; Cars, finally, can use it in tandem with Cliffjumper to get even more draw than normal.

So, where do these few limited cases leave us with Kinetic Converter? Isn't Data Bank just straight better despite being a white pipped Utility that draws you consistent cards in roughly the same amount of time for less commitment regarding your flips?

Yes, yes it is.




Kinetic Intensifier Whip is a similar card to Kinetic Converter in that it requires the use of your flips in order to get value out of, and the times where you can flip more than once can actually make this into a formidable card.

Let's put this in the context of Metroplex, for example. With Metroplex, you have the use of Escape Route to give you an extra transformation during your turn. You can use that to, from your robot mode, flip yourself to your alt mode in order to spit out another small guy, but for this example, let's say we spit out Scamper. This single flip has given Metroplex a Bold 2 from the Kinetic Intensifier Whip, but also given him Bold 1 thanks to Scamper. So, what next? Well, we simply transform him back to robot mode, giving him another Bold 2 thanks to the whip, and thus giving him a total of Bold 5 for simply playing an Action with a green pip.

That seems pretty good to me.

Remember, you also get the +1 Attack from the Kinetic Whip as a base, so you're actually going to be swinging really, really hard in the right deck. I mean, just think about Cars. With a Start Your Engines and a flip for turn, Wheeljack can suddenly gain Bold 7 in total -- utterly monstering anyone that turn. The same could also be said for aggressive Tanks through the use of Hunker Down and Impactor.

I think that the little whip that could is a little beast of a card, and I think that there's a pretty good chance that we're going to be seeing a lot of this little Common rather soon.




What an interesting card. I am really not quite sure what to make of it, but Pincer Movement has immense potential in general.

Okay, sure, it has to be in a deck with three extra spaces to be even remotely consistent. But, when you consider the fact that you can pair it with All Out Attack or (depending on the deck) Pop a Wheelie, you're going to realize that you're going to have a lot more in the ways of multiple attack options than you used to. This seems like a generally strong deck concept given the nature of aggressive decks, especially the ones that use Battle Masters, that can't really take early KOs on untapped characters that well.

Now, in terms of specific decks that Pincer Movement would be useful in, I can't say that I have many ideas. On one hand, one could say that playing the new Kickback in place of Barrage in Insecticons could free up a spot for Pincer Movement, but the odds of you drawing that on any consistent basis is low at best, and Barrage already brings a solid amount of power to the list anyway, making his usefulness far greater that any single copy of Pincer Movement is going to give you.

In terms of other decks, there always is the idea of Motorcycles. Motorcycles, through the use of All Out Attack, Pop a Wheelie and now Pincer Movement could use all of these cards to target down opponent's characters early, hopefully removing them before the inevitable retaliation wipes the fragile bikes from the field. Pincer Movement helps with that because you're likely to be playing both Flamewar, and getting an extra attack is almost never a bad thing. Of course, you'd have to change the list to drop Chromia or Arcee for someone cheaper in order to play Pincer Movement effectively, but that's for you to decide on whether it's worth it or not.

In total, I think that Pincer Movement is a solid addition to the Star Card roster. Unfortunately, I do think that it will be inherently limited in its play given the nature of Star Cards in general, but that being said, isn't that exactly what you could say about literally every other Star Card in existence? Food for thought.




This card is utterly nutty for blue/black decks. Given the fact that Point Position is a blue/black pip combination, this should be obvious. But, do you want to know a secret about blue/black decks? Most of them require the use of Bravery in order to function. The fact that you can play two separate versions of Bravery in your deck just makes me swoon.

Of course, it's not a direct reprint of Bravery since Bravery works all the time, and Point Position only works when tapped. But, that's pretty much the same thing, anyway, and you're probably going to draw a Bravery later on enough to replace it anyway. It's a consistency card, a redundant system that makes the plane just slightly safer to fly. It also helps that it's both a blue pip and a black pip, making both sides of the equation slightly more consistent.

It makes me wonder at whether or not we're going to see Omega Jazz come into the meta a little. Its most prevalent problem was getting your opponent to attack where you wanted them to, i.e. Jazz, and it also felt a little pillow-fisted when I played it. Perhaps the black pip and Point Position can make Omega Jazz' dreams come true! Or maybe the fact that black pips exist could also push it out of the meta altogether.

Who knows? But regardless, I think that Point Position is certainly a great card to keep your eye on. It'll surely be played in janky, defensive rogue decks left and right, and it might just make blue/black a bit more consistent than you were expecting.

CONCLUSION

There are so many good cards that have been revealed, and so many of them can start their own archetype. We haven't even seen the full set yet and I'm already ecstatic for the future. The only thing that I'm currently concerned with at the moment, however, is the health of the Sealed Format. Remember, it was just revealed that players will have to play a full three rounds of Sealed at the Energon Invitational, testing our mettle, creativity and maybe just little of our luck.

What about you, then? Are you looking forward to Lord Megatron potentially making the name "Lord Megatron" a household name? Or are you as smugly happy as I am at the thought of playing an Optimus Prime that happens to look like something very familiar out of the golden age of Transformers, the Unicron Trilogy? You can't fight me on this! It was the best!

But in all seriousness, I think that we're about to see more than a few archetypes rise out of this set, with Astrotrain being the one I'm looking at the most at the moment. He just seems like a wall of value to me, and even if he's half as good as I think he is, I think we'll see him as a meta contender for sure.

Let me know in the comments below what you thought as I slowly dip my hands into a large bucket of ice water so that they may simmer down. I mean, is anyone else's fingers currently burning and numb, or is that just me? I'm sure it's fine, and not the onset of carpal tunnel.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you in the next article!

"Con Job" -- GenCon Meta Predictions and Radical Ideas

Date: Tuesday, July 23rd 2019 2:46pm CDT
Categories: Event News, Site Articles, Game News
Posted by: #Sideways#

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 54,261

CON JOB

GenCon is coming up next week, and with it comes a whole new meta with not just the Siege cards but also the slew of promos we got over the San Diego Comic Con weekend! Sure, not everyone was able to get them, but many people were, and that means you're likely to see a whole bunch of people trying on Soundwave or the Omnibots on for size. Not only that, but with the advent of black pips making Pierce not just an easily reachable damage cap, but a powerful damage effect for defensive decks with low attack totals. With these new additions to the meta, how will the meta shift before GenCon begins and what should you play at the game fair? Let's dive in!

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I think, as a whole, the entire format is going to slow down thanks to the black pip, Battle Masters and an increased reliance on Bold for more offensive decks to be countered easily by Acid Storm. But does that mean that the format has a bad case of the "blues"? Well, not exactly. Let me explain by going into the first deck that I'd like to cover, which is Aerialbots.

Aerialbots wrote:Silverbolt -- Aerialbot Leader (5*)
Skydive -- Air Warfare Specialist (5*)
Fireflight -- Sky High Recon (5*)
Air Raid -- Reckless Flyer (5*)
Alpha Bravo -- Airborne Special Ops (5*)

25/25

2 Aerialbot Enigma (G)
3 Steady Shot (B)(Blk)
3 Security Checkpoint (B)(B)
3 Inferno Breath (B)
3 Marksmanship (B)
3 The Bigger They Are... (B)
3 Battlefield Report (B)
3 Handheld Blaster (B)(B)
3 Smoke Cloak (B)(Blk)
3 Noble's Blaster (B)(G)
3 Armed Hovercraft (B)
2 Laser Cutlass (B)
3 Field Communicator (W)
3 Reinforced Plating (B)
37

Sideboard
Optimus Prime -- Battlefield Legend (13*) / Omega Supreme -- Autobot Defense Base (19*)
3 Infiltrate (B)
3 Dampening Field (W)
2 Hiding Spot (Blk)
2 Enemy Combat Analysis (G)

This is what, I think, an average Aerialbot list is going to look like. At least, this is what I would play if I were going to make the trip to GenCon. You might want to put a few more black pips in there to start with, such as Hiding Spot to effectively force your opponent to attack Skydive as much as possible, but generally speaking this is what an average list will look like in many cases with the only exception being a few cards in the sideboard.

Before we get into that, let's dive into the main list. Basically, you already play quite a few cards that give you Pierce in the first place. Playing a few black pips will help maximize the amount of Pierce you can do without bogging down your flips with potentially bad defensive flips. This is why Smoke Cloak and Steady Shot are both so powerful. Not only do they allow you to play fairly solid cards during your turn with Steady Shot being the major player in that regard, but you will never be sad to see them flip given the fact that they have both a black pip for offense and a blue for defense. They are both very solid cards, and if you're playing Blue/Black you should definitely be playing them.

So, all that aside, the rest of the list is fairly average. The exception is that I put a few interesting cards in the sideboard for your consideration, including Infiltrate for the aggro matchups as well as Omega Supreme for everything else.

Optimus will likely be the general side-in for most cases, having incredible utility and power and will often just out-value your opponent especially with cards like Marksmanship, Steady Shot, Inferno Breath and more in your deck to help increase his damage even further than you already will be with a Noble's Blaster. Plus, in a defensive list, he'll be incredibly hard to take down, especially with Fireflight using Brave to keep the major heat off him. Fireflight is so good, in fact, that I included a character in the sideboard for you to consider just because of his versatility.

You see, Omega Supreme really likes it when his partner is attacked instead of him. Omega's HP isn't as large as Metroplex, but if you only take two at a time and your partner defends the rest of it, well, you'll be lasting a long time to make the most of your powerful offensive potential. Since Fireflight has Brave, you can put Reinforced Plating on him (as well as Enemy Combat Analysis if you're facing the mirror) and you can force your opponent to attack him, dealing minimal damage thanks to Fireflight's defensive upgrades, which you can then move off to Omega to make the both of them last.

Omega is a lot like starting the game with Superion in play. Sure, sometimes that's not for the best and you'd be missing out on the time and value that your other parts give you, but sometimes the matchup just requires it, especially against Mirror. I think that Omega is super underrated in this metagame, and I think that the slower the format gets, the more viable he becomes. In fact, you can even use UFO to get even more value out of him, but even I think that might be a bit much, investment-wise.

--



Speaking of underrated cards, I'd like to point out possibly the most underrated card out of Wave 1: Aerial Recon. Aerial Recon has been an absolute boon in my playtesting thanks to not only its scry effect, but its defensive boost on a Utility. Sure, it's an orange pip and that makes me only a little sad, but when you consider the fact that you're going to be defending that much more damage on cards like Fireflight on a practically immovable Upgrade thanks to its Utility nature, Aerial Recon finds its value extremely quickly.

Plus, if you happen to swing for more Pierce than attack, it is always nice to flip one offensively to give yourself that extra oomph to get the job done. But that said, it is an orange pip which means that there's a pretty good chance that you'll flip it at the wrong time, potentially messing up your defense of a powerful attack. Think of it like playing a blank card in your deck, of which this plays none. You can use Aerial Recon to powerfully boost your defensive stats, and when you get to keep it, you get to put it on Superion to boost his stats even more than your Armor already is.

If you're playing Aerialbots, try this card out. You won't regret it.

--

The meta has certainly slowed thanks to the introduction of the black pip with Siege, but I'd like to point out that it hasn't slowed down to a crawl, at least not yet. With the introduction of Siege, the "old guard" of Insecticons and Cars can certainly look different in their updated forms. Will that updated form lead to wins against decks like Three Wide Primes and the new Shockwave deck that seems to be on the rise? Well, let's take a look at a list for each of them and see for ourselves:

Insecticons wrote:Barrage - Merciless Insecticon (7*)
Insecticon Skrapnel - Insecticon Leader (7*)
Kickback - Cunning Insecticon (6*)
Ransack - Insecticon Commando (6*)

2 Backup Plan (W)
2 Bashing Shield (O)(G)
3 Erratic Lightning (O)
2 Flamethrower (O)
3 Force Field (W)
3 Grenade Launcher (O)
3 I Still Function!
3 Improvised Shield (O)(O)
2 Mining Pick (O)
3 Peace Through Tyranny (O)
3 Power Punch (O)
3 Reckless Charge (O)
2 Static Laser of Ironhide (O)
3 Supercharge (O)
3 Swarm! (O)

Sideboard
Chop Shop - Sneaky Insecticon (6*)

3 Bad Attitude
3 Repair Bay (O)
2 Frag Toss (W)
2 Enforcement Batons (O)(G)

The Insecticon list hasn't changed much over the eons, but that's kind of the beauty of it. You see, when you have the massive amount of power that the Insecticons have, you don't really need to consider too much in terms of what to play outside of things that increase your damage. In fact, the mainboard for the Insecticons hasn't changed at all from my Origins list. That said, however, with the advent of Acid Storm and Dampening Field being popular sideboards to counter the Insecticon playstyle, you need to play a few things to ease the burden.

For example, if you happen to face off against an Acid Storm or a W-5 deck, you would end up dropping the Flamethrower and either Supercharge or Bashing Shield for Frag Toss as well as adding the spicy Enforcement Batons. You see, Frag Toss gets you a nice bit of Action damage that can not only function as extra Swarms in your deck, but also functioning as another way to activate Barrage's robot mode effect. You play this especially over One Shall Stands because it isn't a blank card. I've spoken at length about how I dislike blank cards and how they can mostly hurt you in the long run, but thanks to the fact that Frag Toss has a white pip, you can play it without worrying too much about your deck's pip consistency.

Enforcement Batons, however, are certainly an interesting add-in even by my standards. Let's dive into why I love this highly underutilized card:

--



The sticks of fury strike true! Yes, Enforcement Batons are actually a very, very good addition into sideboards going into GenCon. You see, as a whole, the metagame has slowed down thanks to better defensive cards. But in many cases, W-5 Blaster is honestly extremely powerful at not just stopping Bold effects, but also stopping Kickback from, well, existing. You see, when you have Kickback who flips cards to get his value, only flipping a certain amount of cards makes him ultimately worse. Plus, Battle Masters like Nightstick and Lionizer are frankly ridiculous at getting value, especially used in tandem with characters like Battlefield Legend or similarly strong characters.

That's why Enforcement Batons are so strong. You see, by using them as effectively a Bashing Shield for Battle Masters like Nightstick, you're going to get an immense amount of value out of it. Plus, when it has outlived its usefulness, you aren't exactly losing anything offensively with the orange pip and +1 Attack. Of course, it isn't like you're gaining anything offensively, either, but you're still getting rid of those pesky Nightsticks, Lionizer and even Ion Blaster of Optimus Prime.

Did I mention that it's a green pip so you can do this pretty much whenever you need to? Because it's a green pip that you can use pretty much whenever you need to.

Sadly, there isn't much in the way of removal for W-5 Blaster insofar as something as strong as Bashing Shield. With the advent of Personal Targeting Drone as well as Device Virus, one could make the case that simply using those would make an easy removal. That would be a lie, of course, simply because Personal Targeting Drone is awful. However, Crushing Size could be a savior in that regard. Getting to draw a card in the down-time of when your opponent is not playing a W-5 is quite a powerful effect, and being a white pip is certainly not a bad thing for consistency. But, that said, Crushing Size doesn't have a green pip, so you can be sure that you'll seldom have it when you want it.

Could Crushing Size be the savior Kickback has been waiting for?

Probably not. But it's a nice thought!

--

Cars wrote:Private Downshift -- Special Ops, Security Agent (8*)
Wheeljack -- Weapon Inventor (9*)
Prowl -- Military Strategist (6*)
23/25

2 Mounted Missiles (O)(O) (2*)
3 Confidence (O)
3 Supercharge (O)
3 Reckless Charge (O)
2 Press the Advantage (O)(G)
2 Start Your Engines (B)
2 Backup Plan (W)
3 Peace Through Tyranny (O)(O)
3 Grenade Launcher (O)
3 Erratic Lightning (O)
3 Power Punch (O)
3 Turbo Boosters (O)
3 Field Communicator (W)
2 Bashing Shield (O)(G)

Sideboard
Cliffjumper -- Renegade Warrior (8)

2 Heroic Team-Up (2*)
2 Enforcement Batons (O)(G)
1 Press the Advantage (O)(G)
3 Force Field (W)
2 Heat of Battle (W)

Cars is still a strong mid-range deck that features consistent damage output, though not quite as powerful as Insecticons in the raw damage department, that makes up for it with moderate defensive capabilities that translate into more attacks during the untap phase.

Sadly, the major cause for your defeats usually revolve around someone out DPS-ing you. In other words, you get one-hit on the first turn of the game by an Insecticon and you end up losing the aggression battle. It's why Cars has always had an awful matchup against Insecticons and other, similarly aggressive decks.

That's where Downshift comes in. The Omnibot may be part of the Comic Con booster pack, and without his two compatriots he may seem under-powered, but the simple fact that he can attach a free Weapon to himself on the first turn of the game, then give himself Bold 1 is frankly ridiculous value, especially on the first turn of the game.

Let's dive into that for a little bit:

--



On the first turn, you can attach a Grenade Launcher to Downshift, giving him 8 Attack with Bold 1 on the first turn of the game. Something is going to die, especially against things like Lionizer, Insecticons and Aerialbots where the average HP is usually low.

The thing you need to consider, though, is that with your newfound power, you also have a lower Star Count which you can increase your deck power with. Mounted Missiles not only help you increase your pip strength, but they also increase your Weapon count to make the turn one play that much easier. Even better, you increase your potential damage by attaching it to Downshift's Utility slot, opening up your weapon slot for an even more powerful weapon.

But that's not all! You see, Downshift also happens to be a Car that Upgrades itself, making Wheeljack incredibly happy in that you can use Downshift to Upgrade himself, draw a card and then potentially discard a Weapon to not only buff Downshift but also activate Wheeljack's Robot Mode ability at the same time.

If you managed to get a Comic Con pack, you need to try this combo. Sure, he doesn't do as much damage as Bumblebee in the mid-game, and he lacks the draw power of Bumblebee, but his early game potential has the ability to completely annihilate a character before your opponent even gets to use them.

I absolutely adore Downshift in Cars for that reason, and you should too. Sure, yes, it is part of the Comic Con Pack and that makes it exclusive, but the point is, there are way more uses for the Omnibots than just their own composition.

--



GenCon starts on the 1st of August, and with it comes a new metagame. With the powerful additions of black pips, Omnibots and even the Cassettes, the meta is growing steadily, but that's not all. The meta is also steadily refining itself. This is where rogue decks can finally make purchase.

With a large card pool and more refined field, rogue decks or rogue derivatives of meta decks can shift the matchups that their derivatives normally had. That combined with the sideboard can create a vastly more creative metagame, and one that I can barely contain my excitement for.

I cannot wait to see what comes out of GenCon. With the meta slowing down slightly, you can play different, less conventional lists. In fact, I'd be interested to see if Dreadwing or even Black Constructicons make a showing, but that's probably just wishful thinking.

Sadly, I decided not to attend GenCon this year. I already have my invite to the Energon Invitational, and aside from clout and maybe a bit of money if I do well enough, there isn't too much reason to "grinch" people out of their invite. You'll just have to manage without my ugly mug this time around!

What do you think will be at GenCon this year? What kind of decks will make the best showing? Are you considering other decks with single Omnibots or do you think that they can only be viable as the full squad? Let me know in the comments below, and I will see you next time!

Description and Strategies for Latest Card Reveals from Transformers Trading Card Game

Date: Tuesday, May 21st 2019 7:45am CDT
Category: Game News
Posted by: #Sideways#

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 36,926

OPENING

I have a wide array of new reveals for this article! Including one revealed by some guy's YouTube channel by the name of Nanomachines... Wait, that's me! You read that right! Wizards saw fit to send me a character card to show off and dive into on my channel, with a link I'll put below if you'd like to literally hear my thoughts on it. But, until then, let's dive into the reveals!

CHARACTERS

Sergeant Skywarp is another rare coming out of Siege 1, and he certainly has the power to back up that title. Simply put, he has a ton of synergy with Secret Actions, with both of his abilities refunding their use. Of course, the Secret Actions we've seen aren't the greatest, nor are they the most impactful, but Skywarp is just one of those cards that will forever get better in a constant climb of power so long as they keep printing Secret Actions.

Okay, so, why do I feel that way? I mean, sure, his stats aren't that great by any stretch of the imagination, and his cost isn't something that makes him entirely splashable into just any list. But, if you consider his utility abilities creating a fantastic Secret Action engine, you realize that he has fantastic potential. Now, it is currently unknown whether or not you'll be getting much use of him currently given the fact that the Secret Actions we know of are limited in use, especially with how Actions work in this card game, but I can definitely see him being a huge mainstay in certain future archetypes if the Secret Actions we get will allow.

I mean, consider: What if we got, essentially, a Counterspell or a Power Spray? A Secret Action that says, "Negate your opponent's next Action" or "Scrap the Upgrade your opponent attaches" or even "Negate the next character ability your opponent activates"? Skywarp would not only be able to refund your playing of that card, but also return them to your hand at any time. Plus, you can play him in a Tall list alongside Shockwave to extend your hand even further to play even more Secret Actions.

Now, again, this is all speculation. If you couldn't tell, I am wearing a tin-foil cap. But, it isn't too far-fetched that any of those could be printed. I'm just saying, but Skywarp might just be the engine that makes a lock deck go around.




I was about to say that Chromia is like the weird, estranged daughter of her Wave 1 iteration, but that wouldn't be entirely correct, now would it? This Chromia is entirely unique, especially with her robot mode. In fact, she's the only character who draws you cards when you are attacked so that you may use them on your next turn like a Security Console.

Of course, her stats are not the best, and she relies upon the armor that you will no doubt be playing through her vehicle mode effect, but sadly her stats are not good otherwise. In fact, a simple Bashing Shield will open her up for massive damage. This is somewhat amplified by he rather awful offensive stats, and even worse defense. Her HP is good, and she is a Specialist, but that's pretty much the end of her usefulness.

That being said, her armor ability is pretty alright, but I can't see her being played that much. Although, every ounce of me wants to build a full "fembot" team. How would I do that, you ask? Well...



There are so many things to unpack with Elita, much like my previous girlfriends.

First off, let's look at the obvious: Her stats. Her offensive stats are somewhat middling, and her defense stats are about as bad as you can get, but her HP is one of the highest in the game outside of Combiners. In fact, outside of larger characters, I believe she is tied with Magnus as having the highest HP in general. She's also a 12 Star Specialist, which means she can do Specialist things as well as use Car-based effects including Start Your Engines. But that is not her strongest suit.

Well, let's look at her vehicle mode. She has a "Sludge" effect, where you can move as much damage from one of your characters to her as you want as long as it doesn't KO her, making her a fantastic partner to smaller characters. But, even that is not her final form, her strongest ability.

What is her strongest suit, you ask?

Well, let's take a look at her robot mode for a clue. You see, her robot mode has the effect of whenever she's KO'd, you essentially activate a "free" Leap of Faith, playing the top two cards of your deck. So, if you look closely, it also turns "I STILL FUNCTION!" and Peace Through Tyranny into Leap of Faith added on to their already powerful effects. So, in a Car list based around Elita, you can use her as a sort of "sacrificial lamb" where you can let her soak up a ton of damage through her vehicle mode, and once you're done doing that, you can use her to play more cards out of your deck.

I think you can guess where I'm going with this. Elita is a Specialist Autobot who is over 6 Stars who also plays a bunch of free cards when she's KO'd. Infinite can go infinite very easily with this effect, and with the right partners, you can force your opponent to attack into her massive HP. Now, with Red Heat, infinite has a practically confirmed comeback into the metagame, albeit with quite a bit of clunk given the current partners. With Elita, there is 100% another infinite archetype with her as the centerpiece.

Now, whether or not Red Heat is nerfed by the existence of another anti-Micromaster character or upgrade remains to be seen, but regardless, Elita will definitely be a mainstay in that archetype. Regardless of that, I still think that Elita can definitely see a lot of play in a Car list that wants to build around her. Something else you can pair her with is -- unsurprisingly -- Optimus Prime: Battlefield Legend, or in a twist of fate, Megatron: Living Weapon, essentially acting as a battery to her larger friends, essentially increasing their HP to a staggering level.

There's a whole lot to love about Elita, and I don't think this is the last we've seen of her.




This reveal is brought to you by... Wait, it's brought to you by me!

That's right, Wizards sent me an exclusive reveal so I can show it to you on my YouTube channel! I'll drop the link below so you can hear my rather long-winded thoughts on him:






Tote is surprisingly interesting in decks that play a lot of cheap attackers, being a "free" untap effect for one of your other characters. I mean, sure, he's effectively useless on the stat front, but you're never going to play a Micromaster for their stats.

Now, when I say, "you'd use him in a cheap attacker list", I really mean lists that play cards like Demolishor or Ransack. A cheap, five or six star attacker who swings for way more than they should. You deal a whole lot of damage with certain characters, and you have characters like Tote as support to keep them swinging. The fact that Tote is only four stars makes this idea even better, making it possible to cram as much value in your list as possible.

Now, you do need to play black pips in order to make use of him, but there are several good black pips that I could see you playing to use for both their effects and for his, like RR Disruptor Blade or Device Virus.

The thing is, he's a one and done -- your opponent is likely to KO him or his target, and then you're left with nothing. You really need to ask yourself one question: Is he worth the point investment?




Detour is a very good card.

For starters, he is a four star Specialist Car, meaning that he can use all the Car cards that can untap him. This means that you can use something like Start Your Engines to transform him, untap him and reuse his tap effect next turn. Played in Cliffjumper, you can draw a card for transforming him, tap him to draw two more cards, then use a Field Communicator to potentially draw even more cards.

Speaking of Cliffjumper, you can pretty much guess that Detour is going to be targeted by your opponent for a cheap KO. Cliff especially makes playing the tiny Micromaster well worth it, that when Detour is KO'd, he can fuel Cliffjumper's offensive stats. This makes Detour one of the best car Micromasters not only for Cliffjumper lists, but also one of the best for regular Car lists. Roadhugger may still be on the top of that proverbial ladder in terms of power, but it's good to know that there's a lot of value to be found elsewhere, too.

Detour has a lot of value in a tiny package, and whereas you can at least use him as a nice point filler in other lists, Cliffjumper is the one who will find Detour the most appealing because of his point cost and Specialist nature. Detour is definitely not going to survive any damage whatsoever, but you can pretty well see the value -- like Roadhugger -- that he's going to give you until that happens.




The...? The Firecons? Jinkies, that's a deep dig. Revealed in a recent article by Kotaku, the Firecons, i.e. Sparkstalker, Flamefeather and Cindersaur, have each been modernized by the guys over at Wizards who even got to spearhead their modern redesign! The article is an interesting tidbit into that development, and you should definitely read it if you'd like a peek behind the curtains.

But, let's go through them one by one and see what they're made of!

First off, Sparkstalker is a moderately costed character with moderate stats, but there are two fantastic things about him that make him a very interesting partner in aggressive decks. The first of these is his impressive draw effect in his robot mode, effectively refunding whatever cards you played on that turn with a Draw 2 when you flip three orange pips. Now, if you haven't played much aggro, you should know how easy it is to flip three orange pips between Bold effects, white pips and double orange pips. In fact, I'd be shocked if you didn't hit the Draw 2.

Sparkstalker's second form of value comes from his great vehicle mode transformation effect, scrapping an Armor so that his teammates can continue to pop off. He isn't the best outside of Firecons, but he's certainly playable in aggro lists that needs just a bit of draw power. Plus, his vehicle mode effect is quite a bit useful in other aggro lists that don't already play a few Bashing Shields. You can't really go too wrong with him, especially with his powerful draw. That being said, of course, the Firecons love him the most, but it's good to know that he has a home elsewhere.

You'll find that all three of them have a great alternate mode effect that fits well with the archetype, with the potential for a nutty amount of power with the playing of a Roll Out. But don't just take my word for it! Let's dive in to the next two:




Flamefeather is an extremely thick boy and I love him.

So, let me explain what he does real quick so there's no confusion. Basically, when defending, he turns all orange pips into blue pips to a cap of five of the converted pips. This does not include any blue pips you flip (from a Roll Out, for example), making his potential defensive capabilities astronomical. I mean, consider: You fill your deck with orange, double orange and half n' half cards, you could potentially deny a massive amount of damage through Flamefeather.

But that's not to say that he lacks offensive power. Even though he has a mediocre offensive stat, you are playing aggro, and that means that you're going to be able to do a massive amount of extra damage with your weapons and your heavy orange deck. You're not going to be doing the most damage with him, but it isn't like he's an invalid target for some of your resources. Plus, when you have Sparkstalker refunding that expenditure with his draw during the next turn, you're free to use him how you please.

And, when you're done with that, you can flip Flamefeather to his vehicle mode, using his ability to add just that much more Bold than you're already going to be adding with your Supercharge and Power Punch. Unfortunately, this bird-brain doesn't have too much potential outside of Firecons even with his damage denial effects and his Bold, something that's amplified by the stipulation in his vehicle mode that his Bold is only applied to Firecons.

To be frank, I don't think he'd be played all that much outside of Firecons anyway unless one wanted to pair him with Flamewar or something similar to that composition. Although, there is nothing stopping you from doing that, anyway, it's just that he won't be as effective as he could be in a pure Firecon list.



Cindersaur gives you free damage and Actions and I literally can't think of many things better than that.

So, if you couldn't tell, Cindersaur really likes orange pips and high Bold. When you attack with him with a Bold card having been played, you have a chance to deal a massive amount of damage between the flood of orange pips you'll be flipping and the free damage you'll be getting when you do. In fact, if you only flip the base four orange needed to activate his ability, you'll be dealing a total of nine damage when you count the two direct damage you'll be dealing. Since you can flip that without a weapon through a lucky white pip, you can imagine what kind of damage you'll be dealing when combined with a weapon or an Action.

Cindersaur's value doesn't end there, however -- in fact, his best value comes from his vehicle mode! Playing a free orange-pipped Action is impressively powerful given that cards like Supercharge or Reckless Charge both have their respective pips. But, I'd like to point something out: When you flip to Cindersaur's alternate mode through the use of Roll Out, it effectively refunds your Action for the turn with the ability to use a damage-boosting Action to boost your damage more than Flamefeather already will be boosting you.

With all of this in mind, Cindersaur is a lot of value for the Firecons in one package. In fact, you might even play him in other aggressive lists to make use of that free Action that he provides in the late game and the offensive power when properly equipped. But that being said, wouldn't you rather just play the whole of the Firecons to work with their synergy? I mean, just consider: Flamefeather is very good for Firecons, and you may as well take him along because you're playing one already. After that, you could always play two smaller characters to take up Sparkstalker's slot, but why? Wouldn't you rather keep that draw power and Armor-scrapping in your aggressive deck?

I think we might be seeing the rise of a standard-sized Insecticons in the Firecon strategy. They're thick enough to take a hit or two in order to take them down (especially in the case of Flamefeather), and they're powerful enough offensively to make their opponents... Ah, feel the burn if you will. Now, their stats across the board could be just a little higher to make me comfortable saying that they'll be a meta mainstay, but that being said, they are a full team of themed characters with interesting and potentially powerful abilities; I'd be surprised if we didn't see them at a tournament or two!

BATTLE CARDS

Remember when I said that playing all Motorcycles had no real point to it? I've never been more glad to be wrong.

So, in case you needed an explanation on what Pop A Wheelie really does, basically think of it like a baby All Out Attack. You can attack twice that turn, but only if the extra one was a Motorcycle, put simply, in their vehicle mode. This is both very good and very mediocre, and I'll tell you why.

First off, it's fantastic because there are going to be many points where you have to attack twice in order to get a KO on a very important character, or on a character that has a Force Field or a similar effect. Further, in matchups like Insecticons or Combiners where the characters are notoriously fragile, you can potentially score two KOs in one turn, sometimes being able to KO an untapped character after KOing the only tapped character. To make things even better, you can play a Bravery and attack with that character to potentially save a damaged teammate, forcing your opponent to attack the newly tapped character. Furthermore, in the Motorcycle list, W1 Flamewar has the ability to give all of your characters Bold 1 until end of turn, and when you get to attack multiple times in a turn, you're going to start seeing that effect pile up.

Now to the down side. Remember how you have to be in your Motorcycle mode to get that spare attack? Well, if you remember, many vehicle modes have a middling to mediocre attack stat with few exceptions. Meaning, the attack you're going to get is not likely to do much without weapons and high orange counts in your deck. This is not to say that playing an all orange is a necessarily bad thing, it's just that it limits your options. Plus, Pop A Wheelie somewhat necessitates the extra character to be upgraded, and that can be a difficult balance to strike.

But that being said, I think it should go without saying that getting another attack during your turn is a very good thing that can swing entire games. Even more than that, imagine when all characters are untapped and you're able to KO one of your opponent's fresh characters out of nowhere before they can use it to attack you. Or perhaps just eke by a KO on a character that will certainly demolish whomever they're about to attack, like a Cosmos or a Nemesis at the end of their deck.

All in all, I love Pop A Wheelie. It's a great boost of power to the Motorcycle archetype and it adds a nice layer of synergy between the 'cycles. Even Chromia can get in on the action by returning Pop A Wheelie from your Scrap to your hand to be used on that turn or the next. Whether or not Motorcycles will be next in line to try and dethrone Insecticons as the premiere aggro deck remains to be seen, if aggro is even the best way to play Motorcycles (though if I recall correctly it was mentioned offhandedly by the developers that it is), but I know one thing: More attacks = More damage, and that's always a good thing in my book.




Heroic Team-Up is the best Autobot Action. There; I said it.

It may be a Star Card, and that innately limits how many decks you can play it in, but its effects are so good that it makes me want to play it in almost every deck. First off, half-n-half pips are always welcome no matter what, and it being an Action in an Autobot list makes it easy enough to pull off in a turn through Confidence and other Autobot Action love. There are plenty of decks that love the extra damage that Heroic Team-Up can give them, but I think the one that can make the most of it is Cars.

For your consideration, Cars. You have access to high draw, meaning you'll be able to draw into your Heroic Team-Up, and the Car character pool is deep enough for you to shave off enough points to play a good portion of them. But perhaps the greatest reason of them all is that you have access to Turbo Boosters, an untapping effect in an Upgrade instead of the normally Action-based untapping effects. This allows you to use a Heroic Team-Up to tap a character, then Turbo Booster them to untap them, then use an extra Action effect like Mirage's alternate mode ability to use a second one and tap that same character a second time, adding even more damage to one of your characters.

Now, this is not going to happen all the time, of course. But it is nice knowing that a crazy combo like that can happen, and the mere presence of Turbo Boosters will save you a lot of heartache by refunding the tap effect and preventing your opponent from punishing your overextension.

Cars, of course, is just one of several different archetypes that would love to have Heroic Team-Up, including decks that play Battlefield Legend, Alpha Trion or other characters that would like an extra boost in damage. To be perfectly frank, the only bad thing I have to say about Heroic Team-Up is that you can't play it in everything. Will it trump Leap of Faith as the best Star Card? Not likely, but that's like asking "Will any movie series ever come close to the success that Marvel has?" -- some hurdles are just too high to leap.

Be that as it may, Heroic Team-Up might just give Leap of Faith a run for its money in Autobot lists, especially with ones with fewer stars to spare. You can't beat half-n'-half pips and their value, after all.




Finally, Decepticon Leaders get their day!

Callous Leadership is a shockingly powerful "healing" card that can be used to help your larger, more important characters online. For instance, Shockwave, Soundwave or Megatron -- Living Weapon; all necessitate a list being built around them, and all would very much like to stay alive. Living Weapon takes up a lot of investment to swing with effectively, and Soundwave kinda makes the entire Cassette archetype go around. Using Callous Leadership, you can move that damage to a squishier character to make the damage meaningless or to transfer it to a character that you managed to I STILL FUNCTION! to wipe away the damage entirely.

This massive amount of healing can be compounded with cards like Cooling Vents that heal one when you attach them or characters like Red Alert or Arcee who heal your characters when you Transform them. As I spoke about in my Red Alert video, healing can stack in the same way that damage can. It's usually not as powerful as simply damaging your opponent because there is so much burst damage in the metagame that it becomes a bit irrelevant to heal anything.

But, Callous Leadership allows you to heal off your more important characters with a huge burst of healing, much better than the healing over time effects that we've been accustomed to. I realize that it's technically not healing per se, but when you move damage from an important character to an unimportant one, you can effectively call it "healing" from there. I can't wait to find out how much this will be played, especially when you consider the power that large Decepticon Leaders like Starscream or Megatron hold -- and how frustratingly unkillable they're going to feel when you heal off over half the damage that your opponent dealt to them.




Unconventional Flying Object -- UFO for short -- has probably the most hilarious artwork of anything in the game. Just the mental image of Alpha Trion just supermanning it through the atmosphere gives me a good chuckle.

But, anyway, UFO itself is a pretty neat little Action that literally every Spaceship will love to see. Whereas Rapid Conversion was a good little card that most Spaceship lists like Cosmos played, it always felt lacking because you still needed more Transformations in a turn than you were given. Further, you can use UFO in Cosmos to burn through your deck even faster, then to use his robot mode's ability in the same turn. With Alpha Trion, you can use it as a sort of "junk hunt" effect where you can simply replace it with a card from your Scrap Pile. With Shockwave -- Cybertron Commander? You can essentially use it as a Testify, then still having the transformation to flip him to robot mode in order to punish your opponent's large hand.

Now, does this make Cosmos or Shockwave suddenly good? No, I don't think so. But, does it make them better now that you can use their flip effects more effectively? Oh, absolutely. I think Cosmos in particular has to get a second look after Siege comes out -- his value it simply too high to ignore, and I think UFO will make that obvious for all to see.




And just like that, the Firecons were captured and hauled away. No one saw them again!

Anyway, just in case you wanted another card other than Acid Storm to utterly demolish Dinobots or Firecons, look no further than Dampening Field. Dampening field, Secret Action 2 of apparently 8, is a doozy for Bold decks or other aggressive archetypes because it effectively turns off their Bold or other flipping effects like Kickback or Demolishor.

Even better, it's a white pip -- meaning, you don't need to force yourself to play blue pips in an orange deck or orange pips in a blue deck to tech in Dampening Field. In fact, I can see playing this in Insecticons for the mirror matchup just to effectively confirm one of my character's survival without taking up an Upgrade attachment for the turn in Force Field, their Bold notwithstanding. Of course, Grenade Launcher and Reckless Charge can both be used regardless of Dampening Field, but it's an interesting thought regardless.

I can see a lot of decks playing Dampening Field to slow down the meta, forcing their opponents into moments of weakness, potentially forcing them to whiff KOs that they normally would have been confirmed. I am extremely excited for it, in fact, and even moreso when you consider all of the Secret Action support we have in this set in Laserbeak, Shockwave and Skywarp to name a few.

Could Dampening Field slow down the meta through its presence alone? Maybe, maybe not. I think aggro decks are still going to be the best kind of deck out there at the moment, purely because they chase the win condition the fastest. Plus, it's always fun to flip half of your deck and look at all the pretty colors as you blatantly murder your opponent's characters. However, I have a feeling that Dampening Field might just have something to say about that.




Ever get one of your Battle Masters scrapped by some scrub and their Enforcement Batons? Ever sit down and wonder, just why was your opponent playing Scrapper Gauntlets of all things to scrap your hard-earned Battle Master? Have you ever been attacked by an Air Raid, like, at all? Then Quartermaster is for you!

Quartermaster allows you to reuse Battle Masters from the grave, drastically improving their overall viability and usefulness, but also allows you to move upgrades, reactivating Put effects and allowing you to move a Battle Master from one location to another. If you're like me and you're constantly on the lookout for things that can be broken, you're getting some alarms right about now.

If you remember Swap Parts and how oppressive that card was in the infinite combo deck, you see the words "move an upgrade" and you start to sweat. No worries here, though -- it's only one Upgrade, and unless the upgrade is the most broken upgrade on the planet (Hello, Cog) you won't be winning any games off the back of this card in that way at least.

That being said, cards like Lionizer or Aimless will get much better now that they have the power to come back from the scrap heap and reequip themselves. Now, every one of your characters have the potential to use Lionizer multiple times, and with his effects of Bold 4 and Plan 1 being as they are, I can't wait to find out how much he'll be played. Aimless, too.

Battle Masters in general were a bit inconsistent in the amount of value they give, but now? Now there's room for their power to spread to other characters, and that's about as good as you can imagine it to be and I, for one, am extremely excited about it. Plus, if your area is flooded with them, you can even tech in anti-weapon cards to potentially make your opponent whiff attacks with their Battle Master. You never know!




For blue/black, Steady Aim could not be better. Trading out one of the extra damage for a black pip, Steady Aim has nearly all the power of Leap Into Battle and maybe even a bit more power given the Pierce. Blue decks usually need Pierce in order to do much damage unless they have a high base attack like Optimus Prime -- Battlefield Legend or Nemesis Prime, making the Pierce that one would get from playing blue/black extremely effective at keeping damage from falling too low.

The damage boost isn't going to be as high as Leap Into Battle, but it's definitely going to be just as useful. Put simply, there's really no reason not to play Steady Aim in a blue deck -- it's just one of those cards that will nearly always be good.




This is just Steady Aim but with more words and less colors. I think, between the two, Steady Aim is slightly better because of the blue pip. You're far more likely to flip a card than draw it, and for that reason you're going to want the pips instead of the slightly more Pierce.

There's really not much else to say since the two cards are so similar. However, if you have room for both, I don't see why you wouldn't want to play both.




Similar to Combat Dagger, Smoke Cloak is a slightly less effective Reinforced Plating with a black pip. There really isn't too much to note on about it, other than the fact that it makes blue/black just slightly better. Pretty much, so long as there are blue and black combo cards, the better the deck archetype becomes and the more playable it will be.

I'm extremely excited at the notion of slower decks that would play cards like this because it diversifies the meta. It makes plenty of the more niche rogue decks better (especially because they aren't being one-hit every attack) and more combiners can be played. I'm ecstatic about the prospects of that notion, and thus, I am ecstatic about this card; not because of what it does per-se, but because of what it represents.




Emergency Defense Field is a funky, funky card. On one hand, it's a worse Force Field. On the other, it's completely busted and makes certain archetypes way better.

Let me explain. You see, Force Field is usually better in most circumstances. The higher HP you have, the better Force Field is. If your opponent has to wade through fifty Force Fields to finally get the killing blow on your Nemesis Prime, you're probably winning that game. That being said, the lower HP you have, the better Emergency Defense Field is. For instance, you could attach it on a character that has less than 4 HP remaining to potentially defend them, or you could attach it to a character who has 8 or less HP in an attempt to force a two or more hit KO.

Now, the big problem is that EDF is not surefire. You see, if your opponent just so happens to hit an odd number at the wrong time, they totally dunk on you. You always run the risk of your opponent playing a Bashing Shield or something similar, but here, you run the risk of your opponent just attacking you through your shield just anyway.

For instance, if your opponent can easily hit 13 and up damage, and you have 12 HP characters, wouldn't you rather just attach a Force Field and avoid that high damage altogether, take your 4 and move on? Kinda thought so. I find the small damage that Force Field affords you is way better than essentially flipping a coin and seeing how well or how poorly your opponent flips cards. In fact, Force Field even has a white pip, and EDF doesn't have any pips whatsoever.

Either way, it isn't like you can't play both in lists that either really don't value their opponent's sanity or just like looking at pictures of Trailbreaker. It's a funky thing, but I'm really quite middling on Emergency Defense Field. You could probably play it in lists with small characters like Combiners (Devastator especially), but outside of that, I doubt it will be played all that much.




This card is an over(under?)glorified Fusion Cannon of Megatron for small characters. There are good things about it, of course, but I just find it hilarious that a sword has the same destructive power as Megatron's Fusion Cannon.

Anyway, as to the playability of Laser Cutlass, you may find that certain Combiners really adore this card. For example, Aerialbots deal their damage through two means: Direct Damage and Pierce. They are a very defensive list that loves their blue pips, and I can see them absolutely adoring this card.

However, we have two very interesting cards for low damage Combiner teams that were printed in Rise of the Combiners that are way more consistent than Laser Cutlass: Noble's Blaster and Scoundrel's Blaster, both of which are Blue, deal more damage and have similar levels of Pierce. Oh, and they have green pips, too.

It really depends on what you're planning on doing. Sometimes you need redundant Upgrades or Actions to make things just that much easier to draw into them, but other times they can just end up making your deck inconsistent. I would say that Laser Cutlass as a whole is in the same niche as Scoundrel's/Noble's Blaster, with the only noticeable differences being that the Cutlass can be attached to anyone, not just a specific faction, and that the Blaster has a green pip.

Which one you play really depends on the deck you're playing and what you want to do with it, but until then my money is on Scoundrel's/Noble's for their consistency alone.




Energy Pack is kind of nutty when you think about it in certain cases. I mean, think about it. Nemesis Prime has 16 HP; slap one of these bad boys on him, and he has a frankly disgusting 20 HP. Metroplex? Oh, he just has a tiny, teensy weensy 39 HP. Dreadwing? You can attach two of these things, giving him 32 HP in total. Jetfire can attach Energy Pack from the Scrap Pile and grow his HP whether your opponent likes it or not, and he has 15 base. Big characters get bigger, and smaller characters weep in jealousy.

I've oft thought about HP and defense as one in the same in most circumstances. If you're going to one-hit Kickback, you'll need to hit 10 damage, even though his HP is only 9. That's because his defense is only 1, and if you're going to OHKO him, you'll need to factor that number in. However, when your HP is higher -- for instance, Nemesis or Metroplex -- that defense is going to reduce a lot of damage over time because nobody is going to be able to one-hit you unless they're Predaking or Volcanicus.

So, when you add to your already titanic HP, you're also effectively adding on to your defense as well. The longer it takes your opponent to KO you, the more your defense is going to defend you. You're not going to always want it, of course; sometimes a Data Bank, a Field Communicator or something similar is going to give you more value in certain scenarios. But, that being said, you can't tell me it's ever bad to have more HP.

CLOSING

First off, sorry this article took so long to put out. It seemed like whenever I was just about done with it, more cards were revealed. I guess that's a good thing -- it helps keep me up-to-date and it keeps me honest!

As for the cards themselves, I am convinced that the Firecons are going to be a meta deck. I'm not quite sure what tier they are particularly, but I am convinced that they belong on the list. Motorcycles, too, have quite a bit of potential with Pop A Wheelie -- a "boost" they've been needing for quite some time now. I also can't wait to see where Elita goes from here; whether she's only playable in Infinite or if she's going to be a bodyguard for her partners is beyond me, but I just can't wait to see what people do with her.

Revealing a card for Wizards, as well, was definitely a highlight of my run in this community. I've been ecstatic to work with Wizards on it, and I've been super thankful that they allowed a tiny channel like mine to show off a reveal, a character reveal at that. I am constantly impressed by the transparency and openness that Wizards has been gracing the community with, and I am proud to help with that. I even got to flex on my Red Alert figures! Even the one that wasn't named Red Alert!

Of course, the grown video player shows my shoddy thumbnail work, but you can't win 'em all, right?

What about you? Are you fired up for the Firecons? Elated for Elita? Pumped up for Pop A Wheelie? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll see you next time!

All Cards Revealed For Official Transformers Trading Card Game Wave 2: Rise of the Combiners

Date: Monday, February 18th 2019 3:37pm CST
Categories: Game News, Collectables
Posted by: ZeroWolf | Credit(s): jON3.0 and #Sideways# from Seibertron, Official Transformers Trading Card Game Facebook page

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Views: 42,819

Well as we get closer to the release date of the first expansion for the Official Transformers Trading Card Game, Wave 2:Rise of the Combiners, the official Facebook page has now released all the pictures for you to feast your eyes upon! This news came to us by fellow Seibertron user, and voice of both Soundwaveand Shockwave in the hit Bumblebee movie, Jon3.0.

Thats not all though, as fellow Seibertron user and contributor, #Sideways#, has sent in his In-depth analysis of Omega Supreme and a new Bumblebee card!

Over to you #Sideways#!

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If you hadn't guessed already, today... I have a rather large reveal to bring to you guys. Oh yes, my friends, it's Omega Supreme. Now, as a preface I do have to mention that you can technically buy this guy right now, but there is a catch. You see, not only is Omega Supreme a promo card found in this month's Loot Crate, but it is currently only in Loot Crate. Now, say what you will about that, but something that I definitely recommend is that you use the Valentine's Day code -- LOVE50, or in some cases LOVE35 -- to get a solid 35%-50% off your order.

Basically, you get the stuff in the Loot Crate as well as a confirmed Omega Supreme for about $15. But that's not all that's special about this guy -- notice that his set code states "P2", meaning quite literally "Promo 2". What, then, would Promo 1 be? What could possibly be on-par with Omega Supreme?

Nobody knows, but me personally? I wager Trypticon will be stomping his way to the battlefield shortly.






This Bumblebee is really, really good, and it's easy to see why. First off, you have great stats with a considerable HP stat and a very respectable attack stat in both modes, but you're also a Car Leader, which is very neat when you consider Matrix of Leadership's existence. Perhaps even moreso, you can play him with the Starter Bumblebee to do some Matrix Stacking which is an interesting thought if you don't mind not having a slot to use Turbo Boosters or Agility of Bumblebee with.

But those are just his innate effects; I haven't even touched on what really makes him good. You see, the best part about him is his ability to combo Actions. For instance, in his robot mode, you have the ability to scrap an Action to draw two which nets you a lot of cards (considering) without using your Action for the turn. Of course, this is something that happens essentially at the end of your turn, but any draw is generally good draw.

But that's not all.

Not only does Bumblebee draw using Actions, but he also allows you to play a "free" Action during your turn when you Transform him to vehicle mode, the same ability that Mirage has. So, that being said, when you play a Roll Out or a Start Your Engines and have both a Bumblebee and Mirage in robot mode, you have the ability to play two free Actions, then untap one of your Cars. That's monstrous value, and when you consider playing him with other Bumblebee to abuse Agility of Bumblebee, that value gets even higher.

Now, that being said, he won't be in every car list thanks to his 10 Star cost to play him, but standard Car lists might want to make use of him. It would mean dropping the Super Rare Bumblebee, who is rather incomparable to Common Bee outside of having the name "Bumblebee" given that SR Bee can attack untapped characters and at the end of the game turns into something of a beast, but as a cheap alternative, I don't see why you wouldn't want to play him.

There are already debates regarding whether or not it's better to play him over SR Bee, but I find myself on the Super Rare side of the fence after playing Predacons. Being able to attack untapped characters is immensely powerful, especially against decks like Insecticons, Combiners and even Double Prime because you can potentially remove a character that has not attacked yet from the field. Doing this essentially wins you the game, so to say it's powerful is a bit of an understatement.

That being said, being able to draw more and play more Actions certainly makes me swoon. You're likely to have more early game usefulness with Common Bumblebee, while at the end of the game SR Bumblebee will be a monster. I don't really know for sure, of course -- this is all just theorycraft -- but it cannot be denied that a case for either could be made and made quite well.

I suppose it's all up to your personal preference which Bee is for you, but I think it should go without saying that you should probably be playing one in your Car list.





Something that I've noticed about promo cards from the Transformers Trading Card Game is that none of them seem wholly unplayable. Slipstream has her uses in Planes, Cliffjumper has his own version of Cars to consider, Devastator seems extremely strong out of the gate, Metroplex turned into a top tier deck and even Ironhide, who is oft regarded as one of the worst characters in the game, has a home in the Truck archetype. Or at least he did before Motormaster likely took his spot, but that's another discussion for another day.

Basically what I'm saying is this: Just because they're a promo, don't discount them. Too often promo cards have turned into shiny proxy backs, or even the esteemed position of bulk. Not here. Not with Omega.

Omega seems to have some of the most janky potential in a promo card I've seen yet, and when you consider that he has 19 stars, it's easy to see why. Having 19 stars means that you can play him with a small partner, someone to either help keep heat off him or perhaps increase his damage. Where he has only one defense, his HP and attack are both quite high indeed, and on top of that he's a Tank, where you can abuse Hunker Down to attach everything from a Force Field to a Reinforced Plating. That, and when you consider playing him with Flamewar in an all blue setting, you begin to realize that Omega will begin to have a monstrous amount of staying power.

He won't be the only one to stay on the field forever, though, given his ability in robot mode to take two damage off your opponent's attack directed at your smaller, softer character you play him with. This is an incredible ability, which essentially makes it to where he can let his partner last a lot longer in the battle. I mean, imagine: Your opponent swings at your partner for six. You defend three, and then you move off two with Omega. Your opponent did effectively one damage. Omega is insane at keeping his partners alive, and it really shows.

Omega also has his vehicle mode, which is both a Tank and a Spaceship -- which would be nice if being a Spaceship actually meant something given the decided lack of support for them. Omega also has the neat ability to either deal one damage to something when you flip to his vehicle mode or to draw a card. Drawing a card is usually better, but depending on the partner you chose you might want that extra damage. In fact, that ability pops Skrapnel for enough damage to turn him into a 2HKO instead of a potential 3HKO. Being a Tank and using Hunker Down and Flamewar on the same team, you can start to defend quite a bit of damage.

But that's honestly not my favorite way to play him, even though I am and always will be a fan of Flamewar. Not to betray my Decepticon waifu, I actually like the idea of playing Omega with either Warpath or Acid Storm. Since these anti-keyword characters are both six stars, playing either one with Omega Supreme seems obvious. On one hand, one could dedicate an extremely defensive list with Acid Storm, using Omega Supreme and high blue cards to keep Acid Storm alive and keep Dinobots depressed, but on the other, one could use Warpath in the same way to try and beat Double Prime.

So let's talk about that for a moment. Which one is better, and in a way, isn't playing one redundant if the way to play Omega is defensively?

Well, on one hand Acid Storm seems to lend himself extremely well to that defensive playstyle. Acid Storm turns off Bold, which means your opponent will be doing even less damage to your blue-driven deck, decreased even further given your recycling of Armor with Hunker Down. That, and when you consider that Omega will be doing his part to keep Acid Storm alive by taking two damage for him, you realize that Stormy can pretty well keep himself alive from there with his healing ability. Dinobots will then be dead drawing into their Bold Stacking cards all game, while Insecticon players will be considering dropping Barrage from their list altogether, but there's a problem with that:

Acid Storm sucks against defensive lists.

Against anything that's offensive, Acid Storm chews through like butter, but when you run across something that's going to be trying to outlast you, he falls apart. Conversely, Warpath -- who turns off Tough -- is something approaching the same thing for offensive lists, or at least he should.

You see, Warpath's ability prevents your opponents characters from using Tough, and that also means that these extremely defensive lists like Double Prime, Planes or similar lists are going to be taking a lot more damage than normal. All of their armor in their deck essentially turns into dead cards in their hand, and when you consider that Warpath is a Tank as well as being on the same team as Omega, you realize that he will be able to stay on the field forever to keep it that way.

Double Primes also becomes even more inconsistent given that they will be potentially drawing into dead armor cards all game, and their deck cycling effects won't come into play, making Nemesis' ability even slower than it already is. Simply put, Warpath is priority number one on their list of KO candidates -- so it's a good thing that in a defensive Tank deck with Omega Supreme on the battlefield, your opponent won't be able to do anything about him.

This is why I like Warpath. He doesn't help you "win harder" against Dinobots, which should still be a good matchup given your "Tank"y ability and blue list, but he also helps you against Double Primes which is the best deck in format at the moment. That, and he's a Tank, which means that you can Hunker Down with him as well as Omega, cycling Force Fields and Reinforced Plating all game. He might not have much offensive power -- at all, actually -- but that's what Omega's job is. With an Energon Axe, Omega Supreme has a whopping 10 Attack, which can deal even more damage with Leap Into Battle and other boosting cards.

I definitely think that Warpath is the way to go in terms of six star teammates for Omega, and as for Omega as a whole, I look forward to seeing Omega be the anti-meta pick he was always destined to be. Of course, his smaller friends should always watch out for any Aerialbots on the horizon, but Omega fears nothing but the strongest of foes.







Jar Ja-- Erm, Wheelie gets his debut in the Transformers TCG by being on a Battle Card, and it's just about as terrible as he is. Fling is just outclassed by pretty much all of its peers. It's a bad healing card, as MEDIC! straight heals more, and even Field Repairs allows you to Plan while still providing an orange pip. Even Emergency Repairs is better because it has a pip and the ability to repair three damage from one of your characters, and Emergency Repairs isn't that great.

So, if its medical license is revoked, then how about its offensive potential? Well, it's not good either. Shall we look at some examples? Plasma Burst deals two damage while still having no pips, "One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall" deals three damage and while having recoil damage you can also use that to your advantage through Energon Axe and Slipstream-esque abilities. Even Inferno Breath deals three damage and has a pip. Sure, it taps one of your characters, but a lot of lists don't really care about that given the new Brave mechanic.

So on all fronts, Fling is lackluster. It just isn't a keeper. It's just a fling; not really marriage material.




Press The Advantage is a keeper; definitely marriage material.

You might say, though, "Now, wait a minute, this only matters with Autobots VS Decepticons!"

You could say that. You could. But when you consider that pretty much every deck plays at least one Decepticon with Metroplex being one of only a few exceptions, and with Wave 2 adding even more good Decepticons, Press The Advantage becomes quite the good card. Let's quickly dive into why.

So, this card both increases your Autobot damage while decreasing Decepticon defense which, mathematically speaking, is essentially another increase in damage. When you consider that most defense stats average out at 2, you end up seeing a boost of essentially +4 damage against Decepticons and a standard +2 against Autobots. That +4 is insane when you consider Optimus Prime -- Battlefield Legend. Not only does he have the ability to flip this card and boost his damage with the orange pip to nine, but he also gets that solid +2 bringing his damage to 11. Worse yet, whomever he attacks will have their defense lowered to zero, making their demise on likely the first turn of the game something of a done-deal.

But that's not all. What, you thought that confirming an OHKO on the first turn of the game without any repercussions like Reckless Charge or One Shall Stand was good enough? Ohohoho, you might want to sit down: This is gonna make you weak in the knees.

Press The Advantage has a green pip so the turn after you use it with Battlefield Legend, you get to use it again. But Optimus is tapped! You can't use him again, right? Well, the whole "choose an enemy Decepticon" thing doesn't have to be with an Active Autobot present, so you get to use it with Nemesis Prime or perhaps an Autobot partner to Battlefield Legend, making them deal more damage as well.

Sometimes, the built-in armor stat is so vital to the survival of the character they have a low HP stat. Just look at Tanks for example. Demolisher has four defense but only seven HP, Darkmount has nine HP but a whopping potential five defense against ranged characters, and so on. That defense is their lifeblood, and when you strip it from them, things start looking dire for them very quickly.

Now, it should be noted that simply doing more damage is essentially what's happening here. Reducing defense is the same thing as doing more damage since more damage "ignores" the armor, but most highly damaging Actions like Reckless Charge have some sort of drawback. This one does not, and that's what makes it so good at dealing that damage. The fact that it has a green pip makes it even better.

As a whole, this card makes me more terrified of being one-hit on turn one by a Battlefield Legend than I already am, and it begs the question about Battlefield Legend: Is he too good? Nothing can compete with the amount of utility Battlefield Legend has, and very few things can compete with the amount of damage he can do out of effectively nowhere. I think it remains to be seen if he will continue to keep that crown given that we haven't seen all of the characters from this set yet, but I don't think he's going anywhere any time soon.




Tackle is surprisingly good, I'm not gonna lie. Being able to tap your opponent's characters to either open them up to attacks, trigger the "end of turn brawl" where your characters all get to gang up on one of your opponent's characters or deny them the ability to attack is pretty fascinating.

Cars, for one, can make especially good use of this card given their reliance on Turbo Boosters. You can transform Bumblebee -- Trusted Lieutenant and play Tackle to tap one of your opponent's characters, then Turbo Booster him and then still have your Action for turn. Perhaps even moreso, you can use Start Your Engines to transform him, use Tackle for free, then use the Start Your Engines untapping effect to untap the character you just tapped.

Tackle gets kind of crazy when you use it in conjunction with characters that can either untap or in wide lists that have man advantage over your opponents, but something I would also like to touch on is a potential lock combo with Battlefield Legend.

You see, when you flip this card on an attack with Battlefield Legend, you can tap your Nemesis Prime to tap your opponent's Nemesis Prime. If this is the first attack of the "round" with no characters tapped, you're essentially denying your opponent an attack with Nemesis.

And, when everyone resets, you can transform Battlefield Legend and reuse it -- this time tapping Battlefield Legend to tap your opponent's Battlefield Legend. Of course, you're also denying yourself an attack, but it's an interesting thought for the mirror in Double Primes, though to be perfectly honest if you're that worried about the mirror you should probably be playing Enemy Combat Analysis and try tipping the matchup that way.

The Battlefield Legend combo seems interesting, but I don't know if it's any good. Just a thought.




Omega Supreme -- outside of the card himself -- might be one of the weirdest promotional ways to get a trading card I've ever seen, and I am still not sure how I feel about it. I mean, on one hand it's promoting the game, but on the other hand it's a goofy way to get a single card. I dunno, it's strange. But hey, you can't deny that getting a bunch of other cool stuff in your Loot Crate isn't a bad thing.

I'm just sad that I literally just bought a real-life loot box. Curse you, Activision for setting the industry standard! Curse you EA for making it worse!

But in all seriousness, the cards revealed so far have had very few bad cards among them. From Omega Supreme to Devastator to Dreadwing, I can't believe how competent that these decks are. I think that we're about to enter a very diverse metagame, but I don't know if any of them can beat Double Prime at the top.

As always, you can catch me uploading more competitive discussion and deck profiles on my YouTube channel, Nanomachines regularly. If you want to see some of my deck lists, check out my deck profiles!

What do you think? Is Omega Supreme good? Is Bumblebee? Is Press The Advantage as good as I think it is, or am I just living in Narnia? Is Battlefield Legend too good, or does he create a centralized meta approaching some of Pokemon's best years during the SP era? Let me know in the comments below, and as always, I'll catch you next time!

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Don't forget to check out our photographs of the TCG products at Hasbros display at this weekends Toy Fair New York 2019!

What do you think of these cards? Will any of these end up in your deck? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

Dreadwing Soars In To The Official Transformers Trading Card Game And App Launch

Date: Wednesday, February 13th 2019 4:52pm CST
Categories: Game News, Collectables
Posted by: ZeroWolf | Credit(s): #Sideways# and jon3. 0 from Seibertron, Official Transformers Trading Card Game Facebook page

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Views: 22,260

Thanks to fellow Seibertron user and contributor, #Sideways#, we've now learned that Blackwing and Dreadwind are set to make an appearance in the Wave 2: Rise of the Combiners expansion of Wizards of the Coast's Official Transformers Trading Card Game! The reveal was shared over at the Official Transformers Trading Card Game Facebook page.

#Sideways# also gives us his detailed thoughts on the cards and their combined form!

___________________



Back in the mystical past of 2007, I had the Transformers movie game for the PS2 and in that game there were a lot of memorable characters and enemies from them. I still remember the cool Shockwave bossfight that they had, but one of the most memorable enemies that they had was Dreadwing, who would fly around, jump into the sky and use flamethrowers to deal a ton of damage to you if you got too close. They were a bit easy to kill because they kinda just stood completely still and you could just walk away and just shoot them, but they looked awesome.

From that point, I payed attention to the name Dreadwing, so when I got up this morning and saw that the last Combiner for this set has been revealed and that it was none other than Dreadwing, I couldn't help but to pay attention. But first, let's talk about everything that makes up his plane glory: His composite parts.





Blackwing hits hard and gets hit harder, if that wasn't obvious from his zero defense in robot mode. He still swings pretty hard in both modes, despite him being a vanilla 8-star Plane. Blackwing doesn't really have too many things to really go over except for his robot mode ability, which takes the place of the Enigma for these pseudo-Combiners.

You see, at the end of your turn, if both Dreadwind and Blackwing are in robot mode, you can scrap three cards from your hand and combine them into Blackwing. This effect is expensive, but extremely fast considering you can pull off a Combination on the second turn of the game. This is a powerful effect, and I wager it will always be Blackwing who will be using this effect.

There really isn't much else to talk about for this guy -- he just swings really hard and then turns into Dreadwing.





Dreadwind is a very depressed individual, and his stats definitely reflect that. Having such a low attack stat in robot mode and relying upon Pierce 2 to deal any damage whatsoever, Dreadwind is almost as dismal as he is.

Almost.

You see, there is a silver lining about this guy: His defense. When you attack with him in his Plane mode -- which you definitely would and I'll tell you why in a moment -- you shove a solid three defense in your opponent's face and tell them to deal with it. Three defense is honestly huge, especially in a primarily defensive Plane deck where you're likely to take even less damage than the average. It is here where his Pierce actually shines instead of being extremely underwhelming like most Pierce is.

You see, if you're playing a balanced or blue Plane build, you're going to be sitting there with a low attack trying to chew through your opponents' defense stats. Certain decks like Double Primes can make good use of their already monstrous attack stats to still beat-stick their way through defense stats, but when you have such low attack like Dreadwind here, you're gonna need that Pierce to do anything whatsoever.

But what is this leading into? What exactly does Dreadwing do?





Dreadwing is very good and you should like him too. Okay, guys, that's it, the end of the article, thanks for tuning in!

But in all seriousness, what makes Dreadwing good? Well, he's essentially a combo of Dreadwind and Blackwing, and that shows through in every ounce of his kit. On one hand, you have 24 HP and 7 Attack -- a combination of the composite parts' stats -- and he has two of every Upgrade slot. This makes it to where he can swing incredibly hard with two weapons, tank an inordinate amount of damage with multiple Armor slots, provide draw with Data Bank, keep the heat off teammates with Bravery or even use multiple Aerial Recon in his Utility Slots.

Dreadwing has a massive amount of utility and staying power on the field, even more when you consider that he is a Plane, which means that he can use Slipstream's damage moving effect as well as Bombing Run to keep him in tip-top shape. The fact that he has the incredibly strong ability to have multiple Armor cards combined with all of that healing make him last forever. The best part is that his "healing" doesn't even count as "healing". Since it's technically "damage moving", not even Torox can keep him from doing as he pleases.

Dreadwing isn't just a pretty name -- he's a freaking monster on the battlefield, and through the use of Bravery and the stacking of Armor, whoever you pair him with can attack with impunity as well.

So how do you get him into play efficiently and without either of his parts getting KO'd in the process? Well, that's easy. Blackwing has zero defense, so thus he must attack last lest you want your opponent to obliterate him. But, that doesn't mean you have to transform him second, now does it? You see, Dreadwind has three defense and Pierce in his vehicle mode, which allows him to deal chip damage while sitting pretty with his three defense. Your opponent won't be able to do much to him, especially if you happened to get an Armor on him (for instance, if you went second).

Then, the next turn, you simply transform Dreadwind and swing with the already Transformed Blackwing and by the end of the second turn of the game, you have Dreadwing on the field with little if any damage on him. This also makes it incredibly easy to get value out of him as you can attack with him the turn after, essentially gaining not just a "free attack" but essentially a "free turn" since you will be more or less untapping one of your characters through combination. This makes his offensive power incredibly apparent after you focus the character both the composite parts have been attacking.

I realize you'd be essentially making yourself "tall" by only having two characters on the field, but I wager it's worth it given your monstrous HP, powerful offensive potential and incredible defensive capabilities.

All in all, Dreadwing is a character that is both consistent and powerful -- and a common at that! What more could you want? Well, what more could you want other than needing Slipstream as a partner, that is. Those convention exclusives! Always playing hard to get!

What do you think of Dreadwing? Too powerful to handle or "too big for his britches"? Do you want me to cover him on my YouTube channel? Let me know in the comments below -- I always read them! Until next time, thanks for reading! See you then!

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Thats not all though! Also revealed on the Official Transformers Trading Card Game Facebook page is the launch of a companion App you can download on your smart phones or tablets! This news was shared with us by fellow Seibertron user, jon3.0.



Download now from your devices app store!

What do you think of this surprise reveal? Will you be using the app? Let us know in the Energon Pub and stay tuned to Seibertron for all the latest news and reviews!

2007 Transformers: the Game concept art shown off by Ken Christiansen

Date: Wednesday, February 6th 2019 3:10am CST
Categories: Movie Related News, Toy News, Game News
Posted by: Emerje | Credit(s): Ken Cristiansen on Facebook

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Views: 47,860

This one goes back a ways. Perennial Transformers artist Ken Christiansen has posted several pieces of his concept art from the 2007 Transformers: the Game to Facebook based loosely on the first live action movie. This game is notable for providing the basis for much of the additional lineup of characters found in the accompanying movie toy tie in line. This includes some really great figures like Longarm and Dropkick (the old one, not the new one). Below you'll find his thoughts on each design including some bits of trivia we likely haven't heard before.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Shockwave Triple Changer, from Transformers: the Game 2007

Here's an oldie, but one of my all time favorite designs. Time stamped August, 2006. Wow, that's getting old. So happy to see this character appear in G1 form in the #bumblebeemovie . Scroll through to get some purple action, along with black color variations for the game. Went from a 'Super Howitzer' to an Apache copter.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Swindle! Transformers : The Game, 2007

The first character I designed for the game, which turned out to be the first toy I ever contributed to. Scroll for concept art, initial concept sketch, and shots of the figure. So if this - getting to work on Transformers, designing characters for Transformers, having those designs being made into toys - wasn't enough of a mind blower for me, the figure was included in the press pack to support the film. It was fun times.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Dropkick! Transformers : The Game, 2007

The second character I designed for the game, which turned out to be another toy! Swipe for concept art, initial concept sketch, and shots of the figure. It was originally meant to be just a gray truck, but as Hasbro worked on the figure, they came up with the Decepticon symbol graphic, and asked us to add it to the in game character. Happily, because it looked awesome.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Dirtboss! Transformers : The Game, 2007

Dirtboss? That's a name! The third character I designed for the game, which turned out to be another toy! But not for Transformers : the Movie, he came in 2009 as part of the Revenge of the Fallen line. That made me happy, because he was my favorite drone design, a little scrappy guy, so I was glad to see him get a toy version.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Payload! Transformers : The Game, 2007

The second character set I designed after the initial 3 for the game, this was the kickoff, and turned out to be another toy. This one I got to do some graphics and I really got into it, made a stock armored car service logo, with a Decepticon symbol thrown in there. As fun as this one was to do, I think I like the toy even better. Except for the thing on his back. Owners know what I'm talking about.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Dreadwing! Transformers : The Game 2007

I admit, this is an oddly shaped bot mode. But the adaptation of this concept to toy was fantastic. He looked pretty good in the game too. And in the comics. I don't always nail the expression of the idea, but I love when other people can take it and make it better in different media.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Longarm! Transformers : The Game 2007

A tow truck was on the design list, so of course I wanted to do Hoist. But, they wanted to save the established character for future films (Though Hasbro did a Hoist repaint of the figure anyways, so...win!) I had to make him blue, but along the way, the tow truck scene from the movie came into play, and I was asked to repaint it to match the graphics from the film. And here he is. And again, the figure exceeded expectations, the team did such a great job of bringing it to the toy shelves.

Ken Christiansen wrote:Cement Truck! Transformers : The Game 2007

Well this one didn't get a toy, so he didn't get a name. But I colored him green so I call him Mixmaster. Of course later, Revenge of the Fallen put forth the actual Mixmaster...

Ken Christiansen wrote:Sector 7 Drone! Transformers : The Game 2007

Well,, the humans want to play too. Here's the design for the roaming drones from Sector 7.

Activision's Wii U Transformers Prime Assets (includes Thunderwing reveal!)

Date: Thursday, September 13th 2012 10:43am CDT
Categories: Game News, Press Releases, Digital Media News
Posted by: Seibertron | Credit(s): Activision

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 129,976

Just moments ago, we received the following information from Activision regarding the upcoming Transformers Prime game for the Wii U.

TRANSFORMERS PRIME(TM) Wii U(TM) FACT SHEET

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

Based on the smash hit, award-winning animated television show produced by Hasbro Studios on The Hub Network, TRANSFORMERS PRIME lets fans play as their favorite AUTOBOT characters and embark on an action-packed adventure to save the earth from the evil MEGATRON and his new secret weapon. In the single player campaign, players will step into the roles of OPTIMUS PRIME, BUMBLEBEE, ARCEE, AUTOBOT RATCHET and BULKHEAD as they explore unique vistas all around the world with brawler-style combat and diverse driving sequences. Along the way, gamers cultivate friendships with Jack, Miko and Raf - the human characters from the show - as TEAM PRIME sets out to protect mankind and eliminate the DECEPTICONS once and for all. The game also features intense multiplayer modes that allow fans to choose from 11 different TRANSFORMERS characters from both factions.




KEY FEATURES:

* Interact with TRANSFORMERS characters like never before - Designed for the unique interactivity of the Wii U(TM), the game allows fans to tilt their gamepad to steer BUMBLEBEE through a collapsing canyon, upgrade OPTIMUS PRIME’s combat abilities through their gamepad touchscreens, and more.

* Epic TRANSFORMERS Gameplay in HD - The game utilizes the power of the Wii U, featuring dazzling visuals in 1080p resolution with authentic character models straight from Polygon Pictures, Inc., the Japanese CG animation studio for the TV show.

* Jump Straight into the Action - With the humanity on the brink of survival, players will fight through heroic battles in a huge variety of 3rd person action brawling, shooting, driving and melee combat, all the while wielding the power to change form and power up each AUTOBOT with unique weapons and special abilities.

* Play as Iconic and Fan-Favorite Characters - Fans will get to play as all their favorite characters from the show including OPTIMUS PRIME, BUMBLEBEE, ARCEE and more to defeat MEGATRON, STARSCREAM, THUNDERWING and the DECEPTICON army.

* Explore a Brand New Storyline to Continue the Saga - The game centers around an epic campaign with original story set directly within the TRANSFORMERS PRIME universe, allowing players to forge close relationships with the humans Jack, Miko and Raf and embark on a journey to exotic locales such as Greece, South America and even outer space.

* Challenge Your Friends and Test Your TRANSFORMERS skills - Players can choose from 11 different playable characters from both the AUTOBOTS and DECEPTICONS factions to compete with or against their friends in adrenaline-pumping modes such as Brawl, Battle for Energon and Emblem Match.


Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
Developer: Now Production Co., Ltd.
Release Date: November 13, 2012
ESRB Rating: "E10+" (Everyone 10 and older - Fantasy Violence)
Suggested Retail Price: $49.99

Here are some screenshots that Activision provided us. One word should sum up these images ... THUNDERWING!


Bumblebee versus Vehicons!


Bumblebee in vehicle mode versus Dreadwing


Arcee battling an Insecticon


Arcee battling Insecticons


Optimus Prime sans face shield


Thunderwing revealed!


Optimus Prime versus Thunderwing

BBTS Sponsor News: G2 Bruticus, New Hasbro, SW Vintage, Enterbay, Transformers Generations Wave 2 Revision, New Transformers: Rescue Bots Hoist and Medix!

Date: Wednesday, August 1st 2012 3:01pm CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Movie Related News, Sponsor News, Game News, Collectables, Unlicensed Products News
Posted by: El Duque | Credit(s): BBTS, Bubbah, Mike Dillon, daimchoc

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 216,209

Couple of additional notes:

It has also been brought to our attention that Transformers Generations Wave 2 has been revised to be a little more collector friendly:

"Hi - we wanted to let you know that Hasbro has just announced a new and slightly different Generations Deluxe case assortment called Series 02 Revision 02. This case is exactly the same as what you preordered (Series 02), except they replace one of the two Optimus Prime figures with Shockwave. So the case now contains Shockwave, Prime, Jazz, and one each of the 5 figures that form Bruticus. We have moved all preorders over to the new assortment, which is also scheduled to arrive in September. If for any reason you wish to receive the original case that contains 2 primes and 0 shockwave, you can just reply to this email and we will switch it back for you, or you can place the new order on our site and cancel your preorder for the Wave 02 Revision 02 Case.

Thanks!
Joel
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com "

Transformers: Rescue Bots Series 5 adds two previously unknown characters, Hoist and Medix.

TRANSFORMERS RESCUE BOTS SERIES 05
Blades and Boulder are joined in this case assortment by Medix and Hoist. We have this Case of four listed at $53.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail

-------------
NEW PREORDERS
-------------

G2 BRUTICUS(BBTS SHARED EXCLUSIVE) - PREORDERS OPEN AGAIN
Did you miss Bruticus when it first went up? We have reopened the preorder, get yours now while they are still available!
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


TRANSFORMERS SCI-FI REVOLTECH #040 OPTIMUS PRIME DX
This new release of the movie figure includes jetwings, an energon axe, his energon sword, multiple hands and more. We have this piece listed at $69.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT 1/4 SCALE HD MASTERPIECE BATMAN, JOKER
Enterbay has announced two new 1/4 scale HD Masterpiece figures. Batman and the Joker from "Batman: The Dark Knight". Each will come with costume pieces and accessories, and each is currently priced at $449.99, although that is a preliminary number and may change before the figure is released. If this happens, we will be sure to notify you as soon as possible.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu ... ompany=395


BBTS USA EXCLUSIVE LOU FERRIGNO 22" MAQUETTE GAMMA GLOW SIGNATURE VERSION
This new version is in response to fan requests and features a brighter paintjob. Like the Classic version, this statue will be priced at $324.99 for a short time, and then raised to $399.99 when the non-signature version is listed. Be sure to grab yours before the increase! Edition Sizes have also been announced - only 110 of the Classic version and 65 of the Gamma Glow Version!
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


STAR WARS VINTAGE 2012 SERIES 05 CASE
This new case assortment will see limited release, but we will be able to get them for our customers. The assortment includes Clone Wars Ahsoka Tano, Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi, Naboo Pilot with Duster, Mawhonic, Aurra Sing, Lumat, Gungan Warrior, Nien Nunb, Weequay Hunter, Royal Guard, Republic Trooper and Orrimaarko. Each figure appears to be new, many with additional accessories and more. This case is listed at $119.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


TRANSFORMERS PRIME ARMS MICRON VOLUME 03 - CASE OF 300, BAG OF 6
The next wave of Arms Microns includes Ratchet Spanner, Wheeljack Kunai, Starscream Boomerang and a Dragonfly Machine Gun, which may come in two colors. We have these figures listed as a case of 300 for $799.99 or a Bag of 6 (one each of 5 + one extra if possible, otherwise one each of the four figures [no secondary color] plus two extra) for $17.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... +Volume+03


RETROTABLE ARCADE GAMES
Four new items have been listed from Arcade Factory. We have a stand-up arcade game, sit-down games in both black and cherry and even a Mini-RetroTable tabletop game system. Each unit comes with six game boards that can be easily plugged in, and each contains 2-3 classic video games from the 80s like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Missile Command, Galaga and more. These units will be drop-shipped to your home for free, contain 5 year warranties and are priced at $998.99 for the tabletop, $2498.99 for either sit-down version and $2698.99 for the stand-up version.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu ... egory=8846


NEW UNIVERSAL DESIGN JACKETS & SUIT REPLICAS
Following up on the Captain America Jackets and Suit Replica, we now have listings for the Darth Maul Leather Cafe Racer Jacket at $649.99, the Empire Leather Racing Jacket in either Black or White at $499.99 and three new Suit Replicas - Tron Legacy Rinzler, Tron Legacy Sam Flynn and Star Wars Black Stormtrooper, priced at $829.99, $829.99 and $879.99, respectively. Each Jacket comes in sizes from XXS to XXL; the suits will need to be ordered through Customer Service with the sizing per piece as shown on each item's page.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... sal+Design


NEW BOWEN MARVEL STATUES
Bowen has announced five new statues. Warpath gets a regular version at $224.99 as well as an X-Force Website Exclusive at $234.99. Three other Website Exclusives are also up for pre-orders - the Cable Action Statue at $249.99, the Doctor Strange Faux Bronze statue at $224.99 and the Hercules Variant Statue at $199.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... arch=bowen


BRUCE LEE 1/6 SCALE LIMITED EDITION STATUE
Enterbay also has the new BL-1 1/6 Scale Bruce Lee Statue on the way. This Black Label piece shows a shirtless Bruce in blue jeans with a medallion around his neck; we currently have this piece priced at $284.99, although it may decrease once domestic information is released.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


MR. SPOCK 1/4 SCALE STATUE
Hollywood Collectibles' second statue in their 1/4 scale Star Trek line is Science Officer Mr. Spock. He stands 19" tall with a phaser in hand and is listed at $279.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


HITMAN ABSOLUTION - AGENT 47 PLAY ARTS KAI ACTION FIGURE
This assassin is the subject of the latest Play Arts Kai announcement. He comes with his handguns, an alternate hand and a sniper rifle, and is listed at $64.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


RESIDENT EVIL BIOHAZARD LUPO UPDATE
We just wanted to drop you a quick note and mention that the price on this figure has dropped from $98.99 to $64.99, so anyone who was holding off for the decrease can go ahead and place their pre-order now.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


BLEACH ENCORE, DELUXE FIGURES
Toynami is reissuing the second and third series of the Bleach Encore figure line, as well as announcing a new Bleach Deluxe figure. Series 02 of the Encore line includes Byakuya and Ichigo, and Series 03 has Renji and Toshiro; each line is available as a set of two for $27.99 or singly at $14.99 each. We also have the new Bleach Deluxe 7" Ichigo with Bankai Mask listed, at this figure is priced at $22.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu ... egory=3403


STAR WARS BATTLE PACKS 2012 SERIES 1R1 CASE
The new Battle Pack case assortment includes two each of Bespin Battle and Episode 1 Duel and one each of Obi-Wan/Jango/Battle Droid and Rebel Heroes. This assortment is listed at $139.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


STAR WARS JEDI FORCE FIGURE TWO-PACK 2012 SERIES 4, 5 CASES
These two new assortments include new figures like General Grievous, Captain Rex and more. Each Case of 8 is listed at $49.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... -Pack+2012


STAR WARS ULTIMATE FX LIGHTSABERS 2012 WAVE 02 - SET, SINGLES
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul are each getting a new Ultimate FX Lightsaber. They are available singly at $44.99 each, or as a set for $87.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... ightsabers


TRANSFORMERS PRIME ROBOTS IN DISGUISE CYBRVERSE COMMANDER - WAVE 3R2, 4
Two new waves of Cyberverse Commander are on their way. Wave 03 Revision 02 includes two of Nightwatch Optimus Prime plus one each of Ultra Magnus, Ironhide, Dreadwing and Megatron, while Wave 04 includes two of Nightwatch Optimus Prime plus one each of Starscream, Ultra Magnus, Bulkhead Redeco and Skyquake; each case is listed at $64.99. We also have the Set of Bulkhead Redeco and Skyquake listed at $33.99, and Ultra Magnus as a single at $11.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... +Commander


TRANSFORMERS BOT SHOTS ASSORTMENT A SERIES 4R2, 5; ASSORTMENT B SERIES 1R2, 2
The new waves of Assortment A include older figures plus new ones such as Autobot Ratchet and more. Cases are listed at $49.99, with a Set of 5 Series 05 vehicles at $34.99 and new singles at $4.99 - $47.99 each. The Assortment B vehicles with Launchers add new figures Starscream and Ironhide, who are available as a set of 2 for $19.99. Cases of 10 are also listed at $89.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... =Bot+Shots


TRANSFORMERS JAPANESE COLLECTION: VICTORY DVD BOX SET
The American releases of the Japanese Transformers shows finish up with Victory. This box set is listed at $33.99, and is set to arrive this October.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


TRANSFORMERS RESCUE BOTS SERIES 05
Blades and Boulder are joined in this case assortment by Medix and Hoist. We have this Case of four listed at $53.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


MARVEL LEGENDS 2012 WAVE 1R1, 2R4 CASES
These two new case assortments are great ways to catch up on some earlier figures. They includes popular characters like Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor and more, and are listed at $124.99 - be sure to check them out for complete assortment lists.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... gends+2012


MARVEL SUPER HERO ADVENTURES DELUXE VEHICLE SERIES 2, 3
The second assortment includes X-Force Wolverine and Iron Man with the Hovercar and Silver Centurion Iron Man and Captain America with Quinjet, while the third assortment has Wolverine and Iron Man with the Rescue Jet and Hulk and Silver Surfer with the Mud Storm 4x4. Each Case of 2 is listed at $44.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... cle+Series


THE AVENGERS 3.75" FIGURE SERIES 4R1, 4R2, 4R3
Three new assortments of the Avengers figures have arrived, and they are perfect for catching up on figures you may have missed. They contain returning figures like Cosmic Spear Loki, Fusion Armor Iron Man, Hawkeye and Gamma Smash Hulk, along with newer figures like Shatterblaster Iron Man, Assault Squad Nick Fury and Cosmic Axe Chitauri. Each assortment of 12 is listed at $114.99, so check them all out and grab your favorites.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... %22+Figure


THE AVENGERS 8" HERO SERIES 03 - CASE, SINGLES
This case includes two of the Hulk and one each of Captain America and Iron Man. The Case is listed at $47.99, with singles listed at $12.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu ... 153&page=3


THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN WEB BATTLERS SERIES 3 CASE
This assortment of eight includes one each of Spider-Man with Spinning Web Blade, Web Slash, Web Smash, Classic Doc Ock and Classic Green Goblin, and three of Battler with Retractible Snare (presumably Spider-Man - we're waiting on confirmation). This case is listed at $112.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY HEROCLIX
Two Heroclix assortments from the upcoming Hobbit movie are on their way. We have the 24 Pieces Countertop Display at $64.99, along with the Campaign Starter Set with seven figures, plus maps, Horde tokens and more, and it is listed at $33.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... t+Heroclix


THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING DIORAMA SET 1
WETA is producing a set of dioramas due to popular demand that will show the entire Fellowship on their trek. The first piece shows Frodo, Gandalf and Legolas, and measures 7.5" long by 5.1" wide and 5.5" tall. This first piece is listed at $199.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


FEWTURE ES GOKIN MAZINGER Z, GREAT MAZINGER
Fewture continues their line of super deformed mini bots with Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. Each will include a Scrander, multiple arms, weapons and more, and they are priced at $79.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... n+Mazinger


"TED" TALKING PLUSH BEARS
The popular move has spawned four sizes of plush bears that each speak a number of his movie phrases. We currently have the PG versions listed, as the more adult version will not be available until later in the year. We have the Backpack Clip version at $9.99, the 8" Plush at $14.99, the 16" Plush at $31.99 and the 24" Plush at $59.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu ... egory=8842


GAOGAIGAR D-STYLE CHORYUJIN
The fantastic line of D-Style figure kits continues with ChoRyuJin. This piece can be built as his two separate robots, as their vehicle modes or as the gestalt figure. It is currently listed at $38.99, although that price may decrease if a domestic supply is found.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


LPS ENCHANTED STORY PACK SERIES 2, FEATURE PET SERIES 2
The LPS Enchanted line continues with these two new assortments. The Story Pack Series 02 includes the Sweet Shop and the Playground and is priced at $29.99, while Feature Pet Series 02 has Light Up Sun Bright Fairy and Light Up Daybreak Fairy and is listed at $17.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... +Enchanted


NEW EAGLEMOSS FIGURES - MARVEL, DC, DC CHESS
This month brings seven new comic figurines from Eaglemoss. Marvel adds #186 Trapster, #187 Shaman and #188 Werewolf By Night, priced at $14.99 each. DC gets #120 Kid Flash at $14.99, plus three new DC Chess figures at $15.99 each - #019 Hush Black Pawn, #020 Red Robin White Knight and #021 Huntress White Rook.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/list.aspx?list=10177


NEW ZOIDS HIGHEND MASTER MODELS
Kotobukiya is also releasing three new 1/72 Scale HMM kits from Zoids. We have the EZ-034 Geno Breaker Raven Version at $133.99, the RZ-031 Dibison Toma Custom at $137.99 and the Cannontortoise at $49.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/menu ... egory=5306


HALO LEGENDS: "THE PACKAGE" FIGURE THREE-PACK
This trio of figures comes from the animated movie and includes Master Chief, Frederic-104 and Kelly-087. Each comes with items from the movie, and we have this set priced at $33.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


FANTASY FIGURE GALLERY - LUZ MALEFIC 1/4 SCALE STATUE
The latest piece from Luis and Romulo Royo is this 1/4 scale statue of Malefic. This character is to be the centerpiece of a new multi-media project, and is listed at $329.99, $20 off the MSRP.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


NEW REAL ACTION HEROES - CYBORG 009, EVANGELION, KAMEN RIDER
We have listings for three new Real Action Heroes (RAH) figures. Cyborg 009's Joe Shimamura is priced at $223.99, with Evangelion's Asuka Langley Version Q is priced at $239.99 and Kamen Rider Agito Grand Form is priced at $236.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... search=RAH


NEW GUNDAM MODEL KITS
We have just listed eight new Gundam model kits. We have the Master Grade 1/100 Blitz Gundam at $65.99, 1/144 scale HGUC Base Jabber and Zaku Mariner at $16.99 and $22.99, 1/144 Advanced Grade Gundam AGE-2 Darkhound and G-Exes Jackedge at $11.99 each, 1/144 High Grade AGE-2 Darkhound at $24.99, and BBB SD Gundams #372 AGE-3 and #373 Musha Gundam at $19.99 and $16.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... undam+Kits


NEW DOCTOR WHO ITEMS
Four new items are on their way from Underground Toys. We have 15" Plush talking versions of the Red and Blue Daleks priced at $49.99, as well as a Vortex Manipulator & Sonic Screwdriver Set at $29.99 and a Third Doctor Sonic Screwdriver & Sonic Pen Set at $39.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... nderground


KIMBA THE WITCH - HAPPY HALLOWEEN 1/7 SCALE STATUE
This 12" piece is the first in Tweeterhead's Kimba the Witch collection, and shows the character in an orange and black witch outfit, seated on a broomstick with a full moon in the background. This statue is listed at $179.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


HERR BURKHART 8.25" BUST
Quarantine Studios' new line, The Dead Reich, starts out with this 1/4 scale bust of a German soldier. he still wears his helmet to cover his undead skull, and we have him listed at $99.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail



------------
NEW ARRIVALS
------------

BBTS EXCLUSIVE THE SHADOW 1/6 SCALE FIGURE
This fantastic figure of the classic pulp hero includes a poseable cape and scarf, along with a black suit, alternate hands, two guns, his fedora and more, with a bonus Lamont Cranston head that is only available from BBTS. We have this figure in stock now, and it is listed at $129.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


NEW TRANSFORMERS PRIME IMPORT FIGURES
A shipment of Transformers Prime figures has arrived. This one includes EZ-15 Energon Driller & Knockout at $64.99, EZ-16 Ultra Magnus at $15.99, AM-15 Darkness Megatron at $64.99 and AM-16 Vehicon Jet at $34.99, which may be an import exclusive, from what we've been able to learn. In addition to these figures, we also received AMW01 through AMW06, the first six Arms Micron figures, and they are listed at $7.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... e+Japanese


KRE-O DESTRUCTION SITE SET
This new set includes bricks to assemble four Constructions, or the mighty Devastator! It also includes a Kreons of Devastator, Ironhide and four Construction workers, construction site equipment and more. We have this set listed at $74.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


BATMAN ARKHAM ASYLUM PLAY ARTS KAI HARLEY QUINN
The Joker's gal-pal Harley Quinn has arrived. This figure comes dressed in a nurse-like uniform and includes Scarface, the Joker's cane and alternate hands. We have Harley listed at $59.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/prod ... ode=retail


MORE SDCC EXCLUSIVES - MINIMATES, THUNDERTANK, BLACK WIDOW, PLASTIC MAN
Five more SDCC exclusives have arrived from our friends at AFX. We have the Alpha Flight and Thundercats Minimates Sets at $19.99 each, the Thundertank Statue at $69.99, the Black Widow Bishoujo Figure at $64.99 and the Plastic Man Bearbrick at $19.99.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/list.aspx?list=10128


"THE EVIL DEAD 2" 7" FIGURE SERIES 02 - CASE, SET, SINGLES
This second assortment includes Henrietta and Hero Ash, and the Case of 8 (split 4 and 4) is listed at $124.99, $27 off the MSRP. We also have them listed as a Set of two for $34.99 ($4 off the MSRP) and singly at $17.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... +Series+02


STAR WARS VINTAGE 2012 WAVE 04 - CASE, SETS, SINGLES
This assortment includes one each of Jar Jar Binks, Bespin Leia, Shock Trooper, Darth Vader, Clone Lieutenant and Sandtrooper on each of Black & Red and Blue Cards. The Case of 12 is listed at $119.99, and the Sets of 6 are priced at $59.99 for the Black & Red Card versions and $69.99 for the Blue Card versions. Singles are available of most figures as well (on Blue Cards) at $9.99 - $13.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... rs+Wave+04


MARVEL LEGENDS 2012 SERIES 01 RESTOCK
A small shipment of this popular wave has arrived. This Case of eight includes one each of Hope Summers, Constrictor, Heroic Age Thor, Ghost Rider, Klaw, Steve Rogers and two of Extremis Iron Man; this case is priced at $124.99. The Set of seven includes one of each figure and is listed at $119.99, and we also have singles available of most figures, priced at $11.99 - $19.99 each.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... +Series+01


MARVEL UNIVERSE 3.75" SINGLES
A number of singles are now in stock and ready to join your collection. We have added stock for the Hulk, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man Unlimited and more, so grab your favorites now.
http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/sear ... se+3.75%22

ROBOTKINGDOM .COM Newsletter #1192

Date: Friday, June 8th 2012 6:40am CDT
Categories: Cartoon News, Movie Related News, Toy News, Sponsor News, Game News, Collectables, Unlicensed Products News
Posted by: El Duque | Credit(s): Robotkingdom

Discuss This Topic · Permanent Link
Views: 196,187

Hi,
Here is a quick update from www.robotkingdom.com.
















#1 Hot Hasbro Preorder Items!



NEW!!

Coming Soon!!

Hasbro Transformers GDO Legion wave 1 sealed case of 8.
Preorder.
Available on Early July 2012.
US$52.9/Sealed case of 8
This sealed case includes:
1 x TRA LEGION BLUESTREAK
3 x TRA LEGION MOTORMASTER
2 x TRA LEGION HOIST
2 x TRA LEGION THUNDERCRACKER
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273


NEW!!

Coming Soon!!

Hasbro Transformers BOT SHOT WAVE 4 2012 Sealed case of 12.

Preorder.
Available in mid June 2012

US$59.9/Sealed case of 12

This sealed case includes:
1 x TRA BOT SHOT BUMBLEBEE
1 x TRA BOT SHOTS OPTIMUS PRIME
1 x TRA BOT SHOTS JETFIRE
2 x TRA BOT SHOTS AUTOBOT JAZZ
1x TRA BOT SHOTS OPTIMUS PRIME CHASE
2 x TRA BOT SHOTS IRONHIDE
2 x TRA BOT SHOT LEADFOOT
2 x TRA BOT SHOTS POWERGLIDE
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273



NEW!!

Coming Soon!!

Hasbro Transformers PRIME Cyberverse Legion WAVE 3 2012 Sealed Case of 8.

Preorder.
Available late June 2012.
US$52.9/Sealed case of 8
This sealed case includes:
1 x TRA LEGION BUMBLEBEE
1 x TRA LEGION AUTOBOT RATCHET
1 x TRA LEGION CLIFF JUMPER
1 x TRA LEGION BREAKDOWN
1 x TRA LEGION WHEELJACK
2 x TRA LEGION BUMBLEBEE A2
1 x TRA LEGION FLAMEWAR
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273






Hasbro Transformers Fall of Cybertron Series 02 Sealed case of 8.

Pre-order, available mid of August 2012.

US$114.9/Sealed case of 8

Briticus Colouring Confirmed! Please check out the listing below for more informations!

Sealed case include:
2x Optimus Prime
1x Jazz
1x Onslaught
1x Swindle
1x Vortex
1x Brawl
1x Blast-off
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... &CatID=100



Coming Soon!!

Hasbro Transformers Fall of Cybertron Series 01 Sealed case of 8.

Pre-order, available early July 2012.

US$114.9/Sealed case of 8

Sealed case include:

3x Optimus Prime

3x Jazz

2x Shockwave

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_268



Coming Soon!!




Hasbro Transformers Fall of Cybertron Series 01 - Jazz, Shockwave & OP Set of 3.

Pre-order, available early July 2012.

US$49.9/Set of 3

Set include:

1x Optimus Prime

1x Jazz

1x Shockwave

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_268



Coming Soon!!




Hasbro Transformers Fall of Cybertron Series 01 - Jazz & OP Set of 2.

Pre-order, available early July 2012.

US$31.9/Set of 2

Set include:

1x Optimus Prime

1x Jazz

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_268



Coming Soon!!

Marvel Legends 2012 - Series 01 - Case of 8 with Terrax Build-A-Figure.

Restock, available end of June 2012.

US$159.9/sealed case of 8

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273










--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#2 Hot Takara Preorder items!



Coming Soon!!








Tokyo Toy Show 2012 Exclusive - Transformers Prime FIrst Edition Shining Optimus Prime.

Pre-order, start shipping on 18th June 2012.

US$79.9/pcs

Limited quantity selling in Tokyo ToyShow 2012.
It is limited to purchase 2 pcs in the convention. 5000yen each.
Name in Japanese: トランスフォーマー プライム ファーストエディション
シャイニングオプティマスプライム
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_271



Tokyo Toy Show 2012 Exclusive - United Black Optimus Prime.

FInal Restock! Do not miss out the last chance!

Pre-order, start shipping on 18th June 2012.

US$89.9/pcs

Limited quantity selling in Tokyo ToyShow 2012.
It is limited to purchase 2 pcs in the convention. 5000yen each.
Name in Japanese: トランスフォーマー ユナイテッド　ブラックオプティマスプライム
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=

Takara TF Prime AM-21 Arms Master Optimus Prime.
Pre-order, start shipping on 29th December 2012.
US$89.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



NEW!!

TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX03 ROAD MASTER PRIME MODE.

Pre-order, available October 2012.

US$62.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




NEW!!


TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX04 GREAMMASTER PRIME MODE.

Pre-order, available October 2012.

US$62.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




NEW!!


TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX05 RACE MASTER PRIME MODE.

Pre-order, available October 2012.

US$62.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




NEW!!


TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX06 BUILD MASTER PRIME MODE.

Pre-order, available November 2012.

US$62.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




NEW!!


TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX07 ASSUALT MASTER PRIME MODE.

Pre-order, available November 2012.

US$62.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




NEW!!


TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EXP02 DORZA MASTER VS AIR MASTER.

Pre-order, available October 2012.

US$48.5/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




NEW!!


TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EXP03 TANK MASTER VS MARIN MASTER.

Pre-order, available November 2012.

US$48.5/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX Combat Master Prime mode.

Pre-order, start shipping 22nd September.

US$59.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266




TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX Jet Master Prime mode.

Pre-order, start shipping 22nd September.

US$59.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266




TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED EX Roller Master VS Chopper Master.

Pre-order, start shipping 22nd September.

US$45.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266








Takara Transformers Masterpiece MP-11S Amazon limited Masterpiece Sunstorm.

Preorder, available in August.
This is the amazon limited Masterpiece MP-11S Sunstorm. It is limited to Amazon Japan and limited to Japan customers only.
We will carry a limited quantity to worldwide customers. It will not be restocked once sold out. So act fast for it!
The original price is 13650yen (with tax)
Due to the size limitation, MP-11S can only be shipped by EMS or Registered Air Mail Parcel.
USD159.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264


Shipping date updated!!

Takara Transformers Masterpiece MP-12 - Lambor.

Preorder.
Start shipping on 27th October 2012
US$78/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_272









Takara Transformers Masterpiece MP-12A - Red Alert.

Pre-order, available first quarter 2013.

US$78/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_272




Takara Transformers Masterpiece MP-13 - Soundwave.

Pre-order, available December 2012.

US$134.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_272







Coming Soon!!

Takara TF Prime AM-07 Starscream.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$46.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Coming Soon!!

Takara TF Prime AM-12 Breakdown.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$46.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Coming Soon!!

Takara TF Prime AM-13 Knockout.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Coming Soon!!

Takara TF Prime AM-14 Vehicon.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Coming Soon!!

Takara TF Prime EZ-13 Evac.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$5.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Coming Soon!!

Takara TF Prime EZ-14 Breakdown.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$5.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=












--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#3 Hot Third party Preorder items!




NEW!!


Head Robots - Blood DX upgrade kit.
Pre-order, available late 4th quarter 2012.
US$32.9/pcs
Blood DX is scaled to fit in the DX universe, the kit comes with parts to dramatically change both modes. Blood DX and his brother the larger size Blood have been released into the headrobot universe to challenge Hothead and Centurion.
-two sides face
-resculpted helmet
-two chrome plated swords
-parts for tank conversion
-FINAL HELMET COLOR IS BROWN LIKE BODY, pictures are of testshot.
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#4 Third parties items scheduled to arrive in June 2012



New!!

Coming Soon

U.F.O. DOTM leader class ironhide chromed long smokestack pair of 2.

Pre-order, available around mid June 2012.

US$6.49/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273




Coming Soon

Toy world TW-01 Hegemon.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$99.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Coming Soon


Mastermind Creations KM-03 Cyclops.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$139/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Coming Soon

TFC Toys Hercules - TFC-007 Rage of Hercules (ROH) Set.
Pre-order, available Early July 2012.

US$29.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_259




Coming Soon

DW-P05 Eyesight(Black).

Paintjob remodified.

Pre-order, restock 11 June 2012.

US$5.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Coming Soon


DW-P05 Eyesight(Green).

Paintjob remodified.

Pre-order, restock 11 June 2012.

US$5.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Coming Soon

[Dr Wu] DW-TP02 Martyr.

Pre-order, available June 2012

US$16.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Coming Soon






[Dr Wu] DW-P06 Partners.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$18.9/Set of 2

It includes 2 human figures which fits into Masterpiece.
Shipping cost is the same for 1-3 pieces for air mail parcel.
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





#5 New Arrival Items



Running out fast!

Hasbro Transformers Movie 3 DOTM - Deluxe Que (Wheeljack).

Last Restock!

US$39.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



NEW!!

Hasbro Transformers PRIME CYBERVERSE COMMANDER WAVE 3 2012 Sealed Case of 6.
Available NOW!
US69.9/Sealed case of 6
Sealed case including
1x COMMANDER STARSCREAM
1x COMMANDER DREADWING
1x COMMANDER IRONHIDE
1x COMMANDER ULTRA MAGNUS
2x COMMANDER NIGHTWATCH OPTIMUS PRIME
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273


Hasbro Transformers Prime Cyberverse Optimus Maximus.

Available Now!

US$49.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_271




HOT!!
Perfect Effect MOTOBOT PE-DX-01 RC BATTLE Ver.
Available now!

US$74.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_4



HOT!!








Perfect Effect MOTOBOT PE-DX-01 RC.

Available now!

US$74.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_4



Mastermind Creations 2nd run (Improved Version) KM-01 Knight Morpher Commander (Optimus Prime).

Restock now!

US$89.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_272



Kaiyodo Sci-Fi Revoltech Series No. 038 - Transformers Bumblebee.

Available Now!

US$49.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_272







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


#6 Hasbro Transformers Prime items




Hasbro Transformers PRIME DELUXE ASST WAVE 4 2012 Sealed case of 8.

Available now!

US$129.9/Sealed case of 8

Sealed case include:

1x TRA PRIME CLIFF JUMPER
1x TRA PRIME SOUNDWAVE
1x TRA PRIME KNOCKOUT
1x TRA PRIME AIRRACHNID
2x TRA PRIME BUMBLEBEE
2x TRA PRIME DEADEND
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_4



Hasbro Transformers PRIME Cyberverse Legion WAVE 2 2012 Sealed Case of 8.

Available Now!

US$52.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=







Hasbro Transformers PRIME First Edition Deluxe Arcee.

Available Now!

Limited stock only.

US$34.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... atID=91_10













Hasbro Transformers PRIME First Edition Deluxe Cliffjumper.

Available Now!

Limited stock only.

US$39.9/pcs



http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... atID=91_10




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#7 Japan Capsule and Candy Toys











Transformers EZ Collectiom Gum Box of 6.

Pre-order, available in late July 2012.

US$45.9/box of 6

This box includes 6 randomly packed figures out of 5 types.
Convoy/Optimus Prime
Hot Rodimus
Prowl
Megatron
Starscream

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_271



TRANSFORMERS PRIME ARMS MICRON Capsule Toy Sealed case of 300.

Pre-order, available June 2012.

US$899.9/Sealed case of 300

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



TAKARA TRANSFORMERS PRIME ARMS MICRON VOL. 2 sealed case of 300.

Pre-order, available August 2012.

US$699/Sealed case of 300

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... 2C&lang=us










TAKARA TRANSFORMERS PRIME ARMS MICRON VOL. 2 Bag of 50.

Pre-order, available August 2012.

US$129/Bag of 50



http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... 2B&lang=us







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


#8 Hot Toys items



Hottoys Movie Masterpiece 1/6 Scale Bat-Pod.

Pre-order, available Fourth Quarter 2012.

US$249.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273


Hottoys Movie Masterpiece Deluxe - 1/6 Joker 1989.

Available Now!

US$239.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... 89&lang=us









Hottoys Movie Masterpiece Deluxe - 1/6 Batman 1989.

Available Now!

US$219.9/pcs



http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... 89&lang=us



Hottoys 12" Bruce Lee in Suit

Available Now!

US$106.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Hottoys 12" Bruce Lee in Casual Wear.

Available Now!

US$106.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Hottoys 12" Sweeney Todd

Available Now!

US$159.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#9 TFC items



HOT!!

TFC Toys Iron Army Set A Tiger-1 (yellow tank) vs P-51 Mustang (grey plane).

Available now!

US$29.9/set

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_268



HOT!!







TFC Toys Iron Army Set B T-34 (green tank) VS J-7 Shinden (brown palne).

Available now!

US$29.9/set

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_268






TFC Toys Hercules - Exgraver.

Restock Now!

US$79.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_7






TFC Toys Hercules - Heavylabor.

Restock Now!

US$79.9/pcs


http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_7






TFC Toys Hercules - Structor.

Restock Now!

US$79.9/pcs


http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_7






TFC Toys Hercules - Dr.Crank.

Restock Now!

US$79.9/pcs


http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_7








TFC Toys Hercules - Neck Breaker.

Restock Now!

US$79.9/pcs


http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... atID=55_37






TFC Toys Hercules - Madblender.

Restock Now!

US$79.9/pcs



http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... atID=55_37




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#10 Other Third Partly pre-order items



Transbots Production War For Cybertron Add On Kits: The Mighty Galvertron.



Pre-order, available early September 2012.

US$29.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_269






Transformers iGear MW-03 (Mini Warriors-03) Hench.
Pre-order. available July 2012.
USD31.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264

Transformers iGear MW-04 (Mini Warriors-04) UFO.
Pre-order. available July 2012.
USD31.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264

Transformers iGear PP05M Medical Specialist.
Pre-order, delay to early July 2012.
US$109.9/pcs


http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_1








Transformers iGear PP05W Weapon Specialist.
Pre-order, delay to early July 2012.
US$109.9/pcs


http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=73_1




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#11 Hot Third partly items


MGS-03 Scout Upgrades for Universe Hound and Ravage.

Available Now!

US$27.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_263



[Dr Wu] DW-TP01 Blade.

Restock.

US$14.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


#12 Hot Transformers items



Takara DMK01 Optimus Prime Dual Model Kit.

Restock Now!
Limited supply only, last restock, no more restock!
US$159.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=

Transformers DOTM Optimus Prime Dual Model Kit DMK01 Scanning Clear ver. with Blu-ray and DVD Set.
Available NOW!
USD199.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266

Takara Tomy Transformers Movie 3 DOTM - Jetpower (Jetfire) Optimus Prime.

Last restock, limited supply only!

US$199.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=


TAKARA TRANSFORMERS UNITED UN-22 G2 Optimus Prime.
Limited restock!

US$34.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_268




Takara Reissue Bathing Ape - BAPE x Transformers Optimus Prime / Convoy Grey Camo Version.

Available Now!

Limited Quantity ONLY!
Available until stock last and cannot be restocked after!

US$219.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_263





Takara Reissue Bathing Ape - BAPE x Transformers Optimus Prime / Convoy Grey Camo Version, C8/8.5 Box.

Available Now!

C8/8.5 box, Minor Dent/Scratch on the box.

US$199.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_270






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#13 Old stock Generation items



Hasbro Transformers Scout 2010 Series 01 Sealed Case Of 12.

US$104.9/case of 12



Hasbro Transformers Scout 2010 Series 01 - Brimstone.

US$10.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Hasbro Transformers Scout 2010 Series 01 - Backfire.

US$9.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Hasbro Transformers Scout 2010 Series 01 - Crankstart.

US$12.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2011 Series 05 Sealed Case of 8.

US$119.9/Sealed case of 8

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=77_5




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2011 Series 01 - Cliffjumper.

US$15.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=77_5




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2011 Series 01 - Thunderwing.

US$16.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2011 Series 01 - Skullgrin.

US$16.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2011 Series 03 - Thundercracker.

US$17.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=77_5




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2011 Series 03 - Wheeljack.

US$17.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=77_5




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2011 Series 03 - Scourge.

US$19.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=77_5




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2010 Series 01 - Cybertron Bumblebee.

US$14.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=75_1




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2010 Series 01 - Autobot Drift.

US$24.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2010 Series 02 - Darkmount.

US$24.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Hasbro Transformers Generations 2010 Series 03 - Red Alert.

US$24.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



#14 Takara TF Prime items



Takara TF Prime AM-01 Optimus Prime.

Available NOW!

US$46.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_1








Takara TF Prime AM-02 Bumblebee.

Available NOW!

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_1








Takara TF Prime AM-03 Cliffjumper.

Available NOW!

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_1








Takara TF Prime AM-05 Megatron.

Available NOW!

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_1



Takara TF Prime AM-08 Terrorcon Cliffjumper.



Last restock!

US$32.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_270










Takara TF Prime AM-09 Soundwave.
Available now!

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=92_8



Takara TF Prime AM-10 Bulkhead.

Available now!

US$46.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=






Takara TF Prime AM-11 Arcee.


Available now!

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Takara TF Prime EZ-01 Optimus Prime.
Available NOW!
USD11.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264

Takara TF Prime EZ-03 Starscream.
Available NOW!
USD11.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264

Takara TF Prime EZ-04 Bumblebee.
Available NOW!
USD5.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264

Takara TF Prime EZ-05 Cliffjumper.
Available NOW!
USD5.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264

Takara TF Prime EZ-06 Ratchet.
Available NOW!
USD5.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_264

Takara TF Prime EZ-08 Bulkhead.

Available Now!

US$11.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=92_8








Takara TF Prime EZ-09 Arcee.

Available Now!

US$5.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=92_8



Takara TF Prime EZ-10 Wheeljack with Spaceship.

Available now!

US$52.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=







Takara TF Prime EZ-011 Ironhide.

Available now!

US$11.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=







Takara TF Prime EZ-12 Dreadwing.

Available now!

US$11.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=




Takara TF Prime AM-15 Megatron.

Pre-order, available 28 July 2012.

Voyager class.

US$51.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_1




Takara TF Prime AM-16 Jet Vehicon.

Pre-order, available 28 July 2012.

Japan mold only, USA non-released.

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_1




Takara TF Prime AM-17 Breakdown Redeco.

Pre-order, available 25 August 2012.

This is a redeco of AM-12 Breakdown.

US$46.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... CatID=91_1




Takara TF Prime AM-18 Airracchnid.

Pre-order, available 25 August 2012.

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Takara TF Prime AM-19 Gaia Unicron.

Pre-order, start shipping on 29th Spetember.

US$51.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AM-20 Ironhide.

Pre-order, start shipping on 29th Spetember.

US$23.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-01 Arms Micron Combine Sword A.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-02 Arms Micron Combine Sword B.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-03 Arms Micron Combine Sword C.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-04 Arms Micron Shieru.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-05 Arms Micron Baro.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-06 Arms Micron Tsuda 2.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-07 Arms Micron Combine Shield A.

Pre-order, start shipping on 25th August.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-08 Arms Micron Combine Shield B.

Pre-order, start shipping on 25th August.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-09 Arms Micron Combine Shield C.

Pre-order, start shipping on 25th August.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-10 Arms Micron G.

Pre-order, start shipping on 29th September.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-11 Arms Micron H.

Pre-order, start shipping on 29th September.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime AMW-12 Arms Micron I.

Pre-order, start shipping on 29th September.

US$3.99/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime EZ-13 Evac.

Pre-order, available June.

US$5.7/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Takara TF Prime EZ-14 Breakdown.

Pre-order, available June.

US$5.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=



Takara TF Prime EZ-15 Knockout and Energon Driller.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$46.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266



Takara TF Prime EZ-16 Ultra Magnus.

Pre-order, start shipping on 28th July.

US$10.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_266




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#15 Japan Crossover items

ONE PIECE DESTOP REAL McCOY 02 THEATER8 Casted by MMJ Mastermind JAPAN Exclusive Version.
Available Now!
This One Piece exclusive is from a Japan Fashion Brand . The Normal version is in full colour, and this exclusive version is in monotone colour with Mastermind JAPAN signature skull logo. This exclusive will be released in Japan during the weekend.
*Due to this exclusive item is very limited, we will honor the order only based on fast paid fast serve, and we will reserve the right to refund the order if we are not able to enquire the full pre-order amount.
US$429.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=


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#16 Japanese items



NEW!!

BANDAI "ONE PIECE EXCELLENT MODEL PORTRAIT.OF.PIRATES - SAILING AGAIN - USOP.

Preorder.
Available in late September 2012.
US$106.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273


NEW!!

BANDAI SAINT SEIYA MYTH EX - GOLD CLOTH VIRGO SHAKA.
Preorder.
Available in late September 2012.
US$81.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273

NEW!!
BANDAI S.H.MONSTER ARTS - KING GHIDORA.
Preorder.
Available in September 2012.
US$122.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273

NEW!!
BANDAI FIGUARTS ZERO (ONE PIECE) - HANNYABARU.
Preorder.
Available in September 2012.
US$31.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273

NEW!!
BANDAI FIGUARTS ZERO (ONE PIECE) - SADY.
Preorder.
Available in September 2012.
US$35.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273

NEW!!
BANDAI SUPER ROBOT CHOGOKIN - DAIJUJIN.
Preorder.
Available in late September 2012.
US$59.9/pcs
http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... tID=41_273

BANDAI SOUL OF CHOGOKIN -GX-60 GOD SIGMA Japan version.
Available now!

US$269.9/pcs

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... =us&CatID=





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And, don't forget to check our Just List Items & Restock items!

http://www.robotkingdom.com/services/es ... 72&lang=us







Robotkingdom Crew

www.robotkingdom.com