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Blurr and more revealed for Wizards of the Coast's Official Transformers Trading Card Game

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#Sideways# wrote:Ah yes, the proverbial "cats and dogs" as it were, the Autobots and Decepticons follow a very gray, very thin line between friend and foe in the Transformers Trading Card Game. In fact, one of the most prolific decks at the moment is Optimus Prime fighting alongside Nemesis Prime, which is ironic in every sense of the imagination.

There aren't many mechanical problems with this, game-wise -- after all, your opponent is the enemy, not a faction of "bad guys". But flavor-wise? It's like mixing Pepsi and Coke (or as I like to put it, making Pepsi slightly less awful), shrimp on pizza, orange juice in milk.

So, Wizards had three options. One: Make a rule change to force mono-faction builds. Two: Make "fake synergy" where you have no other choice but to play mono-faction builds. Three: Make mono-builds enticing with special cards but not to the point that they nerf the multi-faction builds.

Thank god they chose the third option.

_________BATTLE CARDS__________




"Who's scruffy lookin'?"


Scoundrel's Blaster is a card that certainly has a name that plays the part. I mean, when you play a card and you get to say the word "scoundrel" in an unironic sense, you're going to have a good time. But is the card as good as its name?

Well, it's kind of... Meh. The green pip makes it at least viable, but at the end of the day, it's a Primary Blaster that can give a very situational Pierce 2. As you may have heard me say before, I don't like low Pierce damage. There isn't too much point to it in most instances of the game -- if you're hitting for low enough damage to need that low of a Pierce number, you probably shouldn't be playing the characters you are.

The only thing I can think of that would definitely make use of this is a Combiner list. Combiners -- as per my playtesting -- have very, very low damage in the early game and even well into the mid-game. Without proper support, they will sit there doing very little for you.

With this, their low damage output becomes at least tolerable until you can combine them all and potentially have multiple instances of this card on them. But again, that's just pure conjecture at this point.

All in all, it's an okay card. I don't think it's bad; I just think that most lists won't be making too much use of it.



"The question you have to ask yourself is, 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya? Punk?"


As with the Scoundrel's Blaster, this card has a baller name -- that isn't very well backed up by its stats.

I'm not going to go into much detail on this one as it's not that relevant given it's roughly the same card as the Scoundrel's Blaster. But, that being said, it should also be noted that Decepticons have a heavily armored deck in Tanks, where smaller damaging lists like Combiners would have a rough time dealing any damage whatsoever to them. You could potentially play Noble's Blaster in an Autobot Combiner list to try making that matchup better, or other similar lists.

But the thing is, that's just one example. I don't think it will be prolific enough of a deck to be overly meaningful in the long run to play these cards, but they're very cool cards to have at the back of your mind just in case you think it might come up.



"This is bad comedy."

Decepticons, oft looking longingly at the Matrix of Leadership to light their darkest hour, simply couldn't compete with the utility it provided for Autobot decks. In general, the community couldn't really think of many things to remedy this idea -- the Dark Spark, perhaps, with a defensive boost instead of the Matrix' offensive one?

Well, look no further than the Decepticon Crown to answer those wishes. This card might not seem like much at first, but being a White/Green pip makes this a very interesting card combo that will definitely make its way into almost every Decepticon Combiner deck and several Decepticon mono-faction builds like Insecticons.

What's that I hear? "What is this over-glorified Data Pad doing on my screen?" Well, get out of here. How dare you denounce this great card to my face? Let me explain why I like this so much. Not only does it give the bearer Plan 1 (essentially a topdeck rigging effect, where you can flip what you want when you attack), but it gives your entire Decepticon team Plan 1. That makes me swoon. Too easy it is to sit on a huge hand and have nothing to play, with everything you need in your deck. This way, you pad out your attacks to hopefully increase the odds of you drawing what you need, and you also add a lot of potential damage to your attacks.

I mean, how often have you drawn Peace Through Tyranny or Improvised Shield and not played them? This seeks to curb that effect. Definitely a card to watch.



There's confidence, and then there's foolishness. Knowing the difference makes all the difference.


So this card is really, really good. Not gonna lie, when I read this card, I thought it was even better than I think it is now. I had the same reaction to Brainstorm that I had with this, and the big difference? I think I'm right about this one.

See, Brainstorm is simply "play two more Action cards", which you need to have in your hand if you want to make the most of it, whereas Confidence is "draw and discard two cards and play another Action". Sure, you're taking a net loss in cards in hand, but you're using this card to dig for the card you need right then instead of having to wait until the next turn.

Ever had a moment where you say, "God, where are my I STILL FUNCTION! or Dino-Chomp! right now?" With Confidence, you get to dig for it, and then when you draw into it, instantly play it. It's so, so good. Heck, you can draw into another Confidence and chain Confidence if you really want to dig for something specific.

Seriously, I can't say enough good things about this card. It has such good synergy with Optimus Prime -- Battlefield Legend, Dinobots and Cars just off the top of my head. I can't wait to see what you can do with this card with a Combiner, or even a Titan.



Rumor has it that Swindle once sold someone to themselves.
Oddly enough, he ended up overvaluing that trade.


Swindled is the second of faction exclusive Actions, and is arguably the veeeery slightly worse of the two. Like above, I love this card's draw effect, but the big difference here is the New Designs effect where you get to attach an extra Upgrade.

Honestly, the only thing that makes this slightly worse than Confidence is that there are just so many good Action cards in the game that Upgrades need to have a lot of punch in order to be worth the investment of your Action card for the turn. I mean, would you rather draw an extra card during your next turn with a Data Bank or resurrect the dead?

Yeah, I thought so.

But that being said, this is a very good way to attach an early Data Bank. Early Data Bank is never to be trifled with, and I honestly love the card very dearly in many of my lists. So, with that thought in mind, Swindled is a very good card to skip the "feels bad" turn of playing a Data Bank to no effect, since the turn you play it you don't get any rewards.

You can't chain it like you can if you get lucky with Confidence, but then again, you probably won't need to. If you play this card during your turn, you probably have a target for your Upgrade in mind, and in-hand.

All in all, this card is pretty much just as good as its sister card -- but perhaps "good" isn't the word to be using when comparing them. They're both good; it's just that they're different.



Thunderbolt and lightn-- Wait, I already did this joke!
... I guess I stole my own THUNDER! HA!


Erratic Lightning is a very good card, especially for a common. This is the first we've seen of a negative effect that reduces your armor instead of perhaps damaging you in recoil -- looking at you, Static Laser of Ironhide. But this effect? This effect is waaaay better than Static Laser, and for very good reason.

See, a lot of aptly nicknamed "Orange Crush" decks rely very little on defense to win the game. Insecticons come to mind at this thought, with one to zero Armor being the average. To say that Skrapnel -- who has zero Armor -- doesn't care if his Armor drops at all is an understatement.

Most instances of decks that would want to use this card won't really care about the defensive drop, but here's the thing: This card is more unflattering for defensive decks than Static Laser. A defense drop can be more lethal than predamaged characters in certain lists, and it further polarizes the playstyles and card pools which is, in my opinion, a good thing. It makes people have to be more inventive, and defensive decks can't just be defined as "Orange, but slow this time."

Keep an eye on this one. It's going to be one to watch.



"Ah, yes, I see the design flaw. It's especially weak to repeated, blunt physical trauma."


Hooooooooooly crap. This card is so, so good. Most games have a natural flow, a natural progression of events. Generally, characters get slowly upgraded with slowly give their players a growing advantage in the game. This card, revealed by Wossy Plays on YouTube just dumpsters all that hard work your opponents put in to their field.

Now, it should be noted that it doesn't say Armor, Weapons and Utilities -- it says "or". But generally speaking, discarding all of a certain Upgrade is almost just as good as discarding all of them depending on the board state. In fact, early board state is generally homogeneous in terms of Weapons or Armors, so that puts even more power into this card.

I love this thing, probably more than I should given I haven't playtested with it yet, but in theory, this card is absolutely nutty in the right circumstances.

_________CHARACTERS__________




"OHMYGODOHMYGODIFINALLYGETACARDINTHISGAMEITSABOUTTIMEIWASWAITINGAGES
TOFINALLYGETACARDANDWHYISMYROBOTMODEVANILLANOTHATSNOTGOODWHYDOYOU
HAVETODOTHISTOMEATLEASTMYCARISCOOLIGUESS"


Well, Blurr said it himself -- and I couldn't agree more. But in case you can't read or don't want to read Blurr's speech pattern, let me spell it out for you: His robot mode is awful, but his vehicle mode is really, really interesting.

Blurr, coming out of the Wreck N' Rule YouTube channel , shows us something we haven't seen before: Dual Attacks. That's right -- when you attack with Blurr in his vehicle mode, he generally gets to attack again. Now, he has three attack in this mode, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can't deal moderate damage, especially to undefended targets that your opponent would likely be saving, like Arcee.

He does "meh" damage in his vehicle mode, but thanks to the fact that he's a car, you can kinda go ham with him with all of their support. Turbo Boosters and Start Your Engines make him far more consistent than you might think upon first glance, and that makes his vehicle mode effect frankly fascinating to try and pull off.

But if I could ever put my finger on what might push him out of the run for viability, it would be his frankly dreadful point cost. It's 12! It's so high! This limits your team to very, very few options. Even if you wanted to run Thrust with him to give him that extra edge in his vehicle mode, you would end up running Scamper to play that third character and believe me when I say that it never feels good to play a Metroplex character without Metroplex.

But that being said, he isn't without friends, and there are plenty of six to seven star Cars to go around. Perhaps I haven't found the right companions for our speedy friend yet, or perhaps they haven't been revealed, but I can forgive everything about him because of one simple fact: He's a Common, and you can't expect the meta to form around one of them.

This guy probably won't see too much play, but there are definitely going to be people to try him out because of his popularity alone.


_________CONCLUSION__________


Nearly everything here reinforces my statement about Wizards knowing what they're doing when it comes to faction balance. They really seem to have their wherewithal about them, a plan, a direction they want it to go. Everything is very well thought out, and I can't help but to smile when I think about how well balanced it really is. Though there were some rough patches throughout Wave 1, Rise of the Combiners really livens up the metagame and I can't be happier for it.

Thanks again for reading my article, and as always, check out my YouTube channel to hear my thoughts on varying deck archetypes! I'd love to have you!

Now that we've seen quite a few cards, what has been your favorite thus far? What do you hope to see in the future? Are you happy with the game balance or do you want to see it go in another direction? Let me know in the comments below!

Acid Storm Art and Thrust, Nova Star Revealed For Transformers Trading Card Game and More

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#Sideways# wrote:


Rarer than a console that doesn't play Skyrim.


We're back again with some new scans! These scans are almost all thanks to the TFW2005 podcast, WTF@TFW, and the official Facebook page! Wizards, of course, having reached out to several content creators to help reveal several cards.

If you noticed above, you might have noticed that we finally have the scans for Acid Storm, revealing his rarity as a Rare! These are roughly as rare as a Mythic from Magic or an EX from Pokemon, with somewhere around two to five being in each box. Acid Storm is a surprising addition to the roster, with a very useful ability to dominate several bits of the meta. If you'd like to hear my full thoughts on him, check out his reveal article here!

__________CHARACTERS__________




Squidhead.


Squi--Er, Thrust is another plane coming out of the WTF@TFW podcast, and dear me, I actually love this guy. Now, his stats aren't too much to write home about. His attack is middling in vehicle mode, his robot mode is just as average, his HP is just about as average as you can be, but the thing about him that I love the most is his vehicle mode's ability.

You see, adding your damage to your other character's attack actually helps you deal more damage than just attacking with each character alone. Why? Well, say you're attacking a character with 3 Defense with -- for this example alone -- Kup or someone else who has 3 Attack on your list. He has 3 Attack, so does Thrust. Assume the flips cancel each other out, so their three damage goes into their three defense -- in other words, no damage comes out of either attack. But, when you add the damage from Thrust onto Kup's attack damage, your damage would then penetrate their armor and deal damage.

This is fantastic for more than that reason, too. Take Grenade Launcher, for example. Grenade Launcher increases Thrust's damage by 4, making his damage 7 -- but now, his tapping ability doesn't trip the Grenade Launcher's self-scrapping effect, meaning he gets to keep it for when he attacks, or taps again. But now you're adding 7 damage to something -- and what could you possibly add that damage to?

How about Ramjet, with his own base 7 attack? Now, you're swinging for 14 with very little effort. The amount of effort that other decks to do that much damage compared to your own is well worth tapping Thrust. But here's the thing about that -- since you're attacking with two characters at once, you're essentially playing Tall since you only have at most one attack left in you. You would need to play multiple untapping effects for Thrust, just to make it a little more difficult for your opponents to punish your playstyle.

All in all, I think Thrust is a very, very good addition to the game, and I can't wait to see what power that Thrust will be able to put in Ramjet's hands. I'm also sitting on the idea that Dirge -- even though we have no confirmation that he will be in this wave -- will likely add another area to this archetype that I can't even begin to speculate.



Part car, part truck, all waifu.


First off, if you thought that Rodimus Prime was going to be the first Truck/Car combo that we were going to get, Novastar would need a word with you. Okay, a little context here:

Back in the earliest days of the game's release, there was a meme around Team-Up Tactics that was even reflected in the FAQ. The meme pondered what would happen if a Car/Truck combo would be targeted by Team Up Tactics, which had a different effect for either of the two. The answer? You would do both effects. Everyone was somewhat excited -- getting to Pot of Greed and heal 2 in the same turn was kind of an interesting prospect.

Everyone assumed it would be Rodimus, but how wrong we were. Novastar comes in like a lion, and with her, come a few interesting thoughts. One: She's the next meme character, taking the reigns from Sergeant Kup from the previous set. I mean, I think they even share an alternate mode. It's uncanny. Two: She's vanilla.

It brings up the vanilla character debate again, with wondering if using Team Up Tactics alone is a reason enough to use her in a deck. Honestly? I'm not quite sure what to think about her. My first reaction is "she's terrible", but my second reaction reminds me of the untapped potential of the Truck archetype, and that she can take advantage of the Car support.

She can pull Cargo Trailers, attack for a sizable amount given her high attack, not take a lot of damage and heal it off thanks to a high defense and the ability to use Team-Up Tactics, and then get to use Start Your Engines to untap again. It's very, very interesting -- I'm not quite sure if it's enough to get her into the meta, but she shouldn't be written off simply because she lacks abilities.

__________BATTLE CARDS__________




"Bad boys, bad boys / Whatcha gonna do? / Whatcha gonna do when I come for you?"


Bad Attitude is another card coming out of WTF@TFW and I personally think that this card does belong in several lists, but my favorite part about the card is the implications that it carries.

First, to the card's effects. It's essentially a combination of Strafing Run and Repair Bay, which could be used in Planes or Tanks to positive effects. I would prefer that it have a pip, a blue one to be more specific, but the effects that it brings are very niche for the decks that might use it. For instance, if Planes were to use it, it would be sort of redundant because of their reliance on Bombing Run.

It's kind of a goofy card that might find its uses in certain places, but I'm not convinced that many lists will be able to find room for it. The fact that it doesn't have a pip makes me concerned that adding it into a deck will make it less consistent in terms of attacking or defending. But, that remains to be seen.

Something that might very much enjoy this card are Decepticon Combiners. Healing one from each of your characters is a very good effect when cards like Armed Hovercraft and Photon Bomb can make your Combiner take 15-18 damage indirectly. Bad Attitude gives them a piece of their own medicine while healing your combiner by 5-6 damage before you Combine.

Combiners might actually be the best users of this Action, and I actually really like the options that it brings to their lists.

But the thing I like the most about this card? Wizards of the Coast know that people can mix-and-match factions, and that some more lore-focused players really dislike that. And, instead of forcing players down a pipe, they are simply making it more fruitful to keep factions together instead of mixing the proverbial mashed potatoes and peas on your plate.

It might not be for every list, but the lists that can make full use of it make use of it to its fullest.



"Evasive maneuvers, Mr. Sulu."


Evasive Maneuvers might just be a better Blast Shield. I'm not quite sure, but it might be. Let's look at the math for a little bit.

Blast Shield is an Armor that has a blue pip -- same as Evasive Actions -- and it gives +2 Armor. Evasive Actions gives 3 Tough, which is a random outcome. You could get 7 Armor off the top of your deck, or you cold get only 1. With Tough 3 you're probably going to end up erring to the former, but the randomness puts me off a bit when you consider Blast Shield's confirmed +2.

The most interesting thought is you could use this in Nemesis Prime as a very good way to mill your deck. Reinforced Plating still might end up being better due to its consistent defensive output, but let me know this: What about playing both? It'd be like playing Flamethrower and Grenade Launcher -- if we can play two Weapons, why can't we play two Armors?

Just a thought.

__________CONCLUSION__________


Thrust makes plenty of new, potential strategies, Novastar makes things more interesting for Trucks and the Battle Cards seek to supplement several archetypes that are forming up in the metagame.

These cards are evident of a paradigm shift in the Transformers Trading Card Game. A shift from crossing streams, a shift from mixing your potatoes with your peas. A shift from playing Autobots and Decepticons to making a homogeneous list. Wizards is aiming to pull off something that most early card game creators cannot not do: An easy transition. Most of the time, a fledgling creative director would simply make a rule change, or simply make "fake synergy" that forces certain playstyles.

Dragon Ball is one of the biggest abusers of this idea. Their power creep made more and more broken combos to where people couldn't play anything else than what they, the developers, intended. It's something that has a stranglehold on the game's health.

Wizards seeks to curb that by putting forward these new ideas, by making it fruitful to play tribal instead of mixing chocolate and vanilla. I only hope that they make it fruitful enough that the lore-minded players are satisfied.

Deluxe Insecticon Venin Revealed For Transformers Trading Card Game And More.

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#Sideways# wrote:
__________CHARACTERS__________




"Like... A turd! In the wind."


Veno-- I mean, Venin was revealed by VectorSigma.info, a Transformers Trading Card Game competitive article website. Wizards of the Coast has really been fostering the community with these reveals, going to Kotaku, Wossy Plays, now even Wreck N' Rule and others. Hey, Wizards! I have a YouTube channel, too! Let me reveal some, too!!

Anyway, Venin is an odd bird when it comes to Insecticons. Insecticons deal a lot of damage very quickly, but can't take any punishment whatsoever -- at least, that's how things used to work. Venin looks to change that. He has a very disruptive playstyle with his bug mode -- something that is quite unlike other Insecticons. In fact, I would argue that he belongs in a defensive list with Bombshell (despite his vanilla nature) and Ransack with some spare room for Star Cards, but I haven't done any playtesting in that regard so I wouldn't be able to tell you one way or another.

His bug mode has a very interesting ability that adds to his defensive control playstyle that combos really well with Bug Bomb, a Utility that has most of the same effects as Venin. You would be able to play an I STILL FUNCTION!, return Ransack from being, well, sacked and attach a Bug Bomb to him. He would then attack for seven, then die again, discarding three cards from your opponent's hand. That's kind of really nutty. Keeping them there is going to be more difficult, but it pays off when you see Venin's robot mode.

His robot form allows you to give all of your characters Pierce 4 as long as your opponent has no cards in hand, which allows you to deal a considerable amount of damage to Tall decks like Combiners and Titans. He's a very interesting deck concept that really makes this whole "Defensive Insecticons" thing that seems to be just on the horizon.

He's a niche character -- and I don't think he'll find a place in the mainstream Insecticon Swarm decks -- but I don't think he's all that bad for control decks.

__________BATTLE CARDS__________




"Where was the kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!"


Mounted Missiles is another so-called "Star Card" that we're getting in this next wave, revealed by Wossy Plays on YouTube! I gotta say, love this card. Being a third card that could be a double orange pip makes me very happy, and the fact that it can be attached to keep that +2 Damage is very exciting. The fact that you can attach it in your Utility slot makes it even better.

You won't ever be able to play three of these in decks like Insecticons or Dinobots, but having a seventh double orange card in the deck is never a bad thing.



"A'ight, time's up, let's do this! LEEEEEROOYY! JENKIIINNNNS!"


This card is revealed by the Wreck N' Rule YouTube channel, and might I say that Reckless Charge is freaking insane. It's like a better version of One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall. I mean, I get it, OSSOSF does direct damage to your target, but Reckless Charge is an orange pip that deals technically more damage not counting defense. Of course, with defense things get a little math-y, but I'm not going to bore either of us with the details.

Reckless Charge is a very good card for a few decks. Insecticons love this card, Dinobots love this card -- pretty much any aggro deck love this card. But something that I find very interesting is that Optimus Prime -- Battlefield Legend loves this card more than anyone else. Before, OSSOSF wouldn't boost his damage if you flipped it off the top of your deck with his attack and played it. Now, not only do you do +4 damage, you also are getting an orange pip on the top of your deck so you're essentially doing +5 damage.

That damage is astronomical for Battlefield Legend. You deal an absurd 13 damage before counting any weapons. Sure, you deal 3 in recoil, but there are very few things that can survive Optimus' attack when you swing like that. Makes me sweat a little, I'm not going to lie.



What makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.?


Wossy Plays gives us another card reveal, and this time, it's finally time to give your Specialists a Pip Boy! I mean, just look at it. I want to listen to Big Iron on it all day, although let's be fair here, I would just end up getting nothing but Johnny Guitar instead.

Jokes aside, this Pip Boy has a white pip, boy, making it the third card for Specialists that allow them to play free cards, the others being Multi-Tool and Multi-Mission Gear. This one, however, is definitely very strong, unlike Multi-Tool. Multi-Tool is redundant -- I mean, why play an extra upgrade by playing an upgrade when you could just... Play that Upgrade? -- but this allows you to essentially draw a card and play it while still giving you +1 damage in your Utility slot.

This is a very powerful effect. Nevermind what random card you might end up playing off the top of your deck -- you can rig that card with Planning effects. Cards that draw one and Plan 1 can look at the top and make sure you really want to play it before you get to play it for free. This is something I absolutely adore, and Field Communicator is definitely worth a spot in any deck that has a Specialist.



Now look upon the face of terror as another poor victim pulls his fifth copy of Sergeant Kup from his booster packs.


Courtesy of TableTopGaming.co.uk, we have a couple of reveals for the next wave, and first up is Enemy Combat Analysis. ECA is kind of an odd card, if you want my opinion. It is at least a very niche card in Combiner lists as it makes the mirror match far better. Having a card like this that gives you incredible advantages against the mirror match is cool, and in Pokemon I often find that people tech in one or two cards to make the mirror less of a coin-flip and more of an autowin.

It's interesting in Combiner lists because they're some of the only ones that can consistently pull off this effect, given that nearly everyone on the enemy Combiner team will have the same point cost as you. I mean, put it this way. You attach this to Headstrong, right? He has Brave and three defense. Now, with ECA, he defends against his counterparts with five defense. That's more damage than most all cards in the mirror can put out in the early game, and that's a very good thing.

Now, outside of Combiner lists, I can't see it getting played all that much unless you're afraid of the mirror, but in Combiners, I would definitely consider putting it in your list.



Focus Fire? Yeah, I play Overwatch Competitive -- it doesn't exist.


Focus Fire is another card coming out of TableTopGaming.co.uk, and this one is sort of an Action card version of Cargo Trailer. I have mixed feelings about it, but I do think that certain decks can make massive use of it. Naturally, decks that can make use of it the most are decks that have high bold, as its Green pipped nature allows you to dig through your deck and amass them.

Part of what I like the most about this is the fact that you're eventually going to build up the three of them in your hand, pretty much no matter what, and that makes me very excited because you will eventually build up to a fantastic Bold 9 turn. See, this card has the same stacking effect that Cargo Trailer has, where the more you play the more exponential your growth. It makes me very excited to see where this will go, as Insecticons, Metroplex and even Dinobots despite their constantly tiny hand.

The best part about this is that it's a green and orange pip. Most green pips are solo green, meaning you don't get any offensive or defensive boost when you flip them. But in this case, you get an offensive boost when you flip it and you still get to put it into your hand afterward. I very much enjoy this card, and in Bold-based decks, you might find that you want to play this card, too.

Of course, after the reveal of Acid Storm, I worry for the success of Bold-based decks like Dinobots and Metroplex. Simply killing him without your bold is harder than you might think, even with his zero defense, and when you have a lot of double orange in your discard pile, he might just be able to heal himself completely with some fancy footwork.

__________CONCLUSION__________


The TFTCG is shaping up to have a wonderful second expansion, with a good emphasis on helping past archetypes and giving tools to help make certain matchups better. Rise of the Combiners is going to be a very good expansion for the game, and if the support for Combiners and previous archetypes continue, I think it can only get better.

I just hope that power creep doesn't take yet another game from me, like it did Dragon Ball. I'm not worried, though -- Wizards seems to be doing a fine job with balance. In a recent interview, one of the chief designers of the game opened a document (that only he could see) filled with cards three sets in the future. If that doesn't tell you that they have a plan, then I don't know what else would.

Another thing I can definitely commend Wizards of the Coast for doing is that they are constantly trying to foster a community through letting certain content creators reveal certain cards, even article writing websites like Vector Sigma. Wizards is doing an excellent job so far -- and I can't wait to see what they do next.

Pre-Orders and Gallery For Bluefin Transformers Star Saber and Bumblebee Collectibles By Flame Toys

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3A Movie Blitzwing gallery and pre-orders go live

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Bluestreak and more revealed from Transformers TCG Wave 2: Rise of the Combiners

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#Sideways# wrote:It's the most wonderful time of year -- in other words, it's time for more spoilers for the next Transformers Set! Of course, with a new set means new stuff, and in this case, we have new characters, rule changes, new keywords and an official statement on the use for the green pips!

__________Rule Changes__________


So, normally, the rules read that once a character is KO'd, you can't use them for anything. Generally, when they're KO'd, you can't transform them, attack with them or use any ability. Before, you had to use "I STILL FUNCTION!" to bring someone back to life, then transform them, and let them die at the end of the turn.

Now, though, when you transform for the turn, you can transform a KO'd character. This is phenomenal news. Cliffjumper requires Cars to be in the KO Pile, where -- and chiefly of these -- combiners require all members to be in their robot modes in order to combine in the first place. This means that, once a character is KO'd in their vehicle mode (for instance, a character with Brave like Headstrong), then you can transform them in the KO pile to finally get that combination off.

It's actually fantastic.

No longer do you have to spam "I STILL FUNCTION!" to get your characters how you want them, now you can just transform whenever, wherever you want!

__________Green Pips__________



Everyone's going green these days.

Okay, so, if you didn't read my edited post the other day, you would not have seen what green pips do. So, very recently, WTF@TFW did an hour-long interview with the developers, who revealed some very interesting information, including a new character (which we'll get to later). One of these things was a clarification on the green pips.

Green pips activate when you flip them, and when you do, you may choose to scrap a card from your hand. If you do, you may put that green pipped card into your hand.

This is fantastic news because it makes the game more consistent and way less reliant on draw to get some specific cards, like Combination Enigmas which are confirmed to be all at least in part green pips.

Have you ever had a moment where you accidentally mill the card you've been digging for all game? This is the effect that seeks to curb that. Sometimes, it was horrible where you could discard two out of three Cargo Trailers and suddenly your deck falls apart. It gets worrying when you discard your important cards.

When you need it and you need it now, green pips are your answer.

__________Characters__________



Bringing flip-flopping to a whole new level.


Bluestreak was one of two cards that Wossy Plays, a fellow YouTuber, got an exclusive on. If you'd like to hear his impeccably British opinion on the matter, check out his video HERE!

But you're here for my opinion, and who am I to withhold that?

Well, sorry to say, I'm just not impressed by Bluestreak here. He has a cool gimmick. If you flip one of each, you get to flip to your alternate mode, swapping your zero defense for a whopping four defense in your alternate mode. This defense is probably the best part about him, I'm not gonna lie. His attack is middling, his ability is daunting at times and his eight-star cost makes him a hard sell in comparison to other Cars.

Maybe it's just me, but when I have a car on my team, it has to hit hard and draw harder. Bluestreak does neither of those. That being said, he has access to all the Car support which is honestly the best support in the game, at least at this time of writing. But Bluestreak does have potential.

If you whiff with him, he's dead, but something fascinating about him is the ability to play him in a Cliffjumper deck. There are several effects that can rig your topdeck, and even if you do whiff, then Bluestreak will end up fueling Cliffjumper's high attack stat.

Of course, there are probably better cars to play, but Bluestreak isn't the worst one. In other words? He's no Deadlock!



"I don't like that word, 'insane'. I prefer the term 'visionary'."

For the second exclusive that Wossy got, he got access to the second common Megatron card! Again, you can see his thoughts on it HERE.

So, as for my opinions, what do I think of this new common? Well, I think this card is probably the best Megatron second only to Living Weapon. He's lightyears better than Decepticon Leader, despite Decepticon Leader's innate Upgrade scrapping ability and ability to gain high levels of Pierce. But here's the thing. This Megatron is insane -- pun intended.

First off, in his robot form, you have a draw ability that is always good in Transformers, and even better in the Tank archetype. Megs here can attack, pitch an Armor and then draw two new cards, potentially one of those pesky Hunker Down you've been digging for the entire game. But the scrapping of Armor is always good in Tanks thanks to that Hunker Down, and it's even better with this Megatron.

Megatron can use his alternate mode ability to play an extra card, probably a weapon or a Crushing Treads to make your offensive capabilities skyrocket. But the best part is, you can use that with Hunker Down. You can use it to attach that armor you scrapped (and probably the other Armor that you flipped), then flip Megatron to play a second Upgrade onto one of your characters and then finally attach a third Upgrade, fully upgrading someone potentially, with one card play.

Tanks got a massive buff with this Megatron alone, and I cannot wait to see what else that gets brought to the table for them in the future. After all, they are one of my favorite archetypes at the moment.

Acid Storm -- Toxic Terror

Alternate Mode:

Plane - Ranged
3 Attack / 10 HP / 0 Defense

"When you flip to this mode --> Heal one damage from Acid Storm for every Double Orange card in your opponent's Scrap Pile."

6 stars

>>>>>>>>>FLIP>>>>>>>>>

Acid Storm -- Toxic Terror

Robot Mode:

Ranged
2 Attack / 10 HP / 0 Defense

"Your opponent cannot use Bold."


Whoa, that's toxic!


Acid Storm was one of my first G1-themed toys back in the day. It was the Universe mold for Starscream, and he remains one of my favorite Transformers toys. He was well-painted, and I had a thing for camo back in the day so he got all the sweeter. So, when I heard that there was going to be a Transformers TCG, I got my hopes up for my favorite toy to finally make it into the lime-light. Wave 1 was a tease, but wave 2, thanks to the WTF@TFW podcast, has made my dream come true.

Unfortunately, we don't have a single picture for Acid Storm, but the developers revealed his stats and text in the interview and I've transcribed them here.

Acid Storm is the killer of Dinobots. Dinobots use a massive amount of Bold to deal a massive amount of damage, but Acid Storm's corrosive weaponry stops that from happening. No amount of Bold will keep you down -- this 6-Star splash-in is going to ruin Grimlock's day. Planes got a huge buff with this guy, as Skywarp was depressingly average in the deck. But Acid Storm takes the normally bad matchup of Dinobots and has the potential to make it a fantastic matchup. Really and truly, I am excited to see what Acid Storm can do when put to the test.

Sure, his stats aren't too much to write home about, and his plane-mode's ability is mediocre given his awful defensive capabilities, but his robot mode is invaluable. I recommend placing Heroism on someone else, like Starscream, to keep Acid Storm alive during the game, lest you want to give Grimlock his Bold powers again.

But it's not just Dinos that hate him, it's Bugs. Insecticons make use of high bold as well, dealing usually low damage until their Bold racks up. If you end up facing off against an Insecticon swarm, make the switch to Acid Storm and watch as they start to flounder in their hopelessness.

I can also see using Acid Storm in a Nemesis Prime or Cosmos deck, where the big strategy revolves around a singular entity to pull out wins. All in all, I think this guy is the best card I've seen in Wave 2 as of the time of writing. He's just so good.

__________Battle Cards__________





Thunderbolt and lightning! Very very frightening!


Bolt of Lightning is an interesting addition, and I love it. Bolt of Lightning deals 3 damage straight with nary a downside. You normally only see that on One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall, which deals 3 damage back to you in recoil.

See, I misspoke about the "nary a downside" thing because it does have a "downside": Taking up a Star value. You see, Bolt of Lightning is one of several new cards we're getting that actually cost points to put in your list. Normally, you would have a team that maxed at 25 stars, but your characters could only reach 22 stars. This remedies that lost value in spades, filling out points and filling out your deck with more powerful cards.

As for Bolt of Lightning, I can definitely see it getting played. We don't know how many cards have these star costs, and it would only be logical to assume that there are more than two in this set, and this is one of the better ones I've seen. Sadly, it has no pip so I am a little reluctant to play it, but the rewards of dealing three indirect damage to something without taking any yourself is going to be a hard sell not to play in lists that can spare the point values.



Mounted Missiles is the second battle card revealed by Wossy Plays (revealed HERE!) and might I say that this card is one of the nuttiest Battle Cards I've ever seen. Remember when I said that it would be a hard sell not to play Bolt of Lightning in your list when you have spare points? This is what I meant.

See, unlike Bolt of Lightning, Mounted Missiles is a third -- count them, third card that has double orange pips. This is absolutely absurd. Being able to play a third card that has a double pip like this is one of the craziest things I've seen. Aggressive decks that can spare the points are going to be doing so much damage now that they have access to another double orange.

What's that? I haven't even spoken about the card's bonkers effect? Oh, sure. See, this card can be in your Utility, Armor and your Weapon slots, which means (if I'm not mistaken) you can stack three of them on the same character and reap their rewards. Best part is, it has a static +2 damage effect, so it's never a dead card in your hand because you're not losing that double orange effect.

Mounted Missiles is absolutely bananas. Unfortunately, not every deck can play it to its fullest potential. In fact, most lists can't play it at all. But the ones that will rise up and make the space will love every moment of this card, and all that sweet, sweet damage they're about to deal.

__________Conclusion__________


Rise of the Combiners is looking to shake up the meta, and I can think of no better way to do that than Acid Storm and the point costing Battle Cards. There are so many potential uses for these cards that it's insane. Imagine, playing three of each and simply dropping a character from your list.

These reveals change everything, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that.

But that's not all. There's one more reveal from the WTF@TFW interview that is monstrous -- it's that there will be one combiner that won't be 25 stars in total, and others that won't be five or six-man rosters. Meaning, you are going to be able to play either these new Battle Cards or another character in your list and make out to be the easiest combiner to pull off. The only question is, who is it? Sky-Lynx comes to mind, but there are other options on the table.

What are you hoping to see in this set? Let me know in the comments below!

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