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After a tease in Series 8, SS4 Vegeta has finally made his debut in Vermilion Bloodlines and of course has already received an overwhelming amount of attention from the DBSCG community. This attention has a lot to due with the leader’s built-in ability to ramp on both sides just by dealing damage, which definitely seems really powerful when you have the right payoffs. Series 11 certainly delivered some powerful cards, but it seems we’re still going to be reliant on some tools from the past to get the job done.

Let’s get into our list:

An Argument for Bulma, Wife of the Prince + Super Blutz Wave Generator

As we all know, the “machine” tends to theorize and test hundreds, upon thousands, of iterations of decks before the best version comes to light. This statement isn’t meant to lead you to the version posted above being the best version, but really I just want to call attention to the nuance of Bulma + SBWG and how it has a much needed way of both creating urgency for the opponent and allowing you to draw more of your threats/answers more often.

Turn 1 on the play or draw, if you play Bulma, it is not only going to tutor SBWG, it activates it as well. Then, SBWG draws you a card upon activation. This means Bulma is thinning a card out of your deck, then allows you to draw an additional card. This already moves you through two cards in your deck, plus your leader swing. As you can see this small ripple has the potential to then create a butterfly effect, since now you’ve just increased your opportunity to draw the cards you need/want throughout the remainder of the game.

Additionally, once you start activating SBWG each turn, it forces the opponent to swing at your leader, otherwise you’ll self awaken. This creates urgency, which allows Vegeta to access his awakened side much quicker and we all know that’s exactly where we want to be. All of this upside, and the subsequent copies aren’t even bad to draw since Bulma either thins your deck again or SBWG acts as a simple cantrip.

The Art of Manipulation

As mentioned in the beginning the hype around SS4 Vegeta has been the fact that the leader has the built-in ability to ramp on each side, but what if I told you that sometimes just the threat of ramping is so much more powerful than actually ramping? Once you begin mastering which turns you need to ramp and which you don’t, based on a given match-up, you’ll quickly start realizing that your leader swings often trade for a card, and in some cases high value negates or combo pieces the opponent was relying on.

This threat of ramping creates a tension that usually always works in your favor and additionally gives you the ability to control the opponent’s hand size and overall defense across the course of the game. This is why Vegeta can’t be all about ramping, he has to also play a normal game as well. This reality that gets created for the opponent plus the blunt force turns with UI Kamehameha places the opponent on the back-foot to where they never truly know what your goal is, when honestly you’re just trying to keep the game going since your deck has, on average, more powerful cards.

The Setup Man

First off, this card does not need to be banned.

The role this card plays is gigantic for the overall success of this deck. Yes, ramping it out early is powerful, but honestly it just does so much work for you by providing four, relevant bodies that can pressure the opponent and take the pressure off of you when you’re trying to find more threats throughout the mid and later parts of the game.

Obuni is our setup man by acting as a boxer throwing body shots throughout the course of the game. The longer he stays on board, or the more copies you play, the more resources he eats up while you’re still heading towards the endgame.

Commence the Endgame

Upon its release you all know I could not stop gushing about Turning the Tide. The complaints about Gogeta, Hero Revived ultimately led to a ban and players then wondered if blue would ever receive a powerful “boss monster”. Turning the Tide has [Deflect], puts the opponent, and yourself to 0 cards in hand, and is a 30k [Critical] attacker – #snapped.

If Obuni is our setup man, then Turning the Tide is definitely our closer. With an established board there are few ways to survive a turn where Turning the Tide hits the table. This is the finisher ramp/control players live for.

Role-Players and Unisons

Ultra Instinct Son Goku, the Unstoppable saw a huge drop off in play once ramp strategies lost their viability. With the resurgence of ramp, along with hard to stop threats, we have the opportunity to go back to playing this card which honestly feels great in a ton of spots. The ability to get around a [Deflect] threat is so powerful and for just four energy I am more than happy to include it in our build.

Baby, Golden Avenger is definitely the most obvious inclusion. It is a [Counter: Counter] that truly negates the counter and comes into play, or has the option to be used as a [Counter: Play] for a threat cost 7 or less that then comes into play and places any opposing threat on the bottom of its owner’s deck, and draws you a card. It also has the upside of being a 30k [Triple Strike] attacker. Nuff said.

Zen-Oh is the most obvious inclusion of the two cards pictured since it does absolutely everything you could ever want in a deck as energy hungry as this one.

SS4 Son Goku, Protector of Earth on the other hand has been receiving little to no attention, which baffles me. The turn it comes down it basically shuts off any Battle Card attacks, has a ton of markers on it, and then you gain access to two amazing minus abilities. The first lets you filter by drawing two cards and then bottom decking the worst card in your hand, and the second is a minus two that bounces all of your opponent’s Battle Cards back to hand, ignoring [Barrier]. SS4 works so well in tandem with Turning the Tide as well. Let’s say on your 6th energy you play a SS4 Goku for 5 and leave an energy open. Then you trigger the [Auto] and then use the minus two ability to bounce all of their threats back to hand. Now, they can’t really attack with Battle Cards at all, you will probably have access to a God-Sealing Trunks, and then the next turn you just Turning the Tide to send all of those cards you bounced back back to the owner’s deck and start using the minus 1 ability to draw cards. THE JUICE!!!

Sideboard Talks

3x SS Gotenks, Absolute Unison – I enjoy bringing this in as a secondary 4 energy play to Obuni that gives me whatever I need more of at that time between removal or card draw. Additionally, I like to bring Gotenks in against Dredgeku as a sticky, hard to remove threat that provides pressure and utility.

2x Betrayal of the Master – With the new Gogeta 6 proving to be incredibly powerful I feel it is needed to address it somewhere in the 65 and Betrayal offers me that. Additionally, I feel it is really important to keep the deck pure, mono blue so I have no possibility of a flip being missed.. ever.

4th Bean – Season to taste. Whenever, wherever we’re meant to be together. I’ll be there and you’ll be near, and that’s the deal my dear.

3x Vegeta, Savior of the Future – Series 10 Unisons are still vulnerable to one energy double strikers.

SS2 Trunks, Heroic Prospect – You NEED this against Dark Broly and the card is such a huge boon against most aggressive strategies.

3rd Ultra Instinct Son Goku, the Unstoppable – Blue mirrors and decks that contain hard to address threats. If you have access to this card in those spots, it will be a huge swing in advantage for you. This is why we give ourselves the 3rd in the board.

2x SS4 Son Goku, Energy Annihilator – If you’re on the play against the blue mirror, a slower deck like Syn Shenron, or a deck that can’t truly counter this card you’re going to want it. Just having a way to set back the opponent’s energy is so powerful in the right match-up. I definitely don’t think this deck could ever live in the main deck or come in on the draw, but on the play, in those match-ups is where it has the potential to shine.

Conclusion

SS4 Vegeta is definitely going to be a leader that people turn to in the early weeks of the format since it is so unique and offers you access to some very powerful plays. There is so much room for exploration and innovation with this set that this is possibly the most excited I have ever been for a set release. It is great to finally have true ramp back again along with all of the new archetypes that Vermilion Bloodlines is offering us. If you get a chance I would love to see the lists you’re all working with, feel free to comment a link to them down below or just send them to us via the contact page.

#scrubfamisbestfam #KTHXBAAAIIIIIIII

Hey Scuba Scrubs! 

We’re back with another deck profile and this one brings back a lot good memories. Red Gogeta Br back in Set 6 was one of my favorite decks and it was so unappreciated/unrepresented, it gravitated my attention even more. So much so that I was 2^nd in Swiss and top 16 in Niagara Regional and Top 32 at 2019 Nationals. Now, Set 11 is coming out In October and Red Gogeta is back! Let’s check out this set 11 Brew.

What does this deck do?

The decks game plan is straightforward. The goal is to resolve as many SSB Gogeta, Technique Unchained as consistent and as much as possible. The card is so flexible that it allows you to close games in a hurry by swinging 55k to leader and adds a bunch of Markers on your Unison or essentially removing 3 Markers when attacking a Unison and allows amazing protection when unchecked on the opponents turn. Once it’s protected with Strategies of Universe 7, you can follow up with another chain or go into SSB Gogeta, Fusion Onslaught.

Mulligan Strategies: 

My goal is to have Birth of a Super Warrior, a Unison (preferably Gotenks, Earth Shattering Might) and Gogeta, Fusion of the Gods in my opening hand. The reason why I want to keep the 5 drop Gogeta in my hand is that it essentially draws 3 new cards with the Leader Skill and the Union-Fusion skill and you should see a 6 drop by turn 3 so it’s not necessary to have all the pieces in your hand at the start of the game.

Card Choices

1 Cost Red Extra Cards: The New Gogeta Leader is unique that it tutors 1 Cost Red Extra Cards from the top 7 cards from your deck. This allows you to find Frieza’s Death Ball, Violent Rays, Wolf Gang Fist and most importantly Birth of a Super Warrior. All these cards are super important for the deck to function properly. Birth of a Super Warrior has the flexibility to run less Goku BR’s and Vegeta BR’s since you can utilize the same 2 over the course of the game for Union-Fusion compared to the Set 6 variants when you needed to run 12-14 copies of Goku Br’s and Vegeta’s BR’s to have the consistency of your leader skill’s plus targets for Unison-Fusion in hand. One card that has been overperforming is Wolf Gang Fist. In the early turns, this card puts in so much work because it essentially is saying “my Unison is surviving another turn” which is really important and super energy efficient to play the Unison on turn 2 compared to turn 3.

Unison Cards: The preferred Unison to have is Gotenks, Earth-Shattering Might. Every turn it survives provides additional card draws or a way to close out the game in a hurry. On turn 3, you can play this Unison and awaken and still play the Gogeta Chain to give it 4 Additional Markers (1 from Unison Auto, 1 from 5 drop Gogeta, and 2 from Gogeta 6 drop) and have the ability to close out the game with the -5 Skill to make the Unison a 30k Double Strike Dual Attacker. If worse comes to worse, you have Gotenks, Unison of Rage which can be done with the same sequencing as the other Gotenks Unison but now you can use the -2 skill to start picking apart your opponent’s hand and making informed decisions which feels really good.

Veku, Contents Under Pressure: This is a free Union-Fusion skill that can be used in the early game to apply pressure to leaders or unisons while drawing cards from your leader skill and adding a marker to your Gotenks Unison. It starts to lose value in the later turns in the game but sees big returns in the early game since it essentially is saying get a free 15k attacker that can attack Active Mode Battle Cards and draw a card for the turn which is pretty deece.

Gogeta Chain: I’m not going to lie, when first reading the chain, it can seem underwhelming when reading the green cards right beside it in the previews.However, when playingthe new chain, it feels very strong and can provide so much value on both players turns. Gogeta, Fusion of the Gods let’s you see 3 new cards with Union-Fusion skill and Leader skill while essentially clearing the board which mitigates the need SSB Kaio-Ken Son Goku, Concentrated Destruction. By the way, the card has deflect and can’t be KO’ed which gets around the majority of the counter play cards in the game. Then you’re able to go into SSB Gogeta, Technique Unchained for zero energy that provides flexibility that “allows you to close games in a hurry by swinging 55k to leader and adds a bunch of Markers on your Unison or essentially removing 3 Markers when attacking a Unison and allows amazing protection when unchecked on the opponents turn.” (quoted from earlier) In the later parts of the game, SSB Gogeta, Fusion Onslaught is the perfect way to close the game because your opponent is basically playing with 2 less life over the course of the game which forces your opponent to stop any swing from 4 life to 2 life which can put them super behind in hand advantage. Just a reminder that you can’t play the 6 drop and the 8 drop in the same turn since the 6 drop states you can’t play battle cards for the reminder of the turn.

SCR: The best SCR for the deck (as of now) is SS4 Gogeta, Peerless Fusion not just because it’s a Gogeta card but because Black Smoke Dragon would seem very hard to pull off. You could go with either one because they’re both really good, but it just comes down to preference and card availability.

Zero Copies of Toppo, The Righteous Aid: It’s crazy to think but we live in a world now that Toppo, The Righteous Aid cost too much energy and seems to be more of a liability when your opponent can fight right through it (Bibidi Super Combo) or has a Counter Play card that doesn’t let that auto activate. Also, the debut Violent Rays has a lot to do with it as well. Violent Rays cost 1 less energy, has far more less cards that can interact with it, and has the ability to stifle an opponent’s turns. I appreciate the fact that Violent Rays stops anything 20k or higher power while Wolf Gang Fist, Frieza’s death Ball, Is that all you Got, Gogeta 6 drop can deal with anything that’s 15k or less power.

Conclusion: 

I’m very pleased in the direction that Red Gogeta takes in S11. It feels very strong and it has all the makings of a Tier 1 deck. I think building the deck go wide-aggro deck makes it a worse version of AoD and the deck shines more of a Mid-Range deck that has the capabilities to close out games if your opponent doesn’t have an answer to your explosive turn. I hope you enjoyed the deck profile and let me know what you think!

KKKkkkkkkkkkk, Byyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Arguably one of the most popular characters in all of the Dragon Ball universe finally returns to the DBSCG – Majin Vegeta!!!

There has been a ton of hype around this leader, some videos even eluding to it being the one of the best leaders in the game, and ultimately I think this leader helps add a much needed burst of aggression to Green as a whole. After Rise of the Unison Warrior’s release, a lot of the green strategies centered around just being mid-range/hand destruction decks that all revolved around the same set of cards, whereas with the release of Majin Vegeta we have the ability to play either an aggressive/combo oriented strategy, or we can actually play an aggressive/mid-range strategy that isn’t as easily disrupted. Today I want to dive into the more mid-range variant that highlights the power of Majin Vegeta’s awakened side.

The List

The first thing that stands out is that yes, we move away from the Quickening engine completely and instead we’re leaning hard into all of the Majin Vegeta’s that were revealed in order to maximize the leader’s awakened side. Honestly, the card that has truly shined the most is the new negate that is receiving little to no hype at the moment – Mighty Strike Prince of Destruction Vegeta.

It’s a 2 cost negate that when you negate searches the top 7 of your deck for Dark Broly, Overwhelming Evil and additionally has the [Servant] skill which gives the card plus 10000 power, with the downside of it not being able to ready during the charge phase. This means you get a 25k beater that you can swing with, tuck it with your leader skill to draw a card, and then on your awakened side, pay a green energy to play it from the bottom of your deck so you gain access to another swing – lather, rinse, repeat.

The more obvious, good card that people have been playing, Prince of Destruction Vegeta, Life and Death, also has the potential to take over the game once awakened due to the same interaction. You bottom deck it with your super combo, tap a green, play it from the bottom of the deck, and then now you’ll always have access to a 1 energy, 30k double striker that draws you a card and readies whenever your opponent activates a [Counter] skill. The draw a card from [Overlord] is such a huge boon whenever you’re trying to preserve your life total – that honestly has been a huge factor in preventing that feeling of the walls closing in that we talked about on the last Corona Cast.

Ratios and Turn Progression

For 1 drops that we actually pay for, we play a total of 14. If Demigra is in your opener, it is always your turn 1 play. If it isn’t then it really comes down to play/draw. If I am on the play, I prefer to play a Zarbuto if I already have a two drop Vegeta in hand, or if I don’t I will opt for Babidi, Evil Mindsnatcher. On the draw, I will either play Babidi, Evil Mindsnatcher or leave up energy for Earth-Destroying Kamehameha to protect life and disrupt the opponent.

Turn 2, depending on life total, if it is too high to awaken I will just leave up two for Vegeta. If it is at 7 and I have Zarbuto plus Earth-Destroying Kamehameha or Frieza, Imperial Inspiration I will play the turn aggressively and finish the turn by awakening at 5 life, readying two energy and then holding up Vegeta.

Turn 3, it really depends on life totals again. If you haven’t awakened yet, then Dark Broly – into awakening is the play. That way you can use your energy to enable your Leader’s awakened ability.

If you are awakened, then it comes down to you having a combination of Dormant Potential plus super combos to defend yourself on the opposing player’s turn. If you do, then you can still lean into Dark Broly, if you don’t then you can continue the beat downs by swinging with Vegeta 2 drop, bottom decking it with your leader skill to draw, then using your leader skill to tap a green and then replay it.

By turn 4, your plan is to either secure a large enough lead to play Prince of Destruction Vegeta, Prideful Warrior or continue the beats by recycling your Prince of Destruction Vegeta, Life and Death. All the while that this is going on, don’t forget that you’re green and you have access to the best defensive tools in the game to stay alive/disrupt your opponent.

Tech Choices

Zarbon, The Emperor’s Attendant is a cheeky way of getting to ready one of your Vegeta’s to enable an additional attack on the crack back.

Surprise Attack Frieza is just too free with cards like Frieza, Charismatic Villain and Dark Broly, Overwhelming Evil.

Another consideration, if you lean harder into hand disruption would be Son Goku, Power of Legend.

Definitely the most obvious of tech choices, but want to note how powerful it is to have either live on turn 1 with Demigra, Unison of Sorcery. It truly cannot be stated enough how powerful this feels.

Giving yourself access to drop area utility is such a boon in green. For the Greater Good picked up a ton of mileage, and 2x Roshi feels like just enough to get you there.

Sideboard Considerations

Bardock, Paternal Unison is an amazing card to pivot to against any deck that is trying to leverage the combo step more than most, this is mostly Yellow decks with Zamasu Super Combo into Arrival card or Bardock, Raider’s Warcry.

Max Power Kamehameha is your out to any large threat, including this card which is becoming quite a nuisance when testing against Red Gogeta: Br:

Dark Power Black Masked Saiyan is a great option against AoD, Vegeks, and any other deck looking to accrue advantage through non-keyword skills.

An extra For the Greater Good and 2x Max Power Kamehameha can come in when you’re in any match-up where you feel extra negates are needed.

Saiyan Instincts is for mid-range mirrors and comes in handy against Dredgeku and any other hand destruction strategy. Also, I would be inclined to bring in another Unison in that match-up since the battle card plan gets much worse.

Arena Wrecker is your tech for Invoker and works in conjunction with Demigra, Unison of Sorcery to provide the perfect amount of early pressure plus disruption.

Conclusion

Overall, I truly love the streak of aggression that Majin Vegeta has brought to green. It truly is refreshing after all of the non-interactive games played with Dredgeku/Frieza where you’re just trying not to die while whittling away at their resources and then closing the game out with a leader swing, unison swing, then maybe a finisher in the distant future. This build of Majin Vegeta offers you the high utility of green as a whole, but gives you that true KO punch that can come at any point in the game. I have truly enjoyed this version of the deck and hope you get a chance to try it out as well!

#scrubfamisbestfam #KTHXBAAAIIIIII

Previews dropped for Series 11 and the boys and I have of course been in the lab brewing, tuning, and testing these new archetypes trying to see the strengths, weaknesses, and exploits each of the new engines entail. We all had our early favorites – Zapp wanted to work on Gotenks, Frisco of course wanted to mess around with Red Gogeta, and I have been playing both Broly and Majin Vegeta trying to “crack the code” on the best builds featuring the intended engines.

Planet Vampa is a Trap

Broly’s front side ability to tutor a 1 cost extra card adds a fair bit of utility to the leader and the Series 11 reveals gave us a few extra cards to digest, Planet Vampa seeming like the most obvious to choose from for the deck. The card overall reads really well – you take a life, look at top 7, play a thing for free, and then discard a card. To put this into context, we can look at the hits and see that if you don’t hit a Paragus or Ba, you’re not going to accrue any actual advantage. If you hit a Broly, it is only good if you can go up the chain right away, and from there the biggest downside is honestly taking the life to enable something that just isn’t that powerful to begin with and requires you to discard a card. It may be too soon to tell because the set isn’t completely spoiled, but as of right now Planet Vampa feels like a trap in Series 11.

Two Chainz

One of the first things you’ll learn in testing Broly is that the deck is hyper reliant on the opening hand plus some number of consistency contingencies added to help enable the deck’s peak potential. When you open a single chain, the deck is decent but loses hard to opposing pressure plus removal or disruption. When you can go turn 1 – 1 drop into 3 drop, then turn 2 – 3 drop into 4 drop, then another 1 drop into 3 drop, you quickly notice that this is exactly how the deck needs to function to be successful. The goal when playing then becomes to on turn 3/4 to get as many swings in a possible while moving up each chain into the 5 drops and then the 6 drop. The first time you achieve this, you then get a true glimpse into why certain cards are so important versus other. Not only that, you get a good look into how the sequencing needs to work, the priorities you need to have, and of course when not to swing so you don’t leave a Broly stranded in rest mode.

The List

Consistency Pieces

Kale, Paragus, and New Model Scouter all serve the purpose of helping us get to the pieces we need. Due to this, we max out on Paragus and Kale, and play 2x New Model Scouter, since it can be tutored by our leader. In addition, we also max out on all of the Broly pieces to ensure that we are always hitting on something. As I eluded to above, the deck is so dependent on an ideal board state to be successful that you need to take every measure to help ensure you get there one way or another.

Kale at first glance comes of so “meh” but in reality it is a 1 drop tutor with the upside of requiring an attack to answer it or it just has the capability of going off and enabling a huge kill turn if the opponent does not respect it. This is why I have ventured down the path of Wolf Fang Fist as a way to protect the unison and get something out of its existence in the deck.

Defense and Tech

With the majority of the deck having to be focused on maximizing the engine, there are a few choices I made outside of Bardock the Resolute plus Intensifying Power Trunks that take into consideration the deck’s core weaknesses and attempts to address other powerful strategies within the format.

The first thing I want to touch on is the power of Violent Rays and its ability to potentially supplant Toppo, Righteous Aid as Red’s floodgate. The card as written is a 1 cost negate that requires you to discard a card and then enable the ability to stop all attacks from battle cards 20k or higher, or stop 20k unisons from attacking for the duration of the turn. From what we have seen so far, the power of the average threat has gradually increased over time so Violent Rays ability to capitalize on that for 1 energy feels incredibly powerful. Especially when speaking of cards like Grim Reaper of Justice, or the Buu Chain featured in the Majin Vegeta deck, Violent Rays completely shuts those strategies down. Ultimately though, it really just comes down to being a 1 cost floodgate which is why it is so appealing in this deck. Broly needs to stay on tempo and use the majority of your energy every single turn, holding up two energy usually means you’re losing. Also not to mention that God-Sealing Trunks or Android 13 counter: play just completely wreck Toppo.

Wolf Fang Fist is trying to cover the other end of the spectrum and give you a cheap/free way to play defense for your leader or unison, if necessary. We then play 2x Loyal Kikono as a way to act as another copy of each, which can also be tutored by New Model Scouter, so we always have exactly what we needed to buy us more time.

Lastly, we play Secret Identity Masked Saiyan, a card which has been getting a lot of attention in Series 10, in order to net some X for 1’s when we are behind or fend off some of the biggest threats such as the new Gogeta 6 drop, which is an absurd card that takes over the game and if not dealt with will kill you offensively and defensively.

Conclusion

As stated above it may be too early to tell the designation for this archetype but in practice so far it does feel like it is slightly below the new Red Gogeta stuff in terms of overall power level. This is mostly due to the deck being so weak to variance and the deck’s reliance on threats that create so much room for the opponent to be able to interact. None of the cards have barrier or deflect and the leader’s built-in redundancy on the awakened side only gets you so far. Overall though the deck is quite fun to play and has been a really cool deck building puzzle to work through. I am super excited for Series 11 and what the rest of the set entails and I truly hope to see more support for this archetype moving forward since its ability to go wide and tall at the same time is incredibly appealing for new wave aggressive players.

#scrubfamisbestfam #KTHXBAAAIIIIIIII

The past few days have been quite the experience in my own development within the DBSCG, and to be honest it came from a source outside of the game, but definitely won’t come as a surprise to anyone – I have been playing Magic Arena and man has it taken the blindfold off and allow me to come to grips with the truth, I am a dirty, filthy mid-range/hand destruction player.

The Deck I Have Been Playing

With limited resources and just a $50 investment, this is the list I have been tuning and using for the past few days. I started a brand new account (HandBanana) which means I was at the very bottom – Bronze Tier 4. I am now Gold and have just been playing a version of this deck the entire time. The reason why, it happens to be the deck that I was immediately drawn to and has been the most fun/rewarding to me.

Your turns in this deck require a lot of thought and adjustment on your part when approaching various match-ups. You spend the entire game grinding the edges trying to either snowball into a large advantage with Woe Strider and Kroxa coming down on curve or you’re abusing the power of Call of the Death-Dweller to buy you enough time by looping Scorpion and Mire Triton from the graveyard and trying to abuse Village Rites so you can dig further to your threats and/or answers. This is the type of strategy I love, just a ton of utility, flexibility, and the ability for me to use all areas of play to give myself enough opportunities to outplay my opponent’s through superior decision making at a small, incremental level.

The Truth

In Super I have a history of jumping off of decks I feel are well-liked by a large majority of people and I try to discredit them by saying they’re unfun, then I end up championing a deck that is its polar opposite, even if it isn’t actually my desired style of play. I just get so blinded by my ego at times that I end up creating a poor experience for myself instead of just playing the deck that is my preferred play-style.

A perfect example of this is how recently I have been trying to play these go-wide aggressive strategies in Super and I just end up getting so frustrated because of how “unplayable” they are. Even though I know this already, I just kept being ego driven and kept playing these strategies that don’t fit my preferred way of playing the game. It is so silly, because I have always known my preferred way to play, I just became so easily blinded just due to outside opinions and my own stubbornness in wanting to play something I felt was “cool/different” or prove that I was good enough to make X strategy competitively viable.

In the Panini Dragon Ball Z Trading Card Game I was successful off of the back of Black Devious Mastery and the Cooler Main Personality. My deck was always tuned for the meta game and the deck truly was a grinding machine that was built on snowballing into an advantage, or leveraging all of the available resources to stabilize and then snowball into an advantage.

My “best” tournament performance in DBS came at Origins where I went X-1 in Swiss and finished Top 4 playing my take on Traitor Dende. Again, a deck that was meant to grind opponents out through snowballing, or leveraging all available resources to stabilize and then snowball into an advantage.

My worst performances have always come when I choose to play something that isn’t my preferred way to play the game. I try to be something I am not, or get blinded by my ego and think I can win games with any deck, when the truth is I am just so much better when I play games that give me a ton opportunities to make decisions. I am so much more engaged, and have so much more fun during those grindy games – win or lose.

How to Improve?

Take sometime and find an opportunity to have a “reality check”. If you find yourself forcing it too much, or you’re getting more and more frustrated by your results it is probably time to step back and try to figure out why. Additionally, take sometime and go through the card pool and watch some games on demand. Figure out the cards and interactions you love and think about why those interactions appeal to you.

These were the cards in Arena that hooked me:

And after playing so much with this type of strategy, I realized that there happens to be some parallels to a popular archetype within our own game, and now I am hooked on playing, tuning, and making it as competitive as possible for my own enjoyment. Below I have two builds: the budget version is the one I actually have in paper and the version with promos is the version I test online when trying to be as competitive as possible.

When building these decks I became so excited by the interactions with Pod, the drop area, the Unisons, etc. all because those truly are the elements I find to be the most satisfying to play with. The idea of trying to snowball on the play with Frieza Unison and creating a huge lead early through abusing Pod and Dormant Potential loops to get you to the late game so you can windmill slam AoD Vegeta or Smoke Dragon gets me so juiced. Additionally, the play experience of being behind but then abusing the loops and free counters to help you claw back into it give me the feel of being in every game, which is always something I have valued when building/playing a deck.

Take sometime between now and Series 11 and try to find the cards and archetypes that get you excited. Preview season is an amazing time for that, and to be honest the Dark Broly Unison truly called to me. The card is an absolute dreamboat and I am so excited to start tuning this Frieza list to include it once the set drops.

Drop your comments below on what archetypes or cards you love the most, or just take time to comment/give feedback on all of the lists posted here today.

#scrubfamisbestfam #KTHXBAAAAIIIIIIII

Yep that’s right, Promo Gogeta is playable, scratch that, he’s highly competitive. To celebrate the release of the Anniversary Box I am sharing another list featuring my favorite card from the set – Jiren, Legend of Universe 11.

As you saw earlier this week, I believe this Unison is the centerpiece to Red mid-range strategies that lean a bit harder into being aggressive. Not only that, but in deck building, since Jiren’s reveal, I have drastically shifted my mentality when it comes to approaching red decks in order to make up for the two main weaknesses of the color:

1.) Energy Inefficient

2.) Inability to Accrue Virtual/Actual Hand Advantage

This version of Red Gogeta not only addresses those things, but it also offers a ton of synergy and is incredibly flexible by being able to be both the “beatdown” and the “control”.

The List – (Heartfelt Variant)

The first thing that comes to mind when looking at this list is that the large majority of our threats we are playing for 0 to 1 energy across the course of an average game. The only time we invest more than that is if we are playing Toppo, Righteous Aid on defense, Gotenks, Unison of Rage, Jiren, Legend of Universe 11, or Critical Combination. This is how I am addressing the energy inefficiency of the color. Instead of paying for actual Battle Cards, I am instead opting to make the opponent’s counters worse by going under them, and then investing my energy into, ideally, Jiren.

Turning the Corner

This deck truly plays one of the coolest games once it plays Jiren on turn 3 and your leader is awakened. You now have access to two Double Strikers each turn at all times and you’ll find quickly that your opponent’s Unisons will never stick.

Another powerful thing that occurs is that if your opponent plays anything 20k or less on your turn, it is dead. Yup, Jiren will give it minus 10k, and then your leader’s [Activate: Main] KO’s anything 10k or less. Now factor this in with Whis, Celestial Moderator as your super combo and tools like Frieza’s Death Ball and Yamcha, Merciless Barrage; your opponent will never be able to build a board without it being easily dispatched for little to no effort on your part.

Once you’re here the game starts becoming this awful experience for the opponent where your leader and Unison force them into an inevitable concession.

Upgrades

The list posted is built with all cards I actually own instead of playing the best/most expensive version of the deck. Honestly the only change I would make would be playing 3x Saiyan Instincts just because of how grindy some games can be. As for SCR’s SS4 Gogeta makes the most sense here since you’re reliant on your leader and Jiren more than anything else.

The List – (Jund-ish)

This version of the deck includes the Apes because this deck really is trying to play a more consistent, mid-range role. Again, note the average cost of the threats in the deck – we’re still following the same rules as before. The less you invest into your threats the worse your opponent’s counters and defensive measures become. This deck truly focuses on the resource exchanges with your opponent over time and doesn’t rely on any sort of KO punch, just one hundred leg kicks until eventually they can’t stand up anymore.

The biggest difference is straight up -4x Rushing Warrior Pan, -3x Heartfelt Plea for 3x Broly, Crown of Retribution (our Thoughtseize), 3x Saiyan Instincts, and 1x SS4 Gogeta SCR. If you’re looking to remain budget conscious I recommend 3x Frost, Before the Storm or some number of Final Guardian to be pitched to your Toppo’s for value. Additionally for your SCR you can opt for Frieza, Army Reborn or another copy of Critical Combination… or a copy of Foreseeing Hit which Mdolan2 from our Discord has been super high on.

Conclusion

This article started with “Yep that’s right, Movie Promo Gogeta is playable, scratch that, he’s highly competitive.”

Now that you’ve read the reasoning to why and have seen the lists, where do you stand on Jiren, Legend of Universe 11? How do you feel about this new wave of decks with such low converted energy costs? Lastly, what is your favorite card from the Anniversary Box?

#scrubfamisbestfam #KTHXBAAAIIIIIIII

From Irrelevant to Competitive

Rise of the Unison Warrior was a set that brought a ton of balance back to the Dragon Ball Super Card Game, and that is most evident in the amount of success green has seen since the set’s release. The introduction of Unisons, the free Counter: Play, and Dormant Potential Unleashed truly pushed the color to the top tier of competition, and now we have even a ton of decks leaning into green just due to the power level of Demigra, Unison of Sorcery and Frieza, Charismatic Villain.

With these truths alone, it is fairly safe to assume that the only thing really missing from green was the presence of cheap and powerful Battle Cards that were less vulnerable to Counter: Play/removal.

The Anniversary Box finally delivered in the form of Gotenks, the Grim Reaper of Justice.

Not only was Gotenks given to us, but the tools from Anniversary Box have truly removed Prodigious Strike Super Saiyan Gotenks from obscurity and has pushed it HARD into more competitive, tier 1.5/2 territory.

The New Tools

Alright, so we have Grim Reaper… now what? Well, Bandai gave us exactly what this deck needed – consistency. Gokule is a one energy tutor for Grim Reaper that also has the upside of paying an additional energy to sacrifice it and grab both [Union Fusion] targets needed in order to play your Grim Reaper… two energy for all of that seems deece. Next we were given Son Goten & Trunks, Faultless Youth which for one energy, and placing a life in the drop, you get a 15k body that can swing, then you have the ability to use the second [Activate: Main] to return it back to your hand and search the top 5 cards of your deck for a green <Gotenks> card or a 2 cost Unison and add it to your hand. This built-in value for a fusion target is again… deece.

Tying it All Together

Inb4 “deck builds itself, breh”

This deck indeed is a ton of 4 of’s and truly focuses on the resolution of Grim Reaper of Justice as many times as possible, so we built it accordingly. There are a few things to note here though:

4x Demigra, Unison of Sorcery – quickly becoming arguably the best Unison in the game, Demigra offers us the best turn one play in the game and when combined with an unchecked Zarbuto it allows to take down opposing Unisons before they have the chance to get out of hand. Not to mention, it enables your Frieza, Charismatic Villain, makes Dormant Potential Unleashed free, and acts as a lightning rod to help get you awakened much quicker than you would in the past.

2x Bardock, Paternal Unison – I was testing this secondary Unison slot as AoD Vegeta and to be blunt, I just never needed or wanted to play it. I would much rather play Bardock for his [Auto] and -3 opposed to playing AoD Vegeta on turn 4 or 5. Additionally, I like having the extra target for Son Goten & Trunks, Faultless Youth. I am still trying to find the best home for AoD Vegeta outside of the actual AoD deck, so stay tuned.

4x Paragus VS Any Other Choice – I tested Lone Prince for a bit, but it just wasn’t necessary, nor did I want to play it over a Gokule or Zarbuto at any point of any game. Paragus allows you to see much more of your deck to find your counters and that is exactly what this kind of deck needs. Even with Bardock Unison, the +1 just isn’t worth downgrading the super combo. Lastly, I found that triggering Power of Legend was so easy with just proper sequencing and the Leader skill so I felt Lone Prince really had no merit at that point.

2x For the Greater Good – this card is just always gas, and being able to pitch it with Dormant gives you just enough incremental value to be happy. Drop area negates are also clutch against Apex of Power and just great in general whenever you’re in a pinch.

Cell Xeno, Unspeakable Abomination – it is truly absurd how easily this deck abuses Cell Xeno. I understand the card has a hefty price tag, but combining the fact that you have the best floodgate in the game, arguably the best Counter: Play, arguably the best Unison, Grim Reapers, AND the best SCR – this deck truly has what it takes to steal a lot of games from a lot of decks who aren’t prepared for this archetype.

The Opener

The opening hand in Gotenks is everything, very similar to the Anniversary Box Vegito deck in that you need key cards in order to be able to do your thing. In these scenarios it is often best to determine your prioties:

Priority 1 – Resolve turn 2 Grim Reaper of Justice

This means that you’re going to be looking for Gokule and/or Grim Reaper, and some number of targets pre/post mulligan.

Priority 2 – Get Demigra, Unison of Sorcery or Zarbuto into play on turn 1

This is what it is. Demigra enables your best draws and Zarbuto is your best defense against opposing Unisons.

Ideal Sequence

Turn 1 – Demigra, Unison of Sorcery and tick up

Turn 2 – Fuse into Grim Reaper of Justice, Demigra or Leader swing based on hand sizes, swing with Grim Reaper once and then leave in active mode***.

***In testing the only way I have found myself disadvantaged is if I committed to a second swing while I was low on resources. You should be trying to keep your first Grim Reaper alive until you can play your next one and you want to force your opponent to either swing at Demigra or your life so you can Awaken faster. This is honestly the key, the longer your Grim Reapers live, the higher the likelihood that you’re going to win the card advantage war in the mid and late game.

Honestly, once you’ve accomplished that it is going to be a game of you dodging potential land mines while trying to whittle away at your opponent’s hand size and board presence until you can Awaken and then take over the game since your Leader’s draw 2 on Awaken plus Gokule leads to you swinging hand advantage heavily in your favor. You now get to defend yourself with Dormant, keep threats away with Gotenks and Frieza, Charismatic Villain, and cascade into more Reapers while also trying to find Cell Xeno to insure the game is over by turn 5.

Conclusion

It honestly has been incredibly cool testing and tuning this list over the past few days and I am so excited for the Anniversary Box to be released. Stay tuned as we continue to cover the archetypes being juiced up by the Anniversary Box and even try taking some of the AoD cards for a spin outside of the archetype – here’s to you Garlic Jr.

Definitely the least talked about card from the Anniversary Box, but arguably the most impactful card to be released due to its ability to bring Red mid-range decks back into the tier 1/1.5 discussion – Jiren, Legend of Universe 11 offers something that Red decks have been longing for: the perfect mid-game threat that mitigates the card advantage issues the color has struggled with for the entirety of the DBSCG.

The Stats

Three red energy gets you a 20k body that not only is a natural double striker with the plus one, but also has an [Auto] that triggers when your opponent plays a Battle Card or Unison. When that card is played, you have the option to choose it and give it -10k for the turn. This may seem small, but in practice this effect takes a massive toll on the opponent due to how large Jiren is and how quickly he accumulates counters. Once he hits the board and ticks up to four, in the majority of games I have played, he never leaves. This means you have a 20k double striker FOR-EV-VER.

Oh and let us not forget the additional upside of having a minus three effect that gives -25k, ignoring [Barrier]. This is obviously a powerful effect, especially because it can even take out pesky [Indestructible] threats like 5 drop Zamasu from Draft Box 4. Do not get it twisted though, the money is in the plus one.

Virtual Card Advantage

A topic we have covered a few times, but Jiren happens to be a unique example of virtual card advantage. The first and obvious is that he is a 20k body which means that standard attackers, 15k’s, will require an additional card in order to be able to force Jiren to lose a counter. Jiren’s [Auto] throws quite a wrench into that plan though, since if is able to hit a 25k body or less, it generates even more advantage for you because the opponent is either going to commit more cards to combo, or in the best case scenario – they are losing that Battle Card entirely. Then add in the fact that Jiren is a double striker on offense and now you start to see the value skyrocket due to the cards Jiren will be trading for. The fact that you’re going to be netting a super combo, a negate, or multiple cards from your opponent is huge across the course of a game, and just looking at recent deck lists there are not a lot of 1/10k combo cards out there at the moment which means that you’re always netting the most value out of your Jiren swings. And of course the obvious, you gain access to the free Yamcha Counter: Play which when combined with Jiren’s ability becomes quite disgusting.

The last point to touch on here is just how oppressive Jiren is to opposing Unisons. Not only does his [Auto] touch them, but pressuring Unisons with 20k double strike is just too good right now.

Homes for Our Hero

A deck that has been going through an identity crisis in Series 10, Surgeku, has finally found its way. There is no mistaking it, this is a Jiren deck, but the ability of Surgeku to dig so hard to find it and your highest impact cards just fits so well together. Surgeku struggled in S10 due to how powerful Unisons were and the fact that the best variants of Surgeku to date all centered around the combo step, not to mention the pool of Unisons Surgeku has access to was relatively poor making it so attacking opposing Unisons was almost impossible. Now though, Jiren has changed the game and Red/Yellow is so fetch.

Taking you through the list I want to point out the dirty secret to deck building in the DBSCG – EVERYTHING MUST BE FREE, CHEAP, or BUSTED.

This list thrives off of the fact that, on average, the most expensive card in the deck is Jiren. Then the next most expensive cards end up being Toppo, Beerus Arrival, Gotenks Unison, Saiyan Instincts, Saiyan Lineage, and Raider’s Warcry. After that, everything in the deck is free or cost one.

Pilaf gets a huge upgrade from the existence of Jiren. The deck was already so potent with its ability to generate in upwards of 15 attacks on a given turn, but now with Jiren you can activate your leader ability to have a 20k, Triple Attack, Double Strike body that the opponent is going to either lose to, or dumb a ton of cards trying to defend. There are plenty of other Pilaf variants out there, but I have really been trying to push the power level with the addition of Nappa Super Combo and Gogeta, Resonant Explosion.

Beerus goodstuff.dec has always been a fan favorite, but again Jiren just brings exactly what this kind of deck was missing in the past – a perfect mid-game threat to begin accruing advantage with and the ability to pressure opposing Unisons to the max.

Conclusion

I think we all can agree that the hype for Anniversary Box is real, but I will definitely be the most excited to jam Jiren into pretty much all of my red decks going forward. Red had a ton of tools before with Toppo, Yamcha Counter: Play, and Bardock, the Resolute but the addition of Jiren just pushes the power level of Red so much.

Drop your comments below on what you’re excited about with the Anniversary Box, and share your own takes on Jiren decks as we move forward.

#scrubfamisbestfam #KTHXBAAAIIIIII

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/40127319