Last time we discussed Transformers: TCG – the new card game that has many parallels between it and Magic: The Gathering, we looked at The Metroplex Pack, which introduced the new concept of Titan Cards.
Well Wave 2 is coming out now, and since we already have Titans on the board, it’s time to introduce the other behemoths from the Transformer franchise – gestalts. Rise of the Combiners will be introducing gestalt teams such as the Predacons, which looks to open up the range of gameplay even more.
However it’s not just the Combiner Teams that are being introduced in Wave 2. We are getting some other new Hero Cards as well, along with some new Battle Cards for gameplay. Once again, Hasbro has been kind enough to offer bigangrytrev.com an EXCLUSIVE SPOILER to reveal! So in this exclusive reveal let’s look at one of the new characters as well as one of the new battle cards: Dirge, Doombringer and Defensive Driving.
*Note: Like last time, no money has changed hands for this EXCLUSIVE SPOILER, and Hasbro & Wizards of the Coast have in no way tried to dictate the contents of this blog article.
HERO CARD:
DIRGE, DOOMBRINGER
I was pretty chuffed when Hasbro gave me Dirge as an exclusive reveal. Dirge was my first ever Transformer way back in the 80’s, so whilst not the most popular of the Seekers, he has always held a special place in my heart.
The Artwork
The artwork for this card was originally seen in a TF game app years ago, Transformers Legends. Though that game is dead and buried, the fantastic artwork from it still crops up here and there and has been seen with some of the collector cards that came with figures from the Titans Return, Power of the Primes and other Transformer toy lines. It’s great this artwork has seen the light of day again and Dirge looks excellent here, blasting away in his robot mode and conversely zooming off in his jet mode. The art of both modes are based on the Generations toy Dirge received back in 2010, to my mind the best toy of Dirge we’ve had (perhaps barring the Masterpiece version that came out a couple of years ago).
Card Power
The term ‘Dirge’ has to do with laments and music for the dead. And the way this card plays on the board is very appropriate for the character’s name indeed, for he kills the weak stone dead and gains power from the death of others.
Robot Mode
Dirge is rocking stats of 2 Attack, 11 Health and 2 Defence in robot mode. Whilst not staggering stats, it’s his power of Pierce 1 that makes him so valuable. It means no matter the defences up, Dirge is going to inflict at least 1 damage to his opponent, very handy if your opponent has characters that are well defended but also on the brink of death.
Jet Mode
Jet mode has stats of 4 Attack, 11 Health and 2 Defence, so much like the robot mode. The power of his alt-mode is to get an extra attack point for every character you have KO’ed of your opponent. So if you have KO’ed say 2 or 3 of your opponents Hero Card’s already, it can bring Dirge’s attack up to a power of 6 or 7.
Card Functionality
The above powers means both sides of Dirge’s card greatly complement each other. You can use the Pierce 1 of his robot mode to kill off weak opponent cards, then flip to his alt-mode in order to gain extra attack power from those aforementioned KO’ed Hero Cards. You then use this extra power to knock off your opponents healthier Hero Cards. This gives Dirge a great deal of latitude in regards to what kind of decks you can put him in. Indeed Dirge will be a real asset in particular to decks where you have other Hero Cards taking care of the major offensives and defences. Make sure you use him in the right deck though – at 8 Stars he will take up nearly a 3rd of the total stars you can use to create your team. Used correctly however, Dirge will indeed be a bringer of doom!
BATTLE CARD:
DEFENSIVE DRIVING
Artwork
The artwork for this card is actually taken from the IDW Transformers comic book series. In particular the subseries Maximum: Dinobots, published all the way back in 2008/09. The picture shows one of the Sunstreaker clones (bearing a striking resemblance to Cordon), created by Scorponok, defensively driving out of the way of a tail swipe from Grimlock. I love the fact that this card series takes its artwork from so many different sources, not just the one.
Card Power & Functionality: UPGRADE – ARMOR
It’s a good thing that these cards are intended for the more advanced way of playing Transformers: TCG rather than the basic, as there is no way my 6 year old son could figure out the power of this card, it even took me a minute of two!
Essentially this card offers extra protection to your characters when played. Whilst not defending from a direct attack, what is does do is lessen the damage taken from non-direct attacks by your opponent by 1. This can be extremely handy to play when your opponent has multiple non-direct attacks set up on the board, as they can add up and easily KO one of your Hero Cards. With this card protecting one of your characters, your Hero Card stands a much better chance of surviving non-direct attacks in order to fight another round.
So as we see, Transformers: TCG continues to expand. I personally will be hoping I find both Dirge and Defensive Driving in blind packs when they are released in March this year.
How are you enjoying Transformers: TCG so far? Would love to hear in the commments section below! And for more card reveals, check out Lisamaree on Life With Sprogs to see some great battle cards!
Related Articles:
Transformers TCG: Metroplex Pack