Well, here we go, the big info dump of Preview Season has arrived. To make everyone’s lives easier, I’ll separate what I can. Today is all about the Green and Yellow cards specifically. The Androids are back and ready to bring more support. Will they finally break out of the Ultimate Bridesmaid slot they live in? Also U11 is here and maybe, just maybe Jiren can become a living, breathing card in this game.

Android 20/Android 20, 17, & 18, Bionic Renaissance

Gero finally gets his own Leader Card after quite a while and he’s all about the Androids. A very good card advantage engine on his Front Side gives him far more card selection, being able to grab Top 3 for an Android and not needing to attack which makes being on the Play even better than usual. Also Androids will always appreciate an Untap Awaken.

His Awakened Side is relatively simple. In most cases it’s just an attack and draw which is ok. Sometimes though you get a 1 Energy Revive of a 3 Drop or Less Android which is nice, though you do lose the abilities for the turn. It’s good for Androids with passive effects that are relative on the opponent’s turn, to set up certain cards that we’ll see a bit later, or just to help a bit with Successor. It’s very on-brand for Android Leaders in the sense that they’re generally not very flashy and generally just support the archetype rather than become the focus of it. Personally I do see this eventually becoming the Android Leader of choice just because of his Front Side card selection. Especially since he can also grab the Blue/Green Androids as well, that’s a big deal since they’re still pretty damn good.

Cell/Cell, Perfection Surpassed

Okay, before anything WHAT is with that Cell Face on the Front Side? This does not help the meme of everyone in Dragon Ball being endlessly constipated.

Anyway, Surge Leader time and I will put Cell here because he is an Android thus he benefits from all the support. His Front Side effect is probably one of the more meager Surge Leader effects we’ve seen but still quite good. Just good card quality and cycling. He should have a very easy time finding the cards he wants to find. Also finally we have an Awaken Surge with a 2/2 Ratio.

Surge Effects, 4 Life which puts him on par with normal Leaders. An interesting caveat is that his effects are only an Activate:Main which separates him from the other Surge Leaders which…idk, I don’t think it was necessary. Considering the power of most Surge effects, I don’t think these would overwhelm the others if he shared Activate:Battle with them. Anyway, first effect is essentially Thalia, Heretic Cathar but for one turn. In a game with no Summoning Sickness this will be quite annoying for any opponent to deal with as it means a severe lack of board pressure. That alone may be good enough to slow the game down as Cell would like. Second one, a typical Android like effect. KO a Battle Card, rip a card out of their hand. At this point it’s nothing special.

Ultimately while I think this Cell is fine…I still think 20 will be better than him just because of better card advantage. I feel like there will be better Leaders for generic Green/Yellow builds and 20 just lets you have extra cards whereas Cell breaks even. The only way I think Cell will get there is if the format develops to the point where that first Surge Ability becomes really crucial but even then it’s not a guarantee it’ll buy you turns thanks to things like Arrival or potential untap effects. The other reason he would get there, is the chain upcoming.

Quick Sweep Android 17

This is the start of…well it’s hard to call it the New Cell Chain, since we already have a new Cell Chain and this one will take multiple turns to develop. I guess the Unthinkable Chain works considering the end of it. Anyway, this is the start. No Battle Cards on board, play this out from Drop for 1. Obviously only as good as the Chain so let’s move on.

Cell, Android Absorber

This is the only reason really to use Cell over 20 when it comes to the new Chain (yes I know Cell can just dump cards for the Chain, but in most cases it’d better to actually get use out of them in other ways). You need Cell Leader to use his first effect and his first effect is the only reason to use him. Second part of chain, have a 17 (99% of the time the above one), play this to make the 17 a 3 Drop. Oh look, we have two 3 Drops on board.

Cell, Devourer of the Masses

Just enough to use the Successor of this. Use Successor to put this in, get a kill and a free discard and with the above Cell effect get a 3 Drop 18 on board to set up the final step of the Chain. If the opponent gets cute and kills this to avoid it, you draw 3 which is automatically great value for you no matter what.

Also do note, this card can be used in any deck, he has no Leader restriction. Considering Successor 6 seems to be a standard in this set it’ll be interesting to see how he stacks up to the others. He might actually be the best one to use regardless because his effect is potent, he’s hard to kill by battle and then gives you absurd value if killed in any other way. The only downside is that he doesn’t have his own sac trigger but it’s a small price to pay.

Android 18, Covert Combatant

I’m listing this here as it’s “technically” a part of the chain, or what the developers intend for you to use but Deadly Defender is pretty much always better than this since they both have Barrier and are 3 Drops but DD provides crucial defense and is a lot less caring of losing her abilities on your turn. Regardless, now you have a 6 Drop and a 3 Drop on board. Hmm, wonder what the final step is.

Cell, Unthinkable Perfection

The final step. Unsurprisingly like his predecessor, this involves ripping apart a hand but instead of the opponent keeping his three best cards and losing everything else, this is the opposite. You, likely, getting rid of their 3 best cards while also getting crucial hand knowledge while even negating Leader effects though in most cases that won’t matter too much but it’s a good bonus to have.

Now to talk about the Chain itself. Obviously it’s nowhere near as fast as the original, that required only one singular turn to get it off and get you down to 3 cards but it also was and is incredibly vulnerable to disruption and required you to play subpar cards on average and risked bricking. This Chain is far more resilient, there aren’t many points the opponent can disrupt that aren’t incredibly easy to recover from or provide you with card advantage. The biggest issue though is 9 times out of 10 you’ll have to wait an additional turn before finishing the Chain off and while killing off the 6 Drop Cell provides you with all the card advantage in the world, that’s not the same for whatever 18 you use. This wouldn’t be a problem with Barrier but there are a fair amount of anti-Barrier removal in this set (one of which in this very chain) which makes that a frustrating experience.

It might be good enough just hitting up to the 6 Drop considering the low commitment cost, since it ends up providing you good removal and a Deadly Defender on board and if the opponent gets rid of your 25K poking stick, you draw 3. If they don’t, you can use it as Successor fodder after the fact. I feel that Unthinkable Perfection might be better as a tech option for these lists, rather than the goal. If you can get it off, fantastic. If not, no worries. There may also be potential in some mixing with the Starter Deck Cell Chain to set up explosive turns. A lot of brewing and testing will be had to find optimal goals and ratios.

Cell Jr., Minions Unleashed

Onto the other Android stuffs. This card is essentially a free Cell Jr. Token generator. If you really want to make Cell Jr. work, this is a card you want for absolute certain. If not, not worth it but it’s pretty good in Limited. It’s a free 10K body if you’re Cell.

Android 19, Energy Fiend

Free cycle every turn. It’s fine, okay for loading the Drop a bit more if need be. Not something to go out of your way to play but fine filler.

Android 16, Prototype Power

This card I’m not particularly sold on. 2 Energy to kill a 2 Drop is not a good rate in this game, even ignoring Barrier (especially since we have about 500 things ignoring Barrier this set). His punisher mode also isn’t particularly good since it’s very easy for the opponent to play around if for whatever reason they feel they need to get rid of the 15K Body. Okay for Limited, otherwise pretty meh.

Android 20, Mastermind Architect

This card is just an outright value card. Sure, you can use it to set up future Successor plays and the like but considering how loose the restrictions are on what you can bring back and the skills remaining intact, I feel it’s just great for good value. It’s a card that only gets better as we get more 17s and 18s and oh god this sounds like the exact things I said about the OG Leader and it got like…one outright good card to abuse. …well I still have faith in this card!

Android 18, Under Your Skin

Eh. Ehhhhhhh. I mean, if you can board this it can be a nuisance on the board, but for 4 Energy it’s very underwhelming. I feel you have to be playing this off of the above Android 20 to be worthwhile, just because it’ll be cheaper and come with a 17. Probably good enough for Limited though, she essentially fades two attacks a turn.

Android 17, Titan Toppler

This is just a specific hoser for the growing amount of ways to cheat big Battle Cards out. It’s pretty meh against Successor just because you’re leaving a body on board that they can just use to fuel another Successor play but against a lot of things it’s not too bad. I can easily see this in the Side Board in any Android Leader deck and depending on format maybe even mained just because it’s a free body that can help cripple a board.

Hell Fighter 17, the Neutralizer

The Neutralizer is right. This card is kinda like Cold Bloodlust but with quite a few differences. Costs 1 more, but can hit any Battle Card rather than just the one being played and even works when he dies for any reason on top of being able to be used proactively and as combo fodder. Now…I don’t believe it’ll stop Put in Play effects from going off due to the wording. It doesn’t negate the skills of a card as it’s being played, but targeting a card that’s already hit the board so that is certainly a downside but that’s a good one considering he’d arguably be busted otherwise since he would also ignore Deflect. I still expect this to see a lot of play, possibly over Champa the Trickster depending on the meta and it also helps that it does not require a Multicolored card in the Energy so you can even use it in Mono-Yellow if you so desire. I think this card is fantastic.

Super 17, Total Eclipse

Getting down to the nitty gritty for Androids, we have a Super 17. He’s interesting, again more about value than anything. Get him on board he’ll draw you a card, tap anything down which is great. He can do this on every attack which is also great, has Barrier so he can set up future Successor plays or his own attacks. If the opponent does get through the Barrier (which again, not that hard thanks to this set) or you send it off for Successor that also triggers his effect. For a simple value plan I think he’s great, especially if you aren’t all in on the new Cell shenanigans. I think Android 20 is in on this personally.

Super 17, Hell’s Storm Unleashed

This card is basically a souped up version of the previous card. Comes with Critical to be a more vicious attacker. Comes with an ability to force the opponent down to 4 Life which I don’t see coming up often but it is good to have, especially against something like Hatchiyack which is adept at staying above 4. He taps two things down as well. Successor for 3 is a good cost, though saccing for 9 can be rough.

All that being said…compared to what I said about Total Eclipse, I don’t like this card that much. As much as I’ve basically gone to hell and back stating it’s easier than ever to get around Barrier, it’s still a gate the opponent has to get through to get at Total Eclipse. Successor 6 is much easier to obtain than Successor 9, and Total Eclipse triggering even when he dies I feel gives much needed security. It also doesn’t help that we have a Successor 8 that costs 3 that happens to generally end the game on play so it’s generally not worth going the extra mile for a Successor 9. I think this card is actually just tech, maybe just Sideboard tech at that, specifically for decks like Hatchiyack where his Life effect is far more relevant.

Flash Bomber

This card has the potential to be incredibly good. Giving Critical onto Battle Cards that don’t have the ability inherently is rare, incredibly rare so any card that can do that I’m gonna keep a close eye on. I think this card is maybe a couple sets late on being an absolute staple, but I think ignoring this card is a mistake. Just putting it on a Double Striking BC during the midgame can be very devastating. It’s worth trying at the very least.

Cell Games Arena

The final Android card (yes I know there’s a few more, we’ll get to them later) and hey, we finally can fully digest the ST Cell Leader. Unfortunately it does not reflect well. Essentially it’s a security blanket for your Cell cards. If the opponent is able to kill them outside of battle you get to grab another Cell from deck while also ripping a card out of the opponent’s hand. If it were just that it’d be passable, but this card requires you to have a Cell Jr. Token on board to sac off. That was just such an unnecessary restriction it’s absurd. I would understand if this also triggered from any removal of Cell, which would include Successor. That would be a lot of card advantage. But without that it’s just an annoying restriction that forces you to baby your Cell Jrs that are on board and gives the opponent way too much agency in when this card triggers. If you’re on ST Cell Leader you still use it because it’s free and thins the deck an extra card but it’s still not very good. Stick to the in set Leader.

Jiren/Full-Power Jiren, the Unstoppable

Quiet on the set, “Making U11 Not Suck, Take 3”. Bandai has had a very consistent theme they envision for U11. Use a bunch of Pride Troopers to either flood the board or the Drop Area, gear up into a massive Jiren that punches the opponent into the Next Dimension. This does not stray away from that. You still have to be on U11 in some capacity to get the most out of this Jiren.

Now honestly his Front Side and Awakened Side don’t really mesh. His Front Side forces you to drain yourself in order to get either of his abilities, either a simple draw and +5K, or a free U11 drop. Both are obviously good for what he wants to be doing especially the latter as you need to be boarding as many U11 cards as possible to set up Successor.

His Awakened Side is the money. Ignoring the Draw/+5K you get to take a life in order to make it so the opponent can no longer damage you with any attacks. Now you’re still vulnerable to burn but…yeah I wouldn’t be worried about that. This ability is absolutely absurd, if you’re able to Awaken on 4 Life you essentially guarantee at least 3 more turns without worry. Note, this even fades Victory Strike as it requires you to take actual damage in order to trigger which Jiren does not allow. Now this all comes with a caveat…you need to have at least one U11 on board. This will make it so you don’t get too cute with the fact that the effect is Activate:Battle. If you have the defense or the sheer tenacity to save Jiren’s ability until the opponent commits to big attacks this can be held for even longer rather than just chaining them on your turns. It’s also not Once Per Turn in case you just want to get as many cards in your hand for a Final Turn.

As for what I said earlier, the two sides don’t really mesh. The Awakened Side wants you to be alive as long as humanly possible, but the Front Side forces you down to 4 very fast if you want to not be a Vanilla Leader. It’s possible that the designers were worried about having too much longevity but it is an annoying divergence point that will hold Jiren back. Still it’s an upgrade over what he’s had because his Awakened Side ability is just absurd so…let’s see if he has less chaff to work with.

Toppo, Gaze of Justice

Uh sure, let’s go with this. U11 is no Hand Control deck, that’s for sure but it’s a card that gets its value on play and if the opponent gets rid of it they lose another card. If they don’t, it stays around for Successor to lose it anyway. Thankfully you can’t get cute by playing multiple of these and then saccing them all off to completely rip apart a hand, so he’s just very annoying and consistent chip against the hand. This is a good start.

Cocotte, Technique Unleashed

This is fine I guess. It’s essentially a free U11 on board, good for things like Arrival and okay for Successor among other things. If you need the body she’s good for it, otherwise she’s quite vanilla.

Zoiray, Justice Spin

Yeah…it’s getting worse. It’s fine for Limited but that’s about it. Well Limited and dealing with that new SR Frieza because screw that card!

Belmod, Double Devastation

Hey, pseudo-Successor, I’m down for it. This plays extremely well with the deck’s one drops, especially Toppo and Cocotte. Triggering effects, having easy cards to get rid of and killing something while having a 20K Blocker. All for coming out for free and potentially setting up better Successor lines. This will be key if U11 does…literally anything.

Jiren, Righteous Leader

A new set, a new way to put 3 U11 Battle Cards onto the board. He has Deflect which is a boon, but having their skills negated really kind of bites as you lose out on potential value. Once again he’s there to set up Successor or Belmod plays so he does his job, but 3 Energy these days is a lot of investment. I’m iffy on the card.

Binary Blade Kahseral

Eh…again, just trying to get more bodies on board as is U11 tradition. He’s big Counter bait though which is concerning and what you get don’t impact the board at all generally so this card is pretty rough. If possible only use this as a free play with Jiren.

Kunshi, Threaded Energy

I mean this is fine, though this would be a lot better if not introduced in a set with a lot of ways to subvert Energy. But I guess better to have this card than not because U11 needs as much longevity as possible.

Vuon, Dynamite Blaster

Uh…no. This isn’t good in any variant of U11. It’s the exact opposite of what they all want to be doing. Even Drop Area base U11 would rather just combo this off for Arrival.

Maracita, Adorable Assailant

Hey, she’s U11, she makes this section. She isn’t bad, being able to negate effects and keep something tapped down. But again…it’s pretty frustrating that her second ability doesn’t trigger off of Successor and the like. At least there’s more value in her surviving for an extended period of time.

Dyspo, Unprecedented Speed

Now onto the potentially fun stuff. Dyspo finally gets his respect for lasting so long in the Tournament of Power. A really cheap Successor cost, made cheaper if used with Belmod, he just comes out and draws you a card. I mean he’s okay but really he’s there to set up future Successor plays as he also triggers when sent to an early demise by a skill. He should help a bit when it comes to card advantage.

Toppo, Mortality Surpassed

Say hello to the next U11 God of Destruction. He’s pretty simple, Successor 6 for 2 seems to be the standard and he goes for an ignore Barrier KO which is also seeming a bit standard. Two things to note. One, he also negates skills which means anyone that would get skills from dying will not get them on top of ignoring any KO protection. Two, unlike Dyspo he does not require a U11 Leader so he can potentially be the generic Successor of choice. Another note, he’s another Successor body that triggers when sent to the Drop by a skill so if he gets sent to the aether he will not go alone. I can see him getting play in Green/Yellow decks outside of U11. Simple, but effective.

Jiren, Strength in Silence

First off, that art. Just…that art. I feel this is the first time they showed off how much immense power he radiates just by existing. Anyway, like usual SR Jiren tradition he has a massive cost. The biggest Successor to date as a Successor 10 for 5. He also brings back his classic Quadruple Strike. He’s actually pretty close to his last incarnation. When played, you get rid of 3 U11 cards and he becomes outright untouchable by everything. Counters, denied. Blocker, denied. Sneaky removal, not happening. The hope is, you play this and you win but even if you don’t the opponent won’t be able to remove it until your next turn in which case you can go for another Successor play.

The problem with this card is different than most Jirens. Absolute Justice required you to somehow carry five U11 Battle Cards to Turn 5 and can be played around by the opponent not tapping anything relevant down. Universe’s Strongest required 9 U11 in the Drop which meant a lot of chaff to play, on top of even making it to Turn 6. For this you need the Successor play which means a bunch of commitment as it is on top of another 3 U11s in hand or on board to get rid of which is a crap ton. All of this for a slightly more secure Universe’s Strongest at one less Energy. Honestly I’d rather be playing Universe’s Strongest in this U11 variant. Between the extra adherence to getting things into the Drop, alongside Successor and alongside the new Lead’s protection effect you should have no problem making it to Turn 6 and potentially just winning with him while actually keeping your damn board in the process. You’d just have to make sure all your Energy has Yellow which is doable. However if it’s easier than I expect to get all the conditions right for Strength in Silence it’s still a massive finisher that’s extremely hard to interact with.

Mind Expansion

Last U11 card to talk about. Just like Flash Bomber but only for U11 Leaders instead of Android Battle Cards. Yeah, nowhere near as good or flexible so I’d call this one a pass outside of Limited.

Avian Assault Ganos

Onto the miscellaneous stuff. Ganos is a little twist on the usual Bodyguard Battle Card. He gets downgraded to a 10K Body, but he can sac a body (including himself if you were so inclined) to get rid of a 3 Drop or Less. He’s fine, good for Limited and a neat way to trigger the new calvacade of cards that trigger from being sent to the Drop by a skill.

Artificial Impact

Back to this new cycle of Extra Cards. This one is yet another way to yeet any Battle Card ignoring Barrier but also gets rid of a card from the opponent’s hand. Again I would consider this more of a Sideboard card but maybe Mainboard material in something like Android 13 to really start triggering effects.

Android 14, Stoic Fist

Readers may have been confused as to his absence from the Android section however 14 and his compatriots were made, for the most part, specifically for the Android 13 Leader we already have thus I feel it goes here. Now it’s interesting, Bandai is no stranger to hepling out older decks in newer sets but recently they’ve gone far deeper. Unlike earlier Leaders where it was just Bandai doing their damndest to just make it playable, with this Bandai seems to feel that 13 is right on the cusp. Android 14 is literally everything 13 wanted even more than the Troop. If you open this card and any 15 you get a guaranteed Awaken, a bunch of cards in hand and even a card out of the opponent’s hand. Note you can do this on Turn 1 with no delay. As 13 has absolutely zero reason to stay on his Front Side any longer than necessary, immediately Awakening on Turn 1 with 6 Life and being extremely far ahead in card resources is crazy. Especially since with good management, you also have a Crit attacking Leader every turn. The only downside to this card is obviously he’s useless the second you Awaken but small price to pay. Plus if you’re on Arrival stuffs he can help for that.

Android 15, Vicious Vendetta

Ironically enough I’d argue 15 doesn’t help 13 much at all. Again, another of this Bodyguard cycle but forces you to take Life to make him essentially free. Honestly, not really worth the effort unless you really need something down for Successor. There are also better 15s to use with 13.

Android 13, Red Ribbon Raider

Of course now we also get a new way into the 13 SRs. I…do not like this at all. Theoretically the goal is to play this on the opponent’s turn when they’ve gone all in for 2, then use the Union Absorb. But honestly the 3 Drop Variant is just better for this plan. This is much easier to play around and just as much counter bait as the 3 Drop anyway. The only thing this really has over it, is that it doesn’t have any restriction of not being able to play another if you control a 13 but if you’re able to use another one of these while you have a good 13 on board you’re way far ahead anyway. I understand though why this wasn’t a 1 Drop Combo because potentially putting one of the SRs in play on Turn 2 might’ve been a bit much as the hand would be ripped apart almost instantaneously and constantly.

Caulifla, the Time Has Come

Now this card is pretty good for U6. Free tap down and the ability to play a Kale or Cabba as needed on either player’s turn even pumping herself in the process. This is something I can see U6 builds making room for especially with the new Surge Kefla Leader.

Trio De Dangers, Mark of the Wolves

Continuing the Bandai method (formerly the Yugioh method) of “Lets give X Archetype one card to try and fix everything at once” we have this card. This card is just as blatant as Android 14 is in what it wants to do. Where 14 wants to shore up 13’s struggle to Awaken efficiently and poor Front Side, this card says “U9 Lock IMMEDIATELY”. Now if this came out last set, this may have been legit. People forget how good the U9 Lock could be when properly set up. Especially since you could put up the Dangers Triangle knowing this will get going Turn 4 no matter what thanks to Deflect.

But there’s a problem. It did come out this set. Everyone is gonna have Main or Sideboarded ways to deal with Barrier. The U9 Lock is nowhere near as effective when you can just shoot whatever you want anyway. Plus Turn 4 is still pretty damn late in this day and age. It’s a good try and will be hilarious for casual play but I have no faith in it otherwise. Just make us new U9 stuff please.

Justice Blast

There’s only so many ways I can talk about what are almost the same effects in this cycle. I’ll argue this is one of the worst, just because it requires Rest Mode and negating skills before killing only matters in a handful of scenarios. But again, Sideboard cards, yada yada.

Light Bullet

Because we needed a more annoying condition to use Flying Nimbus instead of just using Flying Nimbus? Pretty much just a Limited card.

Dr. Gero, Progenitor of Terror

Not put with the Android stuffs even though he synergizes as he is not an Android (despite quite clearly being the Android 20 version of Gero…are they implying Gero always had energy drain nodes on his hands?). Dual Color Super Combo, even with no ability he’d see play for Arrival possibilities. He gets the ability to bury a 4 cost or less Battle Card from deck. It’s an alright ability, if your deck needs it great. If not, again, as long as Green/Yellow has good Arrival he’ll be relevant.

Anilaza, the Soaring Colossus

The Green/Yellow Check Land. Really meh BC ability but doesn’t really matter, you play G/Y you play 4.

Ribrianne, Massive Love

Finally we get to the damn G/Y Arrival in the set. She’s…okay. Not the flashiest ability, but she’s really made for more Successor setup which is good. She really goes with what Successor based decks want to be doing and even outside of it she’s at least of some relevance.

Android 13, Adamantine Avenger

The last card for this article. The new Super Android 13 SR. Now he’s a lot more independent than Unending Destruction, not intended to loop his effect constantly but is more consistent burst pressure. His kill is potentially worse since it requires Rest Mode, but he’s ripping two cards out of the hand. I was initially gonna be a bit down on this card, but then I saw the whole “Once Per Turn” and yeah…I like him a lot. Especially since, and this is huge, he is not reliant on being put on the board by base 13 but instead can put himself on board with Successor. It’s not an easy Successor mind you, Successor 7 is at an awkward number, but it’s good to have the option. The main downside to this card is the necessity of 3 Android Cards being sent away from the Drop. Getting him in by Union-Absorb inherently removes Androids from the Drop Area, crucial ones he needs to function. If it’s easy and convenient to fill the Drop Area with Androids, this card will be a great addition for 13. If not it’ll be a bit rough.

Final Thoughts:

Whew, it feels like there was more to dive into with these cards due to Successor being designed a lot more intricately compared to Invoker. I think there’s a ton of potential in this set…though I still don’t have much hope for U11 and I didn’t talk myself into playing it this time around. But the Androids will have a lot to play around with, as with Green/Yellow as a whole. Should be interesting to see how players ultimately optimize these builds.