Welcome to a new addition of No Negate. Now admittedly, this is pretty impromptu and off the cuff, I just thought about doing this about…5 minutes ago so it might be a bit haphazard to start. But what I’m adding is the “Watchlist Discussion” for whenever a card is added to the watchlist for a potential Errata/Banning. Now HOPEFULLY this isn’t a series I have to do too often, but no design team is perfect. Today we’re talking about one of the most controversial cards in the game’s history, Heightened Evolution Son Goku. Why was it put on the Watch List? What makes it so busted? Should it be touched? Let’s find out.

Son Goku/Heightened Evolution Super Saiyan 3 Son Goku

Why Was It Put on the Watchlist (Bandai Version)?

Looking at Bandai’s official statement (and I’m going to cherry pick a slight bit, because most of it is just explaining the function of the Watchlist itself)…

– Its inclusion rate has exceeded expectations, and has been included in many decks.

– He can play many cards, Awaken, draw cards and repeatedly attack during the early game.

– He can potentially cause a dangerous acceleration of the game.

Player Version:

To dilute what was said down (not that it was much), I’ll state it like this.

– He may be too generically good.

– He speeds up the game due to his early ramp and Self-Awaken, without being punished because of his Awakened ability.

I’ll speak to each point.

Speeding Up The Game:

Now there’s no doubt, SSJ3 Goku can be incredibly fast. He gets to essentially play an extra card from turn 1 without needing Unyielding Spirit Trunks to do it which makes his Flute game incredibly powerful and dangerous. Being able to play power cards earlier as well, and not get punished for Tapping Out is also a huge deal. So he definitely can speed up the game. …however, it does come with downsides. At the very least, he doesn’t speed up the game NEARLY as much as pre-errata Mecha Frieza, though it would take a lot to be able to do that. But mainly, there’s an element of chance with SSJ3 Goku. I’ve seen many games lost just because on his initial ramp he hit colors he did not want. I’ve even seen one poor soul charge double Fu…that was heartbreaking. Because many SSJ3 Goku variants do like running multi-color (and hell just running Super Combos will often force the issue short of the rare Mono-Blue variant), the chance that bad luck will gimp your turn does exist.

Also, the Self-Awaken boost can actually be a detriment to overall aggression, simply because it’s potentially less attacks out of your Trunks or your Cabba because you have less life to leverage for their abilities. So I feel SSJ3 Goku’s acceleration is far better based around his ramp and playing bigger threats earlier like Bardock, Will of Iron (note, any Blue Leader can play it Turn 1 as well, but Goku doesn’t need Trunks to do it). SSJ3 Apes is still a constant threat and one of the decks that can handle the aggressive format simply because landing a Turn 1 Bardock, Will of Iron while Self-Awakening is just an absurd board stopper that also punches for Double Strike.

Still, truthfully while the acceleration is great, I don’t think it’s gamebreaking compared to Mecha Frieza. Especially since a lot of the acceleration right now is due to The Legendary Flute and Bardock, the Progenitor (…in separate instances at least). Actually if anything, he can slow the game down since it can be a slog getting through his 3 untapped Energy every turn. I think the main issue with the card is what’s coming up next…

He’s Too Generically Good:

A lot of the talk on SSJ3 Goku is EXTREMELY reminiscent of the talk on Reflect/Refrain in Force of Will. Almost down to a T. The Main issue being, while technically Goku can represent a bunch of different decks so outside of certain formats you’re rarely facing the same exact deck twice, you’re still facing the same Leader every single time. In theory having a bunch of decks with diversity is good for the game, but one of the major hallmarks of DBSTCG (just like it was for Force of Will) was the Leader system. The ability to play your favorite character and say “This is the character I’m rolling with and building my deck around”.

The issue is, when building most decks you now have to ask “Does SSJ3 Goku do it better?” Now…I don’t think the issue is AS bad as it was in Force of Will with Reflect/Refrain where the answer for all but ONE deck (Machines) was a resounding “Yeah, R/R does it way better”. For example, I think the aggro decks of the format are actually better with Hirudegarn or Trunks. But he does present a problem for a lot of archetypes. Buu Package, SSJ3 Goku superior (though admittedly, a lot of that is due to Buu Leader simply not helping the package at all). Apes, SSJ3 Goku far better than anything Yellow can produce. Veggies, with Shugesh kicked in the balls by Chronoa, SSJ3 Goku is better. Most Go Wide strategies in general are simply better with him because you don’t have to worry about tapping out.

Now again, I don’t think the issue is as bad as R/R, as Leader Centric strategies are a lot more prevalent in DBSTCG than they were in R/R’s peak, but it’s still a concerning trend. Especially since he’s taking up a lot of the top cuts.

What Can Be Done?

Well the obvious is, an Errata to only Untap 3 Blue Energy on his Awakened Side. While you could still manage multiple strategies where he can go multi-color (like Buu), he doesn’t become the catch-all solution to a bunch of decks and there would be legitimate concessions to be made for going multi-color. The U/R Aggro could still exist, but you untap less and possibly not at all after Awakening. But decks like Goku’s Lineage could be played in other homes instead. Also him only untapping 3 Blue Energy would make for some GREAT symmetry with Soul Striker Goku and Iron Vow Trunks. Trunks only gets to Untap 1 Blue, but also Untaps a Battle Card. Soul Striker Untaps 2 Blue, but can do it in the middle of the turn for multiple plays. SSJ3 Goku Untaps 3 Blue with Front Side Ramp, but not much else.

Of course, if the potential for Goku going multi-color is still too much for that point, then you could potentially have it so his Front Side ability has to Charge Blue Energy and any other Color hits the Drop but that feels like far too big a penalty. Lastly if you want to keep the Multi-Color but just slow down the aggression you could make it so his first turn the Energy comes out Tapped (though possibly have it Untap at EoT so he doesn’t just die if he doesn’t have exactly Unyielding Spirit Trunks in his opening hand against Aggro).

SHOULD Anything Be Done?

Honestly that’s hard to say. I think most would agree the biggest issue in the format right now is The Legendary Flute. SSJ3 Goku dying down wouldn’t help that issue very much at all. As a matter of fact, Flute may end up covering up the Goku issues simply because he’s not as potent an Aggro Leader (in my opinion) compared to Hirudegarn or Trunks. Also, he’s in this tricky spot where I think it’s a good thing that we have a good, generic fall back Leader to use in case an archetype’s personal Leader falters, but he may do too much so as he overshadows potentially solid archetype Leaders anyway. I would not be opposed to a slight change in SSJ3 Goku, but Flute has to be the first target.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed the new addition to the blog.