Sorry for the delay everyone, but we’re back with two more entries in the Preview Season for Series 6, whose name we now know as Destroyer Kings. This set’s claim to fame is “iconic movie villains”. To me it’s a bit of a stretch but whatever, we’ll take it because THE MAN is finally getting his due. I’m not talking about Becky Lynch, but Bojack (spelled Boujack because we like extra letters apparently). Let’s see what he can bring to the table, along with another try at a Gohan Leader. Please don’t suck…

Son Gohan/Untapped Power SS2 Son Gohan

As I alluded to earlier, Gohan has had a really rough go of it with Leaders. His first one ended up being a Bottom 5 Leader possibly ever printed, and his second while neat and flavorful, never amounted to much. His U7 Leader was solid…but was immediately crept by U7 Frieza in the same set (though some people still swear by Gohan). Can this Gohan finally step out of the shadows?

…Eh. His front side is quite good, as we’ve seen before. He rips through the deck with amazing speed, filling up your hand and Drop Area with whatever you need. The issue is with the Awakened Side. I don’t think a One-Time Only recursion of a Yellow Saiyan bomb is really all that great. He just doesn’t do all that much on his Awakened side outside of the usual draw on attack.

Sadly, I think this is yet another Gohan Leader that will be lost to the annals.

Boujack/Boujack, the Pirate Captain

Pirate, eh?

(Be prepared to hear this plenty on the 29th by the way, KH3 release hype!)

Anyway, one of the coolest damn DB characters period finally comes to bear. Look at him, he just exudes badass in a way not many characters in the franchise do. Toriyama, if by some miracle you’re reading this because you’re randomly into DBSTCG Blogs, make Boujack the next movie character to enter canon.

Thankfully, his uniqueness and awesomeness also extends to his card. He is anything but generic and with the grain. Well, his first effect is pretty similar to what we’ve seen with Announcer. Not AS good because the Brigade doesn’t seem to come with on-theme negates to help draw on the opponent’s turn, but still solid and comes with a pump to try and make up for it.

EDIT: This is gonna be a big edit because I missed a lot my first go around. His second effect is about using his Boujack Brigade cards and cashing them in for a free kill. However, first time I missed the “During Your Turn” clause. With that clause, sadly Boujack is a pretty poor card overall. While free removal is fine, it’s pretty conditional and also forces you to not use your board to defend yourself combo wise. On top of that he’s the first Leader to not have any sort of extra bonus for flipping over. This made sense when I believed his ability also worked on defense, but it’s not the case so the decision is somewhat baffling.

Here’s hoping the SR really pays him off.

Son Goku, Guardian Angel

Speaking of cards that are thematic, this Goku is perfectly suited to represent Goku’s attempt to save Gohan’s life by basically ignoring the rules of life or death to get Boujack off of his son. He’s the first truly free Bodyguard in the game…but it requires a very specific card on board, on top of having the new Gohan Leader. But again, free 10K Bodybuard. The goal being to come out, essentially awaken Gohan into becoming a Super Saiyan 2 once more. Unfortunately since we don’t know what said Gohan does we are still a bit lacking in knowledge on this Goku, but being a free Bodyguard might be enough anyway.

Display of Power Son Gohan

Decent beater that reliably protects himself so Guardian Angel Goku can be used at any time. Not bad at all.

Son Gohan, Ready for a Match

Uh hey Bandai.

What

The

Hell?

Did you think the above 3 cards just simply weren’t good enough even though all 3 saw at least some respective play? This Gohan is a power creep in a half. Eventually we’re gonna get a 1 Drop that taps anything through Barrier. Anyway, good card I guess but seriously, was this needed?

Impenetrable Defense Trunks

Somewhat reminiscent of Implacable Trunks (a card I’m still a bit upset never got to see any play) only instead of being a solid offensive house, this Trunks is all about staying back on defense and also doesn’t require an Evolve. He’s alright, nothing too special, good 3 Drop filler. Might be great in a Limited Format (which I’ve never played in this game yet so feel free to let me know).

Dependable Saiyan Trunks

Since Storm is no longer a thing, this may actually see some play in Saiyan Heavy Yellow decks (never a need in Storm for…obvious reasons). Otherwise, typical archetype support that has a relevant name.

Hercule, the Champion

…and why are we playing this over Youthful Bulma and a bunch of other good Yellow/Black 1 Drops exactly?

Piccolo, the Resolute

Another card pretty close to some earlier ones, in this case Secret Vitality Jiren. He gets a restriction on who he can kill though in exchange for a much looser discard requirement. Decent card, and a great Yellow Namekian which is a nice godsend…no pun intended. Definitely feels like a Limited Card though.

Fearless Assault Krillin

It’s official, now every color has their own Suicide Attacker. Problem is unlike most of them, Krillin has a lot more competition at 1 Drop to deal with. Galactic Emperor Frieza might love him though over Bardock now that Storm is dead.

Tien Shinhan

Just like Toriyama in 95% of DB’s history past Z, SKIP!

Yamcha, Ready to Brawl

Again, another card that feels more like it was made for a Limited/Sealed format rather than Constructed play. Not a particularly good Constructed card.

X.S. Cash, the Gazillionaire

Okay, this card reads terrible and he probably is…but there might be some Warp strategies either now, or in the future, that could get some mileage out of him. Keep him in the archives for now.

Space Pirate Boujack

The first Boujack Brigade card. His first effect is…alright. I imagine he has an (EX)-Evolve Card showcasing his final form and if so, this is helpful to keep him alive, otherwise it’s not really that helpful. He also gets back what will be shown to be a solidly useful card. Ultimately though, his playability will hinge on him getting a worthwhile Evolve SR.

Quickshift Gokua

Okay so the Mulligan Combos are a cycle, cool. Don’t know how relevant the BB Trait will be on him though unless you want to pay out the ear to get him on board and then combo with him.

Space Pirate Gokua

A decent card though one that highlights a bit of an issue I have with the Boujack Brigade cards. Mainly that many of them have effects that require you to sacrifice them…when Boujack wants them on board to use himself. Leads to a bit of a conflict of interest which will get worse as we’ll see later. Gokua himself is alright. Freezing a Battle Card isn’t the worst thing in the world if you really need something off the board, but it feels more bonus than anything. Otherwise he’s basically trying to play Space Pirate Boujack for cheap which is fine. His Sac effect isn’t nearly as conflicting since he replaces himself with another of the Brigade. Not bad.

Space Pirate Zangya

Also known as the only other Brigade Member to make it into Budokai Tenkaichi 3 because Bandai loves their waifus, we have Zangya…where we see the other issue with the Brigade. A majority of them have a Legendary Clause! The deck demands that you swarm a bit, but then restricts you from doing so. Now mainly it’s due to the fact that these effects could potentially get 8 Battle Cards in play through one card but the effects could’ve been tweaked to avoid that.

She does come with a good effect though, to immediately body a 1 Drop BB from the deck which is always good. We like 2 for the price of 1. Her Sac Effect…again, depends on what the SR Boujack does because this is a waste on the 3 Drop. Solid lynchpin at the very least, but those restrictions…

Merciless Strike Zangya

Since Boujack doesn’t get as much mileage from Awakening, makes sense he gets a Sparking Super Combo instead. Made a 3 Drop to avoid potential abuse in the archetype.

Space Pirate Bido

Another archetype searcher, which we like. He looks at Top 5 instead…also nice considering he’s another in the line of Legendary Clauses. Sac effect, to shuffle a bunch of the Brigade back from the Drop Area. For a Going Wide Strategy this is nice to have, as losing all your things is generally a death knell for that kind of archetype.

Space Pirate Bujin

The last in the BB archetype (for now) and I think he’s one of the best of the bunch, if not the best. He also puts on board an extra card, for even cheaper than Zangya. If he puts Zangya on board she plays another card and you’re off to the races. He also has a Combo Effect, rather than a Sac Effect which makes FAR more sense and encourages you to go the extra mile with Boujack’s effect. It’s a great effect too, forcing a tap. At bare minimum you could potentially stop multiple attacks thanks to this, at maximum you rest something in order to kill it with Boujack. Fantastic card for the archetype.

Arrival of the Space Pirates

This is where the Boujack Brigade can get potentially nutty. At first glance, it’s just a Frieza’s Call for the archetype. But with the right setup of hand you immediately board 3 Boujack Brigade members, two of them being untapped. You can also get this card back and be able to do it again, and again, and again. If Boujack is going to succeed, this is going to be a big reason why.

Merciless Farewell

If Boujack didn’t have enough ways to kill anyone dumb enough to attack him with a Battle Card, here’s more. This however carries the effect I thought Boujack did have, and allows you to kill something at Battle timing on either player’s turn. Now it’s a hefty price, it’s 3 cards but it’s a potential blow-out if the opponent combos out. Probably not a card you play many of but you keep it in so the opponent is forced to respect its threat.

Full-Power Kamehameha

A 10K Combo for a specific Leader is nothing new. This card REALLY needs the extra 10K to go off in order for this to be really good. Problem is, that’s often in the opponent’s hands. Still probably worth playing a couple of because a potential +20K on offense or defense is still strong, but nothing incredible here.

Fatherly Love Saves the Day

The last card of the day and it’s a new Yellow Negate…that’s essentially Cocotte Zone. Note, Cocotte Zone didn’t even see that much play in its own deck, because Flying Nimbus is better. How much play do you think this will see with a restriction? Stick to Flying Nimbus.

Final Thoughts:

I do for the most part enjoy the Boujack Brigade. The rest of the cards leave much to be desired though, the SRs are really gonna have to come through. Gohan got the shaft…again. Back to Boujack though, even if he ends up being bad I do enjoy the risks taken with his design and hope to see more support for him in the future.