Hello all, and we’re back doing something I’ve been pretty lax in doing for the past few months. A new Leader Guide! And we’re going to do it for one of the new Leaders in Destroyer Kings, the new Son Goku! You guys know I’ve been fiending for a true Vanilla Support Leader for a while now, and I’ve received it so today we’re going to dive right in. What does it take for Vanilla Decks to be functional? Is it possible to be functional in DBS? Or maybe even more than functional…an actual contender. Let’s find out.

A Brief History of “Vanilla”

Since the very dawn of TCGs, we’ve had “Vanilla”. While MTG was the first real popularized TCG and obviously had their own Creatures that lacked any sort of skills, the term “Vanilla” really seems to come from Yu-Gi-Oh. A Non-Effect Monster generally has Yellow Bordering, thus “Vanilla”. Though MTG would eventually co-opt the term and make it their own by also adding “French Vanilla” (Creatures with no skills but a keyword or two). I still relate Vanillas to Yu-Gi-Oh though for two reasons. One, let’s go with the obvious. Two of their most iconic, if not THE most iconic creatures of the franchise happen to be Vanilla Monsters. Those of course, being the Dark Magician, and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

The second reason though is that Yu-Gi-Oh is one of the better TCGs, if not the best one, at making Vanillas both playable and fearsome. And no, we’re not just talking about being used to power up some other absurd strategy (you know who I’m talking about Rescue Rabbit), but actually becoming viable centerpieces. Let’s see how they do it, where they succeed and fail, and how we can apply it to DB Super.

The Evolution of Icons

Not only do the icons provide a great visual and memorable point about Vanillas, they can also serve us to see where Vanilla decks go right…and where they go wrong. Blue-Eyes is still by far the most successful deck to utilize actual Vanillas as part of the legitimate strategy of the deck. Dark Magician, while functional, never quite reached those heights despite getting a plethora of his own support. Why is this? I believe it comes down to two things.

1. Reward:

This is the obvious one. It’s pretty hard to do anything with creatures/monsters with no abilities without some kind of support. Otherwise they’re obviously strictly inferior to creatures/monsters who do. So you have to support and provide legitimate rewards to playing Vanillas. It’s similar to what I talk about in previous deck profiles about cards that only certain Leaders can use. You give good incentives to using certain cards, and the players will come. I think both icons have a decent amount of reward, though I think Blue-Eyes comes out ahead here.

Blue-Eyes:

His biggest reward at this point is the addition and the ability to use his twin brother, Blue-Eyes Alternative White Dragon, the Blue-Eyes effect monster we had been waiting for since they teased the possibility for both Yugioh Movies (one was Shining Dragon which was a meme, the other was a Malefic monster…yeah.

The appeal was obvious, it’s a free Blue-Eyes on board to set up extension while also doubling as removal. Add to this the Synchro Package of Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon along with Azure-Eyes Silver Dragon and you have excellent reasons to have Blue-Eyes in your deck. Especially since his stats STILL are very potent to this day, even if not unique at this juncture.

Dark Magician:

Dark Magician is a bit trickier, but the two main pieces of his reward are definitely Dark Magical Circle and Eternal Soul. Essentially free removal and revival alongside protection and tutoring. Now if only we could search Eye of Timaeus with Dark Magical Circle and Magician’s Rod… But alas, it’s a very solid package and probably the biggest reason to play him.

2. Synergy:

To me though, this is the bigger deal of the two. Maybe to reword this I’d rather say “what does the monster itself add to your strategy?”. Generally in TCGs you want every card in the deck supporting each other and the deck in some capacity. If a card is independent, it better be damn good to make up for it or a necessity to the format. What do the Vanillas actually provide the deck other than the ability to use certain cards?

Blue-Eyes:

Where Blue-Eyes succeeds is that it’s a very relevant card across the board. Relevant stats as mentioned, relevant monster type in Dragon and relevant level at 8. It feeds into Synchro plays, it feeds into Xyz plays, it helps some of your monsters float and helps your card advantage and setup by existing. It’s a very active part of the deck, helping to facilitate plays and pushes while participating in bringing the pain on its own. Blue-Eyes has even been relevant enough over the years to see play in multiple different strategies. Actually he’s been part of plenty of strategies before he even got his own legitimate support.

Dark Magician:

This is where Dark Magician falters however. Dark Magician itself doesn’t add much to the archetype. To me it often feels like the Iron Core of Koa’ki Meiru. Just something that’s there to actually set off your other, actual cards and effects rather than something participating in the strategy. Its stats are still middling (the jump from 2500 to 3000 is a big deal), its type IS relevant…but he doesn’t take advantage of it all that well. Rank 7 Xyz, including his own, aren’t in the best of places and he doesn’t have Synchros or Links to work with. Really he’s just there to make sure other things work properly but the cards he makes work aren’t nearly powerful enough to offset the handicap you give yourself.

So What’s the Point of all this?

The point is to think critically about Vanillas need to do to really stand out and become at the very least competent.

Have them provide a relevant reward for even playing them in the first place in good support cards. Have them provide good synergy with the rest of the deck, adding to the deck by their own existence.

With all that being said, let’s start the actual deck profile.

Son Goku/Bonds of Friendship Son Goku

Unique Cards:

Nothing of note (though Four-Star Ball is best used with him)

Strengths:

He has the easiest Early Awaken in the game of those who keep their normal stats, making him a house.

Even when he doesn’t Early Awaken, his pump makes him a threat throughout the game if the opponent tries to lock him on his front side.

Easy Draw Power that doesn’t require an attack, which denies opposing card advantage if need be AND allows a draw going first (a rarity).

Absurd card filtering late game.

Extra Defense with his “pseudo-Super Combo” ability alongside his Early Awaken and draw power makes him very tough to actually kill.

Weaknesses:

Extremely reliant on having a Four-Star Ball in hand which can make it tougher to utilize the actual card, and susceptible to hand hosing like Gogeta and Zen-oh.

Actually can potentially mill himself out due to card advantage if not careful. Normally not an issue, but it gives him potential problems against Janemba Mill.

Must use crying boy in order to play Vanillas.

Overview:

This Goku is essentially everything I wanted in a Vanilla Matters Leader and more. Provides incentive to playing them, but freeform enough to not lock you into a certain type of play or strategy. You’re not punished for playing Battle Cards with effects. If the opponent cuts you off of your Vanillas you don’t just lose, you still have plenty of game…assuming you built your deck properly. This Goku is a very open Leader, so the challenge comes in exactly what Vanillas you want to use. Every color sans Black has a 30K at this point and some 20Ks. Now we go back to the “Synergy” portion of discussion. For the most part, all the 30Ks are houses on their own and are good enough to play in here because we can cheat them out. But they don’t add a ton to the deck otherwise, so just putting in a bunch of 30Ks and calling it a day isn’t gonna fly because they don’t bring any inherent synergies over. Most of their support are just to help get them out faster…which this deck can already do. So we look to the 20Ks and it’s mostly the same…but two stand out and they’ll look familiar as not unlike Blue-Eyes, they have already seen play in top level strategies. With them, and some tech we’ll have a very well rounded strategy that can live up to the word “Midrange”.

Deck Build:

U/B Vanilla Goku Fusion

5 Four-Star Ball

3 Dende, New to the Job

4 Son Goku, the Adventure Begins

4 Temporal Rescue Trunks

4 Super Saiyan Son Goku

4 Super Saiyan Vegeta

4 Great Saiyaman

4 Vegito, Powers Combined

3 At All Costs, Vegeta

4 Vegito, at Full Throttle

3 Ultimate Fusion Gogeta

4 Power Burst

4 Senzu Bean

Deck Overview:

The two 20Ks in question are the 2 Drop Blue Goku and Vegeta, that were made essentially to pair for a Union-Fusion play. With their addition the deck has a very cohesive strategy that can function into whatever it needs to. You need to play fast? You have a lot of options going early. You need to go tall? Have that too. Removal? Right there. Game winning burst? Definitely there. Even stalling this deck can do extremely well. The gameplan of the deck? Whatever you need it to be at the time, which is really what Midrange should be. Plus you know, big bodies which this obviously has in spades.

Discussion Points:

The new Vegito package over Gogeta?

I’ll admit when first theorycrafting this deck I was legitimately considering playing Gogeta, Hero Revived as the top end to this deck. And it made some amount of sense…at first. After all you’re playing the Vanillas, just throw in Gogeta and Veku and you’re set right? Well besides the fact that generally Shenron does it better and I expect to see a bunch of Final Showdown Frieza to make life tough, playing Hero Revived is actually counter-intuitive to the deck. You want your Vanillas out on the board generally, but Gogeta demands to be the focal point of the deck. That leads to a bit of a conflict that kind of goes against the plan of being more freeform. So I got to more thinking and…well, we had just previewed the new Vegito package and there we go. It’s independently good so you’re not required to Potara if you don’t want, but it’s there if you really want to push in the damage. It just leads to more cheap top end in a deck that really enjoys it. But we do put in Ultimate Fusion Gogeta for extra removal that I initially lacked, and still some outlet for Union-Fusion if we really want it.

I’ll admit, I really put in the Vegito package as more of a meme than anything, just to have a deck to slot it into. However…it plays surprisingly well. It’s very cheap pressure that the opponent is forced to respect at any point. It also turns your 20Ks into lightning rods, taking the heat off of The Adventure Begins and your 30K of choice.

No Dimension Support Trunks?

I had it in initially and it honestly did play pretty well and works very well with a Vegito package. Ultimately though I felt that we needed a bit more removal in the deck outside of At All Costs Vegeta so something had to take a hit and I chose him. We could squeeze him in though by removing a Four-Star and Dende potentially though, but at the same time I like having a Sparking Super Combo due to being an Early Awaken and the Sparking allows me to use Gogeta. There’s definitely a potential pivot point to be made about readjusting to add him though.

Why only 1 30K? Dabura will be out by this set’s release.

Yeah and that’s true…but trust me 4 40Ks is enough (and you can choose between either, it makes no difference unless you’re terrified of getting janked out by a Buu deck in which case go with Dabura). The Adventure Begins recycles them at will and the opponent will struggle to deal with them to begin with.

Power Burst over Eighter Aid.

Eighter Aid is pretty good. But Power Burst potentially being free AND getting back the best card in the entire deck is too important. You could run both, but trust me with the amount of draw and combo power you’ll have it’s unnecessary.

Speaking of which, no Android 8?

I still hold steady in my belief that he’s a good card, and in testing I am right (actually even understated it) that people will take IMMEDIATE aim at the Adventure Begins and continue to do so. The main issue is that there’s just a lot of removal right now that doesn’t KO which really hurts. Plus Dende is insane in this current format.

Tips:

Not only should you not be afraid to tap out, I ENCOURAGE you to tap out!

Yeah, this is extremely rare in a DB Super deck. A lot of later turns really want you to keep back some energy for the crackback. This deck does not. Only three cards in the entire deck require Energy to be used on defense. Senzu, which you’ll use offensively. Vegito…which should only ever be in your hand on the opponent’s turn because he ended up in your hand after the Charge Phase. And Gogeta, the most recent addition but that’s fine. 11 Cards of your deck and 8 of them should hopefully not be in your hand during defense. Take advantage of this and tap out liberally. Most decks don’t take the effort in tapping out unless going for lethal so you can play on a curve that most decks can only dream of. The only times you don’t tap out is if the turn doesn’t really call for it (for example, don’t play a 1 Drop into Crisis Crusher if you have a leftover energy for no reason). But push the envelope when you can, just…intelligently.

Hard Mulligan for The Adventure Begins.

Well, let me be more specific. If your opening hand does not have The Adventure Begins, send everything back but a single Four-Star Ball (if you have one). It’s the best card in the deck, you always want to open it, no exceptions. The deck CAN work just fine without it…but your win percentage will shoot up dramatically if you open it.

If you do already have it, Mulligan for Vegito pieces.

Pretty much what the above says. If you’ve already got the Adventure Begins, immediately pivot to set up for a potential Vegito push. Having at Full Throttle is a good thing because it’s just a free charge.

Be protective…but not too protective of The Adventure Begins.

Don’t get me wrong, he is what I say he is. By far the best card in the deck…but he’s not a piece of china. If the opponent is going out of his way to remove him off the board, let it happen. Remember you have other copies and Power Burst can recycle him.

However, almost never play multiple on the board at the same time.

Simply put, there’s no benefit to having more than one. Trust me, you’ll have enough Four-Star Balls in hand than you can shake a feather at. Playing multiple just means the opponent can actually cause a relevant blowout. Pace yourself. Play one out, force the opponent to answer it if they can. The only time to play more than 1 really is to try and push for game with the extra combo power you’ll gain from the tutoring.

Try to stay at 6 Life for as long as you can.

Trust me, you’ll have plenty of draw power so the goal should really be to stay at a high life total instead of trying to play Russian Roulette.

Final Thoughts:

I honestly adore the hell out of this deck. It was extremely fun to play and I’m legitimately considering maining it at bigger events. I feel it matches up damn well to a lot of the format. Hopefully we should be able to outrace Janemba Mill, either Red Frieza strategy does absolutely zilch and hopefully we have enough combo potential to hold off Mastered Ultra Instinct Turbo. I’m going to be putting a lot of work into this one. Hopefully you guys enjoy the Leader as well.