Hello again everyone. Sorry for being dormant the last couple of weeks, but work and life had gotten pretty hectic and left me with very little downtime in which to get out a decently written article. But now I actually do have some time, and at the perfect time because it’s time for a new Expansion Pack. The last time we got one of these we were introduced to a new mechanic and two cards that made a massive impact on the format. This time we once again got a new mechanic, ushering in the Infinite Unity block. How much of a game changer will it be? Let’s find out.

Unity of Destruction

Janemba, Resonant Agent of Destruction

The mechanic is something we’ve been just waiting to see arrive for quite a while, but the hints were being dropped big time last set that it was coming. Dual-Colored cards. There was a lot of speculation of how they would work, and for the most part…they worked how I expected. Like in Duel Masters Dual-Colored cards in this game will be given the “Energy Exhaust” Keyword which basically says they’re all Tap Lands. A decent way to make these cards fair so you do have to have a bit of a drawback for holding up two different defensive options at all times. It also seems like you’ll need both colors for Specified Costs so you do have to commit to it if you actually want to play it.

One thing to take notice of is the Dual Color choices that Bandai has gone with. For the majority of the game’s lifespan they had gone pretty hard with Blue/Red and Green/Yellow being “allied” colors. The colors go together very well and a lot of their silver bullet cards were pointed at those color pairs. You’d expect the Dual-Colored cards to go for those pairings…but nope. Not even Blue/Green and Red/Yellow which also have some crossover. Instead we go with the two pairings with the least, Blue/Yellow and Red/Green. Now there has been a little play between these two pairings and some history of success, Blue/Yellow in particular due to Storm but otherwise there hasn’t been a lot of play with these pairings, especially with card design.

We aren’t done with new stuff though, Janemba also introduces another new Keyword which is Aegis. Essentially you discard cards equal to the colors of Aegis to Untap 2 Energy. It’s…decent on defense but it’s mainly useful as a last resort. Discarding two cards to Untap 2 Energy during the Defense Step is a very hefty price. Zen-Oh Button struggled to see much use with more upside, but Aegis is decent as a last resort option already on a body.

Now Janemba in particular, 4 Drop 20K Barrier is…okay, nothing too special. He’s an Agent of Destruction so he gets the extra usefulness from that. He’s an Expensive Combo which isn’t fun. Lastly he does get an extra effect from using Aegis, if he’s the only Evil Incarnate on your board you mill 1. That’s fine, but it’s really only an extra benefit. In terms of Janemba Mill…I don’t see it making much of an impact. The deck already has the 4 drops it wants, this requires a hefty price just to mill 1…it’s not great unless the deck wants to dip into Yellow for no particular reason. It could see play in dedicated AoD decks though as more targets for the SCR but that’s the max I see for it as of now.

Boujack, Resonant Agent of Destruction

The other U/Y card we see and he brings another new Keyword, Arrival. If you combo cards that meet the color requirements, pay the Arrival Cost to put him on board. It’s sort of a different way to Bodyguard, only having a card that does other things after getting put on board. It’s neat, it requires more of a commitment (a running theme in these new mechanics) but it’s also a bit more hidden.

Boujack, same stats as Janemba only Blocker instead of Barrier which is generally worse but in the case of Boujack it has a bit more utility. The goal will usually be to get Boujack out on the opponent’s turn, so being able to throw this out on their turn and present another Blocker will really throw off attack lines. On top of that it also taps something down when he hits board which curbs even more aggression depending on board state and mills 1 which…well it was supposed to play with Janemba but I don’t see that happening so it’s slight gravy but could potentially backfire. For the Boujack Brigade though I think it’s not bad at all. Especially if we get other Brigade cards into Blue I think this then fits in fantastically. It plays well with the desire to combo a bunch of Brigade cards, this comes on board for cheap and also taps things down which you always want. Again, I think the deck needs some Blue help but if it does receive it, this is a very good boost.

Janemba, Lighthearted Destroyer

Now onto the support cards, this Janemba…isn’t very great. It only grabs the above Janemba on board and only in Rest Mode. Generally Childish Heart is better in every way, especially if you Evolve into it. As of now, bad redundancy with Childish Heart leaves this in the binders.

Boujack, Pirate’s Pride

Now this card is a godsend to the Brigade, at least if the goal is still “Play the Plunderer ASAP and win from it”. It’s honestly perfect for that strategy. He’s essentially a Roshi if you have a U/Y card in Energy which protects your life, but with better stats, a free mill but most importantly he’s a 3 Drop which means he’s an Evolve Target for the Plunderer and one that does not require a big time commitment. It does everything the deck desperately needs at the moment. If you’re still holding onto the Brigade, you play this at 4 and probably the Dual-Color Boujack as well. The main issue is that you need to find said Boujack unless we get other U/Y stuff that’s useful (you could play Janemba but that’s going a bit deep on very clunky cards). The Brigade may very well get to start their voyage after all.

Unity of Saiyans

SSB Gogeta, Resonant Explosion

Random note, this card is gonna look damn gorgeous in foil. Anyway, a R/G Arrival Card, only as a 5 Drop (this will be mildly relevant later). Coming with Double Strike makes it more aggressively tilted but again, his Put in Play effect really plays well with what Arrival seems to want to do, which is have these cards go all Dynamic Entry on the opponent’s turn. In this case, he comes on board and kills something 4 drop or less the opponent controls and thus is a new Hand Trap which is interesting. Now, the main downside to this is that…because of the inherent cost of Arrival he’s likely too costly to really be useful against lower to the ground decks. However, the restriction means he doesn’t hit much of note otherwise against bigger decks. I think there is a place for him eventually, but right now any R/G decks that exist would likely just bring him out from the Side Board in in the right matchups (like Vanilla Goku).

Full Power Broly, Resonant Evolution

With Broly we have our final new Keyword for the time being, and that’s Alliance. Alliance I liken to a team attack. Instead of separate attacks, you pool your power into one big attack instead. Ironic that the new Broly is the first to debut the mechanic when you consider that a similar attack is how the original Broly was defeated in his first movie. The mechanic is interesting, and it could have some uses. What really helps is that it seems to work on Auto timing so you don’t get hosed by Counters which is great so it’s a neat mechanic to really pump up power without having to give up cards for Combos. Though the power increase may be exclusive to Broly, as the mechanic is really only about tapping other Battle Cards to do…something, but I expect Power increase to be the most used ability.

As for Broly himself, stats are middling even with the EX-Evolve. You definitely want to get the EX-Evolve going so that way he becomes tough to take down though it may be a bit tricky to get it going. But if you do, he becomes a massive threat swinging for Triple Strike every single turn. If we can get him out quick he can turn into a monster though the main issue is that you really want to also play other cards with him. I think a Cheelai/Lemo deck may be the best home with him because A Child’s Wish is still an absurd card and is really nice to play with this for more value and you get more ways to board cheaper Brolys. Could have potential, though we’ll see where we can realistically fit Red cards into the build.

SS Gogeta, Acrobatic Warrior

If there’s anything I’ve learned over the course of the game’s life, if a Battle Card can be played for free with some ease, people will go out of their way to play it because free value is king. Gogeta has a pretty easy and consistent trigger to come out for free, playing a R/G 5 Drop. Now in theory you’d think that the SSB Gogeta would be his best partner, since it’s potentially two Battle Cards on board for 1 Energy which is a great rate even with the commitment and maybe there is a tempo deck that goes for that. But…his Alliance effect is outright absurd. He’s free burn with Alliance. This is theoretically the easiest achievable burn to this date. You just need to tap him for Alliance, and because he comes out for free the cost is realistically just whatever card you play to begin with, in the current case Broly. If the opponent tries to counter Broly to avoid the Burn and REAL SAIYAN DAMAGE…then you have a free 15K Attacker to go in with which is still great value. This card has the potential to be outright insane, but his floor is solid too as just a free 15K Attacker. I think we’ll see this card around.

SS Broly, Rampaging Rush

The final card of the day. At its base it has a lot of inherent value. If you have the right Energy, which you should if playing this, you get a KO, Draw and forced Discard all in a 4 drop package which is great. If built around the R/G Broly this could definitely be the Broly of choice as you’re not considering going up the Broly Chain (if you want that, going SD Broly is just far better). If more R/G cards get made that are solid, I could actually see this sneaking into other lists, the value is just that great. But for now, a R/G Cheelai/Lemo list is my prediction.

Final Thoughts:

I think the Expansion Pack is solid, though nothing as earth shattering as the debut of the Over Realm cards. I don’t think these will shake up the meta all that much, but they’re a great introduction to the mechanics of the next block. I’ll mess around with the R/G cards for sure, I think they were a better highlight though the Boujack Brigade at least is slowly getting…something to work with.