I was intending to wait a bit longer before putting this one up but I got bored and figured I would knock this one out now. Hello all and welcome to the next installment of Leader Guides, this time with Majin Buu. He received a bit of hype coming out of Cross-Worlds, only to peter out pretty quick. I think we can definitely get him to playable…but we’re gonna have to correct a couple of misconceptions and I’ll admit, people may not be fond of these choices but I assure you that it has to be done. Like always, feel free to leave comments, suggestions, requests and critiques below.

Majin Buu/Majin Buu, Completely Revived

Unique Cards:

Buu Make You Cookie

The Most Evil Absorption in History

Thinks He’s The Best Hercule

Strengths:

+ The Most Evil Absorption in History is one of the strongest pieces of removal in the game that also advances Buu’s gamestate.

+ Buu Makes You Cookie helps keep most Aggro decks at bay.

+ Both cards allow him a unique place as a sort of “Anti-Over Realm/Anti-Drop Area” usage Leader.

+ Can potentially win the game out of nowhere with his Awakened Side, or at the very least provide a solid tempo play.

+ Makes it easy to set up two big Over Realm turns.

Weaknesses:

– He doesn’t particularly take very good advantage of his “Untap 2 Energy” Awaken, which means the loss of the “Draw 2” REALLY hurts.

– He doesn’t get to start drawing on his front side until his second attack, which is much slower than all other “Untap 2 Energy” Leaders.

– He puts cards under him often at random, which means you could lose very strong cards with very little way to get them back or avoid them being taken.

– His Awakened side ability is often a one, MAYBE two shot deal and generally isn’t as strong as it should be considering the cost needed to access the ability.

Overview:

Buu is certainly an interesting Leader, at least in the land of Untap 2 Leaders. Slower to get draw, but the “upside” is that he actually advances his Awakened Side’s gamestate in the process. Finding ways to really take advantage of his upsides was one of the tougher things I’ve had to do. Majin Buu is probably the biggest reason I list “Unique Cards” for these guides, as I think the only real reason to play him are his Unique Cards. The Most Evil Absorption in History (awesome name by the way) is one of my favorite cards in the game. Removal that can’t be interacted with in anyway, comes out early, advances your gamestate AND impedes your opponent’s gamestate more than most removal. Really the only downside is that it doesn’t leave a body, and admittedly in this game that IS a downside. But the card is still quite good and enough to give Buu a real niche in the game. It’s hard to really take advantage of his restand ability because it takes a while to get going (unless facing Cell Chain in which case begin evil laugh) thus I would consider it more of a bonus than the main gameplan, allowing either a good finishing turn or just some good tempo. Onto the tips…and where things will get a bit controversial.

Tips:

The Majin Buu Main Deck Package should not be run with Majin Buu Leader.

I imagine this point will get me a bit of grief, and understandably so. “What, why the hell would you not run Buu in his own deck you idiot?!” Hear me out. When building a deck you generally have to think in two ways. “What does this card, or package of cards, provide to this Leader? And what does this Leader provide to these cards?” Sometimes it’s a two-way street, sometimes a one-way street but it’s still important to have cards that work off of each other in some way. Doesn’t have to be perfect synergy, but a goal must be kept in mind.

The issue with the Buu Package and Buu Leader is…nothing they do helps the other in any way. Buu Make You Cookie and The Most Evil Absorption in History only benefit the Buu Package (whether BuuHan or The Ultimate Evil) in very specific scenarios…namely staring down a Gohan or the mirror. Otherwise they do nothing to actually help the package. Buu Leader certainly doesn’t do anything for them outside of his Awaken turn but at that point you’re better off using SSJ3 Goku or Soul Striker. Hell the Buu Leader can actively detract from the Buu Package because he could end up ripping away pieces indiscriminately. As for vice versa, the Buu Package is a relatively hefty in cost package and Buu Leader is already on the slower side. This does not really help. They don’t really provide anything for him other than tough to utilize beaters.

Don’t get me wrong, you certainly CAN run the two together and I’ve seen players have success doing so. But honestly the success is in spite of the lack of synergy between the two, not because they work well together. Buu Leader I believe is simply better without the Package, and vice versa.

Don’t be afraid to use Buu’s Restand as a tempo play.

A small mistake I see Buu players make is always saving the restand for the big finish. While that can be fine, mostly it’s not that great as a finishing move. Instead a great play is often swinging first with the front side of Buu, Awakening, and then restanding and swinging again. It gives you one more draw (something Buu really needs) and a bit of extra early pressure. Use the Restand when you feel it will provide the most advantage. Sometimes you may have the opportunity to do it late to get that bit of extra push, otherwise you may need it for simply more card advantage. Also…

Be sure to use your Over Realm cards BEFORE restanding.

This one is important. First, get whatever Over Realm you have planned out of the way, THEN restand. This immediately sets up your Over Realm the following turn and a big one at that. This allows Buu access to more higher end OR cards because it’s much simpler for him to reload the Drop immediately afterwards. This gives Buu great pressure in the Mid to Late game, whereas with most decks using OR they can really only get one big OR going then maybe rely on OR weenies the rest of the way.

If you’ve taken an opponent’s card with Buu Make You Cookie or The Most Evil Absorption in History, keep them under Buu until absolutely necessary to ditch them (…also don’t forget to give them back to your opponent after the game, no stealing!).

Here’s what I mean by the above. Let’s say you’re facing someone using the 13 package. They go the full Union-Absorb, you know the deal. You hit it with The Most Evil Absorption in History because we generally don’t like dealing with huge 30K Double Strike beaters that rip apart your hand. Now you may be tempted to immediately go for the restand with the big stack you just got (four cards to be exact) and if you smell a chance to go for game, feel free to do so. But most times…hold off on that. At the very least, use all of your own cards to restand and avoid using any of your opponent’s if you can help it. Reason? 13 won’t be able to Union-Absorb again because all of his targets are now out of the Drop Area. This is also a big deal against General Rilldo. Even if you don’t have cards that get that kind of value from the Drop, you can still deprive their Drop of cards so Over Realm becomes more difficult. You’d be surprised at how big of an effect this can have on a game.

Deck Build:

Only one deck this time…mainly because after racking my brain for a week, I can’t really think of any other type of really solid deck design that Buu takes extra advantage of. I don’t want to force deck design where it may not exist.

Blue/Green Midrange Majin Buu

4 Energy Boosted Majin Buu

3 Bulma, Supporter of the Future

3 Trunks, Bridge to the Future

4 Boost Attack Piccolo

4 Raging Spirit Son Gohan

3 Energy Power Gotenks

3 Martial Expert Tien Shinhan

2 Terror Scythe Goku Black

2 Final Explosion Prince of Destruction Vegeta

3 Fully Trained Super Saiyan Son Gohan

4 Super Saiyan Gotenks

2 Trunks, Power Overseeing Time

2 Scientist Fu

3 Buu Make You Cookie

3 The Most Evil Absorption in History

3 Senzu Bean

2 Encouraging Presence Monaka

Overview:

Again, another tweaked version of a deck I currently play, though in this case the only actual tweaks are the Final Explosion Vegeta and some numbers getting shifted around to make room for him. This deck build I don’t know if I consider “optimal”, especially since you can make some definite upgrades with some extra cash. It’s more so a “proof of concept” though I have piloted it to some success as it is. It’s a pretty typical Blue/Green “good stuff” deck that we saw a lot of in the pre-Cross Worlds meta but with plenty of tweaks and a little spice to take advantage of what Buu brings to the table. Onto some specifics.

Why the lack of Veggie Package?

Well honestly, because I’m lacking cash lol. There’s a definite case to be made to adding the Veggie Package into the deck, and you have the adaptability to go from either a strong Veggie Package push, or sitting back on Buu Make You Cookie and Senzu Bean to fend off aggro. But another reason that I considered not putting it in here is…

Turn 3 offers the choice between Tien and The Most Evil Absorption In History for quick removal.

Something I do like about the deck as I have it now is that I can base my third Energy charge and thus my Turn 3, on whatever I happen to be facing at that moment. Tien and The Most Evil Absorption In History both offer very quick removal, Tien being a bit more solid in taking care of weenies while flipping the board state. If the opponent has nothing worth killing you can still bring out Tien for a very solid Awaken turn where you can tap out for Tien and then get to untap 2 immediately. It’s a great swing, providing a lot of card advantage Buu doesn’t typically get. Also on Tien…

Tien over Results of Training

With an Untap 2 Awaken, Results of Training is generally a lot less effective. For one, opponents are MUCH less likely to try and stall you down because there’s nowhere near as much punishment for Awakening you early. Also, you’re trading essentially 1 extra Energy for 2 cards…most people would rather have the two cards. You’re not gonna be having these big turns like Pan, so best to play to strength and use the Untap to the advantage of Tien helping to clean up the board while keeping your defense up.

2 Encouraging Presence Monaka

Probably a source of contention, I don’t mind this pick all too much though it’s an easy cut if you feel something else is more important to the strategy. At its worse it’s an aggressive cantrip in a deck that really wants to see certain cards before attacking so you don’t risk them getting absorbed early. At it’s best, it’s an immensely destructive End of Game play where you put it on Buu similar to Super Saiyan Blue Goku plays (another deck I played heavily for a while). Still, it’s only a 2-of in here because it’s not that important. Nice to have, don’t want to see it too often though.

Fully Trained Super Saiyan Son Gohan

This one is not just necessarily because I lack funds for Determined instead…though admittedly I wouldn’t mind having it… I generally like the proactivity this Gohan brings, and the ability to bring out a Super Combo to use as needed is pretty damn nice. Plus we have a decent amount of removal as it is, so a good proactive 4 drop is a way to go. Easy drop for those who want the Veggie Package, but I enjoy the card.

Final Explosion Prince of Destruction Vegeta

This one is a VERY recent addition. I noticed a weakness I had before was, if the opponent was able to go wide after your Tien (or put you in a position where you couldn’t use him without great risk) turn it was generally rough keeping their board in check. The Most Evil Absorption in History is not great to use on cheaper drops, let alone one at a time and Buu Make You Cookie only does so much. Vegeta is a good way to clear out a board after the fact while providing some push as well. Why him over Masked Saiyan, the Mysterious Warrior? 1, because Blockers are mattering a bit more with each passing month and missing them can suck at the worst times. And 2, these next two cards I’ve found to be WAY too important.

Trunks, Power Overseeing Time and Scientist Fu over Time Patrol Trunks and Masked Saiyan, the Mysterious Warrior

I’m not gonna lie, the latter two do also provide things the deck can use. Being extra advantage, controlled scrying and board clear. But there’s a couple of issues with both that I feel the former two (and Vegeta) bring to the table a bit better. With Time Patrol Trunks, while it’s great to be able to almost ensure what gets absorbed by Buu…you can only do that a couple of times in the entire game. Definitely not enough to protect all the cards you’d like to protect. In that essence I feel that Power Overseeing Time being able to “fix the mistake” and get back a lost card was more important. Plus it’s a lot more pressure than Time Patrol brings and this deck wants to pressure as much as possible when it can. Masked Saiyan I explained above, as for Scientist Fu, this is a deck that struggles with the lost card advantage compared to many other Leaders. Fu helps get you some more cards while providing a great body to swing with.

Also, Buu provides a rare case where it’s pretty easy and safe to play BOTH Power Overseeing Time and Scientist Fu. Scientist Fu generally struggles to play nice with other OR cards and Power Overseeing Time is also one of the heftier OR cards. But because of Buu’s absorbing, it’s very easy to use one of these two ORs, then immediately reload the Drop for the next OR the following turn. Going from one to the other, or using both copies of either I’ve done in multiple games and it feels great to do.

Final Thoughts:

While Majin Buu was one of the first Leaders I thought of when wanting to do a Guide, I admit he was tricky to really think about. I really wanted to branch out with the Leader but found it hard to really justify it because there aren’t many cards right now that really take advantage of his design. I would like to see more cards in the future like Majin Buu, Dawn of the Rampage that add effects when put under other cards, not to mention easier ways to put cards under Buu. It’d be nice to have cards that put Drop Area cards under Buu for advantages and the like, but I don’t really want to go too hard into Create-A-Card territory. Next time, we’ll be delving into someone with a bit more design space…and his own frustrations that have driven even myself insane, the ultimate fused warrior himself, Vegito.