Change is in the air, and not everyone is really jazzed about it. The Sky is apparently falling, the game is “dying”…yeah it’s time to calm down. Let’s dive into the more major changes and clarifications. Note that the Rule Changes are effective Immediately (and as far as I’m aware, live for Regionals tomorrow), the Erratas are effective when Cross Worlds is officially released on March 9th.

Mind Controlling Babidi: Now Requires at least 6 Red Energy for his effect to activate

This is probably one of the biggest changes being talked about now. The biggest impact is obviously, the dreaded Chain Attack Trunks/Babidi combo is now avoided. At least on Turn 4. This basically takes away a bunch of the “Turbo Babidi” decks like Babidi Goku Black and such. This however, does not completely kill him like people are saying. Vegito can still work with him, though focusing on him isn’t any more wise than before. But honestly this had to be done, otherwise he would either become format warping eventually, or would make future card design very restricted in fear of him abusing it. It’s a change for the better.

Thinks He’s the Best Hercule: Works As Intended

Yeah, that “Super Whis” isn’t actually a thing. Stop talking about it. He works as he should. Honestly shouldn’t have come to an errata, but better to have the clarification than not.

Counter:Play Timing Clarified: How this Affects Crusher Ball and Cold Bloodlust

Another big talking point, we essentially cleared up how Crusher Ball and Cold Bloodlust actually work, and I’ll do my best to break it down. Now, when there’s a SKILL that puts a Battle Card into play, there’s two windows where a Counter: Play card can be activated. Before and after the effect’s resolution. If you choose to use them after the resolution though, Crusher Ball will not tap the card down (as it’s already in play) and Cold Bloodlust will not negate any When Entering abilities (other abilities are still down though). Now one may ask “Well why the hell would you not always do it beforehand then?” Well that’s where the distinction matters, mainly on skills that do not specify exactly WHAT is coming down. Let me explain.

Let’s say for example that the opponent plays Growing Evil Lifeform Cell, intending to go all the way up the chain as the Cell Package likes to do. A valid play before was, not only Bloodlusting the obvious Perfect Strike, but doing so early on Evolving Evil Lifeform Cell, assuming you had removal coming the next turn. It was a play that prevented a draw from the opponent, allowed you to keep a Battle Card, and let in the possibility of dead drawing Perfect Strike Cells later. Now this line is much riskier. When Growing Evil uses his Union: Absorb, you have to declare your intention to Cold Bloodlust when the effect is activated, before the target is even chosen. If you do so after Evolving Evil is played, while you can stop the chain from going up due to his Union: Absorb being negated, he’ll still get the kill and draw. But having to do so before the target is chosen means the Cell player can simply pick another 5 Drop Cell that they feel is expendable, leaving a 1 Step Chain more manageable in the future.

Another example is ironically enough, Babidi. Say you don’t have the Cold Bloodlust in hand but do have Crusher Ball. Now obviously you don’t want to Crusher the Babidi, but what comes out due to his effect. Because of the rule change, you have to do so before he even looks at the Top 7 for targets. This means that the opponent, seeing Crusher is out, can prioritize his picks based on that knowledge. More expendable targets or cards that still maintain value just on being put in play rather than swinging in.

Add in the plethora of cards we’ve received this set, seemingly in every color, that does something similar and you can see why the rule was clarified. This should allow more meaningful interaction with Counter: Play cards rather than the stranglehold they held on that phase. I’ll say though that Shugesh becomes even stronger as it doesn’t have to put Explosive Spirit Son Goku into harm’s way if Bloodlust is played.

Evolve/Awaken still carries over Power Boosts, does NOT carry over lingering Skills

This is a big one, mainly for a certain Prince of all Saiyans. Vegeta was one of the best leaders in the game, and part of the reason was his big Awaken power play. Use his ability to take a life to go to 4 and gain Critical, Awaken and still have the Critical available for use on the flip side. It provided a huge surge of advantage and pressure, not easily matched. Vegeta can no longer do this. If he uses his ability prior to Awakening, he will not retain Critical on his Awakened Side unless he uses the ability again. That’s a big blow and essentially takes away an entire turn of pressure for Vegeta. He can still Self Awaken with the best of them, but now the dangers of Vegeta at 5 Life are far more muted. I expect him to remain a top Leader but I’m interested in seeing how much this will impact him in the future. Well I won’t have to wait long as the Rule Changes (though not the erratas) go into effect, IMMEDIATELY and there happens to be a Regional tomorrow…Bandai probably should’ve waited an extra couple of days on that one.

As for Evolve, same deal. This wasn’t as big an issue, as for the most part it was very expensive in Energy to attempt to pass off an acquired floating skill into another Evolve. This was most likely a preemptive strike against EX-Evolve which allowed it much cheaper and no one wanted to be on the end of Ultra Instinct Goku with a Critical Triple Strike among other things. But ultimately nothing too major.

Overall Thoughts:

Guys, this is a good thing. One of the biggest mistakes budding TCGs often make is being very stubborn in making any sort of gameplay related hits or adjustments because of the fear of turning into Yugioh or the like. A big source of contention for me with Force of Will for a long time was they would actively allow huge problems to roam for months with no end in sight, simply because they were afraid of player backlash if they made a ban or errata. Now sometimes, the floodgates really do open and once a hit comes, they can’t help themselves. Ironically enough, Magic the Gathering Standard I would argue is undergoing that very thing, making their first bans in YEARS a while back (and those bans were late. If you aren’t sure, I have four words for you. Jace The Mind Sculptor, only returning NOW in Modern)…and now being far more aggressive with them. But ultimately, the one thing as damaging as being too liberal with Erratas and Bans is being too stubborn in the other direction due to misguided player feedback of not wanting to be “those other games”.

Hell let’s look back at the changes. One was on a card everyone long since agreed was very poorly designed. Another was a clarification due to one word and hope for the future that they’ll clean that type of design up to make it simpler to understand. The third was cleaning up the design of a very format defining card in Cold Bloodlust (and Crusher Ball by proxy), and the last I would argue bringing design back to what was likely intended to begin with. The only actual meta change was Vegeta indirectly, who will likely still remain a very strong Leader. They haven’t touched the point of slippery slope at all yet. Also, it’s far better to be “early” on these sorts of changes than “late”.

Until Next Time, Keep Fighting Because if You Don’t, Who Will?