Not exactly how I was planning my grand return, but here we are. This is not Ban Season, this is not Preview Season, we’re just straight to the Emergency Ban. What got hit, why it got hit, and what’s in the future? Let’s discuss.

Zen-Oh Button is Banned as of January 17th, 2020

What Is This Card?

Okay so Zen-Oh Button was a card from way back in Set 2, Union Force. For those who don’t know or just didn’t read the above, on Counter:Attack speed for zero cost you can untap all of your Blue Energy. Now for anyone reading this for the first time (odd why you’re reading this article of all things if that’s the case but hey, I don’t judge) that probably sounds immensely broken, especially if you come from a Magic the Gathering background. Admittedly to most of us playing at the time it did sound absurdly broken. Blue was already the best color coming off of Galactic Battle, and this looked poised to push it over the top. Also Vegito was coming out and this seemed really busted with it.

But just like Vegito it shows how much context matters when evaluating cards. The context of Union Force and for a good amount of the game afterwards, the button didn’t do much. The only ways we really could effectively use Energy on the opponent’s turn were by comboing heavier stuff, or by Negating Attacks but obviously you’d have to wait until the next attack to do so. Generally wasting a card in hand just for the attempt to combo out or negate a future attack ultimately wasn’t that helpful, and drawing multiples were nasty bricks. Still it did see niche play, especially in Vegito who had to rely on heavier combo costed cards to begin with but it didn’t help his lack of hand advantage issue.

Things only got worse for the card as combo costs steadily decreased while we also obtained free negates that allowed us to much more effectively play defense even if short on Energy. This was especially the case for Blue Leaders who received Dimension Magic which basically did Zen-Oh Button but better for them. The card faded to the background as a lesson in card design. So what the hell changed for it to come roaring back and fulfill its destiny as a world destroyer?

Why Was It Banned?

Well in the last year Bandai finally pushed the game to be more interactive on both turns. More powerful and unique designs when it came to potentially disrupting or establishing board presence on other turns. Arrival was a big deal, though Blue wasn’t really positioned to take advantage of it as a majority of Blue Arrival cards were relatively lackluster or were cheap enough to not necessitate mass untap but they received other cards as well. But there were two main things that really broke Button wide open.

1.The growing Dual Color card pool. As we get more and more Dual Color combinations, by proxy Blue also will be part of that and thus spread its influence. The more Dual Colors in Blue, the more things Button can untap and thus really be strong with. Those earlier Arrival and Flash BC options now become possible for Blue centered decks, and Blue itself started to receive some good ones.

2.Dragon Brawl UI Goku and Great Ape Bardock. If anyone has seen their prices recently without being in the game for a while may have their jaws drop. There’s very good reason for it and let’s start with Bardock. This (alongside Arrival) made one of the big weaknesses of Button disappear. That being the lack of meaningful impact during the attack you use the Button. Generally the opponent attacks, you use the Button, now they know that at least for that attack they can pressure a fair bit with little fear of reprisal. Now they have to worry about Bardock being comboed for 2 Generic, coming down and tapping something else and drawing you a card. Being 2 Generic is the key here because it means as long as you’re in a Yellow Leader you jam 4 of this (assuming you’re willing to give up a paycheck to grab a playset) and if you’re predominantly Blue it’s easy to throw in Buttons. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a Yellow Leader that can play nearly any color combination and be great…oh yeah, Broly… Broly continuing his reign as best Generic Leader in the entire game now gives you a Main Deck reason to use him in a ton of decks, and that’s Bardock. Button added to that.

As for UI Goku, he really brings the pain everywhere else. The second you get Buttoned and your opponent has 4 Energy that 99% of the time will be Blue in some capacity the fear comes in. If you so much as sneeze the wrong way he comes down, disrupting your turn and even drawing an extra card essentially replacing the button and helping deal with the -1 Button usually brings (as mentioned in passing, Bardock also does this). Though honestly there’s so much draw power in the game right now the -1 on Button isn’t nearly the hindrance it used to be. I mentioned in the preview for UI Goku that the main thing holding him back would be his prohibitive Energy Cost limiting the amount of decks that could really make use of him but with so much Dual Color out there, and Button running him was basically no downside at all.

What Changes Going Forward?

Well Blue centric decks, Blue/Green especially are gonna have to be a lot less greedy going forward. UI Goku especially takes a hit as again it becomes much tougher to keep up 4 relevant Energy and I can see decks starting to forego him entirely in favor of cheaper Arrival plays…or just pick a Yellow Leader and go Bardock. This also makes Yellow Baby, aka the Leader that just run the most recent big event, even better. One of the main points of worry for that deck was if it couldn’t piece together its winning combination on Turn 3 (not always guaranteed due to having quite a few moving parts to assemble and the opponent likely not just sitting there twiddling their thumbs) then any time against a Blue deck with 4 Energy any attempt at committing to the final push could end with a Button on one attack into UI Goku at any other time to just hose you out of the game. Now it’ll be much easier to read on their end.

Ultimately though the card had to go for a very similar reason to Minus Kili Zone. A card that actively goes against the grain of the new gameplay they’re trying to promote, in this case Dual Color cards by straight ignoring a lot of the downsides. It ultimately had to go to free up design space.