Another big day in preview season and hey, we have the name for Set 4 a week later. Now…most of the talk is about a very big elephant in the room…which I’ll be discussing in another article later on today. For now I just want to focus on all the Yellow cards brought in today. Has Yellow taken another dominating step forward, or has it come back to Earth a little? Let’s find out!

The Crimson Saiyan

Golden Great Ape Son Goku/Long Odds SS4 Son Goku

*sigh* Officially, I’m just gonna call these Front Sides “Generic Draw/Untap” and move on because while the effect is decent, the laziness still hasn’t gone away. If they’re gonna be lazy with copy/pasting Leader design, I might as well join them when it comes to its analysis. I will say that if you’re going to do it, a Structure Deck along with the Draft Box are the only places it SHOULD be. Both are meant for newer players and more simplistic abilities, so that’s fine.

Now onto the actual card itself. For one, the card art is freaking GORGEOUS. Probably the best looking Leader to date in terms of actual looks. It has the new Goku’s Lineage trait, which will come in handy a bit later. Also is GT Goku (obviously) which also matters greatly. His Awakened ability…is fine. Permanent 20K with a Crit brings a fair bit of pressure and it’s not TOO hard to turn on. It’s only when you and the opponent are even or you’re behind, which generally is better than a front-running ability. I feel the ability will be on more often than not and when it’s not…you’re ahead so you’re okay with it anyway. Despite the card art, SS4 Goku isn’t the flashiest Leader we’ve ever seen. But it has relevant traits and decent enough effects to see play.

Power Charge Bardock

Speaking of “laziness”, hello to BCC Gohan! Now while I do mention the laziness, this is one of the times I don’t mind it. Mostly because I consider this card moreso “redundancy” than simple “laziness” and it’s necessary. BCC Gohan is quite annoying to get, and isn’t the cheapest thing around (it hovers around $12 right now on TCGPlayer). Also, this is a definite instance where both Name and Trait makes two cards very different. BCC Gohan being an Adult Gohan matters for searching targets, and especially BuuHan. Bardock matters due to having Goku’s Lineage and finally giving a decent Evolve target to Bardock, Will of Iron (there’s also a 1 Drop SR Bardock this set for that…we’ll see what it does later). Lastly, Yellow struggled when it came to proactive 3 Drops. Yes yes, Explosive Spirit Son Goku is fantastic BUT isn’t always the most proactive card. You usually want to use it later to remove something and…well up until this set, you mostly wanted to Shugesh it. Power Charge Bardock is a legitimate tempo 3 Drop that Yellow lacked. As long as they don’t reuse this design for every color I don’t mind it here, it shores up a legitimate void for Yellow.

SSB Son Goku, at the Apex

We have ourselves yet another new Keyword fellas. This one being “Swap”. Basically a more freeform Evolve only with the smaller body having the relevant text. You bounce the card based on the cost, to play a card with the cost and trait specified. In this instance, an 8 Drop Goku’s Lineage card for 4 Yellow Energy. Now, throughout today we haven’t actually seen what said 8 Drop does (it’s the Mastered Ultra Instinct Goku) so it will mildly inhibit the analysis for Swap 8’s but we can still soldier on with what we know.

We have yet another 5 Drop Barrier/Double Strike threat. I’m becoming a bit uneasy with how commonplace this combination is becoming (though King Vegeta just took an indirect hit). It’s pretty damn strong and this one can be played for cheap assuming you have a Swap 5 ready to go. Also if your Leader is Goku’s Lineage (as of now that’s all the Yellow ones in Colossal Warfare) he also gets to kill something on Play which is always great to have, ESPECIALLY in Yellow who generally lacks ways to remove big Active Mode threats. Overall for the Goku’s Lineage archetype he’s a great add.

Reborn Might SS4 Son Goku

Now this Goku is quite interesting. Like his predecessor he’s a Swap 8 so we’ll have to see how relevant that will be in the future. He’s a rare 5+ Drop with 0/5K Combo which helps reduce clunkiness a bit, though it comes at the cost of having a consistent Keyword. But…that’s a solid ability. He gets to restand OPT and if you’re low on Life he also gets Triple Strike. Now the issue with this is that unless your opponent’s at 4, you generally don’t want to swing at the Opponent before the Triple Strike swing, as you could just be giving them extra cards. If the opponent is lower on life, then generally the Triple Strike doesn’t matter all too much either. The 2 or less Life restriction also all but says you’re trying to end the game with this or set it up very quickly.

I think he’s fine but ultimately I believe At the Apex will probably be better. Still might be a decent tech as a finisher since he’s easily searched though by a card within the set.

Ultimate Potential SS2 Son Gohan

Now people have likened this to Explosive Spirit. Yes they both kill Rested Battle Cards. They are both Yellow Saiyans. …that’s about all the relevant things they actually share between the two. Guys, it’s okay if a card just shares one ability with other cards because there’s only so many effects you can actually print. This Gohan in pretty much every other way is different from ES Goku. 15K so he’s more offensive, he doesn’t have goddamn Barrier and of course he’s Goku’s Lineage and all the support that comes with that. For those who couldn’t afford ES Son Goku this is a decent replacement, though it’s pretty hard to replace the Barrier/Blocker that is also left behind after the removal. But I’m all for budget replacements, especially when he serves other purposes.

Colossal Warfare

Bardock/Uncontrollable Bardock

Uh…okay? I’m going to quote Linkara, of Atop the Fourth Wall/History of Power Rangers fame here. This card is a big example of Bandai’s “Bizarre Form of Laziness”. Remember the Draft Box Bardock? This card is different from that…but yet it’s obvious that it’s basically the same card in reverse. Draft Box Bardock tapped down a 3 Cost or Less Battle Card (for free) on his Front Side, and did it to any Battle Card on his Awakened Side. This Bardock kills Rested 3 cost or less Battle Cards on his Front Side…and does the same on any Rested Battle Card on his Awakened Side. Draft Box Bardock taps, this Bardock kills what is already tapped. Yeah, they play differently for obvious reasons but it’s like half-assing a research paper by only slightly changing the words of your sources. The worst part is that I’d even argue you’ve made the “assignment” worse by the changes!

Yes, self-awakening is good. But you have to jump through hoops for this one for generally not great value. On your Awakened Side, when you’d really have the full value of shooting things down you have to give up life for that too which is obviously risky and finite. At least with Draft Box Bardock he could create value where it didn’t exist by tapping down relevant cards, and he was free so he could do it every turn with no downside. With No Openings Son Goku Yellow doesn’t really struggle that greatly with self-awakening anymore either, alongside Instant Transmission which we’ll see later. So this Bardock doesn’t even offer anything that Draft Box Bardock doesn’t do better and as a card in of itself…seriously, just play Cell instead since his abilities are almost exactly the same as well but far less restrictive.

Son Goku/Legacy Bearer Son Goku

Now this one could also be argued for the above, due to Goku taking the designs of the majority of Universe 7 Leaders from Tournament of Power and put them all into one package. But in this instance it actually leads to at least some interesting design. His front side is essentially U7 Goku/Gohan/Frieza all together into one neat package. He needs an attack (like U7 Gohan due to needing to combo on his turn), he needs to attack a Leader Card (like U7 Goku) and he gets his Draw 2 from discarding a certain archetype of card (hello U7 Frieza). He also Untaps 2 Energy for Awakening like all of them because absurd card advantage and all. He’s generally not as good as U7 Frieza because he’s forced to swing to get the draw…and he doesn’t keep the insane draw power on the back. Still, the design is as potent as ever, do not underestimate it.

Awakened Side, this is a reverse U7 Vegeta. For one, he gets his own damn draw which is nice. Secondly and more importantly, his ability goes off on his own swing rather than his Battle Card’s. Not a HUGE difference and the extra boosts can certainly add up. For Goku’s Lineage, I don’t think there’s much doubt this is the best Leader (outside of one card that would need SS4 Goku). He’s pretty versatile and gets the job done. The loss of the draw on his Awakened Side bites…but trust me, sitting on the other side of a U7 draw party with no Cell Chain/Zen-Oh isn’t pleasant.

Gine, Here to Support

Hello Goku’s Mom. It seems that all the colors are going to get this kind of cycle that involves a free mill if you want it. I guess it’s to help out when it comes to Over Realm but to be honest I don’t know how much it’s needed. Meta-Cooler appreciates Gine though I guess.

Abrupt Breakthrough Son Goku

This…is an interesting card. First thing, which I should definitely point out. Universe 7 tag! …too bad this will literally never be used for that but hey, it exists. Probably the most unique power in the game at 27K. This is legitimately relevant for those wondering why. Essentially he’s 25K on Attack, but 30K on Defense. As the card is a failsafe with Barrier, having power tilted towards defense makes perfect sense. Another Swap 8 which…again, we can’t really evaluate that well at the moment.

His effect is quite unique though. Essentially if you’re 5+ Cost Goku’s Lineage gets killed by an opponent’s effect and your board is empty, he comes out for free. This…is actually a really poor ability though, mainly because you need your board to be empty. It would’ve been at least a decent tech without that. For those confused, let me explain.

To have your Battle Area empty, that leaves two problems. For one, any weenies or literally any other Battle Cards on board basically ruin this as a failsafe. You have a random Roshi hanging around after a Negate? Too bad, this turns off. You have a random Drop around? This turns off. Secondly, this requires the Battle AREA to be empty, not just having 0 Battle Cards. That means Planet Vegeta being used at ANY point in the game for you will turn this off for the entire game. That’s horrible. Card is not good at all, please do not play it.

Indomitable Dynasty SS Son Goku

Not unlike the Barrier Evolve targets from Tournament of Power and Cross-Worlds to a lesser extent, we now have Barrier Swap targets. It’d be better if he did other things as well, but the purpose of it works well enough. A solid branch point.

Dependable Dynasty Son Goku

A little less good than the above due to not having Barrier. Still will likely be needed for ranking up. Decent filler I guess.

Unbroken Dynasty Son Goku

Kid Goku basically replaces himself for another 2…at the cost of a Yellow and a card. I…do not know why you wouldn’t just play the other 2 Drop out that you wanted instead. There are reasons to swap a Goku’s Lineage for another of the same cost if you could (mostly for the 5 drops). For the 2s…not needed.

Deadly Golden Great Ape Son Goku

This would be the card that requires SS4 Goku Leader. …sure you could use SSJ GT Goku…but why? Anyway, he grabs another 5 Drop essentially to replace himself. I actually like this design a fair bit. He grabs another 5, replaces himself, plays himself again and grabs another 5. This can go on for a fair while. You’ll always have the 5 Drop that you want and you’ll have them on the cheap as well usually. Oh and he’s also a Great Ape, so there’s potential value out of that too. I don’t know if this supercedes what Legacy Bearer Son Goku does for the archetype, but it’s enough to make an SS4 Goku Variant a cool, different experiment.

Dynasty Deferred Son Goku

As a Swap 5, this Goku is likely pretty damn important to the archetype. Also has Barrier which I imagine to be key and he even untaps at End of Turn, so he can do some poking before actually going to Swap town. Solid card, and also think about this play. Play Dynasty Deferred on 4 and keep it on board until next turn. Next turn, swing with him, Swap 5 into Deadly Great Golden Ape, search for either SS4 Goku or At the Apex, swing with Deadly Great Golden Ape, then Swap into either of the above and go in yet again. That’s at least 3 swings (4 with SS4) off of one card, with at least a potential +2 AND you still have one untapped energy. Sounds pretty fun to me.

Kakarot

Awwwwww…SKIP!

Discovered Dynasty Son Gohan

Another Barrier Swap 5, though not as good as his Father when it comes to that. Instead he acts like an anchor point, drawing you 2 Cards when Swapping him in. He’s also Universe 7…though again, doesn’t really take advantage of that. Honestly, Gohan isn’t great. He’s good for your initial Laddering but after that takes too long to set up again usually. Of course I could be wrong and he could be busted by constantly looping him but it feels like it could just be too Energy Intensive.

Intrepid Dynasty Son Gohan

Ah, now here’s our Swap 3 of choice. Why? He has Barrier, enough said. Important piece.

Prodigal Dynasty Son Goten

Finally, a card that takes advantage of the other aspect of Swap, the fact that you get the card back to hand. It means he actually has a damn use after being Swapped out, other than sitting in your hand waiting to go back in to Swap out. In this case, he acts as a bigger Super Combo if your Yellow Battle Cards are being attacked. 15K combo on one card is NO joke. Great utility card for the archetype.

Plucky Dynasty Pan

Well this is an absolute first. A Super Combo that isn’t a 2 Drop 12K! She has typical Super Combo abilities but she actually has a usage outside of being a Super Combo. Now, in terms of being a Swap 5 she’s pretty below average BUT it’s mostly a bonus to give her something to do when you don’t need a Super Combo. A SC’s biggest weakness is usually the fact that they’re dead when their requirements aren’t met. If for whatever reason you aren’t Awakened by the time you hit 4, hey, Pan can still do things. I enjoy the design greatly.

Fledgling Talent Pan

She may be Goku’s Lineage, but her usefulness may go beyond that. Like how Guru is a constant buff throughout the game, Pan is a cycle machine. You drew into a meh mulligan hand? Well, she can potentially hand fix pretty quick. She helps get certain cards you want in the Drop Area but without losing precious card advantage. For Non-OR based decks that want Drop Area usage she may be a very subtle boost. I like her a lot.

Ox-King, Dad at Heart

Oh what the hell Bandai. Yet again, they go from a cool design on a 1 Drop to a potentially snapped design on the very next one. You’d think they would’ve learned from Ape King Vegeta about blanket Barrier but NOPE! Yes, it’s only 3 Drop or less Yellow Cards and at first glance it isn’t THAT powerful. Admittedly other colors would probably abuse this a bit harder, but look a little closer. Remember how annoying it was to get Ape King Vegeta on board consistently? Especially now with Shugesh’s big opponent. Now…straight out the window because you can just play him out normally since the 3 Drop will now have Barrier! I want you to think about this. In Apes, this could feasibly help make it so the ENTIRE DECK has Barrier and far easier than before! …well, outside of off-color cards of course but this is just bad design. Oh and before someone mentions that Ox-King doesn’t give himself Barrier, 2+ Ox-Kings on board cover each other so…yeah. I’m legitimately unhappy with this design choice. This is going to become a problem.

Dynasty’s Solace Chi-Chi

Typical Archetype Cantrip as per usual. Not much to say.

Caring Mother Videl

Videl is interesting. She’s a bit reminiscent of Android 19 and the like, only instead of swinging herself for the draw she taps to pump something else instead. In Galactic Emperor Frieza, this is a GOD SEND. Instead of being forced to run 19 and thus running into the opponent now Videl is the Draw Engine that actually stays on-color. Other than that specific deck, she doesn’t provide a ton.

Adoptive Father Son Gohan

Well it’s a good thing the Gohan we all know always had to be categorized by his age so the OG Gohan didn’t need any clauses. Anyway, normally I wouldn’t give much time of day to the typical 1 Drop 5K Blocker BUT OG Gohan is a bit different. He’s a Swap 2 for free. Which means you can play him and immediately bounce him for a 2 Drop, which is just a great speed up in tempo. This will probably be IMMENSELY important to have in your opening hands. Great starter for the archetype.

Explorer Bulma

Hey, time for Bulma to get in on the action outside of being a 1 drop Cantrip. She’s essentially a…well I shouldn’t say better version, but a different version of the BCC Promo Goku. A 3 Drop that Untaps 2 Energy. But she has other upsides without the Barrier, or being a Saiyan. She gets to mill if she wants, again for OR strats or Meta-Cooler and the like this could be helpful. It is optional though. She also gets to draw, which continues the Bulma Cantrip legend. She’s another proactive 3 drop, which is nice for Yellow but nothing over the top either. She can definitely find room in some strategies.

Multimech Bulma

This Bulma is only considered an EX-Evolve due to needing a 3 drop or higher Bulma, otherwise she’s classic Evolve all the way. It’s also a GOOD thing she requires that, otherwise she’d be really stupid. Anyway, pretty damn similar to the above. More drawing, more potential milling, a little less untapping but still there. Just this time on a 20K Body. There aren’t a ton of decks willing to use this I imagine, but I know one Leader dying for this card. Cross Worlds Kid Goku baybay! Now he has a plethora of Bulma targets, all of them solid and replace themselves. The kid may have an engine yet.

Successor of Hope

I’m sorry…free tutor? I mean yeah, hell yeah, we’ll take those. I would normally argue that it’s probably too busted with the breadth of targets, but considering how volatile the Goku’s Lineage deck looks to be when it comes to making sure you hit certain Swap targets…this might be a necessary evil for the deck. None of the Swap Cards seem so strong to use outside the archetype anyway outside of maaaaybe At the Apex so it shouldn’t cause too much harm.

10x Kamehameha

Here Goku, have a stronger Champa. This is basically what this is, giving Goku’s with the Lineage their own Champa but even stronger. Seems busted…but honestly doesn’t come close to using Champa with Vegeta or Masked Saiyan. Yeah on SS4 Goku’s Awakened Side (hence, you know, the name and art) but that takes a while to setup. It is also a 15K combo in general though, so it may be used regardless as just extra defensive power when you’re not trying to get in for Double Strike. Probably shouldn’t overlook it.

Instant Transmission

…well, I guess we can assume this is going to be a cycle in all the colors (outside of Black maybe). I’ll say the same thing I said for Sacrifice. This card is stupid strong. Though unlike Sacrifice, Instant Transmission does have to compete with some pretty strong negates in Yellow, mainly Flying Nimbus. Still…it probably beats it out, the ability to play a Counter for free and help Self-Awaken is just too damn strong.

Final Thoughts:

Other than the missteps with Ox-King and Bardock I really like the design of Goku’s Lineage. If nothing else it’s legitimately interesting, which I always enjoy. Yellow also got some random help for other, seemingly forgotten archetypes.

Next time, today in fact, we WILL be talking about the elephant in the room.