Okay, time for a little 2.5 action. I figured to help out those who may have been disappointed that the Buu Leader Guide didn’t actually have the Buu packages within the deck, I should talk about the Buu packages themselves and how they could optimally be used. This will be slightly different from the previous format, but a good addendum to the previous Guide before we move onto Vegito (likely sometime next week). Like always, leave any comments and suggestions down below.

The Ultimate Evil, Majin Buu

Strengths:

+ Extremely effective at dealing with pesky weenies early.

+ Very solid Critical pressure.

+ All drawn Buus aren’t necessarily dead in hand.

+ Bibidi provides blanket Barrier, even down to Energy Boosted.

+ Can often immediately Union-Absorb the second a starter (Bibidi, OoC Buu) is played.

+ The Ultimate Evil can end the game on the spot with very little investment.

Weaknesses:

– Less adaptable targets for Union-Absorb can lead to awkward starts.

– Deck strategy and approach to each game is often rigid.

– REALLY does not like cards that can attack active Battle Cards (Vados, Jiren, BuuHan).

Overview:

We’ll start off with the Ultimate Evil and the package that goes along with him. That being Out of Control Majin Buu and friends. The package has a lot of good…but a lot of baggage that comes with it. When the package is humming it feels like you can just get steamrolled and there’s very little to do about it. When it’s failing it feels like you have a bunch of cards in hand that don’t do anything or are very slow. Make no mistake, the deck requires a lot of precise setups in order to get off the ground and not a ton of room for anything else in the deck. Most of the other space is usually made up of cards to shore up the obvious weaknesses, rather than making much of a coherent alternate battle plan. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of the Ultimate Evil package, but it certainly is fun. It’s something I’d certainly mess around with at locals. Onto the deck.

Deck Build:

Mono-Blue Soul Striker Buu

Leader: SSGSS Son Goku, The Soul Striker

4 Energy Boosted Majin Buu

4 Universe 10 Supreme Kai Gowasu

4 Boost Attack Piccolo

4 Majin Defiler, West Supreme Kai

2 Universal Leader, Grand Supreme Kai (or 2 Majin Buu, Dawn of the Rampage instead)

4 Majin Defiler, South Supreme Kai

4 Out of Control Evil, Majin Buu

4 Energy Boost Beerus

4 Magician’s Father, Bibidi

4 Power Absorbing Majin Buu

3 The Ultimate Evil Majin Buu

4 Whis’ Coercion

3 Result of Training

2 Trunks, Power Overseeing Time

Deck Overview:

Hey, it’s the return of the Soul Striker himself. Long since forgotten since most people write him off as too slow or inferior to his SSJ3 cousin, I’ve brought him back but not just simply out of nostalgia. After all, in the next deck list his cousin will be showing up again. But as a purposefully chosen Leader which I’ll get into in a second. This deck seeks to do one simple thing. Maintain advantage and beat over the head with Power Absorbing Majin Buu as much as possible until the dramatic finish with The Ultimate Evil. Hopefully Bibidi is out there too making it VERY awkward for the opponent to do much of anything to your board without having very specific outs or spending resources dealing with a 10K body who’s doing nothing else. Onto the Tips and Discussion Points.

Discussion Points:

Why Soul Striker Goku over SSJ3 Goku?

The main reason is this. I think this package definitely needs more freedom of doing multiple plays within a single turn, rather than the ramp or the ability to play more defensive later. Also because of how volatile the package is when it comes to precision and needing very specific cards, I want to avoid the rare occurrence where SSJ3 Goku charges something you don’t want charged before you can even make a gameplan. Ultimately both Soul Striker and SSJ3 Goku can get a Union-Absorb off the same exact turn, Turn 3. I believe later in the game, when you’re trying to push with more threats, is where Soul Striker really shines. You’ll often need to make multiple plays to push final damage through or to set up a proper sequence for Union-Absorb, Soul Striker makes that happen.

Why no Babidi, Agent of Destruction?

He was in my initial build. But you rarely hit on the one Buu you ACTUALLY want to hit, being Out of Control and the others aren’t that fun to draw. While they aren’t dead, it certainly lowered Babidi’s usefulness. Instead I went towards more focus on Gods and using Gowasu to fill the hand with more utilitarian cards. There’s rarely a time you’ll hit with Gowasu and not like what you grab, whereas that scenario can happen a lot with Babidi.

Why the focus on Power Absorbing and no God Absorber?

Now in fairness, most people do this anyway. I was actually one of the stragglers believing God Absorber to be better for the strategy, and admittedly I still do like God Absorber a lot. But having two different Buus meant more clunky draws and I just wasn’t feeling that. Plus since the deck goes off on Turn 3/Turn 4 a lot of the time, Power Absorbing is just generally better for that early/midpoint of the game with his potential Dual Attack/Critical pressure. I had to finally relent and admit Power Absorbing really is the better of the two for the deck.

Why the choice between Grand Supreme Kai and Dawn of the Rampage?

I feel it’s really a lot of player choice. I prefer Grand Supreme Kai due to him being another God target and getting you to South Supreme Kai so Power Absorbing Majin Buu actually has a relevant effect when going in with him. Some however might prefer having the Barrier, making it much safer to go for The Ultimate Evil if Bididi isn’t around. I do think it’s close enough that I can’t make a legitimate succession for one of the other.

Energy Boost Beerus?

One thing you’ll find out quick…the deck has crap all for removal so you tend to need it badly. Beerus is still one of the most consistent removal outlets there is, and is a God for Gowasu.

4 Bibidi?!

Speaking of another card I haven’t had the most glowing assessment of, I really ragged on Bibidi when he was first previewed. I figured he wasn’t needed, delayed you a turn for very little and all of that. Turns out though, Barrier is still damn powerful and while Bibidi does delay you a turn…he’s still worthwhile just on that basis. Plus he’s another starter which the deck definitely needs more of. While the board made by Bibidi is no Apes board backed up by King Vegeta/Planet Vegeta…it’s still immensely tough to deal with. He also doesn’t feel to be as much of a pain to actually board compared to Vegeta so that’s the trade off for me (be honest, how often do you see Ape King Vegeta actually resolve on a board? For my experience, it’s very little…still an absurdly strong card though). He just plays MUCH better than I had anticipated. …also protecting Energy Boosted Majin Buu is hilarious, especially when something like Kale or Masked Saiyan drops.

Trunks, Power Overseeing Time

Yeah I’m using him a lot lately it feels like, and we’ll be seeing him again later in the article. He’s just arguably the best Over Realm card right now due to sheer versatility. You need something, he gets you to it. In this deck, even more important if you need certain combo pieces.

Tips:

Do your best in the first couple of turns to gauge the matchup to see if South Supreme Kai is safe to actually play on board.

Like I said previously, this package is volatile and South Supreme Kai is an immensely important piece to that. It’s pretty much your only good Union-Absorb piece outside of maybe Dawn of the Rampage (and that’s not as good a play as it is in BuuHan) but it’s also rough because he’s usually also your only decent pressure piece if you haven’t drawn your starter or you’ve drawn multiples of South. But remember that Power Absorbing can just Evolve onto him normally which is great and one of the big steps up over BuuHan (…at least pre-ToP). That’s why I feel it’s important to gauge your matchups to see if you can actually board him. If you can, and can keep him alive for one turn it can often be preferable to going for the Union-Absorb play since it provides an extra turn of Critical pressure AND leaves you with more Out of Controls to use for later.

Don’t overcommit in poorer matchups.

What I mean is, if you’re facing someone that you can almost guarantee is rocking Jiren or something that can really wreck your board even with Bibidi backing you up, you’ll have to play a bit more conservatively. At that point, instead of going for the big money Union-Absorbs you’ll have to do your best to dink and dunk a bit more. This is where the usage of Soul Striker really helps as you can board Power Absorbing raw if need be to set up The Ultimate Evil.

Sometimes, you’ll just have to settle for a vanilla Union-Absorb.

Like I said, deck is volatile and many things can and will go wrong. Thus you have to be willing to accept a couple of poorer plays if the necessity arises. Don’t always go for the home run with Out of Control Buu. If you NEED to get a bigger body out there, go for the Vanilla Union-Absorb without South Supreme Kai and get it done. Now I’m not saying to do this all the time, if you aren’t feeling pressured to do so then take your time and allow things to come together naturally. But if you’re falling behind on board against say, the Veggie Package, then you have to bite the bullet and make some plays. Especially if backed by The Ultimate Evil.

Final Thoughts on The Ultimate Evil:

The deck is fun, I’ll say that much. I may even play it for a locals in a couple of weeks for funsies. The deck feels at the very least functional, which was my goal. It can win, but I certainly wouldn’t be taking it to Regionals outside of an incredible hard read in the meta. But it’s still a decent option that certainly can turn heads and steal games. Now onto what I think to be the superior Buu…especially after Tournament of Power.

Grand Evil Absorption Majin Buu

Strengths:

+ Very consistent base thanks to Surprise Attack Majin Buu and Hercule being able to dig deeper for him.

+ Surprise Attack Majin Buu allows an immense amount of versatility to your gameplan.

+ Consistent Late Game Double Strike pressure.

+ Grand Evil Absorption acts as strong removal on a level similar to Jiren, but for cheaper and with greater upside.

+ Majin Buu, Full of Energy acts as a good utility play to the gameplan, as a strong attacker that can also double as Self-Awaken in a pinch

+ Can win from 4 Damage to 0 as always.

Weaknesses:

– Well for non-budget players, enjoy getting the 8 Gohans needed if you don’t have them already.

– It’s still very unpleasant to draw into your Grand Evil Absorptions.

– EXTREMELY susceptible to Revenge.

– The deck REALLY needs Surprise Attack Majin Buu to anchor the strategy, can be slow without it.

Overview:

Now this is what I’m talking about. It’s insane what essentially two cards can do for an entire archetype. Hell, Surprise Attack Majin Buu alone would’ve been enough to really raise the stock of the deck but the nice utility edition of Full of Energy just really helps the cause. The deck is no longer a simple one trick pony, it can hit you in a bunch of different ways, all of them unpleasant. The deck is also very resilient, due to Surprise Attack searching itself if need be (in case you see issues on the immediate horizon), and the abundance of Barrier all over the place. No need to worry about Shugesh plays here. Onto the deck

Deck Build:

Mono-Red SSJ3 Goku BuuHan

4 Hercule, Buu’s Assistant

4 Sensing Old Kai

4 Saiyan Cabba

4 Boost Attack Piccolo

4 Ability Unleashed Ultimate Gohan

4 Surprise Attack Majin Buu

4 Pride and Justice Toppo

2 Majin Buu, Dawn of the Rampage

4 Awakening Evil Majin Buu

2 Majin Buu, Full of Energy

4 Miraculous Comeback Ultimate Gohan

4 Grand Evil Absorption Majin Buu

4 Vados’ Assistance

2 Trunks, Power Overseeing Time

Deck Overview:

Told you that SSJ3 Goku would be seen soon. This deck likes to stick to traditional Evolve, and also needs a TON of Red so SSJ3 Goku tends to be better on that front since it’s already much tougher to do multiple plays on the same turn. Both Hercule and Awakening Evil Majin Buu got a HUGE buff from Surprise Attack because they now have far more targets to use for searching and Evolving respectively. Bandai may regret that cheap Evolve cost for Awakening Evil one day(which only is there to mitigate the previous plan…of using the terrible Leader Babidi/Majin Buu Revived). The deck pretty much pivots off of Surprise Attack, and admittedly may struggle if you do not hit it quick. If you do, the entire gameplan opens up and you’re pretty set the rest of the game. If you don’t…you’ll probably be twiddling your thumbs for a bit. There’s so much the deck can put out now. Do you need the typical “I’m gonna kill you for 4 damage out of nowhere”? You can do that. Need the 30K Barrier poke threat? Got it. You need self-awaken because Cabba never showed? Got that too. Do you need Double Strike, but don’t have a Gohan? You’re still covered. It’s just beautiful at work. Onto the Tips and Discussion Points.

Discussion Points:

Sensing Old Kai?

While you’re no longer as live or die on Gohan as you were before ToP…you’d still really like to have him. It’s still the strongest push play the deck has got, and even at its worse it’s just simply more continuous card advantage if you get lucky. If the opponent goes out of there way to deal with him, even better.

2 Majin Buu, Dawn of the Rampage

I initially didn’t have him in here. At first I thought “…well why would I need him? I can just go Full of Energy if I need the Barrier”. Honestly it did work out like that, but still having the option to have a 30K Barrier clean up the board and as another poke after the fact is very nice, ESPECIALLY when staring down a deck blatantly using Shugesh/Explosive Spirit Goku. Against those decks you’re simply never going to get the full value out of the BuuHan play, so going full Barrier is a good pivot and can be an absolute death knell. Only two though because hey, he’s searchable now. Though I could see lowering some cards to fit in an extra of him and Full of Energy.

Trunks, Power Overseeing Time AGAIN?

Sorry guys lol. Again, for a deck that likes having specific pieces it’s just very hard to go wrong with him. Hell it’s hard for any deck to go wrong with him. He’s versatile, just like the rest of this deck as well. I really need to pick up extras…

Tips:

Search/Mulligan HARD for Surprise Attack Majin Buu, or at the very least Hercule.

Like I said, while the deck is very versatile and resilient now, a lot of the stress went from Awakening Evil Majin Buu…and just fell on Surprise Attack instead. You REALLY want to see him in order to get the full monte of the deck. Hell even if he gets that Cold Bloodlust to the face, they still have to answer him immediately or face a potential Evolve the next turn. I don’t care how well sculpted your hand might look, if it doesn’t have either of the above mentioned cards, mull it all away. If you only have Hercule, you mull everything but Hercule. It’s only if you have Surprise Attack that you can go for scultping a well rounded hand by mulligan.

Like with The Ultimate Evil, don’t be afraid to settle for vanilla Union-Absorb…though the issue should come up far less.

Like before, if you really need to make a play, just pitch a useless card to the ether and go for Grand Evil regardless. It’s not pretty, but at the very least you have a 30K poke out there getting things done. At the very least, with 10 solid Union-Absorb targets and multiple ways to search them, the issue should come up far less than it does for The Ultimate Evil.

Recognize which Buu plays are best for which matchup.

Again guys, recognize your matchups. This deck works at its best with a pilot that understands acutely what the opponent is doing. For example, Barrier may be fantastic but if you’re facing someone leaning into Chain Attack Trunks/Zen-Oh it won’t matter for crap. At that point, prioritize big damage to both get the pain in before a nuke, and also make it tougher for the opponent to actually utilize it without losing the hand. As mentioned before, if you’re facing off against Shugesh you want to prioritize Barrier. If you’re facing down Cell Chain, both prioritize Grand Evil with Barrier AND never swing both times with him unless you feel clear of the Cell Chain. You don’t want to actually have to defend him in battle if there’s no need to (also you could just have Vados’ Assistance/a negate ready). Apes? Go for a DOUBLE Union-Absorb with both Dawn of the Rampage and Miraculous Comeback. It’s the most hand-intensive and I don’t usually advocate doing it, but it will eviscerate them with no chance of rebuttal. But this all relies on you recognizing what the opponent is doing and how they’ll approach you.

Final Thoughts:

I’ve grown to really love this deck and it’s a shame that I don’t have the spare cash to pick up the Gohans…I wish I had gotten them when I had the chance (to get the full suite of 8 Gohans now will run you around $110-120 and I can see that going up post-ToP). But I honestly do see this as a potential contender and Tournament of Power’s biggest impact (at least for what we’ve seen for now). I also hope I was able to make up for the disappointment that any had in the Buu Leader Guide and provide a good analysis for their package. Next Time, for realsies, Vegito.