Bot Talk: Secret Actions
After a long hiatus on the site, we start back up with the Transformers TCG as take a deep dive into Secret actions!
Alright, so I'm going to try my hand at writing something again, here we go!
In response to the outcry of articles, I decided to expand a little bit by making a companion piece to my Secret actions Video, with going over some stuff, I talked about with them as well as some additional thoughts about secret actions since my Energon invitational.
Secret actions were first introduced in set 3 Siege for Cybertron 1 and are the transformers equivalent to the Yu-Gi-Oh trap card as you have to set the card and wait for the opponent to trigger the response. They usually trigger when a character defends, so this after combat abilities trigger, but before pip flips happen. But there have been a few other ways to activate my secret action!
Battlefield Report is the first secret action that allows us to draw 2 cards and take a card from our hand and put it on top of our deck (Plan 1) when a character defends.
Thoughts: A fantastic drawcard that also allows us to set up a potential double blue pip flip by taking a dead card in our hand such as Handheld Blaster and putting it on top of the deck. It allows us to dig for needed cards setting up for a better offensive turn when our turn to swing.
When is it played?
In response to the outcry of articles, I decided to expand a little bit by making a companion piece to my Secret actions Video, with going over some stuff, I talked about with them as well as some additional thoughts about secret actions since my Energon invitational.
Secret actions were first introduced in set 3 Siege for Cybertron 1 and are the transformers equivalent to the Yu-Gi-Oh trap card as you have to set the card and wait for the opponent to trigger the response. They usually trigger when a character defends, so this after combat abilities trigger, but before pip flips happen. But there have been a few other ways to activate my secret action!
Thoughts: A fantastic drawcard that also allows us to set up a potential double blue pip flip by taking a dead card in our hand such as Handheld Blaster and putting it on top of the deck. It allows us to dig for needed cards setting up for a better offensive turn when our turn to swing.
When is it played?
Ideally, it’s best used when we need to dig for weapons or actions that strengthen our offensive turn while we are still on the defensive. Alternatively, this also allows us to get us more cards in hand just in general when we are low on hand cards or have dead cards that can be better suited to flip defensively be it a blue pip, a double blue pip or a white pip.
Mainboard or Sideboard: Depending on how offensive or defensive your deck is will warrant if this is mainboard or sideboard. If you fill like you're flipping enough or can dig efficiently enough in your deck this can be sideboard at least a 2 of. However, if you feel you are lacking or you need key components for a combo or certain weapons such as Laser Cutlass if you are running a wide team that has a bunch of 5-star bots and cons then a 2 of in the mainboard or possibly the full 3. It's all in just what your deck needs to do that determines if this is in the deck or sitting in the sideboard.
Bolster once again triggers when we defend and lets us play armor on our bot/con from our hand.
Thoughts: Another fantastic card especially in mix decks. This lets us be able to play the best blue armors when we need them the most while still having the best orange weapons. The best thing about this card is that it lets us screw up our opponent's math after they slap on that grenade launcher and supercharge them, you bolster and drop reinforced Plating on your defender and then all of a sudden they have to deal with tough 2 completely throwing their attack value calculations to the wind.
When is it played?
Mainboard or Sideboard: Depending on how offensive or defensive your deck is will warrant if this is mainboard or sideboard. If you fill like you're flipping enough or can dig efficiently enough in your deck this can be sideboard at least a 2 of. However, if you feel you are lacking or you need key components for a combo or certain weapons such as Laser Cutlass if you are running a wide team that has a bunch of 5-star bots and cons then a 2 of in the mainboard or possibly the full 3. It's all in just what your deck needs to do that determines if this is in the deck or sitting in the sideboard.
Thoughts: Another fantastic card especially in mix decks. This lets us be able to play the best blue armors when we need them the most while still having the best orange weapons. The best thing about this card is that it lets us screw up our opponent's math after they slap on that grenade launcher and supercharge them, you bolster and drop reinforced Plating on your defender and then all of a sudden they have to deal with tough 2 completely throwing their attack value calculations to the wind.
When is it played?
When we are in desperate need of armor during the opponent's turn, when the opponent makes a huge push and you need your bot to survive, or when we just want to get an upgrade played on the opponents turn so we have another chance to upgrade during our turn.
Mainboard or Sideboard: In a mixing deck or a heavy armor deck this is a mainboard card. This gives us a lot of options such as a free upgrade during the opponent's turn, skewing opponent’s math. This is even splashable in the heavy blue armor decks just to get the armor on the bot/con. In more aggressive decks this is potentially sideboard if the sideboard lets you switch from offense to defense. If your strategy is defensive or heavy armor then I would say this is 2 mainboard.
Dampening triggers when you defend and hinder the opponent by not letting them flip more than 4 cards during combat.
Thoughts: I believe in my video I stated this needed to be on the sideboard......Oh boy, did I learn a lesson after my Energon invitational! I underestimated just how much work this card puts in, in our current Meta. I knew we were orange heavy with Cars, Bugs, and Lionizer I just greatly misunderstood just how heavy orange we were! While this will not outright stop them, this card does greatly hinder their ability to deal with excessive damage.
When is it played?
Mainboard or Sideboard: In a mixing deck or a heavy armor deck this is a mainboard card. This gives us a lot of options such as a free upgrade during the opponent's turn, skewing opponent’s math. This is even splashable in the heavy blue armor decks just to get the armor on the bot/con. In more aggressive decks this is potentially sideboard if the sideboard lets you switch from offense to defense. If your strategy is defensive or heavy armor then I would say this is 2 mainboard.
Dampening triggers when you defend and hinder the opponent by not letting them flip more than 4 cards during combat.
Thoughts: I believe in my video I stated this needed to be on the sideboard......Oh boy, did I learn a lesson after my Energon invitational! I underestimated just how much work this card puts in, in our current Meta. I knew we were orange heavy with Cars, Bugs, and Lionizer I just greatly misunderstood just how heavy orange we were! While this will not outright stop them, this card does greatly hinder their ability to deal with excessive damage.
When is it played?
Mostly when we see their primary damage dealers still untapped is when this best used. For example, KickBack, Arcee Wave 1, Optimus Prime Battle Legend, Lionizer and anything with Lionizer attached the list could go on for a while. Granted, these examples do take some forethought as we need to set up the card before they swing, but if you see them untapped while it's still your turn it’s a really good time to slap down Dampening.
Mainboard or Sideboard: So again this will depend on what your deck and in particular what your local Meta is like. If it's orange heavy then, yeah, this is going to take up 3 of your white pip slots. Honestly, I use this in a lot of my decks now especially during the invitational season because those bugs are everywhere. Otherwise, this could probably sit in your sideboard to swap with a less useful white pip when it's time to the sideboard. Either way, this is a 3 of in my opinion.
Defensive formation pops when defending to gives each of your bots/cons plus 1 defense for the turn.
Thoughts: So in my video, I didn't quite understand why this was used, after playing more games and being in and Invitational I finally saw that this was used to help 2 tall decks out with a minor increase in defense. This is also great for when you are going against decks that like to give multiple re ready abilities or the Soundwave and Pals deck.
When is it played?
Mainboard or Sideboard: So again this will depend on what your deck and in particular what your local Meta is like. If it's orange heavy then, yeah, this is going to take up 3 of your white pip slots. Honestly, I use this in a lot of my decks now especially during the invitational season because those bugs are everywhere. Otherwise, this could probably sit in your sideboard to swap with a less useful white pip when it's time to the sideboard. Either way, this is a 3 of in my opinion.
Defensive formation pops when defending to gives each of your bots/cons plus 1 defense for the turn.
Thoughts: So in my video, I didn't quite understand why this was used, after playing more games and being in and Invitational I finally saw that this was used to help 2 tall decks out with a minor increase in defense. This is also great for when you are going against decks that like to give multiple re ready abilities or the Soundwave and Pals deck.
When is it played?
I believe a lot of the times this will see when we’re down two our last two bots while the opponent still has more bots giving them an extended attack phase. While plus 1 defense doesn’t seem a whole lot in the grand scheme of things it does add up especially depending on how well you pip flip. Two tall decks take the most advantage of this card as the current Meta seems to be drifting to 4 wide. Even 3 wide decks can take advantage of this card as they can fit in cards like Flamewar to give additional defensive flips making this effectively a plus 2 defense.
Mainboard or Sideboard: This card takes a very specific deck to run it and even then space is tight. This is probably best suited for a sideboard at a 2 of. Two tall and 3 wide decks are looking to do very specific things and the sideboard slots to them are precious so this might not even make into the sideboard. However, with Siege 2 coming down the line there is a possibility this will see more play.
Hiding Spot allows us to give character stealth coming online after an opponent declares an attacker, but before he can declare a defender.
Mainboard or Sideboard: This card takes a very specific deck to run it and even then space is tight. This is probably best suited for a sideboard at a 2 of. Two tall and 3 wide decks are looking to do very specific things and the sideboard slots to them are precious so this might not even make into the sideboard. However, with Siege 2 coming down the line there is a possibility this will see more play.
Hiding Spot allows us to give character stealth coming online after an opponent declares an attacker, but before he can declare a defender.
Thoughts:
Probably one of if not the best secret action out of all 8. This allows us to force the opponent to make sub optimal plays by making their intended target not available. This is an incredibly strong ability as the opponent can dump a lot of attack pumps or set up to kill a bot/con and all of a sudden they have to go elsewhere. This is even better in a defensive deck, as you can send them into a bot/con with 2 or 3 defense versus the bot they were intending with a 1 defense that could potentially kill the bot/con. Furthermore, this is a mono-black pip so even when we flip it in combat will still profit as it gives us Pierce 1, so all around a fantastic card.
Probably one of if not the best secret action out of all 8. This allows us to force the opponent to make sub optimal plays by making their intended target not available. This is an incredibly strong ability as the opponent can dump a lot of attack pumps or set up to kill a bot/con and all of a sudden they have to go elsewhere. This is even better in a defensive deck, as you can send them into a bot/con with 2 or 3 defense versus the bot they were intending with a 1 defense that could potentially kill the bot/con. Furthermore, this is a mono-black pip so even when we flip it in combat will still profit as it gives us Pierce 1, so all around a fantastic card.
When is it played?
This is the tricky part, as we need to guess correctly when the opponent goes all in to make them waste as many resources as possible. Unlike the other secret actions, this one has a much different timing as the defender has yet to announce so this is more of a guessing game. This means there is a potential that we can stealth the wrong bot/con and they kill off another member of your team that contributes to your deck differently. The best use of this card is easily when Battle Masters are involved. Battle Masters are at most harassers units in bot mode, save for lionizer due to their low health and attack. Aimless, however, really profits from Hiding Spot as it shifts more attacks to him. He tends to stick around on the board longer with his tough 3 meaning he can harass the opponent for much longer. So making the opponent waste as many damage pumps as possible then hiding spot the swing onto him to nerf nearly if not all the damage is just infuriating.
Mainboard or Sideboard:
Well, if you have a Battle Master in the deck or have a bot that has a high defense state this is a mainboard card at a 2 of at the very least. Again this allows us to divert high power attacks to either the better defense valued Bot/Con or to the Battle Master to shift them into Weapon form quicker. In other decks, this can hang out in the sideboard at 2 of.
Infiltrate triggers whenever your opponent plays an Orange action allowing us to scrap it and negate its effects.
Thoughts:
First off, I see what you’re doing WOTC. You gave us Counterspell on a Blue card. You thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did! Seriously though, this is one of the kings of the blue sideboards and we aren’t even in that section yet. This lets us just fizzle an orange spell like PTT or Super Charge to keep the orange player in check while allowing us as a blue player or even an opposing orange player to survive a little bit longer.
When do we play it?
Much like hiding spot, this takes a little forethought as while we can counter any orange action we are looking to counter their best spells for the most bang for our buck. Obvious targets are Confidence to prevent card draw, Peace Through Tyranny…Because, well…It’s Peace Through Tyranny. Super Charge as well to make sure they can’t flip any more battle cards than they already are.
Mainboard or Sideboard:
This is one of the staple sideboard cards in most blue decks in my opinion. It will usually sit at 2 of sometimes getting up to a 3 of depending on how heavy of an orange deck we are sitting across from. Countering an Orange action is so powerful especially since it usually means it prevents a kill, however, to know what we’re up against we first have to play against it to see what the most optimal actions the opposing deck has to counter. Now, that’s not to say we can’t run it in the mainboard where it would sit at a 2 of. I would just prefer to see what I’m up against and keep track of what does what in my opponent’s deck first before I start countering.
Scavenge the Battlefield gives us the upgrades of the fallen when a bot/con ko’s allowing them to be shared to the surviving team members.
Thoughts:
Much like Defensive Formation, this card suits certain builds more specifically 3 wide teams. 3 wide teams at this moment usually consist of a Battle Master and 2 larger bots/cons to wield its weapon form. 4 wides can also use this, but I don’t think it’s as effective. 3 wide just profit’s more on where a Battle Master and a Bot/Con with high health is.
When do we play it?
We play it when a bot/con kos and we have another large body that can make use of the weapon as well as the previous user. A good example is a Grimnizer deck which is Grimlock(wave 1), Arcee(Wave 1) and Lionizer. We see the king take a knee as Grimlock gets ko’ ed and we trigger this to give the now Lionizer sword to Arcee making her the most dangerous lady in the galaxy as her ability just skyrockets with Swordnizer in her hands.
Mainboard Or Sideboard:
As previously stated, 3 wide decks like 2 tall ones are looking to do something very particular so space is tight in both mainboard and sideboard. If a Battle Master is involved this is mainboard card to keep the weapon form in play for as long as possible, otherwise I just don’t see this being in the deck in either board.
Take Cover hides us from out of combat damage when the opponent tries to burn our Bots/Cons when they attempt to burn us using combat abilities or actions.
Thoughts: I still haven’t seen this play too much honestly. This is mostly because we have characters such as Motormaster who have the same effect as this card, but as a static ability. The card is not without merit as Motormaster can’t always be our sideboard Con and that’s when we play this to protect us from burn decks.
When do we play it?
We can use this best against burn decks or Grimnizer decks as this prevents Grimlock’s damage effect from triggering thus keeping him from hitting two bots/cons for the price of one. The downside right now is that burn is not quite there yet as of this Meta, but that could easily change in Siege 2.
Mainboard or Sideboard:
As I said before, we do have Motormaster as an option to sideboard on top of this card. The differences are that we need to play this card while Motormaster can just sit in alt mode and keep us safe. Now a little extra insurance is never a bad thing so probably a 2 of in the sideboard to protect us from Zap, Inferno Breath or Proton bomb.
When do we play it?
Much like hiding spot, this takes a little forethought as while we can counter any orange action we are looking to counter their best spells for the most bang for our buck. Obvious targets are Confidence to prevent card draw, Peace Through Tyranny…Because, well…It’s Peace Through Tyranny. Super Charge as well to make sure they can’t flip any more battle cards than they already are.
Mainboard or Sideboard:
This is one of the staple sideboard cards in most blue decks in my opinion. It will usually sit at 2 of sometimes getting up to a 3 of depending on how heavy of an orange deck we are sitting across from. Countering an Orange action is so powerful especially since it usually means it prevents a kill, however, to know what we’re up against we first have to play against it to see what the most optimal actions the opposing deck has to counter. Now, that’s not to say we can’t run it in the mainboard where it would sit at a 2 of. I would just prefer to see what I’m up against and keep track of what does what in my opponent’s deck first before I start countering.
Scavenge the Battlefield gives us the upgrades of the fallen when a bot/con ko’s allowing them to be shared to the surviving team members.
Thoughts:
Much like Defensive Formation, this card suits certain builds more specifically 3 wide teams. 3 wide teams at this moment usually consist of a Battle Master and 2 larger bots/cons to wield its weapon form. 4 wides can also use this, but I don’t think it’s as effective. 3 wide just profit’s more on where a Battle Master and a Bot/Con with high health is.
When do we play it?
We play it when a bot/con kos and we have another large body that can make use of the weapon as well as the previous user. A good example is a Grimnizer deck which is Grimlock(wave 1), Arcee(Wave 1) and Lionizer. We see the king take a knee as Grimlock gets ko’ ed and we trigger this to give the now Lionizer sword to Arcee making her the most dangerous lady in the galaxy as her ability just skyrockets with Swordnizer in her hands.
Mainboard Or Sideboard:
As previously stated, 3 wide decks like 2 tall ones are looking to do something very particular so space is tight in both mainboard and sideboard. If a Battle Master is involved this is mainboard card to keep the weapon form in play for as long as possible, otherwise I just don’t see this being in the deck in either board.
Take Cover hides us from out of combat damage when the opponent tries to burn our Bots/Cons when they attempt to burn us using combat abilities or actions.
Thoughts: I still haven’t seen this play too much honestly. This is mostly because we have characters such as Motormaster who have the same effect as this card, but as a static ability. The card is not without merit as Motormaster can’t always be our sideboard Con and that’s when we play this to protect us from burn decks.
When do we play it?
We can use this best against burn decks or Grimnizer decks as this prevents Grimlock’s damage effect from triggering thus keeping him from hitting two bots/cons for the price of one. The downside right now is that burn is not quite there yet as of this Meta, but that could easily change in Siege 2.
Mainboard or Sideboard:
As I said before, we do have Motormaster as an option to sideboard on top of this card. The differences are that we need to play this card while Motormaster can just sit in alt mode and keep us safe. Now a little extra insurance is never a bad thing so probably a 2 of in the sideboard to protect us from Zap, Inferno Breath or Proton bomb.
A nicely written article covering the secret actions and their value. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, it was a long night of writing, but this just made it worth it!
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