Transformers Deck Building Game Card by Card #1: Start Cards

I've previously written about the Transformers Deck Building Game, produced by Renegade Games. I personally own multiple sets and expansions of the game, and its become one of my favourite deck builders to pull off the shelf – it helps that my wife enjoys the game too, so we can play together. As deck builders go its only modestly complex, an asset in the end for teaching the game to guests to sit and play a round together.

I thought it would be fun to go through the various sets and write about each card, discussing the card name and theme, its artwork, utility in the game, and where I can referencing the episode / issue that the card is based on. We will start with the core set of the Deck Builder, and slowly move to various expansion and core sets over time. Naturally this means this is going to be a long series of blog posts, so expect this to take at least a few years to properly discuss all cards.

Each post we will cover a type of cards and one character card. For this first post, we will talk about the 5 Starter cards in the base set, and Optimus Prime.

Courage (Starter)

Like most deck builders, these starter cards are the core of your 5-card hand in the early game. With 4 other Starter cards, only one of which has a Power rating, this means in early game you have a Power draw of between 0 - 6, with 2-3 being the average hand. As the game progresses Courage cards are best weaned out through any available card destruction mechanics, as they are relatively weak in the mid to late game. The Energon ability makes these cards at least a card draw in a Confrontation, with the hope you will draw something with more oomph to take down a Decepticon boss.

The art depicts Optimus Prime heroically charging towards the picture pane, blasting his laser rifle at some target just off panel. Behind him are several other Autobots (I can spot Kup, Jetfire, and possibly Sideswipe behind him). This is one of the cards you're going to see the most in the entire game as you start with 6 of them, and while it's not a bad art piece the colours here are unremarkable. It's hard to make out the Autobots in the background here, and the solid blue of the night sky almost swallows Optimus's legs. I don't think the art is bad, but I would have chosen a different art piece for this personally, one with a bolder colour palate.

Thematically this is a well named card for what is the core card of the set. I have several other Deckbuilders on my shelf (DC Deck-Building, Legendary, Star Trek) and in all the default power card isn't named so heroic. Courage is just a cooler name than the generic officer cards of Star Trek and Legendary, though DC at least has the core power card as Punch. We will see the core Courage card improved in some later sets, and some very clever implementations when we examine the various Combiners.

Firepower (Starter)

Of your ten Starter cards, Firepower is the one I often struggle with as the game progresses. It has 2 Power with 1 Range, making it a contender to remain in the deck into late game. But with no Energon ability at all, its use in Confrontations is mediocre. I as often wean it out later into the game as not.

The art here depicts what I assume is Jazz blasting away with his photon rifle as he jumps (implied by the speed lines). This art piece, like many in this set, doesn't cleave entirely to a G1 incarnation of the character, which to me suggests many of these art assets were taken from various comics. The colour balance here leans a bit too much to the white - the white border of the Starter card swallows up the white-greys of Jazz and the pale blue background. I think having someone colourful like Sunstreaker or Sideswipe might have been a better choice.

Fix (Starter)

Welcome to one of the two best Starter cards in the game. It allows you to remove a Damage card you control, or one from a player in your space or an adjacent one. It has a point of Move, and an Energon ability of 1: Destroy 1 Start you control. As Damage remains a problem throughout the game, any Damage removal is always welcome – and in co-ops or team games it helps you strip Damage off of your allies. The card comes with a Move, meaning it has ongoing utility (especially if you're sticking to your bot mode to battle), and the Energon ability allows you to wean cards out of your deck. It's rare that this card ever ends up in the junk pile itself.

The art show Ratchet working on an absolutely gutted yellow car which I hope isn't Sunstreaker (because if it is... off, poor guy), while several other Autobots watch on. It's kind of a top down view, giving the angle some dynamism and an operating theatre look. The colour balance here is great; the orange of what is presumably the interior of the Arc really pops with the white border, and Ratchet's bold white and red colours don't get lost in the background.

Thematically I like this card a lot. It makes me think of the fun of Transformers as characters – if they're damaged, they're off to the repair bay instead of the hospital. Even a wrecked Transformer could often be reassembled (though that seemed to change after Transformers: The Movie). 

Reserves (Starter)

If Fix is one of the best Starters in the game, Reserves is the second best. Reserves gives you 1 Energon if you have 3 or less Energon (which means when playing Reserves, think of the timing – it's often worth playing it later in your turn after you activate Energon abilities). It has a point of Move, so even if you're flush with Energon it's not a wasted card. This card can sometimes become less worthwhile depending on how your game is going. I've played games where this ends up in the trash when I'm swimming in Energon, but in others the 1 Energon back (especially if I've made a small/tight deck) is a constant boon.

The art shows a stack of the traditional glowing pink Energon cubes, with a reddish Autobot standing nearby (we can only see his bottom half). The card colouration is very pink, and with the white borders of the mass of the glowing Energon cubes gets a bit washed out. But thematically it feels right – a small supply of Energon as a reserve could help bring warriors back into the fight and give them the edge to win a battle.

Patrol (Starter)

Our final Starter is an excellent one, though I find by mid to late game it becomes generally unwanted as your deck has been built. Its ability to scout out adjacent spaces is critical in early game as you're deck is weak (allowing you to avoid Ambushes when you can't afford them). 1 Move means the card has extra utility beyond the scouting. As the game progresses though and the Matrix becomes clogged with Decepticon and/or Co-op Schemes, revealed bosses and Sites, Patrol's use becomes gradually slowed. This card will often be weaned out of the deck as the game progresses in favour of more broadly useful cards with power and move combined.

Our art depicts Optimus Prime in his classic alternate mode, driving at sunset on a freeway, hauling his trailer (and a blue-grey car-Autobot behind him, hard to say which one though). Any kind of sunset image is usually attractive, and though the orange sky slightly washes out the bold read of our Autobot leader, the image has a warm and almost nostalgic feel. It makes me think of the Autobots en-route to scattered reports of Decepticon activity, or on the way home from a mission as they heroically drive into the sunset.

Optimus Prime (Character)

The flagship character of the franchise, Optimus Prime naturally has to be my first choice of characters to discuss. All characters in Transformers have two modes: their "alt mode", usually a vehicle with some Move, and their Bot mode. In the case of Optimus we have his transport truck mode, though its looking very much like a modern "future truck" kind of mode; it's suggestive of the classic Freightliner mode he's known for, but his `bot mode has a more modern look. Overall I like the art on both, though the red background of the Autobot character cards does naturally swallow up a bit of Optimus' colouration. 

Optimus is the one of the better characters in the game. He can explore for Adversaries and Convert when he flips one, getting a free point of Power in the mix. Like all Alt modes in this set, he's a -1 Power when battling Adversaries, meaning Alt-mode fights are going to be uncommon. 2 Move is standard – and I'm glad they went with this for Optimus. There could be a temptation to give him 1 Move as he's sometimes depicted as a bit moderate for his speed, but I think that would have hobbled him as a character (and if you've ever driven a transport truck like me, makes no sense).

Every Autobot in the core set has a card-type preference. For Optimus, it's playing other Autobot cards; each one played is +1 Power that turn. He has two Energon abilities - a 1 point card draw, and crucially a Range 2 Block that can be played out of turn. If you are playing Solo or Co-op, Optimus is always going to be one of your best choices to include on the team.

And frankly, he should be. As both the leader of the Autobots and one of the most enduringly popular characters in the Transformers franchise, Optimus should never be a character that feels like he isn't pulling his own weight or just helping the team passively (I'm looking at you, Legacy from Sentinels of the Multiverse). But he's also not overwhelmingly good; his ability to gain power from playing Autobots is entirely dependent on the mix of cards that end up in the Matrix, and your ability to recruit them (the real flaw in all Autobot characters in this set). With the game on a timer, you can't spend too much time exploring the Matrix and hoping to build the perfect deck for Optimus, so his Autobot card bonus is going to be a minor boost in most games.

In the next blog post, we will move onto some of the Basic cards, and then onto our Main Deck cards. Hopefully you found this mildly interesting, and if you're a Transformer-nerd like myself, you either own this game or pick it up. I do plan on talking more generally about the game (the solo mode, co-op mode, team games, etc) in future posts as well.