Anniversary Box Cards Revealed - What's Good? What's Not?

G'day guys! It's been a while since my last article. You've probably noticed I've been focusing more on video content over the last few weeks, but that doesn't been these will stop, just be more infrequent.

So Bandai dropped all of the Anniversary Box 2020 card reveals today, and there are some monsters! I'll go through each archetype by colour, and give some decklist suggestions here and there as well. Let's start with the biggest archetype of the lot, Agents of Destruction.

Babidi, Leader of the Agents of Destruction//Majin Buu, Leader of the Agents of Destruction (wordy AF!) is the new Agents of Destruction archetype leader, and it really works nicely with all the new cards. It has the built in permanent to make all AoD cards have no specified cost, so you don't need to play the 1 drop Babidi anymore. When he attacks, you can choose to self awaken and then look at the top 5 cards for an AoD card to add to hand. Really solid front side. He awakens at 4 as standard.

Once awakend, You can play a 2 cost AoD from hand for free each turn, which is already solid. Youcan also pay 3 to play your AoD unison with 3 counters instead of having to pay the 4 specified cost, which colour fixes the unison and also makes it cheaper. The downside is the leader doesn't have any draw built in. Luckily his support has a lot of AoD search.

Turles is exactly what the back side of the leader needs, adding the front sides auto to a battle card that you can play for free, essentially keeping that skill. He also has barrier so it's somewhat harder to remove... who am I kidding, barrier means next to nothing now.

Another Slug card! I immediately got excited when I saw this as I've been playing a lot of Slug lately. Thing is it's a bit of a trap. It's not bad, it's just very niche. This card takes up a Super Combo slot in your deck (a very interesting way of bandai nerfing the card - I don't hate it), so you don't want to be running 4. It forces your opponent to discard two cards if they use a counter play. Thing is, it isn't an added cost, and in slug, your opponent generally doesn't have many cards in hand, so they can potentially get away with counter playing and not being penalised, making this card useless (in that situation). I think Vegeta and 18 SCs are better. In AoD however, this is great. It comes out for free and annoys the shit out of your opponent.

Broly immediately makes me think of being able to add the Broly Agent SCR to hand if it finds it's way to the drop area. That is the most valuable thing about this card. He can also be played for 3 (or with the Buu SCR) to KO a 5 cost and look at the top 3 cards of your deck for a card you fancy then dump the rest. Not bad, but the Activate: Main is where it's at.

Android 13 is an excellent counter play. It can stop a 3 drop from being played while also playing itself and forcing a discard. All for 2 energy. When he's played, you can shuggle 3 AoD or Evil Wizard cards from your drop to your deck. This can also be done on your turn if you just play it normally using your leader or with energy. The thing to remember about the auto is that it can shuffle the Buu SCR back into the deck if you burst it etc, so this is a great utility to have in your AoD deck, even without the new leader.

Garlic Jr is finally in the game! Okay it's just the AoD version, but at least it's something!

This guy is a two cost negate that plays himself. When you play him you can play another 2 cost AoD from your deck with it's skills negated for the turn. Great to play for free withe the leader so you have 2 15k attacks for 0 energy, or on defense.

Hatchyyack is a decent 3 drop for the Hatch deck, able to warp a battle card and also mess with your opponent's drop. The real value however is in the Activate: Main which allowes you to play a 1 cost Babidi from your deck or drop area. The excites me greatly. You can use this card to play the 1 drop black Babidi that plays a 2 drop Buu from the drop. Just another way to get your chain going!

Now this is what Slug is excited about! A 4 cost unison with Double Strike and Critical, tat can also wipe the opponents board on play, and force your opponent to discard 3! You can play this for 5, attack with a DS Crit, then force the hand destruction. So strong. This is insane, and with the AoD leader it can be played for just 3 energy!

The final part of the AoD archetype (okay there is the Janemba stuff unison, but I think that fits in with the Janemba archetype better so I'll talk about that later) is The Agents of Destruction Strike Back, a 1 cost extra card that has no specified cost with the AoD leader. It allows you to look a tthe top two cards of your deck and take up to two AoD cards and if you did, allows you to also take one life if you're feeling frisky. Take it or leave it.

Next up we have support for Frieza Prison! I'm excited about this because I've always thought that deck had potential.

Frost, For the Clan is a red 2 cost unison that only works with a Frieza: Br leader, and only really worth using in Prison. This guy is a blocker that helps search for your extra cards with his +1, and allows you to recycle them from the drop with -2. That could be invaluable combined with things like Live to Fight Another Day.

This guy is... interesting. It feels like it should be used in Cooler, yet the need for extra cards clearly points to use in Frieza Prison. Honestly this card is really just an easier way to get the 8 drop bomb out. The Auto isnt that good, it only negs a battle card by 10k, and it cost one. There are better options for that. Definitely not as impactful as the Frost Unison.

Now this, this is what I'm talking about. This is like Paralasys Technique on steroids. It negates the attack and also negs all your and your opponents Leader Cards & Battle Cards by 10k. You have to be strategic when you use it given how much it affects you as well as your opponent, but it can be amazing.

Here's a quick decklist I put together with the new cards. It can of course be improved, but this is just to get an idea of what can be done with this deck. Click on the image to see it full screen.

Next up we have Set 2 Vegito Support.

Goku is a 1 drop counter attack if you have 3 or more energy. He comes into play and negates the attack. He can also be played for 1 energy if you take a life. Great way to get the fusion pieces on board for cheap while also having a place in the deck as a negate.

Vegeta, similar to Goku, is also a counter card, but this time a Counter: Play. He is a two cost if you have 3 or more energy, and he stops a 15k or less being played while also playing himself. The real value is in the same Activate skill as Goku, being able to be played for 1 energy if you take a life.

This card is the tits. 5 cost Vegito that can bve fused for free and also draws you two cards! This guy can then play a 7 cost or less Vegito from your deck for 2 Red, or a 10 cost or less for 4. That means you can play any Vegito in the game, including both the set 2 and 7 SCRs very easily! Very very good. I'm keen to see if this makes rainbow Vegito playable.

Now the last red card doesn't really fit in as support for any specific archetype, but it does work amazingly with the new Pilaf leader.

This Jiren unison is crazy good. He's a three red cost that negs 1 unison or battle card your opponent plays by 10k for the turn. This will make your opponent's turns much harder for them, especially since you can choose when to use it. His +1 gives him DS for the turn (so strong), and his -3 negs one battle card by 25k ignoring barrier. The best thing about this guy is that first unison skill. Pair him with Pilaf's ability to give a unison triple attack and you have a monster on your hands!

Next up we have blue. Let's kick off with Janemba support.

The Janemba unison is an Agent of Destruction, so it can be used in the AoD deck, but you probably wouldn't play it over the Vegeta. This guy supports both the Janemba leaders by providing Mill (and mutual draw, which we haven't seen before), and also crit. He can give himself 15k and triple strike if your opponent has ⑮ or less cards in deck. That's fun!

This is a very interesting card and looks to support Critnemba first and foremost. This guy can help recycle your Saike Demons and other Janemba cards while also providing more pressure and self awakening. The best part is the burst, allowing you to get that sweet sparking in critnemba a little bit faster.

The third and final Janemba card is the most underwhelming of the three. This guy tries to fit in a niche for critnemba that doesnt really exist. I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I just don't see it being used much.

Simon put together a quick decklist to show off what he thinks could work in Critnemba. Click the image to see full screen.

Next up we have Android 21. She needed support after the banning of her boss monster, and these cards are the business.

Super 17 is a game ender. This guy comes into energy untapped if your leader is 21, and then plays himself and 3 other androids from your energy for 7. This guy paired with Bad Omens will win games, and make your opponent sad. Not to mention, charge this on turn 1 so you can use this next card asap.

Restoration is active turn 1 if you charge that 17, allowing you to negate an attack and play your ramp 16 to get you to 2 energy, meaning you'll have 3 open energy to play with on turn 2. I love it. Be prepared to see 21 at locals again.

On to green cards and we have OG Green Gotenks support.

Gokule, making his second appearance in the game, this time supporting fusion rather than just being a meme card. When you play him you can grab a green union-fusion card from your deck and add it to your hand. You can then tap another green to grab the fusion pieces for said card from your deck. Pretty darn good support if you ask me. This works with the old EX Trunks, Goten and Gotenks cards as well as these ones coming up.

This is an interesting card. It serves as either part of the Gotenks fusion, and also allows a 15k hit, self awaken and top 5 search for 1 energy. Really strong and very useful in this archetype.

Grim Reaper of Justice... Love that shit. This guy is a 2 cost fusion that draws you two and KOs an opponent's card when it's played. He's then a 25k Dual attack that returns his pieces to hand when he's removed. Very good value for 2 energy. I can see these cards reviving the Gotenks leader.

I put together a quick decklist for Green Gotenks. Again it can be improved but just to get a feel for what it may look like. Click the image for full screen

Cheelai and Lemo are next up and we finally have a new desire card that is actually decent.

This desire card promises to be a complete fix for the downsides to the issues with the archetype. Whether it succeeds remains to be seen, but I applaud the effort. This costs 2 (or free with leader), and it plays a 4 cost Broly: Br and a Cheelai or Lemo from your deck if you have no battle cards in play. If you do, it can play a Cheelai or Lemo from the drop. This opens up so many options for the Watermelon (alliance) Broly chain, amnd also a nice Speedy Entrance Lemo loop.

This card is yet another card that can help with wishing as soon as possible. You can play this card using the starter deck Cheelai for 1 energy, and it will let you dump 2 balls and draw or recycle a desire card from your drop. Really versatile. I like it.

Now we venture to Yellow where we start off with one of my favourite archetypes; Apes.

King Vegeta is a unison geared heavily towards reviving apes as an archetype. He has a built in search for great apes that also acts as his +1 (hello searchable Saiyan Instincts), and he also has a "March of the Great Apes" built in for -4, but he plays them from the deck rather than hand, which is a big improvement.