Syn Shenron brings destruction - Set 10 Reveals #18

Another day, another reveal. This time it's the Yellow & Red rares! I'm extremely excited by a few of these cards, because it really looks like the power of rare cards has increased with this set. Let's take a look.

We'll start with red as usual. The first card in today's reveal is a 1 drop self awakener unlike any we've seen before. Son Goku, Bursting With Energy restands when he attacks a battle card and you take a life. Making him a niche version of other self awakeners in red. Decent early removal. I like that they have made something other than the standard here.

Oolong, Goku's Pal is a nice little tech card that is a cantrip on play, then can also sack itself during battle to give your red unison card +10k. Now this obviously can't be used on defense as unison cards don't have a defense step.

Another Yamcha boss monster! Yamcha, the Desert Hyena is a 4 cost 30k if your leader is red. He can restand when your opponent counters his attack once per turn, and he also restands when he KOs a battle card once per turn. When he restands for his second auto, he gets an additional 10k and triple strike, meaning he's a 40k triple strke on his final swing if you sequence it right. That's awesome! What you want to do is attack a battle card (in active mode of the Syn Shenron unison is in play) and ko it. Restand for second auto. Then attack leader, and if they counter that attack you can restand and go in again. This card is very powerful for a rare, but a 4 drop 20k without deflect or barrier is susceptible to many counter plays and removal cards.

The missing Pilaf piece comes in the shape of a rare. When the big Pilaf machine dies, you can play Pilaf Machine, Ostrich Form. He's a 20k blocker that negs an opponent's card by 25k for the turn when played. You can also play him from your hand for 2 by warping a Pilaf and Shu from your drop. Not too shabby, even just as removal in this deck it's pretty good.

The final red rare card is Pilaf Missile. This guy the red version of the 2 cost counterplays we've seen previously. It stops a 15k or less from being played and buffs your leader by 5k for the turn. Pretty much Beerus Ball in a different form. It can be played for free as all the others can by dropping two cards if all your energy is mono-red.

The first of the yellow rares is Bulma, Devoted Supporter, a counterplay. If you have a mono-yellow leader and unison card in play, the battlecard with 2 or less being played has it's skills negated and then you play the bulma. Not bad at all, nice early game support assuming you can get a unison card out in time for it to be effective. Probably not as good as the green version since they have a 1 cost unison.

Here we go. SS4 is back this set and looking nasty. Son Goku, Absolute Annihilation card comes out using the SS3 Goku revealed yesterday. That way, you get a 15k attack and then this guy in active for 3 energy. This card has barrier and deflect, making him a big ask to stop, and that is exacerbated by his permanent that makes all your opponent's extra cards cost an extra energy to activate. I really like this card, but I think it makes Surgeku even more irritating to deal with! I don't know if this would be worth playing in the new Gotenks deck, considering you want to be drawing cards off their extra cards, but if you're looking to stop extra cards all together, this extra barrier might help do that.

Speaking of Gotenks, I mentioned yesterday that we'd likely see more yellow Gotenks fusion cards, and here is the latest one. Gotenks, Power of Fusion is similar to the 4 drop that was revealed yesterday. He's a 20k DS that comes out for 2 energy with fusion. When you play him you can KO a battle card in rest mode then draw a card, and you can sack him to get your fusion pieces back and net your hand back to even. Gotenks is looking like a lot of fun, but I'm skill not convinced that these cards are the best way to play the deck. Hopefully we see even more support in the SRs.

Haze Shenron, Venomous Mist is the second Haze card this set. It can be played directly off the two star ball like the 3 drop card, but it has an extra auto when you evolve it on to the 3 drop, giving you an extra attack. The real value of this card lies in the second auto though. You can combo with the card for free, drop a shadow dragon, and ko an opponent's card in rest mode that has an energy cost higher than your opponent's energy. That's bonkers. People were worried about Shugesh coming back, this is almost that! He also procs his auto on attack, so you can use him for removal on your turn as well as getting a 20k DS in.

There have been some good cards this reveal, but this one is the pick of the litter for me. Syn Shenron, Destruction Incarnate evolves off of the 4 drop Syn Shenron for 1 energy, meaning you can get him out for 3 energy, as early as turn 2. He's a Revenge Blocker with 30k power, meaning you can swing with a 30k and restand with leader at the end of your turn for the block. If he's removed by your opponent or ko'd, you get to draw 2 cards and play his one star ball from the drop. Now the real kicker is his first auto. While this guy is on the field, every battle card your opponent plays has it's skills negated for the turn after on play autos. That's so good! He will likely be removed pretty quickly, but that nets you value and also restarts the chain for you so you can get him out again. I really like this card!

The yellow version of the rare counterplay, Dark Dragon-Slayer Bullet is actually pretty decent. It hit's 4 cost cards, meaning it isn't less useful mid-late game, and it has a good effect. When you activate it, your opponent's 4 cost or less battlecard is played in rest with it's skills negated for the turn. Playing this for free at the cost of 2 cards in hand could actually be worth it in certain situations.

Thanks for reading, we'll be back tomorrow with SRs!

~ Sam Russell

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