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ampedupkaon · 4 years

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Wave 5 Character Review

I decided I preferred doing the character review with all of the revealed characters in it. This is that article! I’ll talk about the promos first; then work my way up through the rarities, leaving the SRTs for last. This has spoilers for all of the Wave 5 characters; (I am NOT revealing any new cards here, they will have been revealed elsewhere first) so if you don’t want spoilers turn back before the picture.

First, we have Tidal Wave.

Who is very sneaky! Two of the little boats he starts as have another bot hiding underneath them at the start of the game. They deploy the hidden bot when they attack, combine or get KO’d. The first one seems most likely; which is where the other ability of those boats comes in; that character can attack the turn they are deployed if the boat they deployed from under is attacking! The only problem? The boats can only carry a bot that is 4 stars are fewer under them (so no surprise Galactic Commander Optimus or Decepticon King Starscream!). That to me says one of the patrol bots from wave 3 or 4 (not the leaders though!). The other boat has the combine ability on it; the most health out of them and stealth to keep your opponent off it! Tidal Wave taps an enemy when he combines (and you will probably have a couple more bots on board who can attack; so your opponent doesn’t get lots of pot shots at Tidal Wave!). Next is Arcana.

Who looks like… Brainstorm’s head?! Could he be in this set? He gives +2 defense to the body he is on and has… no abilities in bot mode. Next we have…

Perceptor the nerd! This is the card that Dan Arnold designed and what a character! He does something that we’ve never seen before when he flips to alt. You reveal the top 4 cards of your deck and your opponent splits them into two piles (they don’t need to be equal piles). One pile goes underneath Perceptor, never to be seen again (until he gets KO’d), and the other goes to your hand. The opponent will want to be careful what they give Perceptor to look after underneath him. When he’s in body mode, he has +1 power for each card underneath him (like Nemesis and Lockdown before him; he gains power for each card under him). Next is Convex, the bot who he uses to Head On (and was also designed by Dan Arnold).

He gives the body Safeguard 3 and has it himself when he’s in bot mode (see a pattern here?). He also has 4 health; so if he does get attacked while undamaged they won’t KO him in one hit! Now on to the box topper; Fortress Maximus!

Who is looking for a rainbow deck! When he’s in alt mode and he’s defending he wants to flip at least a white and a blue to do 1 damage to the attacker (so they better be careful if they have only 1 health left when they attack him!). However, when he’s in body mode he wants to flip at least an orange and a black. If he does… he does 2 damage to each enemy?! Wow that’s potent! Not only that; he sneaks into his more defensive alt mode after the battle. Cerebros Head Ons on to him at the start of the game; so let’s look at him next.

He gives Bold 1 and Tough 1 to Fortress Maximus (because he can’t go on any bot he likes). When he is deployed he has it himself too, just like the other heads. Unlike them; he has another skill too. He wants to flip 1 orange, 1 blue, 1 white and 1 black when he battles so he can… grab an Upgrade from the scrap pile for himself?! That’s pretty nice (he can grab a weapon if he flips it on the defense, or an armor if he flips it on the attack). Emissary should be the bot Head Oned on Cerebros, so let’s have a look at him.

Emissary gives Cerebros (or any other bot you pair him with; he doesn’t have to be on Cerebros) Focus 2. He has it himself in bot mode (like just about every other head!). Now on to the commons, and first we have…

Bludgeon! I’m pleased the whole set isn’t just bodies and heads (like Rise of the Combiners; they’re the focus but not the only thing). He has Pierce 1 and Tough 1 in alt mode (though that could easily be increased). His bot mode ability is interesting too; if you give him an Energon Slingshot (the only non-attack damage card for a Melee character, which he is in this mode) it reduces the enemy’s defense by 1 as well as doing them 1 damage. Imagine comboing him with some of those Ranged cards that like to do damage… Of course you then need to work out who he should be with… That sounds like an article for another day. Next up is Brawn.

Who could be a contender for best 5 star character! He’s… really good. His stats seem very familiar; because they are very close to Flamewar’s from wave 1! And his abilities are both good! In truck mode he has Pierce 1 for each different colour you flip when he attacks an enemy with more stars than him (and he has only 5 stars; so most bots have more stars than him!). In bot mode he gets +1 defense for each colour you flip when he defends against a character with more stars than him. His stratagem makes him even more potent and only makes playing him equivalent to playing a six star character. Now we have Wingspan.

Who also can have Battle Cards put under him for safe keeping. Whenever he’s in bot mode and an Upgrade is scrapped off him it goes underneath him instead. When he flips to beast mode you draw a card. But that’s not all; he has +1 defense for each card under him. Which is quite nasty! He starts with 2 defense but if a few Upgrades get scrapped off his bot mode… it could easily get higher than that! Next up we have another non-Titan Master and all around peaceful guy…

Beachcomber! He has Focus 1 in bot mode… which is not very interesting. His flip to alt is though. When you flip him to alt you can name a card then reveal the top card of your deck. If you named the right card; he draws you 3 cards! If not… well, you know what you are going to flip. He might be a good teamie for Shockwave from Wave 3 (since you will always know what is on top of your deck!). Next up… my pulleys are squeakin’ again…

It’s Autobot Gears! And he likes to complain about enemies having Upgrades with his abilities. When you flip him to bot mode he bounces an Upgrade back to the enemies hand (like that Force Field they’re trying to protect their character with). When you flip him to Truck mode he can move an Upgrade from one enemy to another (again get that armor off that character you want to attack). And that’s not bad in a seven star package! So maybe stop the complaining Gears; at least you got a decent character card (unlike Jazz…). Next up is GrumpyBox.

Crankcase. Who likes you having lots of cards in your hand. When he flips to alt, you draw a card. Simple, that. It does serve a purpose though. He gets +3 attack when he attacks if you have at least 5 cards in your hand. So, 8 attack is pretty good for a 7 star character. He’s solid. Now we have Outback.

Gooday mate! This little beaut likes his Upgrades. He can draw you 2 cards when you flip him to alt as long as you scrap an Upgrade from your hand. And in bot mode, he has a really good ability. If your opponent would scrap an Upgrade from him, you can scrap an Upgrade of the same type from your hand instead. That’s… amazing! Good luck scrapping Upgrades from him! He seems like a good teamie for Wave 4 Jetfire, doesn’t he? Now we have the uncommons and the first one is…

Twin Twist. Who wants to flip a lot! When he flips to body mode your opponent picks one of their characters and does 1 damage to it. If he’s flipped at least twice (if he’s been Showing Off for example) he does 1 damage to each enemy instead. When he flips to alt mode he gets Pierce 3 until end of turn. All that in a 9 star package? Not bad at all. He needs to Head On, and I think the head is supposed to be Flameout…

But, I think he wouldn’t mind one that gives him Pierce instead perhaps. Flameout gives Bold 2 to whoever his body is and has it himself when the body gets KO’d. Next up we have Wolfwire (Weird Wolf).

Who likes green pip cards (like the Air Strike Patrol do). He changes what the green pip means while he’s in body mode! He lets you put the green pip card into your hand instead of swapping a card from your hand! He gives you a free card! Shame it’s on quite a weak body… When he flips to alt you can scrap a card with a green pip on it to draw two cards. He also needs to Head On; I believe his head should be Monxo…

Who gives +1 attack to whoever he’s on. +1 attack? That seems a little low. He also seems rather squishy when he lands in bot mode and has no skills on that side. Next up, we have another head; Parsec.

She is rather special; since she’s a 1 star character! She gives Bold 1 to the bot she’s the head of and has it herself when she’s in bot mode. She is supposed to be Nautica’s head; but unlike Nautica; she’s only an uncommon! Next up we have…

Chromedome! Can we have Rewind to go with him please? His abilities are amazing! When you flip him to body mode he checks your opponent’s hand for an Action. If he finds at least one (and you’re likely to find at least one aren’t you?) you pick one of the Actions and your opponent… puts it in the KO area?! He makes the opponent’s deck forget about that Action; like he’s just done mnemosurgery on it! Then there is his alt mode ability. When he attacks if your opponent has at least 3 Actions in their KO area he gets +3 attack until end of turn (Leap Into Battle Domey!). And all of that in an 8 star car package! Primus he’s so good; and he’s only uncommon! Now to help him Head On!

With Autobot Stylor! Who gives +1 defense to the bot he Head Ons to! He has no abilities in bot mode; but Primus is he cute! Next we have Horri-Bull.

That pun is awful (but will be as old as Headmasters). Enough about his name; let’s talk about his abilities. In body mode, whenever you play a black card you do 1 damage to Horri-bull and an enemy. Huh, he wants you to damage him?! Oh, I see. When he flips to alt you move a damage counter from him to an enemy. And he’s only 6 stars?! He does need to Head On, so let’s investigate Kreb…

First off, what sort of a name is that? Poor bot (almost as bad as Dent). Anyway… He gives +2 Health to whoever he’s the head of and has no ability in bot mode. He’s also a 1 star character. Next up is Quake.

Another 7 star tank. He has +2 attack when he is the last character on your battlefield. His body mode ability is really interesting; when he or any other bot gets KO’d he does 1 damage to each other character (including himself if he is not the bot KO’d). That’s… bonkers! Why would he want to hurt himself? He could be quite frightening against a wide team; but against a tall team… he’ll struggle to shine. Anyway, let’s give him a head; with Chasm.

Chasm gives +2 attack to the bot he’s Head Oned to and has no abilities in bot mode (like the other + stat heads). Next up is Mindwipe.

The hypnotist… I wonder if we’ll get Hellbat from Victory (even he is called Fellbat). Anyway, when Mindwipe attacks in body mode and you flip a black, your opponent must scrap a card from their hand. However, if they can’t, you draw a card instead! And when he flips to alt mode you pick a battle icon colour. Then you look at the opponent’s hand and scrap a card from it that has that colour. So, Mindwipe does some Espionage when he flips to alt. He needs to Head On, so let’s look at Vorath.

I like what pose he’s in in bot mode. He is another 1 star character; he’s Parsec’s mirror, giving Tough 1 to the bot he’s Head Oned to and having it himself in bot mode.Next up we have Optimus Prime.

Headmaster Optimus Prime. Who… is a bit lacklustre. At least he’s not an SRT. When he flips to alt mode; draw a card. Which is nice; but not all that nice. But; if your opponent has more cards in their hand than you have in yours… he draws you another card! Flip to alt to draw 2 cards isn’t bad. When he attacks in body mode; he repairs 1 damage from one of your characters (that can be him). But, and here’s the kicker, if you have fewer characters on the battlefield than your opponent; he repairs one more damage from that character. He also is 15 stars if you use Apex as his head and 17 stars if you use his Stratagem too! So you are very likely to have fewer characters on the battlefield than your opponent. Optimus needs to Head On; so let’s look at Apex.

He looks cute too! He gives Stealth to the bot he’s Head Oned to and has it himself in bot mode. Now from the hero to the villain. Here’s Megatron!

Headmaster Megatron. Who is also a bit lacklustre… When he’s defending in alt mode… if he flips at least one orange he does one damage to the attacker. Which isn’t bad for a defending character! When you flip him to body mode he gets +2 attack until the end of the turn. Which isn’t too bad. I’m not sure he’s 11 star good though. He’s also definitely not 14 star good; like if Doomshot is Head Oned to him. He becomes 16 stars if you also use his Stratagem. Doesn’t leave him many teamies does it? Anyway, he needs to Head On; and Doomshot can help with that.

Who looks just as grumpy as the bot he forms the head of! He gives Brave to the bot he’s Head Oned to and has it himself in bot mode. Lastly, we have Topspin.

Who is… very interesting. He has Tough X in alt mode; where X is the amount of Bold he has! So if he has a Back Up Beam and some Brass Knuckles he has both Bold 4 and Tough 4! That’s… nuts! Assuming of course that his head doesn’t give him more Bold! Which gives me an interesting deck idea… But anyway… he has a slightly less interesting ability in body mode. When you attack with him in body mode and you flip at least 1 white pip, he draws a card. It’s like a smaller version of the ability Wave 1 Chromia had. He also needs to Head On; and his head is Freezeout.

Who gives Tough 2 to the bot he is Head Oned to and has it himself in bot mode. Now on to the rares and first we have Sergeant Kup.

Who is actually the same stars as the original Sergeant Kup! This one has much better stats though. And much better abilities! He has Tough 1 in alt mode and gives your Wreckers (him included) +X attack when they take X damage during your turn. When flip to his body mode you can scrap a blue card from your hand to scrap an enemy Upgrade. He needs to Head On too; so let’s have a look at Flintlock.

He gives Tough 3 to the bot he starts the game on; but has it himself when he flips to bot mode (when the body gets KO’d). He’s good, but not quite as good as Aimless is (yeah, you all know how hard Aimless is to KO). Next up we have Skullsmasher.

A crocodile with bite! He has Pierce 3 when attacking an Autobot (which is good, considering they seem to be dominating the meta…). His body mode ability is really interesting. When an enemy with fewer stars than him gets tapped; they take 1 damage! Which would be good; if he didn’t also state that when an enemy with more stars than him gets tapped, he takes 1 damage. He also needs to Head On, maybe Grax can help him with that?

Who gives +5 Health to the body he’s on and has 5 health himself in bot mode. No ability though. Next up we have…

Welcome to the Transformers TCG Black Shadow. You are not the Phase Sixer I was hoping for! That aside; he is very special. He is a Titan Master Combiner! And when he combines, he does 3 damage to an enemy Autobot (take that Optimus!). You combine him using his Stratagem (which makes him cheaper to play too). There’s not much to say about the Plane and Tank he starts as (they aren’t very interesting…)

Ominus (I like that pun!) Head Ons on to him so let’s look at him next.

He grants… Pierce 4 to any bot that he’s on?! That’s amazing (couple that with Heavy Handed and Sky Shadow will do guaranteed 8 damage). He has it himself in bot mode (but he needs 2 more attack to actually do 4 damage). Next up we have...

Nautica! Another female character! And, even better, she’s a defensive gal. If she’s attacked in boat mode by a ground Vehicle (car, truck or tank) each blue you flip becomes a double blue. Which sounds amazing; but remember bots tend to be in… well, bot mode when they attack. Which is where her body mode ability comes in. When she defends, you can give her an armor to protect her (seems like a really good thing that Multi-Mission Gear got banned now, doesn’t it?). She needs to Head On and hers is is supposed to be Parsec. She’s an uncommon; so I’ve already talked about her. Let’s move on to Clobber.

Unfortunately not the cutie from Cyberverse. A head which looks like Grimlock’s but has no body with it?! Anyway, he gives Bold 3 to the bot he has Head Oned to and he has it himself in bot mode. He’s also a Dinobot (Dino-Chomp, anyone?) and with his Stratagem: Me Grimlock, You Grimlock (Everybot Grimlock!) he makes the bot he’s Head Oned to a Dinobot too! Next up we have Fangry…

I really don’t like him. The character that is; he was absolutely horrible to Tailgate in Lost Light (I wonder if Tailgate will be in this set). That aside; he seems rather interesting. He has Bold 2 in alt mode when attacking an enemy with more stars than him (he’d have Bold 5 if Clobber is his head; and that’s nuts!) In body mode he has Tough 2 when he’s defending against an enemy with fewer stars than him. How do you balance that? Guess he’s not a flipper. You just stick him in whichever mode benefits your deck best (or what your opponent is running). He needs to Head On as well; so let’s have a look at Brisko.

He gives +3 health to the bot he’s on (14 health if it is Fangry!) and he has no ability in bot mode (but he has 3 health himself). Next up we have…

Brainstorm! Sure enough, he is in this set! Who also really likes Upgrades! When you flip him to alt; he Scrounges for an Upgrade. If he finds one on top of your deck, you can play it! Otherwise, well you at least you know what is on top of your deck! In body mode; when he attacks and you flip an Upgrade you can put an Upgrade you flipped into your hand. He and Outback sound like a good combo! Anyway, Brainstorm needs to Head On and his head is meant to be Teslor; so let’s have a look at him.

Teslor gives Focus 1; which actually does work quite well with Brainstorm. He lets you check which card is on the top of your deck before Brainstorm attacks, so you can scrap an Action you find. Teslor also has Focus 1 in bot mode. Now on to the SRTs and we have Windsweeper first.

Who?! Whoever he is (he looks like a flyer Fulcrum in my opinion); his abilities are quite nice! When he’s in bot mode, his teamies can give him one of their damage counters when they attack. How nice! He takes the damage off his teamies. Then you flip Windsweeper to alt and he’s not so nice any more. When he attacks he flings one damage counter at the defender, unless you had at least 2 planes on your starting team; then he flings 2! Which means he just needs one plane teamie to fling 2 damage when he attacks (since he’s a plane himself). Next up we have Tracks.

Who is only 9 stars and is a helpful car/plane hybrid! He gains the plane trait only if you use his stratagem; but I see him going into people’s car decks. In bot mode he does 1 damage to an enemy that isn’t a car or plane (so he punishes bots sitting in bot mode!). When he flips to alt he gives a character +1 attack. Unless that character shares one of his traits; then they get +2 attack. Yeah; he makes a good replacement for Wheeljack from Wave 1 (Start Your Engines works very nicely with him!) and he can choose himself (it doesn’t say other character)! Next we have Windcharger.

A 7 star car! He has +3 attack on your first turn of the game (so attack with him first!). When you flip him to bot mode you draw a card; then Plan 1. That seems a little lacklustre for an SRT. He’s vanilla in alt mode; except for your first turn of the game and his bot mode ability seems a bit lacking. He’s alright; but not as good as Tracks (in my opinion anyway). Next is…

Roadbuster! Who wants lots of Upgrades! When he is given an Armor in alt mode (he has no alt mode type; like Motormaster) you repair 1 damage from him (and he has impressive defense in alt mode to begin with!). Not bad. In bot mode he wants Weapons; since every time he gets given a Weapon he does 1 damage to an enemy! He’s quite good; but becomes amazing when coupled with his Stratagem. He gives you an extra star in your battle deck for a Weapon and an extra star in your battle deck for an Armor! That’s nuts! It’s probably why he has no other traits apart from Leader and Wrecker (to keep those trait specific Upgrades off him!). Next up we’ve got…

Whirl! I guess they must have put 1 extra Autobot SRT in this set to make up for there being 2 Decepticon SRTs in the last set (even though the Autobot SRT was nuts). He seems to want a blue deck to me. Or possibly a mixed deck; since he has very good base attack. When he attacks in alt mode and flips at least a blue he does 1 damage to each enemy, except the one he is attacking. That’s pretty good; he can hit that cheeky Optimus that waits until last to attack. In bot mode he has a weaker version of Skrapnel’s ability from Wave 1; he can’t take more than 5 attack damage from a Ranged attacker. And Ranged characters are probably the most common that you see; so that’s pretty good. Next up is Nightracer.

She looks like a recoloured Tailgate to me (where is he?!). She is also… only 5 stars?! Those stats are better than some 7 star characters! She likes Secret Actions too; so maybe she is a good teamie for Mirage from Wave 4 and Skywarp from Wave 3. She gives Tough 1 to each of your characters while you have a Secret Action in alt mode (whether its face up or face down). In bot mode; it’s the same except she grants Bold 1. Her stratagem gives you an extra 2 stars for Secret Actions (like Heroic Resolve or Even The Score) and then she is 6 stars… that’s pretty good! That should be it…

Huh, another SRT? That makes 7! Which is how many commons there are in this set. Anyway, here’s Pounce; who… also likes Secret Actions. He has +2 attack for each face-up or face-down Secret Action you have while he’s in alt mode (he’s another Beast; I wonder if this means there will be a Beast tribal card). Also; when he flips to bot mode you look at the top 3 cards of your deck. You can reveal a Secret Action you found (not very secret then though, is it?) to add it to your hand. Then; and this is good, you can arrange the remaining cards (which may be 3 cards, you don’t have to reveal any of them) in any order you like. That’s pretty cool.

Well, that’s all of them. May you get the all of the bots and cons that you want when this set eventually hits shelves!

#transformerstcg #wave 5 #spoilers #titan masters attack

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