With Wave 5 completely revealed, we’ve rounded up the herd of robo-cats that is the Wreck ‘n Rule crew and jotted down some thoughts about the cards that we’re most excited to get onto the table.
We’re not saying that these are the most powerful cards or that they’ll become meta staples, but these are the cards that we’re most excited to sleeve up and get onto the table for our first few games with Wave 5.
Let’s continue by taking a look at our most anticipated RARE/SUPER RARE/PROMO characters.
RJ – Tidal Wave
I went back and forth on this one for a while as I didn’t have anyone I was definitively excited for as I was for the other articles. Most of my excitement comes from the easier to collect characters. Tidal Wave, at the very least, seems fun. He is a three wide that is essentially a five wide, and it’s possible for him to combine with full health. I also should mention that he’s 24 stars, leaving you room for either a star card or a stratagem!
His combining mechanic wants you to KO characters, so pairing him with the Villainous Spotlight stratagem in an orange-focused deck might be the way to go, potentially. Captain Omega Supreme was my favorite deck to play last wave, so I can see myself enjoying Tidal Wave similarly. It’ll be a fun puzzle to try and solve to get him combined with the most possible health remaining on him.
As it stands, the current 4 star offerings we have don’t necessarily help him out too much, though I expect that to change in the future as more sets are released. My mind immediately goes to an all Decepticon focused deck and try and abuse things that way, though that might not be where I end up once I actually have the cards in hand. Tidal Wave is an in-store play promo, so don’t forget to get out there and support your FLGS!
Brian – Roadbuster
I’ve had a lot of fun in Waves 3 and 4 while playing characters like Sergeant Hound and Captain Astrotrain that encourage you to use the “collection” upgrades, which up until this point have been Attack Drone and Extra Padding. On its own, Attack Drone is fairly weak, but with Roadbuster being able to also use it as a Zap (or multiple Zaps if you have multiple in hand) makes it a lot more appetizing.
Even without getting too gimmicky, Roadbuster becomes an ideal candidate for Master Sword and Ghost Shield to overwrite previous “lesser” weapon and armor upgrades.
I’ve played about a dozen games with Roadbuster on OCTGN, and I’m still looking to tweak the deck and figure out the ideal lineup. For now, I’m thinking Titan Master Kup (Stylor or Vorath as the head) and a 5 star character like Brawn or Fireflight. If we go with Vorath, it frees up a star and allows us to take Roadbuster’s strategem and also toss in Mounted Missile and Energized Field to get some additional double pip action. Kup gives us another Leader, so Matrix becomes a viable option. Plus, we’re encouraged to do some self-damaging effects to Roadbuster (like Scouting Mission) in order to buff up his attack, while also having the ability to easily heal him by tossing an armor on him.
I’m also very tempted to try a list using Sergeant Six-Gun, but haven’t had an opportunity to put it to the test yet. If Six-Gun dies at the right time, it’ll allow you to ping an enemy for two points of damage, while also giving you +4 ATK and Pierce 4. If you can play Peace Through Tyranny at the right time, you’ll be able to also guarantee putting out 10 points of damage before your opponent can respond.
Frenchie…
… Sky Shadow
After one weekly event at our good old local LGS (God I miss going there, or just going out… hang in there pals!) back in 2018, Bri asked me if I wanted to check out the Wreckers Saga and have Overlord as a figurine… Since then I’ve been a big fan of Overlord!
I was hoping to see him in this set, but it was another Phase Sixer, Sky Shadow, who showed up instead!
Having the advantage of a natural Bold 2 and Tough 2 will let you hit more consistently your flip in a mix color deck. So I believe that it will probably be okay to start the deck with Peace Through Tyranny, Security Checkpoint and Marksmanship. One action card that will naturally find its home is Two-Pronged Attack. Having the possibility to deplete your opponent’s hands of two cards or doing two damages, in addition to Security Checkpoint and Marksmanship, will surely be fun… Along with that I’ll probably look for a full set of Treasure Hunt, Swindled, Master Sword and Ghost Shield. When flipped to his bot mode, I’m pretty sure that Sky Shadow would be quite a headache to deal with. For the side deck, maybe there could be something to craft Cosmos?… I need to cure my addiction to UFO…
KEvin – Fortress Maximus
This is probably technically cheating, since he’s an ancillary set, and they are always SRTs, but Fortress Maximus looks awesome and gives me Metroplex vibes. Better really, since he has the built in Bold and Tough from Cerebros which can help him actually trigger his abilities without needing to play any additional cards. And you’re really going to need him triggering those abilities, because at only 15 HP Maximus needs to deal a lot of damage before he gets scrapped if you wanna win the game. Thankfully it’s only 1 pip of the respective colors to trigger his abilities, unlike Metroplex needing 2. So, since Maximus probably won’t make it through to the end of the match, we also need to talk about Cerebros. And while Cerebros is required to be brought by Fortress Maximus, Emissary isn’t actually required by Cerebros. So you could actually choose to bring a different head if you wanted.
I like Grax for a couple reasons; the additional 5 health means you should be able to withstand at least 1 attack, and since he’s only 3 stars, you can pick up a star card like Heroic Resolve and really surprise your opponent. Arcana would also be a good choice, since the additional 2 defense would also go a long way towards keeping Cerebros alive, but you wouldn’t get the star card. All in all, Fortress Maximus looks like it’s going to be something interesting and I can’t wait to see what he can do.
As always, keep your eyes on the Wreck ‘n Rule YouTube channel for our usual shenanigans. Also consider supporting us on Patreon, since the proceeds go toward helping us upgrade our recording set-up AND toward throwing some sweet custom swag your way! Plus, we now have merch available too!
Wreck 'N Rule 