Aggressive Evolution

Posted on by markjkinney

Evolution is unstoppable.

 It doesn’t care if you are ready or not.

If you fail to embrace change, you will be left in the collateral wake that follows ever so closely.

Insecticons has always been the most ruthless and brutal deck since the game’s inception. Love it or hate it, you MUST respect it. Those who failed to offer the deck the respect it deserved would often complain about it and how unfair it was. The deck wasn’t unfair. It was just the product of aggressive efficiency at its peak.

What if I told you that we have a new monster that is quickly climbing the ranks and has already dethroned Bugs as the best aggro deck in the game? Raider Tailwind and the Airstrike Patrol can push similar amounts of damage for a lower star investment as well as bring a higher level of consistency to the table that Insecticons was arguably lacking for quite some time. Aggression has evolved and its scarier than it ever was before. The faces have changed, but the damage is greater.

General Optimus is not new to the competitive scene. He may be a General, but he is more of a supporting cast member here. He forces opponents to commit the first attack to him due to being the only legal target (he is not a stealthy guy). He is a largely survivable protective barrier that not only helps damage output, but also may sneak an extra defensive flip in to save one of the Tailwind crew. His 6 attack with Bold and Focus isn’t too shabby either when its time to take the fight to the opponent. He brings the heat and can take some hits.

The real star of the deck is Raider Tailwind. Read him. Now look at his star cost. 5 stars! He is reminiscent of Kickback. His strength does not lie within himself, but it lies within the rest of the team. The more characters that can reap the benefit of his incredibly powerful buff, the stronger he will be. When they eventually die, their bodies, in turn, power him up even further. He should receive a field promotion. He is the heart and soul of the new and evolved face of aggro for the Transformers TCG.

Green pips were already incredibly powerful. Being able to smooth out draws and guarantee specific cards whenever they showed up is the epitome of consistency. Having multiple greens in any deck was already a progressive competitive mainstay. Now, those pips not only grant us consistency (which is a huge boon in and of itself) they also grant us additional damage while attacking as well as a slight bit of defense!

  • 1x Mounted Missiles
  • 3x Grenade Launcher
  • 3x Sturdy Javelin
  • 1x Erratic Lightning
  • 1x Mining Pick
  • 3x Improvised Shield
  • 1x Scoundrel’s Blaster
  • 1x Backup Beam
  • 2x Enforcement Batons
  • 3x Bashing Shield
  • 3x Peace Through Tyranny
  • 3x Incoming Transmission
  • 2x System Reboot
  • 3x Wedge Formation
  • 3x Reckless Charge
  • 3x Supercharge
  • 3x Focus Fire
  • 1x Reprocess

SIDEBOARD

  • 3x Hijack
  • 1x Cornered
  • 1x Espionage
  • 1x Leap of Faith
  • 1x Noble’s Blaster
  • 2x Armed Hovercraft
  • 1x Treasure Hunt
  • Optimus Prime: Battlefield Legend

There are 7 double oranges as well as 14 greens. 11 of those 14 acts as TRIPLE oranges for Tailwind’s crew. 2 of them are double oranges while attacking and a double blue while defending. The loadout is extremely lethal with some basic understanding. Let’s get into some of the battle card synergies present within this deck

Too often Incoming Transmission is an undervalued card in aggressive decks and often viewed as a place holder until something better comes along. I whole-heartedly disagree with that assessment. Transmission is a time-sensitive action. By that I mean that it gets weaker as the game progresses. It’s at its peak on the second and third turns of the game. It’s a proactive card that will allow you to set up the following turn all while pushing additional damage by what you put on top. Remember that the first green revealed is essentially a double orange and most of the green pips in the deck are paired with an orange already; making the first flip equate to three damage. Transmission is at its strongest in matches where you are trying to take as few turns as possible before obliterating your opponent. The card is built to maximize damage output and throttle up your closing speed. Having cards in hand before playing it makes your decisions more informed as well as more optimal.

It’s no secret that I’ve always been a huge fan of Mining Pick. And I think it’s at its strongest in this deck. Being able to plan a green pip (as well as an Improvised Shield or Peace Through Tyranny if your hand allows it) can dish out massive amounts of damage. You can plan a green card and then immediately retrieve it after the battle. Another fun fact is that Pick can play around Sabotage Armaments in a way. The additional attack buff is granted to the character and not to the weapon. So, while you may lose the weapon to the secret, you will keep the pumped-up stats. While these situations are very strong, the deck is already fighting to keep its hand filled so we can only really play with a single copy of Mining Pick.

Fun fact: Incoming Transmission ALSO buffs Mining Pick.

The allotted pump actions in your arsenal are quite potent. Reckless Charge and Supercharge need no introduction or any further explanation. Focus Fire is the “new kid on the block” this wave. Being green allows you to always guarantee that you will have some sort of action to push additional damage. Remember that in tandem with General Optimus, a single Focus Fire will give your Patrols Bold 2 for the attack. Many players like to chase the dream of playing each copy of Focus Fire in a single turn to have a massive attack. Most times, if you are collecting them, this play is wasteful. Not only does it pressure your hand, but it also most likely means that you missed an action or upgrade on a previous turn. If you are going to try and build up to a turn where you play each copy, try and get yourself into a situation where you have two successive attackers. You can split up the Focuses to buff two attackers, if you are trying to take down two smaller characters within the same attack step. Most times, however, its just more economical to play a single copy alongside an upgrade.

This is the only form of direct damage in the deck. All the characters can throw Javelin at any character as well as being an “on-color” pip for the bold based strategy. Often times, while having a Javelin in hand, you can make greedy attacks. If you come up short, you will be able to shoot down that character during the next attack or possibly later in the turn cycle. I do not recommend tempting fate on the regular, because it can backfire and punish you horribly. Its less risky against opposing orange decks since they are less likely to have a way to rip your game plan from your grip. Security Checkpoint is still one hell of a card.

This looks like the weakest card in the deck. Admittedly, its not great at all points in the game. Just using it to draw a card is quite meager and should only be done when desperate. However, being able to heal General Optimus and draw a card is much more enticing. Optimus will always have some damage on him since he is forced to be attacked if you are second due to the Airstrike’s stealthiness.  Most times, I try and facilitate a turn with Incoming Transmission or Mining Pick to add a triple to my attack. Where the card shines are against 3-wide blue decks. Generally, the smaller characters ding and dent Optimus and you will be able to repair him multiple times in a game. A single point of damage doesn’t seem like a huge selling point, but you will likely play multiple Wedge Formations in those matches. The black pip isn’t irrelevant, but it is mostly unnecessary.

This card is here for the same reason that it was included in previous incarnations of Insecticon lists that I ran. Since you are an extremely high-pressure system, chances are that you will be able to take advantage of the additional cards before your opponent will be able to leverage their new cards against you. It’s a Treasure Hunt that allows you to keep the actions. In orange mirrors, it should be saved until the last attack when you are looking for a weapon to end the game. Be cognizant of the makeup of their deck as well. If they have I Still Function, you cannot give them free looks at that particular game breaker. System Reboot also makes a somewhat mediocre attempt at trying to control Springer and his flip to bot side. Always be aware of what greens your opponent is scooping up, because you can completely destroy their game plan when it comes to things like War of Attrition.

We are playing the full set of Bashing Shields. The card is necessary, and three is the correct number to play in any aggro deck currently. Running fewer copies makes you more vulnerable to Checkpoint as well as opponents being able to wait out the Shield. Either it would rot in your hand because you needed it for the opportune moment, or you would waste multiple turns not getting another green card to have it ripped from your hand. More often than not, it was both. Running the full suite allows you to take a pass on the first one you see. You are also more likely to reshuffle your deck just due to the bold based nature, so they will become more readily available. Even when they are at their worst, they are still triple oranges when coming off the top of the deck.

Enforcement Batons doesn’t hold the power it did during the Battlemaster Summer that saturated GenCon. Most times now, its just a guaranteed plus one for your attack when you need to play both an action and upgrade. being able to destroy an opposing weapon is just a bonus, whereas before it was the main functionality for the card. It shines the brightest against these Springer/Firedrive combo decks. While you aren’t protecting a hate piece, their battle deck is not built to push damage without Firedrive as a weapon.

Both Backup Beam and Scoundrel’s Blaster serve similar roles. While one is universal for the entire lineup, the other only works for 75% of the crew, but guarantees damage. In most scenarios, Tailwind will be the last bot standing, so the blaster should be live for the entire match. The pierce is also not irrelevant in a few corner cases. Both weapons act as double blue pips for the Air Strike Patrol and sometimes will be the reason you survive. Then you will be able to immediately go on the offensive with a weapon. Both are exceptional in their versatility within the deck and while upgraded.

Reprocess should be a staple in every deck moving forward. Even decks that do not contain Tailwind. Do NOT cut it and always include it!

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

Many people want to include Pocket Processor within Tailwind’s arsenal. I’m here to let you in on a little secret: Its not good enough. The extra cards that it will give you access to will only become apparent if it’s the first card of the game you play. At all other points in the game, you simply cannot afford to play an upgrade that doesn’t pay immediate dividends. The argument about it being a way to recover from Security Checkpoint is flawed. It only helps to recover if it was in play at the time you got nailed by Checkpoint. If you find if after that via battle flips, you still need to wait for two turns until it starts to recover the lost card. You will never be able to recover the lost time, however. Against Major Shockwave, I will concede that it is defensible. But we have a better post sideboard plan that neither has time for the Processor, nor will the additional cards prove to be beneficial in a meaningful timeline. There is a major fallacy that having more options in orange matches will help you emerge victorious. I can tell you from experience that I have beaten multiple players who used it as their first card of the game and drew up to four additional cards, and still lost. I’ll settle for a small hand and dead opponents over a full hand and a loss every time.

Power Punch seems like it should be an easy inclusion. I believe it to be a trap of an upgrade in this list. There is already a decent amount of ways to flip additional cards. Between General Optimus granting a static Bold, Supercharge, Focus Fire, and five whites, you will see plenty of cards on each attack. Realize that each green and white beyond the first has diminishing returns and is not helpful at all. I prefer the guaranteed +3 that Erratic Lightning grants to the crew despite the drawback of losing an armor.

I was initially incredibly high on Head-On Collision and the card is still very potent in other Tailwind builds. Having a white Leap into Battle is very good when most of your attacks are in alt mode. However, the density of white pips in the deck is already skirting a point I’m not very keen on. Javelin is too good not to play and I feel that System Reboot is a necessary evil that happens to be incredibly disruptive at this current time in the metagame. Six would be the absolute maximum I would be “comfortable” playing in an aggressive deck. Not to mention, there are already nine other pump effects which are arguably stronger than Head-On. The current make up of the battle deck just squeezes the card out.

What Dat Sideboard Do?

Never leave home without this trusty anti-Springer tool. You will always be able to find it and it is quite necessary to have multiple turns of Hijacking in a row to beat them. Hijack doesn’t win the game by itself. In fact, it likely does NOTHING the turn you play it. More accurately, it forces Springer to do nothing. It gives you a single turn where they cannot sculpt their hand and set up the remaining pieces of whatever combo they are trying to assemble; whether it be Overwhelming Advantage or Daring Escape or even EMP wave. You just Hijack their turn and then punish them. They already must dance on a razors edge playing against the high damage output you pressure them with and the additional turn you steal from them should be enough to clinch victory. There are also a few Daring Escape decks that are centered around Equipment Enthusiast (without Springer), and Hijack works much the same against them. Realize that Hijack will do nothing if they are able to get a Peace through Tyranny off. Your secret will scrap at the end of the turn, and then they will be able to navigate their Peace turn unimpeded.

Ever since Blaster’s reign of terror, this card has been a mainstay for my sideboard. Being able to effectively neuter Ramhorn’s ability through disruption before you attack has been back breaking and often times, game-winning! That matchup may still rear its ugly head from time to time, but for now, it seems to be on the downswing. Now this is more of a combo-hate piece. Being able to snag actions that let them “cheat” (Brainstorm, Peace Through Tyranny) as well as their win condition (Daring Escape). It also is an upgraded white pip for orange mirrors, over System Reboot. Fueling Tailwind while also giving the option of disruption on a key turn. System Reboot is awful in mirrors, and this helps keeps the white density close to the same while providing a beneficial option should you need it.

This forgotten relic can cause some serious damage in the current metagame. This card single handedly makes Jetfire look like a joke. Especially if you find it early. The 2 tall variants will always be taking at least two, maybe three attacks from you. When they are in bot mode, they get to churn through their deck and have a pseudo Tough 1 for each attack. The difference now is that there is a higher density of double blue pips and five of them are upgrades that they can stack. Cornered says “No Sir” and can likely kill them in a single attack. Yes, they get to hunt for treasure and then they get to die holding Handheld Blasters and Energized Fields.

Turns off Flamewar for a turn.

Turns off Ramhorn for the attack, if he is the only tapped character (Which he likely should be). They also will not have the time to flip him back to his relevant side before you kill him.

There are some corner cases where turning off Lord Megatron will allow you to survive.

Let us not forget being able to mess with any combiner, if those still exist…

This combination is for the mirror matches. Insecticons. Tailwind. Other 4 wide aggro decks. Many times, you do not need to commit to the full turn cycle to kill an opposing character. You may only need to dedicate an action or an upgrade to the attack, but not both. Sometimes you come up a point or two short. Treasure hunt allows you to dig for up to five upgrades that now deal damage. Having the additional blue pips in the deck can also throw off the attacker’s combat math and could put you on the glorious side on surviving with a single health point. Since these archetypes rarely, if ever, contain a way to punish attackers (Sabotage Armaments, Hidden Fortification) using your action for the turn to search for a weapon is not detrimental.

These last cards are part of the transformational plan where we go into a 2 tall variant. Noble’s Blaster is an easy swap for its Decepticon counterpart. And Leap of Faith replaces Mounted Missiles. We are trying to use Leap to make up for the loss of turns we are going to have access to while hopefully hindering our opponent all while pummeling them into scrap. Battlefield Legend still has the BEST flip in the game and it just so happens that Leap is a card that he has access to if we flip it instead of drawing it. If players are still foolish enough to show up with Major Shockwave, this is a way to get ahead without caring about what cards may be in your hand (or what is not in your hand).

Another use for Leap of Faith is in aggressive mirror matches, if you are going second. Its close to impossible to steal back the initiative without a way to generate an additional attack through things like I Still Function, All-Out Attack, Peace Through Tyranny and Involuntary Promotion. Leap is just one of the ways we can try to cheat the resource restrictions. Since we plan on siding out System Reboot, Leap will keep the white density on an even keel. You MUST side out Mounted Missiles. Losing the 7th double orange is acceptable when there is little to no defensive capability from our opponent.

Show Me Your TIPS!

Let’s discuss how to sideboard in certain matchups. Obviously, this will only cover some major decks. Anything rogue will have to test your powers of adaptation.

4-Wide Aggro (Bugs, Blaster, “Mirror”)

Going First

In:

Out:

Going Second:

In:

Out:

The matchup is mostly about who gets punished by greed the worst. If you are first, flip Nightflight and attack. There is a chance they cannot kill him with the additional armor using only one card. If you are second, just send in Storm Cloud and prioritize Wedges to keep General OP alive.

In:

Out: 2 Reboot, Erratic, 2 Reckless

You are grossly favored. Its close to impossible for them to kill General OP on their first attack even if you have a great Blaster flip. If they can get to 17, props to them. ALWAYS go after Firedrive so you take away their option to use Peace Through Tyranny. Both Espionage and Cornered turn Ramhorn “off”

Bugs:

Same as the Mirror

You are at a disadvantage because of Skrapnel and I Still Function. If you are first, Flip General OP and try to take down Skrapnel. If you are second, try not to kill anyone so you take away the Function option. If you accidentally kill someone, continue killing guys as they come across. Siding in Cornered is pretty weak but if your opponent doesn’t send Skrapnel first (for some reason) you can adjust your plan. You need some luck on your side, so you must play gutsy in a bad matchup.

In:

Out:

There are 2 ways you can approach the matchup. You can side into 2 tall with OPBL. IF you do that, bring in the Noble’s for the Scoundrel’s but keep the Missiles. You are basically digging for Hijack and recurring them each turn with OPBL. You can also keep your initial team to have more attacks and more chances at finding Hijack. This does allow them to see more cards with Springer, however. The 4-wide approach is better against Overwhelming Advantage and the 2 tall variant is better against Daring Escape and EMP Wave.

In:

Out:

This is the strategy for the 2 tall variants. Just try and nail Jetfire while not in bot mode. The opening attack should be with a flipped OPBL into Jetfire and then you just try and set up for the restand attack.

If they are a 3 wide Variant, you will have better luck staying as the Airstrike. All you really have is Cornered but you should be fine. Realize that System Reboot can mess up their plans in either configuration

In:

Out:

This matchup is all about the Autobots. Send your first attack into Galaxy and then try and kill Skydive with one hit. This takes away the possibility of Step Forward blowing you out. Hiding Spot is a better secret, but they cannot justify it for its pip. Cornered just turns off Flamewar for an attack. Make sure to protect Tailwind as he will likely be the last one standing against Flamewar. Do NOT waste resources attacking Flamewar. Leave her alone until she is all that is left. If General Optimus is going to die before everyone readies, make sure to flip a non-Tailwind character to bot mode so the attack will be forced to go into them, keeping Tailwind protected for another round.

IF you are pressed for time and are going first, side into 2 Tall and send the first attack into Galaxy. Swap blasters and try to take down Galaxy before he gets a full suite of Matrixes and armor.

The matchup is close but slightly in your favor.

Frankly, there’s not any specific battle cards in the sideboard for this matchup. Its being pushed out of the meta by better blue decks that have favorable matchups. We are also favored against Shockwave. You could use the Treasure Hunt over a Transmission if you really need a way to refill after you have your hand stripped away. I’m not a huge proponent of using a card to refill that is both weak to Sabotage and Checkpoint, so I would make no changes.

IF you are facing a Ranged build, side into 2 tall. Bring in Leap of Faith and swap the Blasters. You will be able to get off some devastating attacks against the Major before he is fully suited up, and the other goons have never been known for their damage output…

Tailwind is the new face of aggro. Plain and simple. He has swiftly usurped Skrapnel as the best aggressive leader. While the deck is basically an evolved form of Insecticons, it has gained so much. I welcome our new aggressive overlord with open arms. He commands your respect and it is well deserved. The deck is a brutal masterpiece of even more ruthlessness than we have been privy to in the past. Master it and be prepared to sit down across from it. This evolution is just beginning…

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