There is a hefty number of things going on with this bot. He slices. He dices. He even makes Julienne Fries! That may be a bit much for everyone’s favorite microscope, but he does have an awful lot going on. It can be quite overwhelming to unpack everything that he is able to accomplish but luckily, I’m here today to break down this bot piece by piece for you.
Let’s start from the beginning
These stats look slightly on par or just below average when compared to previous characters that share the same 8-star cost. His health and defense are quite good, but his meager attack would normally leave him lacking. However, he’s a Titan Master, which is already an incredibly powerful mechanic that has and will continue to change the landscape of this game. Getting 2 characters for such a low star investment is monumental. You can shape and mold him to fit any deck as well as shift from 9 stars all the way up to 12. Technically, he can do it ALL.
There is basically only one function that he will serve for you and that is to utilize his flip back to Alt mode. This flip is incredibly powerful and will completely change how you build your battle deck. You will have access to more cards than you have ever had before; effectively usurping Optimus Prime Battlefield Legend’s status as having the best flip in the game. You will ALWAYS get the card that you want from the top 4 cards. There is no way around it. Great for Perceptor and disheartening for the opponent. So, what happens with the cards that you choose not to take?
The more Showing Off this guy does, the stronger he gets! Recall that meager attack of 3 that we used to have? Not anymore. Scaling upwards with each flip back to Alt mode unless your opponent wants to give you more cards. This is the most powerful character within the confines of Wave 5 and, frankly, within the entire lifespan of this game. Play him and flip him often and you will find yourself on the winning side.
Come on. You should know by now that I’m not going to leave you hanging with some elementary character analysis. For the uninitiated:
To determine how to maximize our Perceptor flips, first we must make some concessions:
Perceptor should be the only character that we intend on flipping.
Perceptor should have the most survivability possible within the confines of other characters’ star costs.
So, if Perceptor is the only character that we plan to flip, what is the highest level of efficiency that can be achieved through his partners? There are a few characters that come to mind that require no flips:
These characters make insanely powerful partners for our main Wrecker.
Sky Shadow requires 15 stars (no one plays both parts without the Stratagem) of your salary cap which allows Perceptor to sport a 2-star head or a 1-star head plus an additional star card. We get these options:
Since the goal is to give Perceptor the longest time on the Battlefield, the options begin to narrow down to 4, (however I don’t believe that Tough is going to help)
Both the Decepticon options grant additional health, while Stylor grants additional defense. Defense is less beneficial since the main game plan is to not expose our engine and continue to flip off our opponent. Granting Tough from Vorath is even weaker than additional defense, so he’s out of the running. That leaves Brisko and Kreb as the best options for the highest amount of survivability. The choice will come down to personal preference. Do you prefer a 15-health character or are you willing to trade a point of health for a star card?
Moving on to other characters gives a bit more versatility. Sergeant Kup has some great synergy allowing 2 characters to gain attack from self-damaging actions and upgrades. If that is a route worth exploring, the health heads once again will take the forefront. Kup being 7 stars opens the possibility to play one of the strongest heads in the game: Grax. 3 stars for 5 additional health as well as 4 attack when he detaches is absurd. Every other head that has 4 attack costs 4 stars, and they also all have less health than Grax as well. It seems like a clear-cut option when it boils down to a question of efficiency. You can also choose to pair Grax with Kup and an additional health head with Perceptor. Brisko will strap you in to having a 5-star character or Kreb would allow some forgotten Battle Masters a chance to shine?
MAYBE
There’s also the option to forgo Grax completely and just use Brisko and Kreb in order to gain access to some relics of days of future passed, such as Firedrive, Lionizer or Aimless. The combinations aren’t quite endless, but there certainly are a plethora of options available.
Fangry is quick to fill the master of all trade’s role being that he is just 6-stars. Given a team up with Parsec, it is possible to have Bold 3 without any additional cards being played. His low star cost makes him slottable in pretty much any deck. He does not need to flip and has higher stats than all previous 7-star characters. Being a Titan Master pushes his versatility over the edge and he would likely work with a blank text box for most team-ups.
Preceptor doesn’t even need to team up with fellow Titan Masters. It just so happens that those current characters have better stats and abilities than their predecessors.
Now that we have focused on keeping Perceptor alive longer, how do we utilize his microscope? To increase the amount of flips taken, we must play some number of transform effects. Having only access to two should make things much easier to compare.
Rapid Conversion appears better due to having a white pip, but it is simply too slow. One could make the argument that Rapid Conversion could supplement a playset of Showing Off’s if you really wanted a 4th but weaker transform effect. How is a transform effect too slow? Well, when flipping Perceptor, you want to get back to home (Alt mode) as quickly as possible. Rapid Conversion gets you halfway there in tandem with your flip per turn. Follow this example:
On the first turn we make our only flip
On the second turn we make our flip back to
Now this series of actions should dictate each game involving Perceptor (on either side)
After resolving the ability, you still have access to both your action and upgrade for the turn. Rapid Conversion will put him into Body mode. It’s awkward since there are very few and niche times where Perceptor needs to be in this mode for the second turn of the game, because this is how he attacks the majority of the time. However, with a Showing Off, you simply get to bypass an entire flip and get right back to Alt mode which rewards you with more cards, yet again. Realize that on that initial flip back into Alt mode gives 4 looks at finding Showing Off if you are searching for it. Getting it gives you another shot at 4 cards to set up the following turn. The power level of this play pattern is so high that it justifies having 3 complete blank pips in the deck.
Being able to guarantee the card(s) that you want off the top is astonishingly consistent and powerful. The cards that you don’t want just fuel our main bot when the time comes to step up and attack.
And shoot someone he shall. He will, more often than not, obliterate the defender. The only way that he will be small is if you CHOOSE to make him that way or are forced to attack in Alt mode. There is no guarantee on how the opposition will split the piles we have so diligently worked to create, but on average, he should have at the very least 2 additional attack. The ceiling on how much higher he can get depends on how to truly evaluate what Perceptor is trying to do or how many times you can play Showing Off…
Perceptor isn’t just about card advantage. Nor is he about simply trading an action for a permanent attack buff. He accomplishes those things by accident. It is no coincidence that he is dubbed a Precise Sniper.
For just a moment, forget about how many cards are in our hand thanks to this one-man Wrecking Crew. He is all about pin-point accuracy in card quality. Being able to scout for specific cards in exchange for his flip is eerily reminiscent of a certain Battlefield Legend of waves passed. The stipulation of only being able to choose from the top 4 cards of the deck may seem slightly weaker at first glance, but there are ZERO restrictions among those cards nor is it relegated to a single action card. Being able to locate Peace Through Tyranny more consistently is massive amidst the Titan Masters metagame. I’ve said it multiple times and I’ll say it again:
Peace Through Tyranny is the absolute BEST battle card in the Transformers TCG!
Historically “held down” due to the aggressive nature of its pips alongside the inability to consistently find and play it. With Titan Masters everywhere, it is now defensible to slot into a non orange deck just based on its power level alone within the current Body/Head mechanics. So now that we have a character that not only grants us a higher level of consistency in finding the best card in the game, when he fails, we still prosper. Being able to guarantee that there is both an upgrade and action to play for the turn is a massive boost to efficiency in battle. The precision provided by his flip is unprecedented. There are times where you are on the hunt for something specific. There are other turns where you are simply trying to gather as much information as possible in order to execute the most efficient turn. Most times, it’s a combination of the two. As the controller you are not able to set up the piles, but there is absolutely nothing the opponent can do to prevent you from getting something you want. Their only job is to make the piles the least beneficial as possible. If they can inconvenience Perceptor, that is a small victory they must accept. Perceptor, alone, dictates…everything.
One of the difficulties of playing against Perceptor is trying to stifle as much benefit as possible from those soul-crushing flips.
Let’s discuss a few examples:
This pile is simple, yet loaded. There are also multiple variables in play so the decision will not be one of right and wrong but closer to acceptable and detrimental. To accurately access a Perceptor pile, first we must determine how we arrived at each crossroad:
What turn is it?
Has Perceptor played an Action or Upgrade yet?
Seems simple enough to decipher. Yes and no. The current turn will be able to tell you how efficient a particular action will be as well as determine the pacing for the subsequent turn(s). Has Perceptor used his flip for the turn to make it into Alt mode or has he played Showing Off? Does he need an upgrade to complete his turn? Is he ABLE to play both types of cards this turn? Some cards exist on a shifting power level, meaning that their efficiency changes based on the current game state. Armed Hovercraft is much less scary during the opening turns of the game where it will not result in killing a character. Peace Through Tyranny is incredibly crippled when Perceptor is the second to act (at least for the immediate turn). He would have to sacrifice a character that has yet to attack and most likely must waste the attack into an unimportant character. However, the knowledge of an impending Tyrannical turn lets you plan your turn even better. Armed with the knowledge that a surviving attacker will punish you allows you to commit the proper amount of resources in preparation of mitigate the power of Peace.
These decisions will also change based on the opposing Perceptor line up. The supporting characters are just as important as the cards that have been flipped. An early Peace Through Tyranny is different when paired with Sky Shadow as opposed to Fangry.
Back to the initial example
There are 2 actions and 2 upgrades. All 4 cards are powerful. This is a worst-case scenario. Simply splitting Action and Upgrades signals that you are about to take 2 turns under some incredible pressure. This pile hinges mostly on which turn it is. If this is Perceptor’s first flip trigger, that means that Showing Off is going to grant even more problems in the upcoming turns. Whether they started with a Showing Off (if they were second) or just flip back to alt mode if they went first, they will be able to have a hefty attack in Body mode in 2 turns. If they were second and have used Showing Off for their action, you are able to be safe from an immediate flip this turn, and their first attack will not be powered up by an action or upgrade. Peace is going to likely be stocked for a future turn, but you will now be able to plan for it (hopefully). Javelin is also likely a stockpile upgrade where grenade launcher is more of an immediate threat.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s say this is the first Perceptor trigger of the game. If it’s a natural flip (they went first) that means that they get the opportunity to play 2 cards this turn. If they have Showing Off, it’s the most likely action play to set up for the next 2 turns. Peace should be held. Javelin is the least detrimental in the early phases of the game and Grenade launcher is always a consistent source of damage.
My Split:
This split changes if Perceptor is going second. The only way to achieve this on the first turn is through a transforming action. This means that each pile is stored for the following turn
My Split:
You don’t want to give them a natural curve of action and an upgrade if possible. Once again, this is trying to make the worst-case scenario the least beneficial for Perceptor.
Let’s examine one that isn’t such a Whammie!
This pile is incredibly reactive and will ultimately depend on the defender’s board state. Improvised Shield is a dead card, so the decision is between the 3 actions. Do Reprocess or Hold the Line hinder any plans that we may have? Does Perceptor have enough time to extrapolate value from Showing Off? Another benefit is that this pile has 2 green pips that are generally singletons. If it is early enough in the game that Showing Off generates the most value and they take it, they will lose 2 significant cards until Death do us part. If Reprocess or Hold the Line are essential to survival, its pretty easy to pair either card with Improvised Shield to gate the power boost from the facedown cards. I don’t believe this pile has a generic split to discuss since it matters solely on the defender.
Realize that all these piles will shift based on the current game being played as well as the positioning and damage on each character.
There are no hard and fast guideline for what is right or wrong. Perceptor punishes the uneducated as well as those “in the know” All that you can do is treat each situation uniquely until they begin to repeat themselves. The more repetition you encounter, that means the more decisions you have made to reach this point. Learn something from each trigger. See if you can figure out the defender’s game plan if you are piloting Perceptor. And when playing against Perceptor, try to achieve the lowest level of efficiency possible.
“Never confuse precision with simplicity – the best people make highly-complex things seem easy through natural ability.”
-Stewart Stafford
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