Cosmotrain!

When two characters or celebrities get together, there is a tendency to smush their names together to create a newer better moniker. Cosmos and Astrotrain are two spaceship characters that tangled with each other a few times in the original Transformers cartoon, which is pretty amazing given how few episodes they were both in.  Can these two spaceships look beyond their differences and co-headline a deck that I call Cosmotrain? It's worth trying, if only to break me from my tendency towards faction specific decks (See Starscream's Brigade, Passing the Matrix, Colorful Windblade, Vanilla Trucks, Oh How it Pains Me to Do This).  Before we dig into the deck (which is shown in fortressmaximus.io visual form at the end of this post), enjoy some Generation 1 Cosmotrain history, broken down by episode:

Blaster Blues

In Blaster Blues, Blaster attended a rock concert with Spike and Carly.  Blaster, totally the third wheel, sat between them.

The music was so legit that Blaster started broadcasting it to all the Autobots, music royalties be damned.  Cosmos dug the tunes floating around in space.  The reverie was broken up by yet another Decepticon plot.  This time, the baddies stole the "Voltronic Galaxer."

Blaster and Cosmos were sent to search outer space where they found Astrotrain and some other Decepticons chilling on the moon.  Being Blaster and Cosmos, they got caught and incorporated into the plan by being forced to block all radio signals on Earth.  Talk about your all time backfires!

Luckily the Autobots have another spaceship.  Omega Supreme took some more Autobots to the moon to rescue Blaster and Cosmos, where he was attacked by Astrotrain.  While Astrotrain and the Decepticons were busy with Omega Supreme (who pretty much chased them off) Cosmos and Blaster trashed the Voltronic Galaxer and saved the day, going from chumps to heroes!  Pay no attention to the fact that it was Omega Supreme who did all the dirty work.

The God Gambit

Astrotrain and Cosmos tangled again in The God Gambit. Astrotrain shot down Cosmos, who crash-landed on Titan.  Fun fact 1: Titan is the sixth moon of Saturn.  Want to learn more? Check out NASA's website!   Cosmos' body was discovered by Titan's natives, who just happened to be discussing whether their "Sky Gods" were real.  Fun fact 2: Aliens don't really live on Titan.

Astrotrain, who was pursuing Cosmos saw how gullible the Titan people are and pretended to be the supreme god so he could enslave them.  Fun fact 3: These Titans are basically people, not Titan Master Transformers of Wave 5 TCG fame or the large Transformers like Metroplex or Omega Supreme.  Astrotrain propped up the unconscious Cosmos in their temple to serve as an idol and turned to harvesting energy crystals, because apparently crystals have tons of energy.
  Luckily, a Titan named Talaria was lurking around and she used Cosmos to call Optimus Prime.  Cosmos woke up just in time to save her from Decepticon induced death, but he was once again knocked out by Astrotrain.  Astrotrain snatched Talaria and decided to sacrifice her to further his control over the other Titans.  As was the case in Blaster Blues, Omega Supreme showed up and basically saved the day by scaring the Decepticons off.  But Cosmos was there so he's a hero too, right?!

The Secret of Omega Supreme

Cosmos kind of got the better of Astrotrain in The Secret of Omega Supreme.  Cosmos figured out that the Decepticons were mining an asteroid.  Needing proof, he sneaked onto Astrotrain to steal a piece of the ore (which turned out to be like an egg and the asteroid had a giant alien inside).  Even though he slipped and fell, Cosmos made a clean-fish getaway.  When things got real and the alien bug started wreaking havoc, Omega Supreme showed up to defeat the alien and save the day.  Editor's note: I'm sensing a pattern here.  Have you seen the movie Twins?  It's like Omega Supreme is Arnold  Schwarzenegger and Cosmos is Danny DeVito.

Characters: Autobot Cosmos (11), Astrotrain (12), Orbital Strike Stratagem (1), Fuel Cache (1)

Battle Cards (Pip Color)(Number):
Acute Reflexes (W)(2)
Anticipation Engine (W)(2)
Attack Drone (WG)(3)
Combat Training (W)(2)
Data Pad (W)(2)
Equipment Enthusiast (W)(3)
Quartermaster (W)(3)
Bolster (O)(3)
Extra Padding (BG)(3)
Increased Durability (BL)(2)
Terrifying Resilience (O, BL)(2)
Sabotaged Armaments (B)(1)
Scavenge the Battlefield (B)(1)
Mining Pick (O)(2)
Minor Medical Kit (BL)(2)
Special Delivery (BL)(2)
Squish Them Like Bugs (O)(2)
Swap Missions (B)(2)
Fuel Cache* (WOB)(1)
Breakdown: 11 Orange, 7 Blue, 6 Green, 18 White, 10 Black.  18 Actions (5 Secret), 7 Weapons, 7 Armor, 8 Utility,  1 Star Card

Why these characters: I've been toying with Cosmos decks since I started playing the game. Cosmos was the first card I spent real money on because I loved the toy back in the day and the idea of instant knockouts seemed cool.  Unfortunately, the star cap on his ability limited his effectiveness.  With the reveal of the Orbital Strike stratagem that boosts the star cap, I wanted to give him another try.  Astrotrain gets the sidekick job due to the number of episodes he shared with Cosmos.  Plus, it just seems right to have two spaceships on the same team.  Given what repeatedly happened in the show, Omega Supreme should be here too, but star count wise that just isn't happening.

Why these battle cards: I'm trying to get as many upgrades on Astrotrain while burning through cards to trigger Cosmos' KO ability.  This led me to look for white upgrade cards. Since this is a two wide deck, I only picked two of each upgrade except for Attack Drone because I can stack three in one slot.  Acute Reflexes is a great card for white pip decks because it gives a white card bonus on attacks and defense and allows focus to help trigger that.  If I have any chance of winning, Astrotrain will have lots of upgrades, so Combat Training helps both in defense and offense.   Data Pad has a draw card/plan action that might help me get the right cards in an attack. Finally, Anticipation Engine lets me look at the top card of my deck and play it if it is an action.  Given my deck makeup, I have around a 50-50 shot of this happening, depending on what other cards my bots are equipped with that might help me manipulate my deck.

I then moved to white actions, focusing on cards that allow me to draw.  Equipment Enthusiast should reward Astrotrain for the upgrades I put him him and help run through my deck, which helps Cosmos. Quartermaster could help me move a Cosmos upgrade to Astrotrain. This strategy also helped me narrow down my star card to Fuel Cache. It has a white pip, but can also help in battling with its orange and blue pips, while cycling through three more cards if I play it.

With the white pip cards I liked exhausted, my next question was whether to focus on damage or defense.  I decided with two bots, I should try to keep them alive and focused on adding some nice armor to my deck.  I hedged my bets where I could with armor pips that could help in battle.  Bolster is an orange pip secret action that allows me to play an armor onto the defender.  I decided I needed to have more armor than usual so I could stand a good chance of having one to play.  I figure people will try to knock Astrotrain's upgrades off, so you can never have enough.  I had to pick Terrifying Resilience because it has Astrotrain on it. Plus, it's orange and black pips can't hurt. Increased Durability is a black pip card that adds four health. I picked three Extra Paddings because they can stack onto one armor slot.

To avoid letting my opponent figure out that Bolster was in play, I added a Sabotaged Armaments and a Scavenge the Battlefield secret action to the deck.  The latter could come in handy if Cosmos is about to be knocked out while he has upgrades.

Given the needle I am trying to thread by hitting white pips but still doing some damage, I added mining pick to help with deck manipulation and Minor Medic Kit to try to keep my dudes alive.  I added Special Delivery to try to shift some damage from my characters and a Squish Them Like Bugs to take advantage of the likelihood that my stars will exceed the stars of my opponent's bot.  Cosmos is pretty weak as an attacker , but has significantly more health, so Swap Missions should allow me to keep attacking with Astrotrain, or allow me to swap over to Cosmos if my deck is close to running out.

Because these guys don't really need to flip, I did not include the one spaceship specific battle card, Unconventional Flying Object, which is kind of a shame.

Strategy: Cosmos doesn't really need to flip once he gets into bot mode, so I can focus on flipping Astrotrain as he gets upgrades.  Hopefully, the white cards help me get through my deck so I can use Cosmos' KO ability.  Being able to hit people bigger than 12 stars makes Cosmos more viable against tall decks. Cosmos has high health and no attack, while Astrotrain has less health but a pretty hefty attack.  They make an odd couple, but hopefully I can find a way to get them to work together to maximize their strengths. Cosmos basically flips once to bot mode to gain +1 attack and the chance to use his shuffle ability.  Astrotrain transforms as he gets more upgrades.

Note: If anyone has any extra Equipment Enthusiast cards, let me know. I don't actually have any so I can't try this deck out in practice yet!

Oh, how it pains me to do this...

Background: In Transformers: The Movie, (spoiler alert) Megatron mortally wounds Optimus Prime in an epic battle (see my Passing the Matrix deck post for more on this) and is pretty messed up himself.

The Decepticons flee aboard Astrotrain, who somehow gets big enough to fit everyone inside when he transforms.  Astrotrain tells the Decepticons that they need to lighten the load if they are going to make it Cybertron. So, after a vote (who knew the Decepticons were so democratic!?) the injured Decepticons are tossed out the airlock.  Starscream carries Megatron to the door, moving one step closer to taking control of the Decepticons once and for all, and setting up one of Starcream's best lines of all time:

Starscream: Oh, how it pains me to do this!*
Megatron: Wait, I still function!
Starscream: Wanna bet?

And with that, Megatron is no more (at least until Unicron finds him, but that's another story).

This deck recreates this epic scene.  Could it win a match?  I doubt it, because we all know how well Starscream's coronation turned out...

Characters:
Captain Astrotrain (12)
Megatron Cybertronian Tyrant (7)
Starscream Decepticon Lieutenant (5)
Full Loadout (1)

Battle Cards (Pip Color)(Number in Deck):
Composite Armor (O)(1)
Decepticon Crown (WG)(1)
Energy Pack (O)(2)
Eratic Energy Genade (BL)(1)
Extra Padding (BG)(3)
Fusion Cannon of Megatron (B)(3)
I Still Function (None)(1)
Increased Durability (BL)(3)
Kinetic Converter (W)(3)
Mining Pick (O)(2)
Minor Medic Kit (BL, BL)(3)
Null Ray of Starscream (O)(3)
One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall (None)(1)
Peace Through Tyranny (OO)(1)
Reactive Armor (O, BL)(3)
Scavenge the Battlefield (O)(2)
Scoundrel's Blaster (BG)(3)
Terrifying Resilience (O, BL)(1)
Treasure Hunt (O)(2)
Breakdown: 20 orange, 9 blue, 10 green, 4 white, 12 black. 8 Actions, 11 weapons, 11 armor, 10 utility.

Why these characters: Well, to fit the movie scene I needed Astrotrain, Megatron, and Starscream.  The particular Megatron and Starscream I picked were mostly because they were the only ones that would fit the star total. So yeah, these guys probably aren't going to make an effective team. Then again, that's pretty much how it worked out in the cartoon so I guess it fits.

Why these battle cards: First, I picked cards that fit the story.  One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall is what Optimus said to Megatron before their epic deadly duel that led to this whole situation - I needed to include that. Megatron obviously needs his fusion cannon, which got some attention of its own as Rumble carried it onto Astrotrain (see above picture).  Peace Through Tyranny and Mining Pick were included because they had Megatron on the cards, but they are also legit power cards. Starscream gets his null ray, while Scavenge the Battlefield is included because it has him on it and it fits the theme of letting Megatron die so the remaining bots can grab his upgrades. Decepticon Crown probably doesn't help much here, but you know it had to be included because Starscream wore it for his coronation after he tossed Megatron.  Finally, I included a Terrifying Resilience because it has Astrotrain on it.


The rest of the deck is an attempt to make up for the hole I dug by picking cards based on who is on them rather than what they can do. Composite Armor might help Megatron stay alive for a bit. The deck is heavy on upgrades (32) to try to take advantage of Astrotrain and Megatron's abilities.  Full Loadout might help get Astrotrain equipped faster and it has two orange pips.  Cards like Medic Kit, Increased Durability, Extra Padding, and Energy Pack are there to see if we can survive a few rounds. Kinetic Converter and Treasure hunt help dig for upgrade cards. Scoundrel's Blaster fits because these guys are bad guys.

Strategy: Win or lose, you have to let Megatron die first to be historically accurate.  After that, keeping Astrotrain alive long enough to get some upgrades is the priority both in terms of winning and getting to Cybertron in time for the coronation.

Editor's note: This is my plea to the Transformers Trading Card Game to make some more characters from the movie, because we know what happened to the dudes who got chucked out of the ship!

* Whenever I play a devastating card in any card game, I say "Oh how it pains me to do this." Try it.  It's epic.

Starscream's Brigade

Starscream.  He's kind of whiny.  He always schemes to take over the Decepticons.  According to Megatron, he's a fool and a failure.  But what if Starscream was an effective leader who could lead a team of planes to finally achieve victory?  Here is my attempt at building a deck around that concept.

Characters: 

Starscream Air Commander (11)

Raider Tailwind (5)

Raider Nightflight (4)

Raider Visper (5)

Battle Cards (Pip Color)(Number in Deck):

Armed Hovercraft (B)(3)

Bombing Run (B)(2)

Cooling Vents (O)(3)

Crash landing (None)(2)

Decepticon Crown (WG)(1)

Emergency Maintenance (O)(1)

Energon Axe (B)(1)

Energy Pack (O)(1)

Escape Route (WG)(3)

Extra Padding (BG)(3)

Grenade Launcher (O)(3)

I Still Function (None)(1)

Inferno Breath (B)(1)

Mining Pick (O)(2)

Rapid Ascent (O)(1)

Rapid Conversion (W)(3)

Repair Bay (O)(2)

Roll Out (OB)(1)

Bigger They Are (B)(3)

Two Pronged Attack (O)(2)

Pocket Processor (G)(1)

Breakdown: 16 orange, 14 blue, 8 green, 7 white.  19 Actions, 9 Weapons, 7 Armor, 5 Utility

Why these characters: I started with the idea that I wanted to get as many planes with Starscream Air Commander as possible to trigger his flip 1x damage per plane.  The best way to do that was to cram as many of the air strike patrol onto the team as possible.  This has an added benefit due to Tailwind's assistance to the other members of the patrol and his bonus when they die.

Why these battle cards: Every time Starscream flips to plane mode, he nails an enemy with damage equal to the number of planes.  With this squad, that tops out at 3.  So, my primary goal was keeping my planes alive and flipping Starscream as many times as possible.

I'll try to keep them alive with Bombing Run, Cooling Vents, Emergency Maintenance, Energy Pack, Extra Padding, Repair Bay, and Two Pronged Attack.  To a lesser extent, my one copy of I Still Function could bring a plane back for a turn (If you have an extra copy, hit me up and I'll love you forever).  To help flip Starscream, I added Roll Out and Rapid Conversion.

I prioritized cards that benefit from ranged characters and planes.  Armed Hovercraft, Cooling Vents, Rapid Ascent, Bombing Run, and Two Pronged Attack fit this.  Where possible, I included green pips to take advantage of the air strike patrol's skills (8 green pips).  I love crash landing as it gives a parting gift to remember you by when you die.  Since we are assuming this team will help Starscream finally succeed, I added Decepticon crown.

Finally, I focused on cards that could do some damage since these guys are pretty puny - Grenade Launchers, Inferno Breath, Mining Pick, Energon Axe.  Because most of the team is composed of small bots, I also added The Bigger They Are...

Strategy: This deck is more about chip damage than having killer bots.  Starscream's flip ability, Armed Hovercraft, Bombing Run, Crash Landing, and Inferno Breath are all ways to chip in some damage without having a strong offensive team.  Tailwind's vehicle mode helps his team out if a green is flipped and Decepticon Crown and Mining Pick might help manipulate the draw to make that happen.  I'd probably lead off by flipping Starscream and attacking with him or Visper (because Visper seems to be the most expendable of the squad).  After that, it is a race to keep people alive and flip Starscream to trigger his ability.  When Visper and Nightflight bite the dust, I can flip Tailwind for an enhanced attack.

Editor's Note: In the cartoon episode Starscream's Brigade, Starscream assembled a team ... but it did not involve planes.  His brigade was made up of old World War Two vehicles that he used to create the Combaticons by installing the personality components of some renegade Decepticons.  The Combaticons are particularly cool because they combine to form Bruticus.

Vanilla Trucks

A vanilla card is a character with no actions or powers, just the Attack, Defense, and Health stats.  Note the sad white space in the box, just begging for something to do.



Vanilla cards aren't very fun...unless you challenge yourself to make an entire team of them.  I'd been working on this random deck for a while when a great conversation on Twitter with The Shuffle Bus and Junkion Junkyard led to a friendly vanilla deck challenge.  Throw in the added difficulty of limiting yourself to one vehicle type, and you have the makings of a good time.  No longer shall Kup be a punchline.  Nova Star is hereby placed in what is likely her first ever deck! Behold the brilliance of ... Arkeville's Vanilla Trucks!*


Characters: Autobo Novastar (12), Sergeant Kup (7), Ironhide (6)

Battle Cards (Pip Color)(Number):
4 Wheel Drive (B)(2)
Battering Ram (B)(2)
Cargo Trailer (B)(3)
Data Pad (W)(2)
Diagnosis (W)(3)
Energon Axe (B)(3)
Field Repair (O)(3)
Grenade Launcher (O)(3)
Improvised Shield (O)(3)
Increased Durability (BL)(3)
Rock Toss (O, BL)(2)
Roll Out (OB)(1)
Scrapper Gauntlets (O)(3)
Scrounge (OG)(1)
Static Laser of Ironhide (O)(1)
Team-up Tactics (B)(3)
Treasure Hunt (O)(3)
Breakdown: 22 Orange, 14 Blue, 1 Green, 5 White, 5 Black.  17 Actions, 9 Armor, 5 Utility.

Why these characters: Because literally, there is no reason to play these characters.  Ever.  In addition to having no powers, their stats don't justify their star cost.  One way I compare cards is to add up their attack, defense, and health to get one number.  At 7 stars, Kup gives you 5 attack, 8 health, and 1 defense for a 14 total value.  Here are some other 7 star cards and their total values: Hot Rod Impulsive Fighter (16), Barrage Merciless Insecticon (16), Red Alert (16), Private Smokescreen (16), Prowl Strategic Mastermnd (16).  All of these have powers on at least one side of the card.  Why would you play a card that has no powers for the same cost when they are available?  Well, because you like a challenge.

Once I decided to give some love to Kup, I threw on the additional self-challenge of filling out my team with trucks.  But I cheated a bit, because Novastar is a car and a truck at the same time.  She looks kind of like an El Camino.  That is literally the only cool thing about her. Look at some of the cool cards you can use with Novastar's 12 star cost: Astrotrain, Major Ultra Magnus, Nemesis Prime, and Optimus Prime Freedom Fighter ... and more!

Based on Novastar's insane 12 star cost, I was really limited in my final character.  Luckily, the original starter set has a cheap-ish vanilla Ironhide, who probably hasn't been used by anyone who has opened a card pack, because pretty much any character is more interesting.

Why these battle cards: I had successfully completed the most boring team ever. Now my task was to spice it up with my battle cards.  Ironhide is featured on Team Up Tactics and Rock Toss, so those got added along with his static laser.  Kup is featured on Roll Out, plus I like its blue-orange pip combination (though because they have no powers, there is literally no reason to 'transform and roll out').

I then added some truck specific cards, because if you are going to make a deck with trucks, you should take whatever advantage comes with that.  4 Wheel Drive increases truck attack to 7, which is higher than any of these characters' attribute, so it's a good add.  Battering Ram has a decent attack add, but the potential to knock someone into another mode could be useful, especially against combiners.  It's kind of fun to picture grumpy ol' Kup dragging three cargo trailers.  The one thing I am really excited to try out in this deck is Team-up Tactics.  It gives a heal bonus for tricks and a draw two cards bonus for cars.  Novastar is both!  YAY!

Because these cards literally don't do anything but attack, I had to try to compensate getting the most out of my upgrades and actions. Diagnosis and Field Repair essentially come with 2 actions in one for my Autobot only team.  The double pip cards - Improvised shield (OO), Rock Toss (O, BL), Roll out (OB), Scrounge (OG) - are another attempt to compensate for the characters' lameness.  Scrounge and Treasure Hunt are there to maximize my chance to get upgrades on these otherwise lame bots.

Strategy: Uhhh, does it matter who goes first when they are all the same?  I guess leading with Novastar gives her the best chance of surviving since she has 13 health.  Perhaps the healing cards in the deck could keep her alive  long enough to get the satisfaction of playing Team-up Tactics on her.  That is probably the only joy this deck will give you beyond the inevitable laughter when you line those characters up to start.  I have a feeling it makes sense to attack with Ironhide last as he has the least health.  This gives you more time to dig for his static laser, because once he dies, there is literally no reason to use that card.

* Great minds think alike.  As soon as the challenge was issued, a similarly genius deck called "Vanilla Trucks" was posted at Fortress Maximus.  I swear I was already working on the finishing touches of this deck (with the same name in fact), but in deference to his speed of posting, I have named mine Arkeville's Vanilla Trucks! Luckily, our battle card selection is quite different.

Are you interested in joining the vanilla deck revolution?  Hit me up with your deck and I'll add it to this post!  Through the first four waves, here are the vanilla characters you can play with (stars):
Nova Star (12)
Bombshell (8)
Dinobot Slug (9)
Ironhide (6)
Ramjet (10)
Red Alert (6)
Ruckus (11)
Sergeant Kup (7)