Microbots

If you are looking for a classic TV show episode to build a Perceptor deck around, look no further than Microbots.  Perceptor was doing his nerdy scientist thing, working on a shrinking-enlarging device.  Brawn was making fun of him for not being a fighter (which really made me feel bad for my fellow nerd Perceptor).  On the Decepticon side of the aisle, Megatron got his hands on "The Heart of Cybertron" which increased his power when it was installed on him.  Perceptor came up with a genius plan to shrink himself, Brawn, and Bumblebee down to microscopic size to infiltrate Megatron's body to disconnect the device - straight out of Innerspace y'all! And yes, I recognize that I am dating myself with that movie reference - google it!

This deck reunites this micro-dream team.  Will they shrink in the face of adversity, or rise to the occasion?  Note: The fortressmaximus.io visual depiction of the deck is at the end of the article

Characters:
Perceptor (8)
Convex (4)
Brawn (5)
Bumblebee Brave Warrior (6)
Heroic Spotlight Stratagem (1)

Energized Field Star Card (3)

Battle Cards (Pip)(Number):

Agility of Bumblebee (O)(1)

Confidence (O)(3)

Escape Capsule (O, BL)(3)

Escape Route (W)(3)

Field Repair (O)(3)

Hold the Line (WG)(3)

Matrix of Leadership (OB)(3)

Noble's Blaster (BG)(3)

Rapid Conversion (W)(3)

Regenerative Core (G)(3)

Repair Bay (O)(3)

Roll Out (OB)(1)

Swap Missions (B)(3)

Wedge Formation (O, BL,G)(3)

Energized Field (BB)(3)

Breakdown: 22 Orange, 18 Blue, 9 White, 15 Green, 6 Black.  27 Actions, 3 Weapons, 6 Armor, 7 Utility

Why These Characters: Let's be real.  The image of a mini Brawn, Perceptor, and Bumblebee riding on some sort of micro virus is amazing.  Perceptor was one of those characters that was always hanging around on the fringes, but he didn't have too many episodes focused on him.  On the other hand, he managed to survive the carnage of Transformers the Movie, so he's definitely worthy of a deck!  Speaking of the movie, it's nice to build a deck around a Brawn story he didn't get destroyed in (see my tragic Heroic Nonsense deck).  This team left me with some extra stars, but not much I could do with them, so I added the Heroic Spotlight Stratagem and some star cards. 

Why these battle cards: The theme of these battle cards is escaping and healing, which fits nicely with the Microbots episode.  Bumblebee is in the house, so we need at least one copy of his agility with Agility of Bumblebee to help zip around the microverse.  This particular Bumblebee also is a leader, so I threw in Matrix of Leadership (it's like of like the Heart of Cybertron ... not really...but close enough to stand in for it in this deck).  

The micro squad are all Autobots, so I tossed in Noble's Blaster.  Perceptor is a body, so I included Escape Capsule.  I threw in Escape Route, Rapid Conversion, Roll Out, and Swap Missions to take advantage of Perceptor's and Bumblebee's flip abilities.  Brawn likes flipping different color pips, which I think will be helped by my pip distribution.

I had three extra stars to use so I gave Energized Field a try. That seems to fit with the weird micro thingy our heroes rode in the episode.

Strategy: This would be an awesome deck to run up against a Megatron, thematically
at least.  The goal is to use Perceptor's flip ability as often as I can.  The pip color distribution should help make Brawn useful in the meantime.   If Perceptor dies, we can still make use of the flip cards with Bumblebee - when he flips each other character gets pierce 1 until the end of the turn. 

Heroic Nonsense

Let's go back to one of the most shocking moments of Transformers the Movie, a scene that kind of scarred me as a youngster ... and it doesn't even involve Prime dying (but I have a deck based on that too - see Passing the Matrix).  Early in the movie, Optimus dispatched a shuttle to Earth piloted by four core characters - Brawn, Ironhide, Prowl, and Ratchet.  Thanks to Laserbeak, Megatron and the gang intercepted it and used it as a trojan horse to get past the Autobot defenses on Earth.  Rather than tie them up and allow their inevitable rescue as he had done countless times before, he straight up murdered them.  No one died in the show (heck, even Jetfire was brought back right after he crashed into the ice) and these were main characters!  Even worse, each death was more shocking than the next.

This deck recounts the last stand of Brawn, Ironhide, Prowl, and Ratchet.  At least they went down fighting.  The fortressmaximus.io visual depiction of the deck is included at the end of the article.

Characters:
Specialist Ratchet (8)
Prowl, Military Strategist (6)
Ironhide, Veteran Autobot (6)
Brawn (5)

Battle Cards:
4 Wheel Drive (B)(3)
Cooling Vents (O)(3)
Diagnosis (W)(3)
Emergency Maintenance (O)(3)
Emergency Repair Patch (B)(3)
Field Repair (O)(3)
High Five (G)(3)
Medic (1)
New Orders (BL)(3)
Ready for Action (3)
Repair Bay (O)(3)
Rest and Relaxation (G)(3)
Static Laser of Ironhide (O)(3)
Toolbox (G)(3)
War of Attrition (BL, G)(3)
Breakdown: 15 Orange, 9 Blue, 12 Green, 3 White, 3 Black. 31 Actions, 3 Weapons, 6 Armor, 3 Utility.

Why these characters: I've been waiting for Brawn for 3 waves to be able to make this deck. These dudes got killed, and in increasingly disturbing ways.  Brawn got blasted right off the bat.  Prowl got shot so bad fire came out of his eyes and mouth. Is that even possible? Ironhide and Ratchet put up a fight but didn't really get anything accomplished due to impossibly bad aim before they were taken out.  I don't know what is worse, being the first transformers to die, or getting killed by Starscream.  Ironhide survived the initial barrage only to be straight up shot in the face by Megatron at close range.  That one really got me.  Such heroic nonsense indeed.  This is the one chance these unfortunate Autobots have to change history.

Why these battle cards: Since these guys got smashed by a sneak attack, I decided to focus the deck on Ratchet's healing ability to see if they could recover.  Ratchet's attack increases by the amount he heals, so I threw in all the healing cards I could, especially the ones that also have other benefits like Cooling Vents and War of Attrition.  I only included one copy of Medic, because Ratchet starts the game with it in his hand, but it doesn't have any pips. To make the most of this ability, I added Ready for Action to hopefully untap Ratchet and use his ability again (and it has Ironhide on it).  Aside from all the healing cards, I added Ironhide's laser to give him a chance to defend himself.  Three of these guys are trucks, so I added 4 Wheel Drive to account for the fact that I don't have a lot of upgrades to deal damage.  While Brawn isn't the focus of the deck, my pip distribution gives him a chance of hitting multiple pips for his ability. I also included New Orders because the rest of my squad is 6 stars or less so maybe they'll get in an extra attack before they bite the dust.  It also gives Brawn a chance to hit a black pip.



Strategy: This deck is all about trying to keep your dudes alive through healing.  If it is played right, Ratchet can use that to increase his attack significantly, which is needed due to the lack of firepower on this team and in the deck.  Prowl is pretty useless because everyone else on this team is a truck, so he's probably attacking first.  Ironhide would prefer to attack when I find his weapon.  Ratchet only has to flip once to get him in position. Try to use Ratchet when you are able to do the most healing, so you definitely don't want him to go first.  Hopefully, your opponent will get tired of almost killing your guys only to have them heal up and leave the shuttle to concoct another plan.  But, if you get beaten, you can always say you lost on purpose to be true to the movie.