A Storm is Coming

(Movie Bumblebee not included in this deck)

You may not have realized it until this very second, but there are a lot of Transformers with 'storm' in their name.  I guess that makes sense - storms are violent and uncontrollable, which makes them good reference points for Decepticons ... and theme decks.  Editor's note: the official internet dictionary definition of a storm is "a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lighting or snow."  The official Marvel Encyclopedia defines Storm as a member of the X-men. See? This blog is educational! 

As always, the fortressmaximus.io visual depiction of the deck is included at the end.

Characters:
Acid Storm (6)
Sunstorm (11)
Nova Storm (7)
Indestructible Sword Card (1)

Battle Cards (Pip)(Number)
Data Pad (W)(2)
Enhanced Power Cell (BL)(3)
Escape Route (WG)(3)
Fusion Borer (BL)(3)
Hazardous Shield (BL)(1)
HV Electron Breacher (BL)(2)
Increased Durability (BL)(3)
Kinetic Converter (W)(2)

Rapid Conversion (W)(3)

RR Disrupter Blade (BL(3)
Metal Detector (BL,G)(2)
Pocket Processor (G)(3)
Testify (O)(3)
Treasure Hunt (O)(3)
Work Overtime (W)(3)
Indestructible Sword (BL, BL)(1)

Breakdown: 6 orange, 13 white, 8 green, 19 black. 15 actions, 9 weapons, 4 armor, 12 utility.

Why these characters:

Not including the custom sets, there are so many characters with 'storm' in their name that they can't fit on a standard 25 star team.  Storm Cloud, Brainstorm, Sandstorm, Ion Storm ... but the three I picked worked best because they are all Decepticons and I think their powers can be complementary.  Acid Storm can prevent bold, Sunstorm likes cards in hand because his attack number is set by the number of cards in hand, and Nova Storm likes black upgrades.  I think I can accomplish using all three skills with a careful battle deck build.  

It also doesn't hurt that their names are particularly fierce.  A storm of acid would be pretty bad unless you had an acid-proof umbrella (which as far as I know isn't a battle card yet).  At first blush, a storm of suns doesn't really make sense, unless it is like a solar flare which can be pretty nasty.  And the Chevy Nova was a pretty beast car, so you can imagine that a bunch of them flying around in a storm would be more intimidating than a Sharknado.

Why These Battle Cards:

I tried to build my deck in two piles, cards that help Nova Storm and cards that help Sunstorm - recognizing that they could help each other (i.e. drawing cards for Sunstorm can help play a black upgrade on Nova Storm). 

Sunstorm pile - Card Draws: Treasure Hunt (which can help find those black upgrade cards), Testify, Pocket Processor, Kinetic Converter, Work Overtime, and Data Pad. In addition, Indestructible Sword returns to my hand if scrapped.

Nova Storm pile 1 - Black upgrades: Enhanced Power Cell, Fusion Borer, Electron Breacher, Hazardous Shield, Increased Durability, Meal Detector and RR Disrupter Blade all will be helpful if I can attach them to Nova Storm.

Nova Storm pile 2 - Conversion cards: These cards help Trigger Nova Storm's ability to move a damage counter to an enemy if she (I think its a she) is equipped with a black pip upgrade. Escape Route and Rapid Conversion can help.

You could also consider adding some plane or Decepticon specific cards if you'd like to take advantage of the team makeup.

Strategy:

I have no idea if this deck will hit what it needs since I'm trying to find different things for different characters. I'm probably leaving Acid Storm in bot mode to turn off bold. That coupled with cards like Enhanced Power Cell can help keep my team alive.  I'm looking to get a black upgrade on Nova Storm and flipping her back and forth to move damage to an enemy. She'll probably attack first so she can get some damage on her to move back when she flips.  I'm waiting until I have a good stack of cards in hand to unleash Sunstorm.

Final Thoughts: The best part of this deck is it gives you the opportunity to declare "I feel a stormfront coming!" every time you attack.  That kind of catchphrase ability is worth its weight in common cards. If you haven't tried "Oh how it pains me to do this!" yet, you haven't lived.  I kind of feel bad for the other Stormy crew for not making it into this deck.  Not because I think the deck will win a lot, but because I've never really worked any of them into a deck before.  If this deck is well received, perhaps I can create A Storm is Coming ... Again deck!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Normally, my decks are inspired by the Gen1 cartoon.  But this time, I am basing my deck on a movie...a live action movie.  No, not one of the Micheal Bay movies.  This movie came out in the 80s, which fits with time period of the cartoon and if it had any Transformers in it, they stayed in disguise the whole time.  I'm talking about Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, a 1987 comedy starring Steve Martin and the late, great, John Candy.  In the movie, two dudes share a three-day odyssey of misadventures trying to get back home to Chicago for Thanksgiving.  The journey involves planes, trains, and automobiles and has one scene that I can remember that occurred when the guys were forced to share a hotel room):

Neal Page: ...Del? Why did you kiss my ear?

Del Griffith: ...Why are you holding my hand?

Neal Page: ...Where's your OTHER hand?

Del Griffith: ...Between two pillows... 

Neal Page: ...Those aren't pillows! 

Del Griffith: Aaaaaahhh!

So yeah, that's pretty much the basis of this deck.  Is this a dumb basis for a deck? Of course it is!  But given the amount of folks who are sheltered in place, I figured something is better than nothing!

I have the included the fortressmaximus.io visual deck at the end of the article.

Characters:
Raider Triggerhappy (8)
Captain Astrotrain (12)
Dead End (5)

Battle Cards (Pip)(Number):
Attack Drone (WG)(3)
Bad Attitude (None)(1)
Defensive Configuration (O)(3)
Energon Axe (B)(2)
Energy Pack (O)(1)
Extra Padding (BG)(3)
Force Field (W)(3)
Grenade Launcher (O)(3)
Incoming Transmission (O)(1)
Inferno Breath (B)(1)
Kinetic Converter (W)(1)
Mining Pick (O)(2)
Minor Medic Kit (BL,BL)(1)
Repair Bay (O)( 2)
Scoundrel's Blaster (BG)(3)
Sturdy Javelin (W)(3)
Swindled (O)(3)
Terrifying Resilience (O,BL)(2)
Treasure Hunt (O)(2)
Breakdown: 19 Orange, 9 Blue, 10 White, 9 Green, 4 Black. 10 Actions, 16 Weapons, 8 Armor, 6 Utility

Why these characters: Triggerhappy = Plane.  Astrotrain = train.  Dead End = Automobile.  It's kind of that simple. While there is only one train in the game so far, I did have some options with planes and cars.  I decided to go all Decepticon, which narrowed things down.  I like how Triggerhappy can return a weapon from the scrap pile to my hand, which could help rescue grenade launchers and help get weapons onto Astrotrain.  Of the cheap Decepticon cars, I like Dead End's draw a card flip ability as it helps me get possible upgrades for Astrotrain.

Why these battle cards:  Let's get Terrifying Resilience out of the way. It has Astrotrain on it.  It's in.  Attack Drone and Extra Padding are cards that can fill up Astrotrain's upgrades fast.  Treasure Hunt is there to help me dig for upgrades (of which I included a lot).  Scoundrel's Blaster seems like a good idea since this team is full of scoundrels who will either be fighting Autobots or conspiring to keep two humans from getting home in time for the holidays.  Sturdy Javelin will be fun to play with my two ranged characters, and Triggerhappy can always snatch it (and Grenade Launcher) back from the scrap pile with his flip ability.  Repair Bay, Minor Medic Kit, Force Field, and Energy Pack are there to help me keep Astrotrain alive while I load him up with upgrades.

Strategy: At first I thought this would just be a super janky deck built around the title of an obscure 80s movie that wouldn't work.  But I may have stumbled onto something.  After playing equal partner in my Cosmotrain! deck, Astrotrain is the centerpiece.  He needs upgrades.  Triggerhappy (weapons from scrap pile) and Dead End (draw card) have flip abilities that can help him get them.  Could these decepti-bros actually make a team?  With my heavy slant towards weapons, maybe!  First round, if I have an upgrade, flip Triggerhappy to get him in position to snag a weapon, as I expect a weapon to come out during the first round given the number I have in my deck.  If no upgrade in hand, flip Dead End to get a card.  Put upgrades on Astrotrain.  Second round, flip Astrotrain if he has second upgrade.  If he doesn't have an upgrade yet, flip Triggerhappy to get one.  Bonus points if at some point you pull off a combo or pull a sweet card and yell "Those aren't pillows!"