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)
