War for Cybertron: Siege 1 Thoughts

Here's a link to a setlist that you can manipulate to see specific factions/battle cards.

The Decepticons

Everyone was waiting for Soundwave and it looks pretty dang cool. How successful the spy patrols are will be what buoys Soundwave to a deck, but at 11 stars, there should be more than enough space to pair him up well.

I really want to like General Megatron but I'm reluctant to go there, since I'm just not sure how many weapons will actually be on the battlefield at any given moment and loading Megatron up seems like putting all your eggs in one basket.

The Runamuck/Runabout synergy looks like a lot of fun and the new Flamecon tribe for the Decepticons that's pure aggro to give the Insects a run for the money is good. Overall the Decepticons seem to get a greater emphasis on upgrades all around. Hopefully this makes for some new decks and strategies.

There's also a collection of 'glory of cool things' and that is harder to appreciate; tap for effect in this game feels really weird, since attacking is your only win condition. Why are we taking away our damage sources for something that isn't reliably forwarding a win condition?

For example: I could either attack with Raider Road Hugger for 3+ whatever orange I get or I can tap it to give +3 attack to something else + whatever orange I get-and I lose a card AND an attack step.

How is that a deal?

Now, as bodies to add to other character teams, shoring up a weakness, adding a tiny bit of damage-or absorbing it- these characters matter. But they seem very narrow and difficult to use to their best potential.

Maybe that will change in upcoming sets.

Autobots:

A playable Ironhide? Well, I never!

It will be really interesting to see how the mechanics of Ratchet and Trailblazer pan out; they are thematic but I don't know that they're good.

I do like the Battle Masters though; how successful they are, again, I'm not sure. The incremental advantage that an attack + a heavy duty weapon can provide is something to get excited about, I think! These could be especially effective as support for a character like Omega Supreme (again).

They also can draw attacks towards other characters; if I have the option to not kill a character that becomes a giant gun for another character, I'd  probably think about it. The strategic decision making goes up, and I believe that's a positive.

Battle Cards:

The Black icon is an interesting addition-again one that plays up incremental advantages, giving any attack at least one point of damage if the black icon flips. I think this will help keep games moving, even against heavy control builds and that's definitely in the spirit of what this game is doing.

But I think the big news is the Secret Actions and what kind of dynamic that will add to the game. Nothing so far looks like a blowout event, but I'm glad the game has enough room for that kind of interaction. The limiting factor in Transformers is the inability to do anything on your opponent's turn; they can see what you've done and nothing is a surprise.

Secret Actions will add more dynamic gameplay and I believe it does so without seriously compromising the way the game feels or is paced. That's some impressive stuff.

I think the EM24 IR Laser Launcher is going to be a bigger deal than expected, and while I don't know if any of the niche cards for trucks (Battering Ram), spaceships (Unconventional Flying Object), or motorcycles (Pop-a-Wheelie) will be enough to make the tribal effects worthwhile, I'm glad to see the support. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!

My one complaint is about the black battle icons. Unfortunately, they blend in too well with the background of the card and are extremely difficult for me to identify-either when I had or flipped them or when my opponent did. I hope they can address this in the future-I asked about it, and they said they'd pass it up the line so here's to hoping!