Our end of the week Awakening preview showcases Trunks and the Red Ascension Mastery!

Organized Play 

The Georgia Regional takes place this weekend – make sure to pre-register (including a meal choice) by clicking here! Participants should be fully familiar with the Tournament Guide and CRD, and you can save time by filling out your Deck Registration Form in advance.

Upcoming Events:

• 10/8 Las Vegas, NV: Pre-register here
• 10/15 Vacaville, CA: Pre-register here
• 10/22 Lenexa, KS: Pre-register here

Awakening Previews

When Awakening releases on October 28th, one of the biggest changes to the metagame will be the increased threat of MPPV. Each Style has expanded options to pursue various anger based strategies, but Red remains king in this regard.

Red Ascension Mastery rewards Red’s plethora of Critical Damage effects with stage gain, serving to fuel energy or AT based beatdown decks while also buffering against physical damage. The Constant ability to gain 1 anger for free incentivizes Red Ascension decks to enter combat frequently, and tacking on anger at the end of combat leads for burst leveling against opponents that are not generating enough interaction.

Aside from gaining anger at the end of each combat, the Mastery also activates to gain another anger – at the cost of banishing a card. This has various interactions with Red effects that reward banishment, and banishing a Styled card forces your opponent to skip. Skip effects are extremely powerful in anger decks, as you can chain together 3+ anger to level up before anti-anger can be played (or perhaps win the game outright).

Trunks – Dashing is one of the fastest Level 1s in the game, often leveling up in just two actions. This allows MPPV decks to start off with a bang, while other builds might utilize this ability to quickly reach a specific older Level of Trunks. For example, Orange Retribution Mastery fetching Orange Crying Drill combines with this effect to allow Trunks to reach Level 2 without spending any cards from the hand – leading to a variety of Level 2 choices.

With Saiyan Rampaging Mastery, any +2 anger effect during combat will immediately take you to Level 2!

Trunks – Frenzied is one of few MPs with a defensive Power, and he activates to stop a physical attack. In an aggressive beatdown environment, Trunks Level 2 can pair with Saiyan Dynamic Mastery to form a robust defensive strategy. His other abilities staple together most of his themes, grabbing Sword cards from the banished zone for anger and turning his wide array of named cards into powerful Crit bombs.

MPPV oriented builds are nigh impossible to slow down once Trunks reaches Level 3, as you cannot make a serious dent in his anger total. All attacks also gain a +2 stage modifier, making his activated Power deal 8 stages – but at the cost of giving your opponent a window to lower your anger.

Trunks – Overwhelming threatens numerous victory conditions from multiple angles, as your Sword cards begin dealing unstoppable damage while raising your anger. His activated Power means that MPPV is always within close grasp on Level 4, though the self-skipping does require specific sequencing.

Trunks is the recipient of another Named attack in Awakening, and Trunks’ Knee Bash offers a great deal of utility. The ability to banish a Setup, Drill, or attached card is highly useful in both aggro/MPPV builds and control. The damage output, potential anger gain, and “Sword” clause are all just gravy!

Check back on Tuesday for a recap from Georgia – and we’ll continue rolling out new information on Dragon Rares, the remaining Ultra Rares, and more! Until then, additional previews can be seen on the following fansites and podcasts:

• Awakening Dropbox
• RandomNumberGaming
• Retro DBZ CCG
• DBZ Top Tier
• Next Level Z
• DBZ TCG Wiki
• Cubicorn Games Podcast
• Dragon Ball Radio
• Kame House Podcast
• DBZ Fanatics Gaming Network
• Panini DBZ Facebook
• Manabeast
• TAK Games
• DBZ Panini Twitter
• Kami’s Lookout
• Western Kai Podcast