This was originally posted on the offline transformerstcg.com website.
Hello again, friends of Cybertron. Last week we talked about using Chromedome’s body mode ability to off-balance our opponents while we beat them down in an Orange-based deck. At that time, I also promised to go over how you might utilize his ability in a defensive deck.
Just in case you forgot what this bad boy looks like, Chromedome has healthy stats and the ability to really muck with the opponent’s hands by KO’ing a battle card. He can utilize the powerful Titan Master heads which can add some extra fortitude. Chromedome’s alt mode ability likely won’t come up in most games, but it can be a real boon against other control decks that are also trying to leverage late game card advantage.
Decklist
Chromedome // Computer Programmer
Grax
Soundwave // Communications
Ravage // Saboteur
1x Counterespionage
1x Espionage
2x Fog of War
1x Hijack
3x Security Checkpoint
3x Smelt
1x Brainstorm
2x End Hostilities
3x Hidden Fortification
3x Recover Cassette
3x The Bigger They Are…
3x Tripwire
3x Extra Padding
3x Handheld Blaster
3x Paralyzo Box
2x Pocket Processor
1x Soldier's Blaster
2x Sturdy Armor
HOW TO PLAY THIS DECK
The goal of this deck is to diminish your opponent’s battle card resources while extending the game so that you can leverage your own resource advantage. The key players for constricting the opponent’s deck are Chromedome and Soundwave’s fast hand disruption along with Security Checkpoint and Smelt. If you are going second and use your play for Security Checkpoint and followed up by Chromedome’s or Soundwave’s ability you can limit their hand significantly right away. If you get a little lucky, they might be playing off the top of their deck as early as Turn 2. Fog of War can be a decent replacement for Security Checkpoint, when played on your first turn going second it will allow you to trade 2 cards in your hand for 2 in theirs. Flipping Soundwave will leave them with only 1 card going into their turn. Once you are past that initial Disruption phase you can gain card advantage with Pocket Processor. When your opponent has so few resources Smelt becomes very powerful as they are unlikely to have extra upgrades to scrap instead of whatever your true target is.
As in our previous Chromedome list, the first group of battle cards is our disruption package. The second group makes up our strong utility of battle cards, and the last is our upgrades. This is an upgrade light deck, but all 11 of the Upgrades you intend to play sport a green battle icon making them a lot easier to find. Our main source of attack power comes from Paralyzo Box which gains a green icon when flipped by Soundwave or Chromedome. In the case that our opponent’s deck is too mixed to rely on Paralyzo Box we have a Soldier’s Blaster as a backup.
ADVANCED TIPS
If you use Fog of War instead of Security Checkpoint in the early turns you may want to be safe and use Soundwave instead of Chromedome that turn in case your opponent scrapped all their Actions. Do your best to make a good read in this situation. Were both cards they scrapped Actions? Is their deck just Action heavy?
Grax gives good longevity to Chromedome. The team has 47 health if you count Grax’s bot mode. That combined with a blue deck and Ravage’s Tough ability means you can survive a lot of damage.
Against Pierce heavy decks you really want to find a good opening to let Ravage soak a hit then Recover Cassette on your next turn. The damage you displace in this way can be very difficult for some Pierce decks to deal with.
Paralyzo Box doesn’t have a green icon if Ravage flips it. He only represents a small percentage of the cards you will be flipping but keep track of what is left in your deck and when it is likely to come up.
This deck has a lot more Secret Actions than the last. When you grab Hijack, you have an opportunity to outwit your opponent by laying it or another secret action that turn. Be very mindful of the information your opponent has.
Even if your opponent is using a mixed deck you can use Soundwave’s ability to make sure you call the right color for Paralyzo Box in some cases.
I chose End Hostilities over some other defensive Secret Actions because it can be backbreaking in some scenarios, and even the base case is pretty strong against an Orange deck. If they aren’t Orange just use your plethora of Green Icon cards to replace it with something more relevant.
Thanks for checking out the deck. This time I want to hear from you, what character or battle cards do you want to see a deck built around? Leave a comment or like suggestions and I’ll pick something out that is either especially popular or novel depending on how it goes.
Stay safe and continue to share Titan Masters Attack decks online!