Two Lwosers

Part of: Transformers TCG Formats

Everyone loves an underdog: a down-on-their-luck character with struggles we can relate to, and root for in a fight. So why roll into an event with the most powerful deck you can build? Two Lwosers (pronounced “losers”) is a casual format that celebrates the game’s neglected stratagems, and it doesn’t just boost one of them. It boosts two.

Players arrive at a Two Lwosers event with two complete decks rather than one. Each deck is built around a different stratagem drawn from the format’s legal list, and neither that stratagem nor the characters it affects can be sideboarded away mid-match. In exchange, players give up the conventional 10-card sideboard entirely and start with zero battle cards in it.

Sideboard cards are earned instead. The more overlooked the stratagem, the more sideboard slots it grants. A player bringing a Pop-Up Attack deck (+4 at present) alongside a Cantankerous Attitude deck (+2) plays with a six-card sideboard for the match.

Quick Rules

• Bring two complete decks, labeled first and second. Every match opens with your first deck.
• Each deck is built around a different Lwoser stratagem from the legal list. Its affects target, whether a character, a trait, or All Characters, gives the deck its Lwoser characters.
• Lwoser stratagems and Lwoser characters can never be sideboarded out.
• Every stratagem in either deck must appear on the legal list, not only your two central ones.
• Both decks share one sideboard, starting at zero battle cards. Its capacity is the sum of your two Lwoser stratagems’ values, plus one character of 20 stars or fewer.
• Only those two central stratagems grant sideboard capacity. Anything else you include grants none.
• Between games you may swap decks or sideboard, never both.
• Wwinner characters are banned from Two Lwosers even where they remain legal elsewhere.
• The standard Ban List and Tournament Rules apply on top of all of this.

How a Match Works

The trade at the center of the format: you can’t tune a bad matchup away card by card, because your sideboard is small or empty. What you can do is abandon the deck entirely and bring out the other one. Between games, each player chooses to swap decks, use their sideboard, or stand pat, but never more than one of those.

Deck Construction

Each of your two decks must be built around a single, different stratagem from the legal list below. That stratagem is the deck’s Lwoser stratagem, and its affects target, whether a named character, a trait, or All Characters, gives the deck its Lwoser characters.

Only the central Lwoser stratagem in each deck grants sideboard cards. Additional stratagems in a deck grant none, and every stratagem you include, central or not, must appear on the legal list. If a stratagem isn’t listed, that’s deliberate: only Lwosers win in Two Lwosers.

The two Lwoser stratagems you choose must be different from each other and cannot be shared across your decklists. Any other legal stratagems may be duplicated across both decks.

Label one deck your first deck and the other your second. Every match begins with your first deck.

The Shared Sideboard

Both decks draw on a single shared sideboard, and its battle-card capacity starts at zero. Add together the sideboard values of your two Lwoser stratagems to get the maximum it can hold: a Pop-Up Attack deck (+4) alongside a Cantankerous Attitude deck (+2) allows six battle cards.

On top of that, the shared sideboard may hold one character card of 20 stars or fewer, exactly as a normal sideboard can under the standard Sideboard Rules. That character cannot be swapped in for one of your Lwoser characters.

Stratagems beyond your two central Lwosers add nothing to this capacity. A few legal stratagems list a construction requirement in place of a numeric value; build to that requirement instead.

Two Lwosers also has its own banned list of Wwinner characters. These characters already see plenty of play, and some are strong enough to stay competitive no matter what stratagem carries them, which cuts against the point of the format.

All other construction rules are normal. Decks must follow the standard Ban List along with any house or event-specific restrictions in effect.

Registration

Submit both decklists to the event organizers ahead of time, using the words “first” and “second” in the deck names. Register at least a day before the event so organizers can reach you if there’s a problem with a list.

Gameplay

A Two Lwosers match runs on the normal Transformers TCG structure, played until one player has won two games, under the standard Tournament Rules. Events can be held in person, over webcam, or on supported digital platforms, whichever the organizer sets up.

At the start of each match, announce to your opponent the Lwosers in both of your decks and confirm which deck you’re opening with. Matches always begin with your first deck.

During a game, none of your Lwoser characters or stratagems may be swapped out via the sideboard. Your decks are in it to win it for their Lwosers.

If you’re spectating, don’t give advice to the players. The format is casual, the etiquette isn’t.

Between Games

Two Lwosers adds a step before the normal sideboard step whenever a game ends and another is about to begin. Two versions of that step are in use.

Default Process

The winner of the previous game announces one, and only one, of the following:

• swap to their other deck,
• use their sideboard to change cards in their current deck,
• or do neither.

The loser of the previous game then makes the same choice.

If a player uses their sideboard, normal sideboard rules apply. If a player swaps decks, they make no sideboard changes for that game.

Dead Lwoser’s Switch Variant

In this variant the loser dictates the winner’s options first, announcing that:

• the winner must swap to their other deck, or
• the winner must stay with their current deck, with the option of using their sideboard.

The loser then makes one choice for themselves:

• swap to their other deck,
• use their sideboard, or
• do neither.

If the match reaches a third game, both players may use their sideboards for it regardless of any deck swaps.

End of Match

Congratulate your opponent for supporting their Lwosers, and report the final score to the organizers.

Legal: Lwoser Stratagems

These are the stratagems currently legal in Two Lwosers, with the number of sideboard cards each grants when used as a deck’s central Lwoser stratagem. The lists are reviewed as events are run: stratagems that overperform lose sideboard power or drop off the list entirely, and stratagems that underperform gain it.

Stratagems are drawn from Wave 5: Titan Masters Attack, Wave 6: World|Strike, Org Wave 7: Monster Menagerie, and Wave 8: Waste|Lands.

Wave 5: Titan Masters Attack

Wave 6: World|Strike

Org Wave 7: Monster Menagerie

These stratagems originated in TROP’s Phase One and Monster Menagerie, later combined and remastered as Org Wave 7.

Wave 8: Waste|Lands

New Releases

Stratagems from a new release don’t join this list automatically when that release becomes legal in Full Constructed. A stratagem has to be seen in the metagame first, because the format is built around cards that demonstrably aren’t getting their moment, and that can only be judged after a release has had real play. Candidates from current and future Org Waves are added once there’s enough of a track record to tell the Lwosers from the Wwinners.

Banned: Wwinner Characters

It’s no fun playing Two Lwosers when a well-known, powerful character turns up on the other side of the board hitching a ride on a Lwoser stratagem. Some characters are strong enough to stay competitive in any shell, which works against the intent of the format, so a small number are banned outright. This list is evaluated over time.

Wave 1

• Flamewar, Veteran Decepticon
• Optimus Prime, Battlefield Legend

Wave 3: War for Cybertron Siege I

• Major Shockwave, Applied Sciences • Scientist

Wave 4: War for Cybertron Siege II

• General Optimus Prime, Galactic Commander
• Sergeant Springer, Special Ops • Aerial Defense

Wave 5: Titan Masters Attack

• Brawn, Demolitions
• Brisko
• Decepticon Quake, Ground Assault
• Fangry, Sky Tracker
• Grax
• Horri-Bull, Ground Trooper
• Kreb
• Nightracer, Gunner
• Perceptor, Precise Sniper
• Sky Shadow, Elite Warrior

Wave 6: World|Strike

• Allicon Eyuk, Bog Scavenger

Wave 8: Waste|Lands

• Crasher, Fractious Fanatic

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I play a stratagem that isn’t on the legal list?

Not in a Two Lwosers event. Every stratagem in either deck must appear on the legal list, including ones that aren’t your Lwoser stratagems.

How many sideboards do I build?

One. Both decklists share a single sideboard, sized by adding together the values of your two Lwoser stratagems. See The Shared Sideboard.

Can I share characters or battle cards across my two decks?

Yes.

Can a character go in the sideboard?

Yes, one of 20 stars or fewer, as in any normal sideboard. It cannot be swapped in for one of your Lwoser characters.

Can I switch decks and use my sideboard in the same game?

No. Between games you may do one or the other, not both.

Can the two decks use the same Lwoser stratagem?

No. The two Lwoser stratagems must be different. Any other legal stratagems in your decks may be duplicated across both.

Prizes

Two Lwosers events are purely casual, so prizes aren’t awarded for winning. Every reported match earns raffle tickets for both players regardless of the result, and prizes are drawn at random at the end of the event, with each participant eligible for a single prize.

Because tickets don’t depend on results, organizers set a minimum match length so that conceding early isn’t a way to farm them. Play your matches out.

Learn More

See Formats for the other ways to play, How to Play for the basics of the game, the Ban List for the standard card pool that Two Lwosers decks build on top of, and the Tournament Rules for the procedures every format shares. Upcoming events are announced on the transformerstcg.org Discord and listed on our Events page.