Digimon COTD: Silver Ball

Silver Ball—more like cannon ball

What’s good about it: Doubles your power and sets the opponent’s to 0, allowing an easy come-from-behind when you lose the evolution race. Since your own Digimon can be any level when used, it can also act as a “get ahead” gambit that preserves your own health while taking a significant chunk out of the opponent. The “If not” case can be really helpful as well, though not as strong as cards dedicated to discarding. Discard 1 can disrupt your opponents ability to evolve, rack DP, Support on the next turn, or even dump them into the dreaded 0-card hand.

What’s bad about it: Silver Ball tends to be least effective when your opponent is stalling or losing, which makes it less effective if there’s a significant gap in deck or player strength. Until such time, it’s a mere discard 1 which can be difficult to time properly or prioritize when you should presumably have more impactful effects. Having multiples of this card is therefore not very recommended.

Tips: Since, most every deck tries to evolve to Ultimate and Mega Digimon—which are big and hit hard, Silver Ball tends to be devastating when played at the right time. Put one of this card in your deck and most of the time it acts like having a second ACE. It should almost always start in the side pile, so as not to clog the opening hand. Key moments to play this card are when the opponent is Level R or C but has 1 card in hand or when they’re U or M and doubling the power would decrease the number of hits-to-KO. Alternatively, when they’re at Level U or M and their attack would KO. When you calculate potential damage for both players, it can sometimes be better to wait for your opponent to reach Mega. If you can tell the current Ultimate won’t deal a knockout blow and the Silver Ball is close enough to KOing their Mega (they haven’t played yet), try saving it for that instance and net two KOs! Silver ball is both a sword and shield against the strongest Digimon in the game; as such, it is a tool from which every deck can benefit.

Digimon COTD: Magic Word

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Magic Word—A new firewall that stops Any Phase effects and sticks around to void.

What’s good about it: If you’re good at attack prediction, this card can gain almost endless voiding of Digimon, which is incredible value. Magic Word also heavily punishes decks that use evolution box bonuses to lower DP costs, which can throw off their entire evolution progression. Any Phase effects can be some of the most flexible and hard to deal with effects in the game since they occur outside of normal play. No more sudden use of Digi-Diamond, Kabuterimon, or RedOtamamon, just to name some. They would have to Support with those effects—the Digimon you can continuously void; the Option you can void by merely trashing the Magic Word! Having the ability to trash it at any time to void Options can make opponents play their Options more conservatively, so it’s always threatening.

What’s bad about it: Magic word is a two-edged sword—you don’t get to use “Any Phase” or evolution boxes either. Depending on whose turn it is and what your opponent plays, it can be a played around or voided (on initial Support). Suppose you’re bad at prediction, or the opponent is better: your Magic Word’s usability drops off significantly. This can easily make it worse than any other Firewall. More than one Magic Word at a time is pretty much nonsense unless your opponent supports with an Option so you can trash it. Other firewalls tend to be far more usable one after another. Lastly, Shatter is an attack ability, which this doesn’t void, and it gets rid of Magic Word.

Tips: Try to keep your “Any Phase” effects to a minimum. DATA cards may still be worth it, especially since you can dictate the terms of when it leaves play to some degree. Try to ensure your own deck doesn’t require evolution box bonuses for decreasing DP. Try cards that attach directly from the deck! In this way, Tyrannomons can become extra copies of Magic Word in the deck. Love Crest and Moxie are good for decks that aren’t attempting to “double-dip” on the evoboxes, since the deck should be able to evolve fine without them but can get nice bonuses when these are attached instead of Magic Word. “Research” lets you mismatch your attack, guaranteed.

Digimon COTD: Puppet Switch

Puppet Switch—Setup your hand and DP.

What’s good about it: Puppet Switch puts any card in your trash in your hand. This card is fantastic for reusing powerful cards, and setting up for high DP cost Digimon. Just imagining the possibilities with Ace cards, for instance: you could re-use Warp Dimension, netting you 18 cards of deck damage. Also, since you can change your type, this is usable with an attachment that fell into the trash along the road that your current active zone can’t use. You could change your type to Metal and re-use a Miracle crest to suddenly gain support effects outside of Metal’s domain.

You can do almost everything Puppet Switch does with other cards, but it always takes more than one card (and therefore turn) to set up these sorts of scenarios. This is a high-value card that can give players a host of new and unexpected outs. Most opponents wouldn’t consider a clutch Puppet Switch when playing out their turn. The fact that it gets back cards like evolutions or Digimon that were paid into DP means you can get insane DP value for later evolutions. Example: rack a Redotamamon for +40P, evolve, support with Puppet Switch and get back the Redotamamon, then it gives you +10P. By your next opportunity to evolve, you’ll have a guaranteed 50P and a net card advantage of +0. Lastly, a deck with x3 VS against your type can fall apart if you change your type away (plus you’ll net some sweet cards and DP out of the deal).

What’s bad about it: This card can’t be charged into DP normally—you have to play it as support to get it there. If you’re not set up for multi-color, you lose one of its effects; and if you are, you need a tight evolution-box line.

Tips: If you’re looking to reuse specific cards in your deck, Puppet Switch is a good universal way to do it without splashing into Jungle or Enigma. In fact, Puppet Switch is a good way to unlock the potential of your existing cards and therefore provides good universal synergy. Many games can come down to a well-timed Ace play that doesn’t get voided, so Puppet Switch on reusable Aces can give you the edge to win.

Digimon COTD: Whamon

Whamon (Level U)—The magic of an Ultimate that evolves from itself.

What’s good about it: Whamon (like his Champion form) has the highest printed HP of any Digimon in its level. The Evo-box bonuses featuring “Whamon” push the HP even higher. Whamon in the Evo-box gives this card a built in “Mutate” letting you evolve from U to U if you would like. Its Support ability is also very nice getting tons more HP if you can keep your hand relatively stable.

What’s bad about it: This card has low Power—closer to a Champion rather than an Ultimate. Its to zero ability is very under-powered.

Tips: Whamon (like most Ultimates) wants a dedicated deck with lots of evolution cards that can supplement its built-in Mutate. Running “Download” as your ace with cards like “level Crush”, “Plugin Back-up” and “Burst Growth” can give you extra effects with your extra Evolution, and keep the Whamons coming.

Digimon COTD: Data Hijack

Data Hijack—Evolve from your deck and charge extra DP.

What’s good about it: Data Hijack’s primary effect is to evolve to level C straight from the deck. Evolve from deck is bonkers, letting you take full advantage of every Champion in your deck, as long as it’s a legal target. It’s second effect doesn’t require you to evolve, meaning you can use it even if you can’t go up—If that’s the case, the second effect lets you virtually charge twice before Evolving (by DP instead of the primary effect), or reveal the top card of your deck before the support phase. After use, it deletes itself so you don’t accidentally get flooded with this card after recycle effects (this is usually a good thing, since re-using a card like this is rare and requires tricky timing, while it clogs the hand).

What’s bad about it: At mid to late game, this card can be rather dull— especially if you are not at Level R or you didn’t have a valid card on the top of your deck (cards with +P).

Tips: Data Hijack loses consistency as the game progresses. If you have no other evolution to play and this is stuck in your hand (usually stopping you from draw 2 each turn), consider playing it and checking the top of the deck—at the very least, you get to check your upcoming card. Mixing this into decks with extra Champions or a variety of them can let you toolbox your evolution. Try running with “Shogungekomon”, “Cherrymon” or Champions with a wide variety of evolution-box effects.

Digimon COTD: Coliseum

Coliseum—Changing both players attacks to with various bonuses for yourself.

What’s good about it: Coliseum boosting your power is very helpful. Forcing a fight can be very necessary when you need to prevent abilities like drain and 1st attack. Especially if you want to use your circle with impunity.

What’s bad about it: tends to be the strongest attack for the majority of digimon. the bonus effects aren’t always that helpful at letting your attack happen on your opponents turn.

Tips: Coliseum is a tricky card to pin down, its extra effect tends to seem more random than it is, if you can figure out you opponents best move generally you know what effect your going to get. it’s best to use this on your turn when your opponent is most likely to use abilities to get extra damage out or survive to evolve on their turn. In some instances, you can get 200 Power and the change, making it comparable to an Attack Chip without the threat of counter (or “to zero” effects).

Digimon COTD: RedOtamamon

RedOtamamon—the only “+40P” in the game thus far.

What’s good about it: RedOtamamon gives +40P—double the average Rookie. Its effect is small but useful: looking at your opponents hand can help you chose attacks, future supports and determine whether it’s the right time to use any “Activate” abilities you have. It is also outside of support phase so good luck voiding it.

What’s bad about it: RedO’s ability shuts of your support for the turn, so it’s harder to use the info you get. His body is terrible, though if you’re actually attempting to use this in , Rookie bodies don’t matter much to you anyway.

Tips: This card is well suited for fast evolve decks; 40DP with get you to majority of Champions and Ultimates in the game. Its effect helps when you’re ahead, letting you leverage the information you gained to stay there (one turn late). Evolution cards like “Warp Digivolve” and “Hyper Digivolve” help the 40DP from RedO take you much farther.

Digimon COTD: RustTyrannomon

RustTyrannomon—A Mega with a huge potential power boost or heal.

What’s good about it: The “Activate” effect of RustTyrannomon happens when attacks are revealed—on either player’s turn. The +50% multiplier gives you a huge boost to either Power or HP, whichever is most needed at the time, which makes this a tough card to overtake.

What’s bad about it: You have to use —the easiest attack to stop in the game. RustTyrannomon’s own ability is rather dull (most of the time Counter on a Mega is worse than using your other attacks). You have to discard everything; your hand, your DP, and your attachments, which is a huge price and will cost you the game if used flippantly.

Tips: It’s best to use RustTyrannomon’s “Activate” as a threat, not a promise. Once it’s used, it’s done and your opponent just has to adapt but until then, it’s still formidable. Evolution cards like “Super Tag” and “Digivice” leave your DP alone, letting you charge Rusty like a proton cannon. Cards that allow you to easily support from the top or draw extra cards can keep your hand high without giving up supports. The card “Training Manual” is good both the turn you use his ability, and the turn after.

Always try to see if there’s a way to threaten a one-hit-kill with him first, make your opponent outplay it, then just boost your power some other way. HP gain is usually the best and safest option and can allow you to replenish your hand quickly, which can surprise an unprepared opponent. Try to see if your opponent has any cards that force discards such as “Scummon’s Curse” before committing the activation or you may find yourself using a weaker cannon and have an impossible time recovering.

Torment Prep

Tournament Preparation

It can be stressful to prepare for tournaments—you have to worry about deck construction, learning the meta, and what what makes you look the most like a main character. Here are some tips to help you prepare for your next tournament.

Deck Construction

Arguably the most important part of prep—you need to have the best cardboard available. Always make sure to go to whatever deck editor website is the most popular for the game your’e playing, search by “Most expensive”, and take the top result. Sure you might end up with 50 money cards and no cohesion at all but they should have thought of that before the prices were so good. You get what you pay for in this world, so more = better. Full Article

Digimon COTD: Digi-Diamond

Digi-Diamond—the Swiss-army-knife of Ace cards.

What’s good about it: Digi-Diamond is currently the most versatile Ace. “Any Phase” timing extends the number of cards you can play per turn (and is extremely powerful and limited). Changing your attack in the support phase is powerful, since you can evade a counter or buff a different attack. Changing your type can help you get around “x3 VS” and aid in evolution. HP Recovery and the revive effect both help you keep your current Digimon, for evolution purposes or dealing a finishing blow (best on the opponent’s turn). Draw 2 is icing on the cake that make this one of the more powerful cards and the Ace you can’t go wrong with.

What’s bad about it: The power gain, like every other effect of Digi-Diamond is small. Each Individual effect has specific uses, and most of them don’t really assist each other—you’re usually going to play this for one of its effects at a time and just get the others as nice bonuses.

Tips: Digi-Diamond is a good starting point for the deck’s Ace if you’re not sure what it needs. Playing Recycle effects lets this card shine, allowing you to use it for whichever effect is the most helpful now and then recycle it back for later. If you find yourself using Digi-Diamond for the Draw 2 most of the time, use a different Ace. Other Aces do much more than just draw—yours will get outpaced by them.

Digimon COTD: Level Crush

Level Crush! An evolution card that lets you evolve downward and double your HP.

What’s good about it: It more than refreshes your HP with very little card investment, keeping you going on the same active far longer than usual. It also lets you use your Mega and then evolve when you get low—forever denying the 2 KO points that Megas provide.

What’s bad about it: This card is practically useless when you’re losing, or stuck on Champion. Using it while behind in points could propel you even further behind if the opponent has a solid evolution strategy. The fact that it takes your evolve for the turn can really slow down your game.

Tips: Level crush is best used when you’re running Champions with a lot of health. It is best to avoid using it until you’re low on HP or are above Champion. Having Champions with good abilities like Jamming and Shatter can send the game spiraling into a never ending slog for your opponent. Mix with the card “Mutate” for best results.