Joseph Abela, winner of the Hobby Matrix Local Championships this past weekend, thought Namekian style deserved some preview love. We agreed with him, and so we have this interesting uncommon to preview.

Namekian continues its foray into stage damage beatdown with Namekian Empowered Charge.

On first glance, the effect and the damage on this card seem a little weak, and maybe out of place. But when you start to look at some of the cards it can team up with, it starts to make a little more sense.

Being an Energy Attack in a stage beatdown deck doesn’t seem all that great at first. But its low cost and potential to be used again during combat, it could help prolong a fruitful combat in terms of damage. If you’re focusing on more physical attacks, your opponent may be left holding onto a physical block instead of an energy block, which could create an opening for you to use this card to stage lock them.

It also has the benefit of being able to be searched out with a Namekian Overtime, so it can form part of a bigger chain of actions to help keep the pressure on your opponent.

The immediate effect means that you will have to rely on cards like Namekian Fusion, Namekian Face Crunch, Namekian Finger Lasers, just to name a few, who all have draw effects associated with them.

Teaming the card with Namekian Backhand in one combat can help generate five potential actions for the price of two cards. This may help more aggressive Cell builds who grab out allies like Turles to help buff their attacks.

Overall, the card could be impressive when teamed with the right strategy.

Looking to play in serious organised play before Vengeance hits? Check out our Local Championships circuit, where you could win a great travel stipend to help you on your way to Nationals and beyond. Our tournament winners of this weekend’s Local Championship events will help select our next Vengeance previews!

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Game on!

– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent) and Kyp (@JustKyp).

It’s been an eventful – and somewhat tough – week for Namekian aficionados. The first release of Panini’s DragonBall Z Current Rulings Document saw the first major errata of the game – the “nerf”ing of Namekian through its Mastery. It’s not all bad news – most players will agree with the change as Namekian can no longer gain “passive anger” through sitting back and passing combat each turn. If Namekian’s your game, there’s no need to fear, this change does not leave the style in a significantly weaker position.

Truthfully, Namekian style remains a strong contender in the current metagame. Most Namekian cards are geared towards helping achieve one or two of the victory conditions possible. Namekian does not have many drills or setups, so you’re not looking to gain board control. Its strengths come from omni blocks which help you roll with whatever your opponent throws at you and strong attacks which hit your opponent when they least expect it. Namekian style is best suited to absorbing whatever damage is thrown at you and work towards achieving victory in any way possible, leaving your opponent scrambling to cover all the bases: most powerful personality victory (MPPV); survival; and DragonBall victories are all possible with a well-made Namekian deck.

Does Namekian have any weaknesses? It struggles with gaining board control and doesn’t have much to interrupt opponent tactics – so you need to hold out with rejuvenation or get your anger up for a MPPV while your opponent is on the defensive to make it work.

Key Cards:

• Namekian Palm Shots
• Namekian Hybrid Defense
• Namekian Fusion

Strongest Personalities:

• Piccolo
• Gohan

Game on!

– Trent (@TAKGames_Trent)