The purpose of this article is to show what to expect of ST01. FB09 set a new level to compete, which even FB10 struggled to reach, so as last time I will focus on not just what this new set delivers mechanically, but how relevant that could be in the upcoming months, and how it affects the current meta.
For all decks covered, a deck link will be provided in the name, which will be the deck of mine throughout the format. That means, that changes will be applied until the end of the season, triggered by my actual gameplays.
I'd like to emphasize, that we are before the release, so my summary is based on the previous metas without actual games played with the new decks. It's not a prophecy, but an expectation. I might update this article when proved wrong to remain relevant, however if I do so, I will mark it with a changelog.
The evaluation ratings are the following for me:
S: possible bdif decks, I expect them consistently top cut events, and possibly win them
A: very strong decks, I expect them to top cut events, but not be the ones the meta revolves around
B: solid decks, which could top cut in the right hands and with some luck, but are victims of the meta in general
C: runner-up decks, which work great and can punish some meta decks, but it's highly unlikely to yield results in tournament play
D: playable decks, which could be played at casual events and yield results, but are mostly for fun
Conclusion
This set is more of a legacy support package, than a new set. Special boosters tend to have less cards for a color, than a regular set and none of the new leaders have roots in previous sets, which means less options and an overall lower competence level these deck could reach.
As for the overall meta, I don't expect huge shifts for the duration of ST01. The top 1 deck got better again, while Vegito and Broly could get a slice of the meta share. The root problem that evolve decks rule the game persists as they have the ability to snowball the game early on with their bombs played as early as turn 3. While the design philosophy hasn't changed, and that is a bad sign for me given my recent article about this, but I have the feeling that we should cherish these problems while we can, as a new antagonist is on the horizon, possibly more destructing to the game, than anything before it: FB11 Goku.
Red 🔴
ST01 Goten
Concept
This deck is about using Kamehameha extras during battles. The main concept is, that we can fire one for free every turn given their costs are not higher, than our total KI. That's not very restrictive, as we have an option for 1 KI, 2 KI and 5 KI. We also gain a free field, which is only a gimmick, and the ability could have been given to the leader, but it's the core card of our deck as it will make the Kamehamehas free. Our awaken ability will make the field active both on our turn, and on our opponent's turn giving us some flexibility.
Our cards are straightforward mostly, one of our SR cards basically hits twice per turn, similar to the green promo Goku, while the other will help us in board control by negging an enemy card. Our archetype win condition is to play Family Kamehameha, which will boost up an attack and providing us the ability to essentially granting double strike for all our cards on k.o-ing an opponent battle card. This concept is supported by our Goten/Gohan card, which can attack into active battle cards as well punishing small cards after being weakened by the Goku card. As even a 40k card becomes 15k this way, there's no reason to not attack that card instead of the leader making other double strike options irrelevant.
Evaluation: D
The deck has some brute strength going for it, because it will be very hard to defend the big attacks turn after turn. However there won't be many attacks like that. This deck plays one card per turn mostly, but even if it doesn't, one of the cards won't attack. It works like burnhan in that way, but without the actual burn and no attacker before turn 3.
Making things worse the Kamehameha pool is rather limited, while there's no way to retrieve them from the drop. That will mean that there won't be enough extras to maximalize the effect of the leader. The best part of the deck is the finisher, but to be able to capitalize it we need many attackers, which we probably won't have on the board.
Blue 🔵
FB05 Vegito
New cards
ST01-070 Vegito - The new way to play this deck. Basically every other cards must be examined in the light of this card. This card provides removal, drop manipulation and a big body at the same time, allowing us to stay alive and having a bit more restrictive, but potentially far quicker way to interact with the board.
ST01-018 Kibito/ST01-022 Shin/ST01-019 Kibito Kai - These basically come as a package. Played by hand, for 2 energies we can mill and search two cards, and get an attacker. This sound really good, but early on some heavy luck is need to hit the conditions, and later we can get better plays.
ST01-021 Gotenks - This card is really good in a certain playstyle. It needs a card, which resets the drop, exactly what the new SCR does. Without someting like that this card is a death sentence in the long term.
ST01-020 Gotenks - an additonal way to play the other Gotenks, and have 8 copies in the deck somewhat.
ST01-024 Son Goku/Vegeta - The core role of the card is, that Vegito can be evolved onto it. What makes this great though, that it draws on being placed on drop and when played. This gives a great card drawing capability all by supporting a bit the removal part of the SCR.
ST01-023 Goku - basically plays a 3c Goku for two, while working in archetype. The discard part is negated if the duo was already in the drop (it returned a card from drop), and we could play other Goku cards as well, like the double strike Goku.
ST01-025 Vegito - An alternative way to evolve onto the duo, but only provides some protection. If we can't fill the drop quickly enough or we can't find the SCR, it's an okay searchable card, but not more.
ST01-026 Extra - An insane card. It gives all Vegito cards double strike, even the leader, and this is especially devastating when combined with the older SCR.
Evaluation: B
Vegito was great already and it certainly hasn't got worse with the new cards. With these Vegito is the most supported leader potentially, however these new cards don't fit into what this deck wanted to do until now. If we reach 7 energy, we can attack with 3 double strike attacks, something that is impossible to survive, but at the same time it could be more of a meme play, rather then competitive play pattern. Our removal option is weaker, however we can apply removal earlier. This new strategy is more flexible, but at the same time brickier as well. This deck will be harder to solve as the options are vast, meanwhile the combo power is minimal. It certainly makes the game better that we have a competitive leader which is not prebuilt for us.
FB10 Vegito
New cards
ST01-024 Son Goku/Vegeta - I believe this card is the greatest asset. Really easy to search for, while milling, draws a card when doing so after awakening, and gets triggered by Vegito as well. This also means less Goku/Vegeta cards needed to be consistent.
ST01-070 Vegito - This card works in theory in the deck, especially how the potara part is mentioned, but because final kamehameha exists, and the drop works in a different manner, this card makes no sense in this deck in my opinion.
ST01-025 Vegito - It's a weaker alternative of the SR, however one with 10k combo, which could be played given we need more combo power.
ST01-018 Kibito/ST01-022 Shin/ST01-019 Kibito Kai - These basically come as a package, and Potara is already a core part of the deck, so that is given. The problematic part is that this is a 12 card package. This deck is so dependent on the Goku/Vegeta line, that those quantities are maximalized, and there's no room for this.
Evaluation: A
I don't anticipate this deck to get weaker. While I wouldn't incorporate the new cards too much, the core strength of the game remains the same. Final kamehameha, huge leader swings and potential triple strike equivalent attack.
Green 🟢
ST01 Majin Buu: Evil
Concept
This leader is an archetype-based evolve deck centered around Majin Buu: Evil. The bread and butter move will be to play a 2c Majin Buu: Evil and evolve it up having a discount of 1 for every turn. This will mostly be a 2c into a 4c into a 6c. There is a concept about the cost and the characters, as 1 cost is for Majin Buu and Skinny Majin Buu: Evil, while 2c is the form after absorbing Majin Buu, 3c is after absorbing Piccolo, 4c is after absorbing Gotenks/Gohan and 6c is Kid Buu.
The gimmick of the deck is removing cards from the stacks created by the evolve chain to gain some effects. To support this concept we also gain a free field at the start of the game, which can store Majin cards from the drop, and this way create an additional stack to remove cards from.
We should expect to trigger an effect once per turn as we will create a stack of 3, while evolving into Kid Buu and 1 card under the field. That makes 3 cards per turn, exactly the amount most cards want to remove. We only have two SR cards in the archetype, and those two the are only really good cards in the deck we can build a strategy on. One is Kid Buu, who can heal up to 3 and attack with 50k. This encourages a high risk high reward playstyle. The other is the 4c Majin Buu: Evil, who can play another 2c Majin Buu: Evil. This effect only cost 1 card under, which is exactly the card it's played on effectively providing a 30k attacking card for 1 energy and 1 card in hand.
This deck lacks the finishing power, so Son Goku double strike comes to the rescue, though he's not in the archetype.
Evaluation: D
This deck is really not good. The field is merely a gimmick, it was unnecessary, as the effects could have been cheaper requiring only 2 cards under, and nothing would have changed a lot, because the evolve chain must go up in cost, we can't stack Kid Buus on each other.
The archetype is weak and very locked as we have no recursion for cards in drop forcing us to run several cards in the archetype. Majin Buu is a worse Videl, punishing every not Majin cards. The deck has no removal, no finisher, it's like a lot weaker Turles in the same color archetype, but it's also a worse Cell, sharing the same weaknesses, but lacking the high roll crazyness.
Yellow 🟡
General
New cards
ST01-052 Vegeta - the reason this card is important that it makes the evolve majin vegeta global. Now that we have the rester and the cantrip Vegeta as well, both something yellow wants to do, the Vegeta evolve chain works for all decks out of the box, because neither of the cards are leader locked. This mostly affects Vegeta, Broly and Janemba.
FS11 Son Goku
New cards
ST01-044 Goku - This is a good card, but not something that could fit in the deck. This card needs to stay alive to have effect. The problem is it won't. The Warrior extra will put it into the drop immediately. It will be bottom decked, k.o-d, etc. There's no reason to run this card with the other Goku not banned, and the 0 combo definitely doesn't help.
ST01-046 Gohan - I start with this Gohan, as the other depends on this. This is a great card, something that's worth fit into the current deck. 10k combo in hand, additional attack for 1 energy. This also triggers the leader ability combined with the other Gohan as long as we were already awakened.
ST01-045 Gohan - This is a terrible card without the new Gohan. Combined with it given that we already have a 4c card on board is ok, but still very weak compared to everything this deck does already, and that's quite the prerequisite.
Evaluation: S
Here we go again buffing the top 1 leader in the game with no bans coming. It gets even more flexible, the Vegeta line is a valid consideration after the new cantrip (even the searcher), as for 3 energy we stay hand neutral while having a 30k on board. In the meantime the Gohan line can be extended, providing even more swings per turn. I don't think the Goku line will change given how broken it is by now, but the option is there as well.
FB09 Gogeta
New cards
ST01-044 Goku - This card fits this deck more, than SS3 as this is a potential dual attacker 30k for only 1 evolve cost, while providing defense on the next turn. It's still doesn't worth it as the other Goku is vastly superior, but in the long term this is a card which could find home in this deck.
Evaluation: C
The deck is strong, but there's no reason to run it with SS3 being present. The concept of this deck would be to go for the long game, and win by value after Gogeta is out, but some top tier decks punish this strategy so hard, that it got rotated out of the meta, especially after Final Kamehameha.
FB08 Broly
New cards
ST01-050 Broly - I start with this card, as this gives a whole new direction for the deck. This card can be on the board as early as turn 2 with energy marker, but it's a guaranteed play from hand on turn 4. This card gives Broly the midgame it always lacked, and a must have in the deck. Basically it attacks twice with 40k base, while enabling the leader ability and a huge threat on the board, which can't be removed from the board if we also play Paragus.
ST01-048 Broly - The weakest new card for the deck on its own. The stats are terrible here, basically a 1c searcher, but costs 2 instead of 1. The only saving grace is that the new SR Broly card could be evolved onto this. It could be enough to reserve the space in the decklist, but the other alternative is better.
ST01-049 Broly - This is the better card of the two. The only downside is that it can't search a card, but it's 10k in hand, works without the SR, and the +10k it gives itself is inherited, so the SR will attack with 2x50k base given we take the life.
ST01-051 Broly - This is the original playstyle support. Basically it can cheat out the SCR on turn 5, as we can pay the energy from our leader ability while swinging 30k additionally. Given how powerful the SCR is, this card is a huge help.
ST01-047 Paragus - At first this card hasn't seemed too good, but it basically exists for the new SR, which changes things. For 1 energy it draws a card, freezes a card, and gives an additional swing for the new SR. It's a great deal.
Evaluation: A
Broly is one of the few leaders, which provides a unique playstyle. It breaks the natural rules of the game due to the SCR and the leader ability, and cripples the opponent's strategy. What this deck lacked was the midgame, since the whole game started at turn 4. This weakness got cured.
Giving this deck an A is really high considering this deck wasn't meta, however it provides big threats which can't be removed from the board, while ruining the sequencing of the opposition. Also a 25k body, which is a pain to attack for quite a number of decks.
I personally like the idea of this deck coming to the meta as it will shake things up strategically a bit, which we really need in the tempo-removal playstyle every top decks follows.
Black ⚫
ST01 Majin Vegeta
Concept
This leader is about to play small cards and maximize their effect. This is due to the free field, which will filter our hand, and provide a KI every turn for 1 energy. This ability is a must in the early game, as we need 3 KI and our only option to get some is by using the field in the archetype at least. An additional upside is that we have a very consistent deck due to the draw 2 filter 2 effect, but at the same time every turn we have less energy to play cards off. That's not a huge issue as our 1 cost cards are quite capable after awakening, Goten/Trunks will search and attack, while Dabura will k.o a 1c card.
The bread and butter move will be to play 4c Vegeta cards for 3 energy. This will be done by playing a 2c Vegeta card, then Prince of Destruction, then a 4c. These 4c Vegeta cards are the best of the deck, and their role will be to force our opponent to take life. Both the rare and the promo will make our leader to attack with 40k, while they also pack quite the punch. Our finisher is one of the best in the game as it will draw all our life and attack with everything we've got. It kills from 2 life just as a double strike, but we gain 2 huge attacks instead of one. If we have 5 KI at the time, we will gain 2x80k base attacks, while drawing all our life to maximalize combo potential.
Evaluation: C
This is definitely the best of the new leaders and a very effective aggro playstyle. It can play high life if needed, and while it has a slower start, from turn 4 it's an absolute menace. The board control elements are rather limited though and only one of the 2c Vegeta cards are good. Killing from 2 is almost guaranteed, but going down to 2 could be tricky as most of our moves are telegraphed. In a gameplan when our opponent is defending everything except for our big attacks (like Vegito), the game could drag even until turn 7, if we don't pull a double 4c on turn 6.
It's a competent aggro deck, but it can't snowball in the early game as top tier evolve decks, but can punish low-life leader strategies. The reason I gave it a C is because Muiku, Beasthan completely destroys it, while in a top-level game SS3 and Vegito is not free either even though on paper this deck could massacre them due to their low life. They have a wide toolkit to work with and could get in a position early on, which is hard to handle.
