Transformers TCG - Post WotC Support - The Basics

So, you’ve discovered this neat little Transformers trading card game, but realized you’re a little late to the party.  Yes, sadly, the game is no longer being supported by the manufacturer Wizards of the Coast (makers of Magic: The Gathering) due to COVID and undisclosed business reasons.  However, the established community is keeping this gem alive with active discussions, tournaments, and fan created card sets!  The Transformers TCG lives on and the community would love for you to join the action.  

The following is a new player guide to help get you up and running as quickly as possible with the current state of the Transformers TCG.  

Packs and Starter Sets

If you’re only interested in collecting the cards, then you can skip to the “Your Collection” section below that provides an overview of the official waves and tips on how to organize and protect your collection.  

For those that want to play the game, there are a number of ways to get started:

1. Packs and Booster Boxes: Grabbing a handful of packs will give you enough battle cards to fill a legal deck (40) and a variety of character cards to create a team with 25 stars (found on the bottom of each card on their alt mode side).
2. Starter Sets: There are a handful of starter sets that pack in preselected battle decks and character cards for you to use.  You should be able to find the Autobot Starter Set on discount for a solid single battle deck with character card options to help with a basic understanding of the game and the Blaster vs. Soundwave set for balanced, out-of-the-box 2 player battles.

Official Rules and FAQ support have been taken off Wizards of the Coast website, but they can be found here for reference.  

Cards

There are 3 main types of cards in the Transformers TCG: Character, Battle, and Stratagem.  Each pack you open will include at least 1 large character card and a small collection of battle cards.  Siege I and Siege II wave packs also include a small character card and Titan Masters Attack wave packs include a small character card or a stratagem card.  There were 5 official waves of cards produced by WotC and a growing number of fan made cards have been playtested and made available for use (More on that later).

Wave rarity (C = Common, U = Uncommon, R = Rare, or SR = Super Rare), and card number are displayed at the foot of all cards for easy reference and organization.

Character cards are obviously the most appealing at first. They’re big and the art is fantastic.  Games are ultimately won when all of the character cards from one player are knocked out.  However, the battle cards you include in your deck, and how well you play them, will ultimately determine the outcome.  Here’s a quick overview of each type of card:

• Character Cards: These are the Transformers that will battle against each other during play.  Each card contains values for base attack (orange), health (red), defense (blue), and star value as well as any special abilities they might have.  Characters come in 3 different sizes: Large, Small, and Oversized.

• Large: The majority of characters are bigger than standard sized battle cards.  Rise of the Combiners (wave 2) introduced character cards that fold in half to give them 3 modes (bot, alt 1/alt 2, or combiner)
• Small: Siege I introduced smaller character cards that have lower star values, but possess different abilities than the large character cards.  Small cards can be regular characters, Battle Masters (turn into an Upgrade when KO’d), or Head Masters (for use with Titans in Wave 5).  
• Oversized:  There are 4 oversized cards that add variety to your collection:

• Metroplex - Available in the Metroplex starter set
• Omega Supreme - Loot Crate exclusive, but can be purchased for around $10 on the secondary market
• Trypticon - Found in sealed boxes of Siege II
• Fortress Maximus - Found in sealed boxes of Titan Masters Attack^[a]

• Battle Cards: You’ll need at least 40 battle cards and no more than 3 of the same card in a legal battle deck.  Decks can be made from any combination of Wave 1-5 or fan made cards.  However, you’ll want to include cards that play to the strengths of the character cards you’ve chosen for your team.  For example you won’t want to include a card that can only be used on Megatron if he’s not on your team.
• Stratagem Cards: Stratagems were created by WotC to increase the viability of specific character cards from the early waves.  They are played along with your character cards and include a star value cost.

More Details on Character Cards (Link to expanded article)

Your Collection

There’s a variety of ways to build out your official Transformers TCG collection now that the game is out of print.  Sealed booster boxes, packs, and starter sets are still available on various retail websites and marketplace sites like eBay.  Some comic book or gaming stores might have a little stock left over as well, but most of their cards have already been cleared out.  It’s worth paying them a visit or calling to see what might be available.  If they do have stock, they’re most definitely listed at a discount from the original price^[b] ($4/pack).

While you’re at your local shop, it’s worth asking about people that might still play in your area. There’s a chance you’ll get connected with players that are still active and have a number of cards they’re willing to part with.  

You can also track down former players that are looking to liquidate their collection via the various online groups that still exist.  Many of them will list their entire collection based on current market rates from eBay or TCGplayer.com.  This will most likely cause you a bit of sticker shock!  Keep in mind these people have been spending money on their collection for 2+ years, so they have a lot invested.  Also, many aren’t willing to break up their collection, especially if it’s complete, for the handful of cards you need.  However, we definitely recommend reaching out and asking them questions as most will be willing to negotiate.

If you’ve already bought a decent amount of cards, then you might be better off buying booster boxes, trading, or buying individual cards from eBay, Mercari, or TCGplayer.

Here’s our recommended purchase order:

• Titan Masters Attack (Wave 5): The last official wave of cards was short printed due to the game being discontinued. Not only are there tons of meta-defining cards in this set, it is also the hardest to find, so if you find some for a good price, get it!
• Wave 1 (White packs with pictures of Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and Grimlock): The set that started it all. This set contains tons of staple cards that have seen play since the beginning.
• Siege II (Wave 4): Wave 4 introduced some very solid characters, such as triple-changing Sergeant Springer, "Galaxy" Prime, and Tailwind, along with some of the best black "Pierce" icon cards on offer.
• Siege I (Wave 3): In line with its naming, Siege I was very much an appetizer to Wave 4's main course. Some useful characters, and some great original artwork, but definitely eclipsed by Wave 4.
• Rise of the Combiners (Wave 2): Weakest characters. While there are some good battle cards,many are rarely used. However, the set introduced the concept of star cards and green icons with powerful versions of each. Recommended to buy as singles.

Talk About Promos^[c]

Organizing and Storing your Collection

Once you’ve cracked some packs, you might be wondering how to keep them looking nice and orderly.  While the battle cards are standard size and have many established options already available, the large character cards require their own unique sleeve and storage system.

BCW produced many products tailored to the Transformers TCG and their storage and protection options are high quality. Check out their website for more details

Additional Insights:

• Ultra Pro’s large toploaders are not compatible with BCW’s Prime X4 Gaming Box
• Keep your battle cards organized by waves.  Each card's assigned number was done alphabetically by the name of the card.
• Teletraan I and Fortress Maximus have deck building databases that can help you decide how to group your cards.  
• SRT, and to some extent R, cards have monetary value based on their rarity in the marketplace.  If you pull one from a pack, try to sleeve it immediately for protection, or so it can be used for trade or sold in the future.

Game Play and Staple Cards

It’s highly recommended to get familiar with the official rules as you’re starting to learn how to play the Transformers TCG.  However, playing the game against your family once a month won’t get you up to speed as quickly as tapping into the current community to ask questions and play a few rounds.  

The community is very welcoming and always willing to chat about the game or play a few rounds.  Don’t hesitate to join one of the Facebook groups or Discord servers to start connecting with other players.

Active Communities (groups and webcam games)

• Vector Sigma
• Team Bayformers
• Eye of the Matrix
• SDot’s Battlegroundz^[d]

As you begin to play more, you will naturally start to sort out what battle cards are most viable for your play style and favorite characters.  To give you a foundation, check out this breakdown of the staples cards from each wave. (link to new page with Austen’s breakdown below)

Post Pandemic gaming

The future

Custom Cards

There are:

Alpha Trion Protocols

The Ark

Team Bayformers^[e]

There are many others, but these have seen repeated tournament action.

Active Content Creators

There are many passionate players that continue to post articles, video of game play with engaging commentary, and podcasts about the game.  Check out:

YouTube:

Wreck ‘n Rule

Vector Sigma

Energon Hustlers

Bleeped Up Productions

Arbitrary Hero

DefTF

Website/Blog:

Teletraan 1

Fortress Maximus

Team Bayformers

Eye of the Matrix

Dr. Arkeville's Transformers Trading Card Game Lab

Bits and Bolts

Staple Cards^[f]

Each set has some key staple battle cards to look for that will be useful in many different decks. Before we get into the breakdown of each set, I’d like to take a moment to talk about cards with double battle icons..

Since the game revolves heavily around the battle icon colors on cards you flip, cards that have multiple are incredibly good. Orange, blue, and white are the primary pip colors, with green and black as supplementary colors. There are lots of cards with both a primary color and a supplementary color, but very few that have multiple primary colors, and even fewer that do not cost a star^[g].

Wave 1 has all of the 0-star cards: Handheld Blaster, Improvised Shield, Peace through Tyranny, Security Checkpoint, Matrix of Leadership, and Roll Out. Wave 2 and onward introduce more cards with multiple primary pips, but all of them cost at least 1 star to play. Handheld Blaster and Improvised Shield are commons and have been reprinted in Wave 2 and 5, so they are easy to acquire, but Peace through Tyranny, Security Checkpoint (more on those later), Matrix of Leadership, and Roll Out are rares and can only be found in Wave 1.

Wave 1

Wave 1 is a fantastic set with lots of good cards that are still relevant. That said, they can be quite simple, so many cards have been overshadowed by cards in later sets, as they should.

Characters^[h]

Rare

• Energon Axe
• I Still Function!
• Matrix of Leadership
• One Shall Stand, One Shall Fall
• Peace Through Tyranny (more on that later)
• Roll Out
• Security Checkpoint (more on that later)
• Static Laser of Ironhide
• System Reboot
• The Bigger They Are...

Uncommon

• Armed Hovercraft
• Debilitating Crystal
• Disarm
• Equipment Enthusiast
• Grenade Launcher
• Ramming Speed
• Rapid Ascent
• Treasure Hunt

Common

• Brainstorm
• Crushing Size
• Data Pad
• Drill Arms
• Force Field
• Leap Into Battle
• Ready for Action
• Scrapper Gauntlet
• Supercharge

Wave 1 also has lots of trait-specific cards that are important to the decks that run those traits, but are much less useful outside of them

• Bombing Run
• Dino-Chomp!
• Hunker Down
• Ion Blaster of Optimus Prime
• Jaws of Steel
• Start Your Engines
• Swarm
• Turbo Boosters

Wave 1 has a lot of very good cards, and a lot of decent cards that got overshadowed in later sets. If you can find boxes, I absolutely recommend picking up one or two (perhaps even more depending on the price).

Rise of the Combiners

        Characters

Rare

• Espionage
• Fog of War
• Heavy-Handed
• Marksmanship
• Mounted Missiles
• Steamroll

        Uncommon

• Backup Beam
• Bolt of Lightning
• Bravery
• Cornered
• Leap of Faith
• Noble’s Blaster
• Pep Talk
• Power Punch
• Reckless Charge
• Scoundrel’s Blaster
• Smelt
• Sparring Gear
• Stealthiness
• Universal Network Access

        Common

• Bashing Shield
• Confidence
• Enforcement Batons
• Erratic Lightning
• Escape Route
• Field Communicator
• Security Console
• Swindled
• Vaporize

Wave 2 is honestly a bad set. I listed only 6 rares, but the only one that is absolutely must-own is Espionage. The rest are much more situational, depending on the deck you’re playing. I originally listed more, but cut them since they were even more situational. This set isn’t really worth picking up a box of, unless you can find it cheap or are trying to complete your collection.

War for Cybertron: Siege I^[i]

        Characters

Rare

• Callous Leadership
• Energy Pack
• Erratic Energy Grenade
• Heat of Battle
• Infiltrate
• Laser Cutlass
• Quartermaster
• RR Disruptor Blade
• Take Cover
• W-5 Gyro Blaster

        Uncommon

• Anticipation Engine
• Extra Padding
• Metal Detector
• Reflex Circuits
• Rock Toss
• Steady Shot
• Sturdy Armor

        Common

• Brainstorm
• Calculated Strike
• Combat Dagger
• Force Field
• Pep Talk

War for Cybertron: Siege II

        Characters

Rare

• Daring Escape
• Hijack
• Opportune Offensive
• Opportune Repairs
• Opportune Advantage
• Pocket Processor

        Uncommon

• Contract Contingency
• Decipher
• Dual Wield
• Energy Transfer
• Even the Score
• Heroic Resolve
• Immersed in Shadow
• Point Position
• Sabotaged Armaments
• Sturdy Javelin

        Common

• Fight for Position
• Head-on Collision
• Hidden Fortification
• Kinetic Converter
• Kinetic Intensifier Whip
• Reprocess
• Showing Off
• Soldier’s Blaster
• Stable Cover
• Terrifying Resilience
• Unflinching Courage
• War of Attrition
• Wedge Formation

Titan Masters Attack

        Characters

Rare

• Belligerence
• Counterespionage
• End Hostilities
• Energon Mace
• Escape Capsule
• Lose the Initiative
• Master of Metallikato
• Nitro Booster
• Paralyzo Box
• Reflect Damage
• Spymaster’s Ruse

        Uncommon

• Crystal of Power
• Enhanced Power Cell
• Fusion Borer
• Holomatter Projector
• Magnetic Dysfunction Ray
• Spy Satellite Uplink
• Supporting Fire
• Tripwire
• Trithyllium Shield

        Common

• Camien Crash
• Disassemble
• Emergency Barricade
• Hold the Line
• Mission Briefing
• Precision Fire
• Scouting Mission

Competitive Play

There are currently 4 groups that host competitive tournaments with prize support:

Vector Sigma

Team Bayformers

Eye of the Matrix

SDot’s Battlegroundz

Vector Sigma and Team Bayformers host tournaments using formats that include their custom card sets, Alpha Trion Protocols (ATP) and Bayformers, respectively.

(Insert more stuff here)

A note about Peace through Tyranny and Security Checkpoint: In the ATP formats, these cards are banned for causing negative play patterns. You can read more about it in the article on the Vector Sigma website (insert link).