In JulyHasbroand Wizards of the Coast unveiled their next collectable trading bill of fare game , this onebased on the Transformers brand .   focalize appropriately on iconic Autobots and Decepticons , the game stone two player against each other and task them with knocking their opposition ’s characters out .

TheTransformers Trading notice GameStarter Kit is all   that ’s needed to jump into the two - role player activeness and it comes with four character card ( which are big in sizing than the main deck ) and a deck of 40 battle cards - used for the primary gameplay .   We were also devote a pair of Booster Packs   that each some with one character add-in and seven battle cards .

relate : Here are the Transformers Hasbro Showed us at Comic - Con

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Attendees ofComic - Con International 2018and Gen Con 2018 also had the luck at acquiring some exclusive add-in ( include characters   Cliffjumper and Slipstream )   from Convention Edition packs and luckily we were there and nab one ! Before we dig into our thoughts on theTransformers TCG ,   rent ’s   breakdown precisely how the game is played to offer some context and comparison .

Transformers Trading Card Game Rules: How to Play

1 . Each player chooses their characters which can have a total maximum value   of 25 or fewer star .

2 . Players localise characters on their side face up in alt ( cable car ) manner .

3 . With the Starter Set , deal 20 battle notice each and post damage counters on the side so both players can attain . This is your table setup .

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4 . Rock - paper - scissors to see who go first .

5 . Each instrumentalist deals three conflict cards to themselves . This is their hand .

6 . At scratch of every twist , player draws a card for their hand . On every turn , the player can can do all of the three if they opt , in any edict :

Hollow Knight and Hornet from Silksong

Note : Whoever goes first can not play a battle card that very first twist . They can only flip a character and solicit one fictional character to attack . Whoever goes second can flip and set on , and wager one action or acclivity , but not both . This is only for this second turn .

7 . Tap a single character to assault ( it does n’t count if character is in alt or bot mode , that just changes their stats / ability potentially ) . If foe has tapped wit , these must be targeted first . If no foe characters are tapped you get to choose who to attack .

take note : If enemy ’s   characters are all tap , you must keep playing your character until they are all tapped as well . Once all characters on both sides are tapped , reset them all to untap emplacement .

Transformers Trading Card Game Review

8 . During an plan of attack , each histrion flips the top two struggle posting from their pack of cards and note the colored rectangle bars in the top right field of each card .

9 . There are also three fictitious character abilities to take billet of during armed combat for sealed characters ( Bold , Tough , Pierce ):

10 . Once cards are meet , add up the entire orange attack value ( type attack + character ability or upgrade amount if applicable + number of orange rectangle on fight cards if there are any ) and if that ’s capital the defender case ’s defense ( + puritanical values from flipped struggle calling card + armor upgrades + fibre power defense mechanism if applicable ) , bestow that equipment casualty counter to the character reference .

Transformers Trading Card Game How to Play Rules

If harm counter on a character catch or exceeds their wellness ( red ) stat , they are KO’d ( bump out ) and can be place in a separate KO pile .

11 . At turn ’s remainder , place all struggle card game in each player ’s scrap pile . If all case are intercept at end of good turn , untap them all on both sides .

12 . Keep going until one player fall back all their character .

Transformers TCG Trading Card Game Booster Packs

Our Thoughts on the Transformers Trading Card Game

The Transformers TCG is fun to play , particularly for novel and honest-to-goodness rooter who treasure the traditional knowledge and classic characters . It ’s relatively easy to piece and play as well just with the starter kit and far more mere to understand and get into than Wizard ’s   mighty popularMagic : The Gathering . There are   is however , a deficiency of clearness at times in the regulation .

statement are n’t always specific . For representative ,   there ’s an   Utility Upgrade battle plug-in which permit attacker move out an rise from the opposite but it does n’t specify   which player choose which elevate , nor does it specify if the removed rising slope has its effects still in play and is remove after , or if its move out at the onset of the attack , nullifying it in the appendage .

The same can be said for when players each draw in battle scorecard during the flack form . It ’s unclear when each player draws two bonus cards if they see a white rectangle on their chards . Is that during every player ’s onset ? Or only once in sum for every tap phase angle ? The want of specificity in the rules and certain placard   are deciding factors in who deliver the goods a equal .

Transformers TCG Trading Card Game Convention Exclusive Pack

In our experience with the starter kit and a pair of booster packs , the conclusion secret plan usually comes down to 1 vs. 1 struggle and this gameplay is n’t peculiarly active or fun , especially if there are upgrade in play that remove raise from the opponent . Using the above battle notice as an example , since a thespian can only act one climb board per turn , they can never utilize what ’s in their hand during this scenario since it ’s always being removed .

The central gimmick of the game , that being that the fiber are Transformers , actually does n’t come into play much . The rules do n’t allow for transforming frequently between alt and bot mode and of the grapheme we have , there ’s barely a difference in their stats - and virtually no time to take advantage of them , meaning defensive bonuses from alt ( motorcar ) mode ca n’t really be used .

As more cards and sets are issued , we ’re sure this will germinate with new persona , abilities , and rules being added . Wizards and Hasbro are onto something here even if it ’s simple and not fully polished yet . The characters and battle card traditional knowledge / social occasion are reasonable and set wonderfully into Transformers traditional knowledge , pad by unbelievable art and depictions of the character reference .

Transformers TCG Nemesis Prime Jetfire Sludge

The face side of the character and battle   identity card   are impressive , specially when it add up to the larger , transparency character . The engagement card used for gameplay have back art that bequeath a lot to be desire - it ’s not something that ’ll be iconic likeMagic : The Gathering .

And the last nitpick for theTransformers Trading Card GameStarter Set is that the Damage Tokens are 10 spell of minor , perforated composition board . For any player who want to take this game severely and for the long - term , they ’ll have to follow up with their own solution than this shoddy paper one .

How Rare Are The Best Transformers Trading Cards?

The Autobots Starter Set - which we used for this revaluation - get along with Bumblebee , Optimus Prime , Ironhide , and Red Alert character cards and 40 standard engagement cards but there ’s so many more to be compile from Booster Packs , like any good TCG title .

40 Character Cards and 81 Battle Cards are available in Transformers TCG Booster Packs . Each Booster Pack contains 1 Foil Transformers Character Card and 7 Battle Cards .

Chance of Super Rare Transformers Character Card 1:79 Booster Packs . Most Booster pack contain 1 Rare Battle Card .

And more are on the manner ( and fresh formats ) . The Metroplex Deck is already announced for a November 21 , 2018 exit day of the month and comes with a super monolithic 8 - inch character posting ( that has 35 wellness ) for Metroplex , along with character card for his components scurry , Slammer , and Six - Gun .   Drew Nolosco ,   transformer   Trading Card Game Brand Manager :

“ The persona METROPLEX is a Titan – he converts into an intact city and towers over most of the other giant of the TRANSFORMERS universe . Keeping that in thinker , we get it on that METROPLEX merit an even bigger card than the game ’s standard oversized character cards . The METROPLEX persona bill is 200 mm tall – almost 8 inch . Whether in bot mood or alt mode , METROPLEX is one of the biggest TRANSFORMERS character around , and now he has a suitably Titan - sized trading card . ”

delay tuned for more on this game as future decks are divulge .

More:Things You Never Knew About The Transformers Franchise

TheTransformers Trading Card Gamelaunched September 28 , 2018 .