Unbinding Bojack

Ally decks have always had some degree of playability in almost all formats and blocks of the game. Even now, well past the end of the game, I would say that your standard ally deck wouldn’t need a lot of “new” cards to make it playable (I’ll leave the debate as to what tier that deck would fall in to the forums). But what about the “gimmick” ally decks? You know the ones I’m talking about: the Androids, the Majin, Saibamen… The ally decks that only a Timmy would play, trying to reconcile the events of the show in the context of a deck. And who could blame the Timmy? The elements for gimmick ally decks are all there, some even have several cards and specific rules devoted to those themes. And really, as fans of the show, who doesn’t want to see the Majin or the Androids actually working in teams like they did in the series?

The unfortunate reality is that these gimmick ally decks do not and cannot work in a game where ally removal is so freely available to any style and every deck type. The non-gimmick ally deck can work because all of the parts are interchangeable. Sure it would suck to lose an Android 14 in those decks, but then you have Frieza the Master, Jeice, and Guldo to pick up the slack. In the gimmick deck, you NEED to have specific allies in play. You cannot recover from the loss of an Android 14 in a straight Android Ally gimmick deck, because what you are left with is subpar at best (Android 15) and downright worthless at its worst (any Android 16).

The most heartbreaking example of the vulnerabilities of a gimmick ally deck is the Bojack Unbound subset. All of Bojack’s personality powers are dependent on having at least one of his four Bojack Unbound allies in play. Without any of those allies in play, Bojack effectively has a blank power for his Level 1 and his Lv.2 & 3 powers are someone diminished. It’s safe to say that you are probably not going to play Bojack without his ally crew. The whole deck depends on you having and keeping four very specific, limit one per deck allies in play. If you can’t keep at least two of them out the whole game, then Bojack is done. Another one for the pile…

Q: What's the difference between a ginger and a Namekian???? A: Occasionally a Namekian gets played.

…or is it? As Bojack stands now, he is unplayable. But let’s play the “What if…” game for a second. “What if…” some former Score Employees got together and made some virtual cards for a once-a-year, proxy friendly tournament? And “What if…” one of those cards was this:

Bojack Sensei – Deck Size: 10 – Bojack Only. Your allies with the Bojack Unbound Subset Symbol cannot be discarded or removed from play. You cannot play allies without the Bojack Unbound Subset Symbol.

Suddenly Bojack is starting to look a bit more attractive. His crew, as far as allies go, are amazing and really run the gamut of deck tech: anti-ally, anti-drill, hand disruption and control. All of the allies have named cards that just accentuate their powers even more (and search for even more allies). And Bojack himself is no slouch with a whole arsenal of named cards that do everything from attaching to allies to make their attacks stronger, to staying in play for additional uses and even an unrestricted stop-all for energy attacks. The previously useless Triple Torpedo is now potentially an energy attack for 12 that stays in play to be used a second time!

One simple card opens up an entire archetype that has been there all along. If after reading this you find yourself looking up all the Bojack Unbound subset and putting together a deck in your head, then that’s a step in the right direction that this community really needs. There are tons of decktypes out there that just need a little kick in the pants to become viable. And we don’t want the environment to grow stagnant, do we? This little “What if…” game is all just pure conjecture, but I encourage you think about the possibilities and maybe give it a test drive. I want to hear what you guys think about making Bojack unbound.