Lovin’ the Pink

Greetings and salutations fellow DBZ fanatics! This Frenchman came back from Gen Con supercharged and what better way to release pent up energy than writing articles?

(I can think of a few other ways.)

Freestyle was a style I always gravitated towards. I loved the characters in the show and signature moves were the coolest thing ever to me. That Final Flash Vegeta did to Cell still gives me chills when rewatching it. My deep love for Vegeta aside, I brought Goku Freestyle to my only two Z-only regionals and my first Expanded regional. It was the deck I broke into and really learned the game with. There’s just something about signature move/personality themed decks that keeps me coming back.

This kicks off the first article in a segment called “Freestylin’ with a Frenchman.” In these articles I talk not about my rapping ability, but rather take a constructive and piecewise look at some less conventional Freestyle decks. Most players know the inner workings of the big named Freestyle decks: Goku, Trunks, Vegeta, and Gohan. These decks have defining power cards like Goku’s Physical Attack, Vegeta is Lurking, Trunks’ Speedy Flight, and Gohan’s Kick.

But what about those ‘other’ personalities? Where are the Krillin and Tien advocates? Buu is surely amazing at getting angry, but he also has a soft and squishy side we can love. Even Hercule has that Megaton punch thing. Didn’t he defeat Cell with it? These won’t contain deck lists, but rather offer key card explanations, play style strengths and weaknesses, card combinations, and general insight. So without further ado, the first forgotten Freestyle deck: Lovin’ the Pink: Majin Buu Freestyle.

Why Majin Buu?

Ah, the million dollar question. And one you should always ask first when building any deck: “Why the hell am I playing this main personality?” So let’s start with some general strengths and weaknesses:

Good
• Can play very aggressively or very defensively
• Great anti anger cards
• Amazing discard removal
• Best named defense card in game
• Strong rejuvenation
• Access to ‘Majin Only’ cards
• Steady leveling through anger

Bad
• Most staple Freestyle attacks are not Buu named
• Has zero attack combos
• Has very few named utility cards
• Only one named defense
• Always goes second (with double power rule)

Buu’s rejuvenation cards/powers, defensive high tech, and the fact that Buu is the final and most powerful villain in the entire game gives options between playing aggressive or defensive. It would be good to ask yourself which one you prefer at this point; define your deck’s direction early and build accordingly.

Buu’s discard removal cards are so good they are often staples in many other decks. Buu also has two strong named attacks that reduce anger by 2, Majin Buu’s Bicycle Kick and Majin Buu’s Backstabbing Kick. Bicycle Kick even has the ability to lower a personality level! While these attacks offer great utility, that’s basically where it ends for Buu. His named cards aren’t very varied in the effects department and you will find that when playing a Buu freestyle, dropping a named card for the mastery sometimes becomes redundant when your hand is already filled with attacks.

The first two listed negatives are large offenders for Freestyle. The big named Freestyle decks all have an attacking combo they can pull off to perform many attacks in a single combat. Goku uses discard manipulation with Goku’s Training and Physical attack, Vegeta crutches on Lurking, Trunks on Speedy Flight, Gohan with Trunk’s Sword Slice/Trunks Sword Position 3. Buu has nothing like this. Most of the staple Freestyle cards like Gohan’s Kick, Goku’s Power Strike, and Goku’s Flight (this just in!) aren’t Buu named. These cards are still great and deserve spots, but it makes the former mentioned personalities better choices when their cards automatically included.

Does the positive outweigh the negative? You be the judge. But if you would ask me this question, adding in the fact that you get to play as a fat pink monster, I would say you betcha!

The Personality Levels.

The question with Buu, as always, is Fat, Super, or Kid Buu? While having multiple personalities is usually frowned upon and medicated away, here we can use it to our advantage. We have so much to choose from!

Generally there are no ‘wrong’ choices as long as you have reasons for what you decide on. Playing a full Fat line-up will allow you to declare Hero and gaining Caught off Guard Drill, while declaring Villain allows for many combinations of all the Buu levels and access to Android 17’s Smirks and Cells Threatening Position. Is restricting yourself to only Fat levels worth gaining Caught Off Guard Drill? I would say if you were focusing on playing defensively then yes. Fat Buu from the Majin Buu saga is much, much weaker than his Super and Kid counterparts. So much so that Super Buu is inside the same PAT bracket on his level 2 personality that Fat is on his level 5…sickening really. So obviously a more aggressive approach would call for a declaration of Villain and focusing more on Super and Kid Buu, rather than Fat.

Level 1’s

Viable choices here are both of the Fat high techs from Majin Buu Saga and Majin Buu, Evil Buu from Fusion Saga. Evil Buu is just a monster, being in the E bracket on the Physical Attack Table on your level 1 is nothing to overlook. If you want to be aggressive, the choice is simple. However the Buu Saga high techs serve their purpose. The defensive high tech will do a good job keeping you alive through an onslaught of attacks while the attack high tech enables faster leveling through his anger gaining power.

Level 2’s

Aside from being forced to use the high tech level 2 if using the level 1, there is only one option here in my opinion: Kid Buu, Majin Buu. His level 2 power is just plain amazing for freestyle. You essentially have a free Goku’s Power Strike every combat. This power is so great I would argue that playing this level two alone is enough to forget the high tech levels all together.

Level 3’s

All the level 3’s Majin Buu has access to are useful. It’s really a personal preference call here. I still have a preference for Kid Buu however. Focused attacks are hard to come by and are very powerful, not even mentioning that you kill your opponent’s entire discard pile if it hits.

Level 4’s

While the idea of rejuvenation is cute and fun, I don’t think Fat Buu’s personality power here is strong enough on its own to warrant the giant drop in power level from Kid Buu, Majin Buu or Super Buu. An 8 card rejuvenation isn’t bad, but you already have rejuvenation present in your deck. Kid versus Super Buu? It’s a choice between an attack and utility. Gotenks Absorbed making your attacks focused is pretty badass and the extra card makes your Freestyle mastery much easier to use. Personal preference.

Level 5’s

Should I have to say why Kid Buu level 5 isn’t an option here? Good, I hope not. Fat Buu here isn’t necessarily a bad choice. His power is focused and having out a few Devastation Drills and/or Evil Presence Drill makes that one scary attack. With Gohan Absorbed you kind of get half way between Fat Buu’s two power options; rejuvenation inside a physical attack. Plus keep in mind Super Buu also reaches the I bracket, while Fat is stuck on G.

The Attacks.

Number 1 on the list as you might expect: Majin Buu’s Fury. This card is really the only reason I would even consider running a Buu Freestyle in any legit tournament. Hated by many and revered as the cream of any Beatdown deck by the rest, Fury will be a big part of this deck. Yes, you will run 4.

The kicker is that this card can be in your hand at any time with the mastery. Control/Dragon ball decks beware. The main point I want to make here is the fact that you can always count on Fury inside nearly any combat means you can go a little lax on the non-combat/dragon ball hate. When I build a deck, I often flip between the thickness of my deck for survival in Beatdown matches with thinness for speed against Ball/Control. Who needs to be quick when you can just Fury every combat? Lay it on thick people, give Buu the 85 deck size he deserves.

The closest Buu gets to having an attack combo comes in this single, kind of amazing card. This card bridges the gap between Majin Buu named cards and Majin Only cards, grabbing a Majin Only from the discards if it hits. It also being Majin Only means that it can get itself for fast level jumps inside a combat. Feel like getting a quick 4 anger? Drop one of these for your mastery when entering combat for another one…and pray it’s successful.

The bridging of the Majin Buu cards and Majin Only cards is an important point. You may want to look at Majin Buu freestyle as both a Buu and Majin themed deck and build it accordingly. There are other great Majin Only attacks not mentioned here that can be considered such as Majin Planet Destruction Blast, Majin Thrust, Majin Strength Maneuver, Majin Demise, and Majin Knee Strike.

Discard pile removal is an often forgotten form of tech. With the surprising amount of manipulation of the discards, I wonder why. No worries for Buu! In fact, you have it so good you have a choice. I wouldn’t run all 8 of these. It’s just not necessary, doubly if you are running Kid Buu level 3. Heel Kick gives you stages, which is much better in play than it sounds on paper, and its removal is guaranteed but only 5 cards total. Prepped Crash nets you an anger and can clear the entire discards, but it has to be successful. Also consider whether you are more gearing yourself towards energy or physical attacks in your decision. Regardless of what you choose, I would always make sure to run at least 1 or 2 Prepped Crash just for some security during late game.

Personally I prefer Heel Kick over Prepped Crash for one main reason: The main decks that will hate you for removing their cards are ones that use discard manipulation to their advantage. Often drawing several cards from the bottom of the discards or calling on specific cards with effects like Tien’s Block or Gohan’s Elbow Block. In the former, I would much rather set up their bottom 6/7 cards than clear their entire discards. Taking the choice out of your opponent’s hands verses allowing them to set up with a clean slate is superior in most situations (Supreme West Kai comes to mind). Go head, you can draw those energy blocks and Gohan’s Kick for the next 3 turns. In the latter, these cards are usually limited in decks anyway. Prior knowledge allows for a 5 card removal to be sufficient in killing key drills or specific named cards that can be tutored for.

These are not all the attacks I would contain in my deck, but they are the ones I wanted to point out and talk about. Other staple attacks your deck will include are Majin Buu’s Bicycle Kick and Majin Buu’s Backstabbing Kick which use are straightforward enough to not mention. Others include Majin Buu’s Childish Taunt (which is only worth anything outside of Retro’s errata), Majin Buu’s Assault, Majin Buu’s Choke Hold, Majin Buu’s Magical Ray, and the freestyle staples.

The Utility.

Cookie is amazing. Plain and simple. I run 3 of these in all my Buu decks even when playing City in Turmoil. Freestyle decks being no exception, Cookie brings steady rejuvenation to the table. It’s never a bad idea to throw in a few Majin Buu’s Magical Rays to allow them to self rejuvenate and bring the possibility of enjoying your opponent’s allies as a quick snack.

If you want to cause some real mayhem, throw in Watching From Afar as well.

Cookie being THE rejuvenation card every other wishes it could be, I figured now would be a time to talk about the concept of recursion in general. A mistake I see players make quite often is putting the wrong cards back into your deck when rejuvenating. The main thing to remember is that these cards are used to counteract damage as a secondary. Think about it this way, Cookie! is a single card that puts back in 5 cards. Most likely these will not have endurance, you probably used it already. Five cards is nothing to stick your nose up at, but it’s not that significant either. One basic energy attack essentially ‘counters’ Cookie!. Because of this, the primary purpose of rejuvenation is to stack your deck with cards you wish to draw. When using Cookie! or any card in its stead, ask yourself “If I drew 3 of these cards next turn, would I be happy?” If the answer is ‘no’ then don’t waste the rejuvenation. Wait until there are cards in your discards that you actually want back in your deck, rather than just rejuving to allow yourself to take 5 more cards of damage.

The Freestyle mastery being part of your initial set up just screams ‘Play City In Turmoil against me!’ so an answer is needed to that. I love Tree of Might for Freestyle decks as it enables for combos with Broly’s Evil/Heroic Drill and Vegeta’s Quickness Drill. The problem being that it also allows your opponent to do the same and sometimes worse. Caught Off Guard Drill can put a serious hampering on any combat you go into, and being villain thereby removing a chance to counter with your own Caught Off Guard Drill makes this even worse.

The answer? Middle of Nowhere. Nearly everything in your deck is affected by it. Majin Buu named, Majin Only, and all your personality powers. The best thing is that your opponent is only going to get to marginally use this. A Heel Kick here, a Fury there. Other than that, outside of a mirror, you can play this location without worry.

And don’t forget Dimension Scream. It even gives an anger for you.

The Combos.

C-c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breaker!! It’s like they made Egg Drill with Freestyle in mind. The only disadvantage to the MBS Freestyle mastery that I can think of is that you can’t discard Drills for your own card effects, like with Energy Lob or Intensity Drill. Not the case with Egg Drill as it is removed! Level 3 allies are extremely powerful in general and it is difficult to play them without being Red style for steady leveling. This drill takes care of that problem for you. But what allies to play? They must be Majin after all.

The wording of Majin Dabura’s focused physical attack should be noted. It’s not performed by him, but all named attacks performed. Just so happens that this is nearly all of your attacks. Remember all those Heel Kicks and Prepped Crashes you play? Majin Pui Pui is happy to use a large removed pile to his advantage. I always thought his power was good enough to build a deck around, but why do that when you can just play him as an ally? Granted, you won’t be using these allies that much. It takes 4 successful attacks with the Egg Drill down just to play them. But these level 3 personality powers are defiantly powerful enough to warrant the space. Or at least consider it. And remember you can always drop an Egg Drill for the Mastery when entering combat; it is never a dead card in your hand.

One of my favorite cards: Aura Clash. Leveling and Drill tech all in one and in freestyle you take any Drill tech you can get. One reason I always hated playing this card however was that I felt in some matchups I was giving my opponent too much of an advantage over me. If I was using Clash as my main leveling avenue and they had leveling themselves, my clash would always result in them being stronger and a higher level than me.

This is where Bicycle Kick comes in. The great thing is that, after you Clash, your opponent’s anger is reset to 0. Meaning outside of him playing a card that gains 3 anger, Bicycle Kick will always have the option of de-leveling him.

First thing, let me tell you how spectacular Majin Lightning Hit is. It can’t be sphered. Your opponent has zero knowledge of what’s happening until it’s too late. The effect happens before if successful effects and damage. It self-replenishes your hand. It’s Majin Only (For Energy Spray and Destruction Bomb). It discards Non-combats, both setups and drills. It’s amazing.

The big one is the knowledge thing. Because Majin Lightning Hit can be done to any successful physical, sometimes your opponent will let a seemingly harmless attack hit (Say…a Gohan’s Kick for 5 power stages) only to find that his board set up is now in the discards.

This card meshes so well with Buu’s powers, specifically the set up shown above. Your opponent really never wants to stop your L1 power unless with a stop all. They’ll take it, thinking they saved themselves from you drawing only to find their field destroyed. Level 2 and 3 Kid Buu’s attacks are both focused physicals making the number of cards that can stop them limited.

The Conclusion.

Majin Buu being the most powerful personality in the game can be considered the main reason a deck like this would work. Your opponent will constantly be weaker than you. Your Devastation Drills add insult to injury.

To be honest, initially I didn’t think this deck would work as well as it actually did. While it doesn’t have the combos or tech some of the other freestyle decks have, it puts consistency and rejuvenation in its place. You don’t really need drills to beat your opponent into a pulp. They just help. The Majin Only cards here are the coup de grace. Freestyle has a long history of being at the whim of your opponent’s non-combats. Lightning Hit and Demise fill these holes perfectly.

To date, my Majin Buu freestyle is about 8-1 within my play group. Not bad for a 5th tier freestyle deck. What to take away? Play what you like and make it work. So if the whimsical words “Buu turn you into candy!” bring back nostalgic memories of Bit-O-Honey and Fun Dip, then Buu Freestyle is for you.