Table of Contents
Awakened Pulse saw the green color dominate most of that metagame, but Android 17 unfortunately was the odd leader out in the color. With Blazing Aura focusing on the Android synergy, even if it was mostly meant for FB02-070, Android 17 and 18 have another shot at greatness.
Okay, greatness might be a little too big of a word, but FB01-070 is definitely improved with Blazing Aura. The question is: How much?
Honestly, a lot. At the very least, Android 17 now feels playable when it was nothing but a gimmick for the first three months of Dragon Ball Fusion World. One could say it is a little too close to how FB02-070 plays out, except you have a worse field in FB01-102 compared to FB02-102. However, this would be overlooking the massive impact of FB02-077 had on the synergy, checking every box one could ask for: Ramp, 10,000 combo power, android special trait, enough power to push a leader hit or an average battle card.
Alone, this card is giving the deck something it was immensely missing, a decent midgame, able to transition to the bigger cards a turn earlier and without having to salvage an unfavorable board state.
So is Android 17 a top competitive leader now? Probably not. Does it have the fighting chance it was missing during Awakened Pulse? Yes, sir.
Decklist & Card Breakdown
A little disclaimer here saying that I believe the current metagame is way too fast to rely on FB01-102. However, this one is
Here's an alternate idea of what you could play to specifically improve tempo for the red match-ups. I would recommend that one right now, but the one above can be regarded as the base for someone looking to get started with the Android leader.
Key Synergies
- The one thing you want to constantly have in mind with this deck is the number of Android cards you have in your drop, as it is crucial for both FB02-077 and FB01-102.
We have plenty of that special trait, so it shouldn't be so difficult to get enough into our drop. Still, this is a big influence on which cards you want to use as combo, or discard with FB01-079, FB01-096
- FB02-085 will often end up as a combo to then be reused by FB02-077 or FB01-102 later on. However, the card can also serve as a great value tool later in the game, picking either FB01-103 for removal or FB02-104 for power.
- We have three different ramp cards with FB02-077, FB01-096, and FB01-102 and they all function differently. Count ahead of time the impact of the card on your energies, so you can plan your curve as well as possible, especially the turns you'll be able to play FB02-084 or FB01-078
What to use as energy?
With FB02-077 in the deck, we want to place some Androids in our energy, so we can send them to our drop and pick them back up as energy with the On Play ability.
This deck packs a lot of 10,000 combo, so it can feel bad to sacrifice one for energy, but unless you can do without that copy of FB01-078 or FB02-084 later on, you don't have much of a choice.
Extra cards can be used as energy early on, as you could pick them back up with FB02-077, send them to your drop, and then FB02-085 will put them back in your hand later on.
Extra copies of FB01-102 obviously go to our energy area with no remorse once we have one in play.
Alternate Cards to Consider
Green has a lot of cards up for debate, particularly which Extra Cards to use, or the best top end to include.
I don't think there is a perfect answer, and your play style, alongside the popular opponents you come across, will have the most impact on this decision. Then, I would recommend seeing this deck as a constant work in progress, in need to adapt to its environment to be perfect.
FS03-10 Broly: BR
Due to not being an Android, I tend to prefer FB02-084 as the big card atop the curve, as we can always use it to synergize with our other cards if we don't need it.
The Legendary Saiyan can be a better card to consider against other Green leaders, as attacking twice puts a lot more pressure. You could even run both and remove some copies of FB01-077 for green match-ups.
FB01-101 Instant Kamehameha
A solid card in the deck, as losing an energy to trigger it is often inconsequential if we have FB01-102 on the board. You could consider it over FB01-103 if you found the extra power more valuable than the removal.
FS03-15 follows pretty much the same logic.
FB01-140 Son Gohan : Childhood
A superb AoE ability in Awakened Pulse, I found the arrival of FB02-084 to lessen the need to run FB01-140 as we now remove two battle cards. If you wanted a more defensive build, one or two copies can definitely find their way into the deck.
FB01-081 Android 18
More androids in general won't be a bad thing for the deck, and you could find a slot or two for it to bring some more pressure.. I picked this one for the synergy with FB01-076 which will often be used as combo early on, but consider this entry just a reminder that more Androids can always be a consideration.
FB02-089 Son Gohan : Future
FB01-091 could also be mentioned here, as the deck does not include any 5-cost. Then, if you considered FB01-096 isn't needed anymore, as you have enough ramp with the inclusion of FB02-077, you could definitely fit one of these two, powering up your control potential.
With four copies of FB01-096, you can even include just two or three of these, to keep a good amount of 10,000 combo cards, and add another top-end bomb, or a fourth copy of FB01-084, for example.
How to Play the Deck
While it is typically considered the fastest amongst green leaders, in large part due to its offensive ability when awakened, FB01-070 is a ramp first deck. Indeed, you will rarely look to be aggressive in the first four turns, as gaining energy to play FB01-078 and FB02-084 is much more important.
With this in mind, our go-to start will be to draw on turn one, play FB01-079 or a couple of draws on turn two, and then start ramping. Here, we have a few ways to do so :
- Develop FB01-102 for steady gain every turn, you basically pass turn three, but you'll have tons of energy available for the rest of the match.
- Use FB02-077 to gain an energy, but also have three new energy to use during this turn. Make sure you have enough Androids to do so, but this means you can develop FB01-076 or FB01-079 as well, giving you some trading power, or pressure against another slower foe.
- Play FB01-096, typically to also discard and remove some cheap, annoying card from your opponent. It is weaker than FB02-077, but it can deal with active battle cards.
If you are second, gaining one energy on turn four is enough to play FB01-078 on turn five. The following turn, use your energy marker to summon FB02-084, and voilà, you are set for the late game.
When going, first, you need FB01-102 a little more in order to get to FB02-084 fast enough. Sure, you can still summon FB01-078 on turn five to stabilize if you ramped with FB02-077 or FB01-096, but you then have a weird turn with seven energy.
Due to this need to ramp whether you go first or second, you rarely have a reason to attack the opposing leader in the early stages of the match. This would often just give them more cards to pressure you while you want to gain energy. However, once awakened and able to play your big cards, you need to start picturing how to end the game.
The ability to attack for 30,000 with your leader will be great then, as you can use it to force combo cards out of your opponent's hand, whether you're focused on clearing their board or pushing for Leader damage.
The biggest choice at this stage of the game is which Extra card you want back with FB02-085. FB02-104 is great as it draws you a card as well, but FB01-103 guarantees the removal of your target. I would favor the first one if I had the KO in mind, while the other fits a card attrition strategy better.
Mulligan
FB02-077 and FB01-102 are the key cards we want to find early and often.
The rest of our deck is more match-up based, so focus on finding either one first and foremost.
Important Matchups
FB02-001 Son Goku
Red decks know they don't want to drag the match for too long against you, so prepare to be under pressure early on. FB02-015 is the most annoying card, as we can only remove it FB01-103. Otherwise, expect a constant flow of pressure, which you can't counteract until you get to play FB01-078 or FB02-084. Then, it is crucial to ramp, even if that costs you a bit of health, rather than focus on removing everything but never turning the pressure around.
If you have a choice, FB02-077 allows you to attack their battle cards back, and is enough to get to play FB01-078 the following turn.
This is a match-up where I could clearly imagine removing FB01-096 for extra removal in FB01-091 or FB02-089. This would open a curve where you could play FB02-077 on turn three with your energy marker, followed up by your 5-cost and then FB01-078.
FS02-01 Vegeta
Blue decks have access to FB02-049 to deal with our bigger cards now, so we can't just play them one after another carelessly. As such, while we are still looking for the same development, through ramping to six energy before we can really limit the spread of their battle cards. We also don't want to mindlessly play our cards once we have a lot of energy.
Instead, be particularly attentive to the amount of cards in hands, to know if you can play it slow, or won't be able to endure the incoming hits backed up by multiple combo cards. For example, it isn't so simple to slow play against Vegeta, who hits us for 35.000 per turn, so you might have to risk it, instead of waiting to be killed eventually.
If you decide to take the long road, FB02-084 is your best bet. Not only do you get extra health, but you also set up for an explosive turn with FB02-085 for free, potentially casting multiple FB02-104 in the same turn to ensure each of your attack either hits or costs a fortune to defend, while you keep drawing cards. Then, just this one card can put a lot of pressure on your opponent, and you can support it with FB01-103 or disposable battle cards as removal.
On the other end, if you feel the need to end things quickly, you might just want to risk playing multiple FB01-078 on the board and push double-striking attacks onto their leader.
FS03-01 Broly
Current green decks aren't built for the mirror match right now. If you wanted to edge those, adding a couple of FS03-10 would make a huge difference. Otherwise, we have a better ramp ability than FS03-01 and FB01-071 but FB02-102 can be a problem.
As such, I would recommend focusing on your ramp and ability to gain a lot more energy than the first two, up to potentially play two FB01-078 in the same turn. On the other hand, you want to be more aggressive against FB02-070, to force the extra draw they get from their field out of their hand.
In those match-ups, fatigue is a possibility as they all play an engine able to empty their deck in FB01-087. Because you will always have more energy than they do, don't focus on removing this card too fast. Not only it can send an important high-cost card to their energy, but it can also just lose them the game due to an empty deck. FB02-070 has more control over its draw potential, so it is much less likely to happen.
Last, keep in mind, that you are the best attacker amongst green leaders thanks to your awakened ability. As such, dragging the game means more 30,000 power hits for free, which they have to use cards to block eventually.
Closing Words
If we compare Android 17 to the Tournament of Power Red deck, it is hard to see how improved the deck really is. But, there aren't many decks, except other red leaders using the same cards which look good in comparison anyway.
However, if you tested the Androids in Awakened Pulse, you should definitely feel the difference. The deck feels more reliable in its ramp and keeps the board under control as well, mostly thanks to FB02-077's ability to give us a tempo turn while still gaining an energy.
Then, this is a great time to give the Android leader a second chance, or a first try.
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Good Game Everyone!