Welcome back to A Brewer’s Review, and today I am going over the newly revealed starter deck featuring Himiko Toga III. With her face being revealed earlier this week, the biggest question on everyone’s mind was what her support would look like, whether it be shaped towards a stun package, if it would have some momentum effects, or even play more along with the gimmick of having powerful “first attack this turn” effects.
Another question raised is if her support would be enough to introduce a form of weapons package to Chaos, a symbol previously only home to 10 weapon attacks, many of which are highly situational such as Storm Of Blades, Whiplash, and Somnambulism. Death has gotten sparse weapon support with cards from Toga II’s and Eraserhead I’s kit, with a few from various backpage-like sources. If chaos were to get enough playable weapons it would open up a very unique style of deck with her, given her innate momentum generation allowing access to the plethora of options under the symbol. Life is of course one of the premier weapon symbols, and was immediately assumed to be her best symbol, with Toga III’s support giving additional tools to an already solid package on the symbol.
Furthermore, people wondered about what her support would look like, especially given the simplicity of the Ochaco starter deck. The Toga deck would have to match the complexity, which cast doubt about how effective the cards would be at enabling both chaos and death as weapon symbols.
Lastly, with both starter decks fully revealed, as well as all of the characters and their associated cards, that only leaves the backpage and secret rares left to be revealed, with the latter likely coming at some point during the upcoming nationals season, potentially revealing two secret rares per national would be a fun way of doing it, giving players additional reasons to look forward to these events. While I am unsure if UVS has the foresight to plan this, it is wishful thinking on my part. With all of the introductions out of the way, let’s get onto the reviews!
“I stabbed him 37 times in the chest”
Himiko Toga III
Power: 7/10
Playrate: 5/10
Sauce: 7/10
Toga sneaks onto the scene with her third version, and presents a potentially powerful character that I feel is on the cusp of being solid. Adding Stun: 1 to every attack (assuming you are building around the requirement) is very solid, especially as it is at response speed, allowing you to pair it with potential additional stun effects to commit down the rival’s board before they can react. This additionally lets her easily aggress in the early game when resources are tight, which is a recurring theme within her kit. Additionally she is able to efficiently ambush foes, giving her first attack of the turn a sizable stat buff of +3 speed and +2 damage. This will make her early aggression nearly unmatched, both being able to commit the rival's board while packing a very solid steroid on her first move. Lastly, when she is able to hit her enemy she can snag a momentum from her discard, enabling powerful momentum effects such as from Amajiki’s, Ochaco I’s, and Toga II’s kits. It also enables powerful momentum effects easily, such as setting up for echo attacks, enabling powerful defensive abilities like Decoy Duplicate, or being used for utility effects like Navel Laser Beam. As a combo player and brewer, I am honestly salivating at the prospect of having such easy momentum access attached to a character that actually does something (looking at you Denki II). She may be the character who finally gives Gutter Punk Elbow a home, though that is to be seen as people explore her in the coming months.
What do you have there? A KNIFE!!!
Toga’s offensive support is… Strange to say the least, with her “ultra rare” attack, Deadly Ambush, simply being a very large move with some utility to blow up a committed rival foundation. Combining this with effects such as Electric Jolt, Shock Treatment, or Young Heroes allows you to pick apart the rival's board, while draining two health if it hits. I wouldn’t expect this to see much play, though it certainly can find a home in this character. Ambush Thrust is the other most notable card, being able to recur a momentum back to your hand while also becoming a massive move if your opponent is committed out. This also allows Toga to tutor a specific card with her response, likely being a mainstay in her lists. Sudden Stab is her other “rare” attack, cantripping if it is your first move of the turn while adding some grease to ease your strings. I could see this occasionally seeing minor play simply due to being a cantrip, though the limitation to only aiding the checks of other weapon attacks doesn’t make a good case for wide usage.
From there her support takes a dive in quality, with Gouging Needle being a stack stick, Leaping Slice simply not doing enough, and Series Of Stabs being an incredibly strange move generally. It isn’t all doom and gloom however, with Twirling Needle being an excellent support card with her, given it always counting as your first move of the turn, meaning it will always be a 6-High-6 in her with the potential to pass on a slight damage buff to the next move. It also enables some cute tricks with First Day Of Class, and it is currently unclear whether it works with effects such as Ambush Tactics and Instant Explosive Release, though those are unlikely to significantly change the playability of this card outside of this character. Multi-Needle Puncture is slightly notable, usually being a 3-Mid-7 in the mid game, and with its EX: 3 is able to reach incredible speeds allows it to potentially act as a threatening move when you have momentum to spare, though I don’t expect it to see much if any play.
While you were partying, I was studying the blade
While Toga’s attacks were kind of a bust, her foundations certainly aren’t! The most eye catching is again her “ultra rare” Abandoning All Inhibitions, allowing any villain to lead off their turn by making their first move not count towards progressive difficulty. While flashy, in actuality this is relatively low impact most turns, only really being a huge boon when playing three or more attacks in a turn. Ironically, Toga I likely uses this the best to help enable her to play enough cards to turn on Alleyway Ambush, while Shigaraki III can use it to play more moves during his kill turns with all his draw power. This assumes that characters will retroactively be given tags, which I cannot imagine UVS not doing. Back on the card however, it looks much better than it actually is, which the community will come to learn upon release if they haven’t already.
The foundation base also introduces much needed draw power to the chaos symbol, though it is less needed on the other two symbols. Dangerous Combatant is situational, and I will need to play with it to evaluate how often it is active and whether it is worth its inclusion. The other is the 3-difficulty Weapon Of Choice, with it only being active if your rival has lost health during the turn, making it again very conditional. It also comes with a situationally powerful steroid, though limited to a specific keyword makes it tough to try and include. While the draw power is appreciated, I don’t know if either option is good enough to see generic play unfortunately, though the jury is out on Dangerous Combatant.
She also gives us several excellent offensive options, though they are also heavily gated. Blood Bank is an excellent string tool, Transformation Materials is a strong steroid given its difficulty, Strange Friendship allows you to end strings with a solid buff, while Deft Maneuvers provides a great outlet to spend our committed foundations to pump up our moves. The catch? All of them are limited to weapon attacks. And while great for the decks that can run them, it limits their usage significantly, especially as chaos isn’t looking to have good enough weapon support, death weapons likely doesn’t get there, and life usually has more important options generally, all heavily impacting the playrate of these. In decks where they fit they will likely be among some of the better cards in the deck, finding homes for them will be the big issue.
She also comes with two defensive options, with Blood Sample being a solid tech for reusing blocks while on defense, while Twisted Love is a massive speed boost. These cards are again harmed by the fact that they are keyword limited, with Blood Sample again being restricted to weapon cards, while Twisted Love only reduces the speed of charge attacks. I would expect Blood Sample to see occasional play, with Momo being the primary beneficiary. Historically the foundations that commit to give a keyworded move -3 speed haven’t seen play, with the outlier being Arrogant Disposition, though that is due to the overwhelming power and presence of the punch keyword. Charge as a keyword is nowhere near as prevalent, and as such Twisted Love won’t see any real play.
Recovering from the wounds
Ultimately, Toga’s support is nowhere near as comprehensive or synergistic as Ochaco’s, and with them being riddled with restrictions on top of their mediocrity means they are unlikely to see much if any widespread use. Ambush Thrust and Dangerous Combatant are the only ones likely to see general use, with the others being relegated to specific decks or strategies. Again, while the cards are solid in the associated archetypes (weapons), it is unknown if they will be able to break into use due to the symbols having usually better things to do. Life is the real winner of the three symbols, with their preexisting weapon support allowing Toga III’s kit to slot into those decks easily, though I don’t foresee full weapon lineups overthrowing the general life powerhouses such as Back Alley Haymaker and Tongue Whip.
With the starter deck reveals concluded, we should be getting the backpage reveals next, hopefully with some interesting cards. I will next be reviewing the non-ultra rares within the full kits, and then I will move onto the non-character backpage cards, so as always stay tuned for the next installment!
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