Welcome challenger, to the Dark Tournament! As the various teams prepare for the oncoming battle, a sinister presence is slinking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect time to strike. It is none other than Elder Togoru, one of the members of Team Togoru! He is a downright despicable demon, and will resort to underhanded tactics in order to win at any means necessary.
Today I will be revealing Elder Torogu’s entire kit while giving insights into where all of his cards fit competitively and the potential homes for them! But of course it wouldn’t be a Pippa article without overly explaining every unique interaction, and boy howdy does Elder Torogu have a lot. I will keep things brief with this article so people can have the reveals nice and neatly, but I also have written about my full thoughts and interactions of the character here for some extra credit studying and preparation. Huh, I guess you all need to know what he does to understand, so let’s get into the reveals that UVS Games doesn't want you to know about...
The Ultimate Toolbox
Power: 8/10
Playrate: 3/10
Sauce: 11/10
Sometimes the simplest characters provide the most depth. Elder Togoru is a 7-hand size 20 health character on the Death, Evil, and Life symbols, and he features two basic-seeming abilities, with the first one allowing you to once-per-turn discard a non-foundation to play any attack from your discard, while the second let’s him flip the stats on every attack, though at the cost of destroying a foundation on the rival’s turn. While unimpressive at first, his strategic depth paints the picture of a scheming mastermind with the potential to shift the game in his favor in multiple ways.
Anyone that knows me knows that any character with a recursion ability is my style of character, and Elder Torogu presents the most powerful recursion ability in the entire game. He is able to, unconditionally, play any attack from his discard pile every single turn. Not only this, but because it is at Form speed it can be woven in at any point in the turn, giving the ultimate shapeshifter ultimate flexibility, perfectly encapsulating his ability to adapt to the battle in any way that suites him. As mentioned, I won’t go fully in-depth to the limits and possibilities of this ability now, so check out this article where I cover everything, but know that this is one of the strongest effects in the entire game and is the cornerstone for formulating a strategy based around him.
He also has a more situational ability in his enhance to flip the stats of attacks. Offensively this can be used to mix-up the rival, allowing him to apply the exact amount of pressure he wishes. Whether it be sending incredibly fast moves to open the rival up, or slamming massive ones once the rival has lowered their defenses, he will have a unique approach to offense and defense. With this in mind, any attack with a large EX or Powerful rating effectively has an equal rating of the opposite type, with him being able to flip stats to unlock new use cases for various cards.
Elder Togoru’s stat-flip enhance isn’t gated to a number of times per turn either, though while on defense it will cost you a foundation. Stat flips have proven to be a potent defensive ability, with "SPoOoOoOoKY!" being a core part of certain character’s defensive gameplans (looking at Eraserhead I), while Hawks also featured this ability albeit once-per-turn while also being stapled to a zone change. If Elder Togoru is able to get established defensively within a game then he will be a monster to take down, as he can easily turn any speed reduction into damage reduction or vice versa, and another unspoken benefit is that he is effectively “immune” to decks with the gameplan of sending incredibly high damage attacks as he can always opt into flipping the damage to speed and eating a heavily reduced amount.
As a last quick note on the applications of his stat-flip enhance, Elder Togoru makes incredible use of effects that make the speed and/or damage of attacks unable to be reduced, as it effectively duplicates the locked stat onto the other one when combined with his enhance. There aren’t the most effects for this, but a very important one does exist under the Death symbol in Sports Festival Champ. With it being a repeatable way to “lock” the damage of your attack and then set the speed equal to it, it will be a core part of his gameplan under Death, especially when combined with attacks with exceptional base damages such as Hulking Grimace.
Overall, I don’t expect this character to be the most popular due to his strengths not being readily apparent while also having both a high skill floor and ceiling, though players that dedicate time to time mastering him will be rewarded with one of the most interesting and versatile characters in the game. The power to consistently threaten his entire discard of options is the biggest strength of this character, meaning the rival will constantly be on their toes to try and play around all the options he can include within his list. I will be going over the best options under all of his symbols after the reveals, speaking of which let us continue!
Of course the devilish shapeshifter has a very interesting UR that works wonderfully with him, with it being a 5-difficulty 7-mid-3 with two very simple enhances while also featuring the Echo keyword. The first burns the rival for 1 damage if it was played from anywhere other than the hand, and a notable thing to mention is that this ability can kill people. This means that if Togoru plays this with his form and then proceeds to Echo it your rival will lose 2 health guaranteed, and while not the fastest clock it will eventually whittle down your rival’s health total. The second enhance restores 2 health to you if it manages to deal damage, which is highly likely given its gigantic 7 base speed. This means that in the above situation with Elder Togoru playing it from the discard, if both hit it will be a total swing of 12 life, with 2 burn damage, 6 regular damage, and the regaining 4 life, assuming the rival doesn’t block two 7-speed moves.
If Elder Togoru wants to try and kill people though he can flip the stats to throw it as a 3-mid-7 instead, and when doubled from Echo means that Mr. Togoru can put insane pressure on the rival should they overextend and commit out. Even outside of him, any character that can put meaningful damage on moves will love this with its immense base speed and Echo to apply potentially silly amounts of pressure. Potential characters include Bakugo IV, Mirko, Overhaul, or even Nejire, with an additional special shoutout to Jiro II as this provides an incredible way to stack up her counters at a rapid pace while also giving her more longevity through the health gain effect.
Elder Togoru’s rare attack is another that synergizes with his Form ability, though the synergy is not the most obvious. It is a 3-difficulty move that is a 2-low-3 that has two enhances with a mill 2 cost, with the first giving +1 speed for each copy of itself in the discard, while giving itself +1 damage for each copy of Finger Daggers in your discard (more on that card shortly!). It also has a solid 2-low block while also packing Breaker: 1, giving it slight defensive utility.
The big draw to playing this in Elder Togoru is that once you have gone through enough of your deck you can consistently recur this move with your form to always have access to a potentially 3-difficulty 5-low-7, assuming all of the other cards named are both at max copies and in your discard. This lets him have consistent low-difficulty pressure and is one of the prime targets for your form late-game as an easy-to-pass large attack. I wouldn’t expect it to see the most play, though it can potentially find play if you dedicate a large portion of your attack package to this and the next card.
Finger Daggers is Elder Togoru’s uncommon attack and is another simple-yet-effective move as well. As a 4-difficulty 3-mid-6 its stats aren’t anything special, its enhance lets you draw a card should it deal damage, making it a must-block move especially when combined with its above-average damage. In Elder Togoru specifically this can be flipped to be a 6-mid-3, meaning it is even more of a hassle to block given the high speed and low damage, and will thus often get in for chip damage while also cantripping within this character.
I don’t expect this card to find frequent inclusions in decks since it often doesn’t do enough, though it does have 3 keywords that all have a vast array of support, so it could find inclusions as a generic attack that supports the keyword archetype with the rest of the deck. Todoroki IV and Stain II are the most obvious characters to slot it into, with the former giving it tremendous stats while the latter can often turn this single card into 2 through the use of his form.
Elder Togoru’s last attack is nothing special with it being a 5-difficulty 6-high-4 with its only text being Powerful: 3. This card won’t see any serious play due to not doing, well, anything. It does show the point of Elder Togoru taking advantage of high EX or Powerful ratings to have flexible momentum use, but it having no other text and no keywords will relegate this to pack filler. I will note that it could be a reliable win-condition in draft and sealed as solid momentum outlets are at a premium within those formats, though that is the best-case scenario for this card.
Elder Togoru’s rare foundation provides a source of offense and pseudo-defense at the same time while also bringing back a mechanic from the days of old, the check cost! For those unaware, before My Hero Academia some abilities had a check cost where you may a check and if it succeeds, the effect occurs. This was phased out with My Hero, though it makes a return in the Dark Tournament! With the explanation out of the way, Immortal Shapeshifter is a 2-difficulty 5-check with a response to gain 1 health when you destroy a foundation as long as you check a 5, while also packing an enhance to destroy a foundation to give an attack +1 damage. The obvious synergy is with itself, allowing you to destroy a foundation to give your attack +1 damage while also often gaining you a health, being a solid engine to pump damage while granting minor bonus survivability.
With the Dark Tournament releasing, My Hero Academia set 1 will rotate out of the format, and with it one of the key foundations for decks to find damage, Brute Strength. One of the advantages of Brute Strength is that it let you give your attacks +1 damage at “no cost” (losing a health is often not a cost), with the foundation destruction ability being only for late-game pushes. Immortal Shapeshifter lacks the “costless” damage bonus so it won’t end up replacing Brute Strength, but it will find a home in characters or decks that love blowing up their own stage. Inasa comes to mind as one of the best users of it, allowing him to constantly gain incremental health and giving him even more survivability, while Recovery Girl always appreciates any amount of life gain. This card could see general play as a way to turn spent foundations into bonus health and damage, though the decks it has bonus synergy in will ensure this card will see at least a bit of play.
Deadly Ruthlessness is another one card featuring the check-cost mechanic, and is another very simple foundation. As a 2-difficulty 5-check it has a single enhance to give your next attack +1 damage if the current attack hits. We have had effectively unconditional +1 damage on moves on 2-difficulty foundations before, and this is not only gated behind behind a cost that won’t always be free, requires the current move to hit, and then finally gives +1 damage to the next move. All of these conditions combine to form an honestly poor card that is unlikely to see competitive play. In draft and sealed however this could be an attractive option with its great +2 mid-block while also providing damage in a format that generally lacks it.
Rounding out Ender Togoru’s kit are two 1-difficulty foundations with utility effects. The first one, Arrogant Fighter, has an enhance to mill 1 which by itself doesn’t do anything, but it also has a static ability that lets you seal a rival foundation when it is destroyed. It is a simple spam foundation with a minor upside in decks looking to blow up their own stage, and it could see play as fuel for said characters to interact with the rival’s board while also enabling their destruction abilities. Inasa and Bakugo II are the most likely candidates, though as always, any foundation with a remotely useful effect can see play in Recovery Girl, though I don’t expect this to make the cut.
Togoru’s last foundation is another 1-difficulty spam with a simple effect, letting you flip it to take no damage from a completely blocked attack. While useless at first glance, this is a new piece of throw hate moving into the new format as Wall Cling is rotating, and having countermeasures against throws is always great to have available. Notably it also shuts down effects such as the rotating Electric Jolt and Float Combo, however the effect is still present in the game with Muscle Rush, Half-Hot Ignition, and technically Laceration, though the final card is gated to two characters. The opportunity cost of running this card is very low with it being a 1-difficulty with a solid block, though it will likely just be relegated to the sideboards as an effective answer to throws.
What the Guy Doin'?
All-in-all, Elder Togoru is one of the most interesting characters this game has ever seen, and while most of his support isn’t the greatest, his ultra rare Shapeshifting Impalement will likely find usage in a variety of decks. Immortal Shapeshifter is also interesting and could feature as a general card to help decks find damage, or in specific decks that can stretch its response to the limit. Otherwise most of his support is unlikely to see a ton of generic play, though several of his cards do have powerful situational uses so they could slot into specific decks or as tech options within a variety of lists.
With that comes the end of the reveals, however Elder Togoru presents such interesting possibilities that I have an entire additional article dedicated to the most promising concepts and interactions I could find with him. He is very likely going to become one of my most played characters once the set releases, and I have been thinking extensively about the characters strengths, weaknesses, and options (primarily the last). Be sure to check it out here for the full rundown!
In terms of strengths, his toolbox nature allows him to represent the threat of all the options in his bin, which can be tailored to present a variety of threats the rival has to always deal with. Because of this, Elder Togoru appreciates cards that stress the rival’s defenses in unique ways, with a prime example being Villainous Waylay. Waylay can rip the rival’s hand apart and open them up to any powerful attacks you can follow it up with. It puts pressure on the rival to not only hold additional cards but also consider their block zones even more based on the rest of your lineup. Now imagine this concept expanded to your entire attack lineup, and your rival will often be forced into deciding which attacks they play around, opening them up to other options within your arsenal.
Elder Togoru also can play certain combo lines with incredible repeatability, with the prime example being Dual Needle Lunge and Echo attacks (which is personally a variant I am incredibly excited to explore), where every turn he can either snag a momentum with Dual Needle Lunge or grab an Echo attack which further turns into two though the momentum expenditure. When combined with Spiral Blasts and Shapeshifting Impalement to recoup the health costs, this character has incredible aggressive potential simply by playing a ton of attacks each turn while gaining a silly amount of health along the way.
Elder Togoru also allows players to form entire strategies around specific attacks due to the repeatability he has, letting him find the central piece to his plan turn-after-turn. Want to play Howitzer Impact Cyclone every single turn? What about Focused Attack? Or maybe you just want to Bullet Punch someone to death, Elder Togoru lets you hyper-focus on a specific gameplan and execute it with high reliability. This gives him near-infinite directions and possibilities, and lets you extract every miniscule amount of value “build around” attacks, letting each player have their unique variation of this character.
This is all to say that Elder Togoru has the most freedom in assembling whatever cool combo or interaction you desire, and to do that over-and-over-and- you get the point, while also presenting an overwhelming number of ways to approach offense from turn-to-turn. While my theorycrafting won’t be an exhaustive list (unless it becomes that) (oh no from the future), I will be going over all of the most notable options and interactions he gets throughout all of his symbols, so buckle up for an inner look into my machinations here.
Shapeshifting to the End...
That is the finality of the reveal of this character, and if you would like to explore the world of wonderful interactions you can check out this article where I not only cover the best options under each of his symbols from MHA sets 2-through-6, but also the more unique possibilities this character presents. Originally it was attached to this article, but as the list of interactions grew I figured it would be best to separate them into their own space.
With Yu Yu Hakusho being revealed quite literally as you read this, I can’t help but wonder what other diabolical characters will be lurking in the shadows, and I cannot wait to see what other options are opened up for this character with each passing day. I will be working on getting my initial impressions of out the reveals out in a timely manner, though as you all know writing takes time, so no promises, though I will try my best! With that this reveal comes to a close, as always stay safe and happy brewing!
Do you have any articles you’d like to see? Any topics you wish were discussed more? Any questions, comments, or feedback on this article? Well let me know down below, or shoot me a message on discord! And if you enjoyed the article, feel free to follow me on twitter or leave a tip at my Ko-fi.
Be sure to preorder any UVS related needs at UnFunStuff to stock up on any TCG supplies or cards, such as Yu Yu Hakusho: The Dark Tournament, releasing February 23rd!
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