Greetings! I am back with another Trial Deck review. I had initially planned to the Fate/Apocrypha TD but since I missed the English release date, I figured that the deck review can be done at a later date. I have instead decided to explore the latest Japanese release- Steins;Gate and start by looking at the Trial deck. I think I will try a different approach this time and look at the cards in order or their card number and then share some thoughts about the deck. The only exception will be any climax combos- those will be paired together for ease of reference.  So let’s get started!

STG/S60-T01   “ラボメンNo.003”橋田 至
“Lab Member No.003” Itaru Hashida
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: オタク (Otaku)
[C] During your turn, all your other Characters gain +500 Power.
[S] BRAINSTORM [(1) Rest this] Flip over the top 4 cards of your Library and put them in the Waiting Room. For each Climax card revealed this way, draw up to 1 card.

This card isn’t a terrible card. The inclusion of any brainstorm effect is better than not having it at all. This brainstorm effect does plus you cards in hand if successful which is certainly a nice luxury to have. This brainstorm can give you anything in your hand including climaxes and events. However, the down side is that you have no power over what you get and that makes the effect worse then other types of brainstorms. The additional power buff is an ok effect as well. For the trial deck, this card works fine. If you are looking to make a stronger deck, this card should be replaced with another brainstorm card from the booster.

STG/S60-T02   “ネコミミメイド”牧瀬 紅莉栖
“Cat-Ear Maid” Kurisu Makise
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: メイド (Maid)
[A] At the start of your Opponent’s Attack Phase, you may move this to an empty Slot in the Front Row.

This card profile has become a staple in the TDs of late and it certainly is not a card which should be ignored. The card profile can effectively save resources in the early game with it’s ability to run away from attacks. This can be used either to save the card or possibly trade with or beat an opponents’ character. The fact that the cost is free is another positive. There is not much else to say but consider running this card in your competitive decks.

STG/S60-T03   “ラボメンNo.008”阿万音 鈴羽
“Lab Member No.008” Suzuha Amane
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: バイト (Part-Time Job)
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, this gains +1500 Power for the turn.

This card is another solid level 0 option if you are looking for beaters. On play this will be 4000 power which will practically beat or tie any other level 0 card. This could die on defense to other beaters (with a 2500 power level on defense) but it actually stands a fair chance against the high amount of level 0 utility cards out there.

STG/S60-T04   “ラボメンNo.004”牧瀬 紅莉栖
“Lab Member No.004” Kurisu Makise
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 科学 (Science)
[A] When this becomes Reversed, if the Cost of the Battle Opponent of this is 0 or lower, you may put that Character in Stock. If so, put the bottom card of your Opponent’s Stock in the Waiting Room.

This Kurisu is a simple card which can be effective in certain situations. This card will basically auto kill any level card and many level 1 cards. Many decks run level 1 game with characters that have 0 cost and despite it’s low power level, the card will will reverse all of those cards. It does have a glaring weakness however- the fact that it only kills cost 0 cards. There are some decks that can play level 2 cards early or will include cost 1 beaters. This card does nothing against those card types. It is really a matter of what your opponent is playing as to the card’s effectiveness. I would say to consider playing this card if you play people who have decks with a lot of possible targets to kill.

STG/S60-T05   “ラボメンNo.001”岡部 倫太郎
“Lab Member No.001” Rintarou Okabe
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 科学 (Science)
[A] CX COMBO When the Battle Opponent of this becomes Reversed, if “El Psy Kongroo” is in your Climax Zone, search your Library for up to 1 ::Lab Member:: Character, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle your Library.
STG/S60-T11   エル・プサイ・コングルゥ
El Psy Kongroo
Trait 1: None   Trait 2: None
[C] All your Characters gain +1000 Power and +1 Soul.

Okabe comes next with the climax combo for the trial deck. The combo is nothing we haven’t seen before but that doesn’t mean that it stinks as a combo. It is a costless combo which lets you search for cards. It also combos with a climax which ensures that Okabe will be at least 6000 power on it’s attack. It also searches for practically every character in the set.  Overall, it is a solid and playable climax combo.

STG/S60-T06   “抗える者たち”岡部 倫太郎
“Resistance” Rintarou Okabe
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 科学 (Science)
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, if your Opponent has a ‘”Resistance” Rintaro Okabe’ and all players agree, all players declare “El Psy Kongroo”.

A vanilla card with a fun bit of flavor attached to it. It is a bond target and gets power from “Resistance” Mayuri Shiina which is shown below. So it can possibly be on the field at 6500 power or more which isn’t bad. However, it needs other cards to be big and doesn’t do anything else.

STG/S60-T07   “抗える者たち”牧瀬 紅莉栖
“Resistance” Kurisu Makise
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 科学 (Science)
[S] [Counter] BACKUP 3000, Level 2 [(1) Discard this card from your hand to the Waiting Room]

This card is a standard 3000 power backup. Counters are always useful and this card can be a valuable addition to a deck, especially any Kurisu centered decks.

STG/S60-T08   “ラボメンNo.005” 桐生 萌郁
“Lab Member No.005” Moeka Kiryuu
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: ケータイ (Cellphone)
[A] When this attacks, if you have 2 or more other ::Lab Member:: Characters, look at up to 2 cards from top of your Library, choose 1 of them and put it on top of the Library, and put the rest in the Waiting Room.

This card has a cool effect. It let’s you possibly filter out climaxes or salvage targets and keep them from going to stock. You can also control the damage from an attack. The major problem with this card is that it is a level 2 costed card. At level 2, you just want to use a slot with something that does a little more than this. If this effect were on a level 0 or 1, it would be much better.

STG/S60-T09   “ラボメンNo.007”フェイリス・ニャンニャン
“Lab Member No.007” Faris NyanNyan
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: メイド (Maid)
[A] When your other ::Lab Member:: Character attacks, this gains +1000 Power for the turn.
[A] ENCORE [Discard a ::Lab Member:: Character card from your hand to the Waiting Room]

This card is essentially a 10000 power beater on attack an a weak character on defense. At 8000 power base, you will be encoring this character a fair amount if you wish it to survive multiple turns. An ok card but you have better options out there.

STG/S60-T10   “美しき天才少女”牧瀬 紅莉栖
“Beautiful Genius Girl” Kurisu Makise
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 科学 (Science)
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, you may put the top card of your Clock in the Waiting Room.
[A] When this attacks, if you have 4 or more other ::Lab Member:: Characters, choose 1 of your Characters, and that Character gains +1000 Power and +1 Soul for the turn.

If you are looking for a healer with an additional upside, then you found it with this Kurisu. The second effect seems terrible but the power and soul pump can be actually quite useful especially on the games’ final turns. An extra soul can allow to side for precise damage or push for extra damage if you are behind. Also the 1K power pump can help with on reverse finishers such as the Mayuri which is also included in the deck. Overall a solid role player at level 3.

STG/S60-T12   存在と時間
Being and Time
Trait 1: None   Trait 2: None
[C] All your Characters gain +2 Soul.

The classic plus 2 soul card. You either love them or hate them. I’m not a huge fan myself but the artwork is really nice.

STG/S60-T13   “抗える者たち”椎名 まゆり
“Resistance” Mayuri Shiina
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 裁縫 (Sewing)
[C] All your other ‘”Resistance” Rintarou Okabe’ gain +1000 Power.
[A] BOND/'”Resistance” Rintarou Okabe’ [(1)]

This Mayuri is the other part of the now classic “Apples” combo made famous in the Madoka set. This combo really has one glaring problem, it requires a fair amount of deck space and resources to keep up. Ideally, you want 2 of this in back row and 3 of the Okabe in the front. This is fairly difficult to execute by the time you get to level one. Either you won’t have this card or you will have to pay stock to bond to the level 1 Okabe cards. For a TD this works fine, but this combo is just outclassed by other cards in a competitive build.

STG/S60-T14   “癒やしの天然少女”椎名 まゆり
“Healing Natural Girl” Mayuri Shiina
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 裁縫 (Sewing)
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, reveal the top card of your Library. If it’s a ::Lab Member:: Character or “Metal Oopa”, put it in your hand and discard a card from your hand to the Waiting Room. (Otherwise put it back where it was)
[A] When this attacks, choose 1 of your ::Lab Member:: Characters, and that Character gains +1500 Power for the turn.

This is arguably the pick card from this deck. The first effect of the card gives you an on play hand filter, can help you get a good event to hand, and can discard excess climaxes from your hand. The card also gives a substantial power pump on attack as well. This aids with ensure some of the sets’ level 1 and 3 combos can be successful. This card is useful in all stages of the game from start to finish. It also can easily fit in to any deck type that you would want to build. There isn’t really any downside to this card.

STG/S60-T15   “ラボメンNo.006”漆原 るか
“Lab Member No.006” Luka Urushibara
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 巫女 (Miko)
[C] ASSIST All your Characters in front of this gain +500 Power.
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, look at the top card of your Library and put it either on top or bottom of your Library.

The assist function is nothing special but the top check ability could have some uses. Sadly though this is really just an average card. The one time top check is not enough to justify playing it over a global support or another support which does something else. It’s a playable card (Luka decks could use this) but nothing special.

STG/S60-T16   “選ばれし者の知的飲料”椎名 まゆり
“Knowledge Drink of the Chosen” Mayuri Shiina
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 裁縫 (Sewing)
[C] If the Cost of the Character Opposite this is 0 or lower, this does not Reverse.
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, reveal the top card of your Library. If it’s a ::Lab Member:: Character, this gains +2000 Power for the turn. (Put the revealed card back where it was)

This is a nice level one card. At level 1, this will survive multiple turns in most cases. As was mentioned with the Kurisu card earlier, many decks play exclusively cost zero characters at level 1 meaning that this simply won’t die to most decks at level 1. This card has additional bonus of likely being 7000 power on attack for it’s first turn meaning that it will also kill most things opposing it. Of course, after that it sits at only 5000 power and while it won’t die, it also won’t kill much. Also if your opponent plays decks with the standby mechanic or has ways to play level 2s early then it isn’t going to do much. This is another matchup specific card but when it works, it works well.

STG/S60-T17   “ネコミミメイド”椎名 まゆり
“Cat-Ear Maid” Mayuri Shiina
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: メイド (Maid)
[C] ASSIST All your Characters in front of this gain +1000 Power.
[S] [(2) Rest this] Search your Library for up to 1 ::Lab Member:: Character, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle your Library.

This card could be a nice standby target. The set does have a standby combo and summoning this at level 1 to give a 1000 power boost to other standby targets is powerful. This is paired along with a spammable, not on play search option. This card seems like a nice asset to have. The pay 2 search is an effect which is one that can be useful in certain situations. If you have an excess of stock and a buried climax, this can turn that into other cards. I say give this card some consideration.

STG/S60-T18   “ラボメンNo.002”椎名 まゆり
“Lab Member No.002” Mayuri Shiina
Trait 1: ラボメン (Lab Member)   Trait 2: 裁縫 (Sewing)
[C] If all your Characters are ::Lab Member::, this gains +1000 Power.
[A] [(3) Discard a card from your hand to the Waiting Room] This ability activates up to once per turn. During the turn this is placed from hand to the Stage, when the Battle Opponent of this becomes Reversed, you may pay cost. If so, Stand this.

I personally think that having a finisher option that is not tied to a climax is a great thing to have in any deck. It allows you to still keep on the offensive even if your “a” plan fails. This card is certainly a nice option for that role. It has a restand effect which is costed in a standard way. It may seem expensive (and yes pulling this off with multiples will be difficult) but it not an reasonable cost. Also to get a reverse is a little easier with this card since it gains an automatic 1000 power boost with it’s own effect. It can also get bigger with the effects of other cards in this deck and there are other larger assist cards in the booster. One of the prime picks from this deck.

STG/S60-T19a and b  メタルうーぱ
Metal Oopa
   Trait 1: None   Trait 2: None
[Counter] If you have no ::Lab Member:: Characters, you cannot play this from hand. Choose 1 of your Characters, and that Character gains the following ability for the turn. “[C] This does not Reverse.”

This event has an effect which can be quite powerful. This card denies your opponent from getting a reverse which can hinder their gameplan. This can stop search or salvage climax combos from going off or can half on reverse finisher effects. It is basically an anti plus/anti damage effect. Of course this counter is less effective against decks which don’t have on reverse effects, but even then it can keep a character alive and trade itself and 1 stock for a character on your field. This is a good event.

STG/S60-T20   存在の証明
Proof of Being
Trait 1: None   Trait 2: None
[C] All your Characters gain +1000 Power and +1 Soul.

Finally, you have a climax which does not have a combo partner but is still useful especially in the context of the deck. It simply provides another option for getting the climax you need for the level 1 combo. This climax type has proven to be one of the better climax options in the game.

So what are my overall impressions of the deck? I believe that this trial deck is certainly worth picking up especially of you plan of picking up the booster or building some decks. This deck has a a bunch of good individual cards in it than can be useful in a competitive deck.

      

     

The cards pictured here could have a place in a deck mixed with cards from the booster. In fact I have included some of these in decks that I have built (Deck lists will come later). This is a pretty high number of useful cards, certainly higher than many other TDs. I would definitely say to not overlook these cards in your deck builds.

The deck itself is actually pretty well designed in my opinion. The level 0 game has good utility, the level 1 game has a solid combo along with some beater options, the level 2 game has a couple of nice tech cards, and the level 3 game has the means to finish off your opponent.

So is the Steins;Gate TD + a worthwhile purchase. The answer is YES.  The overall deck design is one of their best for a TD that I can remember. It has great tech especially for those of you looking to familiarize yourself with some advanced mechanics and the deck has everything you need to function as a viable deck. It is also worthwhile for those looking to play the Steins;Gate set as the deck contains plenty of nice cards for any deck build you wish to attempt. I certainly would recommend buying 2 to ensure you have a playset of these cards.

That concludes my thoughts on the Steins;Gate TD+. What do you think of the deck? Any sets you want me to look at? Please comment below or shoot me a message on Twitter (@railgunfan75) or Facebook (Railgunfan75’s Geek Blog). So until next time, this is Railgunfan75 signing off. See you soon and stay geeky my friends!