Greetings! Yes it is finally here. After posting my trial deck review for Steins;Gate some months ago, I have finally gotten around to doing my set overview for the booster. Here is the first part of the set overview which will cover the yellow cards. There are a bunch of good cards in the yellow portion of the set, so I won’t waste any time. Let’s get started!
“Crossing the Timeline…” Rintarou Okabe
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Science)
[A] [(1)] This ability activates up to once per turn. When your card is placed to the Level Zone, you may pay cost. If so, Make the choice of Steins Gate.
[Replay] Make the choice of Steins Gate Choose 1 of the following effects and perform it.
“Look at up to 3 cards from top of your Library and search for up to 1 card that is either a ::Lab Member:: Character or a “D Mail”, reveal it, put it in your hand, and put the rest in the Waiting Room.”
“Choose 1 of your Characters, and that Character gains +1500 Power for the turn.”
D Mail
Trait 1: None Trait 2: None
[Counter] If you have 1 or fewer Characters with either “Okabe” or “Kurisu” in name, you cannot play this from hand.
You may choose a card in your Level Zone and a ::Lab Member:: Character in your Waiting Room and Swap them.
Choose 1 of your Characters, and that Character gains +2000 Power for the turn.
One of the more flavorful cards in the set, the Okabe card has two possible effects that you can use. Either effect can be useful based on the situation you find yourself in. If you need to mill through your deck are looking to add your hand size than the first effect This card like many others in the set is meant to be paired up with the “D-Mail” Event. The first option is essentially a mill and plussing effect (unless you find 3 climaxes, then you cry). To have the option to do this on both your and your opponents turn is really nice. You can add a needed card to your for offense, can remove 3 damage on defense or put salvage targets in your waiting room. It also seraches for the D-Mail event as well. The ability has a lot of useful possibilities. The second ability is also useful as well. The 1500 power pump can be critical on offense for on reverse combos or on defense to stop an on reverse combo and maintain field presence. This is all aided by the D-mail event.
The D-Mail event is a great event counter. It is a costless 2000 power counter which is always nice. It also has a level swap ability which is not only a rare type effect but it also is useful in triggering other effects such as the Okabe and on a few more cards. It also allows you more freedom with deck building as well. Running 3 or 4 colors in a deck is easier with such an effect as you won’t have to worry about being color blocked especially at level 1. This is one of many nice events in the set.
“Gear of Destiny” Mayuri Shiina
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Sewing)
[A] [(1)] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, you may pay cost. If so, look at up to 3 cards from top of your Library, choose 1 of them and put it in your Clock, and put the rest in the Waiting Room. If a card is put in your Clock this way, choose a Level 1 or lower Character in your Waiting Room and return it to your hand.
This is an interesting take on a relatively common and popular card effect. The purpose of this card effect is to essentially aid in getting cards for your level 1 combos and to aid in getting you to level 1 first. This is a popular type of effect because it allows you to plus to hand (where other effects force you to trade cards). The effect does have a few drawbacks.One downside is those effects is that you have no control over what goes to clock. The other one is that at level 0 it can be difficult to get the targets you want in the waiting room. This card however gives you a choice of three cards to out into the clock and can put a salvage target in the waiting room for you. This card also pairs with a couple of cards in the set as well. Overall a nice card.
“Famous Assistant” Kurisu Makise
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Science)
[C] If you have 2 or more other ::Lab Member:: Characters, this gains +1000 Power.
[A] CX COMBO When the Battle Opponent of this becomes Reversed, if “Prologue of the End and the Beginning” is in your Climax Zone, choose up to 1 card in your Waiting Room that is either a ::Lab Member:: Character or a “D Mail” and return it to your hand, choose 1 of your other Characters, and that Character gains +1000 Power for the turn.
Prologue of the End and the Beginning
Trait 1: None Trait 2: None
[C] All your Characters gain +1000 Power and +1 Soul.
This combo is arguably the best that the set has to offer. Kurisu with the climax pump will attack at 6500 minimum which should lead to reverses against most decks. This combo is great for chaining as the power boost given by the combo can make other copies of the Kurisu even larger on their attack. The salvage effect has few restrictions as the “Lab Member” trait is the predominant trait in the set. It also allows you to salvage the “D-Mail” which is an additional bonus. The climax being a shot climax is also a solid choice as the climax type is certainly more than playable. The combo can be stopped because of the reversal requirement which is a downside for sure and salvage combos are generally not as good as search ones. However, I think that with other cards in the set, this combo is more viable than it would be in other sets. And this combo will activate most of the time. Overall a nice midgame combo.
STG/S60-005
“Inferno of the Trapped Time-space” Rintarou Okabe
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Science)
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, you may choose the bottom card of your Clock and a ::Lab Member:: Character in your Waiting Room and Swap them.
[A] [Discard a card from your hand to the Waiting Room] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, you may pay cost. If so, choose a “D Mail” in your Waiting Room and return it to your hand.
Here we have another utility card which can trade any card in hand for a “D-Mail event”. This on play ability lets you have another means of getting a good event and gives you a discard outlet for climaxes or useless cards in hand. The second effect is also quite nice as it can let you more a needed card that was taken as damage to the waiting room for salvage effects or let you fix for colors. A nice utility option if included in a deck, especially one using the D-Mail event.
“Doctor Pepperian” Kurisu Makise
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Science)
[C] This cannot Side Attack.
[A] This ability activates up to once per turn. When your card is placed in the Level Zone, this gains +1500 Power for the turn.
This card is meant to work with the “D-mail” event and a Kurisu assist card. These cards swap a card in the level zone and this card becomes a 7000 power beater. The interesting thing is that with the D-Mail event on defense this card can be a 9000 power monster on defense. The side-attack downside while unfortunate is not a hugely negative effect. A good beater option in decks which feature the level swapping mechanic.
“Gear of Destiny” Rintarou Okabe
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Science)
[C] EXPERIENCE If ‘”Gear of Destiny” Kurisu Makise’ and ‘”Gear of Destiny” Mayuri Shiina’ are in your Level Zone, this gets -1 Level while in your hand.
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, reveal the top card of your Library. If it’s a Level 0 or lower Character, put it in your Stock. (Otherwise put it back where it was)
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, you may choose 1 of your Opponent’s Characters and return it to hand.
This card requires 2 cards in the level to be early summoned. The one is a Mayuri which was discussed earlier and a card you would probably play anyway. The other is a Kurisu assist (which will be discussed in detail in a later post) that allows you to swap cards in your level zone. Because of the set’s ability to swap level zone cards, meeting the requirement to play this card is actually easier than one might think. The card can potentially be played for one stock which is nice especially at level 2. The reason for this is that it saves one stock for the set’s great level 3 combos and effects. And the bounce effect can be quite useful as well. It can be used to remove annoying assists or brainstormers and can be strong on characters played via standby effects that don’t have on play effects. Of course using it against cards with on play effects is not a great idea. I will admit that I didn’t think highly of this card initially but after testing it proved to be better than I expected.
“Ephemeral Happiness” Mayuri Shiina
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Sewing)
[A] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, draw up to 2 cards, and discard a card from your hand to the Waiting Room.
[A] CX COMBO EXPERIENCE [(1)] When this attacks, if “Angel Ladder” is in the Climax Zone and ‘”Gear of Destiny” Mayuri Shiina’ is in your Level Zone, you may pay cost. If so, choose 1 of your Characters, and that Character gains +4000 Power and the following ability for the turn. “[A] This ability activates up to once per turn. When the Damage dealt by this is Cancelled, you may deal 2 Damage to your Opponent.” (Damage Cancel can occur)
Angel Ladder
Trait 1: None Trait 2: None
[C] All your Characters gain +1000 Power and +1 Soul.
This card combo has extra requirements-mainly the experience requirement but that is really not that difficult to achieve as discussed earlier. With this Mayuri you have a nice pump combo (which does stack if you have multiples on the field) for power and cancel burns. The power is nice simply for guaranteeing that the opponent’s field gets wiped and you can force your opponent to use more resources on their next turn. The cancel burn effect is effectively a second attack for the character for 2 damage which is a high probably number for sticking. Mayuri can also pump herself as well which is also a nice touch. Overall, this is a great game ending combo option.
“Part-Time Job at the CRT Workshop” Suzuha Amane
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Part-Time Job)
[A] [(1) Discard a Climax card from your hand to the Waiting Room] When this is placed from the Stage to the Waiting Room, you may pay cost. If so, choose a Climax card in your Waiting Room and return it to your hand.
This card is a great way to assist you in getting off the climax combos that you need. It allows you to trade one climax for another in your hand. Since the cost comes before the ability, if the climax you want is the top card in your stock, you can send the climax to the waiting room and retrieve it with the ability. Since, the card has to die before the ability triggers, you can use it to gain a stock first before spending one for the cost. This effectively means the ability can cost 0 stock. Overall, a nice utility for most decks that rely on climax combos.
“HENTAI Gentleman” Itaru Hashida
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Otaku)
[C] ASSIST All your ::Lab Member:: Characters in front of this gain +X Power. X = 500 times Level of that Character.
[S] [(2) Rest this] Choose a ::Lab Member:: Character in your Waiting Room and return it to your hand.
This card is an intriguing card option especially for decks which run the standby engine. With the engine it can be sent to the stage for basically 0 cost and can provide a nice power boost to standby targets in front of it. In addition, it has a useful stock out ability which allows you to salvage a character. This is a situational card and is less useful in some deck types but it is not a bad card.
“But I Refuse!” Itaru Hashida
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Otaku)
[A] [(2)] When this is placed from hand to the Stage, you may pay cost. If so, return all cards in your Waiting Room to your Library and shuffle your Library.
This is simply a 2 stock refresh card. There are certainly scenarios where the 2 stock is certainly worth paying such as where a refresh damage could lose you the game or if you have excessive climaxes to pay out of stock. It should be noted that those climaxes do get shuffled in the deck. This is not a card to use every game or one which warrants 3 or copies in your deck. It is a potential role player if you want one in your deck which does this.
“Twisted Chuunibyou” Rintarou Okabe
Trait 1: (Lab Member) Trait 2: (Science)
[A] [(2)] When you use the BACKUP of this, you may pay cost. If so, search your Library for up to 1 ::Lab Member:: Character, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle your Library.
[S] [Counter] BACKUP 1000, Level 1 [Discard this card from your hand to the Waiting Room]
Finally we have 1000 power backup with an additional search option for 2 stock. This card can be used as a last ditch effort to add the climaxes to your deck before refresh or two search out one damage or a needed card for your next turn. While not the best backup option in the set, it is certainly one which could be useful in certain scenarios. Overall a solid card.
So there you have my picks for the yellow cards for Steins; Gate. Overall, I feel like the set has a lot to offer especially with the yellow cards. You have some great utility, card combos and game enders with this color. The cards sync up nicely with one another as well. If you are looking to play Steins;Gate then I certainly recommend checking put the yellow cards.
That concludes Part 1 of this set overview. Do you play the Steins;Gate set? What are your thoughts on it? Did I miss any good cards with this post? Please comment below of message me on Twitter (@railgunfan75) or Facebook (Railgunfan75’s Geek Blog). Next up, I will be looking at red cards from the set so expect that coming soon. So until next time, this is Railgunfan75 signing off. See you soon and stay geeky my friends!
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