Details about the espionage card:

For Your Optics Only: Ken Nagle on ESPIONAGE | Facebook


I’m Ken Nagle, Design Lead for Transformers TCG.
Today, I have a battle card from Rise of the Combiners I’d like to take a closer look at: Espionage.

Espionage is a disruptive Action that I had designed and playtested in Wave 1. However, it felt like it fit much better in Wave 2 after introducing the green battle icon (After a battle, you can swap a card in your hand with one of your flipped green cards).

1. Since Espionage is a situational card, the green battle icon helps you find it when it’s effective or ignore it when it’s not.

2. Your opponent might have green icons as well, so you’ll often know a card in your opponent’s hand.

3. Adding another color to the game gives choosing a color with Espionage another wrinkle that we like.

4. Multicolor cards in Wave 1 like Matrix of Leadership and Roll Out! are just better because they are both orange and blue. We like that Espionage is better against these multicolor cards.

5. Rise of the Combiners introduces many Combiner teams, but some players will want some way to fight against their friend’s combiner deck. Since a Combiner can’t flip or uncombine (the rules would be just too messy) we know that once a combiner combines there’s no going back. However, since a big combiner needs an Enigma battle card, there is often a chance to use Espionage to scrap your opponent’s Enigma just before they want to combine. It’s not foolproof, but it can do the trick!

6. Finally, playing Espionage has a high skill cap. You’ll have to decide when to play it, what color to name, which card of the opponent’s to take, and when to use the green icon to put it into your hand.

Initially Espionage was just a green icon, but it wasn’t strong enough for a situational card that also requires skill to be effective. Espionage can’t do anything about an opponent’s Bolt of Lightning or other card with no battle icons. For those reasons we added a white icon since we liked the text box as is.
Until next time, may your opponent be holding the right card at the wrong time.

 

I'm going to be that guy.... I'm sorry,
Perfect card for...... (you know who)

I love this game wish I had friends to enjoy with. I'll still make decks should the event arise lol.

 

Edit the title on the front page... "Tranding"

 

The fact that this card does not feature Soundwave and/or Laserbeak is a crime.

 

Ravage would have worked as well. But I am okay with good ol' Skywarp. I always hoped they would characterise him more as a prankster spy. I used to do that for my personal canon so I am glad the card uses artwork of him.

On the card itself - I like how much it reminds me of Forceful Sentry and Confiscation from the early days of YGO.

 

They should make a "Delinquent Duo" featuring Frenzy and Rumble.

 

Oooohh... that would be so amazing! They could use the artwork from that one panel from Megatron Origin when they were on that prison transport with Megatron (if I remember correctly?)

 

Another idea would be from Thundercracker's movie story when the pair went to star in their High Octane Buddy Action Movie that flopped.

 

Espionage can disrupt more than just Enigmas. If my opponent is playing Megatron, I can use it to get rid of Fusion Cannon. Playing against Insecticons? Say bye to the bugs favorite cards.