Alpha Trion invitational T8

Deck list - https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/pump-dat-funk-TWn1LH5ji0W 

Your Starting Character lineup – Perceptor/Brisko, Autobot Jazz/Here's the Thing, Decepticon Pounce

What drove you to play this lineup? Not having had too much time for testing, I knew this was a pretty obvious lineup the people were considering, as my other deck folded to easily to the pillars on Wave 5

Favorite Play of the event – Slapping Enemy Combat Analysis onto my 10* Perceptor and having my Round 1 and Round 2 opponent ignore swinging into Perceptor with their 10* character

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set? Blue is now on a more even footing since they are now able to utilize methods of mitigate the impact of one side of the damage spectrum (attack damage, belligerence, direct damage, and pierce) thru things like Jetfire preventing Holomatter from scrapping or Jazz helping ignore black pips for a little bit

How do you feel about the ban list for the format? I think Security Checkpoint will have to go at some point but for the current metagame, the list did its job of keeping things in check

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two? Just go for it! Even if you feel nervous that you are only going to lose all the time, don't be! Play some games with the community and use it as an opportunity to learn and grow. Not to mention that everyone is constantly looking to play some games and is willing to help everyone get better

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5? Trypticon but I fear there may need too much work for that one lol

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series? N/A

Deck list - https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/atp-invitational-quake-ux6x7Y17Amy

Your Starting Character lineup – Quake/Grax, Horri-bull/Brisko, Fangry/Kreb

What drove you to play this lineup? -
Quake was a deck I was fairly familiar with and have experience playing, so it was my base for testing. Testing against the ATP strats definitely proved they were defining enough to the format that if I wanted to play Quake it was something, I needed to change up to make up for certain inclusions. I noticed how strong Jazz is against OB decks, but I also felt that a lot of decks even with ATP strats still can struggle against the amount of Direct Damage Quake can muster up, and after changing my main deck to be more focused on the Jazz matchup I felt confident that Quake was still going to be one of the best decks going into the format, but definitely has a lot more checks to it.

Favorite Play of the event –
In round 2 against Ozzy playing Metroplex, he attacked into my fangry, tapping my board and killing fangry to leave me with just a kreb to attack. However, fangry had a grenade on him when he died, and he had slammer out so I ordered the triggers so that kreb was deployed first, then my grenade went off dealing 2 to his board, then my first quake trigger which killed his slammer, then that quake trigger killed my kerb, dealing one to metroplex and letting me untap my guys back instead of having just kreb to get hit by the Heed The Line effect. I will definitely remember that one for a while.

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set? -
It’s hard to put into words how excited I am about the first set and future sets for this. The first set of strats doesn’t overtly change anything from the previous wave’s top decks power level at their core, but they offer checks and balances to the power of the wave 5 meta allowing for characters and decks I wouldn’t even dream of seeing relevancy in the tournament that actually competed with things like quake and perceptor and sky shadow. It was so refreshing to see and I’m excited to build more around them for future events.

How do you feel about the ban list for the format? -
 

I think it was something that entirely well-deserved for PTT and DE. Orange decks from my testing may have lost the 2nd double oranges but I don’t think it has made them weak, they still feel very strong. No one is mad DE is gone, honestly, I am surprised by how long this stayed around before getting banned sooner. These cards are just negative to play and play against, leave them out for good I say.

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two? -
 

Definitely beyond excited to see such a breath of a schedule laid out for the next six months with tournaments with awesome formats (not just full constructed), amazing prize support for a player led community circuit, and another invitational to have this feeling of a road ahead that reminds me just like grinding it out at EIQ to go to the Energon Invitational.
I think that if you are interested in playing in season two, and you may not consider yourself the most competitive player that is totally okay. There are definitely a fair amount of people playing to win, but there are also many that want to experiment with new ideas at a tournament, and everyone at the heart of it is there to have fun. I can say with certain I haven’t had a single negative experience playing against those who play in the Alpha Trion Tournaments, in fact I’d argue they are some of the nicest people I have met in this game have come from this community. Lots of respect and excitement to be had if you come check it out.

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5?
 

Tough call that’s for sure. I think out of all of them I would love to have one for King Starscream. I know he has an official stratagem already, but it does nothing for him haha. We need at least 1 competitive starscream in the game and I think he definitely is the coolest. Otherwise if not him than Captain Starscream for sure.

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series?
 

I don’t think this guy is G1, but Landfill would be pretty sweet to see in card form. 

Name – Clayton

Deck list - https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/the-deck-everyone-hates-but-me--o5CPf4qOGG

Your Starting Character lineup – Quake/Brisko, Fangry/Doomshot, Horri-bull/Kreb

What drove you to play this lineup?

Lack of time and imagination to come up with anything new. So, went with something I know is strong and have the most play time logged.

Favorite Play of the event – Top decking a Mag Ray to KO a Clobber and go on to win round two. Especially after my opponent had 2 Halomatter equipped earlier in the game which greatly hinders Quake.

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set? 

The first set seems to be a step in the right direction for some characters. Even if I only faced one in this particular event.

How do you feel about the ban list for the format?

I think the ban list is fine, even if orange aggro decks lost a double orange pip card.

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two?

The series is great as a way to play the game we love since we can’t get together in person. Would highly recommend anyone who loves this game and want to play others then they should join the series.

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5? 

Sideswipe, favorite character whose card felt like in the middle. The type you build around but not good enough to be the centerpiece.

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series?

The Protectobots

Deck list - https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/more-bolts-for-the-smelting-pool-Cj7N7UnN9mC

Your Starting Character lineup –  

Darkmount, Demolisher, Fangry + Kreb.

What drove you to play this lineup?

Working on the Straxus Lives! Stratagem with other ATP folk, I really wanted to give it a try in competition. Darkmount was one of my early favorite cards, so this is about both enjoyment and seeing how well the Stratagem can do. 

Favorite Play of the event –

Repairing for 4 by putting a Cooling Vents on a Toolbox-upgraded Darkmount has been powerful, but the favorite has to be the get out of jail Hold the Line to protect my Kreb from my round-2 opponent’s Fusion Borer upgraded Kreb. It was a Kreb-off for the match, and Hold the Line was the hero.

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set?

I’ve not played against ATP yet, but I’ve definitely come up against two solid W5 decks (Blue-Secret-Pounce and Quake). Every game was close, and I’ve used each part of the Demolisher and Darkmount stratagems to squeeze through.

How do you feel about the ban list for the format?

I’m quite happy to see Daring Escape gone. It’s a shame that Conversion Engine is unavailable, but I’m not sure any other types of decks relied on it other than the EMP Wave ‘hack’. Peace Through Tyranny is a sad one to see go. It’s iconic, but those multiple head decks get so much value from it.

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two?

It’s definitely very accessible to those of us with less competition experience. Through the first four qualifying tournaments, I typically finished decently below the bar to qualify, only making it in on the fifth, and last, tournament with an aggro Junkion deck. Two games later I’m in the T8.

For those interested in playing in Season Two; I would say to not be intimidated :) There are lots of different formats, and a wide range of play styles. 

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5? 

Dinobot Slug.

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series?

The Terrorcons :)

Deck list - https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/perceptor-fangry-nr-3mkg6D8bmAs

Your Starting Character lineup – Perceptor/Grax + Fangry/Monxo + Nightracer

What drove you to play this lineup?  I expected a lot of taller aggro decks going in, so I decided to pair Fangry with Monxo and built my deck entirely of attack pumps (Grenade Launcher, Leap into Battle, etc). I wanted to put in Nightracer’s strat because I felt like having 2x Heroic Resolve can steal me some games. Perceptor/Grax is just an amazing combo and I felt like I was comfortable enough with it.

Favorite Play of the event – Brainstorm into double camien crash to kill a sludge before his stratagem heal can come into play

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set? It is amazing tbh. None of the new characters felt overpowered and it helped give life to otherwise dead archetypes

How do you feel about the ban list for the format? I absolutely loved it. As a blue player, I never felt like orange decks didn’t do enough damage without the double oranges. The amount of NPEs was reduced to virtually zero because there were no super powered PTT or DE plays. Though I feel like Mag Ray is still a Tier SS kind of card that needs to be checked.

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series ? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two? It was an amazing experience and getting to consistently play against 30+ people on a regular basis is something very rare in games these days.

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5? ANY Megatron. I’m still not convinced that the Stratagem of LW made him competitive. Playable, yes, but not to the point that I’d consider him over Shockwave for the stars.

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series? Probably Scorponok since he’s a relevant character right now in the Toy line 

Deck list - https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/atp-invitational-1-VaAZkam67KH

Your Starting Character lineup – Perceptor (w/Grax) Pounce and Nightracer

What drove you to play this lineup? 

Pounce is probably my favorite character from wave 5 and I just really like having lots of cards to play courtesy of Perceptor.

Favorite Play of the event – 

Nothing is springing to mind at the moment.

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set? 

I like them quite a bit. It’s nice to see some forgotten characters being played. 

How do you feel about the ban list for the format? 

I am in complete agreement with the ban list. It helps make the game more enjoyable for the majority of payers.

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two? 

I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. I would recommend they jump in, especially if they are feeling burnt out by the wave 5 characters but miss playing. The new cards and ban list have kind of refreshed things.

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5? 

It seems to be hinted that Aerialbots/Superion may be getting a stratagem. If not, they get my vote. If that is already in the can, I would love to see Omega Supreme (combiner) get one.

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series? 

Protectobots/Defensor 

Deck list - https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/blue-dinos-atp-3qipCK2GebI 

Your Starting Character lineup –  

Grimlock, Dinobot Leader (10)

Dinobot Swoop, Fearsome Flyer (6)

Dinobot Sludge, Mighty Stomper (8)

Rampage (1)

We Fix! (1* -- grants me a star for being all Dinobots)

What drove you to play this lineup?

I really loved the Sludge stratagem. I thought what it was granting to Dinobots was unique and powerful, so I originally tried to put together a traditional Dinobot Orange “beat ‘em up” deck. However, the lack of PTT really hurt your damage output, and Grimlock was just worse than the combo of Fangry-Clobber in that instance. I thought about the fact that Rampage kind of meant you just had access to a bunch of additional copies of Matrix of Leadership and Roll Out! that were just worse cards. In that case, I thought you could be fully mixed and just maximize on the UU cards to functionally create a 3-wide lineup that was mostly immune to direct damage, attacked regularly for 8, and defended regularly for 5.

That and the fact that I was originally looking for a deck that didn’t rely on Black pips too much, expecting a bunch of Jazz in this event. I also wanted some recourse in the Quake matchup, which We Fix! does splendidly. I lastly knew I wanted to register a deck with 3 mainboard copies of BOTH Belligerence and End Hostilities. This was the shell I thought best checked those boxes.

Favorite Play of the event –

I flipped an End Hostilities to block an enemy attack and flipped two Jaws of Steel on defense. They were Blue pips because of my Secret Action, but Rampage gave me +1 DEF for flipping them, so it was like a created more virtual UU cards in my deck. It was great.

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set?

I’m definitely biased, but I think the diversity in archetypes (while amazing) isn’t even the real story to talk about here. Sure, at least 1 copy of every ATP-1 strat was registered in this Invitational but look at how different and diverse the battle decks are! I’m absolutely ENTHRALLED by the impact ATP-1 looks to have on the format. It feels truly new, and nothing could be more exciting for someone who had had enough of Wave 5 almost before it was officially released...

How do you feel about the ban list for the format?

It’s almost perfect. It needs Mag Ray on it, in my opinion.

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two?

Playing in the Alpha Trion Tournament series is one of the best decisions I’ve made in 2020. The quality of play is high, the community is generative and active, and I get to scratch both my social and competitive itches doing a thing I love playing the Transformers TCG.

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5? 

Grapple. What an interesting and criminally over starred, understatted character. He also asks you to build your battle deck in an interesting way; many of the ATP-1 strats ask you to do something previously abnormal with your battle deck, and this is a character who would continue that spirit.

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series?

Dreadwing. Duocons are cool and Dreadwing has interested me from the moment I first saw it spoiled. It also has taken on new relevance for me in the context of Junkion, and so I would love to see it take on a new/expanded role there!

Your Starting Character lineup – Jetfire, Captain Impactor, Autobot Jazz

https://fortressmaximus.io/user/deck/sorry-sunstorm-J-INiTxvT1F

What drove you to play this lineup? Jetfire was one the lesser publicly tested cards from ATP-1. So, I wanted to try and shed some light on his potential in a way I hadn't heard many trying to do. By playing impactor it gave me the potential to move Armed Hovercraft and Rapid Ascent to have some very strong turns early in the game. Then once the game moved into the mid to late game, I could suit up jetfire with the “tool-box” of options the Deck had to offer. The deck can create very power “locks” to game state and really shut out your opponent if they don’t have the correct answers. 

Favorite Play of the event – Anytime I get to play against Jempty is a pleasure. He very much inspired me to play something different in this event to remember to still “Have fun” I look forward to squaring off with jempty again for sure, #DrunkStreamHereWeCome!

Now that you have played in a tournament with or against ATP-1 what are your thoughts about the first set? As part of the ATP design team I couldn’t be happier with the number of stratagems played in the event. Having six of them in Top 8 is awesome and hopefully now it opens the door for others to see their place in the meta-game. Plus, the overall response from the players so far has been incredible and it makes me so happy!

How do you feel about the ban list for the format? approximately 70 ish days ago I suggested the idea of a world without Peace Through Tyranny and never really looked back. For months I watched games end because of the same exact card over and over again, and every player fighting over who would get the “Last Laugh” PTT and to me it didn’t look like any fun at all as a person on the sideline just watching the games be played. I believe the game is 100% in a competitively healthier state without Peace Through Tyranny or Daring Escape in it. 

How did you Feel about the Alpha Trion Tournament series? What would you say to someone that may be interested in playing in Season two? Well at this point it's become my passion project. I spend more time trying to make sure everything about it makes sense than anything else. I've taken in feedback for what players wished to play for, which formats they enjoyed, length of time for rounds, and just about anything I could take in to make the events feel as real as possible. In April it was a question of “how can we do this?” now it's a question “How much better can we make this?”. It's been a rollercoaster year for this game. But this Tournament Series remains a constant through it all. 

What's a character you'd love to see get a stratagem from waves 1-5? This is a tough one with plenty of characters I've loved over the course of the game. For the fun of it and for name sake let’s say Alpha Trion.

What Combiner (or Titan) would like to see a future set for the Alpha Trion tournament series? Since the Alpha Trion Protocols started working on Combiners in Set 2, I’ve delved a bit more into combiners. I may have some inspiration to work on a Reflector.