Bah-weep-Graaaaagnahwheepnini bong, gamers, and welcome back to another article about Transformers: TCG. Back in wave 2 of the game, WotC decided to bestow upon the player base two super rare character cards that were both fan favorites, as well as an avenue for a new mechanic to the game. With the introduction of Blitzwing and Springer, triple-changers had officially made their way from the toy lines to the gaming table. With each character having two distinct alt-modes as well as their normal bot-mode, the possibilities for combos and strategies expanded greatly. Unfortunately, neither of the characters saw much in the way of heavy play, and the following release did not include any further triple-changes as part of the line-up. Many players felt that the mechanic had seen its end at the same time of its conception, and that triple-changers were doomed to be a one-time deal.

That is, until Wave 4 arrived, bringing with it a slew of new triple-changers and cards to support them. In this article, I'd like to explore these new triple-changers, briefly discuss strategies they synergize well with, and what sorts of decks one would have to be wary of while running these new characters.

Specialist Sandstorm

Leading off for the Autobots is Specialist Sandstorm. What he specializes in is being able to bring a wide number of effects to bear against various types of enemies, making him very versatile against an opponent's team with multiple different types of characters. With the diversity of his abilities versus differently traited characters, Sandstorm can be a massive threat in the right situations. Unfortunately, his versatility is also one of his major drawbacks.

If you've built your deck to be heavily defensive, and your opponent plays, say, all ranged characters, then that's perfectly fine. However, if another opponent sits down with all melee characters, your defense buff is going to be a bit lacking, and with no extra attack to back up his bonus, he'll only be doing slightly more damage, and not fully capitalizing on the build of the deck in general. The only singleton traited deck that his abilities benefit from is going up against an array of specialists, as you'll be able to get his one extra damage trick off at least every other round if needed, and more if you play the right cards.

Pairs well with...

Basically any other characters that are versatile in multiple deck types. A good strategy for playing with Sandstorm is to build a balanced base deck, with either more offensive or defensive tools in your side board to help against unfavorable matchups. If going up against Specialists, bring more transformation effects.

Watch out for...

Highly focused decks running counter to your strategy. Seriously, Sandstorm likely isn't going to be taking home any prizes for being a top-tier competitive character and gets edged out by builds with more focus than he can overcome with versatility.

Sergeant Springer

Rounding out the Autobot triple-changes is Sergeant Springer, who is simply a card-draw powerhouse. In either of his alt-modes, he can discard a single card to draw two, and since you're likely to have either upgrades or actions in your hand, you'll probably be able to get a good amount of use out of his abilities. In his bot-mode, all of those cards you've been drawing are going to be put to good use, allowing you to play both an extra upgrade and an extra action on your turn when you flip him. With the rate at which his other modes allow you to draw more cards, getting to the point of having enough to consistently play those extras is going to be easy as pie!

His one extra star over Sandstorm also nets him an extra health and defense point, and since his stats don't change between modes, it usually isn't a very difficult decision on whether or not to flip him.

Pairs well with...

Shockingly, Springer pairs very well with Sunstorm from wave 1. With Springer's card draw, and Sunstorm's attack being based on the number of cards in hand, it isn't difficult to easily start pushing through to your opponent with massive attacks very quickly. If you play a 'blue on attack' style, even keeping your bots alive to hit those big numbers won't be overly difficult. Also, you'll have a couple of stars left over to play some choice starred battle cards.

Watch out for...

Massive hand disruption. With Hijack and System Reboot floating around the format, a misplay on your Springer flips could end up with nothing in your hand, and your opponent reaping all the benefits of your hard work.

Raider Apeface

Moving onto the Decepticon ranks, Raider Apeface swings into action with a quite bizarre set of abilities, which are quite different from what we've seen thus far in the game. With each of his modes being dedicated to working at a specific point in the game, this isn't a character that you're going to be flipping on just any old turn, you have to make sure to pace him exactly right to get the most benefit from what he can provide. He'd likely play very well into a well-balanced deck that can easily shift between offense and defense.

Pairs well with...

Healing and damage-reducing effects. Medic's Shield, Force Field, and other damage reducers are really going to help you get the most out of what Apeface brings to the table, so plan on picking characters and battle cards that can keep him alive in that sweet spot for as long as possible. Characters with Brave or Stealth to help direct where attacks land should also be heavily considered.

Watch out for...

Big swingers. There's nothing worse than trying to set up Apeface to be knocked into his extra Bold only to have a big hit take him down to just his Tough and skip out on his potential for big damage. Because there's so many heavy hitters in the format currently, Apeface might be more of a liability than an asset.

Captain Astrotrain

Where Apeface may be a bit of a wild-card, Captain Astrotrain is as reliable as a steam engine. In space. A space steam engine of destructive force whose abilities can as you play further into the game. He starts off getting a bonus to his defense for a single upgrade, probably a solid defensive booster, then moves to extra attack when he's added a weapon to his arsenal, and then into a full-on beast when fully decked out. Since he's a specialist moreover, there's an entire world of specialist specific upgrades to play with him, letting him get extra upgrade plays, draw extra cards and so on. Sadly, with the banning of Multi-Mission Gear, he can't get the extra actions, but there's still plenty of specialist equipment to get value out of.

Pairs well with...

Other specialists who can benefit from your equipment you'll most certainly want to be running. Someone like wave 1's Wheeljack who has a good synergy with weapons in the scrap yard, or even the super rare Soundblaster also in Wave 4 to keep the upgrade party rolling.

Watch out for...

Security Checkpoint, Vaporize, and other heavy upgrade hate decks. Bring along shoulder holsters and possibly backup bags to help keep your upgrades from ending up in the scrap yard instead of on Astrotrain where they're needed.

Octone

Last but certainly not least, hailing all the way from the other end of the rarity spectrum, and outside of both basic factions, comes the mercenary Octone. Plowing in with a bunch of hate for both Autobots and Decepticons, this outsider can only really love himself, it seems. Each alt-mode is good against a rival faction, and the bounty on his bot-mode simply keeps the hurt rolling onto other characters when he scores a KO. He may be relatively high costed, but he has the stats to back up the stars, making him a solid choice as a go-to mercenary.

Pairs well with...

Any card that maximizes his ability to do damage while flipping, but especially Conversion Engine and Showing Off. And if you're going to go that route, throw in Kinetic Converters and Kinetic Intensifier Whips as well. Really get the most bang for your buck, because you're going to want to be transforming this guy as much as you can to get that bonus attack.

Watch out for...

There really isn't a situation where Octone is especially bad, except perhaps against a team made up entirely of other mercenaries. Even then, his solid bot-mode means that he's no push over, and you have the option to sideboard him out for some other large character, like any of the Primes or even Megatrons as needed.

So, there you have it! Five triple-changers that each have their own unique twist on the game mechanics, so simply pick the one whose flavor you'd like to build around the most and have fun! Come back next week when we delve deep into the strategies around the two new Weaponizers from Wave 4!