Looking for something to do this summer? How about grabbing a few packs of Wave 3 of the Transformers Trading Card Game and collecting new characters from War from Cybertron and enjoying the new Turbo mode?

The Transformers Trading Card game is back with a whole new cast of characters plucked straight from the toy aisle (along with some surprise extras). Wave 3 brings the War for Cybertron trilogy to the TCG with Siege I.

Familiar Characters

I will honor your death by shoving your corpse in our opponents’ faces!

Not unsurprisingly, Transformers TCG: War for Cybertron – Siege I uses characters and designs from the toy line currently on the shelves. However, there are a fair number of unexpected additions. Alpha Trion looks kind of like a space yacht and lets you play cards you flip during battles. Private Arcee (nearly all the new characters have military ranks added to their names) is based on her previous Generations figure – one of the most perfect renditions of the character.

Flaming bird is the word.

My favorites, however, are the Firecons! Based on really goofy G1 toys with a spark-throwing gimmick (ah, 80s safety regulations), these three squat little murder monsters get their first-ever modernization. Wizards of the Coast even gives a nod to their ranks in the original Marvel comics. Cindersaur and Flamefeather are both Raiders, while Sparkstalker is a Sergeant. The Firecon subclass even gets its own battle card in this wave.

New Character Types

Just like Wave 2 brought combiners to the mix, Wave 3 brings a whole new type of character to the game, two in fact – Battle Masters and Micro Masters, each the size of battle cards. Each booster pack now includes one large character and one small character.

Battle Masters’ missions? To die as soon as possible.

Battle Masters you’ll throw into the fray immediately, hoping for their quick demise. They start off in bot mode, usually with fairly low statistics. The difference here is that you can’t flip them to their alternate mode until they’re KO’d. Once you do, they become weapons that can be used to upgrade any other character. As weapons, they do some pretty incredible things, such as cutting through armor. (So does this mean the Transformers are wielding their friends’ corpses in battle?)

New Micro Masters might not have great survivability, but they can do fun things.

Micro Masters are generally low star characters that synergize well with the larger bots on your team, like Ravage and Laserbeak with Major Soundwave. They’re also disruptive in play, with abilities that do direct damage or have other effects when you tap them before your attack phase. They’re super squishy, so it’s important to keep them in alt mode (where they usually have stealth) and untapped until the last possible moment.

Battle Cards

Totally using the Soundwave voice when I play the first two cards…

Characters don’t get all the fun, though. Battle cards have black battle icons now – these provide Pierce during attack (and work with several new upgrades). Secret Actions are new facedown actions that you play and reveal only when certain parameters are met. They’re great for getting a defensive boost, countering actions, or even planning your next move in combat.

In all, Wizards of the Coast is doing a great job at not only introducing new complexities to the game with each wave but also keeping the meta on its toes. The strategies that ensured an instant win with Wave 1 (like that double-Prime deck you keep bringing to the table) now have counters.

Bad News for Completists

What I’m not loving is new rarity ratios. While completely unscientific, I’ve noticed a trend each wave. Wave 1, I pulled a super rare Nemesis Prime in my very first booster (granted, that one was against all odds). I then burned through three more boxes to (mostly) complete the wave, finding a super rare in each one. That continued with Wave 2, though it was decidedly harder to “catch ’em all” with the sheer number of characters introduced in Rise of the Combiners.

Wave 3, War  for Cybertron – Siege I has fewer characters than Wave 2, but my first box seemed to be roughly 50% duplicate cards without a single super rare. It lessens my desire to get more boxes to try and complete the wave because I don’t want to be stuck with stacks of duplicate commons. It also floods the market with duplicate cards, meaning that selling dupes on eBay ultimately isn’t worth it.

One spot where duplicates are welcome is with Battle Cards. Wave 3 uses all new artwork, even for those cards that are the same as in previous waves. For hyper-organizers like me, it’s a relief. Previously, mixing up Wave 1 and Wave 2 cards was an inevitability for common Battle Cards.

Turbo Mode

T-t-t-TURBO MODE

Wave 3 also introduces a much-improved Turbo Mode. Instead of the limited rule set of the original, this has you grab two booster packs. The two full-sized characters, two Micro or Battle Masters, and 12 Battle Cards become your deck for the game.

You obviously don’t have the chance to optimize your battle icons or character synergies, but it’s a testament to the maturing game’s balance that, even when your deck is totally randomized, it’s still fully playable (and a lot of fun).

Where to Buy

Despite my disappointment with the rarities, I’m still super excited for War for Cybertron: Siege I. The new characters bring interesting abilities to the table and the addition of the new Battle Card types is evolving the game in the right direction.

You can grab a Transformers TCG: War for Cybertron – Siege I booster box on Amazon right now for nearly 30% off!