The first rumblings began in April with a conversation we had with Dan Collett on ways to update Elita-1 for wave 5. We (Ansel Cox and Brian Blair) latched onto the idea of teaming her up with a certain bot that likes when his teammates die (Elita’s favorite pastime). The next thing we knew the tremors swelled into about a dozen different teams, including Ansel’s Top 8 deck in the Freedom Cup and a love affair with the Captain of Carnage, the Dean of Death, the King of Ping himself: QUAKE!

By now, you’ve likely all seen some of the destruction that shakes out when Quake hits the tables. But, during the preview season, Quake didn’t seem like a real player when compared to the likes of Horri-bull, Perceptor, and even Fangry. His stats aren't great for a 7★ character (8 health in the current pierce/direct damage meta is abysmal), and his alt mode ability seemed a bit underpowered: Last bot on the battlefield abilities tend to be difficult to orchestrate, and 6 base attack is only 1 better than his bot mode. How wrong we were…

Quake is, at heart, a combo card. We could play him as a side-man, getting bonus damage out from his ability, but the most fun we have had in this wave is going all in on setting Quake off, racking up the aftershocks by chaining KO’s and watching the Cybertronian battlefield burn around us.

The decks that follow take the elements of combo (long chains of triggers), the Revenge keyword, and Bugs (expendable teammates that you often purposefully KO), puts them in a blender and spits out a new, "fun" way of messing with, and defeating, our opponents. We recognize that some will hate him, but unlike other combo decks we’ve all played with, the games happen quickly, and opponents are rarely left without options to counter his path of destruction.

Our goal here is to offer some of the options you can try out when exploring ways to play Quake based on our experiences with him. We have had quite a few Quake mirror matches, which offer their own Pandora ’s Box of timing triggers and interactions.

We have also collaborated with Henri over at Freelance Peacekeeping, who is simultaneously publishing a guide to navigating Quake interactions and triggers. You can find that article here.

In addition to the myriad of ideas so you can build our own decks, we’ll link some of our own decklists below including the tag team of decks (dubbed The Natural Disasters) that Team Ravagers took to a top 8 finish in the latest online tournament on OCTGN.

Captain Elita-1: The Fault line that sparked our Quake Madness, Elita-1 offers many attractive qualities as a teammate. She is sturdy enough to take a couple attacks and can flip to move damage off of Quake, allowing him time to set up. Naturally, her Leap of Faith when ko'd ability to play cards off of the top of the deck has synergy with continuing the KO combo by pushing more direct damage or grabbing an I Still Function! to bring her back and start the process anew. Elita’s one downfall as a Quake partner is her high star cost. But, this is a fun way to get some fresh use out of this rarely played Wave 3 character.

Raider Rumble: Could there be a more aptly named partner for Quake? Inspired by an online discussion with psychosmurf96 (AKA Michah Ehlers), it became clear Rumble was ready to shake things up when paired with the big guy. Rumble comes equipped with a “Do 2 damage to an enemy” Revenge ability. At 6★ Rumble is the go-to target for Peace Through Tyranny and Involuntary Promotion. (sure, I’ll add 2 to the Quake trigger!) Throw an Erratic Energy Grenade or ISF into the mix and Rumble can initiate absolute chaos. If all this wasn’t enough he can also serve as upgrade disarm with his bot mode tap ability (looking at you Holomatter Projector).

Ransack: Our teammate and current European Champion, Ben Saunders, suggested Ransack as another partner. Yes, haters of Wave 1 Bugs, that guy! Ransack’s abilities, like Rumble, are a perfect fit for Quake. He truly WANTS to be damaged for his bot mode ability of having an attack equal to his damage. Quake can easily help in this department. Plus, Ransak’s alt mode ability to transfer damage to himself makes him an alternate to using Energy Transfer. Ransack is also 6★, making him available for PTT and Involuntary Promotion shenanigans. Adding an extra layer of fun is when you realize you can ISF him back for a heavy +7 attack, only to have him get ko'd and trigger Quake again!

5★ Characters: We’ve tried quite a handful, and for the most part, 5 and 4★ characters can serve to round out our team and add additional bodies to get KO’d to feed the Quake bomb. Nightracer, has a decent health total, and can pair well with her stratagem to give us some extra cards to play with. Brawn is nice for some pierce damage on turn 1 and is sturdy enough to give us time to set up our combo. Lord Ravage (praise Ravage) is always an excellent choice by giving Pierce to himself and others along with going into Stealth mode when needed. This is an easy slot to experiment and flex preferences.

Bashing Shield/Disassemble: These are a must include to combat Quake’s biggest enemy: Holomatter Projector, as it will completely shut the Shakey One down.

Erratic Energy Grenade: EE Grenade just piles on the direct damage. Our team is going to be KO’d rather quickly, and combining Quake’s ability with EE Grenades can easily help feed the combo by KO’ing multiple opponents at once. What’s more, as we often will be KO’ing our own characters during our turn (PTT, Promotion, ISF and more) EE Grenades can be set up without fear of removal.

Self-Damage: Cards such as Magnetic Dysfunction Ray, One Shall Stand, Camien Crash, Scouting Mission, Last Stand and the like serve an extra duty in Quake decks as they can easily be used to get his triggers rolling.