Hello! As you may have noticed, I (Randy), have been incredibly psyched about the release of the Ultraman Card Game! I have written a few articles hyping the game’s release, and even shot a few card pack opening videos that have been shared through our social media. If you’re a fan of Ultraman, you probably do not need convinced as to why I have been so excited. It is an officially licensed Ultraman game, getting an English release in North America. But what if you’re not an Ultraman fan? What if you keep seeing our posts featuring this obscure game, and want to know why? Look no further. I’m going to discuss ways in which this game can appeal to different people, regardless of what you’re looking for in a card game. I present… Timmy, Johnny, and Spike as seen in Ultraman Card Game!
Who are Timmy, Johnny, and Spike?
Timmy, Johnny, and Spike are playstyle archetypes popularized in analysis of Magic: The Gathering. These three personas are generalizations of not only strategies for winning, but how each kind of player can find joy in playing the game. These are by no means all encompassing, but upon investigation they are incredibly accurate. Most players will fall into one of these categories. However, there is room for nuance. For instance, I am a Johnny with Spike tendencies. What exactly defines these three archetypes? Here’s an overview.
Timmy is a player who wants to win with flair. Timmy wants to play big, powerful cards and evoke a larger than life feeling when they declare victory. Their wins are theatric or cinematic. Every match is a Hollywood production, and when they play that final card to win, the extravagance would put Michael Bay to shame. Even if Timmy loses, they will find comfort in playing their bombastic final strike, going out in a blaze of glory.
Johnny is a player who wants to out strategize everyone else in the room. Johnny’s decks will often involve a combination of fairly innocuous cards which trigger a chain reaction resulting in them winning. Johnny especially takes pride in using cards that other popular decks are not using. Johnny views building their deck as a backyard mechanic, finding the exact card with the exact cost or power to light the fuse, triggering a Rube Golberg machine of victory. Johnny may not win every game, but every win over a meta popular deck will live rent-free in their own mind for ages.
Spike loves to win. Spike only enjoys the game by winning. They will tend to scour tournament reports, finding which decks are winning the most. Devoted Spikes may take it a step further and figure out statistics such as the winning percentage of decks running 3 copies of this card vs decks with 4 copies of the card. Spike finds the top deck and will try to become the best pilot of that top deck.
As I said, these personas were created while analyzing Magic: The Gathering years ago, but the archetypes can apply to many competitive games. Ultraman Card Game being no different. So what do these archetypes look like in the current landscape of Ultraman Card Game?
As of this writing, only the first wave has been released. This includes two starter decks and the first booster set, “Guardians of the Earth”. So everything we will discuss below, will only discuss cards and characters released so far.
Timmy – Zero/Z
We mentioned above that Timmy tends to want to play cards that evoke a theatric feeling. Ultraman Zero and Ultraman Z have a very thematic bond in the card game that mimics their bond in the Ultraman franchise. Ultraman Zero is the son of Ultraseven. Ultraseven was one of the original Ultra Brothers, debuting in the 1960’s. Ultraseven then trained another hero, known as Ultraman Leo, passing his fighting style down to him. Leo then went on to train Ultraseven’s son, Ultraman Zero. Years later Ultraman Zero began training another young Ultra hero who looked up to him: Ultraman Z. So, not only is Ultraman Zero the one who trained Z, but he passed down the fighting style of his father to the young Ultra. They are not just teacher and student, there is a bond of trust that Zero has extended to Z. We see this fighting style in the AP cards for each of the characters pictured above.
Zero’s main mechanic is gaining a Battle Power grade bonus against certain types of characters, and many of Z’s cards use this same mechanic. So, the cards are trying to achieve the same overall strategy: play less cards to reach greater Battle Power by manipulating the type of your opponent. A typical Zero/Z deck wants to win the game early, overpowering the opponent with doubles (2 card stacks) while utilizing the triple Battle Power. There are two different scene cards that can change the type of your opponent’s characters. Ultraman Z’s scene card cannot, but it can search your discard area and pull other scene cards back to your hand. You get the right cards played, and on that 3rd turn you drop the scene you need to change a character type and steamroll your way to victory. Timmy is the player most likely to say, “This is just the way it happened in the show!”, and Ultraman Z following Ultraman Zero’s lead, is the most likely to evoke that feeling.
Johnny – Trigger/Decker and Geed
Johnny typically uses a more methodical or combo type of gameplay. I think this is seen in two different decks: Trigger/Decker and Geed. Now, a big caveat with this is that Johnny, by nature, does not want to use what others are saying is popular. Johnny will wow people with their unique deck. But Ultraman Trigger and Ultraman Decker definitely fits this bill. First of all, Trigger and Decker are… well… let’s just say less popular than a lot of other Ultra heroes. Their series did not get critical acclaim. Add in the fact that Decker’s best card, his RRR, specifically calls out Ultraman Trigger. Ultraman Decker does not have a lot of utility and really only shines with Trigger. This lack of utility and lack of character popularity is exactly what makes this combination appeal to a Johnny player. The chance to win with cards that are overlooked is too tempting to pass up. Add in the fact that this combination can be set up as early as the second turn in the game, and dominate by simply playing single cards and it’s a dream come true. Having your deck work perfectly, and watching your opponent scramble every turn as you just play 1 card is too perfect to pass by.
Another deck that embodies the Johnny mindset is Ultraman Geed. Yes, just one character. And that’s why it’s appealing to Johnny. Every other deck at this point in the game utilizes 2 Ultra heroes working in tandem. Some decks have a 50/50 split, others might be more 66/33. But Ultraman Geed is a character that has achieved a level of consistency by prolonging the game until it wins. The RR Level 2 Geed is in a unique position. It is very difficult to lose when this card is played in the current round as a double, because if it against another double, you can choose to have that battle be a draw for the turn. There are only 2 different cards (without other circumstances) in the game that can be played as a single and defeat that Geed as a double. This allows the game to continue in to later rounds, where Geed can take advantage of its consistency of only having a single character versus other decks needing to find the right characters to level up. Again, the feeling of a Geed player being able to cooly and calmly win while their opponent scrambles is similar to the Trigger/Decker strategy.
Spike – Mebius/Tiga
The deck that seems to be the most powerful in the game’s early days is Ultraman Mebius, with some Ultraman Tiga sprinkled in. Mebius has a scene card that lets you exile an existing double or triple Mebius in play, to pull a level 1, 2, and 3 Mebius from your discard area, and play them in the exiled cards’ place as a triple. Not only can you turn a 2 card stack into a 3 card stack, but this is done during the Activate Phase, so all other cards have already been played and revealed. Mebius has a few cards that facilitate discarding, but you know who has even more? That’s right, Ultraman Tiga. The crown jewel here is Tiga’s RR level 2. You reveal the top 5 cards of your deck and you can place a scene card from among them into your hand, and discard the rest. So, it not only searches for the scene you need to trigger your win condition, but it throws a bunch of cards into your discard area. Both Mebius and Tiga also have RRR cards that let you discard a card from your hand. So, if you need to specifically plant something in your discard in order to pull a triple Mebius in to play, you can. These characters don’t have a thematic reason to work together. There was no specific Mebius and Tiga crossover. This is just pure, unadulterated, game mechanic bliss.
Because the game has received a simultaneous worldwide release, and Ultraman’s varied popularity in different regions, social media is a great tool for tracking event results from all over the world. This is great for Spike players, as they can stay as up-to-date as possible with what decks are doing well as new cards are released and strategies evolve.
Yes, Zero/Z has won some events. Yes, Mono Geed has won some events. But Mebius/Tiga seems to be the most popular winning combination at this point.
Final Thoughts
The Ultraman Card Game is not a flash in the pan. This game has been curated in a way that popular game analysis tools can be applicable. We are already looking to get more booster sets and preconstructed decks in 2025, and the growth looks very promising. No matter if you’re an Ultraman fanatic looking for recreating the thematic moments on the tabletop, a master strategist looking to show off your deckbuilding and tactical expertise, or a competitive player just looking to dominate your opponents, there really is something that everyone can find to enjoy in the Ultraman Card Game.
And I know there will be fans of the Ultraman Card Game who think I got these classifications wrong. It’s all subjective. Someone will say, “I think Arc/Zero is the true Johnny deck,” or “Mebius/Tiga isn’t Spike because I’ve won tournaments not using it.” So tell me how wrong I am in the comments. What kind of player are you and what is your favorite deck?
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