Goku

Art is a screenshot of the series.

Well, this one was a headache for balancing.

Let’s start with the basics. Goku gets more and more powerful as Dragon Ball got more and more letters added to its title. In the show, the way he got powerful is mostly “deciding” he needed to be, screaming a lot, and dying his hair.

I found that difficult to work with.

So I went back to the roots: he gets powerful because his enemies become so, and by fighting them, he becomes a better combatant.

Anyway, at the end of the show Goku is nothing short of a demigod, so I knew the end state would have to be a quasi-Progenitus beast. The problem was getting him there without: a) starting off too close as to not make the transition fun or motivating, and b) starting off too weak and getting our of character (he was a powerhouse already as a kid).

I think I managed to get a pretty cool balance. Okay, for six mana you get a 4/4 guy. But picture this. If they chump block it, next turn you get a flying 5/5 – and now they’re in trouble. If they don’t, you are getting four damage through consistently. And you still are motivated to keep leveling him up, of course – there are worlds of difference between a 5/5 with flying and a 10/10 with flying, first-strike and indestructible. I almost feel like attaching annihilator there.

Cost was upped enough so at first the card is disadvantageous, so you are motivated to look for a level up. Color was picked  because Goku is a simple minded creature guided by emotions (hunger and rage, most commonly).