May the Power Protect You: Trini Kwan (MMPR Yellow)

Because,

now that I know it's a dude in the Japanese footage,

I can't unsee it.

Trini is the second-most demanding character in the base set. She is essentially the jack-of-all-trades: part buffer, part sweeper, part trickster, and part raw damage, she fills in whatever is missing in the core five. She's tough, powerful, and has the most similar feel to Jason (I'MSTILLSHIPPINGTHEMSHUTUP).

THIS IS STILL MY HEADCANNON,

YOU MONSTROUS WRITERS!

...excuse me. There's an onion nearby.

Alright, got rid of the onion. 

Where were we?

Oh, right, I'm supposed to be doing a post about Trini in Heroes of the Grid. Right. I can do this. I must do this. Let's go.

Double Strike is, for my money, the best character ability in the core set. You awful awful people, they were a perfect p- Yup, the best. Double Strike, I mean. Yeah, Double Strike. No, seriously, Double Strike is amazing. You can use it to double up on any card, long as it has the same name. This means that Trini can jump in and do something really big, in practically any direction she wants, however big of a kick she likes. Or not. This makes her extremely flexible, allowing her do whatever is necessary, right then and there. It is hard to overstate how useful this is. The Trini players I've seen can shift their role at almost any point thanks to Double Strike. Need serious energy generation, which also gets Trini back on her feet? Check. Hit the crap out of an opponent? Yup! Spread damage around like a shotgun? Definitely! Trini does it all with Double Strike.

My favorite card for Trini is her Twin-Fang Teamwork. Being able to just lay out an extra damage on top of another attack is perfect. Those dice can be extremely fickle and this one little card lets you even out the odds in a very satisfying way. If you can double them up you can turn a soft hit into a solid hit or even a KO. Half the time whenever Trini is out I'm asking "Do you have Twin-Fang Teamwork dude?" It's usually answered with a laugh and I shake my head ruefully. But hey, Trini has to have other moves, right?

Well, I don't think so. This one's pretty darned perfect.

Precise Strike cannot be underestimated. Capable of killing most minion cards on its own, it can be a real terror when paired with Double Strike, which then becomes capable of knocking out monster and boss cards, especially with proper support. Trini is generally pretty self-sufficient, but if you pair her with Jason - like the writer should have kept doing, you piece of- you'll find some of the more satisfying combos in the core set.

I personally do not like the Sabretooth Tiger Zord. It can be useful at times, but I find that my deck's usually in such a state of disrepair that drawing cards is just going to hurt what's already a fraught situation. Now, in the situations when the zord is helpful it is an absolute lifesaver. I have run into times where I can't play anymore cards because of energy limits, or I just run out of cards, and in those points in time the Sabretooth Tiger Zord is an amazing thing to have. But I'm almost always near the bottom of the pile, so I'm selfishly not going to say that I like it very much.

But seriously, what the hell, Mr. Parrot??

A special thanks to Jonathan Ying, who clarified not a few rules and gave some advice that made the next playthroughs on Trini a genuine joy.