This season's Season Pass card, Viv Vision, comes with a special companion in the Super Premium Season Pass, her dog Sparky! Sparky was reanimated from the corpse of a neighbor’s dog by Vision to help strengthen the bond of the family he had recently created. So really, who rescued who?
Paws-itives
Predictability
Because Sparkly sends a card back where it came from, as opposed to a random location, he provides a ton of control, which is especially important for the fiddly and skill-intensive move archetype. He can move something immediately back to a Madame Web lane prepping it to be moved again the following turn, can put an Iron Fist target back to the right, and can return Spider-Man 2099’s big body back where it may be more needed after making a kill. Not only does he move back in a predictable way, he can make more random cards like Hercules, Xorn, and Silk easier to plan around.
Sequencing
One of the most exciting aspects of the Activate mechanic when it was initially released was the way you can pull off intricate sequencing within a turn. Sparky fulfills this promise and allows you to make complicated plays that are hard for your opponent to predict.
Power
Sparky simply provides a ton of raw power. His added +3 is pretty hefty on its own, but his ability will usually result in a move payoff card being buffed twice via movement on a single turn. Sparky will result in absolutely massive Vultures, Daggers, Torches, and Phoenixes. I wouldn't be shocked to see him nerfed from +3 to +2 eventually.
Draw-barks
Fragility
Sparky is pretty susceptible to tech like Red Guardian, Lady Deathstrike, and Mercury. Generally, having your opponent waste their Red Guardian on a card like Sparky is a net positive, but it is something it will take experience to see coming and skill to play around.
Low Power
Part of Sparky’s fragility is due to his low base power. It makes him an easy target and means he occupies a board space with a small body.
Activate
Activate helps Sparky with sequencing, but it makes him more predictable for your opponent and means being countered at the wrong moment could really mess up your carefully laid plan. Drawing Activate cards early enough is critical to their success.
Best Friends
Of course Sparky is going to work best with move payoff cards like Vulture, Dagger, and especially Human Torch, but I'm also curious to see if his additional control can help cards like Xorn and Hercules who have had trouble gaining traction due to their unpredictability.
Scosco's Day One Sparky Decks
Sparky Power Move
Precision Move
Move Bounce Lives!
Sparkalonius
Sparky Reanimator
Variants
The acquisition method for Super Premium Season Pass cards has changed, beginning this month! Previously, the only way to get the new card was to pay for the Super Premium Season Pass. Now, the SPSP comes with a variant for the card, which automatically unlocks the base card. The card will also be available from Snap Packs and your shop rotation.
This means anyone who wants to get a new card for a great price can purchase the SPSP, but also that players preferring to acquire the card with Tokens have access to it immediately as well. This is a great change and I commend Second Dinner for making this change based on community feedback
There are also three additional cyberpunk Sparky variants available.
Final Thoughts
Sparky may be a little fragile, but his effect is so powerful that it's almost guaranteed he will be a new staple move card. Whether you're looking at the additional $10 for the Super Premium Season Pass or 6000 hard-earned Tokens, Sparky is easily worth it if you are at all interested in the move archetype. When Second Dinner flipped the costs of Human Torch and Vulture as Human Torch was increasingly becoming a design constraint, it was precisely so that they could produce powerful cards like Sparky.
While cards like Viv Vision, Bastion, and Warlock may all prove to be powerful cards with meta penetration, there's a decent chance Sparky ends up as the most impactful card of the September season in the long term.