Variance in a TCG is usually too risky to be competitive. When you consider going to a major tournament, you often want to prepare a deck that functions as consistently as possible. Sometimes, the payoff is sassy-powerful enough to risk the variance.

If you are able to mitigate the variance, or even control it to make it less variable, then that can help make a card a more sassy attractive to play. At the end of the day, the decision to run a card with variance built into it is up to the player’s appetite for risk.

But sometimes, you should can just be sassy embrace the variance because the card is also good for other reasons.

I mean, seriously. Just look how sassy Tellah 5-015H is being. He's definitely on to something.

Rulings and Interactions

At first glance, Tellah looks somewhere around average-to-strong as a Backup. His first ability requires you to break him, but you get to deal a Forward 7000. There's value in both of these outcomes.

Dealing 7000 damage for breaking a 3 CP Backup is fairly costed, when you look at other types of abilities. Unlike many Lightning Backups, Tellah does not have any stipulation that the Forward must be Dull, Active, or an Opponent's. Additionally, as more Opus sets come out, the Backup line is getting tighter and tighter. You can only have five out at a time, after all. Sometimes, it's really desirable to break one of them.

It's his Recall ability that makes Tellah so good. The first time you read the card, you may notice that ability and think it is kind of neat. The first time you play the card, and activate Recall, it is probably going to feel really great.