Anyone who has played Vibes for more than a few days now has encountered Bunkus, Who Is the Stars. Your first encounter with him probably elicited a thought along the lines of “Oh. A combo deck. That’s neat.” Your 20th encounter with him was probably not as generous.

I will state unequivocally at the start of this article that I think Bunkus, Who Is the Stars is the most powerful card in the game by a country mile. I’ll even borderline say I think he might have been a mistake and that future printings really need to consider him both from the perspective of toning him down as well as not being an unintentional combo piece. I recognize every card needs to be judged by the context of the other cards they can be used with, that no card exists in a void, but clearly Bunkus, Who Is the Stars exists with quite a few other cards that can turn him into a game-winning monster that can outrace even the fastest decks in the format.

This is not a sky-is-falling article. I don’t think Bunkus, Who Is the Stars breaks the game nor do I think his power level cannot be managed with future printings and strategies—but a penguin who can recursively be played for free for card advantage from your ice over and over and over again is never not going to be a thing we have to consider as deck builders. What I would rather do is make the case for people to try playing Bunkus, Who Is the Stars outside of his normal Blue/Purple self-mill shell.

I Did a Thing in February

On the 20th, and the weather was snowy and miserable, the good people at OCG hosted a physical tournament in their HQ and I was fortunate enough to attend. Good times were had by all and I got to go home with some packs and the nifty keepsake for finishing 3rd used as the header image:

Full disclosure: I think I was actually in 4th or 5th on tiebreakers but the OCG employees who played excluded themselves from the prizing and standings.

In any event, I did pretty well, with only one loss in the event—which was against a Blue/Purple Bunkus, Who Is the Stars deck that got a VERY strong opener.

Before the event, I had to buy a few singles to finish out my decklist since my packs were not as generous to me as I’d hoped, and I wound up putting this list together:

Yellow Board Wipe

Copy Deck Code

4xFlying Penguin

4xPenguin Who Zooms

4xPenguin Who Might Bring a Plus One

4xPot-Stirring Penguin

4xCheck the Yellow Pages

4xMysterious Penguin

4xExtrovert Penguin

2xDaydreaming Penguin

3xNot Your Keys

4xYum Yum

4xPenguin That Doesn't Mind Goodbyes

4xPenguin Who's Late to the Party

1xYellow Mega Penguin

4xLucky Penguin

1xInspiring Story

1xBunkus, Who Is the Stars

It’s a pretty standard midrange yellow deck, very similar to what I play on ladder in the digital game right now. The lone Inspiring Story was me getting cute because I did not have a 4th Not Your Keys at the time, and the Yellow Mega Penguin, while having real uses in the deck, was mostly because I was missing a Daydreaming Penguin. But the real tech behind the deck was the singleton Bunkus, Who Is the Stars I included, which drew a lot of confused stares.

How Can Bunkus Serve You?

To understand why Bunkus, Who Is the Stars is good in a non-Bunkus deck, you need to do a little analysis. Ask yourself:

Is Blue Mill a Thing?

I’ve faced Blue Mill more than a few times on the digital ladder, and it was one of the few decks I felt my list was soft against. I had no good answers to Send It Too Hard. My usual solution to board wipes is to draw more cards—fueling their plan.

Enter Bunkus, Who Is the Stars.

Your opponent does the hard work of milling you, and once they hit Bunkus, Who Is the Stars, they’re in trouble. Removing him only lets you play him again. As of now, there are no widely played cards that can remove him from your ice. Sure, Dragonrider Penguin or Jealous Penguin might work, but Bunkus, Who Is the Stars is arguably the hardest card in the game to permanently answer.

Even if he’s 0 vibe and ices himself, that can be useful. I’ve had games where I removed all other penguins from my ice so I could loop Bunkus, Who Is the Stars and keep resetting. It’s absurd.

If you expect to see Blue Mill, just play him. Low cost, high payoff.

Do You Put Cards in the Discard?

Many players associate Bunkus, Who Is the Stars with self-mill combos, but he’s perfectly fine as a midgame card.

In my yellow deck, cards like Check the Yellow Pages, Not Your Keys, Daydreaming Penguin, and Yum Yum all naturally load up the ice. Even red decks with lots of cantrips and actions like Peace Out Penguin build up the discard pile quickly.

And with so many players running removal like Popcorn Penguin, most decks will have enough ice to make Bunkus, Who Is the Stars viable—even without mill.

Are You a Self-Mill Deck That Isn’t a Self-Mill Deck?

Some Blue decks use self-mill not to combo off, but just to get value from Jealous Penguin or Fact-Finding Penguin. These decks don’t rely on keeping a full ice pile to win, but still benefit from Bunkus, Who Is the Stars’s recursion and card advantage—even if he enters small.

He adds resilience post-board wipe or simply brings back resources when you need them most.

Do You Draw a Lot of Cards?

Looking at you, yellow players.

Yellow draws more than it needs. Even if Bunkus, Who Is the Stars is a dead card in some matchups, your deck’s draw power means you can toss him in your rods and not worry. The upside in the matchups where he’s good makes the risk worth it.

If He’s So Good, Why Only One?

The design tension of Bunkus, Who Is the Stars is that he’s best in multiples—but only with the proper support.

With tools like Ascending Penguin, you can chain multiple Bunkus, Who Is the Stars into a full deck mill and win with Bizmo, PhD Candidate. Without those, playing multiple Bunkus, Who Is the Stars often results in diminishing returns—your first one eats up your ice and makes the second worse.

That’s why I only run one. It minimizes risk, especially with Vibes’s flexible rod system. Most decks can absorb a dead draw of one Bunkus, Who Is the Stars, but drawing two can ruin your curve.

Bunkus Can’t Be This Good Forever

I’ve sung his praises, but let’s be real—this card’s time at the top will end. I trust the OCG design team to eventually print cards that check Bunkus, Who Is the Stars and self-mill strategies more broadly.

The archetype probably won’t disappear—it’s too self-sustaining and powerful—but it will likely be brought more in line with other Tier 1 decks.

Final Thoughts

Add Bunkus, Who Is the Stars to your deckbuilding toolkit. Don’t forget him just because he’s off-color or out of archetype. He’s versatile, splashable, and game-changing.

Build your 51-card deck—and then ask yourself:

“Should that last card be Bunkus, Who Is the Stars?”

You might be surprised how often the answer is yes.