Monday, December 24, 2007

DCL: Card-by-card review

DCL Card Review

Ratings: 1-5

1: Neither fits the theme, nor is it powerful enough to warrant running in any deck anywhere.

2: There are definitely better cards you can run for the team’s themes, or even raw power-wise.

3: Purely average. Not a bad fit, but rarely the best one.

4: Above average in some way. Sure to see play, as it is powerful and fits with the team.

5: A great card. You will play it if you want to play the team.


Aquaman, Founding Member

4

JLA

7/7


Free -> Return target character card from your KO’d pile to your hand if it shares a name with a character you control. Use only once per turn.

Common


Aquaman is one of the set’s many legends, so it’s hard to judge him in a void. But, I’ll give it a shot. This Aquaman is obviously going to be helpful in any power-up deck, as he’ll net you an extra power-up every turn you have him in play – which, with enough power-ups, could be 3 or 4 turns. While obviously not perfect, even without his Legend cards, he’s still a worthy drop.


Constructed: 3 – Purely average. You could do better (*cough* Katar Hal *cough*), but his ability is without cost and fits one of the JLA themes nicely.

Limited: 1 – Barring some rather lucky pulls, you probably won’t be having too many power-ups available to you, so Aquaman’s ability won’t much come into play. So, unless you see Poseidonis, he’s just a vanilla, essentially blank 7/7.


Aquaman, Lord of Atlantis

6

JLA

13/12


When Aquaman enters play, return a character card and a non-character card from your KO'd pile to your hand.

Uncommon


Now this is a potent card. Even without Legend support, Aquaman coming down will net you either a power-up OR your 7/8 drop that you’ve had to discard AND a plot twist or equipment card (Nth Metal, anyone?). He also works well in team-ups, re-fetching locations blown to the new LoA cards, or returning cards to play for free with Ivy, or defense pumps, or…you get the picture. His stats are average, but his ability is potent.


Constructed: 4 – Aquaman is almost never NOT helpful, which is a good sign. There are very few games when, on turn 6, you don’t have SOMETHING in your KO’d pile you want to return, and he’s one of the easiest ways in the game to get what you need.

Limited: 4 – When you halve the size of your deck, almost every card counts, especially your support cards. Aquaman gets them back for you, and allows you to get double the use out of a plot twist or two. There are better cards, and he won’t end the game for you…but he’s also never dead.


Aztek, Champion of Quetzalcoatl

1

JLA

½

Flight/Range


Return Aztek to his owner's hand -> Target [JLA Icon] character gets +3 DEF this turn. Use only during the combat phase.

Common


Aztek’s ability is really very solid. If you can keep him from getting stunned, he can attack/team-attack/reinforce and THEN use his ability, since it’s non-activated, and while it IS telegraphed, DEF pumps are always potent, especially ones that can be put into play for free by characters like Poison Ivy or Dr. Light.


Constructed: 3 – Aztek will serve his purpose, and then he’ll get out of the way when you need him to. He helps the ‘against all odds’ theme, gives you card advantage, and he makes one of your characters MUCH more difficult to stun. However, the ‘against all odds’ theme may not be powerful enough to be viable, so his supporting it may not be all that special, and without a team-up, chances are you’ll be using his ability on turn 2, 3 at the latest, which isn’t exactly impressive.

Limited: 2 – 1-drops are always risky in limited, and while he DOES get out of the way, meaning he isn’t at all a liability to play, he also probably shouldn’t be seeing play unless you don’t have anything better to play later in the game.


Barry Allen <> The Flash, Crimson Tornado

4

JLA/Speed Force

8/5


Activate, Move Barry Allen to your support row -> Barry Allen can’t stun attackers or be stunned by attackers this attack.

Rare


Barry is a great defensive drop, and he leads nicely into Superman, Metropolis Marvel. He doesn’t require a discard, he doesn’t even need to be in the front row. Even the activate cost is lowered, slightly, by one of his Legends cards. However, the low defense means that he WILL be stunned when he attacks, so you rarely want to attack with him. And while the ability by itself is great, the fact is that he can easily be stunned by a 3-drop – and even some 2-drops – and that severely lowers his usefulness.


Constructed: 3 – His ability seems powerful, but it’s too limited, to be entirely honest. He still takes breakthrough, and he’s easily stunned on the second attack. It’s powerful, but you can do better in most decks. Besides that, of course, the other Barry Allen is a 6-drop, and while this Barry will make you lose less-slowly, it does absolutely nothing to help you win.

Limited: 4 – Your opponent will have fewer ways to get around Barry’s ability and fewer responses, and chances are you won’t have seen 6-drop Barry, so he’ll be a safer play. He’ll maintain your board as long as you want him to, and if you have odds, they’ll still likely have a 3-drop for your 5 to whale on.


Barry Allen <> The Flash, Founding Member

6

JLA/Speed Force

12/12


Discard a character card with identity The Flash -> Ready Barry Allen. Use only once per turn.

Rare


Straight-forward and powerful. That’s all that really needs to be said.


Constructed: 5 – This is a game-ending ability, especially with some of the Flash support cards, like Terminal Velocity or Full Throttle. The card is simple and requires that you jump through almost no hoops.

Limited: 2 – Every bit as powerful as ever, but given the rarity of the other Barry, and that Bart is off-team, his ability will be a little harder to pull off, and his slightly-below-curve stats could be a hindrance more than a help.


Batman, Founding Member

3

JLA/Gotham Knights

5/5

Range

Concealed


Activate, Discard a JLA or Gotham Knights character card -> Replace target face-up resource.

Rare


Again, undeniably powerful and universally useful, he’ll make a great addition to a number of decks.


Constructed: 5 – The ability to hit team-ups makes him potentially brutal, and the fact that he’s concealed means that he’ll be a nuisance for a good little while.

Limited: 5 – Team-ups can be crucial here, and there’s also the added possibility of rowing a character that they may need for the late game. Against a reservist deck, he’s less useful…but blowing the potent locations or ongoings before an opponent can make enough use of them is great, and his discard cost isn’t too difficult to pull off, even in limited.


Batman, Justice’s Shadow

5

JLA/Gotham Knights

9/8

Range

Concealed


Reservist

Whenever another character you control attacks, power-up that character.

Common


A concealed 5-drop is terrible on defense, especially one that has an ability that only works on attacks. His ability is powerful, but may not be powerful enough to make up for his drawbacks.


Constructed: 3 – In certain decks, he can be quite good, and he combos well with Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond or with Barry Allen <> The Flash, Scarlet Speedster. But how worth it is it, to play a concealed, below curve 5? Chances are, you can do quite a bit better on 5.

Limited: 1 – Playing a hidden 5 with an ability that doesn’t help on defense is rarely worth it. If you absolutely need a JLA character on 5 or JLA/GK discard fodder, you might include him, but he’ll rarely be worth it.


Big Barda, Furious Fatale

5

JLA

11/9

Range


Reservist

Common


Almost big enough to stun a 6-drop by herself, and she’s a reservist to boot. Of course, she has no other ability – she’s essentially a blank character. Still, not a bad pick if you have nothing else to go for. Big stats and reservist at least give her versatility. And, beyond that, she has neither the Birds of Prey NOR the New Gods affiliation, which does hurt her versatility.


Constructed: 2 – Big stats isn’t enough to warrant playing her unless you just don’t have anything else to play, or you’re wholly dedicated to the JLA Reservist theme.

Limited: 3 – Reservist and big stats are a lot more important in limited play, when you will sometimes have to row a character, and pumps will generally be less prevalent. While you can probably do better, she’s not too bad.


Black Lightning, Energetic Hero

2

JLA

3/2

Range


Black Lightning gets +2/+2 while an opponent controls more characters than you.

Common


A solid card for their ‘against all odds’ theme, its usefulness again depends on the usefulness of that theme. Still, if you miss your three completely, he becomes quite useful.


Constructed: 2 – He’s not bad, but there are better twos, and his ability is too limited. He’s meant to be a ‘come from behind’ thing, but he can’t get big enough to adequately serve that purpose.

Limited: 2 – He’s still rarely worth it. He never gets big enough that he won’t be a liability, in the end, and he has no way to get out of the way.


Dinah Laurel Lance <> Black Canary, New Wings

1

JLA

½

Range


Return Dinah Laurel Lance to her owner's hand -> Target attacker or defender can't ready during the recovery phase this turn.

Common


The lack of dual-affiliation hurts it – again. Beyond that, she is at least useful for her ability to get out of the way when she needs to, and do so to good effect. Again, though, her ability is not likely to come into play late enough for it to really hurt your opponent.


Constructed: 3 – Only working during the recovery phase, average stats, etc… She’s far from a bad 1-drop, but you can also probably do better. Without a team-up to let her come into play for free later in the game, she probably won’t see too much play.

Limited: 2 – Again, 1-drops are the exception, not the rule. She gets rid of a lot of the drawbacks of 1-drops in that she can get out of the way, but still…you don’t pull her on turn 1, she’s pretty much dead. Despite a useful ability, the probability of her making it to a useful turn, and the fact that she doesn’t cost you any cards…there are likely better things to be played.


Elongated Man, Stretchable Sleuth

1

JLA

3/0

Range


Activate -> Elongated Man gets -3/+3 this turn.

Uncommon


Versatility is Elongated Man’s game. He’ll take down a 2 if you’ve got the initiative, and if you don’t, he’ll ensure that you keep board advantage going into 3, as 1-drops and even many 2-drops couldn’t stun him without a pump. Meanwhile, the JLA’s easy power-ups mean he could stun 3-drops with ease.


Constructed: 2 – There are better 1-drops to run in a constructed environment, so unless you really need a lot of activated abilities, you’re better off with another card. Perhaps his biggest advantage is the fact that, if you can ready him, his defense will continue to grow for the turn, so he could become a wall…with some work.

Limited: 4 – This is a 1-drop worth running. Good on attack, good on defense, he’ll give you board advantage for a fair portion of the game, and he’s easy enough to get rid of.


Firehawk, Flaming Justice

3

JLA

5/4

Flight/Range


Activate -> Target player loses 1 endurance for each character he controls.

Common


Useful on or off initiative, Firehawk will make opponent’s think twice about everything that’s going on.


Constructed: 3 – There are more potent three-drops on team that better fit the themes of the team, but she’s far from bad. A worthy alternate, perhaps.

Limited: 4 – As a common, you’re likely to see her. As a curve character that makes opponents pay for attacking her, it’s certainly worth running. If you’re running JLA, she’s likely the best option you’ll get.


Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond

4

JLA

7/6

Flight/Range


Whenever Firestorm becomes powered-up, he can't be stunned while attacking this turn.

Pay 1 resource point -> Target player loses 5 endurance. Use only once per turn and only if you control another JLA character.

Uncommon


A reprint of the old Red Star, who has long-since proven his worth. On a team that actually often makes good use of power-ups, he’ll likely shine, though his second ability will likely be a rare play.


Constructed: 4 – Attackers that can’t be stunned are always good, and powering him up shouldn’t be even remotely challenging, and it almost makes up for his below-average stats. His second ability will only come into play in emergencies or an off-curve deck…but power-up decks have shown to be able to function on a short curve.

Limited: 4 – His first ability is good, and a single Nth Metal or Mag 7 will bring it online, not to mention Batman, Justice’s Shadow. On top of that, Limited play increases the risk of missing a drop, making his second ability more relevant.


Hal Jordan, Founding Member

3

JLA/Green Lantern

4/5

Flight/Range


Activate, Remove Hal Jordan from the game -> Search your deck for a card and put it into your hand.

Rare


There are too many costs and he’s too high a drop. He’ll be a huge aid to some crazy combo decks, but anyone trying to run him in anything else is probably going to run into trouble.


Constructed: 2 – There’s definitely better you can do. Paying 3 resource points for a card is very rarely worth it, and the fact that he has to be ready to use his ability REALLY hurts it’s usefulness. Raise it to a 4 out of 5 if you’re running a combo.

Limited: 1 – In a 30 card deck, you’ll rarely need his ability, and almost never at the cost of your 3-drop.


Hal Jordan, Fearless

7

JLA/Green Lantern

16/15

Flight/Range


Whenever Hal Jordan stuns a character, exhaust all characters in the same row as that character.

Rare


A much more potent Hal Jordan, slightly higher stats would’ve been appreciated nonetheless. Still, flight and range are extremely useful, and Hal is a good way to help end the game, as he can exhaust the entire support row, effectively insuring that your opponent won’t be reinforcing. He fudges up attack steps, too, as an opponent has to be careful about when he swings at Hal.


Constructed: 5 – Hal will help you end the game. He confuses things for your opponent, opens up options for you, and has a full set of legend support. Definitely worth a spot.

Limited: 5 – Same as above, though you’re less likely to see the legendary cards.


John Henry Irons <> Steel, Working Man

6

JLA

14/12

Flight/Range


Reservist

Common


Big stats + reservist. Seeing a theme? Decent in limited, essentially dead in constructed.


Constructed: 2 – Maybe if you really want JLA Reservists.

Limited: 3 – Slightly better for his big stats and the fact that you can safely row him.


John Stewart, The Master Builder

4

JLA/Green Lantern

8/6

Flight/Range


Discard two cards -> John Stewart can’t be stunned while attacking this attack.

Common


Again: attacking without fear of being stunned is good. The cost is fairly steep, but the effect will often be worth it, and flight and range help him hit who he needs to when he needs to.


Constructed: 3 – Decent effect, easy enough to build around. John Stewart will keep your board position stable. Still, 6 DEF hurts, and his effect can get costly.

Limited: 2 – Same advantages, but it’ll be harder to work up the necessary card advantage.


Katar Hal <> Hawkman, Death From Above

3

JLA

4/5

Flight/Range


Whenever another character you control defends, power-up that character.

Common


Looks like UDE kept there promise – the big names will outshine the little guys. Because, unlike last time, Katar is NOT your drop of choice. His effect can be helpful, but it’s of middling power at best.


Constructed: 1 – Average stats, an ability that doesn’t hit himself, and only works on defense? No thanks. They’ll hit him first and the ability goes bye-bye.

Limited: 3 – Here, his so-so stats don’t matter as much, and his consistent bonuses can make him worth running, especially if you need a JLA character. Not the best, but you have a fair chance of seeing him, and his ability isn’t too bad here.


Kendra Saunders <> Hawkgirl, Thanagarian Heroine

2

JLA

4/3

Flight/Range


Reservist

To recruit, discard a card.

Common


Yes, the discard is steep, but the character is worth it. She stuns most 3-drops without help, and the JLA can power her up easily enough to get her out of the stun-range of 2 drops…maybe even 3-drops.


Constructed: 3 – Not the best, but this is one instance where Reservist + huge stats comes early enough that it can make a difference in shaping the game.

Limited: 4 – Many of the JLA power-up effects are commons or uncommon, and Kendra can become brutal if you hit enough of them. Even without them, a low cost, weak 3-drop for 2 resource points is worth the discard.


Kyle Rayner, Guardian of the Universe

5

JLA/Green Lantern

8/10

Flight/Range


Whenever Kyle Rayner stuns an opposing character, you may recover another character you control.

Uncommon


Kyle’s effect is certainly helpful. It’s powerful on every turn, and it does a good job of maintaining your board presence. Opponents will want to attack him first, but cards like Coast City will help you keep him safe.


Constructed: 4 – Free recovery effects are nice, as is board position.

Limited: 3 – Same thing, but low attack is more of a drawback in limited.


Martian Manhunter, Founding Member

6

JLA/JLI

12/12

Flight/Range

Concealed - Optional


Defenders you control that share an affiliation with Martian Manhunter have reinforcement.

Common


A damn fine common that works well with the Manhunter thematically, as well as with his Legend support.


Constructed: 4– Board-wide reinforcement is a powerful effect. On a concealed character, it’s an amazing effect. He is almost never a drawback.

Limited: 5 – Board-wide reinforcement is even better in this situation, and the fact that you’ll almost always maintain a curve character with which to attack back is equally powerful.


Martian Manhunter, The Last Martian

8

JLA/JLI

19/19

Flight/Range


At the start of your attack step, recover and ready target stunned character you control.

Rare


Less powerful than the 6, this one can still back a punch, turning your opponent’s initiative against him.

Constructed: 3 – The only reason he works at all is because of his Legend support. Even with it, he’s not as powerful as his former 8-drop.

Limited: 4 – Big stats, flight, range, and relative safety in the hidden area almost guarantees that both your 7 and your 8 will be attacking, and likely ending the game, too.


Oliver Queen <> Green Arrow, Bullseye

3

JLA

5/2

Range


Activate -> Target character gets -5 DEF this attack.

Common


What Are Friends For can be a nasty surprise when an opponent comes face-to-face with it, and Ollie is equally nasty, though less a surprise and easier to work around. While 2-drops are stunning him, he is virtually guaranteed to stun back 5-drops or less due to his ability, and he really works well with characters like Human Torch, Nova Blast.


Constructed: 3 – He’ll go great in one or two decks, but most will ignore him in favor of more durable 3-drops.

Limited: 3 – Reusable pump effects are far more potent in Limited play than in constructed, and Ollie is no exception to that rule. However, his extremely low defense and the chances that you won’t be able to reinforce if he’s attacked can make him an extreme liability in many decks.


Plastic Man, Plastic Fantastic

2

JLA

2/2

Range


Plastic Man enters play with a +1/+1 counter for each opposing character.

Uncommon


His ability is great. On curve, he’ll probably enter as a 3/3 or even a 4/4, and against an off-curve deck, potentially a 5/5. On short-curve/off-curve, who knows how big he could get. Abilities that are dependant on your opponent are often tough to predict, but his is simple and powerful.


Constructed: 4 – Good in all sorts of decks. Getting bigger is good. 2-drops that can stun upcurve are good.

Limited: 3 – Getting big is even better here, and how big he can get can negate the downside of a low-cost character. Of course, building first on two essentially guarantees that he’ll be a blank 2/2.


Ray Palmer <> The Atom, World’s Smallest Hero

1

JLA

2/1

Concealed


Return Ray Palmer to his owner’s hand -> Negate target effect targeting a JLA character you control.

Rare


His downside is mitigated by being concealed, meaning you can save his effect for whenever, and negation – especially negation that GIVES you card advantage – can’t be underestimated, especially since now, more than ever, opponent’s effects target your characters rather than their own.


Constructed: 4 – Ray Palmer is more powerful now than once he was, given the power of abilities like Only Human and Human Torch, Nova Blast, and being a concealed 1-drop means that you can play him with relative safety.

Limited: 2 – Fewer effects will be targeting your own characters, and there’s always the chance that you won’t have teamed up already. Again, 1-drops are often not worth the deck space.


Red Tornado, Elemental Android

2

JLA

2/2

Flight/Range


Whenever Red Tornado becomes stunned, you may recover him at the start of the recovery phase this turn.

Common


Red Tornado is an amazing card – if you need him to KO to something, or you’re running a team-attack deck. The fact that he gets out of the way precisely when you need him to makes him great, but vanilla stats means he won’t be the most helpful character you could run.


Constructed: 4 – As I said, you can keep him around to KO/stun to effects, or use him as redirect fodder for free-stuns with Wonder Woman, Ambassador of Peace.

Limited: 2 – Keeping him around is rarely worth it without a number of other good pulls. And while he does compliment other cards nicely, limited makes it unlikely that you’ll see those cards.


Roy Harper <> Red Arrow, Coming of Age

2

JLA

3/3

Range


Return Roy Harper to his owner's hand -> Target stunned character can't ready this turn.

Rare


Roy Harper CAN be useful, but he often won’t be. His rare status may be for limited, but even then, I’m not sure how powerful his ability will be. Range helps, and 3/3 isn’t bad, but on the whole, you’ll probably want to save your 2-drop slot for the far-more-likely-to-be-seen Plastic Man. Roy is good, but doesn’t stand out as being great.


Constructed: 3 - Same as other bounce characters.

Limited: 3 – Same as others, but 2-drop and better stats.


Superman, Metropolis Marvel

5

JLA/Team Superman

8/8

Flight/Range


Loyalty

Superman gets +1/+1 for each opposing character.

Rare


Superman is a powerful character, and I’ve seen a lot of people nay-saying the ability, claiming he’ll only be a 10/10 going into 5. A 10/10 isn’t bad, and if you played Barry on 4, he’ll be an 11/11…but even that’s not really worth the rare slot. It’s against off-curve he shines.


Constructed: 4 – He’s a great alternate 5-drop, the one you search out when you’re playing against an off-curve deck, or a deck with a lot of recovery. And since both are prevalent in Modern and Silver, he’s a good, searchable alternate.

Limited: 2 – Here, he’ll just be a 10/10 character with flight and range, which is good, but there are better characters. Loyalty also hurts quite a bit.


Superman, Founding Member

7

JLA/Team Superman

16/16

Flight/Range


Loyalty

Characters get -2 ATK while attacking Superman.

Rare


Another rare Superman? Eh. His effect is okay, but so soon after Deterrent Force, he’s shown as being obviously less-powerful.


Constructed: 3 – He’s alright, but nothing special. Opponent’s will have to pump to hit him, and his ability isn’t cosmic. Again, he’s good, but not great.

Limited: 4 – Again, the fact that opponent’s need to pump to hit him is nice, but I would’ve preferred if they got -2 ATK while in combat with him – or better yet, with characters you control. That would’ve been a rare-worthy defensive drop. Still, pumps are rare, and your opponent may not be able to team-attack.


Vixen, Tantu Totem

1

JLA

2/2


Reservist

Common


Big stats + reservist. Seeing a theme?


Constructed: 1 – Not worth it unless you NEED a 1-drop JLA reservist.

Limited: 2 – Ability to stun opposing 2-drops is nice. That’s really it though, and she’s still a liability most of the game.


Wally West <> The Flash, Keystone Cop

5

JLA/Speed Force

10/8


Free -> Wally West can attack hidden and protected characters this turn.

Common


8 DEF on a 5-drop is never good, unless the character has vengeance. Wally West negates this downside in his own way, by being allowed to attack whoever he wants, regardless of board-placement, but it is still a downside, especially on defense.


Constructed: 3 – You can find better 5-drops and better ways to hit hidden or protected characters. He could be occasionally useful, but often won’t be anything special at all.

Limited: 5 – There are very few ways to hit the hidden area. Wally West is one of them.


Wonder Woman, Ambassador of Peace

4

JLA

8/7

Flight


Discard a card -> Change the target of an opposing effect with exactly one target. (The new target must be legal.)

Rare


Above-average stats with a killer ability? Yes, please.


Constructed: 5 – You will find a way to use her in most decks, especially in the current meta.

Limited: 4 – Above average stats and a good ability with flight is nice, but her discard cost will swiftly get too much to handle.


Wonder Woman, Founding Member

7

JLA

17/14

Flight


Your opponents can't play plot twists or use payment powers during your attack step.

Common


Low DEF hurts her, but for a common 7-drop the effect can be pretty brutal and she’ll stun most 7-drops unaided.


Constructed: 4 – While there are better 7-drops, she’s a pretty damn good one, especially if you have initiative on 7. She shuts down a lot of annoying off-initiative tricks, and even a number of control tricks…like Wonder Woman, Ambassador of Peace, or Batman, Cape and Cowl.

Limited: 4 – Same bonuses. The fact that there are a few 6-drops in the set who can stun her unaided hurts, but her bonuses are worth it.


Zatanna, Sucoh Sucop!

2

JLA

2/3

Range


When Zatanna enters play, draw a card for each opposing character, then discard that many cards.

Common


Zatanna is good filter, but coming so early in the game, she’ll likely never net you more than 1-2 cards. Still, properly used, Zatanna could help fill your own KO’d pile quite nicely.


Constructed: 3 – In a team-up deck that can play her for free a couple times – like the Secret Society – she can fill up your own KO’d pile while fixing your hand. In your average deck, she does very little.

Limited: 3 – Even filtering 1-2 cards in Limited play can get you what you need to see faster and more efficient. A worthy 2-drop, if not a great one.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

DC Legends - First Impressions

Well, I'm looking through my first DCL buys - 8 packs, all I can afford, sadly, until Friday. There are highs, there are lows...and here are my first thoughts.

Doom Patrol.

Ah, Doom Patrol. It's not the line-up I like. They didn't get nearly as many cards as they deserve. All the support cards are rare - and if it's anything like Marvel Legends, I'll never see any of them, let alone get a playset of each. There are so many reasons I should dislike them, but I can't. They're just too cool.

Let's face it. They look like fun. They look like a great team to splash...or to splash characters into. Like, say...Plastic Man, Plastic Fantastic? Hell. Yes. I'll probably never get ahold of the DP cards I want, but they'll be my favorite '...ah, if only' team, and I'll do my damndest to play them as much as I can. Unfortunately, in 8 packs, I've pulled precisely 1 copy of 1 Doom Patrol stamped in any way card: Negative Man, Larry Trainor. Still, I'm trying to keep my spirits high, and hoping I'll get more on Friday.

JLA.

Well, the JLA have got some interesting things going on. They've got the Big 3 curve that people wanted So Damn Badly for So Damn Long - Batman 3 -> Wonder Woman 4 -> Superman 5. Playable drops, good cards. Unfortunately, while Batman and Wonder Woman have strong control vibes, Superman seems to work better with 4-drop Barry Allen, as Barry will keep your board AND your opponent's larger-than-average going into turn 5, making Superman an 11/11 or 12/12.

The JLA look to have some great 'mini-combos', or small card-sets that just seem to work well together. Barry 6+Hal 7, Firestorm 4 + Batman 5. Just, solid all-around. The early-drops also bounce to fuel discard-based effects, which is nice, but the one thing I feel the JLA are lacking is card draw. Normally, Barbara Gordon <> Oracle would take this spot, but she's notably absent, tragically, from the set, and the JLA hurt for it. Still, a fun-looking team that I'll love to experiment with - and especially love to throw into some old Ally-based decks.

Favorite Legend from the team: Wonder Woman.

Teen Titans.

I've seen a lot of complaints about the Titans, probably because they aren't as broken as they were in the days of yore. All their best cards - Tamaran, Garth, Terra, etc... - were given to other teams, and while amazing enablers like Teen Titans Go! did get reprinted, the card they most often enabled - Roy Harper - did not. And I understand why, but even I felt a twinge of disappointment, especially after the power-level of Marvel Legends.

Still, they do look potent...just not by themselves. Their reservist theme looks strong enough that it could be interesting to see them thrown in the mix with some old reservist builds, and they're team attack theme, while more...errrr...traditional...than it used to be still seems quite powerful. Given that the next deck I had planned on talking about would've been Avengers/Legionnaires team-attack, I'd like to see how Avengers/Titans or Titans/Outsiders team-attacking does. If you can't tell, I really like team attacking.

Favorite Legend: Starfire (though Beastboy is a close second, for DP ties)

Injustice Gang.

The Injustice Gang is the team I'm least excited about, though initial glimpses suggest that they are at least still quite powerful, and I'm dreading playing against them. The hand-fill theme has always been one of my favorite to think about when discussing how great the designers at Vs are, and one of my least favorite to play because I'm an idiot and am incapable of handling such firepower.

Still, the Earth 3/Anti-Matter theme of losing the initiative looks like a lot of fun, and I'm definitely going to fiddle with it when it's time for me to once again rework the Crime Lords deck I've been desperately wishing would come together for a few years now.

Favorite Legend: Lex Luthor

Secret Society.

The Society supplanting Villains United makes me sad - just DA'ing everyone or almost everyone to the team seems like it would make sense, as it would mean that VU and all their support wasn't essentially dead now. Nonetheless, the Secret Society looks flavorful and powerful. I've had a fondness for them ever since I drafted them in a JLA draft and managed to deck my opponent on turn 5 while I had 1 endurance left to pull out the win, and they don't look to disappoint here. The biggest sadness for me about them is the lack of Slaughter Swamp reprint, as I would rate it as the single best location in the game...but the Society got their own (non-unique!) version of the Swamp in the set, so Society players should be ecstatic about that.

Favorite Legend: Grodd!

League of Assassins.

They're small, and I would feel relatively unfair judging them as I see them as 'stealing' space that should have gone to the Doom Patrol, but all told they look fun, flavorful, and interesting. They use their locations in new ways, distinguishing themselves from Checkmate, and they have an interesting new recovery theme that looks like it could get pretty awesome with a little more support/a team up. Plus, they reprinted one of my all-time favorite 7-drops: Lady Shiva, Master Assassin!

My biggest complaints about the set.

1) Lack of appropriate Dual Affiliation hurts it for me. It's still better (obviously) than MVL in this regard, but not by enough.

2) Drop-spacing. Martian Manhunter on 6 and 8. Batman on 3 and 5. Superman on 5 and 7. Starfire on 5 and 7. I understand the theory behind making certain drops 'regular' for certain characters, but let's be honest - that makes it damnably hard to build a good legends deck. I basically have to choose between Kory 5 or 7, or screw my board-position over. For modern age, I mean. Silver gives me Substitute, but I still think the drop-spacing in this set commits some serious no-no's. As does the 'rarity spacing', I suppose. All Barry Allen and almost all Flash support cards are rare. 2 rare Superman. 2 rare Hal Jordan. Legends decks are going to be literally impossible to build, especially given how difficult the cards will be to get a hold of.

It's not much, I know, but that's just the initial impressions from looking at/hearing about the set. I'll post my deck ideas here when I come up with 'em, whenever that may be, and I hope you all pull some sweet stuff tonight!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

My DCL Pull List

Here'll be my ever-updating DCL pull list for rares and foils. On top of that, I've FABULOUSLY fixed the comments - you can make them now! (I know no one reads this; shut up!)

Foil Rares
Roy Harper <> Red Arrow, Coming of Age

Rares
Barry Allen <> The Flash, Founding Member
New Era
Captain Atom, Quantum Energy
Terminal Velocity
The Joker, Killer Smile
Martian Manhunter, The Last Martian
Desaad, Dark Side Therapy
Lazarus Pit, Non-Unique * Death's Door
Dayton Manor
Lobo, The Main Man
Chemo, Toxic Waste
Power Siphon
Donna Troy <> Wonder Girl, Amazon Warrior
Fury of the Amazons
The Demon's Head

Foils
Martian Manhunter, Founding Member
Gorilla Grodd, Psionic Simian
Plastic Man, Plastic Fantastic

Sunday, December 16, 2007

New School: Wonder Woman

When people talk about comic books, there are a few characters that are always mentioned. Spider-Man is the Marvel stand-out: everyone knows who he is, and most people geeked out to him at some point in their lives. He's the big guy for Marvel - yeah, a lot of people know who Captain America, the Hulk, and Wolverine are, and a few others, but none of them have the power over your average American that Spidey does.

DC is fortunate in that they have three such individuals: Batman (and, by extension, Robin), Superman, and finally, Wonder Woman.

Now, Spidey, Superman, and Batman all have had some good runs on their books, created memorable stories. People know what they're about.

Wonder Woman, on the other hand? ...Amazons Attack. ...Love and Murder. It's stories like those that have given Wonder Woman a bad name recently. More than that, it's that no one knows who she is. I've really only read one Wonder Woman run that I really liked: Greg Rucka's Wonder Woman, for me, nailed a lot of things about the character that I thought had been missing. But, in the end, Rucka had to leave, and she was back to the status quo of terrible-bordering-on-nonsensical writing...



So, when fan-favorite writer Gail Simone decided to take on Wonder Woman, a lot of people were pretty happy to hear the news.

Her first issue, Wonder Woman #14, was okay. Not spectacular, not amazing, and not what the character needed, it was still a step up from the average Wonder Woman story. I wasn't sure if I was going to keep buying it, but Gail Simone is on a very short list of writers who gets 4 issues on anything they do. If I don't like it after that, I'll occasionally check scans to see if it's picked up, but she always gets 4 issues.

Wonder Woman #15 came out on December 12th, and it's in the run for my favorite single issue of the month. Gail Simone was telling three different stories in the issue, and shockingly, they were ALL good. She made me care about characters in four pages that I had never cared about before; I learned things about Amazon culture. Oh, yeah - Amazons have a culture now! There were super-intelligent gorillas, a whole crockpot of gods, Wonder Woman has a new patron deity, and Hippolyta is fighting a guerilla war against super-powered Nazis who have come to take over Paradise Isle. Think about that: Wonder Woman's mom killing super-Nazis...



It's important, however, to pay attention to what Hippolyta is saying, because it looks like it's going to be an important part of Wonder Woman in Gail Simone's run: Amazons are NOT afraid of bloodshed. They are NOT afraid to kill. BUT: they don't want to. They want to forgive you, if you'll just let them. They want to help you. If you won't let them, if you want a fight, they'll jump in without hesitation, without shedding a tear. But they want what's best. Even for their worst enemies. The issue is worth buying alone for Wonder Woman's scene with Captain Nazi, in which she explains the Amazon philosophy for such matters.

I think that's what sets her apart, to me. At her best, Wonder Woman is more dedicated to truth than Batman or Superman ever will be. She may not be as smart as Batman, or have the senses of Superman to allow her to discern truth...but when it comes down to it, it will be Wonder Woman who discovers the Truth. The motive. She'll understand. She'll fight with the best of them, but where Batman would despise you and Superman wouldn't get why you were doing it...Wonder Woman would understand why you were doing it, and if you wanted, she would help you undo it, too. You would still be punished, because punishment is important to learning, but she would help you make things right.

Anyway, what this all boils down to is this: give Wonder Woman a shot. She's got a good writer, finally, and the arc is literally just now starting. It's a great place to jump on, even if you have no familiarity with the character, and Gail Simone is one of the classiest writers working today.

And if you need just a little more convincing...



Yes, Wonder Woman is currently living with a group of super-intelligent apes. Go buy it.

Reading List

Greg Rucka has written some wonderful Wonder Woman stuff. This is the first arc in his respected run.

Alternatively, DC publishes archives of some of the older stories. I can't speak for their quality, but it's certainly a place to start.

Finally, Gail Simone is currently writing a fantastic Wonder Woman title.