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.
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