Monday, August 11, 2008

DCU Preview: Wonder Woman, Agent Diana Prince and Lasso of Truth, Gift from the Gods

So, as you've probably heard, this week we'll be seeing the last team of the set - Themyscira! Now, Geoff Johns had nothing to do with this team, and this team almost exclusively. No, you have Trinity, Wonder Woman, and (shudder) Amazons Attack! to thank for the long-overdue inclusion of Wonder Woman and her Amazons into the VS System.

Now, the Amazons of Themyscira in the comics have a few things they focus on more than anything else. Equipment and Locations. I mean, their forges, libraries, embassies are all vital to Themysciran culture. They've created spectacular armor and weapons. The Amazons are a force to be reckoned with, as we saw when they invaded America rather out of the blue in Amazons Attack. Equipment. Locations. Armies. Does this sound at all like a team from the past?

Maybe this'll jog your memory...



Now, Wonder Woman has a few obvious downsides on Ahmed. She isn't going to fix up your row to perfection in the middle of the combat phase. She requires a discard. And she'll only find locations with terraform. However, simply reprinting such a genre-defining card as Ahmed seemed like a bad ideas, and her downsides are negligible when compared to her upsides. First, she doesn't share the King downfall, and that's a pretty big one. Second, and perhaps most importantly - Wonder Woman is a legend, and as such, has a suite of legend cards that simply aren't available to Ahmed.

An example? Fine.



The Lasso of Truth is one of the Signature pieces of the Wonder Woman mythos. Not all of the pieces are in this set, but we felt that this one was the most important, and so we've got it here, and it's a doozy.

Now, first things first. It costs 1 to recruit - unless you're putting it where it belongs, on Wonder Woman. Anyone can use the Lasso, but no one can use it quite like her. So, on most people, it's a sacrifice. It's powerful, but is it worth a resource point? On Wonder Woman, however, it costs 0, but it's also harder to blow up, as much equipment hate only hits cost 0. This card makes Wonder Woman a BIG target, as an opponent must stun Wonder Woman if they want to have any hope of getting their effects into play, and we'll see that Wonder Woman becomes increasingly harder to stun as the game goes on. Cards like Carrying the Torch make it so much more potent, giving access to effects that allow you to recover Wonder Woman with ease, slowing your opponent's game down drastically.

So, that's the introduction to Themyscira. Enjoy the rest of your week!

No comments: