So, let me first say, MEV is a really cool, VASTLY powerful set. Over on VSrealms, at least one infinite combo has already been discovered, and I highly doubt that it will be the first. Now, I'm not nearly clever to truck with that sort of shenanigans. I'm not a good enough deck-builder, after all, and I'm not quite mean enough. I like being annoying as much as the next gamer, but there are limits.
Still, I like being annoying more than enough for this deck right here. As you've all seen, I'm a big fan of the Bring Your Own Two Team format, as I love team-up decks and I love not having to worry about hitting team-ups. Of course, there are downsides, and these two teams certainly highlight those downsides. The Spider-Friends have been a powerful team for a couple years now, but that's far more thanks to the suite of Spider-Man support cards, most notably Gift Wrapped, and their normal, team-stamped effects are generally fairly dull. Meanwhile, X-Factor, a team I had high hopes for in MEV is virtually unplayable on a budget, having only 3 non-rare support cards (1 of which is a team-up) and, in their rare support cards, 6 of them are legend stamped.
This brings up a fair question: why on Earth build Spider-Friends with X-Factor if their support suite is so lacking? Well, I'm just gonna print out a few card effects really quickly, and I'll let you take it from there...
Rictor, Depowered
2
Team: X-Factor, Purifiers
ATK: 2
DEF: 3
[Activate] -> Gain 1 endurance for each character in play with an activated ([activate]) power.
Siryn, Sonic Scream
4
Team: X-Factor, X-Men
Flight
Ranged
ATK: 7
DEF: 8
Whenever a character's activated ([activate]) power is used, target opponent loses 1 endurance.
Madame Web, Cassandra Webb
3
Team: Spider-Friends
ATK: 3
DEF: 1
Whenever an activated power of a Spider-Friends character you control is used, gain 2 endurance.
Activate -> Look at the top two cards of target player's deck. You may put those cards into that player's KO'd pile or on the top of his deck in any order.
Fun and Games
To play, discard a Spider-Friends character card.
Ongoing: Characters have "Activate -> Negate target activated effect an opponent controls."
(taken from docx's excellent search engine)
*
Do you see how things might play out in an interesting manner?
*
8x Multiple Man, Army * HYDRA
2x Layla Miller, Butterfly
3x Rictor, Depowered
7x Jamie Madrox <> Multiple Man, Army * Agent of SHIELD
3x Beast, Wild and Wooly
4x Madame Web, Cassandra Web
3x Siryn, Sonic Scream
1x Strong Guy, Guido Carosella
4x Empire State University
4x Falls Edge
3x ESU Science Lab
4x Spider-Sense Tingling
3x Tragic Loss
3x Nice Try!
4x Fun and Games
4x First Class
Yes, every single character in your deck either has a worthwhile activated power or interacts with activated effects, and more than that, for those that don't already have one, Fun and Games grants an Activate power to all characters in play, yours and those of your opponents. Thankfully, with the swarm abilities of Multiple Man, you'll likely win any Activation war you get into, and Siryn will make an opponent think twice about even trying to get into such a battle.
Just in case you can't burn your opponent to death, though, you have that single copy of Strong Guy available, and when your whole board can Activate, Strong Guy can get big, fast.
The remainder of the effects you have are geared towards keeping yourself alive. Spider-Sense Tingling can keep some extra characters around - Multiple Men can be made invulnerable already, so making them evadable means your board can keep fair size, especially with Falls Edge helping you out every turn and an occasional First Class. The loss of Birthing Chamber hurts, but Empire State University and ESU Science Lab step up admirably - and ESU Science Lab really, REALLY likes Energize.
So, there you have it. Untested and unpolished, as all my decks are, but I hope you've enjoyed. The interactions between the two teams mean that you'll be gaining a not-insignificant amount of life while your opponent loses it slowly, and with a little fine-tuning, this could be a pretty potent deck. Not for tier 1 play, I suspect... but for annoying your friends? Hell yes.
Showing posts with label deck-building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deck-building. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
VS: Bring Your Own Two Teams - Avengers/Squadron Supreme Edition
Most of you know by now my fascination with the Avengers team-attack theme, and my desperate wish that they had gotten an effect reminiscent of Legendary Battles and of Playroom in MUN, especially now that my favorite theme is trapped in the hellish limbo known as Golden Age play. You also know that, after BYOTT was announced, they were the first deck I built and presented to you all.
Now, I was planning on doing a segment today trying to utilize Warworld for the BYOTT format, but the deck I had built just wasn't doing it for me. That isn't to say that it wasn't good - most of the decks I present to you are average, more theory than gameplay. It just wasn't satisfying enough, I suppose.
However, while combing through the cards that I thought I would enjoy using Warworld with, I began to look at Squadron Supreme. Squad was the first 'competitive' deck I ever built, and by that, I mean it was the first deck that my friends essentially gave me, with the sage advice to "Stop playing that frankly embarrassing Kang Lords X concoction and try and win a freaking game." They quickly came to regret this act of charity.
But we all know that the Squad No-Hand theme could be explosive. And I'm sure that most of you were aware that Squad had another theme. "Yes," I hear you say. "They had the No-Hand theme, and they had a theme that involved getting rid of the cards in their hand, right?"
"No," I say to you, "but verily didst they have a theme in which they did absolutely no breakthrough for any reason. And I do not know why."
One of the most potent cards this theme brought us was called Project Utopia, and it reads as follows....
Project Utopia
3
Choose a Squadron Supreme character you control.
Ongoing: Whenever the chosen character stuns a defender, that defender's controller loses 4 endurance.
Whenever the chosen character causes breakthrough, KO it.
Well, when I saw this card during the building of my Warworld deck, I certainly went, "...Quicksilver!" and thus was this deck born.
PROJECT UTOPIA
4x Jarvis, Honorary Avenger
2x Rick Jones, Hero’s Best Friend
2x Speed, Thomas Shepard * Young Avenger
2x Doctor Decibel, Anton Decibel
4x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, Super Spy
2x Wasp, Janet Van Dyne-Pym
2x Captain America, The Patior * Secret Avenger
4x Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger
2x Patriot, Elijah Bradley * Young Avenger
2x Lady Lark, Skylark
1x Black Panther, T’challa
2x Amphibian, Kingsley Rice
1x Wolverine, Secret Avenger
4x Playroom
4x Utopia Isle
4x Project Utopia
4x Legendary Battles
4x Reckless Youth
4x Switching Sides
4x Liberating Number 42
Do you remember when I extolled with great verbosity the virtues of Playroom, one of the key cards of the Avengers team attack strategy? It was a few weeks back, and I told you it totally rocked. It wasn't a subtle card, but that 4 damage could add up right quick with Quicksilver.
Well, with further thought, Project Utopia means that it can REALLY add up something fierce. A single Project Utopia, naming Quicksilver, means that every team attack stun he gets nets you over 8 points of endurance stun loss. Assuming they have a 2, a 3, and a 4 on turn four, and you have a Playroom and a Project Utopia, that's 34 damage. Imagine if you were playing against an off-curve deck? And, of course, you can have multiple Project Utopia's out at the same time....
There is, though, a drawback to Project Utopia. One of the best things about Quicksilver is that, after the board is clear, he can attack directly. Yes, you're gaining a significant amount of damage, but is it worth losing that pumpable direct attack? I think it definitely is...but just in case, I threw in Switching Sides. After Quicksilver demolishes your opponent's board, he can make nice with their highest drop and invite them over for tea. If you played a Legendary Battles that turn, that leaves you with 0 stunned characters, a massive endurance swing, and your opponent's highest drop.
Just to play it safe, however, I added a card called Utopia Isle, which reads as such...
Utopia Isle
2
To flip, exhaust two Squadron Supreme characters you control.
Whenever an attacker causes breakthrough while attacking a character, that attacker's controller loses 3 endurance.
You won't be causing my breakthrough on your attacks, but your opponents very well could be, and a fast-enough deck could outrush you. With this, though, even when they're hitting you as hard as they can, you're hitting back.
As always, I'm not entirely satisfied with the character selection - Quicksilver and Natasha are perfect, and it's my personal belief that Wolverine is the perfect finisher for the deck. He and Quicksilver can team into their last remaining character with a Legendary Battles, causing 13 damage and then letting Wolverine ready for a direct swing. Jarvis is nice, thanks to the lack of search (and no, I can't afford Avengers Reassembled), and Amphibian offers you a nice option just in case you don't want to underdrop on 4, as he can bring you back a plot twist you really need.
I would also seriously think about making room for AIDA, to prevent an opponent from exhaust Quicksilver before he can attack. You need Quicksilver to be free to attack, and AIDA helps guarantee that.
Still, the deck looks to be pretty fun, a slightly riskier but notably faster version of my X-Men/Avengers team attack deck. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all again soon!
Now, I was planning on doing a segment today trying to utilize Warworld for the BYOTT format, but the deck I had built just wasn't doing it for me. That isn't to say that it wasn't good - most of the decks I present to you are average, more theory than gameplay. It just wasn't satisfying enough, I suppose.
However, while combing through the cards that I thought I would enjoy using Warworld with, I began to look at Squadron Supreme. Squad was the first 'competitive' deck I ever built, and by that, I mean it was the first deck that my friends essentially gave me, with the sage advice to "Stop playing that frankly embarrassing Kang Lords X concoction and try and win a freaking game." They quickly came to regret this act of charity.
But we all know that the Squad No-Hand theme could be explosive. And I'm sure that most of you were aware that Squad had another theme. "Yes," I hear you say. "They had the No-Hand theme, and they had a theme that involved getting rid of the cards in their hand, right?"
"No," I say to you, "but verily didst they have a theme in which they did absolutely no breakthrough for any reason. And I do not know why."
One of the most potent cards this theme brought us was called Project Utopia, and it reads as follows....
Project Utopia
3
Choose a Squadron Supreme character you control.
Ongoing: Whenever the chosen character stuns a defender, that defender's controller loses 4 endurance.
Whenever the chosen character causes breakthrough, KO it.
Well, when I saw this card during the building of my Warworld deck, I certainly went, "...Quicksilver!" and thus was this deck born.
PROJECT UTOPIA
4x Jarvis, Honorary Avenger
2x Rick Jones, Hero’s Best Friend
2x Speed, Thomas Shepard * Young Avenger
2x Doctor Decibel, Anton Decibel
4x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, Super Spy
2x Wasp, Janet Van Dyne-Pym
2x Captain America, The Patior * Secret Avenger
4x Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger
2x Patriot, Elijah Bradley * Young Avenger
2x Lady Lark, Skylark
1x Black Panther, T’challa
2x Amphibian, Kingsley Rice
1x Wolverine, Secret Avenger
4x Playroom
4x Utopia Isle
4x Project Utopia
4x Legendary Battles
4x Reckless Youth
4x Switching Sides
4x Liberating Number 42
Do you remember when I extolled with great verbosity the virtues of Playroom, one of the key cards of the Avengers team attack strategy? It was a few weeks back, and I told you it totally rocked. It wasn't a subtle card, but that 4 damage could add up right quick with Quicksilver.
Well, with further thought, Project Utopia means that it can REALLY add up something fierce. A single Project Utopia, naming Quicksilver, means that every team attack stun he gets nets you over 8 points of endurance stun loss. Assuming they have a 2, a 3, and a 4 on turn four, and you have a Playroom and a Project Utopia, that's 34 damage. Imagine if you were playing against an off-curve deck? And, of course, you can have multiple Project Utopia's out at the same time....
There is, though, a drawback to Project Utopia. One of the best things about Quicksilver is that, after the board is clear, he can attack directly. Yes, you're gaining a significant amount of damage, but is it worth losing that pumpable direct attack? I think it definitely is...but just in case, I threw in Switching Sides. After Quicksilver demolishes your opponent's board, he can make nice with their highest drop and invite them over for tea. If you played a Legendary Battles that turn, that leaves you with 0 stunned characters, a massive endurance swing, and your opponent's highest drop.
Just to play it safe, however, I added a card called Utopia Isle, which reads as such...
Utopia Isle
2
To flip, exhaust two Squadron Supreme characters you control.
Whenever an attacker causes breakthrough while attacking a character, that attacker's controller loses 3 endurance.
You won't be causing my breakthrough on your attacks, but your opponents very well could be, and a fast-enough deck could outrush you. With this, though, even when they're hitting you as hard as they can, you're hitting back.
As always, I'm not entirely satisfied with the character selection - Quicksilver and Natasha are perfect, and it's my personal belief that Wolverine is the perfect finisher for the deck. He and Quicksilver can team into their last remaining character with a Legendary Battles, causing 13 damage and then letting Wolverine ready for a direct swing. Jarvis is nice, thanks to the lack of search (and no, I can't afford Avengers Reassembled), and Amphibian offers you a nice option just in case you don't want to underdrop on 4, as he can bring you back a plot twist you really need.
I would also seriously think about making room for AIDA, to prevent an opponent from exhaust Quicksilver before he can attack. You need Quicksilver to be free to attack, and AIDA helps guarantee that.
Still, the deck looks to be pretty fun, a slightly riskier but notably faster version of my X-Men/Avengers team attack deck. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you all again soon!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
VS: Bring Your Own Two Teams - Revenge Squad/League of Assassins Edition
When I first got into VS, I rarely, if ever, built competent decks. It’s nice to see that some things never change, huh? Yeah, you know!
*ahem*
Anyways, I wasn’t a good enough player or a good enough deck-builder to delve too deeply into strategy, but I thoroughly enjoyed one particular set of articles on Metagame.com – Breaking Ground. And one of my favorite articles over there introduced me to Plague Counters, a little-used League of Assassins theme that encompasses all of three cards in the entirety of the game.
Of course, that deck’s creation was back before the Revenge Squad was refeatured, giving them a single, massive bonus to the deck: Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin, Power Suit.
For those unfamiliar with Clench Virus, it’s a 3-cost plot twist that reads thus:
Play only if you control a League of Assassins character.
Ongoing: At the start of your attack step, put a plague counter on target character.
Whenever a character receives a plague counter, if that character has a number of plague counters greater than its cost, KO that character.
Not too shabby, huh? Of course, there’s a simple problem – just one of these isn’t going to do much. Two will obviously do more, but what you really want is 3-4 of them in your row. Three-four of them in a row can start knocking off characters every 1-2 turns, especially when combined with Poisoned!, a minor pump that’ll also give a plague counter.
So, here goes a modern take…
Plague Rats
4x Winslow Schott <> Toyman, Child’s Play
4x Terra-Man, Toby Manning
4x Atomic Skull, Joe Martin
4x Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin, Power Suit
3x The Mad Dog, Rabid Killer
4x Maxima, Empress of Almerac
2x Metallo, Kryptonite Heart
2x Talia, Daughter of Madness
2x Satanus, Evil Incarnate
4x Mountain Stronghold, Non-Unique
4x Tower of Babel
4x Poisoned!
4x Clench Virus
4x Executive Privilege
4x Never-Ending Battle
2x Hostage Situation
1x State of the Union
3x Death of Superman
So, there’s the game. The obvious stuff first – you want as many Clench Viruses in your row as you can get. Hostage Situation isn’t bad, and Executive Privilege is great, but you want some Clench Virus action going as soon as possible. Your mulligan is a Mountain Stronghold or Emil Hamilton, though obviously Clench Virus or Executive Privilege can be tough to pass up.
The deck plays exactly as you’d think it would. You keep their board clear using plague counters, refresh Poisoned when you need to with Winslow Schott. Terra Man, Atomic Skull, and Winslow Schott can all be played for free thanks to Talia, while Executive Privilege and Mountain Stronghold will both beef up your search and offer discards to her ability. Hostage Situation gives those low-drops something to do just in case, while Never-Ending Battle lets you push through the damage you need to on their diminishing board (with help from Death of Superman) to try and end things. Only bring out Satanus if you have initiative on 6 and you know you can't kill - a team attack into their 6 will net you a vastly superior position on 7, and your board will only keep improving.
Meanwhile, if you’re playing against Darkseid’s Elite or some other team that will fool around with your resource row, a single stun on Emil can send him scurrying for a copy of State of the Union, which will prevent opponents from targeting your row. And, finally, Tower of Babel proves to be one of the ultimate utility cards in the Bring Your Own Two-Team format, preventing a vast variety of support abilities – no legend support and no generic cards make Tower of Babel particularly nasty.
That’s all for tonight, but I’ll be back in a day or two with more fun stuff. Hope you had a good weekend!
*ahem*
Anyways, I wasn’t a good enough player or a good enough deck-builder to delve too deeply into strategy, but I thoroughly enjoyed one particular set of articles on Metagame.com – Breaking Ground. And one of my favorite articles over there introduced me to Plague Counters, a little-used League of Assassins theme that encompasses all of three cards in the entirety of the game.
Of course, that deck’s creation was back before the Revenge Squad was refeatured, giving them a single, massive bonus to the deck: Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin, Power Suit.
For those unfamiliar with Clench Virus, it’s a 3-cost plot twist that reads thus:
Play only if you control a League of Assassins character.
Ongoing: At the start of your attack step, put a plague counter on target character.
Whenever a character receives a plague counter, if that character has a number of plague counters greater than its cost, KO that character.
Not too shabby, huh? Of course, there’s a simple problem – just one of these isn’t going to do much. Two will obviously do more, but what you really want is 3-4 of them in your row. Three-four of them in a row can start knocking off characters every 1-2 turns, especially when combined with Poisoned!, a minor pump that’ll also give a plague counter.
So, here goes a modern take…
Plague Rats
4x Winslow Schott <> Toyman, Child’s Play
4x Terra-Man, Toby Manning
4x Atomic Skull, Joe Martin
4x Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin, Power Suit
3x The Mad Dog, Rabid Killer
4x Maxima, Empress of Almerac
2x Metallo, Kryptonite Heart
2x Talia, Daughter of Madness
2x Satanus, Evil Incarnate
4x Mountain Stronghold, Non-Unique
4x Tower of Babel
4x Poisoned!
4x Clench Virus
4x Executive Privilege
4x Never-Ending Battle
2x Hostage Situation
1x State of the Union
3x Death of Superman
So, there’s the game. The obvious stuff first – you want as many Clench Viruses in your row as you can get. Hostage Situation isn’t bad, and Executive Privilege is great, but you want some Clench Virus action going as soon as possible. Your mulligan is a Mountain Stronghold or Emil Hamilton, though obviously Clench Virus or Executive Privilege can be tough to pass up.
The deck plays exactly as you’d think it would. You keep their board clear using plague counters, refresh Poisoned when you need to with Winslow Schott. Terra Man, Atomic Skull, and Winslow Schott can all be played for free thanks to Talia, while Executive Privilege and Mountain Stronghold will both beef up your search and offer discards to her ability. Hostage Situation gives those low-drops something to do just in case, while Never-Ending Battle lets you push through the damage you need to on their diminishing board (with help from Death of Superman) to try and end things. Only bring out Satanus if you have initiative on 6 and you know you can't kill - a team attack into their 6 will net you a vastly superior position on 7, and your board will only keep improving.
Meanwhile, if you’re playing against Darkseid’s Elite or some other team that will fool around with your resource row, a single stun on Emil can send him scurrying for a copy of State of the Union, which will prevent opponents from targeting your row. And, finally, Tower of Babel proves to be one of the ultimate utility cards in the Bring Your Own Two-Team format, preventing a vast variety of support abilities – no legend support and no generic cards make Tower of Babel particularly nasty.
That’s all for tonight, but I’ll be back in a day or two with more fun stuff. Hope you had a good weekend!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
VS: Bring Your Own Two Teams - Crime Lords/JLI Edition
The Family. A criminal organization. If it gets big enough, if you get deep enough, it could be like a family. Really, anything can be like a family. A small super-team, no matter how ineffectual and goofy, could be like a family. It was, for the JLI. And the Crime Lords, like any good fictional criminal gang, places a lot of emphasis on family, on loyalty.
If you read the VS segments of my blog, you know that one of the teams that, for some inexplicable reason, I've always been quite fond of is Marvel's Crime Lords. For a long time considered one of the worst teams in the game, I loved them nonetheless, and it's always a pleasure to be able to build a Crime Lords deck utilizing old, and with MUN, new cards together.
Another team I've been fond of, though I neither discuss nor make use of them often, is the JLI. A team of goof-off super-heroes having bizarre adventures more suited to sit-com than spandex, the JLI offered an intriguing mix of comedy and drama in the comics, and so they are one of many teams that I'm desperately glad to see in VS.
In the newest Bring Your Own Two Teams format, you get to pick two teams, Golden Age, and you don't have to run a team-up. On the other hand, though, you flat-out can't run any generic cards. Almost every single type of deck in existence loses a lot from this. Savage Beatdown, Mobilize, Birthing Chambers - these are important, powerful cards, and we can't use them. So, you build around it.
The JLI offer two things to the Crime Lords in the way of characters - Martian Manhunter, a board-reinforcement guy on a team that enjoys reinforcement, and Animal Man, a character who gets bigger whenever he enters combat. They also offer effects that will allow Animal Man multiple safe attacks in a turn in Safety in Numbers, and full-on attack negation in Running Interference.
Meanwhile, the Crime Lords offer you Underground Laboratory, a brutally efficient card-draw engine (I wonder if Checkmate could do anything with that...?), a way to make Animal Man your defender whenever you want in Armed Escort, and one of the best defense pumps available in Drive-By Shooting. They also offer a low-cost army character that recovers characters and has range. These things, they are very nice.
So, once again, I present to you - a deck using pet teams and themes that are vastly enhanced by the lack of a team-up needed! Woohoo! I can literally smell your thrill from over here.
6x The Hand, Army * HYDRA
8x AIM Agents, Army * AIM
4x Sue Dibny, Charismatic Coordinator
4x Sin, Synthia Schmidt * RAID
2x Arnim Zola, The Bio-Fanatic * RAID
4x Animal Man, Buddy Baker
3x Martian Manhunter, Founding Member
1x The Sleeper, Doomsday Device * RAID
4x Armed Escort
4x Underground Laboratory
4x Drive-By Shooting
4x UN General Assembly
4x Good Night, Sweet Prince
4x Running Interference
4x Safety in Numbers
And that's that. Obviously, you want Animal Man out on 4 or 5. On or off initiative doesn't matter - he's an extremely efficient 4-drop, nothing more, and one that allows you to under-drop in later turns without penalizing yourself in available ATK/DEF. Martian Manhunter means each and every single one of those army guys are going to be reinforced and a simple exhaust will equal crazy card-draw, while the recovery ability of The Hand, and the ability of Sin, will allow you to negate attacks on Animal Man with Running Interference. Arnim Zola can turn otherwise dead army-characters into a 4-point swing each turn, and when The Sleeper comes down, that should be all she wrote.
I hope you've enjoyed yourself. It could definitely use some tweaking from a more experienced deck-builder, but the deck is certainly fun. I've got a few more decks I'm playing with in my head right now, for future use, and coming up pretty soon we'll see the blog expand into discussion of a few fiction authors some of you might just get a kick out of, as well as the usual rigamarole of my own personal blatherings.
Hope the weekend was great, and enjoy the semi-holiday tomorrow!
If you read the VS segments of my blog, you know that one of the teams that, for some inexplicable reason, I've always been quite fond of is Marvel's Crime Lords. For a long time considered one of the worst teams in the game, I loved them nonetheless, and it's always a pleasure to be able to build a Crime Lords deck utilizing old, and with MUN, new cards together.
Another team I've been fond of, though I neither discuss nor make use of them often, is the JLI. A team of goof-off super-heroes having bizarre adventures more suited to sit-com than spandex, the JLI offered an intriguing mix of comedy and drama in the comics, and so they are one of many teams that I'm desperately glad to see in VS.
In the newest Bring Your Own Two Teams format, you get to pick two teams, Golden Age, and you don't have to run a team-up. On the other hand, though, you flat-out can't run any generic cards. Almost every single type of deck in existence loses a lot from this. Savage Beatdown, Mobilize, Birthing Chambers - these are important, powerful cards, and we can't use them. So, you build around it.
The JLI offer two things to the Crime Lords in the way of characters - Martian Manhunter, a board-reinforcement guy on a team that enjoys reinforcement, and Animal Man, a character who gets bigger whenever he enters combat. They also offer effects that will allow Animal Man multiple safe attacks in a turn in Safety in Numbers, and full-on attack negation in Running Interference.
Meanwhile, the Crime Lords offer you Underground Laboratory, a brutally efficient card-draw engine (I wonder if Checkmate could do anything with that...?), a way to make Animal Man your defender whenever you want in Armed Escort, and one of the best defense pumps available in Drive-By Shooting. They also offer a low-cost army character that recovers characters and has range. These things, they are very nice.
So, once again, I present to you - a deck using pet teams and themes that are vastly enhanced by the lack of a team-up needed! Woohoo! I can literally smell your thrill from over here.
6x The Hand, Army * HYDRA
8x AIM Agents, Army * AIM
4x Sue Dibny, Charismatic Coordinator
4x Sin, Synthia Schmidt * RAID
2x Arnim Zola, The Bio-Fanatic * RAID
4x Animal Man, Buddy Baker
3x Martian Manhunter, Founding Member
1x The Sleeper, Doomsday Device * RAID
4x Armed Escort
4x Underground Laboratory
4x Drive-By Shooting
4x UN General Assembly
4x Good Night, Sweet Prince
4x Running Interference
4x Safety in Numbers
And that's that. Obviously, you want Animal Man out on 4 or 5. On or off initiative doesn't matter - he's an extremely efficient 4-drop, nothing more, and one that allows you to under-drop in later turns without penalizing yourself in available ATK/DEF. Martian Manhunter means each and every single one of those army guys are going to be reinforced and a simple exhaust will equal crazy card-draw, while the recovery ability of The Hand, and the ability of Sin, will allow you to negate attacks on Animal Man with Running Interference. Arnim Zola can turn otherwise dead army-characters into a 4-point swing each turn, and when The Sleeper comes down, that should be all she wrote.
I hope you've enjoyed yourself. It could definitely use some tweaking from a more experienced deck-builder, but the deck is certainly fun. I've got a few more decks I'm playing with in my head right now, for future use, and coming up pretty soon we'll see the blog expand into discussion of a few fiction authors some of you might just get a kick out of, as well as the usual rigamarole of my own personal blatherings.
Hope the weekend was great, and enjoy the semi-holiday tomorrow!
Monday, October 6, 2008
VS: Bring Your Own Two Teams - Avengers/X-Men Edition
Whenever a new format comes out, I end up hoping and praying that it’ll let me play with my single favorite sub-theme of all time – Avengers team-attack. I know that the Avengers part isn’t part of the theme, but I still find that the Avengers in MAV are the most fun, competitive team-attackers ever made. Much as I love the Young Avengers content in MUN, the lack of effects like Legendary Battles, Playroom, Quicksilver, and Natasha make it so that they can’t quite hold a candle.
They are, however, an excellent addition, because aside from those four cards, the old Avengers lacked strong team-attack based characters like Patriot, Speed, and Vision, and effects like Liberating Number 42 provide a frankly brutal amount of potential card draw.
Of course, the most recent announced format is Bring Your Own Two Team, a golden age format that automatically teams up two teams of your choice, but bans generic cards of any sort, like most of the most popular, powerful cards: Mobilize, Savage Beatdown, Blinding Rage, etc…. It also, I believe, bans Legendary cards, unless they also reference one of your two team affiliations.
Since the format’s Golden Age, a format that I often find less than appealing, it allows me access to my old Avengers team-attack core. And since it automatically teams up, I don’t have to worry nearly as much about getting a team-up online, opening up roughly 8 slots in the deck.
The X-Men don’t offer a bunch of powerful effects, but they don’t have to – the Avengers pack a powerful punch – but between their three features, they definitely have the tools to fill the holes in the Avengers roster, with powerful team attack centric characters like Cyclops, Slim, and the slightly toned-down functional reprint of Quicksilver in Nightcrawler, Man of the Cloth, not to mention potent plot twists like Time Breach, Bamf!, and Turnabout.
While many of the hardest hitting decks are slowed down slightly in this format thanks to a lack of generics, this deck is vastly enhanced by the format, not needing to worry about getting a team-up online ASAP, and most of the best team-attack support cards have been hard-stamped to a team. Still, I should stop talking up the deck, as I’m sure a more gifted deck-builder could do something far more impressive with the basics, and just give you my amateurish first draft of the deck.
So, without further ado, I present to you…
GABYOTTAXMTA!
4x Jubilee, Jubilation Lee
4x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, Super Spy
3x Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger
3x Captain America, The Patriot * Secret Avenger
1x Falcon, Secret Avenger
1x Hawkeye <> Ronin, Secret Avenger
1x Patriot, Elijah Bradley * Young Avenger
1x Kate Bishop <> Hawkeye, Young Avenger
3x Speed, Thomas Shepard * Young Avenger
3x Cyclops, Slim
3x Nightcrawler, Man of the Cloth
2x Professor X, Idealistic Dreamer
1x Monica Rambeau <> Captain Marvel, Lady of Light
4x Playroom
3x Muir Island
4x Legendary Battles
4x Liberating Number 42
3x Switching Sides
4x Time Breach
4x Bamf!
4x Turnabout
The deck is immensely flexible – Natasha or Slim on 2, Nightcrawler or Quicksilver on 3, or underdrop them later. You want access to Legendary Battles and Bamf! as soon as possible, and Playroom is the most brutal, and necessary, card of them all. Without a ‘once per turn’ trigger, Playroom will kill a weenie deck as early as turn 4 – if they have 5 1-drops and you have Nightcrawler and Quicksilver with a single Legendary Battles, you just dealt 36 damage and lost none...and if you have a Liberating Number 42, you just rallied for 10 character cards as well. Even against a curve deck, the damage adds up quickly, and the sheer number of ways you can hit the opponent can make it difficult to lock down.
So, there’s my first BYOTT.ga deck. I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll be back in a day or two with a new update.
They are, however, an excellent addition, because aside from those four cards, the old Avengers lacked strong team-attack based characters like Patriot, Speed, and Vision, and effects like Liberating Number 42 provide a frankly brutal amount of potential card draw.
Of course, the most recent announced format is Bring Your Own Two Team, a golden age format that automatically teams up two teams of your choice, but bans generic cards of any sort, like most of the most popular, powerful cards: Mobilize, Savage Beatdown, Blinding Rage, etc…. It also, I believe, bans Legendary cards, unless they also reference one of your two team affiliations.
Since the format’s Golden Age, a format that I often find less than appealing, it allows me access to my old Avengers team-attack core. And since it automatically teams up, I don’t have to worry nearly as much about getting a team-up online, opening up roughly 8 slots in the deck.
The X-Men don’t offer a bunch of powerful effects, but they don’t have to – the Avengers pack a powerful punch – but between their three features, they definitely have the tools to fill the holes in the Avengers roster, with powerful team attack centric characters like Cyclops, Slim, and the slightly toned-down functional reprint of Quicksilver in Nightcrawler, Man of the Cloth, not to mention potent plot twists like Time Breach, Bamf!, and Turnabout.
While many of the hardest hitting decks are slowed down slightly in this format thanks to a lack of generics, this deck is vastly enhanced by the format, not needing to worry about getting a team-up online ASAP, and most of the best team-attack support cards have been hard-stamped to a team. Still, I should stop talking up the deck, as I’m sure a more gifted deck-builder could do something far more impressive with the basics, and just give you my amateurish first draft of the deck.
So, without further ado, I present to you…
GABYOTTAXMTA!
4x Jubilee, Jubilation Lee
4x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, Super Spy
3x Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger
3x Captain America, The Patriot * Secret Avenger
1x Falcon, Secret Avenger
1x Hawkeye <> Ronin, Secret Avenger
1x Patriot, Elijah Bradley * Young Avenger
1x Kate Bishop <> Hawkeye, Young Avenger
3x Speed, Thomas Shepard * Young Avenger
3x Cyclops, Slim
3x Nightcrawler, Man of the Cloth
2x Professor X, Idealistic Dreamer
1x Monica Rambeau <> Captain Marvel, Lady of Light
4x Playroom
3x Muir Island
4x Legendary Battles
4x Liberating Number 42
3x Switching Sides
4x Time Breach
4x Bamf!
4x Turnabout
The deck is immensely flexible – Natasha or Slim on 2, Nightcrawler or Quicksilver on 3, or underdrop them later. You want access to Legendary Battles and Bamf! as soon as possible, and Playroom is the most brutal, and necessary, card of them all. Without a ‘once per turn’ trigger, Playroom will kill a weenie deck as early as turn 4 – if they have 5 1-drops and you have Nightcrawler and Quicksilver with a single Legendary Battles, you just dealt 36 damage and lost none...and if you have a Liberating Number 42, you just rallied for 10 character cards as well. Even against a curve deck, the damage adds up quickly, and the sheer number of ways you can hit the opponent can make it difficult to lock down.
So, there’s my first BYOTT.ga deck. I hope you enjoyed, and I’ll be back in a day or two with a new update.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
VS: The Clone Wars
So, we finally hear what the next hobby league format is, and it's an interesting one, especially with the popularity of legends in today's environment - the official rules of which read...
This marquee event is the first ever VS System Silver Age Clone Saga event. For this event, players may build any deck legal in Silver age. During the game, the uniqueness rule does not apply to characters when recruiting or substituting.
So, Silver-age legal, no deck restrictions, same ban list as always applies. Still, the lack of uniqueness provides for some interesting deck-building options. Yeah, there are plenty of people who are going to play Darkseid's Elite, Spider-Friends Stall, Wolverine Legends, World's Finest - expect to see ALL the old stand-bys.
That said, in the very first BUILD A LEGEND event, my deck of choice was a golden-age Barbara Gordon legends deck. Batman, Superman, and the MVL legends were too expensive to build. A friend already had Darkseid built. Also, I'm a big fan of Barbara Gordon.
So, let's build a Barbara Gordon deck for the Clone Saga!
Characters
2x Shadowcat, Phase Shifter
2x Vixen, Tantu Totem
2x Ray Palmer <> The Atom, Tiny Titan
1x Catwoman, Cat 'O Nine Tails
2x The Shade, Ageless Enigma
2x Shadow-Thief, Umbral Burglar
5x Surveillance Pawn, Army
4x Tattooed Man, Art Imitates Life
1x Lady Blackhawk, Zinda Blake
1x Deadpool, Interminable Terminator
1x Captain Boomerang, George Harkness
1x Lieutenant Kona Lor, Lunatic Legion
1x Superwoman, Earth 3
2x Huntress, Vicious Vigilante
1x Krypto, Guard Dog of El
1x Bart Allen <> Kid Flash, Heir to the Mantle
1x Jason Todd <> Red Hood, Revived
1x Owlman, Earth 3
1x Black Manta, Deepwater Denizen
4x Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin,
4x Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
Plot Twists
4x Secret Files
4x Superhuman Registration Act, Team-Up
4x Savage Beatdown
4x Blinding Rage
4x Big Leagues
Okay...
Now, this was just tossed off right here. It could use some refinement - a LOT of refinement - still, it's an insane concept that generally works out to being pretty fun. You want to hit Emil Hamilton by turn 3, to throw a Superhuman Registration Act in your row. After that, you want to get rid of him in favor of Barbara. You can keep dropping characters like Owlman, Black Manta, or Jason Todd on turns when they'd be helpful, then subbing them out for Barbara.
Registration Act is great for flooding the field, but you also need card draw. You need to hit your attack pumps if you want to kill - and when Barbara Gordon isn't unique...well, you could be drawing a lot of cards. With Tattooed Man non-unique, you could be playing a lot of those extra 1-drops. Surveillance Pawn, with this much flood, could end up being a pretty huge bump.
It's a simple deck, and I plan on playing around with it a little bit, but even if it was absolutely terrible (okay, it might be bad, but even if it was absolutely unfun, I meant) - it fulfills my goals to make sure that Barbara Gordon is awesome in every format of every game of VS played. Dammit.
This marquee event is the first ever VS System Silver Age Clone Saga event. For this event, players may build any deck legal in Silver age. During the game, the uniqueness rule does not apply to characters when recruiting or substituting.
So, Silver-age legal, no deck restrictions, same ban list as always applies. Still, the lack of uniqueness provides for some interesting deck-building options. Yeah, there are plenty of people who are going to play Darkseid's Elite, Spider-Friends Stall, Wolverine Legends, World's Finest - expect to see ALL the old stand-bys.
That said, in the very first BUILD A LEGEND event, my deck of choice was a golden-age Barbara Gordon legends deck. Batman, Superman, and the MVL legends were too expensive to build. A friend already had Darkseid built. Also, I'm a big fan of Barbara Gordon.
So, let's build a Barbara Gordon deck for the Clone Saga!
Characters
2x Shadowcat, Phase Shifter
2x Vixen, Tantu Totem
2x Ray Palmer <> The Atom, Tiny Titan
1x Catwoman, Cat 'O Nine Tails
2x The Shade, Ageless Enigma
2x Shadow-Thief, Umbral Burglar
5x Surveillance Pawn, Army
4x Tattooed Man, Art Imitates Life
1x Lady Blackhawk, Zinda Blake
1x Deadpool, Interminable Terminator
1x Captain Boomerang, George Harkness
1x Lieutenant Kona Lor, Lunatic Legion
1x Superwoman, Earth 3
2x Huntress, Vicious Vigilante
1x Krypto, Guard Dog of El
1x Bart Allen <> Kid Flash, Heir to the Mantle
1x Jason Todd <> Red Hood, Revived
1x Owlman, Earth 3
1x Black Manta, Deepwater Denizen
4x Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin,
4x Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
Plot Twists
4x Secret Files
4x Superhuman Registration Act, Team-Up
4x Savage Beatdown
4x Blinding Rage
4x Big Leagues
Okay...
Now, this was just tossed off right here. It could use some refinement - a LOT of refinement - still, it's an insane concept that generally works out to being pretty fun. You want to hit Emil Hamilton by turn 3, to throw a Superhuman Registration Act in your row. After that, you want to get rid of him in favor of Barbara. You can keep dropping characters like Owlman, Black Manta, or Jason Todd on turns when they'd be helpful, then subbing them out for Barbara.
Registration Act is great for flooding the field, but you also need card draw. You need to hit your attack pumps if you want to kill - and when Barbara Gordon isn't unique...well, you could be drawing a lot of cards. With Tattooed Man non-unique, you could be playing a lot of those extra 1-drops. Surveillance Pawn, with this much flood, could end up being a pretty huge bump.
It's a simple deck, and I plan on playing around with it a little bit, but even if it was absolutely terrible (okay, it might be bad, but even if it was absolutely unfun, I meant) - it fulfills my goals to make sure that Barbara Gordon is awesome in every format of every game of VS played. Dammit.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
re: Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
So, I talked earlier about my desire to use him in a deck. Then, I decided upon Marvel Knights, largely because it's been awhile since I built a Marvel Knights deck. Thankfully, MK had Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser, an almost perfect counter-part to Shiloh. However, burning as much life as I was likely to be burning through, I decided that it would be a pretty decent idea to include a little life-gain lovin', and why not use another team that often goes neglected for me: the Heralds of Galactus, one of the better life-gain decks in the game.
I was all set to begin building when, to no surprise to anyone, Marvel Universe came out, offering me a good deal more options. Now, obviously, we want to slow down the game. We want to slow it down a lot. There are a few recent cards that help with that that we'll be throwing in here...
Dirty Tricks
Cost: 3
Ongoing: Characters get -1 ATK.
and
Empire's End
Cost: 4
Play only during the build phase.
Ongoing: Characters that entered play this turn get -2 ATK.
Well, those are pretty decent in terms of staying alive.
Shilo Norman <> Mr. Miracle
Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
Dirty Tricks
Empire's End
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
Neighborhood Watch, Team-Up
Right now we've only got a 3-drop and a 5-drop. We need a Heralds character somewhere...
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
2
Heralds of Galactus
Flight
Range
ATK: 3
DEF: 2
Cosmic: Activate -> Search your deck for a card with cost 4 or greater, reveal it, and put it on the top of your deck.
And where would he be without his board?
Silver Surfer's Board
Equip only to Silver Surfer.
Exhaust Silver Surfer's Board -> Put a cosmic counter on a cosmic character you control. You may move equipped character to your hidden or visible area.
Why do we need his board? His board is only really helpful if you've got some Cosmic character on the field. If we're gaining endurance, and we want a cosmic character, and we need a 4-drop...
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
Cost:4
Team: Heralds of Galactus, Fantastic Four
Flight
Range
ATK: 7
DEF: 7
Heralds of Galactus defenders you control have reinforcement.
Cosmic: If a character you control would cause breakthrough, instead, gain that much endurance.
That gives us
2
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
3
Shilo Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
4
Human Torch, Invisible Man
5
Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
That's an ideal curve - but if we know anything, it's that we aren't going to always get our ideal curve. And we should probably pad out our curve a little.
On one, we have some options...
Frank Drake, Nightstalker
Black Cat, Thrillseeker
Galan, Famished
On two...
Blade, Nightstalker
Punisher, Suicide Run
On three...
Echo, Masterless Samurai
Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
So, what are our options here?
Well, Black Cat would be quite helpful - but there's the downside, after the first few turns, we probably won't be hitting anyone directly.
Frank Drake is pretty nice. He can get out of the way when we need him to, and he helps us get over our hurdles for Dirty Tricks to get some stuns in on the offensive.
Galan...well, he just gives us endurance.
If we ran one-drops, it would probably be Frank Drake and Galan - but do we really want to run one-drops?
On twos, we've got two decent choices.
Blade is nice. He'll keep the opponent's characters locked down after Daredevil or Shilo lock him down, but his discard cost can be steep over the course of the game, and since he's visible, there's no way to guarantee he won't just get slammed first.
Punisher, on the other hand, can wait until I stun an important character then get himself scarce. He can exhaust to pay the costs of effects and still use his ability, and the fact that he's hidden means he can probably stick around until we need him. I think Punisher will be our alternate 2-drop.
On the three-drops?
Well, Air-Walker is nice. His 3 attack hardly matters, and his exhaustion ability definitely helps lessen the amount of damage we'll take. All around, Air-Walker is a solid back-up.
Unfortunately, Echo is another decent choice for an alternate 3. Echo will get stunned, but Echo is probably the most reliable way we have to get the stuns on our opponent. Her 0 ATK isn't really a drawback in this deck and with her ability. Still, I think Air-Walker is the way to go here.
So, if we go over what we've got, we have...
2
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
Punisher, Suicide Run
3
Shilo Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
4
Human Torch, Invisible Man
5
Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
So, how are we going to kill? The obvious choice would be Galactus on turn 9 - with Silver Surfer, The Last Zenn-Lavian's help, that could be brought down to turn 8. I think we stand a pretty fair chance of lasting 'til turn 8 as is against some decks, though not all.
That's all we're going to do today, but we're getting close to being done with the deck. Will it work? Who knows. Will it be fun? It generally is.
Hope you enjoyed your weekend, and more regular updates will be coming up.
I was all set to begin building when, to no surprise to anyone, Marvel Universe came out, offering me a good deal more options. Now, obviously, we want to slow down the game. We want to slow it down a lot. There are a few recent cards that help with that that we'll be throwing in here...
Dirty Tricks
Cost: 3
Ongoing: Characters get -1 ATK.
and
Empire's End
Cost: 4
Play only during the build phase.
Ongoing: Characters that entered play this turn get -2 ATK.
Well, those are pretty decent in terms of staying alive.
Shilo Norman <> Mr. Miracle
Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
Dirty Tricks
Empire's End
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
Neighborhood Watch, Team-Up
Right now we've only got a 3-drop and a 5-drop. We need a Heralds character somewhere...
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
2
Heralds of Galactus
Flight
Range
ATK: 3
DEF: 2
Cosmic: Activate -> Search your deck for a card with cost 4 or greater, reveal it, and put it on the top of your deck.
And where would he be without his board?
Silver Surfer's Board
Equip only to Silver Surfer.
Exhaust Silver Surfer's Board -> Put a cosmic counter on a cosmic character you control. You may move equipped character to your hidden or visible area.
Why do we need his board? His board is only really helpful if you've got some Cosmic character on the field. If we're gaining endurance, and we want a cosmic character, and we need a 4-drop...
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
Cost:4
Team: Heralds of Galactus, Fantastic Four
Flight
Range
ATK: 7
DEF: 7
Heralds of Galactus defenders you control have reinforcement.
Cosmic: If a character you control would cause breakthrough, instead, gain that much endurance.
That gives us
2
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
3
Shilo Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
4
Human Torch, Invisible Man
5
Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
That's an ideal curve - but if we know anything, it's that we aren't going to always get our ideal curve. And we should probably pad out our curve a little.
On one, we have some options...
Frank Drake, Nightstalker
Black Cat, Thrillseeker
Galan, Famished
On two...
Blade, Nightstalker
Punisher, Suicide Run
On three...
Echo, Masterless Samurai
Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
So, what are our options here?
Well, Black Cat would be quite helpful - but there's the downside, after the first few turns, we probably won't be hitting anyone directly.
Frank Drake is pretty nice. He can get out of the way when we need him to, and he helps us get over our hurdles for Dirty Tricks to get some stuns in on the offensive.
Galan...well, he just gives us endurance.
If we ran one-drops, it would probably be Frank Drake and Galan - but do we really want to run one-drops?
On twos, we've got two decent choices.
Blade is nice. He'll keep the opponent's characters locked down after Daredevil or Shilo lock him down, but his discard cost can be steep over the course of the game, and since he's visible, there's no way to guarantee he won't just get slammed first.
Punisher, on the other hand, can wait until I stun an important character then get himself scarce. He can exhaust to pay the costs of effects and still use his ability, and the fact that he's hidden means he can probably stick around until we need him. I think Punisher will be our alternate 2-drop.
On the three-drops?
Well, Air-Walker is nice. His 3 attack hardly matters, and his exhaustion ability definitely helps lessen the amount of damage we'll take. All around, Air-Walker is a solid back-up.
Unfortunately, Echo is another decent choice for an alternate 3. Echo will get stunned, but Echo is probably the most reliable way we have to get the stuns on our opponent. Her 0 ATK isn't really a drawback in this deck and with her ability. Still, I think Air-Walker is the way to go here.
So, if we go over what we've got, we have...
2
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
Punisher, Suicide Run
3
Shilo Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
4
Human Torch, Invisible Man
5
Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
So, how are we going to kill? The obvious choice would be Galactus on turn 9 - with Silver Surfer, The Last Zenn-Lavian's help, that could be brought down to turn 8. I think we stand a pretty fair chance of lasting 'til turn 8 as is against some decks, though not all.
That's all we're going to do today, but we're getting close to being done with the deck. Will it work? Who knows. Will it be fun? It generally is.
Hope you enjoyed your weekend, and more regular updates will be coming up.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Building Marvel Soldiers
Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
Cost: 5
Team: Marvel Knights
ATK: 9
DEF: 9
[Activate] -> Remove any number of target attackers from this attack. Lose endurance equal to the combined cost of characters removed this way.
When I said that I wanted to make a deck utilizing Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, my mind first popped over to the Marvel Knights. It did that largely because of Neighborhood Watch. I initially thought that Shiloh had Loyalty, and so could only be played with the Marvel Knights. I was wrong, of course. I am sometimes an idiot. However, when I was looking through the available Marvel Knights characters for some decent stall choices, I noticed a stand-out. Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser.
Daredevil's effect is remarkably similar to Shiloh's, with the same strengths and weaknesses. Much like Shiloh, it's an effect that essentially burns through your endurance but, in return, forces an opponent to burn through an attack to get what they want. He's tough to get rid of, but he does have one important downside: the endurance cost. Between paying 3 endurance for Shiloh and a varying amount of endurance with Daredevil, you need to be gaining a lot of endurance, and I'm sorry to say, Marvel Knights just doesn't do too much of that.
Right now, we've only got three cards in for sure.
3x Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
4x Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
4x Neighborhood Watch, Team-Up
Now, in order for this to work, we're going to need to team-up, so in lieu of anything fancy, I'm going to add in a generic team-up - The Multiverse, Team-Up - four of 'em, I think.
Now, that's the core. And one of the strengths of that core is, of course, Neighborhood Watch, which will allow you to name any team. But would any team really help us do what we want?
Well, Heralds of Galactus certainly have one or two cards that help us with our endurance problems - not to mention, of course, a good game ender for any stall deck in the Big Galactus himself. So what cards might be helpful in our deck?
Cosmic Necessity may not be bad - it's a card that will net us either two cards, or 5 endurance, at the cost of exhausting Shiloh Norman, who we'll probably be stunning every single turn anyway. I Hunger is a great card for helping us lower the amount of endurance we'll be losing, and Inspiring Demise is great for throwing down to keep your board presence, even if it does net your opponent some endurance. And wouldn't The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up be a more versatile generic team-up for this deck than The Multiverse? I think it would be.
So, right now, we have three teams, working together to make sure that an opponent won't be busting through your defenses anytime soon. The Heralds will keep you alive as the New Gods and the Marvel Knights work in tandem to shut your opponent down. Will this work? I have absolutely no idea - but I like the idea. In a couple days, we'll work to nail down the characters a little more, and with that done, we'll be able to settle on some plot twists.
Cost: 5
Team: Marvel Knights
ATK: 9
DEF: 9
[Activate] -> Remove any number of target attackers from this attack. Lose endurance equal to the combined cost of characters removed this way.
When I said that I wanted to make a deck utilizing Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, my mind first popped over to the Marvel Knights. It did that largely because of Neighborhood Watch. I initially thought that Shiloh had Loyalty, and so could only be played with the Marvel Knights. I was wrong, of course. I am sometimes an idiot. However, when I was looking through the available Marvel Knights characters for some decent stall choices, I noticed a stand-out. Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser.
Daredevil's effect is remarkably similar to Shiloh's, with the same strengths and weaknesses. Much like Shiloh, it's an effect that essentially burns through your endurance but, in return, forces an opponent to burn through an attack to get what they want. He's tough to get rid of, but he does have one important downside: the endurance cost. Between paying 3 endurance for Shiloh and a varying amount of endurance with Daredevil, you need to be gaining a lot of endurance, and I'm sorry to say, Marvel Knights just doesn't do too much of that.
Right now, we've only got three cards in for sure.
3x Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
4x Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
4x Neighborhood Watch, Team-Up
Now, in order for this to work, we're going to need to team-up, so in lieu of anything fancy, I'm going to add in a generic team-up - The Multiverse, Team-Up - four of 'em, I think.
Now, that's the core. And one of the strengths of that core is, of course, Neighborhood Watch, which will allow you to name any team. But would any team really help us do what we want?
Well, Heralds of Galactus certainly have one or two cards that help us with our endurance problems - not to mention, of course, a good game ender for any stall deck in the Big Galactus himself. So what cards might be helpful in our deck?
Cosmic Necessity may not be bad - it's a card that will net us either two cards, or 5 endurance, at the cost of exhausting Shiloh Norman, who we'll probably be stunning every single turn anyway. I Hunger is a great card for helping us lower the amount of endurance we'll be losing, and Inspiring Demise is great for throwing down to keep your board presence, even if it does net your opponent some endurance. And wouldn't The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up be a more versatile generic team-up for this deck than The Multiverse? I think it would be.
So, right now, we have three teams, working together to make sure that an opponent won't be busting through your defenses anytime soon. The Heralds will keep you alive as the New Gods and the Marvel Knights work in tandem to shut your opponent down. Will this work? I have absolutely no idea - but I like the idea. In a couple days, we'll work to nail down the characters a little more, and with that done, we'll be able to settle on some plot twists.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory
You might have guessed from my name here - I loved Grant Morrison's 'Seven Soldiers of Victory'. It's been a continual minor disappointment to me that they haven't had better representation in Vs. The game is great enough, there are enough characters and teams I like for this not to hurt the game, but man, I would love to see a full Seven Soldiers team, based on Morrison's book. It would be awesome.
Until my dream comes true, I've satisfied myself with what I have - Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory. Shiloh Norman is on the New Gods, a team rather notably absent from modern and silver age. That makes it difficult to
3 cost
Ranged
ATK: 4
DEF: 5
Evasion
Vengeance: Whenever Shiloh Norman becomes stunned while defending, you may remove target attacker from this attack if you control another New Gods character.
That's what Shiloh Norman reads. Now, here are some downsides to Shiloh Norman - there are almost no characters to use him with in Silver Age. On the upside, he's a three-cost character who exists in the era of 2-drop Quicksilver who can essentially negate an attack. Of course, in the era of Pathetic Attempt, he's got a significant potential downside, but let's ignore that. How can we build a good Silver Age deck around Shiloh Norman? In an extremely attack-heavy era, he's a good card.
Well, if we want to make the best use of him, we obviously need to team up. There are a lot of teams we could use, of course. The first thing I thought of when I saw him though, was stall. I mean, he's a great stall card. It's a 3-drop who stays around forever and absorbs one attack every turn. So, the first team I thought of for this stall deck was, of course...Marvel Knights.
I know a good blogger would probably be saying this having planned ahead. This is untrue with me. I want to use Shiloh Norman, and the Marvel Knights seemed like an interesting choice. As I work on a few other far less interesting decks for the blog, I'll also be working on this one. And I'll be widening the variety of things I talk about on my blog, as I have come, in the last two months, to realize that, with so much time between VS sets, I need to expand my repertoire for the coming months if I want to have any hope at all of providing you with interesting, regular content.
I'll post again in a couple days. Until then - enjoy yourself, and keep the countdown to Marvel Universe going strong!
Until my dream comes true, I've satisfied myself with what I have - Shiloh Norman <> Mr. Miracle, Soldier of Victory. Shiloh Norman is on the New Gods, a team rather notably absent from modern and silver age. That makes it difficult to
3 cost
Ranged
ATK: 4
DEF: 5
Evasion
Vengeance: Whenever Shiloh Norman becomes stunned while defending, you may remove target attacker from this attack if you control another New Gods character.
That's what Shiloh Norman reads. Now, here are some downsides to Shiloh Norman - there are almost no characters to use him with in Silver Age. On the upside, he's a three-cost character who exists in the era of 2-drop Quicksilver who can essentially negate an attack. Of course, in the era of Pathetic Attempt, he's got a significant potential downside, but let's ignore that. How can we build a good Silver Age deck around Shiloh Norman? In an extremely attack-heavy era, he's a good card.
Well, if we want to make the best use of him, we obviously need to team up. There are a lot of teams we could use, of course. The first thing I thought of when I saw him though, was stall. I mean, he's a great stall card. It's a 3-drop who stays around forever and absorbs one attack every turn. So, the first team I thought of for this stall deck was, of course...Marvel Knights.
I know a good blogger would probably be saying this having planned ahead. This is untrue with me. I want to use Shiloh Norman, and the Marvel Knights seemed like an interesting choice. As I work on a few other far less interesting decks for the blog, I'll also be working on this one. And I'll be widening the variety of things I talk about on my blog, as I have come, in the last two months, to realize that, with so much time between VS sets, I need to expand my repertoire for the coming months if I want to have any hope at all of providing you with interesting, regular content.
I'll post again in a couple days. Until then - enjoy yourself, and keep the countdown to Marvel Universe going strong!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Unlegendary Luke Cage
2
4x Luke Cage, Steel Hard Skin
4x Namorita, Atlantean Warrior Princess
2x Punisher, Suicide Run
3
4x Cloak, Shadowmaster
2x Thing, Idol O’ Millions
4
4x Human Torch, the Invisible Man
1x Daredevil, Hornhead
5
4x Iron Fist, Hired Hero
6
4x Luke Cage, Hired Hero
7
2x Hulk, The Fantastic Hulk
Locations
3x The New Baxter Building
3x Pier 4
3x Birthing Chamber
Equipment
4x Fantasticar 2.0
3x Unstable Molecular Suit
3x Power Armor
3x Reality Gem
3x Ego Gem
Plot Twists
3x Heroes of the City, Team-Up
3x Neighborhood Watch, Team-Up
This should be 61 cards - but this, right now, is a very rough draft.
So, what's the point? Well, the point is to keep Fantastic Four and Marvel Knights working together. Draw cards with New Baxter Building and Ego Gem, keep one or two characters visible, keep your hidden area thriving, to get more cards with Birthing Chamber. Originally, Pier 4 had been taken out for Dark Alley, but Pier 4 seems like it will be better to keep things going strong. You want to use Human Torch on 4 to keep your smaller visible characters reinforced if you can, and then throwing him forward to help you gain endurance. Keep your hand big, and kill with Hulk on 7/8.
Things that I want to include
Signal Flare
Wild Ride
Attack pumps
Now, I'm going to try and build this this week for my local hobby league, and I'll let you know how that goes. Meanwhile, I'll be working on my other unLegends this week.
Oh - and Iron Fist should have more cards.
Just sayin'.
4x Luke Cage, Steel Hard Skin
4x Namorita, Atlantean Warrior Princess
2x Punisher, Suicide Run
3
4x Cloak, Shadowmaster
2x Thing, Idol O’ Millions
4
4x Human Torch, the Invisible Man
1x Daredevil, Hornhead
5
4x Iron Fist, Hired Hero
6
4x Luke Cage, Hired Hero
7
2x Hulk, The Fantastic Hulk
Locations
3x The New Baxter Building
3x Pier 4
3x Birthing Chamber
Equipment
4x Fantasticar 2.0
3x Unstable Molecular Suit
3x Power Armor
3x Reality Gem
3x Ego Gem
Plot Twists
3x Heroes of the City, Team-Up
3x Neighborhood Watch, Team-Up
This should be 61 cards - but this, right now, is a very rough draft.
So, what's the point? Well, the point is to keep Fantastic Four and Marvel Knights working together. Draw cards with New Baxter Building and Ego Gem, keep one or two characters visible, keep your hidden area thriving, to get more cards with Birthing Chamber. Originally, Pier 4 had been taken out for Dark Alley, but Pier 4 seems like it will be better to keep things going strong. You want to use Human Torch on 4 to keep your smaller visible characters reinforced if you can, and then throwing him forward to help you gain endurance. Keep your hand big, and kill with Hulk on 7/8.
Things that I want to include
Signal Flare
Wild Ride
Attack pumps
Now, I'm going to try and build this this week for my local hobby league, and I'll let you know how that goes. Meanwhile, I'll be working on my other unLegends this week.
Oh - and Iron Fist should have more cards.
Just sayin'.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Deck Idea: FF/TT
So, I did a lot of trading this weekend. Got rid of Berserker Rage, 2 Gladiator, a foil Defensive Formation, and more. In return, among other things, I got 4x Roy Harper <> Arsenal, Additional Firepower. Now, recently, I also managed to pick up 4x Signal Flare and built a modern-age F4 deck. And, you know what, I like the synergy between Roy Harper <> Arsenal, Additional Firepower and Human Torch, Nova Blast. Luke Cage, Steel Hard Skin works pretty well, too, and though the Titans lost Tempest, the Four found Namorita.
Over the course of the next week, I'm going to be testing out some team-attack builds between the two teams, and then playing a few games with it over the next couple weeks to let you know what I think. It could be interesting - though I must say, I definitely don't want to be seeing an Omnipotence across the field.
So, the core of the deck.
Roy Harper <> Arsenal, Additional Firepower
Human Torch, Nova Blast
Teen Titans Go!
With definite additions
Luke Cage, Steel Hard Skin
Namorita, Atlantean Warrior Princess
Over the course of the next week, I'm going to be testing out some team-attack builds between the two teams, and then playing a few games with it over the next couple weeks to let you know what I think. It could be interesting - though I must say, I definitely don't want to be seeing an Omnipotence across the field.
So, the core of the deck.
Roy Harper <> Arsenal, Additional Firepower
Human Torch, Nova Blast
Teen Titans Go!
With definite additions
Luke Cage, Steel Hard Skin
Namorita, Atlantean Warrior Princess
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Deck: Undercover
As some of you know, I rarely get into the Big Guys. I'm not a particular fan of characters like Superman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, or Batman. I just don't understand the appeal, I suppose. Only the JLA and the X-Men have ever really appealed to me as 'Big Team' books, and each time, it was only because Grant Morrison was writing them. The Big Names are too static for my taste, too unchanging. I know some people like the whole thing, saying it keeps them iconic, but for me, it just keeps em stagnant. Meanwhile, things like Birds of Prey and Doom Patrol and Checkmate and Marvel Boy and Runaways and Young Avengers happen. And I care about those.
As you've seen, I've had to jump through a few hoops, on occasions, to get my pet decks to work. Gotham Knights or Team Superman or X-Men fans can complain all they want - and they do...endlessly - but they've at least got a cardpool big enough to build a deck with. I, on the other hand, have to team my people up. Often, and in bizarre ways.
I didn't get much World's Finest. I would've loved to, but the sad truth of it is that I couldn't afford to buy boxes, and the comic shop that would've gotten the game in my area burned down, so...no DWF for Cal. All I have, I have in singles. Thankfully, that includes almost all the Birds of Prey cards.
DCL came out around Christmas, when I was back at home. 60 hour a week job + comic shop I could walk to on my lunch break = two boxes of DCL built. And that's when I saw the hidden Injustice Gang stuff. I didn't think it would be very powerful - I was of course very WRONG about this - but I started thinking about teaming them up with BoP. Unfortunately, my Birds stuff was still at school, and there was Doom Patrol, and, oh things were just busy. But I recently bought a couple DVDs, and as I watched my purchases, I built decks.
And so, that lengthy prologue out of the way, I present to you...Undercover, my first Birds of Prey deck.
Undercover
1
3x Lady Blackhawk, Zinda Blake
4x The Shade, Ageless Enigma
3x Catwoman, Cat O' Nine Tails
2
3x Superwoman, Earth 3
2x Gypsy, Illusionary Operative
2x Johnny Quick, Earth 3
1x Huntress, Vicious Vigilante
3
3x Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
3x Owlman, Earth 3
2x Catwoman, Feline Fatale
4
1x Jemm, Son of Saturn
1x Ted Grant <> Wildcat, Nine Lives
1x Vixen, Mari Jiwe McCabe
5
1x Cassandra Cain, Death's Daughter
1x White Martian, Earth 3
Equipment
4x Aerie One
Locations
4x Earth 3
3x Birthing Chamber
Plot Twists
4x The Hook-Up, Team-up
2x Truth and Justice, Team-Up
4x Path of Destruction
4x Pathetic Attempt
2x Crushing Blow
1x Transmutation
1x Bat Got Your Tongue?
The deck can put up a decent offense and defense. You aren't afraid of underdropping - I've played games where I blew up an Earth 3 to play another one and won because of it. On characters like Vixen, you can build up a pretty big barrier to swing through, one that gets bigger with cards like Owlman and White Martian. Path of Destruction, normally not that great a pump, becomes fairly solid in this, if only due to the card-drawing power you have. And thanks to the size of the Birds and the manipulation of the hidden area, Birthing Chamber comes online fast and never really leaves.
Ultimately, it's a simple deck. But, they made the Birds a simple team, so...not much to be done about that. Still, it is fun, and it can win you some games. Give it a shot - it's cheap as hell to build and pretty fun to play.
As you've seen, I've had to jump through a few hoops, on occasions, to get my pet decks to work. Gotham Knights or Team Superman or X-Men fans can complain all they want - and they do...endlessly - but they've at least got a cardpool big enough to build a deck with. I, on the other hand, have to team my people up. Often, and in bizarre ways.
I didn't get much World's Finest. I would've loved to, but the sad truth of it is that I couldn't afford to buy boxes, and the comic shop that would've gotten the game in my area burned down, so...no DWF for Cal. All I have, I have in singles. Thankfully, that includes almost all the Birds of Prey cards.
DCL came out around Christmas, when I was back at home. 60 hour a week job + comic shop I could walk to on my lunch break = two boxes of DCL built. And that's when I saw the hidden Injustice Gang stuff. I didn't think it would be very powerful - I was of course very WRONG about this - but I started thinking about teaming them up with BoP. Unfortunately, my Birds stuff was still at school, and there was Doom Patrol, and, oh things were just busy. But I recently bought a couple DVDs, and as I watched my purchases, I built decks.
And so, that lengthy prologue out of the way, I present to you...Undercover, my first Birds of Prey deck.
Undercover
1
3x Lady Blackhawk, Zinda Blake
4x The Shade, Ageless Enigma
3x Catwoman, Cat O' Nine Tails
2
3x Superwoman, Earth 3
2x Gypsy, Illusionary Operative
2x Johnny Quick, Earth 3
1x Huntress, Vicious Vigilante
3
3x Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
3x Owlman, Earth 3
2x Catwoman, Feline Fatale
4
1x Jemm, Son of Saturn
1x Ted Grant <> Wildcat, Nine Lives
1x Vixen, Mari Jiwe McCabe
5
1x Cassandra Cain, Death's Daughter
1x White Martian, Earth 3
Equipment
4x Aerie One
Locations
4x Earth 3
3x Birthing Chamber
Plot Twists
4x The Hook-Up, Team-up
2x Truth and Justice, Team-Up
4x Path of Destruction
4x Pathetic Attempt
2x Crushing Blow
1x Transmutation
1x Bat Got Your Tongue?
The deck can put up a decent offense and defense. You aren't afraid of underdropping - I've played games where I blew up an Earth 3 to play another one and won because of it. On characters like Vixen, you can build up a pretty big barrier to swing through, one that gets bigger with cards like Owlman and White Martian. Path of Destruction, normally not that great a pump, becomes fairly solid in this, if only due to the card-drawing power you have. And thanks to the size of the Birds and the manipulation of the hidden area, Birthing Chamber comes online fast and never really leaves.
Ultimately, it's a simple deck. But, they made the Birds a simple team, so...not much to be done about that. Still, it is fun, and it can win you some games. Give it a shot - it's cheap as hell to build and pretty fun to play.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Faster!
I actually really enjoy this deck, though it's not the best I've ever made. Let me know what you think, if it doesn't work for some reason, etc...
1
15x Daxamites, Army
2
3x Kate Spencer <> Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
3
1x Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
4x Bart Allen <> Kid Flash, Generation Fourth
2x Michael Holt <> Mr. Terrific, Renaissance Man
5
3x Power Girl, Child of Crisis
6
4x Barry Allen <> The Flash, Founding Member
Locations
3x Keystone City
3x United Planets HQ, Team-Up
3x Birthing Chamber
Plot Twists
4x Justice United, Team-Up
4x A Moment of Crisis
4x Terminal Velocity
3x Enemy of My Enemy
3x Poker Night
This deck is...pretty obvious. I really like it, largely because I now have 6 Power Girl, Child of Crisis, and I want a use for her. I know this breaks my rule of 'build with what I have' - knowing how scarce DCL is, do you honestly believe that I have 4 Terminal Velocity and 4 Barry Allen? And knowing how scarce my monies is, do you honestly believe that I have ANY Enemies?
Still. The goal here is to make it to turn 6 with as much endurance as possible. Stunning up curve should be absolutely no problem for you, nor should teaming up. You want one A Moment of Crisis in your row for turn 6. Name the Flash, and then see how much you can nail your opponent for! Even if you only have two characters - Power Girl and The Flash, that's 4 swings right there. If Bart Allen is still on the field, he can join one of them in a direct swing thanks to his awesome ability. Daxamites will keep you alive far better than they should - against most decks you'll be gaining 4-6 endurance per turn, but against those pesky X-Men decks, you'll be gaining a frankly embarrassing amount of life - 3 recoveries in a turn means 6 endurance per Daxamite. Poker Night and Keystone should keep you from sucking more than you can handle.
The nicest thing about this deck is, even if you completely whiff on Moment/Velocity, you can still beat the hell out of your opponent. Feel free to make alterations or test the deck out as you will - it's one of my favorite decks to play online, and it doesn't do too shabby, generally.
1
15x Daxamites, Army
2
3x Kate Spencer <> Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
3
1x Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
4x Bart Allen <> Kid Flash, Generation Fourth
2x Michael Holt <> Mr. Terrific, Renaissance Man
5
3x Power Girl, Child of Crisis
6
4x Barry Allen <> The Flash, Founding Member
Locations
3x Keystone City
3x United Planets HQ, Team-Up
3x Birthing Chamber
Plot Twists
4x Justice United, Team-Up
4x A Moment of Crisis
4x Terminal Velocity
3x Enemy of My Enemy
3x Poker Night
This deck is...pretty obvious. I really like it, largely because I now have 6 Power Girl, Child of Crisis, and I want a use for her. I know this breaks my rule of 'build with what I have' - knowing how scarce DCL is, do you honestly believe that I have 4 Terminal Velocity and 4 Barry Allen? And knowing how scarce my monies is, do you honestly believe that I have ANY Enemies?
Still. The goal here is to make it to turn 6 with as much endurance as possible. Stunning up curve should be absolutely no problem for you, nor should teaming up. You want one A Moment of Crisis in your row for turn 6. Name the Flash, and then see how much you can nail your opponent for! Even if you only have two characters - Power Girl and The Flash, that's 4 swings right there. If Bart Allen is still on the field, he can join one of them in a direct swing thanks to his awesome ability. Daxamites will keep you alive far better than they should - against most decks you'll be gaining 4-6 endurance per turn, but against those pesky X-Men decks, you'll be gaining a frankly embarrassing amount of life - 3 recoveries in a turn means 6 endurance per Daxamite. Poker Night and Keystone should keep you from sucking more than you can handle.
The nicest thing about this deck is, even if you completely whiff on Moment/Velocity, you can still beat the hell out of your opponent. Feel free to make alterations or test the deck out as you will - it's one of my favorite decks to play online, and it doesn't do too shabby, generally.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Heralds/Legionnaires life-gain, pt. the End
Characters
3x Triad, Luorno Durgo
1x Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
4x Plasma, Replacement Herald
1x Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
1x Human Torch, The Invisible Man
1x Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
1x Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
Plot Twists
4x Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
4x We Are Legion
4x Foiled Assassination
3x The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
4x New Recruits
Locations
3x Birthing Chamber
3x Worldeater Apparatus
3x Soul World
2x Cosmic Tuning Fork
Okay, I added numbers. I generally don't put 4 of any non-unique location in a deck. I took out Elemental Converters - discarding one of your high-cost cards is too much of a cost if you don't hit Soul World. That makes 30 support cards...so we're done there for now.
A few characters I've found are very important.
Timber Wolf, Brin Londo
He's the ideal character to bounce to Foiled Assassination, and re-dropping him rarely hurts. Four of him.
Chameleon, Reep Daggle
Protection. Not a 4-of, but still damnably nice. One of.
Sensor, Jeka Wynzorr
More protection, 1-less cost. Three of.
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
He'll pull your late-game out for you, early. He'll make sure you have what you need, whether it's Saturn Girl, or Human Torch, or Galactus. 4-of.
Apparition, Tinya Wazzo
Hidden hate, just in case. You just might need her. 1-of.
Bouncing Boy, Chuck Taine
His big advantage? The bouncing. Throwing down a body if you need it, discard fodder if you don't. He's easy card advantage. 1-of.
Jazmin Cullen <> Kid Quantum, Hero of Xanthu
She's free Cosmic-Surge. She's worth the cosmic counter cost. 3-of.
Matter-Eater Lad, Tenzil Kem
He's a nice 'just-in-case'. 1-of.
And there you go.
Characters
3x Triad, Luorno Durgo
1x Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
4x Plasma, Replacement Herald
1x Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
1x Human Torch, The Invisible Man
1x Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
1x Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
4x Timber Wolf, Brin Londo
1x Chameleon, Reep Daggle
3x Sensor, Jeka Wynzorr
4x Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
1x Apparition, Tinya Wazzo
1x Bouncing Boy, Chuck Taine
3x Jazmin Cullen <> Kid Quantum, Hero of Xanthu
1x Matter-Eater Lad, Tenzil Kem
Plot Twists
4x Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
4x We Are Legion
4x Foiled Assassination
3x The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
4x New Recruits
Locations
3x Birthing Chamber
3x Worldeater Apparatus
3x Soul World
2x Cosmic Tuning Fork
Now, this isn't a perfect deck by any means. Here are a few things...
Things you may want to try!
More 1-drops, the better to underdrop with.
Silver Surfer's Surfboard, from MEX. If I had some, I'd try it out. Never have, though. I imagine it'd be great.
Kindred Spirits, in place of Cosmic Tuning Fork.
Wildfire, Drake Burroughs is awesome, and he probably has a place in this deck. Give it a shot.
Yeah, play around with the deck list, make it your own. This isn't the best build. I've even had better, I think, but...it's a start. It's an astonishingly fun build, so go give it a shot.
I personally guarantee it will annoy your friends. Please, enjoy.
3x Triad, Luorno Durgo
1x Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
4x Plasma, Replacement Herald
1x Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
1x Human Torch, The Invisible Man
1x Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
1x Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
Plot Twists
4x Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
4x We Are Legion
4x Foiled Assassination
3x The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
4x New Recruits
Locations
3x Birthing Chamber
3x Worldeater Apparatus
3x Soul World
2x Cosmic Tuning Fork
Okay, I added numbers. I generally don't put 4 of any non-unique location in a deck. I took out Elemental Converters - discarding one of your high-cost cards is too much of a cost if you don't hit Soul World. That makes 30 support cards...so we're done there for now.
A few characters I've found are very important.
Timber Wolf, Brin Londo
He's the ideal character to bounce to Foiled Assassination, and re-dropping him rarely hurts. Four of him.
Chameleon, Reep Daggle
Protection. Not a 4-of, but still damnably nice. One of.
Sensor, Jeka Wynzorr
More protection, 1-less cost. Three of.
Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
He'll pull your late-game out for you, early. He'll make sure you have what you need, whether it's Saturn Girl, or Human Torch, or Galactus. 4-of.
Apparition, Tinya Wazzo
Hidden hate, just in case. You just might need her. 1-of.
Bouncing Boy, Chuck Taine
His big advantage? The bouncing. Throwing down a body if you need it, discard fodder if you don't. He's easy card advantage. 1-of.
Jazmin Cullen <> Kid Quantum, Hero of Xanthu
She's free Cosmic-Surge. She's worth the cosmic counter cost. 3-of.
Matter-Eater Lad, Tenzil Kem
He's a nice 'just-in-case'. 1-of.
And there you go.
Characters
3x Triad, Luorno Durgo
1x Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
4x Plasma, Replacement Herald
1x Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
1x Human Torch, The Invisible Man
1x Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
1x Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
4x Timber Wolf, Brin Londo
1x Chameleon, Reep Daggle
3x Sensor, Jeka Wynzorr
4x Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
1x Apparition, Tinya Wazzo
1x Bouncing Boy, Chuck Taine
3x Jazmin Cullen <> Kid Quantum, Hero of Xanthu
1x Matter-Eater Lad, Tenzil Kem
Plot Twists
4x Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
4x We Are Legion
4x Foiled Assassination
3x The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
4x New Recruits
Locations
3x Birthing Chamber
3x Worldeater Apparatus
3x Soul World
2x Cosmic Tuning Fork
Now, this isn't a perfect deck by any means. Here are a few things...
Things you may want to try!
More 1-drops, the better to underdrop with.
Silver Surfer's Surfboard, from MEX. If I had some, I'd try it out. Never have, though. I imagine it'd be great.
Kindred Spirits, in place of Cosmic Tuning Fork.
Wildfire, Drake Burroughs is awesome, and he probably has a place in this deck. Give it a shot.
Yeah, play around with the deck list, make it your own. This isn't the best build. I've even had better, I think, but...it's a start. It's an astonishingly fun build, so go give it a shot.
I personally guarantee it will annoy your friends. Please, enjoy.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Deck-building: Heralds/Legionnaires
What we have.
Characters
Triad, Luorno Durgo
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
Plasma, Replacement Herald
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
Plot Twists
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
We Are Legion
Foiled Assassination
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
Locations
Birthing Chamber
Elemental Converters
Worldeater Apparatus
Soul World
So, what else is there? Well, there's Cosmic. The last bit. It's an important bit, though. As you may have guessed. There's too many to list them all, but I will hit on some that I thought about.
Team-stamped
Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
Celebrity Status
Many Worlds
New Recruits
Terror Incognita
Pacification
The Power Cosmic Unleashed
Legion Headquarters
Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
Generic
Cosmic Tuning Fork
Blinding Light
Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth
Blinding Light: Maybe. Slots are running low, however, and while you will be stunning people in team-attacks fairly often, this is only useful in one instance: to put a counter on Cosmic Boy.
Cosmic Tuning Fork: Yes. You need the filter. Simple as that.
Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth: Maybe. He's great, it's undeniable, but...it has downsides. It doesn't share an affiliation, and you frankly don't need your people hidden that desperately. There's only one character you really want hidden, and even he's not entirely necessary.
Legion Headquarters: No. Moving a counter around isn't worth it, since they won't be sticking around.
The Power Cosmic Unleashed: Probably not. Again, it's only really worth it for the Cosmic Boy counter (or, in very rare circumstances, Human Torch). Still, those are two very important characters.
Pacification: No. You're dropping too many characters. It's not worth it.
Terror Incognita: Probably not. Then again...Silver Surfer (2) can search it out, even as a 1-of, and it 100% guarantees that Galactus will win it for you on 9. So...maybe.
Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand: Yes. As a 1-of, he's easily searched, and he's normally absolutely enormous on 8. A great wall and an even better smasher.
New Recruits: Yes. Great, simple search for you.
Many Worlds: Nope. Versatility is nice, but it isn't enough.
Celebrity Status: Maybe. It's not bad, but it depends entirely on your opponent, and as such, it's a little hurt. I'm going to say no. Against some decks, it will never matter, even a little.
Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin: Yes. Definitely. One counter on him buys you a fair bit of endurance.
Characters
Triad, Luorno Durgo
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
Plasma, Replacement Herald
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
Plot Twists
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
We Are Legion
Foiled Assassination
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
New Recruits
Locations
Birthing Chamber
Elemental Converters
Worldeater Apparatus
Soul World
Cosmic Tuning Fork
Possible?
Franklin Richards
Blinding Light
That takes us to the end. We just need to round out the characters, and that would pretty much end it. You're so close. So close! But not yet.
Characters
Triad, Luorno Durgo
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
Plasma, Replacement Herald
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
Plot Twists
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
We Are Legion
Foiled Assassination
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
Locations
Birthing Chamber
Elemental Converters
Worldeater Apparatus
Soul World
So, what else is there? Well, there's Cosmic. The last bit. It's an important bit, though. As you may have guessed. There's too many to list them all, but I will hit on some that I thought about.
Team-stamped
Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
Celebrity Status
Many Worlds
New Recruits
Terror Incognita
Pacification
The Power Cosmic Unleashed
Legion Headquarters
Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
Generic
Cosmic Tuning Fork
Blinding Light
Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth
Blinding Light: Maybe. Slots are running low, however, and while you will be stunning people in team-attacks fairly often, this is only useful in one instance: to put a counter on Cosmic Boy.
Cosmic Tuning Fork: Yes. You need the filter. Simple as that.
Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth: Maybe. He's great, it's undeniable, but...it has downsides. It doesn't share an affiliation, and you frankly don't need your people hidden that desperately. There's only one character you really want hidden, and even he's not entirely necessary.
Legion Headquarters: No. Moving a counter around isn't worth it, since they won't be sticking around.
The Power Cosmic Unleashed: Probably not. Again, it's only really worth it for the Cosmic Boy counter (or, in very rare circumstances, Human Torch). Still, those are two very important characters.
Pacification: No. You're dropping too many characters. It's not worth it.
Terror Incognita: Probably not. Then again...Silver Surfer (2) can search it out, even as a 1-of, and it 100% guarantees that Galactus will win it for you on 9. So...maybe.
Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand: Yes. As a 1-of, he's easily searched, and he's normally absolutely enormous on 8. A great wall and an even better smasher.
New Recruits: Yes. Great, simple search for you.
Many Worlds: Nope. Versatility is nice, but it isn't enough.
Celebrity Status: Maybe. It's not bad, but it depends entirely on your opponent, and as such, it's a little hurt. I'm going to say no. Against some decks, it will never matter, even a little.
Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin: Yes. Definitely. One counter on him buys you a fair bit of endurance.
Characters
Triad, Luorno Durgo
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
Plasma, Replacement Herald
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
Cosmic Boy, Rokk Krin
Mon-El <> Valor, Lar Gand
Plot Twists
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
We Are Legion
Foiled Assassination
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
New Recruits
Locations
Birthing Chamber
Elemental Converters
Worldeater Apparatus
Soul World
Cosmic Tuning Fork
Possible?
Franklin Richards
Blinding Light
That takes us to the end. We just need to round out the characters, and that would pretty much end it. You're so close. So close! But not yet.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Silver-Age Deck-Building: Heralds/Legionnaires
Okay, so there was the core of that deck. Based on those three cards, what do we know?
1. Cosmic is good.
2. Under-dropping is good.
3. Team-attacking is good.
So, wow. There's the themes. You want to under-drop cosmic character. Shazam! Deck done!
...not really. You wish, huh?
Well, here's a few things to keep in mind for the deck.
Obviously, if you're going to be under-dropping, you want to maintain card advantage. What do we have available for that?
Some of the best generic options...
Ego Gem, Infinity Gem
New Baxter Building
Birthing Chamber
Team-stamped?
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
Elemental Converters
Triad, Luornu Durgo
Foiled Assassination
Ego Gem is generally a good option. There's little downside...except for exhausting to it, which you don't normally want to do. Not a bad option, so we'll put it to the side.
New Baxter Building is a great card, but if we're iffy even on the Ego Gem, we probably won't be using too much equipment. It's probably not worth it.
Birthing Chamber is good. Really good, if you're under-dropping enough...which we will be. It's in.
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up is a good option. If we have to team-up, getting an extra card in the deal isn't a bad option.
Elemental Converters is another good card, but it's hurt by the need to discard to it. Not a bad option, though.
Triad, Luorno Durgo is amazing. You want her in your deck.
Foiled Assassination is one of the best recovery options in the game, especially for this deck. Bring one character back to your hand to drop again next turn, and recover a character? Yes, please.
So far, here's what we have.
Characters
Triad, Luorno Durgo
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
Plasma, Replacement Herald
Plot Twists
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
We Are Legion
Foiled Assassination
Locations
Birthing Chamber
Elemental Converters
That sets up the core of a team-attack deck. It gives you the card draw you need to keep pushing characters onto the field.
Another part of the deck is life-gain. So, let's have a look at some of what's available.
Generic?
Level 12 Intelligence
A Proud Zinco Product
Leslie Thompkin's Clinic
Team-stamped?
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Worldeater Apparatus
Galan, Famished
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
The Arrival
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
I Hunger
Elemental Battle
Cosmic Necessity
I'm not going to go over all of these, but I am going to knock some out of the running and explain why.
Cosmic Necessity can be good, but the fact that your opponent chooses makes it a little less useful.
Galan, Famished is good, but his lack of cosmic might hurt him, especially if you hit him after turn 1. Out.
The Arrival. Not bad, but it's too little endurance, even if you control Galactus.
Leslie Thompkin's Clinic is too little, and the back-up effect isn't that helpful in the deck.
Elemental Battle is not enough defense and not enough endurance.
I Hunger can be useful, but you aren't going to be stunning enough characters, in all probability, to make it come in handy.
A proud Zinco Product is great tech, but it's completely dead if your opponent isn't running equipment. It's out.
What does that leave as possibilities?
Level 12 Intelligence
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Worldeater Apparatus
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds is a fine game-ender. He's fine as a 1-of.
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up is good. I'd say, probably run 2 of 'em, since you're already running 4 of PPaF.
Worldeater Aparatus is in. Gives all your characters something to do on defense.
Human Torch, The Invisible Man is an all-around powerful card, even without the cosmic counter.
Level 12 Intelligence is worth including in a equipment-heavy meta...otherwise, keep it out. I won't have it in this version of the deck, but feel free to include it.
And that's all for tonight. I hope you enjoy it, and you can probably see where I'm going with this.
1. Cosmic is good.
2. Under-dropping is good.
3. Team-attacking is good.
So, wow. There's the themes. You want to under-drop cosmic character. Shazam! Deck done!
...not really. You wish, huh?
Well, here's a few things to keep in mind for the deck.
Obviously, if you're going to be under-dropping, you want to maintain card advantage. What do we have available for that?
Some of the best generic options...
Ego Gem, Infinity Gem
New Baxter Building
Birthing Chamber
Team-stamped?
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
Elemental Converters
Triad, Luornu Durgo
Foiled Assassination
Ego Gem is generally a good option. There's little downside...except for exhausting to it, which you don't normally want to do. Not a bad option, so we'll put it to the side.
New Baxter Building is a great card, but if we're iffy even on the Ego Gem, we probably won't be using too much equipment. It's probably not worth it.
Birthing Chamber is good. Really good, if you're under-dropping enough...which we will be. It's in.
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up is a good option. If we have to team-up, getting an extra card in the deal isn't a bad option.
Elemental Converters is another good card, but it's hurt by the need to discard to it. Not a bad option, though.
Triad, Luorno Durgo is amazing. You want her in your deck.
Foiled Assassination is one of the best recovery options in the game, especially for this deck. Bring one character back to your hand to drop again next turn, and recover a character? Yes, please.
So far, here's what we have.
Characters
Triad, Luorno Durgo
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
Plasma, Replacement Herald
Plot Twists
Past, Present, and Future, Team-up
We Are Legion
Foiled Assassination
Locations
Birthing Chamber
Elemental Converters
That sets up the core of a team-attack deck. It gives you the card draw you need to keep pushing characters onto the field.
Another part of the deck is life-gain. So, let's have a look at some of what's available.
Generic?
Level 12 Intelligence
A Proud Zinco Product
Leslie Thompkin's Clinic
Team-stamped?
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Worldeater Apparatus
Galan, Famished
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
The Arrival
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
I Hunger
Elemental Battle
Cosmic Necessity
I'm not going to go over all of these, but I am going to knock some out of the running and explain why.
Cosmic Necessity can be good, but the fact that your opponent chooses makes it a little less useful.
Galan, Famished is good, but his lack of cosmic might hurt him, especially if you hit him after turn 1. Out.
The Arrival. Not bad, but it's too little endurance, even if you control Galactus.
Leslie Thompkin's Clinic is too little, and the back-up effect isn't that helpful in the deck.
Elemental Battle is not enough defense and not enough endurance.
I Hunger can be useful, but you aren't going to be stunning enough characters, in all probability, to make it come in handy.
A proud Zinco Product is great tech, but it's completely dead if your opponent isn't running equipment. It's out.
What does that leave as possibilities?
Level 12 Intelligence
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds
Worldeater Apparatus
Human Torch, The Invisible Man
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up
Galactus, Devourer of Worlds is a fine game-ender. He's fine as a 1-of.
The Herald Ordeal, Team-Up is good. I'd say, probably run 2 of 'em, since you're already running 4 of PPaF.
Worldeater Aparatus is in. Gives all your characters something to do on defense.
Human Torch, The Invisible Man is an all-around powerful card, even without the cosmic counter.
Level 12 Intelligence is worth including in a equipment-heavy meta...otherwise, keep it out. I won't have it in this version of the deck, but feel free to include it.
And that's all for tonight. I hope you enjoy it, and you can probably see where I'm going with this.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Silver-Age Deck Core: Legionnaires/Heralds of Galactus
I'm going to do a short series of things about one deck...and how it got built. Epic, right? But, really, it's just to solidify things in my own head. It's a pretty standard deck, using one of my favorite sets - DLS - and one of my least favorite - MHG - and it's the first really potent cosmic deck I ever made.
Here is the core of one of my all-time favorite decks.
Plasma, Replacement Herald
We Are Legion
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
I think you're picking up where this is going pretty damn quickly. Those three cards, only one of them a rare, are the powerful core of one of the most efficient life-gain decks I've ever seen.
Next time? Building it from the ground up.
Here is the core of one of my all-time favorite decks.
Plasma, Replacement Herald
We Are Legion
Saturn Girl, Imra Ardeen
I think you're picking up where this is going pretty damn quickly. Those three cards, only one of them a rare, are the powerful core of one of the most efficient life-gain decks I've ever seen.
Next time? Building it from the ground up.
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