Another weekend looms before us! It's time for another Deck Doctor!
This week it was Joey Tufo that caught my attention. "Make a deck abusing Sleepwalker!"
I actually had to look him up.
Yes... of course... this guy.
Sleepwalker is one of those cards where you desperately wish it read target character instead of adding a combat phase limitation whichdoesn't exactly add more options either. So we know it's going to be a combat-centric build.
Only 4 unique teams have access to the obvious ATK and DEF paying mechanics that this guy seems designed to bolster, Syndicate, Spider-friends, Wild Pack, and Avengers. Since the avengers are almost all spider-friend dual affiliates, we don't need much focus on them. My first build focused on sleepwalker abusing The potency of Dr. Octopus, master of evil, allowing him to attack, pay all his ATK for free stuns, reverse his stats and still stun his attack target. Problem is... it is a crazy amount of discarding to do that. discarding for sleepy's effect AND Doc Ock's (multiple times!) wasn't going to work well. If only there was an alternate 6 drop that could ... Ooooh.
Well then... mono-team it is.
So just with Sleepwalker and Torch, we can stun a standard 7 defense 4 drop, reverse the stats and either attack a 5 for a mutual stun with 10 ATK. (I previously derped and wrote about using Sleepy to then use torch's effect again... forgetting sleepy is during combat only, while torch can't use his effect if he sees combat.)
To optimize our Utility with Sleepy and Torch We are going to main four Punisher, Frank Castle as well as four M60s. The potential -8 DEF easily will allow Torch to stun on or even above the curve when he comes out, but earlier will also allow some pretty substantial mutual punisher stuns with the opposing 4 and 5 drops if needed. (paying 8, Sleepy reversing and swinging with 3) To ensure Punisher sticks around, we'll add a set of Underground Movements to relegate our needed components to the hidden area to keep them in play while allowing us room to splash off-team if needed.
With that aside the rest of the build sort-of builds itself. I used a spider-stall engine to cover off initiatives, and in a pinch a substituted spider-man/gift-wrapped off initiative can really dictate the pace of the game. It is an interesting mind-game when you feint a control-stall to your opponent, and then become increasingly offensive as the game progresses to great success. The best part is the engine is so small it leaves quite a bit of flexibility in your final build vs this one. I opted for Koriand'r at 7 and run two Tania's as late game substitutes to really get those attack values up there. Intestingly, I often found myself choosing to underdrop Tania and Spider-Girl on turn 5 initiatives, because Punisher seriously can do that much work.
Without further ado, here's this week's Deck!
Sleepy Stall
Locations:
4 [MTU] Empire State University {MTU}
Characters:
4 [MTU] Aunt May, Golden Oldie {MTU}
4 [MTU] Black Cat, Nine Lives {MTU}
2 [MTU] Tania Belinskya <> Red Guardian, Cold Warrior {MTU}
Now feel free to adjust this list as there are some pretty interesting ways to twist it to a style you may prefer, however it is worth noting how little needs to be added to make this, say, a human torch legend build as well for some absurdly early out of combat stun potential between Human Torch, Novablast and an M60'd punisher. But I find myself pleasantly surprised with the Fiery Friend + Sleepwalker interaction, and I think you will be too!
Every once in a while, I will be running a deck clinic for proposed ideas in the vssystem facebook group or from comments on this blog. Let's get to it, shall we?
Niccolo Paqueo says: Please make Doom Patrol great. (or the best counter generating deck)
As luck would have it, Niccolo, let's try both!
And we don't need to look much farther than DCL Titans and Doom patrol, as they seem to have a sort-of bro-mance with each other already. Something like... This!
4 [DCL] Negative Man, Larry Trainor {DCL}
2 [DCL] Tim Drake <> Robin, Leader of the Pack {DCL}
4 [DCL] Robotman, Cliff Steele {DCL}
3 [DCL] Beast Boy, Freak of Nature {DCL}
2 [DCL] Koriand'r <> Starfire, X'Hal's Fury {DCL}
Plot Twists:
4 [DCL] Call of the Wild {DCL}
4 [DCL] Freak Out {DCL}
4 [DCL] Misfits {DCL}
4 [DCL] Teen Titans Go! {DCL}
4 [DCL] Total Recall, Team-Up {DCL}
We completely forgo several of the options Doom Patrol brings, if only because the price seems to high. yes manipulating counters is attractive, but far too often we see the team bring options that spend them for what I would consider a minimal return.
Case in point: Strange Days
-Just how important is it to lock down enemy plot twists? How many counters is too much investment? Because, remember, your opponent can freely chain to it's activation at no penalty, meaning you will generally never prevent a utility or search card. Of course by then you've kissed some valuable counters goodbye... so you can't even bluff with it.
It could easily be a legend deck if we maxxed out both apperances of Beast Boy, but in general you care so much less about his 3 drop version it feels forced.
In this version the idea is set up beast boy 6 with a full teen titans go combo and then hitting freak out to send them all to a small character you held back from the team attacks for a surprise faceroll (ideally going direct) The ever-so awesome Koriand'r finisher is there as well because... well... gift horses and mouths.
Where this build shines
BYOS I mean wow! does this do well in a BYOS format
For Doom Patrol, it is certainly up there for better counter-accruing options.
Assuming the PERFECT hand playing into the prefect opposing board (tons of characters), beast boy's 6 drop incarnation will accumulate 15 counters over 5 attacks! (initial team swing + 4 TTG) That leaves him at 27/27 beating out Galactus himself! (This also assumes no other counter sources being used either!
However, for the remainder of the article, as I have become prone to do, I'll be going on a tangent...
Come with me if you want to live.
I'm going to take a flying leap and assume you are curious about a different kind of maximum counter-producing build!
It is a bit ironic that the typical offenders are not present here. No Doom Patrol, Teen Titans, or Age of Apocalypse cards are present in it. Heck, not even Devil's Due! And yet it will produce in excess of 20+ counters by turn 4 for some interesting shenanigans!
I present option B, or as I prefer to call it:
Death By Chocolate
Locations:
1 [MOR] Avalon Space Station {MOR}
1 [DJL] Slaughter Swamp {DJL}
2 [MHG] Soul World {MHG}
Characters:
4 [DCX] Superman Batman Robot, Supa-Mecha-Bat {DCX}
4 [DWF] Harvey Bullock, Gotham Central {DWF}
4 [DWF] Maggie Sawyer, Gotham Central {DWF}
4 [DWF] Alfred Pennyworth, Faithful Friend {DWF}
4 [DWF] Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite {DWF}
4 [DCL] Tim Drake <> Robin, Titan in Command {DCL}
Plot Twists:
4 [DCX] Origin Story {DCX}
4 [DCX] Teen Supremes {DCX}
4 [DWF] Bat-Signal {DWF}
4 [MVL] New and Improved {MVL}
4 [EHB] B.P.R.D. Signal Device {EHB}
4 [DCR] Return Of Donna Troy {DCR}
4 [DCX] A Clash of Worlds {DCX}
4 [MUN] Messiah Complex {MUN}
Some of you see exactly where this is going. For the rest of you, here is the breakdown:
Abuse the living shento out of New and Improved. You remember that card right?
Seriously that's it. Everything else present in this build caters to the one purpose of spamming this card. HARD.
For this mission I look no further than Superman Batman Robot. A 0 cost character, it has a boost effect that also caters to the idea of being hyper-greedy with landing +1/+1 counters. Exactly what we want.
First hurdle: Dual Loyalty.
Before we can reach the point where we perform a substantial series of recruit, ko to New and Improved, recur, rinse and repeat, we need to meet the dual loyalty restriction. Typically i'd look at team-ups and a solid mix of each team to ensure a reasonable chance to do so, but no. instead we're just going to run a full set of Maggie Sawyers. This 1 drop has both teams we need and an oft-overlooked effect as well while we set up our explosion of flavor! Mostly, we'll just play her the turn we go off.
Second hurdle: Targetting effects.
with Loyalty pretty much covered the deck sort-of plays itself, but as a 0 cost it is supremely targetable by just about, well... everything.
A full suite of B.P.R.D. signal devices come to the rescue here, giving some breathing room against mikado & mosha and other weenie killers. while also protecting them once stunned as well.
Cleaning up: Card Combos
The card that makes this deck go might be New and Improved, but the card that carries your endgame is Teen Supremes. Go ahead read it. I'll wait.
wait so... OOOH. Snap!
Exhausting 0 characters to ready a 0 cost character is so deliciously dirty. Especially if that 0 cost character is hitting like an 8 drop.
A Clash of Worlds is another endgame option, sometimes sparing an extra set of 2 +1/+1 counters, it's better off throwing down a second Superman Batman Robots! Maybe even a third! The options are as open as your situation calls for it to be. Play around with it!Improve on it!
This is a fun surprise in the legend block, standard (see: old) silver age format, or, it can flat-out be streamlined to scary proportions in a BYOTT event as well!
So it isn't life or death like Thunderdome, but that's as good a mental image as any! I won't lie as I am feeling some pressure here. If I lose, I'm the guy that bragged up his skills to the wrong hombre before getting publicly stomped. If "Dave" loses, well it costs him nothing. Maybe it all adds to the fun though.
As mentioned last week, I got to pick, build and tweak any toolbox I wanted, while he promised he would run a build at best, identical to, or at worst improved upon a major event winning deck from VS System's 10K's or PC.
The catch? My toolbox was stuck practicing for them ALL. Every major winner, and notable finisher forced me to at least gave it some planning... leaving me trying to guess. Will he bring something off-beat that I consider over-all weaker to catch me unprepared? Or will he just smash a turn 3 rush in my face and see if I can stop it?
We decided on a best of 3 following the council banned list for both of us. As the man facing the unknown, I got to choose initiatives for game 1. So right off the bat i had a 50-50 shot at picking favorably or... not so much. Here's how it all went down.
*********************
After much internal debate I eventually settled on the Ultimates toolbox I posted. I debated the additions of force field projections before remembering they do nothing against wolverine direct, at least against rush I could stick a large-bottomed invisible woman in the way while still having pseudo-fast tech access to meltdowns if I faced a rush. If he came at me with control or toolbox at least it would be down to who had the most answers.
Regardless here is the list I ran:
The Heroic White Light of Ultimate-ness!
Locations:
4 [MUL] The Triskelion, Ultimates {MUL}
Plot Twists:
4 [MTU] Indebted {MTU}
4 [MUN] Messiah Complex {MUN}
4 [MSM] Bad Press {MSM}
4 [DCL] Straight to the Grave {DCL}
4 [MEV] No More Mr. Nice Guy {MEV}
3 [MUN] Death Of The Dream {MUN}
2 [MXM] Enemy Of My Enemy {MXM}
2 [MCG] Omnipotence {MCG}
Please keep in mind, as I played these matches, I didn't have the
decklist like you guys do, and while he may have suspected, he didn't
know mine either. ALSO. he didn't track his draws as we played. sorry
guys i only have my own perspective for you. Regardless, enjoy!
*********************
- "Dave"
VS
- Aaron
GAME 1
Being paranoid against rush, I opted for odd initiatives to start.
TURN 1 (Aaron Initiative)
I Mulligan. "Dave" Keeps
My opening hand: Forbidden Loyalties, PA, Invisible woman and enemy of my enemy.
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw another EomE and a Cosmic radiation.
BUILD PHASE
I set Forbidden Loyalties and pass.
"Dave" sets and shifts Spiderman <> The spider. Well. shitballs. Maybe its some rush variant?
COMBAT PHASE
Both pass.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> 50 Aaron -> 50
TURN 2 ("Dave" Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Wasp and Triskelion.
BUILD PHASE
He sets a card. and after a prolonged moment of tortuous silence, passes. Nope this is spider stall.
I set Triskelion, and recruit wasp. No need to flip triskelion yet. I dont want to bait resource hate before I'm ready. I immediately activate her (removing Only human, caliban, lib day, unmasked, and EomE) I am happy to not draw those right now.
COMBAT PHASE
Both pass.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> 47 Aaron -> 50
TURN 3 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Dr. Strange and a PA.
BUILD PHASE
I set an EomE, and play the one in my hand,(discarding Invisible Woman) flipping Triskelion as I do to make sure I continue stocking my RFP zone. I then grab SHAFT, er... Nick Fury and recruit him.
"Dave" sets a resource and recruits Spider-man, ultimates entering with his 2 web counters. He flips Empire State U, and exhausts his spidey to dig a bit.
COMBAT PHASE
I activate Wasp to burn for 3 (removing Wasp, Hank, lib day, clint, and triskelion) and then declare Nick fury into his exhausted spider-man, he debates the obvious power-up for a bit and then passes. for a mutual stun.
RECOVERY PHASE I recover Nick Fury.
"Dave" recovers Spider-man.
"Dave" -> 41 Aaron -> 47
TURN 4 ("Dave" Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)I draw a meltdown and a very convenient Hank Pym.
BUILD PHASE
Dave sets and flips Slaughter Swamp and plays Straight to the Grave sending Aunt May to his KO pile, activating slaughter swamp (discarding Black Cat, master thief to put aunt may into his hand before recruiting her. He places a Spider-man, secret avenger into his hand from her effect. Then he reveals Scarlet Spider to skirt uniqueness and recruits a second Spider-man, ultimates, (netting 4 web counters on it for a total of 6 in play) forming defensively around a support rowed aunt may. He exhausts aunt may to Empire state U netting a card and passes.
I set PA and recruit Hank Pym, protecting Nick Fury and pass.
COMBAT PHASE At the start of combat Hank triggers (removing Ultimate Nullifier) for no gain.
"Dave exhausts both ultimate spider-men to a boosted Messiah Complex replacing his own Empire State U and using the non-targetted effect to replace my triskelion. I chain to it, Flipping up my EomE discarding Dr. Strange, and chaining my Trisk,(removing meltdown, pathetic attempt and cosmic radiation) Enemy resolves and I fetch Iron Man, ultimates. Trisk then resolves, grabbing one of my removed triskelions and place it into my hand. and DotD resolves, replacing my trisk into my other Meltdown. He then spends 4 web counters to exhaust Hank I decide to sit on the PA. Hank exhausts and "Dave" passes.
I send Nick Fury into the spider-man with 2 counters on it, not concerning myself with preventing the stunback, He thinks, decides better of it and passes for a mutual stun. I then activate wasp burning for 3 more (removing Iron man, forbidden loyalties, war wagon, blade, and war machine armor)
RECOVERY PHASE
I recover Nick. He recovers Spidey.
"Dave" -> 35 Aaron -> 44
TURN 5 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)I draw Wasp and Lib Day
BUILD PHASE
I setTriskelion, and recruit Iron Man, ultimates, forming him behind Hank Pym, then flip up Trisk and play the Lib day from my hand (removing wasp) and chaining triskelion's activation (removing nothing, my hand is empty) Liberation day nets me a Thor, ultimates while Triskelion grabs me that War machine Armor. I get the feeling that PA is going to be big this turn. I equip war machine armor onto Iron man and pass build.
He goes into the tank. Fair, considering I'm pretty much telegraphing this turn.
He sets and flips Bad Press not doing much on turn 5, and reveals scarlet spider, before recruiting Spider-man, secret avenger He uses Ultimate spidey's effect to exhaust Iron man, (1 web counter left) I negate with the rowed PA. Then he activates secret avenger's effect targetting Iron man. (discarding Koriand'r <> Starfire, the good one.). It goes through. No armor shenanigans this turn.
COMBAT PHASE
Hank Pym triggers (removing Wasp) gaining a +1/+1 counter. "dave" curses and flips up an Empire State U he could have used last turn. (i wondered why he blew his other one up) he exhausts aunt may and gets his card.
I send Hank and Nick into the 5 drop spidey, I opt against nick's effect and the two 5 drops stun. Hank then swings into the ultimate spidey with the web counter, stunning it and dealing 3 break. With 23 cards RFP's and 25 in my deck I lay off wasp and pass, not wanting to cripple any potential Thor effect damage on 7.
With only a ready 3 drop he passes as well.
RECOVERY PHASE
I recover Iron Man.
"Dave" recovers 5 drop spidey.and KOs the stunned 3 drop ultimate. (web counters 0)
"Dave" -> 24 Aaron -> 39
TURN 6 ("Dave" Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
I chain Triskelion to the draw (removing Thor) to grab Dr. Strange.
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw a triskelion and a cosmic radiation.
BUILD PHASE
"Dave" sets and flips up No More Mr. Nice Guy, with the shifted spidey his spider-men almost jump up a drop. He plays straight to the grave, sending Human Torch, herald to the KO pile before activating slaughter swamp (discarding another SttG) to place Human Torch into his hand, and recruits it behind the 5 drop Secret Avenger. He then activates Empire state U exhausting aunt may (how is she still alive?!?) for his free card.
I set Triskelion, and recruit Dr. Strange, forming him behind Hank Pym, and Iron man, Behind Nick Fury before passing.
COMBAT PHASE
At the start of combat, Hank triggers, (removing another Hank) and gets his second counter, becoming a 9/9. Dr. strange triggers for no effect.
"Dave" laughs as he realizes war machine armor doesn't target, and mentions he probably should have gotten something else instead. he then sends human torch into Iron Man. I opt not to reinforce and take 4 breakthrough for 9 total endurance loss. Then the 11/12 secret avenger swings into Hank. i don't reinforce and take a total of 6. Then his 6/7 ultimate spider swings into Nick fury. another stun. I lose a total of 5. he then passes.
I just went from 39 to 19 endurance. time to pay him back.
Dr. strange into Aunt May. we both pass, he takes 12. With Human Torch up my Wasp cant hurt him so I pass.
RECOVERY PHASE
I recover Hank, koing Nick and Iron man.
"Dave" opts to let Aunt May KO. Yikes. That's cold man.
"Dave" -> 12 Aaron -> 19
TURN 7 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
I decide against chaining trisk to the draw, that cosmic radiation is nice in my hand.
(Both Players draw 2 cards)I draw Mr. fantastic and Liberation day.
BUILD PHASE
I set the Cosmic Radiation (banking my 7 resources), and activate Liberation day, chaining my Triskelion (removing 0) and then flip my second triskelion, (KOing the first one to uniqueness) and activate that one as well (removing 0) Triskelion2 resolves, grabbing war machine armor, Triskelion 1 resolves, Grabbing me that Thor, and Lib day resolves netting me a Clint Barton. I recruit Thor, Flip up my Forbidden Loyalties, placing a +1/+1 counter on Dr. Strange, and teaming up SHIELD and Fan 4. I then recruit War Machine Armor on Dr/ Strange, and pass.
"Dave" Sets a resource, activates Slaughter Swamp, (discarding scarlet spider) to grab Koriand'r and recruits her, forming her behind the spiderman, ultimates, adjacent to human torch. and goes into the tank before deciding that Thor was too scary, He then boosts a messiah complex from his hand, exhausting his front line (spidey3 and spidey 5) targetting Scarlet Spider to gain 6 endurance and then discards it to Secret Avenger's effect.
COMBAT PHASE
St the start of combat hank's effect resolves first, (removing dr. strange), however I chain to Dr. Strange's effect, activating War Machine Armor. The non-targetting effect replaces 6 resources, burns for 6 and forces "Dave to stun a character with a cost of 6 or less. He chains a second rowed messiah complex, exhausting the remainder of his board to grab Scarlet Spider again and gain 6 more endurance before replacing everything except Slaughter Swamp and stunning his 3 drop. Dr. Strange's effect resolves, readying dr. strange, and he activates again. "Dave" replaces the same resources and stuns his 5 drop this time. I then play the cosmic radiation.
"So you had it no matter who I negated then."
"yeah, I think so."
Human Torch stuns dave loses another 6 and replaces more resources.
Thor swings for the mutual stun into Koriand'r dealing 1 breakthrough for 8. Hank goes direct for 9 and wasp burns for her 3, sealing game 1.
RECOVERY PHASE
Aaron Wins!
"Dave" -> -16 Aaron -> 12
THOUGHTS:
"Dave" - At first I thought I made a horrible mistake ignoring Dr. Strange, but when he played the cosmic radiation the math actually ends decidedly in Thor's favor. (Something like negative 30 to maybe negative... 4 or something like that) The difference is I would have had most of my field intact, but they would have mostly been exhausted from at least one boosted Messiah Complex. I Hope you enjoyed that, Aaron, It is never happening again.
Aaron - When he picked Thor to negate it was the right call. Barring him flipping up an omni on 7 I was confident it would go my way. Now I am a bit concerned as he knows what's coming and how it's going to come. Should be interesting!
********************
GAME 2
He opted for evens in game 2 putting me on odds again. (My deck really wants evens if it isn't rush)
We both keep.
TURN 1 (Aaron Initiative)
I start with hank pym, invisible woman, mr. fantastic and an EomE in my hand.
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw wasp and sub-mariner
BUILD PHASE
I set EomE and recruit wasp hidden.
"Dave" sets a resource and removes Spiderman <> The Spider from play shifted.
COMBAT PHASE
Wasp swings for 1.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> 49 Aaron -> 50
TURN 2 ("Dave" Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Iron Man and Liberation Day
BUILD PHASE
He sets a card and shifts another of the 1 drop spiders, rhinks for a bit and passes.
I set Lib Day and recruit Invisible Woman.
COMBAT PHASE
He is forced to pass combat with nothing.
I swing with wasp and invisible woman for 2.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> 47 Aaron -> 50
TURN 3 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw triskelion and Wasp
BUILD PHASE
I set triskelion, and recruit Mr. Fantastic, protecting Invisible woman.
"Dave" Sets a resource, and recruits Ultimate Spider-man, He reveals scarlet spider avoiding uniqueness and then shifts into play one of the three shifted 1 drops into his hidden area. netting 2 more web counters (4 total)
COMBAT PHASE
I declare a team swing with invisible woman and her hubby into spider-man ultimates, hoping to draw the exhaust. He doesn't. Once legal he flips No More Mr Nice Guy becoming a 6/7. I activate Wasp (removing Lib Day, 2x triskelions, lady deathstrike and an Ultimate Nullifier). I debade cashing in both search cards to get a mutual stun, but now that 1 drop is a 4/3, my visible characters are stunning no matter what i do at this point, so I let them go. Mr. Fan stuns, and I pass.
"Dave" then swings at me with ultimate spidey into invisible woman for an easy stun before the 1 drop spider goes direct for 4. I flip up Triskelion. to start catching dead bodies and sending them to the rfp zone.
RECOVERY PHASE
I recover mr. fantastic and invisible woman KOs.
BUILD PHASE
"Dave" sets and flips Empire State U, but holds off on activating it just yet. he plays straight to the grave, sending a second, spider-man, ultimates to his ko pile before playing messiah complex from his row unboosted to put it into his hand, revealing scarlet spider for uniqueness and recruiting the 3 drop protecting his twin. THEN he shifts into play ANOTHER 1 drop spiderman. (12 web counters in play!)
I set a Forbidden Loyalties, and recruit Hank, protecting Mr. fantastic, and we pass to combat.
COMBAT PHASE
Hank triggers, (Removing another hank) gaining a +1/+1 counter.
He sends the ultimate spidey with 2 web counters in a team attack on my hank with one of his now overstatted 1 drops, I activate wasp (removing Clint Barton, Cosmic Radiation, Ultimate Nullifier, Caliban, and Hank Pym) I then play Lib Day (Removing Wasp) To fetch my last remaining Hank. powering him up, flipping my rowed forbidden loyalties (discarding Iron Man) to place a +1/+1 counter on Hank (and teaming up Fan 4 and SHIELD) and then playing my second forbidden Loyalties,(discarding Sub-Mariner) to give hank another +1/+1 counter. Passing with an 11/11 hank.
"Dave" went into the tank before exhausting his other 1 drop for Empire State U, and discarding Spider-man, secret avenger to match Hank's defense. With no cards in my hand i activate trisk, grab a hank and power up. "Dave" responds by playing his second messiah complex fetching his secret avenger and powering up again. Dammit. I'm tapped out and his 3 drop stuns along with my hank.
Afterwards, he then sends his other Ultimate Spider-man into Mr. Fantastic. I debate his expensive effect before realizing my ideal play is chaining triskelion to the draw next turn, so anything i search will be pointless. Mr. fantastic stuns.
RECOVERY PHASE
I recover the sizeable hank and Mr. fantastic KOs.
"Dave recovers Spider-man, ultimates.
"Dave" -> 38 Aaron -> 31
TURN 5 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
I chain Triskelion to the draw (removing 0) and getting Iron Man.
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Invisible woman and Forbidden Loyalties
BUILD PHASE
I set Forbidden Loyalties and recruit Iron Man behind Hank Pym.
He sets a resource, reveals To avoid uniqueness and recruits Spider-man, Secret Avenger (16 web counters in play) and flips up Omnipotence. I know what he's gonna call. he knows it too. Triskelion.
COMBAT PHASE
Hank triggers (removing Iron Man) Gaining a fourth +1/+1 counter
Iron Man triggers revealing his hand (Empire State U, Black cat, Scarlet Spider) removing the Empire State U from the game.
I declare Iron Man into the protected Ultimate Spider-man. he removes 5 counters (4 from ultimate and 1 off the other ultimate to exhaust him before it is legal. Then does the same for Hank removing 4 counters from his 1 drop (still 7 web counters in play) I activate Wasp just to say i did something this turn. (removing 2x Nick Fury, Dr. Strange, Only Human, and Liberation Day)
he sends both ultimate spider-men into Hank for a mutual stun. Then secret avenger swings over Iron Man for 2 breakthrough and no stunback. The rest go direct for 14. This game is over.
RECOVERY PHASE
I recover Hank, Iron Man is KOd
he recovers Ultimate spider-man
"Dave" -> 32 Aaron -> 6
TURN 6 ("Dave" Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw EomE and a Meltdown
BUILD PHASE
he sets a resource, and recruits Scarlet Spider
I set Meltdown, and play the enemy of my enemy in my hand (discarding Invisible Woman) to fetch thor. Then playing the enemy of my enemy in the row, discarding thor to get Dr. Strange, recruiting it behind Hank. welp, at least I curved out.
Before combat, "Dave discards Human Torch to Secret Avenger's effect preventing hank from scoring more counters.
COMBAT PHASE
Dr. Strange triggers, I chain wasp, then after his effect resolves ready wasp and activate again.
"Dave" sends his two goddamn 1 drops at Hank for 12 atk. the hell? Oh yeah scarlet spider buffs spider-friends attackers. well, damn.Hank goes down stunning back one. Then Spider-man swings into Dr. Strange with 13 atk for a mutual stun before sending the rest direct for... well alot.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" Wins!
"Dave" -> 20 Aaron -> -30
THOUGHTS:
Aaron - I forgot to use invisible woman on 2 to move her hidden. Then got greedy on 3 hoping to get a team attack stun, search for clint and get and force him to remove a shift counter. After that, I could never stabilize the pace.
"Dave" - This round was more like what i'm used to this deck doing. I wish I could have seen Aaron's face when I flipped that Omni.
*********************
GAME 3
Having lost, I opted for even initiatives this game.
TURN 1 ("Dave" Initiative)
Dave Mulligans.
I keep. (my hand is EomE, war machine armor, wasp, triskelion)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Blade and triskelion
BUILD PHASE
"Dave" sets a resource and recruits Aunt May fetching Ultimate spidey.
I set triskelion and recruit wasp, activating her for first blood (removing Only Human, Mr fantastic, Dr. Strange, EomE, and invisible woman)
COMBAT PHASE
We both pass.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> 47 Aaron -> 50
TURN 2 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Ultimate Nullifier and Nick Fury
BUILD PHASE
I set triskelion number 2 and recruit ultimate nullifier on wasp.
He shifts out the 1 drop spider.
COMBAT PHASE
I activate wasp for 3 more (removing Wasp, Mr fan, clint, cosmic radiation and meltdown)
he passes.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> 44 Aaron -> 50
TURN 3 ("Dave" Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Forbidden loyalties and Pathetic Attempt
BUILD PHASE
He sets a resource and recruits Ultimate spider-man protecting Aunt May. I chain ultimate nullifier exhaustung Wasp to negate his web counter triggered effect.
We spend about 15 minutes here as we reconfirm Spidey's enter play effect is indeed considered a triggered effect before moving on. (It is)
I set Forbidden Loyalties, and recruit Blade in the hidden area protecting Wasp.
COMBAT PHASE
"Dave" flips No More Mr Nice Guy and goes direct for 6.
I pass.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> 44 Aaron -> 44
TURN 4 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Liberation day and Unmasked
BUILD PHASE
I set Unmasked, flip up Triskelion and play Liberation day from my hand (removing Nick Fury) to fetch Hank, recruiting him in the visible front row and deciding, f*ck it lets go for it early, equipping war machine armor on Iron man.
"Dave" sets a resource, flipping up Indebted (discarding aunt may) and after long consideration opts to grab Spider-Man Zombie, recruiting it adjacent to the support row aunt may. I decided to hold back the ultimate nullifier since his 2 web counters weren't going to do much this turn. So far he had gone 2 games with no gift-wrapped. was this build not running them?
Spider-man spent a counter to attempt to exhaust wasp, I responded activating her (removing Triskelion, war wagon, forbidden Loyalties, Hank and Invisible woman)
COMBAT PHASE
Hank triggers, (removing Sub-mariner) to gain a +1/+1 counter
I activate Hank's war machine armor. (discarding EomE and a PA) He loses 4 endurance, replaces his row (hitting a face down omni!) and stuns Aunt May. he flips up Bad Press. I then declare Blade into Ultimate Spidey, he flips up ESU exhausting the 3 drop to net a card and they both stun. Then he swings his Zombie into Hank. Hoping he was relying on powering up instead of a facedown No More Mr nice Guy, I flip up Unmasked and pass.
"The hell?"
Zombie Spider-man stuns. But the win is lessened as he plays beyonder (removing straight to the grave) to recover the 3 drop.
RECOVERY PHASE
I recover Blade.
He recovers Zombie Spider-man and Aunt may is KO'd
"Dave" -> 29 Aaron -> 41
TURN 5 ("Dave" Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
I chain triskelion to the draw (removing 0) to grab myself Sub-Mariner
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw meltdown and Mr. fantastic
BUILD PHASE
Dave sets and flips slaughter swamp, exhausts ultimate spider-man for ESU to grab his card, and plays Straight to the grave, using slaughter swamp (discarding indebted ) sending Lex returning Lex and of course, recruiting lex. Damn it. He forms lex protecting ultimate spider-man and passes to me.
I set meltdown and recruit Sub-Mariner removing his KO pile from play. he gains 6 endurance from it. I form Mariner in the front row, pay 2 and flip down Unmasked, then flip it back up.
COMBAT PHASE
Hank triggers, (removing Invisible woman) and gains another +1/+1 counter.
"If only I didnt need that esu to get the lex search."
He declares Lex into Hank. I flip Forbidden Loyalties, (teaming Atlantis and SHIELD) and discard Mr. fantastic to place a +1/+1 counter on Hank.
I assume he goes into the tank but it is also possible he is just cursing up a storm over there. Hank bricks the swing and stuns Lex. "dave" activates zombie spider-man, KOing it and I gladly exhaust wasp.
Counterswings! I activate war machine armor burning for 4 replacing 4(he replaces bad press, straight to the grave, indebted and empire state u) stunning the 3 before sending Sub-Mariner and blade direct for 15. He flips up another bad press.
RECOVERY PHASE
Dave recovers Lex, while Ultimate Spidey is KO'd. Zombie spidey returns into play.
"Dave" -> 8 Aaron -> 39
TURN 6 (Aaron Initiative)
DRAW PHASE
I chain triskelion to the draw (removing 0) grabbing Dr. Strange.
(Both Players draw 2 cards)
I draw Enemy and Nick fury
BUILD PHASE
I set enemy, pay 2 to flip down Unmasked and flip it back up. and recruit Dr. Strange.
"Dave" recruits Scarlet Spider and forms it in the front row, adjacent to Lex.
COMBAT PHASE
Hank triggers (removing another hank) scoring a 4th +1/+1 counter.
Dr. Strange triggers,for no effect
I send Hank into Lex for the stun. Sub-Mariner swings into Zombie. looking at the endurance totals he flips up No More Mr. nice Guy and soaks most of the damage ending in a mutual stun. Doc strange swings into scarlet spider for a stun, And i flip my second triskelion to grab Clint Barton, and exhaust Blade to RFP Lex, justfor spite.
RECOVERY PHASE
"Dave" -> -9 Aaron -> 32
Aaron Wins!
THOUGHTS:
Aaron - When the web-counters got going it was absurd. seeing that early Nullifier really evened things up for me. was i ever wishing I had fit some other resource control during game 2!
"Dave" - God-damned crazy nullifier is OP. I never noticed the wording on it also covering triggered effects. That's just dumb. War machine armor wasn't that bad but having a spider-man waitin for something to negate was annoying. I was on the fence about the zombie spider-man and feel like turn 4 is where I lost step. So many things I could have done differently. We'll have another challenge sometime, I'm sure of it.
*********************
That concludes today's ultra-long post!
I'm looking to do some deck clinic articles in the future! So anyone unhappy with their VS System builds please look me up! No deck is too crappy!
Ok guys these install instructions will hopefully be all you new guys
need to install MWS. I present you the Picture Guide to Installing MWS
for Windows. Everything with a black or white border around it is meant
to get your attention as that is the focus of the picture.
Step 1 - Go to >>THE MWS Download Page<< and download Magic Workstation. Be sure to make note of the destination folder, or pick your own location:
Click the HYPERLINK indicated to Download.
Either choose your download destination or remember where it defaults to!
Step 2 - After downloading Magic Workstation and going through the steps to install it on your computer, click my googledrive link >>RIGHT HERE<<
You
will need the Master.mwbase, and the VS.mwTheme files. so download
those first. Then you'll want to open the the Original Sets folder and
download each set. (If you have a google drive account you can just take the entire folder, if not, it's the long way.)
Help yourself to the other stuff as well, but the green arrows show all you need.
About as hard as it was for me to put 27 arrows here for you.
Step 3 - Once you've downloaded the sets, copy them and go to your Custom Sets folder. (This is inside the Magic Workstation folder) and put all the sets in there
Step 4
-Copy the Master.mwbase file and put it in your Magic Workstation
folder (your computer will ask you if you want to replace the original
file with the new one. -Select YES.
Step 5
- The Theme file. Themes make it so your cards show up like Vs cards,
and not a magic card containing a horribly warped vs card in its image
art. You must put the Theme into the Theme Folder in your Magic
Workstation file
Step 6 - Once you put the Theme into your Theme Folder you need to switch MagicWorkstation to USE that Theme. (it will not change automatically, as you can store any number of potential themes here.)
You do this by going to your registry and changing the theme. To bring
up your computer registry click your start button and in the search bar
type in regedit and hit enter. A box may pop up asking for permission to do this action. Just hit OK and continue forward.
Keep following the green arrow folks.
In
the top left corner you will see Computer. double click it. Then double
click on HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Then double click on Software. Scroll down
and find the Magic Workstation folder. Just SINGLE click on it.
Now on the right hand side of your screen you will see a list of things
that deal with Magic Workstation. Double click on Active Theme. It will
say Default in the box. Type in the name of your Vs theme EXACTLY as the
file is written.
If
you are familiar with this already feel free to use other available
themes you may have, but In this case, it will be be typed as:
VS.mwTheme
Really simple
Green means go
just double click here.
Don't misspell the name or you'll have to... type it in again. lol
Once you do this you
will see the Theme you typed in is now listed as the Active Theme.
Close the window and you are done.
Nailed it.
Step 7
- Build some decks and find opponents! - Originally we used
versussystem.servegame.com as our server, but now just poach the magic
user one that MWS defaults to. be sure to clearly indicate you are not
hosting a MTG game!
I hope this helps those who have had difficulty with installing Magic Workstation in the past.
It was the Canadian east coast, May 2005. I was 25. Marvel Knights had just been released and I finally attended my first taste of official competitive VS System play. My first PCQ. Looking back, I can't help but smile at my own naivety. I honestly expected my revenge squad ongoing Lex, president build to do well. What with my ZERO knowlege of the meta.
The smile that won America.
Ahh but reality had other plans, and some kid that scrounged 15 last-minute superman robots ended up winning the event while I lost to pretty much everything I faced, beating only another revenge squad build, and a poor guy essentially running 2 batman starters cobbled together for a GK deck.
At the end of the day I was 2 wins, and 4 losses. I later found that some players from the new-england area had been driving up to our events for their "free" PC points for their group. Strategically forfeiting to make sure the points went to the person that needed them the most. (at the time this was not considered collusion) As our group returned home, I decided I'd never let them get "free" points again. The theorycrafting began, and my homepage suddenly changed to VSrealms.
It was December when I managed to attend the next PCQ, The Avengers set was by-and-large, extremely well-recieved, and JLA had just been released. GLock, was rampant and I had been experimenting with the first iteration of both guns blazing. At the time the meta was rife with slow, stall-y combo builds, Avengers reservists and Squadron Supreme. Rama-tut wasn't errata'd yet, and a guy named Sam Roads changed my life.
See, Sam Roads created Both Guns Blazing. And had just top 8'd the 10k Gen Con UK 2005 a month earlier. Since he didn't actually WIN, the deck didn't get the hype other builds like Light Show created, so this crazy high skillcap build just sat around. I remember looking at it and... just not getting it. it was just about all i did for a month. I played Both guns. I agonized over card choices until i understood their signifigance. I lost, and lost and lost. I read match reps, and lost. and finally, one day, I believe it was HeroComplex, that posted some basic rules explanation on how the chain worked, and it all clicked. I won with it. And then again. After the DR. Light ban not much changed, and the deck still felt extremely strong, so I decided to see how far it could take me.
By the time the PCQ in december started, my own playgroup had been secretly building tech decks to beat both guns. They HATED it. oh man. With a fiery rage, they hated it. I played the event, and gradually amassed win after win over friend and foe alike, finally making it to the final. of course, our southern friends were back. and before the match began one of them pulled me aside out of sight of the event organizers and offered to pay me a few hundred bucks to forfeit. (Definately collusion now! But it happened ALL the time back then.) On top of that he'd give me all the prize support. Maybe on another day I might have taken the offer. But if I won I'd get a few hundred bucks and prizes anyway. So he doubled the offer.
That's when I realized I was going to win.
In true Canadian fashion I apologized profusely, and politely declined.
I savored every sigh he produced, as the lock took hold and the guns went blazing.
No free points this time.
Best $250 I ever earned.
I still have that first gift card I ever won to this day, as a reminder of humble beginnings.
Damn right I do.
So why the random walk down memory lane?
Ignoring the present status of VS and any emotional sentiment our present state may leave us, the community as a large, still exists. And sometimes re-evaluating where we are going in life can be given perspective by remembering where we've been, bonds we've made, and friends we've lost.
That said, this will never feel like a dead card game to me. And I continue to be thankful for all of it.
So most of you following along these past few days have likely learned some interesting factoids about me: Namely, I really REALLY love the midnight sons child-lock engine. So to keep a relatively open mind, I have also tasked myself to experiment with other builds to see if anything... you know, clicks.
For as long as it has existed, the Ultimates have intrigued me. Capable of being a mono-shield power-curve, they have a unique feel as they remove your deck from the game to enable some unique interactions. This sort of a build on its own would normally never cater to any sort of toolbox, as your options could accidentally get RFP'd which under normal circumstances, could spell death.
Enter The Triskelion.
I've got a fever, and the only cure is Ultimates.
With this, everything we remove BECOMES the deck's toolbox. The issue becomes, can we make it dependable enough to take advantage of it?
3 [MUL] Iron Man, Ultimates
1 [MUL] Sub-Mariner, Ultimates
2 [MVL] Dr. Strange, Ally of The Four
1 [MUL] Thor, Ultimates
Plot Twists:
4 [DCR] Forbidden Loyalties - Team-Up
4 [MXM] Enemy Of My Enemy
4 [MUL] Liberation Day, Ultimates
3 [MOR] Cosmic Radiation
2 [MCG] Pathetic Attempt
2 [MVL] Only Human
2 [MMK] Meltdown
1 [MSM] Unmasked
Equipment:
2 [MEQ] War Machine Armor, Unique
1 [MMK] War Wagon
2 [MEX] Ultimate Nullifier, One-Way Trip
Locations:
4 [MUL] The Triskelion, Ultimates
The Breakdown.
Live hard. Artillery shell hard.
Compared to the child builds from the other day, it doesn't seem very defensively minded, in the strictest sense, that is true. No defensive pumps aside from the team-up itself. Just a power-curve with a decent slew of answers. One of it's hardest matchups is Migga City, so unmasked is an easy add. We see that familiar War Machine Armor interaction with Dr. Strange and some nuanced readying tricks. And Mr. Fantastic, Ultimates, digs deep, enabling both triskelion, and giving us whatever we happen to need from the deck. As a combat-oriented build, Only Human serves us well into the lex/wolverine matchups, and a couple meltdown's really help keep QuickVoltage an ever so slight nerf to its speed.
Black Bamboo, (the italian version) has been testing very well, so to address any similar variants we don't even have to go off the ultimates version, as Sub-Mariner, Ultimates removes both player's KO piles from the game. (This is huge, and also hurts any build relying on recursion, which is quite popular in golden!) Often players knee-jerk reaction to him is playing a PA, only to put it back into their hand as they re-read his text and realize he doesn't target. You know, just like War Machine Armor.
Caliban doesn't need a better reason to be there, other than, Techno-Organic Virus Builds exist. And my original brainchild, The Thor-Burn win condition is present here too, offering a staggering amount of potential direct damage in this particular build.
It is certainly a unique approach. Playing into stalls it feels lackluster until after turn 4 where all of a sudden it stabilizes and starts stealing the show. Playing into curves, it tends to do well early and then suddenly stops attacking completely in the late turns, favoring instead on the Thor set-up or a Dr. Strange War Machine Armor + War Wagon explosion. (war wagon is free if blade is out)
Ultimate Nullifier is just so gravy it hurts. Every time I debate reducing them or replacing them for other tech items, they win me a game by negating a Quickfate ready, a spider-man Ultimate's effect, That clutch Avalon Space Station your opponent wants to hit, or even a start-of phase trigger. It's GOLD.
Another curiosity of the deck is its Golden-age success on even initiatives, survive until 6 and you'll soon see why. Thor goes off just as hard on a defending turn 7 anyway. If you land odds, it isn't necessarily bad either, since most golden age kings are spoiled with potent odd turns anyway, so it's nice to mess with them a bit. Building first on odd initiatives before decks like Wolverine direct is certainly helpful.
So where does it falter?
Pepper, I thought you said you checked the oil?
Unsurprisingly, The decks largest short-falling is in its own design. Your toolbox is built up by using RFP effects, meaning triskelion activations are only as good as your RNG gods allow in this regard. I've had games where I activated a turn 1 wasp only to see all 4 triskelions evicted into the great beyond, or games where every piece of tech just, never showed up at all. Sure cards like Mr. Fantastic and fast access to RFP options through wasp and Invisible Woman help minimize this, but it can be an issue regardless.
Other variants:
With the Triskelion offering a tempting "press to win" approach to needed cards it was tempting to try another child lock or keeping it to a more purist control. In the end, however, it never seemed necessary as the early game has access to either hidden characters or an invisible woman with a large butt to help mitigate that early damage. Ultimately (PUN!) the superb child defense never really felt necessary compared to the listed build, and discarding it entirely really allowed the build to breathe.
A checkmate + Ultimates concept still has me intrigued due to the added utility of both, Black Thorne's backup to ready The Triskelion for multiple chained uses. (Between Ahmed replacing a Trisk for another, Black Thorn could allow 3 chained searches, which is HUGE!) and the fact that The Triskelion itself protects Ahmed from his self-imposed auto-loss detriment certainly argues a good case to continue digging deeper into it. However the skeleton for the checkmate build is rather large, and tends to not leave much space for much else. Checkmate is selfish that way.
This will conclude my "Into The Tank" series as I finalize my prep for the Golden Age Challenge selecting a deck and making my final adjustments!
So based on the golden age kings I've seen, and knowing I have a heavy preference for the child lock build, here's some concept builds I've got so far:
The Both Guns Edition
Characters:
2 [MMK] Micro-Chip-Linus Lieberman
4 [MMK] Dagger-Child of Light
4 [DWF] Alfred Pennyworth, Faithful Friend
2 [MOR] Invisible Woman-The Invisible Girl
2 [MEQ] Black Panther, Vibranium Vogue
2 [MOR] Mr. Fantastic-Reed Richards
1 [DOR] Shimmer-Selinda Flinders
1 [DOR] Commissioner Gordon-James Gordon
Plot Twists:
4 [MMK] Midnight Sons
4 [MOR] Cosmic Radiation
4 [MOR] A Child Named Valeria
1 [MOR] Press the Attack
2 [DOR] Fizzle
4 [MMK] Wild Ride
4 [DOR] Bat-Signal
2 [MEV] Common Cause - Team-Up
2 [MXM] Enemy Of My Enemy
2 [MCG] Pathetic Attempt
1 [MOR] Team Tactics
1 [MUN] Death Of The Dream
The original cool, with so many answers very few questions can bother it as it grinds out its engine of free stuns and murder. However, Lex warrants an answer. The inclusion of Blade allows acces to S.H.I.E.L.D. without actually needing to team-up. This enables the use of Power Dampeners allowing you to neutralize Lex while setting up that all-important kill turn.
Reality gem allows for some reusable non-plot twist-based resource killing which is very useful into that potent USB stall I tested against last night as bad press is a bad day. Of course the boost on Death of the dream is no laughing matter and the sole reason it exists in this deck.
Meanwhile Nullifier is absolutely amazeballs into Hulk, being able to negate his friends effects as they remove themselves from play, but essentially becomes the first Alfred search you make if you want any hope of stopping Miek from going off. and ignoring that essential catcher's mitt. The fact it also happens to pretty much stop all the other hulk related tricks is just a bonus.
*What it's lacking*
Quickvoltage is such a bad matchup against the standard guns it didn't feel worth thinning out the builds strong options to put a band-aid on a gunshout wound. Sure it would only cost me 2 cards, but in application, it just wasn't viable without the removal of one of the guns.
The older vets among you will recall Dean Sohnle's Fantastic Fun build. A mono fantastic 4 deck that was among the first to ever use A Child Named Valeria to good effect in competitive play. In short, it ran a large pile of 3 cost or less fan 4 characters and used child to protect them while they used advanced hardware and flametrap to attack and burn without remorse or any serious penalty for that matter. On turn 5 Stretch would come in and make sure every single character got in on the burn action for a turn 5ish win. (although it could be noted that the deck could win much sooner)
With midnight sons and the alfred engine we can guarantee an optimal kill turn, at the small expense of speed, but even with resource hate, the deck can function fine as this variant only needs 1 team-up between fan 4 and gotham knights to really function. As a sort-of win-more condition i snuck a war machine armor in the build as well since dr. strange's 2 cost iteration brings avengers into the fold allowing for an easy common cause team-up and a potentially stupid stretch-infused kill turn. Strange's 6 cost version is just another excuse to activate everything one more time and of course fits in nicely. You just need to be aware of warmachine Armor's substantial cost shoudl you go that route. Eye of agamotto is free with a quick wild ride for the 2 drop if we see a burn-centric opposing build as well. (ironically child's absoute WORST matchup) but in this lazier build it doesn't feel like it loses anything to include.
*Why it's good*
The set-up is FAST for a combo stall engine considering the meta. Black panther is just stupid good here and makes you feel like you are running so much more equipment than you are. an alfred and a dagger in your opening hand will allow a turn 3 child (asuming no resource hate) and that'll at least give you one more turn when facing down a quickfate with a god-hand. Namorita digs for additional cosmic radiations or child's when you really need them too.
*What it's lacking*
No Lex counterplay aside from a single only human and it lacks the inclusion of Caliban for the more hardcore draw engines.
At the cost of the original guns (the entire teen titans and fearsome 5 affiliations removed) this version packs in every answer needed for the guantlet. The loss of Teen Titans however, allowed for some fun theory-crafting with Secret Society with the inclusion of Black manta as a direct Garth replacement, and Poison Ivy, allowing access to turns with multiple Alfreds at my disposal. At this point, Reality gem is still a slightly more consistent option than Chemo, but he hasn't been completely written-off just yet.
The kill turn entirely focuses around War-Machine armor ideally equipped to Dr. Strange on a turn 6 initiative, for a shocking amount activations. (the perfect game would allow for 7 activations having placed all for a whopping 42 un-negatable damage, and up to 7 stuns while also decking them out. realistically, it is more like 4-5, which doesn't suck.)
Since war machine armor is a combat finish, Only human actually works just fine into the Lex, a surprisingly easy answer
*What it's lacking*
Well, to restate the obvious, it is missing a gun... or two. And reliese exclusively on war-machine armor to close out the game. This leaves it lacking into unique builds like Wolverine Direct with no threat onto the 3 drop. Deadshot could be an option and will be tested at some point over the next 24 hours to see if I can consistently stack the KO pile for him.
While this build does contain the largest roster of pure answers, It has arguably the weakest endgame. of the others due to the fact that it's one gun, is both:
- Initiative based.
- Limited to the Combat Phase.
Both Issues that both guns has never historically struggled with and adding a new slew of cards that may hurt it. (Mr. Sinister, for example)
Now these are all child lock variants, and i realize some of you likely don't care about that. After all, there is a tremendous amount of selection when it comes to toolbox options, hell most of GA contenders ARE a toolbox of some degree. In my next post I will post a toolbox that has absolutely nothing to do with the lock, if only to show that i really am considering everything. I just felt that as a bit of a child-lock connaisseur these would warrant a look for those that are curious.
After my posts the other day, players repping the Italian meta pointed out that a few of my lists didn't match-up to their Golden Age Kings. as such I'll be revisiting Spider Stall using their USB variant, and their Black Bamboo build, which each seem quite potent compared to the first ones I played.
For those interested their Golden age tier list includes decklists and detailed breakdowns for several unique approaches on their Golden age Kings.
So to keep things semi-standardized, only a few tweaks have gone into the Guns build so far, mostly because I want relevant information testing these two decks before ripping the guns apart and building my challenge toolbox from the ground up. Most notable is the inclusion of Power Dampeners specifically for the Lex, but useful for some other problematic characters as well.
I'll be posting after action reports in a moment!
*********************
The reviews:
Super Black Bamboo
- Far more resilient than anticipated.
- Good potential resource disruption early
- Power Dampeners hurts Lex, but Black Bolt is easy to just replace.
- Expect to face all 3 PA's
- Dont KO a power dampened Lex. Or he'll be back.
- Spider-Girl can be annoying.
Difficulty: 7
THOUGHTS:
- RFP could be ridiculous into this build.
- Caliban hurts this build.
- Taking even initiatives is better to control Lex with Dampeners, giving you a turn 5 build phase.
USB (Italian Spider Stall)
- Lots of prevention of character targetting.
- Consistent access to characters in the KO pile.
- one god-hand away from no plot twists until turn 4-5.
Difficulty: 8
THOUGHTS:
- Assume any variant I see has a Lex instead of Sinister - weak against resource hate.Really weak. - No way to secure the perfect PT lockdown. - Koriand'r loses her effect to Dampeners.
Lots to chew on tonight. While i do love child lock into the other combo/stall/toolboxes it is rough into a good rush like quick voltage... Tomorrow ill be posting my first draft for a catch-all Toolbox.
