Deck Doctor: Team Crime friends challenge!

 So as I await the final top 4 cut announcement for the winter event, Proposition Joe, had, er... a Proposition. Make Team Superman and Crime Lords work with a focus on Master Man and Wonder Woman, Deflection Diva. 

Challenge accepted.

Team Crime Friends sounds better than Racist Justice

When you know you are going to see a two team lineup, and you know they aren't going to lend themselves to any sort of consistent theme, the most difficult part is really setting out your curve. You want to hit both teams, your team-ups and your deck objective.

For this challenge, my first impressions seems pretty clear:

Nailed it.

So, first off. Is accommodating all this actually viable? And secondly, are there better options? is it worth fitting 3 redirects if it means no search? Not likely. So lets build our squad, and see where we end up.

So after some remakes and hard cuts here is the current list:

Toro!

Characters:
4x Roscoe Sweeny, Fixer
1x A.I.M. Agents, Army - A.I.M.

4x Kelex, Faithful Servant
2x Hiro Okamura - Toyman, Whiz-Kid
1x Yelena Belova - Black Widow, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. - HYDRA

4x Red Skull, Aleksander Lukin - Raid
2x The Guardian, Jim Harper

4x Master Man, Max Lohmer - Raid

4x Wonder Woman, Deflection Diva

1x Taskmaster, Mnemonic Assassin
1x Pyrogen, Supermen of America

2x Red Skull, Master of Creation

Plot Twists:
4x Forbidden Loyalties, Team-Up
4x Mobilize
4x Flying High
3x Reset
3x Desperate Sacrifice
2x Code White

Locations:
2x 31st Century Metropolis, Team-Up
2x Kandor, City in a Bottle

Equipment:
3x Armed Escort
3x Cosmic Cube

So here's the breakdown:
Roscoe has 1 job. live to turn 3 to fetch red skull. It doesn't matter if you under-dropped him on 2 or not, but that's his job. However, to tide myself over I gave him targets for 1 and 2 while he waits to you know, get to three, so he can DO HIS JOB. Our build is a cosmic cube variant, and beyond that red skull's burn is actually quite great in key situations.

On two I want to see Kelex. a big booty robot that will fetch whatever location i haven't seen yet prioritizing out team-up. I'm a big fan of Kandor in this myself. Our backup2  is Hiro, and Yelena is our search option for Roscoe if we haven't teamed up yet.

Turn 3 I almost didn't bother with a secondary drop. But Guardian can really shine, on offensive turn 4 turns. send a protected Master Man then Kandor him to safety for any counter-swings. Also fun things like deflection diva redirecting into something else, then activating armed escort on Master Man to redirect again for a fast double burn, double lifegain proc. among other entertaining combos.

Turn 4. Master Man. That racist overlord has a massive booty for bricking. I legitimately hate how much I like his mechanics. Once here though, we have a plethora of outplays.
Armed Escort keeps him ensuring getting face shots he so desperately wants.
Flying high, is a ridiculous cheap reset, (assuming you have teamed up) of course, Reset is present as well. A test of your opponent's sanity while they debate making any swings at all, or simply just passing combat. But its the Desperate Sacrifice, that your opponent won't see coming.

You know the one right?
No?
EXACTLY!

So once the mind games have begun, (Do they have flying high for master man? reset?) your opponent is gonna want to hit, say, Roscoe, hiding behind the massive 4 drop. or any of your other weak target options. Yeahhhh, about that...

Yeahhh, I'm going to need you to hit Master Man.

When we consider the implications of a face-up Kandor, the scenarios can get legitimately mind-numbing. Opponents may actually began to just stop all their swings altogether, making the deck legitimately a stall. This is completely fine with us.

On 5, we focus on Deflection diva, with a built in reverse Armed Escort, she's just magnificent to keep the swings coming at Master Man.

On 6 we split our options, either controlled swing potential via Pyrogen, or some scaling bricking from Taskmaster.

Finally on 7, we completely ignore any supermen in this team superman cross-over for a red Skull win condition. The primary target for our Code White. Welcome to turn 7 and surprise! If your curve is present and adjacent to him, stunned or not, you burn for 15! Yay!

This list has so much to like, from crazed defensive outplays, to some unique offensive combos, to the fact Superman isn't in this list at all! There is just a cornucopia of things to love!

Until next time!

The BYO 2 Sets WINTER TOURNAMENT - Round 4

Round 4! Even though i was the only undefeated, it seemed we had 5 othes with 2-1 so a final round was in order to have a clearer top 4.

My next opponent is Proposition Joe.
Captain Cuba.
His sets were MXM and MTU
I'm not sure what he is running, but so far this event, it was players not knowing what i had coming either. So fairplay, I suppose.

GAME 1

Initiative: Joe takes evens

TURN 1

I hit my Trisk and recruit wasp burn for 3
Joe wiffs.

50 to 47

TURN 2

Joe wiffs again.
I recruit Clint and go direct before activating wasp again.

50 to 40

TURN 3

I recruit Blade Hidden and pass.
He underdrops Sage. OH! Hellfire club! At least now i know whats coming at me!

Blade swings into sage moving her visible and passes for a mutual stun.
Clint goes direct for 4.
wasp burns for 3

47 to 28

TURN 4

Joe  Underdrops Mastermind hidden. passes. Brital bad beats here so far.
I recruit hank and we pass to combat.
Hank wiffs his counter.

Joe plays deadly game trading his mastermind and sage

Hank swings over mastermind for a 1 sided stun.
Blade into sage pushing visible trader stuns.
Clint direct.
wasp burns for 3.

44 to 10

TURN 5

I recruit Iron Man protected by hank
He recruts Shinobi, and laments not using masterminds effect to go hidden.

Hank stuns mastermind. Shinobi reinforces.  Blade suicides into Shinobi, pushing him hidden.
Clint goes direct.
Iron Man goes direct.
Wasp Burns for 3.
Joe Scoops it up.

41 to -9

GAME 2

Initiative: he takes evens.

TURN 1

I recruit 1 cost Hank and declare the version Ultimates.
He misses 1.

Hank swings direct.

50 to 49

TURN 2

He joins the club to fetch Sage and recruits her hidden.

I wiff turn 2.

He sends sage over my Hank, but because I'm dumb and forgot he cant activate his +3 ATK  on himself you know, NOT being an ultimate. oops! Misplays for days.

47 to 49

TURN 3

He recruits Mastermind hidden protecting Sage.
I recruit Blade.

I send Blade and Hank direct.
Joe uses Power and Wealth to fetch join the club.

47 to 43

TURN 4

He plays Join the club to fetch Blackheart recruiting it hidden.
I play a rowed Liberation Day to Grab myself Hank, Ultimates and recruit him visible, KOIng the 1 drop to uniqueness.

Blackheart pops Blade faster than you can say "start of combat".
Hank lands his +1/+1 counter and swings direct for 8.

47 to 35

TURN 5

I play a rowed Liberation day to fetch Iron Man and recruit him protected by Hank.
Joe recruits Shinobi Shaw Visible and passes.

Hank wiffs his counter, Iron man rips an army of 1 to the rfp.

I send Hank into Shinobi, who gains a counter and I play trouble with dinos for +6 and a mutual stun.
I declare Ironman direct and he  plays absolute power to recover Shinobi.
I pass rather than continue.
So does he.

43 to 28

TURN 6

He recruits Madelyn Pryor hidden and passes.
I recruit Captain America and pass.

Shinobi swings onto Iron Man.
I boost now I'm fighting dirty.
Iron Man is 12/12/
I boost another from the row.
15/15.
He exhausts Sage and Mastermind for Power and Wealth to search out  Army of 1, immediately playing it.
I activate Triskelion removing my hand from the game to play a THIRD NIFD.
18/18
I brick. And man it feels good.

35 to 2

TURN 7

I play Liberation Day.
I chain Triskelion to Liberation Day for Lady Deathstrike
Lib Day resolves landing me Thor.
I recruit Thor.
I proceed to do the Deathstrike combo. subbing her into play 3 times (removing Hank, Iron Man, And Cap) as I reready Thor for more burn.
Even with my low end RFP numbers, Thor burns for 13, then 13, then 14, then 15 as i keep re-substituting Lady Deathstrike to ready Thor, inherently helping to contribute to his burn amounts.
I then pass build.

Joe goes into the tank
He does a series of plays and recruits Sebastian Shaw between Sage and Mastermind

He team swings Blackheart and Mastermind into Thor. Powering up to match his 14 defense. I stun back Blackheart.

Shinobi goes direct for 15.
Madelyn goes direct for 12.
Sage direct for 3.
then Sebastian for 16, twice.
We both pass to recovery. He hit hard, but not hard enough.

-34 to -57

I win 2-0!

Afterwards Joe and I shot the breeze for a good hour or so regarding our fanboy decks and past Jank decks that went to PC's. Printing proxy full-arts and legacy decks from back in the day! It was super nice to hear some of the old tales. The origins of Anti-Matter pre Chomin was super interesting! I can't wait to bend your ear again in the future! Can't ask for better than a classy opponent.

Current record:

W - Hulk variant 2-0
W - Skrulls 2-0
W - Toolbox Stall 2-0
W - Hellfire Club 2-0

The BYO 2 Sets WINTER TOURNAMENT - Round 3

 The mysterious man known online as Greyfox9996 is my next opponent. It seems Cesar Rodil has seen a similar series of successes in his first two games, with only his first round going to game 3, leaving him 2-0. If I've played him before I can't recall. So by default I am expecting a high caliber deck for this meta, and I'm super curious what it is. Curve? Control? Rush? As of the time of this writing we only know 1 thing:

He calls it: Toolkit (MOR + DCL)

Mysterious indeed.

GAME 1

Initiative: I select evens

TURN 1

Cesar recruits Riddler hidden and activates on himself. hitting a 2.
I recruit Hank 1 drop and select the version Ultimates and ping him for 1.

50 to 49

TURN 2

He chains Riddler to draw on himself hitting a 3.

I recruit Clint hidden and pass.
Cesar plays a rowed STTG sending Puppet Master and an Avalon to the KO. then flips and activates Avalon to land recur and play Puppet Master.

I declare Clint into Puppet Master. He activates exhausting my Hank and we pass for a 1 sided stun.

50 to 45

TURN 3

He chains Riddler to the draw on himself hitting a 1.

Cesar then recruits a Poison Ivy protecting Puppet Master and activates Hidden HQ
I play Liberation Day to fetch Nick Fury and recruit him protected by the 1 drop hank, before passing to combat.

He swings Ivy into Hank. I exhaust Hank and Clint for a boosted Death of the Dream played from my row. He chains pupper master to exhaust SHAFT. Hank stuns. we both pass.

46 to 45

TURN 4

He chains Riddler to draw. He hits a 4.

I activate Hank 1 on Nick. then recruit Hank, ultimates, KOing the first to uniqueness.
He recruits Dr Doom flipping Down STTG then Reign of Terrors Nick. He thenflips a teamup crossing over Doom and Secret Society.

At the start of combat Hank actually grows, RFPing an ultimate for a +1/+1 counter.
Ivy fetches Boris. Boris activates and grabs a second reign and he plays it on Clint. He then activates Puppet Master to exhaust Hank. we both pass to recovery. with a big ole, nothing turn.

46 to 45... still

TURN 5

Cesar chains to the draw hitting a 2.

He recruits Robot Destroyer and immediately activates it to stun my Hank and passes his build.
I recruit Iron Man and pass to combat.

Start of combat He sees Iron Man's effect coming and chains, playing Straight to the Grave from his hand, sending Rogue power absorbtion to the KO.

He activates Puppet Master, exhausting Iron man, then we both pass to recovery.

42 to 40

TURN 6

Banking that he has no doom 6 I under-drop Nick Fury (SHAFT!) Wasp and Clint. I only have 2 cards in the warp and my HOPEFULLY surprise kill turn is coming quickly. If I can use both Wasp and Nick I'll be back on track for what I need to do to end, but any 1 rfp ability will do for now.

He activates Boris to fetch a reconstruction Program. As I expected hes either getting Lex or Rogue.
He gets Rogue and underdrops another Boris. He activates riddler and hits a 1. I secretly celebrate, but i still have a power dampners in hand so it might not matter what he opts to do.

Start of combat Hank's effect wiffs and Ironman sees his 1 card. (Black Manta)

Cesar activates Robot Destroyer to stun Hank.
Iron man declares into Puppet Master. Once legal he exhausts both puppet master and Rogue, I exhaust clint and wasp. He activates Boris and fetches Press the attack to untap puppet master and tap Shaft out too. I rfp 5 for Shaft to make Iron Man unstunnable and pass for the one sided stun.

He sends Dr. Doom into Shaft for a 1 sided stun of his own, and passes to recovery.

I KO Nick. He KO's Puppet Master.

32 to 26

TURN 7

He chains Riddler to the draw. I chain a rowed Lib day to fetch Thor.
Riddler hits a 1.

He plays a rowed STTG sending Professor X and a Reign or terror.
He follows up with a Reconstruction Program and recruits Professor X. Then activates a rowed Birthing Chamber discarding Boris before passing build.

I set a resource and activate wasp to burn for 3.
I then recruit power Dampners onto Poison Ivy to prevent the boris he wants to fetch. prob for a gamma bomb? maybe press? I'm still unsure of his win condition but i know he has Doom 8 in the drop. So it's likely any combination of Gamma Bomb and infinite swinging Dr. Doom Press the Attack loop. Not bad either way. probably both.

I then recruit Thor. He responds with a Mystical Paralysis from Dr. Doom  to exhaust Thor. I respond with a  Lib Day and chain again with a Triskelion sending my hand to the RFP, and chain one last time with thor to burn for 17.
I then declare substitute. He chains robot destroyer to stun Hank then activates Prof to exhaust Iron Man leaving me with no valid target for her. She fails to enter play. I pass to combat.

Not quite being sure of Substitute I look it up quickly and confirm its function.

<<RULES BREAK!>>
"Substitute" is a keyword on character cards that represents a payment power that functions in the hand. The keyword "substitute" means, "Reveal this card >>> You may remove from the game a ready character you control with cost greater than or equal to the cost of this card. If you do, put this card into play. Use only if this card is in your hand and only during your recruit step."

So we managed to play it correctly where he could respond to the declared substitute and remove all my possible targets! I love this game! It's always nice to have a refresher course on this stuff!

Rogue takes Prof X's ability and exhausts Clint. Smart move, I could have activated Trisk for a Trouble with Dinos and traded stuns with Rogue for game. Instead, I chain a Clint in hand, exhausting the Clint in play to rfp the stunned Robot Destroyer.

We both pass to recovery.

15 to 1

TURN 8

Cesare opts to not chain to the draw.

I activate Wasp for 3 and then Thor for 20 more burn
I then Declare Substitute with Lady Deathstrike. He chains Prof X to exhaust my Iron Man. I RFP Hank and put her into play, immediately activating her to return her to my hand and ready my Thor.
Thor activates again and burns for 20.
Then I recruit Ladt deathstrike and do it all again, activating her and activating Thor for 20 more.
since it is turn 8, I recruit the angry wnech of death one final time, returning her to hand and readying Thor for a total burn of 80. he goes into the tank and for a brief moment I wonder if he has Endgame + Latveria and Dark God for the alternate win. My heart jumps into my throat.

He scoops. 

WHEW!

6 to -82

GAME 2

Initiative:  He elects to take evens

TURN 1

I set a resource and recruit Wasp hidden he wiffs. I swing for 1. no Trisk yet. cant risk it.

50 to 49

TURN 2

I rip the Trisk on the draw. Life is good.

Cesar recruits Puppet Master.
I wiff and activate wasp for 3

50 to 46

TURN 3

I activate Wasp again and recruit Blade hidden. He promptly Puppet Masters it.
He then recruits Ivy

Ivy swings direct.

46 to 42

TURN 4

He sets and flips a Forced Conscription sending 3 and nabbing a 5 drop Black Manta. He then recruits Rogue.
I set and recruit Lady Deathstrike, and we pass to combat.

He sends Rogue into Deathstrike for a mutual then goes direct with Ivy. I breathe a sigh of relief since there's no KO tricks. He activates Puppet Master and I exhaust wasp. He passes combat.

Blade swings into puppet master electing not to move him hidden. He then powers up PUPPET MASTER 3 times THE HELL MAN let me kill you properly! we trade into mutual stuns.

I KO Blade, he KOs Puppet Master.

34 to 37

TURN 5

I draw the rest of my perfect curve. So not feeling  rushed to crutch on Trisk at the moment. I am also camping a Power Dampeners. This is saved for Lex, because an online Lex could suck.
He recruits Black Manta. Nice. Always nice to not see Lex. I am also super glad he wiffed doom 4.

Start of combat Iron man hits an Unnatural selection and I fist bump nothing in particular, but I do it hard.Ivy triggers and brings in Riddler, but he cant hurt me now. Riddler hits a 2.

I send Iron Man into Rogue for an uncontested stun.
I then follow up with Lady Deathstrike into Black Manta powering up once legal for a mutual. He pays 3 and nabs an Unnatural Selection from his KO. I chain, flipping up Trisk to send all the potential dying stuff to the RFP and keep Deathsrike relevant. (The one I powered up went to the KO not the warp as Trisk wasnt up yet.)
I flip up License to Kill for Wasp and chain its effect to KO stunned defender (Black Manta) and pass He chains Unnatural selection exhausting Ivy to KO my Deathstrike. I am ok with this trade. Both go away.

He activates Avalon to fetch Lex. God damn it I'm good and ready for this. My Power Dampeners are fully erect.

We both pass to recovery.

 

30 to 23

TURN 6

He chains Hidden HQ to the draw sending Dr. Doom 4 to the KO.
I rip a second Trisk and breathe a sigh of relief. It's nice to have options. In case one gets suddenly KO'd.

He activates Riddler hitting a 1, then STTGs sending a Riddler and Hidden HQ to his KO.
He recruits Lex and I pretend I'm offended. But he isn't going to do much today. He just doesnt know that yet. he follows up underdropping a riddler, activating it and hitting 4.

I waste ZERO time. I set a resource and immediately Power Dampener his Lex.
Bad words are said.
I then recruit Captain America forming him to protect Iron Man we then pass to combat.

At the start of combat, Ivy puts a Riddler into play. Rogue copies Riddlers effect. Iron Man triggers but his hand is empty. Cesar realizes he cant stop my swings anymore and with Lex locked down he also can't stop Thors burn next turn unless he takes drastic action.(aka suiciding and not recovering Lex on PURPOSE. The only issue is that turn 7 will be my initiative and i'll go off before he can re-recruit Lex.)
He ponders for a while, likely the same things i did, and offers teh handshake. I flash the Thor in hand and with Lady Deathstrike in the RFP and a face up trisk and wasp, I figure I would have burned for around 60 endurance.

Cesar Scoops

A classy list from a classy player. I really enjoyed that toolbox! but gotta say, where was the equip removal? it wasnt much but his sets had access to a backfire I kept waiting for and never seeing. it's possible he ran it and missing Doom all game just cramped his options.

I manage another 2-0 week! 

But holy hell game 1 could have been either way. I had the unknown working for me, otherwise I suspect he'd have ridden Lex on 5 onwards rather than robot. Who knows how that might have gone?

Current record:

W - Hulk variant 2-0
W - Skrulls 2-0
W - Toolbox Stall 2-0

The BYO 2 Sets WINTER TOURNAMENT - Round 2

For round 2 as the sole paired down victor, I faced off against Nick's Skrull deck. Featuring MHG and MUN. I won the roll and figured it would be a good idea to play around hoping for blade on 3 and chose odd initiatives. Unlike last bat-rep, I managed to take some reasonably detailed notes this time through! Enjoy!

GAME 1

TURN 1

I recruit wasp. He wiffs and wasp swings direct, I wanted to telegraph not having Trisk yet. Fun fact: i had 2.

50 to 49

TURN 2

Nick sets a resource and recruits Franklin Richards hidden. then passes.

I wiff and activate Wasp for 3 burn. I just drew another Trisk I'm just going to go wide with her now.
he swings direct.

At the end of the turn Franklin gains a cosmic counter.

48 to 46

TURN 3

I recruit SHAFT (Nick Fury) in my visible support row and pass. The hell is happening? ALL my resources are Triskelions. the 4th is in my warp.

He plays Skrullverine visible, but that won't last long.

I declare Shaft into Skrullverine. He removes a counter from Franklin and moves Wolvie hidden making the declared swing not legal. Shaft goes direct instead.

He passes, I activate wasp for 3. 

Franklin cains a cosmic at the end of the turn.

48 to 38

TURN 4

Nick recruits Ethan Edwards visible.
I recruit Hank Pym protecting Shaft.

Hank triggers gaining a counter.
Nick flips up 2 team-ups and declares Skrulverine into Hank with 12
I death of the dream exhausting hank and wasp to replace both team ups. he hits another. I reinforce with shaft and pass to mutual stuns.
He continues with Ethan into Shaft at 10/7 Once legal, I play now im fighting dirty (NIFD) for the stun-back and flip up Trisk. he moves Ethan hidden with Frankie before passing into the trade then sends Franklin direct with a double power up for 4.

Franklin gains another cosmic.

during recovery, Nick KO's Skrullverine. I KO Shaft.

37 to 31

TURN 5

I play Liberation day from the row and chain Trisk for NIFD. I then recruit Iron Man.
He recruits Elektra hidden.

Hank gets another counter, Iron Man wiffs. I team my 4 and 5 direct for 18 and pass.
He realizes I can brick any single swing, since he saw me get NIFD, and i saw his hand is mostly useless and team swings Elektra and Ethan into Hank.
Hank stuns Elektra who fails to KO with only 3 affiliations. he passes.

Frankie gains a counter.

I recover Hank he recovers Elektra.

33 to 5

TURN 6

Nick recruits Super Skrull visible and passes.
I force him to use Franklin Richards by attempting to attach Power Dampeners onto Super Skrull. He does so and moves his 6 hidden and dampeners cant find a legal target and KOs.
I then activate Trisk to fetch and recruit Captain America.

He goes wide for stuns, but cant deal with stun-backs. 

28 to -12

GAME 2

Nick elects to take evens.

I play wasp, he recruits lockjaw to fetch Franklin
I burn him for 3, he swings direct for 2.

48 to 47

TURN 2

Nick recruits Franklin Richards hidden.
I recruit Clint Barton hidden.

he sends everything direct for 4.

I burn with wasp and swing direct with Clint for 7

Franklin gains a counter.

44 to 40

TURN 3

I recruit blade.
He recruits Skrulverine.

I send Blade into Franklin moving frank visible for some good, old fashioned child abuse.
Nick uses Frank and moves Skrulverine hidden and passes into a 1 sided stun
I then go direct with Clint and burn with wasp for 7.

Nick goes direct for 7

Nick recovers Franklin. No cosmic counters this time!

37 to 29

TURN 4

Nick wiffs 4. At this point I feel it may be over for him.
I recruit Lady Deathstrike visible.

Nick flips up underground Movement and swings Skrulvie into Lady Deathstrike. Dropping 2 interstellar offensives for a  massive 20 ATK swing. I change my pants, ending in a mutual stun.
He then he sends Franklin direct, moving him hidden again thanks to a flipped Underground Movement and follows up with lockjaw for 2 more.

I send blade into Franklin again (because he loves to abuse children just as much as vampires apparently.) moving him visible.
He powers up hoping for a stun-back I play a trouble with dinos and chain flipping and activating Trisk to fetch a NIFD to avoid the stun and send home some big damage. Wasp burns for 3 again and Clint goes direct.

He KOs Franklin.

15 to 9

TURN 5

I chain Trisk to the draw to fetch iron man recruiting him protecting Lady Deathstrike.
He recruits Elektra.

Iron Man removes a death of the dream (he revealed 2 death of the dreams and another elektra.)

I activate Wasp burning for 3.
Clint goes direct for an easy 4, Then I flip up SHIELD Helicarrier (returning wasp and clint to hand.)
before sending my Iron Man direct for 11.
Blade swings into Elektra with 7 thanks to flight since she was protected, I then flip up a second Trisk (KOing the first to uniqueness) and activating it for a Trouble with Dinos to ensure the stun.
To follow up, I activate Lady Deathstrike's effect to ready Iron Man and faceshot him once more with 11.

He scoops it up. and offers the handshake.

12 to -29

another 2-0 week!

So I was a bit worried that I'd see him go WIDE but game 1 was put to bed almost entirely on the back of that clutch Death of the Dream, Game two I really got to feel validated in my decision to run Blade. Ultimates aren't shy about showing me that a bunch of 2-of tech options will see consistent play, and man that Helicarrier was so good, I'm kicking myself for not running more.

Current record:

W - Hulk variant 2-0
W - Skrulls 2-0

Next up Cesar!

 

The BYO 2 Sets WINTER TOURNAMENT - Round 1

I had my deck. I had my training. And now IT. IS. ON. 

My final deck decision was my spirit-animal deck, S.H.I.E.L.D. Ultimates. It is a surprisingly resilient engine that feels like Curve Sentinels meets MKKO meets purist toolbox. I elected to tie the MUL set in with MUN to grant hidden hate access via Blade on turn 3, and allow the Thor master-burn win condition via Lady Deathstrike as a non-combat alternative win condition. 

MUN also, of course houses a potent pump in the guise of Trouble with Dinos, allowing some beefy pump utility if needed. Full discosure though, it's weak to agressive rushes. and with an RFP theme it can't consistently manage the Messiah Complex interactions necessary to sustain through early heavy damage. So clearly, it isn't without it's issues. 

To remedy this, I took on an MKKO philosophy and tuned it to take advantage of  a full set of Clint Bartons, adding in a few License to kill, and further splashed in Death. (in an ultimates list triskelion can recur it for multiple uses in a game) So I had consistent and ready access to getting characters off the table, hopefully this allows me to live the dream. 

With not much access to defensive options, I elected to run Now I'm Fighting Dirty, since Triskelion is already asking me to discard my hand, it made sense to make it a bit of a theme while hopefully bricking a swing or two.

Round 1 gets posted and I play Jonathan Brami. Now historically, I know this list is likely going to be a high tiered variant. perhaps TNB reservist or AntiGL.

He's got Hulk.

Eh can't say I didn't expect it.

GAME 1: He wins intiative and takes evens, (standard hulk move)

He opens the generic early game, wiffing 1 while i land my wasp.

On 2 he hits Miek, and i play Clint Barton hidden for more early solid damage.

On 3 he wiffs entirely, while I recruits Nick Fury Visible. again i send it all to his face for solid endurance loss.

on 4 though his solo gamma hulk swings over my front row Hank Pym into my Nick fury thanks to archangels giving flight with a Hulk Smash for 19 ATK. then i get righteous firy'd and hulk swings into my 4 for a mutual stun. the stunned hulk stuns my hidden 1 and 2 leaving my entire board stunned. not good. The score is suddenly close for  us. I keep hank.

On 5 i recruit iron man protected by hank.
he KOs his 4 for the 5 and stuns Hank. iron man's effect shows a hand full of hulks and i realize I am not sure i can get over it so i pass paranoid of hulks defensive bullying on team swings. Hulk swings uncontested over Ironman. I lose hank.

On 6 he swings for the fences with his 18/18 monstrosity over my Captain America 6. and either by accident or by design leaves me at 1. (I know he had several power ups and i also had several ultimates to toss. Fun fact. this entire game has wiffed my triskelions and only given me 2 plot twists.

turn 7. triskelion finally comes to play, but i only have 13 cards in my rfp. I recruit Thor. He passes recruit. I activate thor and he flips up a LEGACY MAV card for X-statix that prevents burn entirely.
oh snap!. I sub in lady deathstrike over iron man and we go into combat. I declare Thor into Hulk. Once legal, using triskelion to nab a trouble with dinos to get the stun. Then cap swings in direct twice thanks to lady for game.

GAME 2 he takes evens again.

turn 1, once again i land wasp, however i also open an early trisk, so i dont feel bad running wasp hot early on. he wiffs.

Turn 2, he wiffs MIEK! and drops his 1 drop Elloe. I play Clint. I swing over it, he RFP's her

Turn 3, he recruits archangel. Things are looking up! I toss out Blade hidden and let archangel go direct. Cling stuns teh angel and the rest go wide.

Turn 4, Gamma Hulk for him, hank pym for me, Hank actually hits his effect and goes to 8/8! This is huge as hulk now has to power up if he's going to see a righteous anger. He does so. I power up hank. His hand is a bit low now but with a solo visible defender he drops a hulk smash and an archangel and powers up again. I pop a rowed now i'm fighting dirty unboosted to keep it even. its a mutual stun.
WHEW! My hidden death squad goes wide.

Turn 5 He boosts his 5, stuns my 4, iron man with a trouble with dinos gets the job done and wasp gets a license to kill hulk. the rest go wide.

Turn 6, he drops his 6 no boost. I play cap behind Hank. Hulk hits iron man for an easy stun. Cap swing on hulk with trouble with dinos for the mutual, the rest end the game.

Round 1: I win 2-0!

Some bad beats but an illuminating take on hulk wiffing Exello 2 games in a row. it's an entirely different deck, really.

Next Game is vs Nick with his Publicly listed Skrull deck! Should be a good one! Stay tuned!

The BYO 2 Sets WINTER TOURNAMENT -*deck clinic*-

 It's been a good, LONG time since i've posted any kind of prep related to taking part in an event.
For the most part it is the "Who's Line Is It Anyway?" approach.

No prizes and the points don't matter

But it's VS! So of course I'm in! So let's assess our event rules.

The Restrictions:

Cards must be limited entirely to any 2 sets you select.
-this means things like unique set tags, so MEX and MCG are 2 distinct sets even though you get them both in the MCG  box.
-MEV is banned.
-Bizarro World adheres to its updated effect options depending on the sets you run. You do not get to choose the effect you prefer.
FORMAT
best of 3 round robin before single elim top bracket

Not a bad set-up. at first glance I expected TNNB to be everyone's cop-out until it occurred to me that they can only access 2/3rd of what makes them great. AND they lose most of their pumps, making them viable but by no means some mythical titan in need of slaying. Next we need to take a brief look at the meta. What teams are going to do well?

The Hit-List: (Perceived Threats and deck options)

TNB reservist (MXM + MOR)
-loses all MVL support. STILL CRAZY.

TNNB Non-reservist (MOR + MVL)
-keeps all pump access, loses reservist consistency in favor of heavy swings. Loses senyaka engine.

AntiGL (DGL + DJL)
-loses most of its favored for the turn pumps Any version will still do well.

QuickFate (MHG + ?)
-either gets fate artifacts in DCR and lose pumps or ignores artifacts and goes wide with MOR Pumps.

Big Brotherhood (MOR + MVL or MOR + JLA)
-Still a big nasty monster
-MOR+MVL variant has ridiculous curve options. New and improved for further supertanking.
-JLA variant gets access to IVY but both lose their tech optional drops entirely.
-Did I already say it's still a big nasty monster?

MKKO (MVL + DCR or MVL + MUN)
-Fate artifacted Punisher still shines best.
-MUN variant could be viable with more access to field control.

Wolverine Direct (MUN + ?)
-wants MOR or similar set with solid pumps. Wolvie 3 gets no protection
-MVL is sloppy as it needs wolverine to get stunned swinging on characters to trigger.
-MTU gives access to the defenders suite. probably the best way to go.


Hulk smash (MUN + ?)
-loses almost nothing sticking to 1 set
-still makes baby jesus cry.
-people will DEFINITELY play this.

Chess Press (MHG + DCR)
-loses NOTHING could be a problem. auto-loses to MOR sets running Political Pressure.

War Paint (DJL + DCR)
- Completely viable, still awesome. wins on 5. not bad!

Secret Society (DCL + MUN)
-keeps path of destruction, MUN gives death/beyonder and messiah complex for sustain variant made popular during exiles craziness. HYPER consistent. probably best in class.

Doomed earth (MHG + ?)
-wants pumps. Give pumps. where are the pumps?
-Add any set with good low cost pumps and hope it is enough.

Manhunter tempo (DGL + ?)
-Loses too much. purist variant only viable one. pass.

Hellfire Club (MXM + ?)
-MTU Underworld and Defenders teams pair with this nicely. No real answer to any sucessful swarm until 4 will hurt though.
-MUN grants great lifegain option, zero search to set up though.

Superman Robots and other 1 set wonders

Wow, so alot to chew on! Of the builds I considered, I knew I also wanted to do something different!
I did some digging, and noticed Brian's Funeral list could be tuned to function within a 2-set restriction. So off i went:

The Funeral (MHG + DCL)

4x Klaw, Sonic Construct
4x Chemo, Toxic Waste
8x Moloids, Army

2x Mole Man, Moloid Master
1x Charaxes, Moth Monster

4x Dr. Doom, Richards's Rival
2x Poison Ivy, Intoxicating

4x Technarx, Cyborg General
1x Titania, Temper Tantrum
1x Divinity, Vampiric General

3x Solomon Grundy, Died on a Saturday

4x For the Glory of Doom!, Team-Up
4x The Enemy Within
4x Unthinkable
3x Mask of Doom
4x Straight to the Grave
3x Doom Needs Only Doom
1x Master Plan

2x Remote Facility, Non-Unique
1x Soul World

Still able to set up the ridiculous Solomon Grundy chain Heal+Burn fiesta to the tune of Gaining 20 and burning 20 at the start of recovery. Losing our draw options hurt us BADLY. An earlier variant using the updated DCL Birthing chambers seemed to fix this, but at the expense of consistently seeing our other pieces. So consistency was elected over draw utility. Right? Wrong? Doesn't matter because...

I wasn't quite satisfied though.

I Moved on.

Warpaint tickled my nostalgia. so I tossed it together.

War-Paint (DJL + DCR)

18x Infernal Minions, Army

4x Zazzala - Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive
4x Shadow-Thief, Carl Sands

4x Mantis, Power Parasite

4x Tattooed Man, Living Ink

4x Infestation
4x Secret Files
4x World War III
4x Hard-Light Storage Tank
4x Air Strike
4x Criminal Mastermind

2x Cloak of Nabu, Fate Artifact.

This deck can SHRED. But it can wiff a key drop. not that it matters. Infestation can still steal a game against the wrong list. and your world war three burn-ender is still just ungodly amounts of damage.

But I still wasn't satisfied. 

I moved on.

Secret Society Hyper-Sustain (DCL + MUN)

4x The Riddler, Riddle Me This
4x Chemo, Toxic Waste

4x Dr. Sivana, Mad Scientist
3x Deadshot, Floyd Lawton
1x Charaxes, Moth Monster

4x Poison Ivy, Intoxicating

4x Gorilla Grodd, Grodd Awful
1x Fatality, Okaaran Warrior
1x Sinestro, Yellow Lantern

3x Black Manta, Underwater Marauder
1x Lex Luthor, Metropolis Mogul

2x Mr. Freeze, Cold Blooded
1x Deathstroke the Terminator, Killing Machine

1x Doomsday, Engine of Destruction
1x Koriand'r - Starfire, X'Hal's Fury

1x Darkseid, Dark God

1x The Beyonder, Inhuman

3x Gorilla City
4x Remote Facility, Non-Unique
4x Straight to the Grave
4x Path of Destruction
4x Unnatural Selection
4x Messiah Complex 

WHAT. A. BEAST.
This deck does it all and it gives ZERO F*CKS while doing it. In testing, multiple Messiah Complex Boosted hits on Beyonder (or Darkseid) in testing allowed for one game to gain 30 endurance by turn 5. completely negating a potent rush. The Koriandr into Dark God autowin is kind-of cheeky but completely unnecessary to achieving your win since the path of destruction + Chemo + Poison Ivy is also there as a reusable pump machine, allowing your free charaxes to get in some serious work.
This is it. This is an all-comers list. I don't see this list losing to anything in this format.

And yet...

I kept looking.

I moved on.

And I found something... EPIC while perusing some old winners.

Cold School: Dark God Edition (DCL + MUN)

4x Blizzard, Frosty Friend
1x Speedball - Penance, Pain Monger

3x Joystick, Fun and Games

4x Hal Jordan, Founding Member
3x Radioactive Man, Containment Suit

4x Bullseye, Closer to God
4x Aquaman, Founding Member

2x Darkseid, Destroyer of Life

4x Aquaman, Lord of Atlantis

1x Darkseid, Dark God

3x Empire's End
4x Dirty Tricks
2x Death of the Dream
3x Security Clearance
4x New Era
1x Collect Them All!
3x Endgame
1x Have a Blast!
4x Thunderbolts Mountain
4x Metropolis Reborn, Non-Unique * Team-Up
1x Poseidonis

The original list was almost ENTIRELY within the constraints of 2 sets. It shredded up the modern block of its time focusing on spamming tbolts mountains in one turn to ramp to early gamma bombs before terminating the assignment with an angry Imperiex on 9 ultimately securing the win.

I couldn't keep the Gamma Bombs and a few other flavor pieces though. But I had endgame! So not only did a few extremely minor adjustments allow me to play this as designed, but it allowed me to apply an alternate win condition potentially 1 turn sooner than the originals imperiex!

This deck is SO OPPRESSIVE. So non-interactive, I actually immediately felt bad.
I mean, I don't wan't to be the bad guy! And this list was just DUMB good. Too good. But I had already opened Pandora's Box, and the sweet song of victory this deck sang was an allure difficult to ignore.
I tested into a rush and saw that with some bad draws it could falter to an early aggro, But it really needed to miss more than the opposing deck needed to hit for that to happen. No other deck i tested could beat it with any regularity.
At this point I needed council. I was getting in too deep and didn't want to be the reason another player felt the sting of a non-interactive game, or worse, quit.
So I Asked a Good Pal, Seb, for some advice, His sage advice tends to err on the side of neutrality but he also did not lose sight on the frustrating design of the matchups this would incur.
"aren't these games best of 3?"
My countenance faded.
"Oh my God man. This deck in a best of 3 format will take FOREVER"
"Yeah they'll all probably just scoop."
"Super frustrating gameplay experiences on potentially new players. it's Both guns all over again."
"I should move on."
"You should move on"

I moved on.

So what to do? I had already tested and studied my way through expected matchups. Best guess, Hulk or a purist rush will be a top contender, it was Crusader, that reminded me I had one last option, And it is what I ULTIMATELY decided on playing in the event!

List and match breakdowns to come!