VS Remix: Under the Hood - Forever Evil Edition

 By this point, the hype train is real.

 And I am pleased at the well met reception we've seen so far. So instead of a formal preview I thought i'd take a brief moment and go over the design philosophy of one of my favorite branches of the Remix project:

Secret Society.

Pissing off the JLA since 1977

Historically, Secret Society have featured a large number of ne'er-do-wells as they attempt to subvert the superheroic population of the world in a variety of schemes. Some amazing schemes, 

Their first incarnation was actually a function of Darkseid, (going by the title "The Director") collecting some of the worlds elite villians in a bid to steal a big ole pile of the worlds deadliest nerve gas. This roster included the likes of Captain Cold, Gorilla Grodd, Clayface, Star Sapphire, and what list is complete without a Manhunter clone.

Unfortunately, even these villains got wise to Darkseid's plan to enslave all humans and decided they should create some sort of Secret Society to work against him. Rebelling and foiling the nefarious plot.

Mirror Master, Copperhead, Sinestro, Shadow Thief and the Wizard. Were soon added to the roster under the heroic tutelage of Captain Comet, but over the years we've seen varying incarnations of the squad as later on, Lex joins their ranks, along with Black Manta, Riddler, and many others.

How things change.

So when looking at repackaging a remix of  what is widely considered one of the most unique and fun villainous deck themed teams, choosing the roster was a concern. Ultimately we focused on a heavily DCL themed approach for legacy content. grabbing from Charaxes utility, Chemo and Poison Ivy was always a mainstay combo. So we weren't looking to completely rework the team by any stretch, but there was definately an underlying desire to focus on some new legend content.

Choosing Legends of course, became a bit of an issue. Where to start? Who is a big enough baddie to really rep the squad thematically?

We knew we wanted two main legends, and perhaps a semi-legend nod tucked in there too, but I was hesitant to go with Gorilla Grodd right out of the gate.

A friend, knowing I am a pretty big Lex fanboy, Asked, "Well why not Lex?" In the past Lex was a mainstay of the Revenge Squad, And a main focus on the Injustice gang as well, so adding a draw theme felt, forced. He wasn't going to work, he wasn't the type that did much other than draw cards right?

I dug deep into some Lex Lore, and found my way to Forever Evil. And I was instantly hooked.

Porn. Straight-up.

 

Geoff Jones and David Finch doing friggin GOD's work. Forever Evil was the new 52's first real encompassing story arc. And the reader's digest version, is Earth 0's heroes from 3 major teams are incapacitated and otherwise, believed to be dead in a massive invasion coup from Earth 3's Crime Syndicate.

With only Batman and Catwoman functioning as the only remaining surviving members of the JLA, the world quickly succumbs to the Kryptonite-powder-sniffing Ultraman, and the rest of the crime syndicate rather handily. In apparent victory, the Syndicate broadcasts proof of defeat of Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman to the world from the ruins of JLA's headquarters. Oh snap.

Enter, Lex Luthor, one brilliant every-man that knows it is time for some shit to go down.

Lex heads into the bowels of Lexcorp and releases Project B-Zero, here, we see the new 52's take on the first ever attempt to clone a Kryptonian, The childlike mind of B-Zero is rudimentary at best, misunderstanding it's own name as Bizarro, rather than B-Zero, the monicker sticks. But Bizarro's power is undeniable. Even better, it's childlike willingness to obey was instant. The "Injustice League" now had it's beginnings. Adding Black Manta, Captain Cold, Black Adam, Sinestro and others to flesh out its ranks.

 

Lex now had his very own squad to wreak sweet revenge upon the invaders with an er... extreme and visceral prejuduce.

And I had the inspiration for my two Legends.

Lex Luthor of Earth-0. Leader of the Injustice League, Savior of Earth, Liberator of Apokolipse and true successor to Superman. No Big deal really.

And behind him, project B-Zero himself. The most loyal evil puppy you've ever seen.

Lex's theme is general utility. And he gets it in spades.

Lex Luthor

 

The sub-theme of Remix's Secret Society is, of course, The new 52's IN-Justice League. As the final bastion against earth 3's invading forces, It's up to these unorthodox and lethal protectors(?) of earth to secure mankind... So THEY can better rule it of course.

As such Lex's 3 drop incarnation shows high utility while keeping to Secret Society's legacy of throwing everything into your KO'd pile. As a bonus, Lex also fetches equipment which is very useful considering his prize for liberating Apokalips is a freakin Mother box of his own!

The 6, enjoys some sub-par stats considering they represent Lex at the absolute height of his achievements in the new 52. Seated on Darkseid's throne as the "real" superman and an official member of the Justice League. (I shit you not!)
The reasoning on those lower stats is clear as we delve deeper into his effect text and support. Got at least 2 adjacent characters? Dig and draw good sir!

          

Mother Box. Epitome of utility. Tool commissioned by the gods themselves.
Also, Property of Lex Luthor.

Remember it is target PLAYER for the replacing, not target resource. so he won't snipe key locations unless an opponent wants to, however, he can still use this disruption to fantastic effect in a pinch. Even on yourself! Its clutch targeted recovery or KO is just a massive board threat, most opponents will feel pressure to answer The KO control potential with swift action. But specifically, it is the recovery effect that comes in pretty handy when used in tandem with Flawless Strategy. 

 

Flawless Strategy embodies the thematic support of the original Secret Society's 5 drop Lex, Stunning a ready ally for those sweet, sweet +1/+1 counters. So you can stun a 4, on a defensive turn 4, to get Lex's 3 cost incarnation to a solid 8/9 then recover the 4 with Mother box! Brutal!

Obviously a strategy like this is going to dislike Equipment Hate like the previously spoiled Catastrophic Failure, a spiritual successor to Hellboy Essential Collection's A Proud Zinco Product. Or batman sporting a From the Darkness to wreck your day AFTER you've paid the stun cost. (OUCH!) 

 

Due to Flawless Strategy, we also see why lex's 6 cost is understatted. Since it enables a pretty clean flex into potential 7 drop statlines with some foresight, (Or at least a reasonable one thanks to a free Charaxes!) and of course endurance becomes a factor if we opt for this high-risk, high reward endurance harming approach!

This brings us to our second Legend.

Subject B-Zero himself. Or, as he understands it:

Bizarro.

       

It was an obvious sub-theme that Bizarro would constantly check and contribute to Lex Luthor and his antics, while also carrying a unique aspect into Secret Society that we hadn't seen until this point. A bruiser in the truest sense of the word, Bizarro's 4 cost, never makes direct swings, but enjoys quite a substantial power increase while Lex is in play for, shall we say, "proper" instruction. While his 7, is actually able to play split duty, as a solid defensive option, and a spiritual successor to Mark Desmond, Blockbuster on offensive turns (provided he is protecting Lex).

And did I mention his reverse superman abilities ROCK? Heat breath? Glorious. Functioning as a solid generic Secret Society support combat piece, it offers reasonable ATK or DEF depending on your needs. Bizarro Himself of course, enjoys both options for a really solid combat buff on either side of the initiative.

As a really fun nod, I just want to toss in a cult fave for some time now.

Captain Cold. With only 1 character and one nod in a support piece I'd call this a mini legend. One of the goals of remix was to standardize some legend support to areas where they have a general use but a profoundly better use if applied to that particular legend. Captain Cold is a great example of this.

His main features and theme tie into the Forever Evil Arkham portion of the comic run and the art aims to reflect this. he clearly steals Deadshot's old roster spot, and suffers a bit of a nerf on his effect while enjoying realistic DEF values for a 2 cost character. Deadshot always felt over-tuned to many and we feel we've fairly adjusted for that here. And yes, it is a purposeful step, adding Rogues as his second affiliation. However, he gets his chance to shine when paired with Unnatural Selections new variant.

The KO and mill we've grown to love, paired with a free ready if Captain Cold does the deed himself! Not a bad way to keep legacy support fresh.

But the captain Cold love doesn't stop there. We might not have been able to justify him as a major theme, but his art sure is present! Everyone Loves Captain Cold!

That's just about going to do it for today! I hope everyone is as excited as I am to throw down some Remix games on OCTGN, and further explore the new interactions to be found!

Until next time, remember, sometimes the worlds greatest heroes, are some assholes banded together with questionable morals.