We’re getting down to the end of the DFC previews.  Today is the last day of previews for Checkmate, the last team featured in the set.  Like Seventh Soldier said in his excellent team write-up Checkmate was easily the most hotly debated team in the set.  Originally, we hadn’t planned to refeature Checkmate.  But as the Final Crisis story unfolded, it became clear that next to Darkseid’s Elite, Checkmate was the most important team in the story.

Another problem was that Checkmate was already a force to be reckoned with in Vs.  The original version of the team in the Infinite Crisis set remains one of the most playable teams in the game.  Certainly one of the best DC teams left out there.  So we were faced with the challenge of making a team that felt like Checkmate without making Checkmate crazy busted.

The answer was found in the story itself.  In Infinite Crisis, Checkmate was quitely pulling all the strings.  They were calling the shots and the DCR version of the team reflected that.  In Final Crisis, Checkmate was desperate.  They were on the run as safehouse after safehouse fell to Darkseid.

As a result, the new version of Checkmate has to makes some risky plays.  Not only that, but they will loose one headquarters after another.  Ryan Choi <> The Atom plays into both of those themes.  Going down a resource (usually a location for Checkmate) is a risky proposition.  Koing a resource too early or too often can easily cost you the game.

But the payoff – the card of your choice in your hand when you need it – could win you the game.  It’s just of matter of knowing when the time is right to pull the trigger so you don’t shoot yourself in the foot.

Other affiliations (Brotherhood, JLI) are looking at Ryan Choi and drooling.  His restriction makes him a little less splashable.  But as long as you can guarantee a team-up, Ryan will be a welcome addition to any team that likes to KO its own resources.

So, that’s it for me.  Thanks to the guys for letting me play along when I didn’t do much of the heavy lifting this time around.  And thanks to everyone for the overwhelmingly positive response to the set so far.  Believe me when I say, you ain’t seen nothing yet!

Monday morning is going to be like Christmas for any Vs. fan.

Until next time – and there will be a next time – good gaming.

Thank Granny Goodness that DCF has been keeping us all distracted lately.  It’s my hopes that subsequently no one has noticed how long it’s been since we’ve had a 100 Ideas update!  But here it is.  Five more matches to wet your lips over.  This means there are five more matches to go in Round 1.  I for one am getting pretty excited to start Round 2 (but that’s largely because I’m a DC man and am going through withdrawals!).

Gambit07 starts us off…

Wild Vomit [Vs.] TNB

Game 1

Brotherhood won roll and took odds.

Turn 1
TNB drew Rem Ram, The New Brotherhood, Boot to the Head, Senyaka; kept, and got Barnacle and Planet X
Wild vomit drew Wild Sentinel x3 Sentinel Mark IV; kept, and drew Reconstruction Program and Underground Sentinel Base
TNB laid and flipped the New Brotherhood and played Rem Ram (got Amelia Voght)
Vomit laid Reconstruction Program and played Wild Sentinel
Rem Ram into Wild Sentinel for 3
49-47

Turn 2
Vomit drew Wild Sentinel x2
TNB drew the New Brotherhood and Anne Marie Cortez
Vomit laid Underground Sentinel Base and played Wild Sentinel x2
TNB laid and flipped the New Brotherhood and played Amelia Voght
Team attack Amelia for 3 and Wild Sentinel into Rem Ram for 2 (recovered Amelia)
46-45

Turn 3
TNB drew Kleinstock Brothers and the New Brotherhood
Vomit drew Sentinel Mark IV and Underground Sentinel Base
TNB laid Kleinstock Brothers and played Senyaka
Vomit laid Underground Sentinel Base and played Wild Sentinel x2
Amelia in to Wild Sentinel for 6, reinforce.  Senyaka into Wild Sentinel for 9, reinforce
46-43

Turn 4
Vomit drew Senator Kelly x2
TNB drew Johanna Cargill and Sabretooth
Vomit laid Senator Kelly and played Sentinel Mark IV
TNB laid Ann Marie Cortez, played Ann Marie Cortez, and laid Planet X (2 damage to Vomit from Senyaka’s ability)
Sentinel Mark IV in to Amelia for 8, TNB played Boot to the Head, replaced Kleinstock (got Kleinstock) for the stun back, no more attack.
TNB Senyaka into Wild Sentinel for 9, reinforce. Ann Marie Cortez into Wild Sentinel for 12, flipped Planet X, and replaced (got Scanner) for +2 more (14total).
39-22

Turn 5
TNB drew Spoor and Boot to the Head
Vomit drew Search and Destroy and Mark IV
TNB laid nothing and played Spoor
Vomit laid Search and Destroy and played Sentinel Mark IV (Played Search and Destroy, stunned Wild Sentinel and stunned Senyaka)
TNB played the New Brotherhood; Amelia into Wild Sentinel for 8, he took it, Ann Marie Cortez into Sentinel for 14, reinforce. Spoor into Sentinel Mark IV for 13 (replaced Scanner got Chrome for the +3/-3) 16 total.

TNB: 32
Wild Vomit: -4

Game 2

Vomit won roll took odds

Turn 1
Vomit drew Cover Fire, Reconstruction Program, Wild Sentinel x2; kept, and drew Search and Destroy and Wild Sentinel
TNB drew Barnacle, Spoor, Amelia Voght, and Hammer Bay; kept, and drew Planet X and the New Brotherhood
Vomit laid Cover Fire and played Wild Sentinel
TNB laid and flipped the New Brotherhood and played Barnacle
Wild Sentinel into Barnacle for 2
TNB 48- vomit 49

Turn 2
TNB drew Boot to the Head and Senyaka
Vomit drew Sentinel Mark IV and Wild Sentinel
TNB laid and flipped Hammer Bay and played Amelia Voght
Vomit laid Search and Destroy and played two Wild Sentinels
Barnacle into Wild Sentinel for 5, reinforce; and Amelia into Wild Sentinel for 4
TNB 47 – vomit 44

Turn 3
Vomit drew Senator Kelly and Wild Sentinel
TNB drew the New Brotherhood and the Next Brotherhood
Vomit laid Reconstruction Program and played Senator Kelly and two Wild Sentinels
TNB laid and flipped the New Brotherhood and played Senyaka
Activate Senator Kelly for 4 damage and flipped Search and Destroy (stunned Wild Sentinel to stun Senyaka).
Team attack two Wild Sentinels into Amelia for 3 and Wild Sentinel into Barnacle for 2
Recovered Senyaka
TNB 36 – vomit 41

Turn 4
TNB drew Sabretooth and Chrome
Vomit drew Wild Sentinel and Underground Sentinel Base
TNB laid and played Spoor (Vomit loses 2 life for Senyaka’s ability) replaced with Chrome
Vomit laid Underground Sentinel Base and played 4 Wild Sentinels.
Activate Senator Kelly for 6 damage
Spoor into Wild Sentinel for 12, reinforce; and Senyaka for 10 (Vomit flipped Cover Fire for 8 defence) took 2.
TNB 30 – vomit 36

Turn 5
Vomit drew Senator and Sentinel Mark IV
TNB drew Rem Ram and Scanner
Vomit laid Sentinel Mark IV, flipped and activated Underground Sentinel Base, and played mark IV from the resource row; and played Sentinel Mark IV,
TNB laid Sabretooth and played Sabretooth, did not replace
Activate Senator Kelly for 7 damage
Mark IV into Senyaka for 11 (TNB plays Boot to the Head, replaces Chrome and gets Barnacle for -3 defence and the stun back) Mark IV into Sabretooth for 10, no more attack.
Spoor into Wild Sentinel for 12 (replaced Barnacle got Planet X) for +3/-3 and flipped Planet X and replaced Planet X for +2 attack (got Boot to the Head) (17 total)
TNB 6 – Vomit 11

Turn 6
TNB drew The Next Brotherhood and Avalon Ruins
Vomit drew Sentinel Mark IV and Underground Sentinel Base
TNB laid and played Scanner, did not replace, and played 2x The Next Brotherhood
Vomit laid Underground Sentinel Base and played Sentinel Mark IV
Spoor into Mark IV for 16, reinforce. Scanner into Mark IV for 19, and Sabertooth into Wild Sentinel for 20 (the one that reinforced Mark IV, but was next to Senator Kelly). Vomit has no attacks

TNB: -2
Vomit: -25

TNB won both games thought it would go differently, the surprising thing was no Longshot – one of the deck’s lynchpins.  Perhaps it should have been the mulligan condition!

House of M [Vs.] Curve Sentinels

Game 1:

Dave takes evens.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Sentinel Mark V, Savage Beatdown, 2x Sentinel Mark II, Boliver, Finisher Move
Dave draws Iron Extraction, Quicksilver (MS), Scarlet Witch (MM), and Juggernaut (5).

I row Finishing Move and play Boliver (Dave says that he scoops) and search out Hounds.  Dave has no one drop so he takes 1 to the pooper.

Turn 2 (50-49)

I draw Reconstruction Program and Genosha; Dave draws Magneto (4) and Mystique.  I row Genosha and play Hounds after Dave recruits a Mercurial Speedster.

Quicksilver runs into Boliver.  I take 3.

Turn 3 (47-49)

I draw a Mark V and a Bastion; Dave draws Quicksilver (Ultimates) and Sentinel VII.  I row Finishing Move and play a Mark II.  Dave plays a Scarlet Witch, Mistress of Magic, who goes behind her brother.

I send my Mark II into the Witch, which goes through.  I then team Hounds and Boliver into Quicksilver, but he has the power-up.  Poopy.  My Hounds go down.  Quicksilver then runs into Boliver for 3 more.

Turn 4 (39-44)

I draw my Magneto and a Mark V; Dave draws Juggernaut (Ultimates) and Genosha.  He drops down Magneto, Mutant Supreme.  I throw a Reconstruction Program in my row and play a Mark V behind my Mark II.

Scarlet Witch goes into my Mark II and both fall down.  Sanford and Son err… Magneto and son, attack Mark V.  Mark V and Magneto hit the dirt.  Iron Extraction KO’s my Mark V.  Not good!

Turn 5 (32-37)

I draw Bastion and Finishing Move; Dave draws Mystique (4) and Metallic Assault.  I row Finishing Move and play another Mark V, boosted this time.  Dave has a Juggernaut, Walking Disaster.

I send my Mark II into Juggs with a Beatdown.  Dave plays a power-up, but so do I, and both go down.  I then tap my Mark V to KO Juggs.  Dave takes over the attacks and chooses to run father and son into Mark V.  We both pass and both take 4.

In the recovery phase, Dave plays Metallic Assault losing his unstunned Quicksilver to get his Magneto text ready for next turn.  W0w, excellent sacrifice for Dave.  I lose my Mark II.

Turn 6 (25-28)

I draw another Genosha and a Mark II; Dave gets Eviscerate and Iron Extraction.  He plays his very own Sentinel, a Mark VII.  I row Genosha and drop Bastion.  Dave pops a Genoshas twice and draws Quicksilver (MS), Unstoppable, Juggernaut’s Helmet, Quicksilver (Ultimates), Asteroid M, Underground Resistance, Magneto (5), and Scarlet Witch (DoM).

He team attacks both guys into Bastion since his Sentinels text will stun my Sentinel.  I don’t have 9 in defensive pumps so I have to pass.  Both our 6 drops go down.  With Sentinel Mark VII’s effect on the chain, I play a Finishing Move, tapping my Mark V and targeting Mark VII.  Then my Mark V stuns.  Dave plays Iron Extraction on Bastion.  We both go into turn 7 with only four drops on the board.

Turn 7 (15-22)

I draw another 2xSearch and Destroy; Dave draws Underground Resistance Metallic Assault.  I row Search and Destroy and play Magneto, popping both Genoshas to draw Boliver, 2x Nimrod, Cover Fire, South American Sentinel Base, Mark II, Reconstruction Program, and a Mark V.  Dave flips and uses Underground Resistance to get a Eviscerage.  He recruits Mystique and it’s off to combat.

I run Magneto into Mystique.  Dave plays 2x Eviscerate and a power-up to get the stunback.  Nooooo!  He still takes 17 endurance though thanks to Eviserate’s lowering of the ‘d’.  His Magneto then taps to stun my Mark V.

Turn 8 (4-5)

I draw Cover Fire and Magneto.  There is only 1 card (a Beatdown) in my deck.  Dave uses Underground Resistance to ensure that he draws the rest of his deck (2x Sibling Support, Scarlet Witch, M0M).  I row the South American Base and put Bastion back on Table.  Dave recruits Scarlet Witch, Magneto’s Daughter, burning me for 3.  The score is 5-1 in Dave’s favor, but his deck seems to be out of gas and I can add 19 DEF to Magneto (for a total of 35 DEF).  His combined attack on the board is only 21.

He runs everyone into Magneto with 2 power-ups and a Sibling Support to combat my 2 Cover Fires, a Power-up, and 3 Bastion-ups.  I add 4 more Bastion-ups.  He has another Sibling Support, and I wish Bastion and Magneto were on the same team all of the sudden!  I play Reconstruction Program from my row to get 3 army guys back, then add 4 Bastion-ups to the attack.  Dave is finally out of Gas with me down to only 1 Reconstruction Program.  That was close, but Curve Sentinels pulled out the win!

Game 2:

Dave takes evens again.

Turn 1 (50-50)

After an ‘all blue’ mulligan I draw Finishing Move, Sentinel Mark V, Beatdown, and Search and Destroy; followed by a Mark II and a Reconstruction Program.
Dave draws Quicksilver – Mercurial Speedster, Quicksilver – Ultimates, Metallic Assault, and Scarlet Witch – Mistress of Magic; followed by Underground Resistance and Genosha.

I row a Finishing Move and we move on to turn 2.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Finishing Move and Savage Beatdown; Dave draws Asteroid M and Metallic Assault.  Dave recruits Mercurial Speedster and I row a Search and Destroy with no recruit.

Turn 3 (47-50)

I draw Nimrod and Boliver; Dave draws Juggernaut – Ultimates and Juggernaut’s Helmet (lol, clutch peel).  I row Reconstruction Program and play Mark II.  Dave has the Mistress of Magic.  I run into the Mistress to stop her HUGE damage and we both take 3 after Dave reinforces.

Turn 4 (44-47)

I draw Search and Destroy and another Mark V; Dave draws Unstoppable and Eviscerate.  Dave recruits Juggernaut, Ultimates with his Helmet.  I row a Beatdown and play a Mark V.  I play Search and Destroy to stun both our 3 drops (Scarlet Witch’s breakthrough would be too good).  I get to see that Dave is holding on to an Unstoppable.   Juggernaut would have wrecked my board in one attack.  My Search and Destroy just saved me 19 endurance.  This game’s MVP and it’s only turn 4.  Dave uses Underground Resistance to net a Mutant Supreme (Magneto).

Juggernaut goes into Mark V, removing from game a card for his effect.  The attack becomes one-sided and I take 4.  Quicksilver also sneaks in one to the dome.

Turn 5 (34-44)

I draw South American Sentinel Base and a Hounds of Ahab; Dave gets Sentinel Mark VII and Quicksilver - Ultimates.  I row the Sentinel Base, and use it to get my 3 drop back to my hand.  Then I recruit Nimrod with his hand counter.  Dave drops Magneto, Mutant Supreme.

I run Nimrod into Juggernaut, but Dave has Eviscerate to make Nimrod lose his counter.  Magneto reinforces from behind.  Mark V goes into Magneto for the double-stun.  Now Dave has to choose between his 13 atk unstunnable Juggernaut and his Magneto that triggers all the cool legend cards in his deck.  He chooses to keep Juggs, but not before playing Metallic Assault to make me lose my Mark V.

Turn 6 (30-36)

I draw a Mark II and another Nimrod (missing Bastion); Dave draws Iron Extraction and… Iron Extraction!  Dave uses Underground Resistance and nets an Eric Lehnsherr.  He drops his Mark VII and I row Savage Beatdown before playing a Mark V and a Hounds.  I put Nimrod and Mark V in the back row next to each other (safe from Unstoppable).

Juggernaut runs into Mark V, ditching a card to his own effect to become unstunnable.  Mark V bites the dust.  Mark VII runs into Nimrod with an Asteroid M activation (17 atk).  I take 13 damage.  I play Search and Destroy, stunning Hounds to stun Scarlet Witch.  Then Quicksilver swings for 3 more.

I lose all but Nimrod, Dave loses nothing.

Turn 7 (8-33)

I draw Cover Fire and Boliver (missing Magneto); Dave draws Eviscerate and Juggernaut – Walking Disaster.  I row Cover Fire and play a Mark V and a Mark II.  Dave plays Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr and blows Genosha drawing Unstoppable, Mystique – Foxx, Scarlet Witch – Mistress of Magic, and Scarlet Witch -  Magneto’s Daughter.

I get my Hounds back with my Sentinel Base and Dave uses Underground Resistance to fetch Genosha.  I run Mark II into Magneto with a Beatdown.  Both go down.  Mark V then goes for Juggernaut.  We both power-up, and we both stun.  Nimrod then goes into Scarlet Witch with a Beatdown and power-up.  I’m trying to get him to reinforce with his next door Mark VII as I only have 1 END left and can’t attack his Mark VII without losing.  He has 2 power-ups so he only takes 14 dmg.  Dave ends the turn by swinging his Mark VII back into Nimrod with an Asteroid M activation.  Ouch!  Quicksilver adds salt to the wounds by attacking with an Eviscerate.  Dave also wanted to Iron Extraction me, but I ended the session before it could happen.

Final Score: -18 to 10

Game 3:

I take evens

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Hounds, Reconstruction, Search and Destroy, and Finishing Move; followed by Nimrod and Bastion.
Dave draws Sentinel Mark VII – Repurposed, Genosha, Genosha, and Scarlet Witch – Mistress of Magic; followed by Magneto – Eric Lehnsherr and Iron Extraction

I row a Finishing Move and we move on to turn 2.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Finishing Move and a Beatdown; Dave draws Quicksilver – Ultimates and Asteroid M.  I r0w Search and Destroy and play Hounds.  He plays Quicksilver, Ultimates.  I run Hounds into Quicksilver and we move onto turn 3.

Turn 3 (48-48)

I draw Search and Destroy and Mark V; Dave draws Unstoppable and Quicksilver – Mercurial Speedster.  Dave recruits Mistress of Magic, but I have nothing.

He tries to attack with Scarlet Witch, but I use Search and Destroy to stun her and my Hounds (saving 9 Endurance).  Quicksilver attacks for 2.

Turn 4 (44-45)

I draw Genosha and Boliver; Dave gets  Scarlet Witch – Magneto’s Daughter and Quicksilver – Ultimates.  I row Genosha and recruit Mark V.  Dave misses (which I knew was likely from getting to see his hand with Search and Destroy last turn).

I use Search and Destroy again to stun his Witch with my Hounds, forcing him to ditch a power-up.  Then I attack his Quicksilver with my Mark V for 7 dmg.  His Quicksilver triggers and removes himself from the game, so that Dave doesn’t have to lose anyone this turn.

Turn 5 (42-42)

I draw Boliver and Mark II; Dave draws  Mystique – Foxx and Scarlet Witch – Mistress of Magic.  Dave recruits his 5 drop Magneto and I have Nimrod after rowing Reconstruction Program.

Magneto taps Mark V to start off Dave’s attack step.  He then team attacks with the siblings into Nimrod.  I lose my counter and Scarlet Witch stuns.  Magneto then avenges his daughter by attacking Nimrod.  Dave plays Iron Extraction targeting Nimrod and I play Finishing Move targeting Magneto (exhausting Hounds).  We both lose are fives.

Turn 6 (37-34)

I draw a Mark II and a Beatdown; Dave gets Eviscerate and Metallic Assault.  I row a Beatdown and play Bastion.  Dave has his Mark VII, but no longer controls Magneto to make his text active.

I run Bastion into his Sentinel with 2 Bastion-ups, but he has an Eviscerate.  My Reconstruction Program can only get back 2 army characters, which isn’t enough to prevent a stunback.  My Hounds then go into Quicksilver and we both stun.  Finally, I run my Mark V into the Witch for 8 END loss.  It might have been a better play to Finishing Move his Mark VII since I don’t have a 7 drop yet.  Oh well, too late!

Turn 7 (29-18)

I draw Mark II and a Cover Fire; Dave draws  Underground Resistance and Magneto – Mutant Supreme.  Dave plays Magneto and Genoshas twice (after generating 7 resource points) to get Sibling Support, Quicksilver – Mercurial Speedster, Underground Resistance, Juggernaut’s Helmet, Metallic Assault, Iron Extraction, Unstoppable, Mystique – Shapely Shifter.  He then uses Underground Resistance to get a Sibling Support.  Finally he recruits a Mercurial Speedster.  I row Cover Fire and Genosha in a last ditch effort to get Magneto.  Instead I get Nimrod and a Mark II.  I recruit Nimrod and 2x Boliver (one KOing the other) to get 2 Mark V’s out of my deck and into my hand.  I know have 4 army guys in hand and a Reconstruction Program in my row.

Quicksilver goes into Boliver, but I have Cover Fire.  Dave flips and activates Asteroid M to tie my def.  He yells, “It’s a trap!” in honor of the late-great Admiral Ackbar.  I have a couple Bastion-ups to stun him without getting stunned myself, which he follows with a Sibling Support.  I reinforce with my Mark V behind Boliver to negate the Sibling Support.  Magneto and Mark VII team attack Bastion.  I only have enough to get to 17 def, so I pass and both 6 drops stun.  Before Bastion stuns though, he (with the help of a Reconstruction Program) brings Nimrod up to an 14/14 powerhouse!  Mark VII’s effect then stuns Boliver.  Iron Extraction takes away my Bastion.  Nimrod ends the attacks by trampling over Magneto with a couple of Beatdowns.  Once again Dave tries to end the game on a Metallica Assualt (this time with 2 of them).  I lose my Boliver and Mark V as Dave laughs hysterically!

Final Score: 22 to -11

Thoughts: Sentinels are still the beast they were in the past.  There was not much our House of M deck could do against a deck that was perfected by countless pros in the glory days of Vs.  However, the House of M deck did put up a fight and even manage a win.  I think these matches would have gone a little differently if it weren’t for Search and Destroy, which not only gave me some very opportune off-initiative stuns, but also let me see Dave’s hand.  If I had not seen Unstoppable, I would have left myself wide open for some Juggernaut devastation.  House of M could probably also have benefited from some more attack pumps.  Perhaps the Metallic Assaults could have been another Juggernaut’s Helmet and A Human Juggernaut.  A Human Juggernaut would have stopped the Sentinel’s player from making it to turn 7.

Squadron No-Hand [Vs.] Project Utopia

Game 1

I take odds so that I’m attack when Nuke is first on the table.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Nighthawk, 2x Amphibian, and Lamprey; followed by Project Utopia and Hibernaculum.
Dave draws Melissa Gold <> Songbird – Sonic Carapace, Other Earth, Panacea Potion, and Joystick – Janice Yanizesh; followed by Ape X – Xina and Rocket Central.

I row Hibernaculum.  Dave recruits Ape X.  She gets him a Thunder Jet, which he saves for a later drop.

Turn 2 (49-50)

I draw Squadron City and a Jetpack, missing my 2, (I knew I should have mulliganed); Dave draws Shape – Maleable Mutant and Panacea Potion.  Dave drops Melissa Gold with a Thunder Jet.  That’s a big 2 drop.  I take 9.

Turn 3 (40-50)

I draw Ape X and a Jetpack; Dave gets Skymax – Skrullian Skymaster and Golden Archer – Wyatt McDonald.  I row Project Utopia and play Lamprey with Jetpack.  Dave drops Joystick and Shape.

I run Lamprey into Joystick, flipping Project Utopia.  Dave takes 5 and Lamprey gains a counter.  Lamprey is now an 8/5.  Dave sends Melissa Gold into Lamprey and both go down.  His last two peons swing for 4 more damage.

Turn 4 (34-43)

I draw Eldritch Power and Utopia Isle; Dave draws Now I’m Fighting Dirty and Albert Gaines <> Nuke – Atomic Powerhouse.  Melissa Gold turns down my Project Utopia and Dave recruits Golden Archer.  I throw out Amphibian with a Jetpack after rowing Utopia Isle.  Dave asked if I was really going to play a resource every turn (he wants all you readers to think he’s terrible at this game).

Dave flips Other-Earth to make my guys -2 def and unreinforcable (that is definately not a word).  Shape goes into Lamprey and I tap Lamprey and Amphibian to flip Utopia Isle.  Now all breakthrough will hurt Dave almost as much as it hurts me!  Melissa Gold goes into Amphibian.  I take 7, but he’s forced to take 5 with a little help from Utopia Isle.  Dave then hits me for 8 to the dome.

Turn 5 (16-36)

I draw Airskimmer and Hibernaculum; Dave draws Airskimmer and Flying Kick.  Before the build phase I play Hibernaculum, ditching Ape X to get Power Princess (4).  Melissa Gold then flips down Hibernaculum for me.  I row an Eldritch Power and play Nighthawk next to Amphibian.  Dave recruits Nuke from his resrouce row, but still has 4 cards in hand.

I send Amphibian flying over Ape X into Melissa Gold with a power-up and flip Project Utopia again; ironic when you consider that Melissa was the one who turned that card face down.  Dave can reinforce with Golden Archer or Albert, but then he loses an attack back.  He decides that it’s OK for me to get a card back with Amphibian.  I get back a Jetpack.  I then send Nighthawk into Ape X, who can no longer be reinforced.  I ditch an Airskimmer to offset the burn I’ll be taking from Utopia Isle.  Dave adds a Flying Kick and Airskimmer to Albert.  I play Hibernaculum and discard my Power Princess to take Amphibian back to my hand.  Albert attacks Amphibian and boosts a Now I’m Fighting Dirty to ditch his whole hand. Then Rocket Central is flipped to make Albert 23/14.  I power-up, but it’s not enough.  I take 18 and go into the negatives.  2x Panacea Potion recovers Ape X and Melissa Gold and puts +1/+1 counters on them.  Golden Archer then ends the game by giving me a Golden Shower (-6).

Final Score: -11 to 16

I think this would have been a lot closer if I hadn’t missed my early drops.  Not having a 1 or 2 drop killed me against a deck that hits hard and fast.

Game 2

I take odds again

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Other-Earth, Amphibian, Power Princess, and Tom Thumb; followed by Tom Thumb and Hibernaculum.
Dave draws Ape X – Xina, Haywire – Suicidal Lover, Shape – Maleable Mutant, and Joystick – Janice Yanizesh; followed by Lady Lark – Linda Lewis and Answer the Call.

I row Hibernaculum.  Dave drops Ape X again, getting a Thunder Jet, and recuiting Haywire with the Thunder Jet.  I lose 4.

Turn 2 (46-50)

I draw Hyperion and  a Jetpack; Dave gets Melissa Gold <> Songbird – Sonic Carapace and Skymax – Skrullian Skymaster.  He plays Melissa Gold and I have a visible Tom Thumb with a Jetpack (he’s a 5/4 with flight).

Melissa Gold goes for him pronto.  Then the rest of Dave’s board hits me for 4 more.

Turn 3 (38-48)

I draw Arcanna and another Other-Earth; Dave draws Rocket Central and Panacea Potion.  I use Hibernaculum from my row to get Haywire, who I recruit with no equipment .  Dave has Shape and Joystick.  I’m in trouble.

I flip Other-Earth and run Haywire into Ape X.  Both go down.  I then run Tom Thumb into Joystick for 5 and the attacks are now Dave’s.  Dave sends his 4/4 Shape into Tom Thumb.  I power-up to force a pump out of him, but he’s got nothing and Shape goes down.  Melissa Gold then tries her luck with Tom Thumb, and Dave finally stuns the little beast.  Tom Thumb stunned 3 of Dave’s character this turn by himself!  Dave’s Haywire then hits me for 3.

Turn 4 (31-38)

I draw Project Utopia and Airskimmer; Dave gets Lady Lark – Linda Lewis and a card we forgot to write down.  Melissa Gold turns down my Hibernaculum.  Dave recruits Lady Lark and I play Hibernaculum from my row to get Amphibian back to my hand.  I row Project Utopia and recruit Power Princess.

Dave sends Lark into Power Princess with a power-up to reduce the number of cards in his hand.  I reinforce and we both take 4.  Melissa Gold then goes into Tom Thumb and Haywire goes to my dome.

Turn 5 (20-32)

I draw Ape X and Utopia Isle; Dave draws Albert Gaines <> Nuke – Atomic Powerhouse and Golden Archer – Wyatt McDonalad.  I row Utopia Isle and I then recruit Amphibian equipped with an Airskimmer.  Dave has Albert and only 1 card in hand.

I send Power Princess into Lady Lark flipping Project Utopia.  Dave takes 8.  I then send Amphibian into Albert, but Dave reinforces so I don’t get a card back.

Turn 6 (20-19)

I draw another Hibernaculum and Haywire; Dave draws Flying Kick and Now I’m Fighting Dirty.  Dave recuits Skymax from his hand and I have Hyperion after rowing Hibernaculum.

Skymax flies over Power Princess to hit Hyperion.  He boosts Now I’m fighting dirty to become a 17 atk and empty his hand.  Now Skymax can’t be stunned.  I flip Utopia Isle and tap Hyperion and Power Princess to make Dave lose 3.  Nuke attacks Amphibian and Dave flips Rocket Central and a Flying Kick to make Nuke a huge 18/11.  I take 14, going into the negatives, and Dave takes 3 more going down to 13.  He passes and the game ends.

Final score: -5 to 13

Thoughts:  I was really hoping that Project Utopia would hit its full curve one of the two games as it seemed to have quite a bit of potential.  Despite not being able to cause breakthrough, I still was able to rack up some damage with Project Utopia and Utopia Isle.  It was especially nice the game that Melissa Gold kept turning down Project Utopia!  Perhaps the deck needs more copies of these ‘damage’ cards, but I’m not sure what I’d drop for them.  Maybe the 2 Eldritch Powers could become another Project Utopia and another Squadron City.

Avengers Team Attack [Vs.] Thunderbolts Ready

This game is brought to you buy Orange Soda Man, so crack open a Sunkist and enjoy!

Game 1

T1 mull 6-drop Cap, 5-drop Captain Marvel, Natasha 2, Playroom
draw Cap 6, Avengers Assemble, Carol Danvers, Legendary Battles x2, Natasha 2. No recruits, set Legendary Battles.

T2 – draw Quicksilver and Sub-Mariner 5.  set Avengers Assembled and recruited Natasha. He recruited Melissa Gold.  Natasha ran into her, 48-48

T3 draw Wasp and Avengers Assemble.  He recruits Beetle <> Mach and T-Wagon on Beetle.   I set Avengers Assemble and recruit Quicksilver.  Gold into Natasha with T-Wagon. Beetle passes.  I suspect something so I pass as well. 40-46

T4 draw Asgard and Cap 3.  I respond to Melissa Gold’s effect with Avengers Assemble!  I find 7-drop Carol Danvers. He recruits Venom to my Carol Danvers, which has a +1/+1 counter.  I team attack Carol + Quicksilver into Venom with Legendary Battles, then Natasha and Quicksilver into Moonstone, and she stuns Beetle with her effect.  Quicksilver goes direct. 40-34

T5 draw Carrying the Torch and Avengers Assemble.  I recruit Sub-Mariner.  I keep an offensive formation. He recruits Hawkeye.  Hawkeye into Carol with T-Wagon, both stun because of boost from Sub-Mariner.  Subs into Beetle, Quicksilver goes direct.

T6 – Cap joins my board with Playroom and a 2nd Legendary Battles.  He scoops.

Game 2

T1 – mull Cap 6, Avengers Assemble, Playroom and Stars and Stripes.  draw Carrying the Torch (CtT), Monica Rambeau x2, Wasp, Stars and Stripes.  set Playroom.

T2 – draw Natasha and Subs. Set CtT, recruit Natasha. Moonstone into Natasha, 44-48.

T3 – draw CtT and Avengers Assemble. Discard Wasp for AA, fetch Quicksilver and he gets a counter.  he recruits Helmut Zemo behind Moonstone. I flip Playroom and team attack into Moonstone to trigger Natasha’s effect.  Quicksilver stunned. 41-39

T4 – draw Hank Pym and Cap 6. He recruits Jolt.  I set Stars and Stripes and recruit Hank Pym in front of Quicksilver with Natasha to the side of Quicksilver.  Zemo into Pym, Jolt into Natasha.  lose Pym in recovery 33-39

T5 – draw Quicksilver and Wasp. Turn Quicksilver into Pym, recruit 2nd Quicksilver.  recruit Wasp.  form with Wasp as leader and Natasha in back.  He plays Win-Lose deal, I draw Cap 3 and Natasha. He recruits Dallas and Speed Demon. I team-attack his board with my dual-Quicksilvers FTW (remember, both constantly ready to their own effect and cannot be stunned thanks to Wasp).

Thoughts:  This team-attack deck is a beast!  It’s too bad the Thunderbolts Ready deck never had a chance to get ‘ready’!  It would be interesting to see how much damage the Thunderbolts deck could do on its big swing.

Alpha Force [Vs.] Avenger’s Big Guns

In case you missed it, the Ring has Chosen guys played on of out matches for us.  I think that officially makes the 100 Ideas famous!  Here’s the link in case you missed it:

http://vssystem.org/2009/11/06/the-ring-has-chosen-episode-79/

Welcome back.  I hope you’ve been enjoying the DFC previews so far.  Today, we’re wrapping up the Gotham Knights before moving onto one of the few new teams in the set.

Before I start talking about the card, I’ll ramble on a little bit about how the Gotham Knights got included in Final Crisis. 

(Feel free to skip ahead.  I’m going to ramble a lot.)

When we decided to follow up DC Universe, a Final Crisis set seemed like a natural fit.  We really wanted to refeature the New Gods and it seemed like they would be prominently featured in Final Crisis.  We also wanted to refeature the Shadowpact (which we did) and at the time it seemed like the Reign in Hell storyline was going to tie into Final Crisis more closely than it actually did.

As it turns out, Final Crisis turned out to be a really difficult story to get a handle on.  After each issue or tie-in, we re-evaluated what we were doing.  Does Legion of Three Worlds have anything to do with the main story?  Where’s the New Gods?  Gosh, the Checkmate seems to be awful important…

Since the New Gods were more or less no shows in Final Crisis, we were left with a bit of a problem.  First, we had a hole in our roster.  And second, we didn’t really have a recognizable “good guy” team.  At one point or another, I think we debated the merits of just about every “good guy” affiliation in DC Comics before settling on a Gotham Knights refeature.

Eventually, the Batman RIP storyline did dovetail with Final Crisis.  In some ways, it was more connected to the main story than a lot of the tie-in mini-series that wore the FC banner.  But ultimately, there was something more than that.

Both stories were written by Grant Morrison.  And they both had that Morrison feel.  If you go back to DCU, a lot of the source material for that set was based on comic books written by Geoff Johns.  If DCU was the Johns set, DFC would be the Morrison set.  (You may even see a nod or two to some of Morrison’s other works in the set.)

When we decided to refeature Gotham Knights, we all agreed that they needed to have a new spin on them.  In the GK previews to date, you’ve seen how we represented Batman’s ultimate preparation with the Charge keyword.  But we weren’t done yet.

We kept reaching back deeper and deeper into Morrison’s Batman.  And the Gotham Knights kept expanding.  If you read Morrison’s Batman, you know he was planting the seeds of RIP (and Final Crisis) from his first issue.  So we gradually grew to include just about the whole run.

One of the most fascinating parts of Morrison’s run on Batman was the Club of Heroes.  The two-part story seemed like filler material at first.  But in reality, Morrison was setting the stage for his Club of Villains.

But before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a look at the Club of Heroes.  The Club (also called the Batmen of All Nations) consisted of a bunch of Batman-inspired heroes from around the globe.  In Watchmen style, the club disbanded and went on to mostly undignified ends.  But every now and then, the club gets back together again.

And that’s excatly what the Club of Heroes wants to do in this set.  Here’s alook at what you’ll get as a pay-off for assembling the Club:

Kind of speaks for himself, right?  Free stuns.  Not too shabby.  Is he hard to pull off?  Somewhat.  But the Club will have tricks that make it easier to assemble the whole gang (Think Secret Six without the alternate win condition.) 

Also, if you need a little help, there’s always the Captain.

I hope you enjoyed this look at a mini-team/strategy within our Gotham Knights refeature.  Come back tomorrow when things get really weird.

(But in a good, Morrison kind of way.)

I’m getting to old for this.  These young bucks keep making these amazing fan sets, and I’m constantly forced to come out of retirement and write preview articles!  Coincidentally, today’s card title implies retirement and a ‘carrying of the torch’ of sorts.  Batman ‘died’ a death that will be as permanent as all comic book deaths, and a whole slew of his proteges duked it out to become the new ’symbol of the night’.  I present their Battle for the Cowl…

How does this card represent the battle for the cowl?  It’s actually quite clever if you think about it.  Batman, Cape and Cowl from the DWF set negated payment powers.  This card allows other Gotham Knights characters you control to emulate that power.  Almost as if other Gotham Knights were trying to be Batman.  If this were a coincidence I would be flabbergasted (yes I’m trying to justify my opening statement by using dated vocabulary!).

Negation is nothing new to the Gotham playbook.  They have cards that negate ongoing plot twists, non-ongoing plot twists, payment effects, and more.  But that doesn’t mean that this card doesn’t have a place in the Gotham arsenal; far from it.  Sure Utility Belt already did the same thing, but if you lost the character equipped with it, you lost its glorious effect.  You were also limited by Utility Belt to only being able to exhaust the equipped character.

That’s not to say that this new card doesn’t also have its limitations.  Like all balanced cards, when you’re given advantages, you’re also given drawbacks.  You have to gather 2 Charge counters before you can start using this bad boy, which means that if you need reliable payment power protection before turn 4, you’d better stick with Utility Belt (though you could technically use this card before turn 4 thanks to cards like Bat-Radia).

But the thing that really gets me excited about this card is that it can make other cards in your deck more powerful in addition to its crazy effect.  Cards like Batman, Zur en Arrh burn your opponent for each face-up resource containing charge counters.  It kind of reminds me of the face-up mini-theme that Gotham Knights had in DWF.  Cards like Kate Kane and Renee Montoya feel like they’ve almost gotten legacy treatment.  I’ve very excited to see what other Ongoings are in this set so I can start ‘charging’ things up myself.  That is if I stay out of retirement long enough

On a side note, I want to point out that our site (vssystem.org) just broke the 100,000 hits milestone yesterday.  By the time you’re reading this it will probably be a much higher number.  This is a monumental achievement for our community, and I hope we’re coming back here years from now to see what new fantasy sets are still be unleashed upon the world.  To celebrate this occasion, I’m leaking another card from the set (with Spud’s permission of course).  Enjoy this celebratory bonus.  No tidbits or insights from me.  I’ll leave it all up to your imagination…

Card of the day is common cause, yes a team-up made it to the list again! (a record…)

First off, the text

Exhaust any number of characters you control and choose all their affiliations.

Ongoing: Crossover those affiliations.

The potential of this team-up is huge! Because of it I an dusting off my Skrull deck (with a couple of surprises) but I digress.

In a skrull deck, choose a character that has all opoising affiliations and exhaust him/her (Lylja, Mrs.Johnny Storm is the earliest drop; 4) now Black Bolt (Enemy Within) will be at 5/5 or better!!! But I digress yet again.

On the surface you may think this is useful for energize or 5 drop Mystique which is true to a degree the skrull will ve more tha. Efficent for the abuse of the card

I thought I’d share that I just wrote my first DFC preview article.  Originally, the plan was to post the article here on Monday.  But instead, the preview articles should be posted on the main page of Vs.org.  Be sure to check them out for the next two weeks for all the DFC goodness.

Come back here too.  We’ll have all the links to the preview articles being doen by the Vs. community as they come out.  Plus, you never know when the design team will stop by and provide some behind-the-scenes commentary.

Anyway, the first article is the team preview for Darkseid’s Elite.  Here’s one of those behind the scenes details I was telling you about.  I got my wires crossed when I was writing the article (which hapens all the time with me) so I ended up including an extra card by mistake.

As usual, you guys benefit from my inability to read.  You’re welcome.

It has been a long time coming.

And the wait is almost over.

(I bet you thought we’d forgot about you, didn’t you?)

DFC has been more or less done for months now, but the guys are putting on the finishing touches.  This thing is going to be far more polished than any fan-made set ever.  It will bury DCU, that’s for sure.

(Are you getting a little excited yet?  Good.)

I know, I’ve posted “coming soon” posts before in relation to DFC.  And the truth is, I always meant it.  It’s been a long, slow process.  But this time, I have a date.

November 1, 2009.

Count on it.

Oh and maybe check back here between now and then for a couple of hints and teases.

It’s been a long time.  Are you ready to feel the Vs. love again?

Alright friends and family, it’s time to switch to the South side of things (all the SoCal members here tell me that this is the best side to be on!).  I know this was posted quickly considering the long wait for the end of the North Bracket, but I can’t help but gush it all out when I’m holding onto so much Vs. fun!  Hopefully you’ve made your picks by now, and hopefully you picked right, let’s find out with this first installment.

As always, the decklists can be found here.

Hellfire Club [Vs.] Big Red

Game 1

Rob takes odds.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw a Hellfire Club Initiate (Init), Sage, Power Play, and Join the Club; followed by Army of One and Shinobi Shaw.
Rob draws a Teen Telepath, Wolverine, Cerebro, and Splintering Consciousness; followed by 2x Jean Grey, Phoenix Rising.

I row Join the Club and play an Init.  Rob has nothing.

Turn 2 (50-49)

I draw another Sage and a Magneto (his textbox is the ONLY thing that will give me a chance against the five drop Jean); Rob draws a Telekentic Fighter and a Worthington Industries.  I row Army of One and play Sage hidden next to my Init.  Rob plays Jean, Teen Telepath and draws a Teen Telepath with her text.  Rob activates a newly flipped Cerebro, Angel goes to his hand and he pitches the Teen Telepath he just drew.  Rob then flips and activates Worthington Industries (WI), Telekenetic Fighter goes into hand, then straight into the trash.

Sage runs into Jean, but Rob has a power-up (his fourth and final 2 drop).  I power-up as well.  He powers up again with his 5 drop Jean.  I pass the attack and take 2, Jean swings at my face for 2.

Turn 3 (46-49)

I draw Mastermind and Harry Leland; Rob gets Emma Frost and Professor X.  Wolverine comes out in front of Jean revealing Angel.  Cerebro puts an Angel into Rob’s hand, then into the trash.  WI puts the 8 drop Jean into Rob’s hand, forcing him to ditch his other Angel.  I row Power Play and recruit Leland visible over Mastermind to absorb some damage.

Wolvie goes into Harry.  I decide to pitch Mastermind to Sage’s ability over Leland’s to see more cards.  I draw Power and Wealth and Courtney Ross; ditching Ross.  I play Power and Wealth exhausting Sage and Leland. Getting Hellfire Club.  I take 4 from the attack, then 2 more from Jean.

Turn 4 (40-49)

I draw Join the Club and Deadly Game; Rob draws Cyclops and X-Corporation.  I row Hellfire Club and flip Join the Club, pitching Shinobi to get Madeline Prior (Maddy).  I flip Hellfire Club, move Harry hidden with it, and recruit Maddy hidden so that all 4 of my characters recieve the +1 from Hellfire Club.  Rob flips X-Corp.  He then plays Spintering Consciousness to draw a Cerebro and a Wolverine.  Emma comes into play on his side of the board.

Harry and Init go into Wolverine for 7 atk.  Harry stuns back.  Maddy KO’s the Init to give all characters flight and range; along with lowering all of Rob’s characters by 2 def.  Sage goes into Jean.  Finally Maddy goes into Emma, who draws a card in response and becomes a 7/7.

Rob keeps Emma and loses the rest of his board.

Turn 5 (31-37)

I draw Absolute Power and Shinobi Shaw; Rob draws Emma Frost and New and Improved (unfortunately he had already lost his Jean on board in the last phase).  Cerebro gets two Age of Apocalypse Jeans and they both go to the trash.  Worthington Industries gets a four drop Jean out of his deck and into the trash (8 total in there so far).  Finally, Rob activates his X-Corp, ditching his 8 cost Jean to gain 4 endurance.  After all this he’s able to recruit his 5 drop, getting +9/+9 from her ability; making her an 18/18 five drop.  Holy crap!  All I can muster up is a Deadly game in row and a Shinobi recruit.  His ability, which I used to think was amazing, now seems pretty sub-par!

Jean goes into Shinobi making him an 11/10.  I move Maddy visible (with Hellfire Club) behind Shinobi to reinforce.  Emma then goes into Maddy for a 2-sided stun.  I end up recovering Shinobi and losing Maddy.

Turn 6 (21-37)

I draw Shinobi and Maddy; Rob draws Turnabout and Children of the Atom.  I row Absolute Power and play Magneto hidden.  Rob has the Cyclops 6 drop next to Emma in the back.  Emma is behind Jean.

I run Shinobi into Cyclops (going up to a 12/11).  Rob has no tricks so we both go down.  I play Absolute Power to tap Magneto, recovering Shinobi.  Deadly Game then flips itself to swap the places of Magneto and Shinobi.  I stun Mags to his ability taking down Jean (I’ve never loved Magneto more!).  I then use Hellfire Club to put Shinobi back to the hidden area as Magneto’s ability is here to stay.  Children of the Atom recovers Jean (dang!).  Emma draws a Turnabout and Rob passes.

He recovers Scott, I recover Mags.

Turn 7 (10-26)

I draw Power and Wealth and Mastermind;  Rob draws Worthington Industries and Splintering Consciousness.  He plays the Prof X seven drop and I drool.  Shinobi is screwed!  I row Join the Club and flip it pitching Mastermind, and getting an Init.  I play him for free ditching Maddy so that he enters play exhausted.  Hellfire Club moves Shinobi hidden and I use Power Play to steal the initiative.

Prof X taps Shinobi, I lose 12 (ouch!).  Mags goes into Emma, Rob taps her to gain 3 def and draw nothing (he had drawn his whole deck by this point), then plays double Turnabout to go up to a 13/12.  Instead of letting the attack conclude, I stun Mags with his own effect to stun Jean.  Sebastian then goes into his former queen, Emma, but Rob reinforces.  Finally Sebastian readies by KOing the exhausted Shinobi and Init with his ability, and goes into Prof X.  It’s not enough for the win though, and Rob pitches Splintering Consciousness to X-Corps just to rub salt in the wounds.

Final score: -15 to 11

Game 2

I take evens because getting to steal the initiative on 7 is really, really fun.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Army of One, Power and Wealth, Init, and Mastermind; followed by Courtney Ross and Power Play.
Rob has Children of the Atom, Woverine, Jean Grey (Alive Again), and Cyclops; followed by Jean Grey (Phoenix Rising) and an Age of Apocalypse Jean.

I row Power and Wealth and play Courtney Ross.  Rob has nothing.

Turn 2 (50-49)

I draw Sebastian and Init; Rob draws another 5 drop Jean and Cerebro.  I row Army of One and play 2 Inits.  Rob activates Cerebro hitting Wolvie and ditching Jean (Age of Apocalpse).  He has no recruit.  I flip Power and Wealth, tapping 2 Inits, to get Hellfire Club.  Ross swings to the face.

Turn 3 (50-48)

I draw Shaw Industries and Leland; Rob draws another three drop Jean and Professor X.  Cerebro misses.  Wolvie comes into play revealing Jean Grey (Age of Apoc.).  I row Hellfire Club and play Leland visible to absorb some damage.  Wolvie attacks him and I take 4.  I pass my attack.

Turn 4 (46-48)

I draw Maddy and Absolute Power; Rob draws Turnabout and Telekenetic Fighter.  I row Shaw Industries and play Maddy behind Harry visible.  Cerebro gets an Emma and a Teen Telepath into Rob’s hand and he ditches one of each two drop Jean.  Rob recruits Emma discarding Jean 4 to her cost.

I run everyone but Maddy into Emma for 10 attack (thanks to Hellfire Club). Rob uses her ability to draw an Angel and stuns Harry back as Emma goes down.  I then run Maddy into Wolvie and tap HC to move Harry hidden so that I can flip Shaw Industries and bring Maddy up to a 9/8.  He plays Turnabout, but I have Army of One to prevent the stunback.  He plays Children of the Atom ditching Jean 3 and recovering Emma.

Turn5 (43-39)

Cerebro chains onto the draw and gets a Teen Telepath, who is ditched.  I draw Join the Club along with Power and Wealth; Rob gets Cerebro and Splintering Consciousness.  Jean Grey comes into play as a 15/15.  Much better for me to handle than an 18/18.  I row Join the Club, flip it, ditch Mastermind to get Shinobi who goes in front of Maddy visible.

Jean goes into Shinobi so I move Maddy hidden in response, and he gains a counter.  Rob plays Splintering from his row to draw 2 cards (X-Corp and New and Improved).  Since I know I’m losing Shinobi, I play Power and Wealth from hand, tapping Shinobi and Courney to get Join the Club ( I need Mags or I will, lose!).  Wolvie attacks next and I play Absolute Power from hand tapping Harry, Init, and Init, to recover Shinobi in response.  He passes, not wanting to make Shinobi any bigger (as this game he has the potential to be almost as good as Jean).  I send Maddy into Wolvie for the last attack of the turn; after which Emma draws an 8 drop Jean with her ability.

Turn 6 (31-34)

I draw Donald Pierce and Absolute Power; Rob draws Angel and Emma.  I row Join the Club and ditch Donald to get Mags.  Yes he is better than Donald.  Donald would be a 16/16 wall with Shaw Enterprises, but Magneto is a 14/14 that can attack someone AND stun to take out Jean after his first attack concludes.  Mags goes visible behind Shinobi.  Rob has Cyclops behind Wolvie, and  next to them is Emma behind Jean.  HC moves Shinobi hidden so that Shinobi becomes a 12 attack attacker with HC’s bonus.

Mags goes into Emma, who taps to draw another Angel.  Wolvie reinforces.  Shinobi then goes into Cyclops and Rob uses Cerebro to dig for a power-up, but misses.  Ross and 2 Inits then go into Wolvie; Ross stuns back.  Finally, I stun Mags to stun Jean.  With a board full of stunned characters, I send Harry and Maddy in directly for 13 (praying he doesn’t have Children of the Atom).  He doesn’t, but he does flip X-Corp and ditch an Angel to gain 4.

He keeps Cyclops since Mags has his Jean locked up anyway.

Turn 7 (19-7)

I draw Maddy and Deadly Game; Rob gets Children of the Atom and Splintering Consciousness.  He recruits Prof X.  I row Power Play and put Sebastian in the hidden and use Deadly Game to swap him and Mags (I want my first attack with Shaw to have the bonuses of Shaw Industries, then I can use HC to set him up for his ability).  I play Power Play to steal the initiative, but am now locked out of all my plot twists.

X-Corp pitches another Angel to take Rob up 4.  Mags and two Inits go into Prof for 17 attack.  He taps Maddy to hit me for 8 end.  Mags and and the Prof go down (seems appropriate).  Endurance is currently at 5-4 as I send Sebastian into Cyc, but Rob has a Children of the Atom to recover the Prof and make the attack illegal.  Sebastian then goes into the Prof as an 18/18; Cyc reinforces.  HC moves Sebastian between 2 Inits, he KO’s them and swings again as a 17/16.  Harry swings for 5.

Final Score: 5 to -25

Game 3

Rob takes odds.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Init, Sage, HC, and Absolute Power; followed by 2x Shaw Industries.
Rob has Cerebro, WI, Turnabout, and Splintering Consciousness; followed by Emma and the 8 drop Jean.

I row HC and play an Init.  Rob has nothing.

Turn 2 (50-49)

I draw 2x Join the Club; Rob draws Children of the Atom and another WI.  I row Shaw Industries and played Sage.  Rob flips Cerebro, getting Prof X and ditching Worthington Industries.  Rob then flips a WI, taking Jean (Phoenix Rising) into hand and ditching Children of the Atom.

I swing Sage and Init into his open board.

Turn 3 (50-45)

I draw Sage and Army of One; Rob nets Teen Telepath (a turn too late) and a Wolvie.  Rob plays Wolvie showing me his Jean Grey 5-drop.  I row Join the Club.  Rob uses Cerebro, but misses.  Worthington gets, and ditches a Telekinetic Fighter.  I flip Join the Club, ditching Sage to get Leland, who I put visible for the 3rd straight game.

Wolvie runs over Leland and I pass my attacks since I don’t want to lose anyone.

Turn 4 (46-45)

I draw Maddy and Power and Wealth; Rob gets one of each of the Jean 2 drops.  I row Army of One and play Maddy.  Cerebro gets the Jean 4 drop and ditches it.  WI gets, and puts into the KO’d pile, an Age of Apocalypse Jean.  Emma hits the table behind Wolvie, ditching a Telekentic Fighter in the process.

I flip Hellfire Club and move Harry hidden with it.  Maddy goes into Wolvie flipping Shaw and making her 9/8.  Wolvie has a Turnabout though so I play my Army of One.  Maddy is now an 11/10 to his 9/9.  Everyone else teams into Emma who draws a card in response.  Harry and Emma stun.

Turn  5 (43-36)

I draw Shinobi and Maddy; Rob gets Emma and Jean, Age of Apocalypse.  Cerebro gets an Archangel, ditching Teen Telepath.  WI gets another Archangel, ditching Jean, Age of Apocalypse.  X-Corps discards another Teen Telepath, gaining Rob 4 END.  Jean 5 comes into play at +7/+7.  She’s a 16/16.  He plays Splintering Conc.  drawing Cyclops and Wolverine.  I row Absolute Power and recruit Shinobi.

Jean goes into Shinobi, I reinforce with Maddy.  Emma then goes into Maddy, but I play Absolute Power to tap Harry and Sage, recoverying Shinobi.  Instead Emma draws a New and Improved (too late!). HC moves Maddy hidden.

Turn 6 (38-40)

I draw Army of One and Deadly Game; Rob draws Jean (5) and Children of the Atom.  I row Join the Club and play it, ditching Maddy to get Mags, who goes behind Shinobi.  Rob uses X-Corp, ditching Angel.  Rob recruits Cyclops.  HC moves Shinobi hidden.

Mags goes into Emma and she taps in response.  He takes 9.  I then stun Mags to stun Jean.  Harry and Maddy go into Cyclops for a total of 13 atk.  Maddy and Cyclops stun.  Shinobi tries to go straight to the face but is stopped by a Children of the Atom on Jean (ditching Wolvie).  I play Power and Wealth tapping Sage and my Init to get a Power Play.

Cyclops recovers.

Turn 7 (28-24)

I draw Power and Wealth and… Courtney Ross.  Huge miss.  Rob gets Cerebro and Turnabout.  Rob recruits Professor X.  I row Power and Wealth and recruit Courntey Ross.  Damn.  Missing my 7 drop will cost me this game.  Prof X taps targeting Shinobi.  In response I stun Magneto to stun Jean.  I also chain Power and Wealth, tapping Courtney and Init to get get Absolute Power.  I then play that exhausting Shinobi and Sage to recover Mags.  HC moves Shinobi visible and I finally lose 10 for Prof X.  It’s worth noting that I did this for a silly reason I thought the Hellfire Club was giving Shinobi 1 more attack for the Professor to burn me, but since it only applies to attackers, it wouldn’t have mattered.  Cyclops goes into Shinobi, which readies the Prof.  Deadly Game swaps Harry and Mags in response so that Harry can reinforce Shinobi.  But it’s not enough, Prof X is too daunting.  Jean wins!

Thoughts on the matchup:  This was a very cool matchup.  Not only was it thematic, but Hellfire actually had a built in response to Jean (Magneto).  If Hellfire had not missed Sebastian in game 3, I have no doubt the results would have been opposite.  This is probably one of the most evenly matched matchups we’ve had so far!  My only concern now is how can Jean be stopped.  Though I suppose if she runs into a deck that can repeatedly exhaust her, she shouldn’t be too much trouble.

Double Agents [Vs.] Fury-ous Agents

Double Agents is the Armed Escort combo deck.  It only requires 3 pieces of the puzzle: 1. A 2 drop with Energize (Jamie) 2. Armed Escort to equip to that 2 drop so that attacks can be redirected repeatedly, and 3. Red Skull, so that each time the attack is redirected, there is a 4 enurance swing.  Once all 3 pieces are in place, an opponent can no longer make a legal attack without losing the game.  Fortunately for the tournament’s sake, it was first paired against a deck that can do damage without attacking!  Let’s see if it’s enough!

Game 1

Eric takes odds

 Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw 2x Jamie, but no other parts of the combo so I mulligan.  I then draw Strucker, Albert, a Cosmic Cube, and a Prismatic Shield; followed by Satan Claw and Double Agents.
Eric draws an Agent, Security Clearance, Squirrel Girl, and Nick Fury; followed by a STAR Squad and a Cape-Killer.

Squirrel Girl is recruited with an Agent in tow.  I lose 2.  I row Double Agents and recruit nothing.  The Squirrel swings to my dome.

Turn 2 (47-50)

I draw a Satan’s Claw and a Tech Upgrade; Eric draws a Helicarrier and a Speedball.  I row my Tech Upgrade and play… nothing.  Eric’s Cape Killers rallies into an Agent, he recruits Speedball.  I lose 3 to attacks and we both lose 3 for Penance.

Turn 3 (41-47)

I draw Master Man and Red Skull (3);  Eric draws Out for Justice and Maria Hill.  He flips a Helicarrier from his row and bounces a Cape Killer and an Agent back to his hand.  He recruits Nick Fury and taps him to drop in 2 Agents.  I row Prismatic Shield and recruit Red Skull with his Cosmic Cube.  He attacks 2 Agents into Red Skull with a power-up.  I tap for Cube and search out an Armed Escort.  He returns his stunned Agent to his hand via Squirrel Girl.  He then swings for 7 to my dome.

Turn 4 (27-46)

I draw Red Skull (5) and a Cosmic Cube; Eric draws another Nick Fury and an Evil Lair.  I Row Red Skull (5) and recruit Jamie with an Armed Escort. I also drop a Cube back on Red Skull.  I flip Double Agents and gain 4 end.  Eric can no longer attack this game.  When he does, he will lose.  Now I just have to do some damage to him in the meantime.  He plays STAR Squad to return Squirrel Girl to his hand and recruit an Agent from his KO’dpile.  He then recruits Squirrel Girl who brings along an Agent.  He also recruits Cape Killer, netting an Agent off the top of his deck, along with a Mariah and a Shield Agent.

Mariah rallies successfully, giving him a global +1 atk to go with his Helicarrier.  Though, since my combo is active, I’m assuming he doesn’t care about the attack increase, he just wants to get all his Agents into hand ASAP so he can burn me to death.  I use Cosmic Cube gets me a Master Man.  Penance burns me.

Turn 5 (22-46)

I draw Madrox and another Cube (when these get shuffled back into a 30 card deck, then chances of drawing them again are much higher than when you shuffle them into a 60 card deck); Eric draws a Life Model Decoy and a Cape Killer.  I row Madrox and play Master Man with a Satan Claw and a Cube on Red Skull.  He drops a Cape Killer and misses the rally.  Mariah succeeds in her rally, getting and recruiting a Shield Agent.

Master Man flies over to Squirrel Girl.  I have to get her first always, otherwise I’m just sending Agents back to his hand, which he wants.  Unfortunately, my big hitter is the only one with flight.  He plays Out for Justice, returing an Agent to hand just for the sake of recruiting him again.  The pump should not be enough to force a stunback, but for some reason I have myself marked down as taking 4 from this attack.  Maybe he powered-up?  It doesn’t mater ’cause *spoiler alert* I lose this one big time!  She exhausts to Evil Lair to burn for 3.  He reinforces with a Cape Killer to take only 1.  I run Red Skull into an Agent.  Penance burns me.

Turn 6 (10-41)

I draw Madrox and Underground Laboratory; Eric nets Life Model Decoy and a Cape Killer.  I row the Lab and reruit Strucker with his Equip.  He plays Security Clearance returning an Agent to his hand to search out something.  He rows and plays another Helicarrier.  He returns 2 Agents and a Squirrel to hand.  He then drops the Squirrel with an Agent in tow.  Next come 2 more Agents.  Life Model Decoy comes into play and copies Red Skull.  Nick Fury drops in 2 more Agents with his ability to bring me down to 0.  I know I can’t do 41 damage so it’s over.

Final Score: 0 to 41

Game 2

Turn 1 (50-50)

Once again my opening hand only had a Jamie and no other components so I pitch it.  I draw 2x Claws, Armed Escort, and Master Man; followed by Tech Upgrade and Baron Strucker.
Eric draws Speedball, Nick Fury, Cape Killers, and an Agent; followed by 2 more Agents.

Penance hits us both for 3.  I rowed the Upgrade but had nothing to recruit.

Turn 2 (47-47)

I draw Malik and a Madrox; Eric draws Out of Justice and an Agent.  I row my Claw and play a Madrox.  He has a Cape Killer who misses his rally.  I attack the Cape Killer with Madrox.  He uses Penance’s burn.

Turn 3 (42-41)

I draw Red Skull (3) and Madrox; Eric nets Maria and a Caped Killer.  Eric recruits Fury who taps to bring 2 Agents into play.  I row Malik and recruit Red Skull and an Armed Escort to Madrox.  Eric can no longer attack this game, which didn’t seem to matter at all last game.

Penance burns us.  Madrox goes into an Agent, but he reinforces.  Red Skull goes into a Cape Killer.

Turn 4 (35-32)

I draw Red Skull (5) and Armed Escort; Eric draws an Agent and a Squirrel Girl.  I row Armed Escort and recruit Master Man.  He puts a Squirrel in play with an Agent in tow.  Mariah comes in, but misses her rally.  He puts Squirrel Girl in the back to makes me waste a Master Man attack on her again.

Sure enough, Master Man goes into her, and Eric reinforces her.  Madrox then goes into an Agent in front of squirrel.  I run Red Skull into Cape Killer and he chooses to use Penance instead of reinforcing.

Turn 5 (30-24)

I draw Tech Upgrade and Double Agents; Eric gets a STAR Squad and a Speedball.  I row Double Agents and flip it.  I play Tech Upgrade, exhausting the 3 drop Red Skull to get a Cosmic Cube.  Then I recruit the 5 drop Red Skull KOing the 3 drop one and drop a Cube on him.  Eric reservists into play a Cape Killer and misses the rally again!  He STAR Squads back a Squirrel to his hand to put an Agent into pay from the KO’d pile.  Maria then rallies and gets an Agent.  Squirrel Girl comes back into play with the newly rallied Agent in tow.

Master Man into Squirrel Girl.  He reinforces and takes 1.  I run Red Skull into a SHIELD Agent to get him to reinforce with Penance.  I run Madrox into a Cape Killer so that when he stuns back, Eric will lose 2 to Red Skull’s burn.

Turn 6 (28-17)

I draw Madrox and Enemy of my Enemy (EomE); Eric draws Life Model Decoy and Evil Lair.  Eric puts an Agent out from the row replacing the resource.  Mariah misses her rally again.  Life Model Decoy copies Master Man.  I row EomE and play Baron with his Claw.

Life Model goes into Madrox, He gives himself invulnerability and Red Skull burns Eric for 2.  Master Man (the actual one) flies into Squirrel Girl.  He reinforces and takes 1.  I run Baron into the Agent for 14 damage.  Red Skull goes into his last ready Agent for 8 damage, but he uses Evil Lair to hit me for three, then Penance hits me for 3 more.

Turn 7 (15-2)

I draw Madrox and Underground Lab; Eric draws a Security Clearance and something else that we forgot to write down.  I recruit 3x Madrox’s to up my total in play to 4.  He plays a Security Clearance to return Squirrel Girl to his hand.  Eric recruits an Agent from his row, then Terraforms Helicarrier into his row and flips it.  He responds with a Mariah rally and misses again.  The Helicarrier’s cost then bounces Mariah and 2x Agents.  Eric recruits Mariah and Nick taps to put in 2 more Agents.  Penance then nails me for 3.  Eric then replaces Penance and uses his ability again.  Cape Killer then is recruited from the row and misses the rally.  Mariah also misses a rally.  Finally, to round out the longest recruitment ever, Squirrel Girl comes into play without an Agent in tow.

Master Man runs into Squirrel Girl, who taps for Evil Lair, and is reinforced.  The score is currently 0 to 1 and Eric sees that I still have some attacks so he scoops.  Turns out a more aggressive approach helped out this time.  Once I had the cards to establish a board presense, I abandoned the combo to maximize damage.  I probably would have still lost this one though if he hadn’t missed 90% of his rallies this game; the exact opposite of the last game.

Game 3

Eric takes odds.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Armed Escort, Madrox, Red Skull, and EomE; followed by Master Man and Satan Claw.
Eric draws Squirrel Girl, Out for Justice, Evil Lair, and an Agent; followed by another Agent and a Life Model Decoy.

I row EomE and Eric recruites Squirrel Girl with an Agent in tow.  Squirrel Girl swings for 1.

Turn 2 (47-50)

Draw Malik and Madrox; Eric draws Maria and an Agent.  I row Malik and recruit Madrox.  For his recruits he has an Agent and a Mariah – who rallies and misses.  I attack an Agent and he takes 2.

Turn 3 (45-48)

I draw Madrox and Red Skull (5); Eric nets a Squirrel Girl and a Cape Killer.  He recruits Cape Killer, who misses his rally, then an Agent.  Mariah misses her rally as well.  I row Madrox then recruit Red Skull (3) with an Armed Escort on Madrox.  Eric can no longer attack without losing.

Madrox goes into an Agent, but Squirrel Girl reinforces from behind.  Red Skull then goes into Squirrel Girl, but she’s reinforced as well.

Turn 4 (43-46)

I draw Malik and Double Agents; Eric draws Speedball and an Agent.  I row Double Agents and recruit Master Man.  Eric has Life Model Decoy (LMD) who copies Red Skull.  He then replaces Squirrel Girl putting in another Agent with her effect.  Mariah hits a Cape Killer with her rally (renewing Eric’s faith in rallies again).

Master Man goes into Eric’s ‘Red Skull’ and takes 3 after reinforceing.  I stun back thanks to Mariah’s +1 atk bonus.  Madrox goes into the Agent in front of Squirrel Girl.  He plays Out for Justice to pull an Agent back to hand and make the one in combat +2/2.  I power-up for the double stun.  Eric could also power-up with the Agent he just bounced, but he wants to accumulate then for their direct damage.  He bounces the Soldier in combat once he stuns (thanks to Squirrel Girl’s effect).  Red Skull then goes into Squirrel Girl.  Evil Lair is flipped, and she’s tapped to burn me for 3.  Double Agents gains me 4 before I lose Master Man in the recovery.

Turn 5 (36-38)

I Draw EomE and Prismatic Shield; Eric draws an Agent and a Security Clearance.  He recruits a Cape Killer and rallies into an Agent.  Eric uses his newly aquired resource point to put Penance into play.  Then he recruits 3x Agents.  Finally, Mariah succeeds a rally into another Agent.  I row Prismatic Shield and recruit Malik with his Boost to get a Double Agent, and pitching it to gain 4.  I play Enemy ditching Red Skull (5) to get another Madrox into play.

Eric passes his attacks and my Madrox w/o the Armed Escort goes into a Cape Killer in front of his Life Model Decoy (Red Skull).  Then my Red Skull goes into his Red Skull.  We take threes, except he taps his to Evil Lair as well.  Albert then goes into the Cape in front of Painmonger, trying to force the reinforcement – it didn’t work.  My other Madrox then goes into the Agent next to Penance.  He has the power-up, so my combo is going the way of the dodo.  I’ll have to lose either Madrox or Red Skull.  Finally, Penance hits me for 3.

Turn 6 (16-29)

I draw Tech Upgrade and Cosmic Cube; Eric gets 2x Cape Killer.  I row Enemy and put the Cube on Malik, who taps to shuffle the Cube into the deck and put Baron into play.  Eric has a Security Clearance to bounce an Agent and search for a card (Helicarrier).  He recruits 2x Agents from his resource row.  He then flips Helicarrier to bounce 3x Agents and plays them all again.  Mariah misses her rally.

Red Skull goes into the Agent in front of LMD, but the Agent taps for Evil Lair, bringing me down to 1.  Strucker goes into LMD, but he’s reinforced and Penance burns for the win.

Final Score: -2 to 24

Conclusions:  As Trooper pointed out during the deck discussion, the combo is easy to pull off, but you need a way to kill once you’ve locked them down.  There are 2 ways we could fix this deck.  Add characters that burn like Penance, or simply break the two-team rules for the tournament and include the Infinity Watch Thanos.  He forces your opponent to attack, making them instantly lose.  Since it fits the theme of the deck so well.  I think I’ll break the rules for him.  Originally we had included cards like Master Man and and Baron Strucker in case we could not get the combo going, but in practice it was VERY easy to get all 3 pieces, especially when the deck packs the Cosmic Cube.  Underground Lab was also worthless.  You’re never defending with reinforcement if you’re never defending.  Really, we could remove everything but Madrox, Armed Escort, Red Skull, Cosmic Cube, Tech Upgrade, and Enemy of my Enemy.  Throw in a Thanos or 2 and Penance.  Everything else is filler.  The Double Agent’s life gain is nice, but that still leaves 5 open slots to fill with whatever.  Maybe some Focused Blasts or Life Model Decoys (to copy Penance).

X-Haust [Vs.] Big Brotherhood

GAME 1 –
I win the roll and take evens.

Opening Hand:
Iceman, Jack Frost
Xavier’s School
5-Drop Cyclops
Concussive Force

Turn 1 Draw:
Xavier’s School and Puppet Master
Turn 1:
Trooper – Resource. Pass
Me – Place Xavier’s School in resource row. Pass

Turn 2 Draw:
X-Treme Maneuver and Cerebro
Turn 2:
Me – Place Cerebro in resource row. Recruit Puppet Master. Activate Cerebro. Hit 7-Drop Professor X and Concussive Force. Discarded Xavier’s School. Pass
Trooper – Resource and recruited Quicksilver. Pass
Me – Activate Puppet Master and Trooper exhausts Quicksilver. Pass and we go to next turn.

Turn 3 Draw:
Sunfire and 3-Drop Cyclops.
Turn 3:
Trooper – Resource and recruits Magneto behind Quicksilver.
Me – Place X-Treme Maneuver in resource row. Recruit Iceman in front of Puppet Master. Pass
Trooper – Attacks Puppet Master w/ Magneto. Pass
Me – Activate Puppet Master and Trooper exhausts Quicksilver. Activate Iceman lockdown Magneto. Flip Xavier’s School. Activate to ready Iceman. Activate Iceman. Lockdown Quicksilver. I lose 5 endurance for the Puppet Master stun and we go to the next turn.

Turn 4 comes I draw and recruit 4-Drop Rogue who will end up copying Iceman so it doesn’t matter what he has as I have a lock that he can do nothing about. He recruits a 4-Drop (I can’t remember at this time) and I lock him out and Trooper scoops at the start of Turn 5 acknowledging the lock with me at 45 endurance and him at 50.

GAME 2 –
Trooper chooses evens.

Opening Hand:
Sunfire
Mimic
To Me My X-Men
Puppet Master

Turn 1 Draw:
3-Drop Cyclops and 3-Drop Iceman
Turn 1:
Me – Place To Me My X-Men in resource row. Pass
Trooper – Resource. Pass

Turn 2 Draw:
4-Drop Professor X and 4-Drop Professor X
Turn 2:
Trooper – Resource and recruits Quicksilver. Pass
Me – Place 3-Drop Cyclops as my resource and recruit Puppet Master. Pass
Activate Puppet Master and Trooper exhaust Quicksilver. Pass

Turn 3 Draw:
Worthington Industries and 4-Drop Rogue
Turn 3:
Me – Place Worthington Industries as my resource, flip it, activate, get 5-Drop Cyclops discarding 4-Drop Professor X since he is so plentiful=P. I then recruit Iceman in front of Puppet Master. Pass
Trooper – Resource and recruits Mystique. Pass
I choose not to attack and so does Trooper. I activate PM, trooper exhaust Quicksilver. I then activate Iceman locking down Quicksilver.

Turn 4 Draw:
To Me My X-Men and Concussive Force.
Turn 4:
Trooper – Resource and flips Underground Resistance. Activates discards and looks at the top 3 cards finally deciding on something (he doesn’t have to reveal it).
Me – Put Concussive Force as my resource and recruit Rogue beside Puppet Master who is behind Iceman.
Start of combat I copy Puppet Master and activate Rogue. Trooper exhausts Mystique. I activate Puppet Master. Trooper exhaust his 4-Drop. I activate Iceman to lock his 4-Drop.
Trooper scoops not ever being able to attack and knowing the lock down will only get worst from this turn on as the number of my characters grow and I am able to use plot twist like To Me My X-Men.

So there you have it. X-Haust is a beast. A good burn deck might screw with it. But any deck that needs to attack to win is about hopeless.
Later,
Kj

Wow.  This deck started out as X-Stall and involved into a more Cyclops-orientated deck.  Now it appears unstoppable.  It’d too bad X-Haust got perfect draws both games, as we never got to see a single power-up on the Brotherhood side of things.  There are numerous powerhouses coming to light in this tournament.  Will X-Haust be the one to better them all?  Round 2 will give us a better inkling.

X-Men Assemble! [Vs.] Age of Apocalypse

Game 1

Rob takes odds

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Forge, Wolverine (3), Adamantium Claws, Colossus; followed by Morph and Xavier’s Institute of Higher Learning.
Rob draws (after a mulligan) 2x Prismatic Shield, Concussive Force, and Call in a Favor; followed by Cloak of Levitation and Dark Beast.

I row the Institute and Rob has nothing

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Wolverine (7) and Blink; Rob nets Call in a Favor and Messiah Compled.  I row Claws and play Forge.  Rob has nothing.  Forge goes to the face.

Turn 3 (50-48)

I draw Wolverine (4) and Bishop; Rob draws Messiah Complex and Pleasant Distraction.  He plays Call in a Favor and pitches Dark Beast to get Havok.  I pitch Bishop to get Prof X.  Rob plays Havok with a Cloak.  I row Wolverine (3) and play Morph.  I also thought about getting Emma for 4 and playing the 3 drop Wolverine.  Rob targets Morph with the Cloak and I put a counter on Morph with Forge.  The Institute gets me a Turnabout.

Turn 4 (50-48)

I draw Emma and Cerebro; Rob nets Cyclops and Apocalypse (8).  I row Cerebro and play Wolverine.  Rob has Cyclops.

Rob uses Concussive force to tap two of my guys.  In response I flip and use Cerebro, but miss.  I tap Forge and Morph.  Wolverine goes into Havok and Rob takes 7.  The Institute draws me a Children of the Atom.

Turn 5 (50-41)

I draw Wolverine (5) and Healing Factor; Rob draws The Beyonder and Sunfire.  Rob Calls in a Favor pitching the 8 drop Apoc (he must have Messiah Complex), to get the 5 drop Apoc.  I pitch Emma to get Wolerine (5).  I row Healing Factor and play Blink.

The Cloak targets Blink.  Apocalypse attacks Morph.  I tap Morph for his ability.  I take 5.  Wolverine runs into Apoc and Forge puts a counter on him.  Both stun and I discard a Wolverine (5) to recover and gain a counter.  Rob ends the turn with a Messiah Complex (knew it!) to gain 8.  The Institute draws me a Morph.

Turn 6 (43-44)

I draw Beserker Rage and Turnabout; Rob nets Caliban and Concussive Force.  I row Beserker Rage and recruit Colossus.  Rob shifts Sunfire with 5 counters and uses his last resource to put a +1/+1 on the 5 drop Apocalypse.

At the start of Combat, Wolverine is exhausted by Sunfire.  I run Morph into Cyclops with a power-up.  He plays a Concussive Force in response and I tap Forge and Blink.  He takes 3.  I run Colussus in Apoc, his only ready character, and he takes 8.  My Colussus gets his 3 counters and the Institute gets me an Adamantium Claws.  We move to turn 7.

Turn 7 (43-33)

I draw X-Men Assemble and Wolverine (4); Rob draws Mr. Sinister and Burn Rubber.  Caliban gets shifted with 2 counters and 5 more counters go on Apoc (5), he’s now a 15/15.  I row X-Men Assemble (finally!) and recruit Prof X.

Sunfire’s ability taps Wolverine again.  Rob’s Pleasant Distraction locks down Colossus.  Rob declares an attack on Blink with Apoc, but Professor X taps him response to burn for 15.  Cloak targets Blink.  It’s now Morph and Forge Vs. the world.  Forge puts a counter on Morph and Morph swings into Havok, but Rob has a Prismatic Shield to prevent all damage.  Colossus gains 3 counters.

Turn 8 (43-18)

I draw Blink and X-Men Assemble; Rob draws Burn Rubber and Abyss.  I throw down Bloodlust, who replaces my four drop.  Rob recruits the 8 drop Apoc to replace his 5 drop, but Prof X taps the 5 drop before it happens.  Rob realizes that Wolverine will take down the 8 drop Apoc for that extra 3 damage I need.  He scoops.

Game 2

Rob takes odds again

Turn 1 (50-50)

This time I mulligan my opening hand as it does not have an X-Men Assemble.  I draw Cerebra, Healing Factor, Emma, and Bishop; followed by Blink and Beserker Rage.
Rob gets 2x Abyss, Havok, and Call in a Favor; followed by Apocalypse (5) and Messiah Complex.

I row Cerebra.  We both pass.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Cerebro and Morph; Row draws Concussive Force and Call in a Favor.  I row Cerebro.  Flip Cerebra and net a Wolverine (4) with it.  Flip Cerebro, netting and ditching a Morph.  I recruit Bishop who gets me an Assemble.  Rob windmills a Havok into play.  I pass my attack, as Havok is exhausted anyway.

Turn 3 (50-50)

I draw Wolverine (4) and Forge; Rob nets Dark Beast and Havok.  Rob Calls in a Favor pitching Abyss to get Mr. Sinster.  I pitch Forge to get Colossus.  Cerebra gets Wolverine (5) off the top of the deck.  I row Assemble and play Morph.  Havok makes me pass my attacks.

Turn 4 (50-50)

I draw Beserker Rage and Adamantium Claws; Rob gets Optic Blast and Burn Rubber.  I row Beserker Rage and drop Emma Frost discarding Blink.  Rob has Abyss (I’m glad I didn’t drop Wolverine!).

Emma into Abyss.  We both take 4.  I team  Morph and Bishop into Havok.  Bishop and Havok go down.  Bishop and Havok are lost and Emma gains a counter.

Turn 5 (44-44)

I draw Children of the Atom and Bloodlust; Rob draws The Beyonder and Concussive Force.  Rob plays Call in a Favor, ditching Dark Beast to get Cyclops.  I choose not to get anything.  Havok and Cyc come into play.  I row Healing Factor and play Wolverine, The Best at What he Does.

Abyss attacks Morph.  I tap Morph and take it.  Concussive Force hits the rest of my board and Sinister negates my Emma Frost before I can use her.  Dang!  I take 4.  Cerebra puts a Wolverine (3) under my deck.

Turn 6 (40-44)

I draw Bishop and X-Men Assemble; Rob draws Pleasant Distraction and Apocalypse (8).  I row X-Men Assemble and play Colossus (stacker art for the win!).  Cerebra misses.  Cerebro nets a Blink, ditching Bishop.  Rob recruits Apoc with 1 counter.

Wolverine runs into Apoc.  I play Beserker Rage.  Both go down and I chain Healing Factor onto the Beserker Rage.  Wolverine gains 2 counters and readies.  I take nothing and Rob takes 6.  Wolverine next goes into Havok with a Beserker Rage.  Rob has a Burn Rubber, so he only takes 2.  Wolverine runs into Abyss, but Abyss leaves play targeting Colossus.  Wolverine into Cyclops, Cyclops uses a Concussive Force.  I add an Adamantium Claws to this attack (should have added it first attack).  Rob takes 16.  Colossus swings for 13.

Turn 7 (40-7)

I draw Adamantium Claws and Turnabout; Rob gets Burn Rubber and Prismatic Shield.  Rob adds 7 counters to Apoc.  I play Bloodlust losing my 5 drop Wolverine.

Pleasant Destraction targets Bloodlust.  Messiah Complex grabs Rob an Abyss to gain him 4.  Emma draws Professor X.

Turn 8 (40-11)

I chain Cerebra and Cerebro to the draw (there’s only 4 cards in the deck)  I put a Healing Factor on the bottom followed by an Xavier’s Institute.  Logan goes to my hand, then the KO’d pile.  I draw the Healing Factor and Turnabout; Rob draws Sunfire and Caliban.  Professor X hits the table on my side.  Rob has the 8 drop Apoc to replace his 5 drop.

At the start of the combat I keep Wolverine to his Apoc.  In response Emma draws an Institute, the last card in my deck.  Professor X tries to burn Mr. Sinister, but Sinister taps to negate the effect.  Wolverine uses his ability after attacking to stun both characters.  I use Healing Factor to gain 7.  I know he’s got that Abyss in hand for my Wolverine next turn anyway.

Turn 9 (40-3)

I draw nothing; Rob draws Pleasant Distraction and Apocalypse (7).  He drops Abyss and Sunfire with 4 shift counters.  Abyss target Wolverine with his ability.  Pleasant Distraction targets Wolverine.

Turn 10 (40-3)

I draw nothing; Rob draws Prismatic Shield and Messiah Complex.  I play Blink.  Rob puts down the Beyonder and I scoop.  If it had just been Apoc vs. Blink, I could have gotten a couple +2/+2 recoveries out of her and used my 2 Turnabouts to stun Apoc.  However, there was no way I was climbing over Beyonder’s 30 DEF.  I thought I blew it turn turn 6 when I forgot to add the Claws to my first attack, but he had the Prismatic Shield in his hand at that point in the game, so I wouldn’t have done that extra damage I needed.  Gar!

Game 3

I take odds just to see what it feels like.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Bishop, 2x Morph, and Wolverine (5); followed by 2x Adamantium Claws.
Rob draws Sunfire, Prismatic Shield, Apocalypse (8), and Cyclops; followed by Mr. Sinister and Abyss.

I row an Adamantium Claws and Rob Shifts out Sunfire.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Xavier’s Institute and Children of the Atom; Rob gets Dark Beast and Sunfire.  Rob puts 2 more counters on Sunfire.  I row the Insistute and play Bishop getting X-Men Assemble.  Bishop taps to Sunfire.

Turn 3 (50-50)

I draw Healing Factor and Wolverin (4); Rob draws Optic Blast and Concussive Force.  I row X-Men Assemble and play Morph.  Rob recruits Cyclops.

Sunfire taps Bishop.  I use the Institute to draw a Beserker Rage.

Turn 4 (50-50)

I draw Blink and X-Men Assemble; Rob draws Burn Rubber and Messiah Complex.  Rob puts the last two shift counters on Sunfire and he also puts 2 shift counters on Mr. Sinister.  I put Wolverine (4) into play.

Sunfire taps Wolverine.  Rob passes.  I team Morph and Bishop into Cyclops.  Bishop and Cyclops go down.  I flip 2x X-Men Assembles and Bishop recovers gaining 2 counters.  The Institute draws me a Turnabout.

Turn 5 (48-47)

I draw Professor X and Turnabout; Rob draws Apocalypse (5) and Call in a Favor.  I row Beserker Rage and replace my 4 drop Wolverine with a 5 drop one since he’ll be tapped all game long with Sunfire anyway.  Rob plays Dark Beast and uses his last resource point to shift Mr. Sinister into play.

Sunfire taps Bishop.  Concussive Force taps the rest of my board (Morph did try to tap but Sinister stopped him).  The Institute draws me an Emma Frost.  Rob ditches an 8 drop Apocalypse (he must have Messiah Complex again) to add a counter to Dark Beast.  Messiah Complex is played to gain Rob 8 endurance.

Turn 6 (48-55)

I draw Bishop and Wolverine (5); Rob draws Messiah Complex and Call in a Favor.  Rob Calls in a Favor ditching the 8 drop Apoc (he must have another Messiah Complex, I’m boned) to get Caliban..  I ditch Blink to get Colossus and recruit him after Rob shifts Caliban and recruits Abyss.  Sunfire shifts into play ’cause he’s sick of tapping Bishop and ready to attack!

Sunfire into Bishop, but I have a double Turnabout to make him a 10/10.  Rob plays Optic Blast to make him a 10/7.  Abyss goes into Morph, who’s activated power is negated by Mr. Sinister.  I lose 4.  Wolverine goes into Dark Beast.  Dark Beast and Cyclops exhaust for Messiah Complex to get the 8 drop Apoc back, gaining 8 life in the process.  I add 2x Adamantium Claws to the attack and Rob plays a Burn Rubber in response.  Shoot!  Rob takes 4 and I play Healing Factor chained to the Beserker Rage’s resolution.  Wolverine recovers and readies.  Wolverine then goes into Cyclops, but he has Prismatic Shield.  No!!!!  Abyss then runs from the game targeting Colossus.  Colossus swings for 13 straight.

I play Children of the Atom, ditching Emma to recover Morph.  Colossus gains his 3 counters before being removed from the game.  Rob keeps Dark Beast and uses his ability to add a counter to him.

Turn 7 (41-58)

I draw Beserker Rage and Wolverine (7); Rob draws Apocalypse (7) and Prismatic Shield.  I row Beserker Rage and play Bloodlust, who replaces my 5 drop.

Bloodlust goes into Dark Beast, who ditches his counters to draw 2.  I play Beserker Rage.  Prismatic Shield reinforces Dark Beast.  Bloodlust into Apocalypse.  We both go down.  The rest of my board swings for 10.

Turn 8 (34-36)

I draw Wolverine (3) and Healing Factor; Rob draws Cloak of Levitation and Apocalypse (7).  He drops the 8 drop Apoc with a Cloak, replacing his 7 drop.  I row the Factor and and play no one since they’d be bounced anyway.

Rob targets Wolverine with the Cloak and passes.

Turn 9 (34-36)

I draw Wolvie (4) and Forge; Rob draws Abyss and Concussive Force.  I do nothing for the build phase, neither does Rob.

I run Wolverine into Apoc and stun him with ability.  I play Healing Factor.

Turn 10 (34-28)

I draw Cerebro and Cerebra; Rob draws Burn Rubber and The Beyonder.  Rob recruits Abyss.  I row Cerebra and tap it to draw my last card (Blink).  I recruit Professor X.

Rob chooses to keep Abyss and I choose to keep Wolverine, chaining Professor X on Abyss before the Prof leaves play.  Rob plays Pleasant Distraction on Wolverine.  The turn ends with NO characters in play.

Turn 11 (34-21)

I draw nothing; Rob draws Cyclops and Pleasant Distraction.  I row Cerebro and play Wolverine (5) and Blink.  Rob has The Beyonder and shifts the 7 drop Apoc with 1 shift counter.

I run Wolverine into the Beyonder to stun him.  Blink removes herself from the game to recover him.  The Beyonder attacks Wolverine for 24 damage.  Wolverine has gained 4 counters and Blink comes back in.

Turn 12 (10-21)

Rob draws Havok, the last card in his deck.  He puts in Apoc (5), Cyclops, and four +1/+1 counters on Apoc.  I put out Forge, Bishop and Morph.  I flip Cerebro.

Apoc goes into Bishop, Blink reinforces.  Beyonder into Forge who taps twice to add 2 counters to Wolverine.  Concussive Force then taps my board.

Final Score: -29 to 21

Once Rob realized the cleansing power of Mr. Sinister after game 1 (since he stops Emma, Morph, and especially Professor X) I really had no chance.  That and Abyss, who is one of the best cards in the game, was very capable of shutting down whatever character I built up.  Even Sunfire shut down my 4 drop Wolvie, making my prioritize my 5 drop Wolverine instead.  The Age of Apocalypse deck, like X-Haust, looks to be VERY powerful!

Thanks for reading guys.  It’s possible that a 5th game from this round will be played by the Ring Has Chosen peeps this week (if they have time to get to it on their show).  That’s why I only posted 4 matches today.  If you’ve signed up for one of the matchups this round but haven’t sent it to me, let me know where you’re at.  I love progress updates.  Especially cause I’m just sitting home sick right now

So I decided to change up my purifiers deck. Honestly, survival of the fittest had been kicking my butt more than helping, and then it hit me one day. On the 3 drop, Lady deathstrike usually gets her butt handed to herself, so I decided to shift out Nimrod for 3, and it hit me! Switch out no more mr nice guy for survival of the fittest, and after two of those, it changed my 4,5 drops are sick! Now my problem is finding a 6,7 drops with shift that are useful. I’m thinking of cable and doop, but to be continued.

Made some drastic changes to my purifiers deck, here are the pics, explanation coming soon

The end of the North Bracket is finally at hand.  Here are the final five (not to be confused with the Fearsome Five) matchups.  I’m sorry for the delay, but there were a lot of legitamate reasons; computers were fried, intestines were removed, Canadian holidays were observed; it was CHAOS these past couple of months!  But the result is as entertaining as always so grab your bucket of popcorn, heavy on the butter, and read. 

As always, the decklists can be found here.

Shi’ar [Vs.] Starjammers

We’ll start today’s matchups off with a stalltastic match.  Lilandra and her Shi’ar soldiers team up with Brotherhood to try and take down enemies of the empire: The Starjammers, who have called on the X-Men for help.

Game 1

Rob gets evens.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I Draw Mimic, Ego Gem, 2x Soldier; followed by an Enemy of my Enemy and another soldier.
Rob draws Nightcrawler, Raza, Rogue, Havok; followed by a Cho’d and Freedom Fighters.

I row Enemy of my Enemy, but recruit nothing.  Rob has nothing as well.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Press the Attack and a Soldier; Rob draws Cannibal Tech and Freedom Fighters.  Rob plays Nightcrawler; I row Press the Attack and recruit a Soldier with an Ego Gem (I figure I better get drawing as soon as possible to keep up with his discard effects).

Nightcrawler goes into soldier who taps to draw into an 8 drop Magneto.

Turn 3 (47-48)

I draw Press the Attack and Planet X;  Rob draws Med kit and Psylocke.  I row Planet X and play another Soldier, both in the support row.  Rob plays Psylocke and drops a Med Kit on Nightcrawler (who Rob calls Spider-Man all game for an unknown reason).

Rob flips Freedom fighters teaming Starjammers and X-Men.  He successfully rallies into Enemy of my Enemy.  I tap for Ego Gem, getting a Marvel Crossover; passing.  Rob runs Psylocke into my untapped Soldier, but I tapped him to add 2 DEF and he passes with nothing happening.  Rob activates to Med Kit, gaining three.

Turn 4 (47-51)

I draw Scarlet Witch and Blob; Rob draws He Who Watches x2.  Rob plays Cannibal Tech discarding He Who Watches getting Rapier.  Rob recruits Cho’d with a Rapier.  I row Marvel Crossover and recruit Blob.

Ch’od  (in the front with a Rapier) goes into Blob, I play Marvel Crossover to team-up Brotherhood and Shi’ar.  I tap one Soldier to  bring Blob’s defense to 11, we both stun, no breakthrough.  Psylocke then goes into my untapped one, I tap to bring my Soldier’s DEF up to 4.  Rob passes and nothing happens.  Nightcrawler rounds out the turn with a Med Kit activation.  Everyone recovers.

Turn 5 (43-50)

I Draw Planet X and Enemy of my Enemy; Rob gets Nightcrawler and Rapier.  I row Planet X and put Scarlet Witch into play and bounce her to burn for 4.  I then pitch her to Enemy to get Prof X, who is then recruited with a Soldier.  Rob also plays Enemy to ditch Raza for his own Prof X and recruits him.  I pitch Press the Attack for his Professor’s ability.  Rob flips Freedom Fighters to rally for a Starjammer.

I use my Prof’s ability to look at the Insignificant Threat on the top of my deck and sent it down because it’s my init. and I won’t be needing it.  He has Nightcrawler and Psylocke in the front with Prof  and Cho’d behind.  I run Blob into Nightcrawler, he taps Nightcrawler to gain three, then he readies because of his energize and does it again.  He then taps his Prof X to make me ditch a card and I lose a Soldier.  I activate the Soldier with the Gem to draw another Gem.  Finally I run my other two Soldiers into Psylocke. Rob passes and loses Psylocke at the end of the turn (not forseeing her effect ever coming into play).

Turn 6 (41-43)

I draw Gladiator and Lilandra; Rob nets Cannibal Tech and Korvus.  Rob recruits Korvus with a Rapier.  I row Enemy and play Mimic.

At the start of the combat phase, Mimic’s ability goes on the chain followed by Korvus’ ability, I chain an Ego Gem activation to it and add Prof X’s ability to see a Cover Fire.  I allow the Cover Fire to stay there so that I can draw it.  I ditch my extra Ego Gem to Korvus’ ability, and Rob gets an Enemy of my Enemy.  Mimic chooses the Soldier’s ability.  Korvus runs into Blob (16 atk to my 9 def).  I tap 2 Soldiers and Mimic to bring Blob’s def up to 18. Rob passes.  Rob team attacks Nightcrawler and Cho’d into blob for 14 atk. I play Cover Fire to bring Blob’s DEF to 19.  Cho’d stuns.  His Prof X makes me pitch a card, so I lose Lillandra (after some serious tanking).  Blob goes into Nightcrawler, he energizes and gains 3, but loses 6.

Turn 7 (41-36)

I draw Insignificant Threat and a Soldier; Rob draws Starjammer and Corsair (korvus into savage).  I Row the insignificant Threat and recruit Gladiator while Rob drops a Havok (dang!).  I then play Enemy to ditch a Soldier to get Blob (I’m thining out my deck here and I see that I have another Insignificant Threat, a Cover Fire, 3 Soldiers, and a Prof X left in the deck).

I ditch Blob for Korvus’ ability and Rob draws a Savage Beatdown.  Mimic copies Ego Gem to stem the Havok tide.  Mimic goes into Cho’d.  He plays He Who Watches to see my hand and row.  He now knows to save his Prof X for a discard of my 8 drop Magneto rather than for reinforcement.  Cho’d goes down.  2 Soldiers and Blob go into Korvus.  I use Planet X to get 2 more attack, chaining my Prof X to see a Soldier on top of my deck.  I then chain Ego Gem to draw the Soldier.  Planet X resolves and puts a Cover Fire in my row (couldn’t have worked out better!).  Korvus and Blob go down.  Gladiator goes into his Professor.  I play Press the Attack to ready him and make him a 16/12.  His Prof X activates and I discard a Soldier.  He activates Havok to make me pitch my last card… Magneto (damn!).  He recovers Korvus and loses his Prof.

Turn 8 (37-7)

I draw a Soldier and Prof X; Rob gets Rogue and Rachel Summers.  He plays Rogue and a Starjammer on Havok.  He also has a Nightcrawler hit the table.  I row nothing and think about putting down a Soldier for the HUGE DEF boost, but I need to prevent Havok’s free stuns so I keep him in my hand.

I ditch a Soldier to Korvus and Rob nets a Savage Beatdown.  Rogue copies Havok’s ability.  Mimic copies Ego Gem.

Korvus goes into Blob.  I play Cover Fire.  Blob’s DEF is 21 to korvus’s 16 ATK.  Savage Beatdown brings him to a 21.  I tap one Soldier to add 3 DEF.  He plays another Beatdown to go 2 over.  I tap another Soldier and my brickwall is finally successful.  Havok goes into Blob, and I take 11.  The endurance is 26-7 and with nothing left worth doing, Rob passes and I could run Gladiator into Nightcrawler and Mimic into Rogue, so Rob scoops.

Shi’ar wins!

Game 2

Rob gets evens

Turn 1 (50-50)

Rob mulls and draws Rapier, Rogue, Corsair, and Raza; followed by Havok and Nightcrawler
I draw Professor X, 2x Soldiers, and Insignificant Threat; followed by Insignificant Threat and Gladiator

I row Insignificant Threat and play the Prof.  Rob has nothing.  I attack for 0.  Prof X reveals a Soldier on the top of the deck; I put it underneath.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw a Press the Attack and a Soldier; Rob gets Raza and The Starjammer.  Rob recruits Nightcrawler with his pirate sword (Rapier).  I row Press the Attack and play a Soldier.

Nightcrawler goes into Prof X, I tap Soldier to bring his def to 5, and the attack is bricked.  Prof X sees another Soldier on the top of the deck and sends it down to get me closer to my much needed Blob and Ego Gem.

Turn 3 (50-50)

I draw Magneto and Enemy of my Enemy; Rob gets Nightcrawler and Enemy of my Enemy. I row Enemy and play a Soldier.  Rob plays Corsair and puts him in the back row behind Nightcrawler.

I run a Soldier into Nightcrawler and he powers up.  So do I; double stuns are immenent so Nightcrawler moves Corsair hidden with his activated ability.  I pass.  Corsair runs into a Soldier from the hidden area and Prof X reinforces.  Prof X sees a Mimic on top and leaves him (If I hit that Ego Gem, I need Mimic available on 6 to copy it, and the Enemy in my row has already assured Blob).

I lose a Soldier in the recovery.

Turn 4 (46-68)

I draw Mimic and a Soldier; Rob draws Corsair and his five drop Professor X.  I row Insignificant Threat and play Enemy of my Enemy, ditching a Soldier to get Blob who I recruit in the front row.  Rob plays Rogue.

Rogue copies a Shi’ar Soldier for fun.  Rogue and Nightcrawler team attack into Blob.  I play Insignificant Threat exhausting Blob to stun Nightcrawler.  The attack is over. Corsair the runs into my Prof X.  I respond by looking at the top card; and put a Soldier underneath my deck.  My one Soldier reinforces and Prof goes down.

Turn 5 (45-46)

I draw Cover Fire and Scarlet Witch; Rob gets a Rapier and a Freedom Fighters.  I put Cover Fire in row and recruit Gladiator.  Rob drops his own Prof X, forcing me to discard Scarlet Witch.  Rob then plays Freedom Fighters from his row and rallies into a Beatdown.  I have Gladiator and Blob in front of the Professor and Soldier respectively.  Rob has Nightcrawler and Rogue in front of his Professor and Corsair respectively.

Rogue copies Prof X (heads up: there are only 2 cards in my hand… poop).  I team attack Prof X and a Soldier into Nightcrawler.  The Soldier and Nightcrawler both stun.  Blob then goes into Rogue, even though his attack is not enough to take her down (see if you can guess why I’d want that).  Rob taps Rogue and I’m forced to discard Magneto.  The attack resolves and there are no stuns.  Gladiator then goes into Corsair and I play Press the Attack (this is why I needed to get Blob exhausted) to ready him and make him a 12/8.  I’m trying to make Rob reinforce with Prof X instead of making me ditch my six drop in my hand.  He doesn’t fall for it and takes 11.  I run Gladiator into his ready Prof X and he makes me ditch my Mimic.    My Prof X looks and sees a Press the Attack on top of the deck.  I leave it there.

Turn 6 (38-26)

I draw that Press the Attack and an Ego Gem; Rob draws his own Mimic and Korvus.  Rob chooses Korvus over Mimic and I row Press the Attack and play Ego Gem on the good Professor.  Prof X sees an Enemy of my Enemy and puts it under my deck since the only card it can really get me now is Lilandra, who’s discard is too heavy of a cost in this matchup.  I put my Blob in front of Glads, with my Prof next to Glads.

Korvus makes me ditch… nothing, and draws Rob a Freedom Fighters.  Rogue copies Rob’s Prof X.  She then attacks my Prof X.  Prof taps to draw me a Marvel Crossover.  I reinforce and take 1 bouncing the Ego Gem back to hand.  Korvus attacks Blob.  I take 11, tying the game at 26.  Rob’s Prof X then attacks my Gladiator.

Turn 7 (19-21)

I draw Prof X and a Planet X; Rob gets Savage Beatdown and Cannible Tech.  I row Planet X, play Prof with the Gem and look at my top card.  I see a Soldier wish silenty that Ego Gem wasn’t only during the combat phase.  Rob plays Havok, that’ll pretty much do it.  At the start of combat Rogue copies Havok and Korvus draws Rob a Cho’d and makes me pitch my Marvel Crossover.  Rob shows me his Mimic in hand indicating that if I somehow survive this turn, next turn he will surely finish me off.  3 characters with Havok’s ability is too much when you have no hand!

That’s game!

Game 3

I take evens hoping to just once to lay the smack down with Magneto and Gladiator.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Professor X, 2x Soldier, and Blob (Talk about a keeper!  The only better hand would be Prof, Soldier, Ego Gem, Blob.); followed by a Cover Fire, and Planet X.
Rob has Cannibal Tech, Nightcrawler, Med Kit, and Rapier; followed by Nightcrawler and The Starjammer.

I row Planet X and recruit Prof X.  Rob shifts the Starjammer.  Prof X looks at the top card and sends a Press the Attack to the bottom (once again I’m digging for that Ego Gem).  Professor X once again attacks for 0.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I chain Prof X’s ability to the draw and see another Press the Attack, I have to keep it there or risk never getting one.  I draw Press the Attack and another Professor X; Rob draws Havok and Rachel Summers.  I row Cover Fire and play a Soldier.  Rob plays Nightcrawler with a Med Kit; and seeing that his energize will gain him 6 endurance, I decide to pass.  Rob gains 3 with his Med Kit.

Turn 3 (50-53)

I chain Prof X to the draw and see a Gladiator on top, which I leave, knowing it’s my only copy, and draw along with an Insignificant Threat;  Rob draws Corsair and Rogue.  Rob plays Corsiar; I row Insignificant Threat and play another Soldier.

Rob attacks Nightcrawler into a Soldier.  I tap him to go 2/4.  Nightcrawler stuns.  Rob attacks Corsair into the other one and I cover fire bringing the Soldier up to a 2/6, bricking the attack.

Turn 4 (50-51)

I chain Prof X to the draw and see a Soldier on top.  I put it under and draw a Soldier and Lilandra (Lily); Rob draws Enemy of my Enemy and Raza.  I row Press the Attack and play Blob.  Rob windmills out a Rogue.

Rogue copies Nightcrawler’s abilities (both his original and the Med Kit).  Blob goes into Nightcrawler who gains six in response, Rob then loses six.  Rogue then goes into my Prof X, I team up with Planet X to make it illegal (Rob has to attack Blob first), Rogue gains 3 with her newly aquired Med Kit ability instead.

Turn 5 (50-54)

I chain Prof X to the draw again, seeing an Ego Gem (yes!) and leaving it.  I then draw an Ego Gem and a Soldier; Rob draws his Professor X and Cho’d.  He recruits his Prof X and makes me discard the extra copy of my Prof X (with both decks containing Professor X, Enemy of my Enemy, and Mimic, this is starting to make my head hurt!).  I row a Soldier and play Gladiator, putting a Gem on the good Prof.

Rogue copies Rob’s Prof X.  Rob teams Prof X and Rogue into Blob.  I tap Prof X for an Ego Gem draw and get a Blob.  I use that Blob to power up and stun Rogue back.  Nightcrawler and Corsair then go into Prof X.  This is a very good play for Bob as it’s his initiative, so when Prof stuns, he can stack Corsair’s effect before I can stack my Gem’s effect.  That means if I choose to bounce it to my hand Corsair will name it and make me remove it from game.  If I leave it on the Professor, I’ll lose it anyway because I need to keep Blob over him.  I add 2 DEF with a Soldier (need 4 tapped characters to use my Press the Attack).  Prof stuns, I take one, and choose to bounce the Gem to my hand, Corsair names the Gem, and it’s removed from game.  Shucks!  Finally, Gladiator goes into Rob’s Prof with a Press the Attack to make him a 14/10.  Gladiator then swings into Corsair.  I end the turn with a Soldier into Nightcrawler.  Rob gains 3 with his Med Kit after his energize readies him, then we both lose 2.

With Rob’s whole board stunned on his own initiative, he lets out a groan and keeps Prof X.  I lose my Prof X and a Soldier.

Turn 6 (46-31)

I draw a Crossover and a Mimic; Rob nets 2x Freedom Fighters (a turn too late, he now only controls an X-Men character card).  I row the Crossover and play Mimic in front next to Blob.  Glad is formed behind Blob, the Soldier is behind Mimic.  Rachel summers comes down on Rob’s side of the board.  He plays Freedom Fighters from his row and nets Cannibal Tech.  He then plays another one from hand to get Enemy of my Enemy.  Starjammer shifts in onto Marvel Girl.

Mimic gains a Soldier’s ability at the start of Combat.  Glad runs into Prof X.  He stuns without activating (hoping I’ll pass my attacks on Rachel to keep my cards for turn 7; I don’t even hesitate though as I need to do damage before Havok comes down).  Mimic goes into Rachel, she makes me ditch my Lily and Soldier with her energize.  I have no more hand.  Blob and a Soldier to the face bring Rob down to 6.  I look frantically for a way to end him pre-Havok, but have nothing and we go to 7.

Turn 7 (41-6)

I draw Enemy of my Enemy and a Soldier (essentially the perfect draw to seal this game for me); Rob draws He Who Watches (making the comment that he won last game because he didn’t draw this card) and the Starjammer.  Rob builds Freedom Fighter from his KO’d pile thanks to the ‘Jammer’.  He flips it and sends Psylocke under his deck.  I row Enemy and play it, ditching the Soldier I drew to get Scarlet Witch, I play her 3 times to burn for 15 and pass.  Rob scoops!  He had Havok, but he couldn’t dig out of the Scarlet ditch I had dug!

Thoughts on the teams.

Shi’ar seems like such a perfect fit with Brotherhood.  Blob, Mimic, Scarlet Witch, and Magneto seem tailor made for the Shi’ar.  The only hiccup this deck experienced was when I didn’t get a team-up online until late-game (though I don’t think I would up the count to 4).  With a Soldier on 2 and 3, Blob will always be 13 DEF on four, which is made far more ridiculous by the inclusion of Cover Fire.  It will be interesting to see how this deck will fair against a deck that can get its Soldiers out of play before Blob hits the table.

The Starjammers deck also seemed decent.  I think I would up the Med Kits to 2, because having a Med Kit on an Energize character like Nightcrawler is a fantastic way to stall to Havok, who really is the only endgame this deck has.  This deck’s one biggest weakness was opposing card draw.  Since Shi’ar had the Ego Gem engine up early most of the time (thanks to the Professor’s filtering), it was really hard to get rid of all the cards in the hand quick enough to make a difference.  Without the Ego Gem, the Shi’ar would have fallen like a sack of Imperial gold bullion.

The most amusing thing about this matchup was the Professor/Mimic dynamic.  On Rob’s side of the match, his Professor X was trying to make me pitch cards, and his Mimic was copying that Professor to try and make me ditch cards.  On my side of the matchup, my Professor X was trying to filter into an Ego Gem, then once equipped with an Ego Gem, was drawing cards every turn.  My own Mimic was there to copy the Ego Gem’s ability and also draw me cards.

Common Enemy Vs. Heralds of Galactus

Eric, one of my St. Cloud friends was man enough to help me plow through some matchups.  I think we played 5 matchups from various rounds straight to 4am.  This is when Eric succumed to his Nyquil.  But before that happened, the Fantastic Four had to team up with Doom to try and take down the greatest threat Earth has ever faced… GALACTUS!

Game 1

Eric takes evens

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw She-Thing, The Diabolical Dr. Doom, Hulk,  It’s Clobberin Time; followed by Signal Flare and Mr. Fantastic
Eric draws Elemental Converter, the Silver Surfer two drop, I Hunger, Airwalker (5); followed by Silver Surfer’s Board and Airwalker (3)

I row Signal Flare, no recruit.  Eric has no recruit.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Invisible Woman and Signal Flare; Eric draws Absorba Shield and Destroyer.  Eric recruits Silver Surfer with his Board, I row It’s Clobberin Time and play She-Thing.  He taps Surfer and puts Human Torch on top of his deck.

I attack Surfer with She-Thing, but he moves hidden with his board, so I can attack directly.

Turn 3 (50-47)

I draw Flame Trap and Mystical Paralysis; Eric gets Soul World and Human Torch.  I row Flame Trap and play Mr. Fantastic.  Eric has Air-Walker.

Air-Walker taps and She-Thing turns sideways.  I pass my attacks since Mr. Fantastic can’t get over Air-Walkers 6 DEF.  Silver Surfer stacks a Absorba Shield on top of the deck.

Turn 4 (50-47)

I draw Boris and Luke Cage; Eric draws his Absorba Shield and Frankie Ray.  Human Torch comes down on his side.  I row Paralysis and recruit Doom, flipping Mystical Paralysis to tap his Human Torch.  Surfer puts Red Shift on the top of his deck.  Then Doom’s effect resolves and turns down Mystical Paralysis.

Air-Walker makes me tap She-Thing again.  He flips Elemental Converters ditching Air-Walker (5).  I play Flame Trap, ditching Signal Flare and Luke Cage to stun Surfer and She-Thing (Ahhh, she’s useless anyway!).  Mr. Fantastic with a Clobberin Time goes into Air-Walker but Eric plays Absorba Shield, ditching a Destroy to brick me.  This really bums me as my Flame Trap was now wasted and he loses nothing.  He draws Red Shift with his Converters.

Turn 5 (48-45)

I draw The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing and my own Silver Surfer; Eric gets Morg and a Worldeater.  After a lot of debate about my late game, I decide to row my Thing and play Invisible Woman with Boris.  Eric has Red Shift.

Invisible Woman goes into Air-Walker (AW).  AW taps She-Thing again.  Surfer taps to search his deck and realizes his 5 drop AW in the trash is the only copy Surfer could have searched for so the seven drop Galactus gets stacked instead.  Soul World pays 4 to get back the Air-Walker in his trash back and he powers up.  I Boris for a Clobbering Time and play it.  AW stuns.  Mr. Fantastic goes into Human Torch as an 8/0.  He plays I Hunger, then plays Absorba Shield pitching Morg to go up 2 DEF.  Garrr!  Mystical Paralysis targets Red Shift.  He flips Worldeater Apparatus and taps Red Shift to gain 3 life in response.  On Eric’s attacks, Human Torch goes into She-Thing to gain Eric 2 life with I Hunger.  Thank goodness Invisible Woman stops breakthrough.  Finally, Elemental Converters draws his Galactus.

Turn 6 (48-46)

I draw a Beatdown and a Diabolical Doom; Eric draws 2x Kindred Spirits.  Eric plays Terrax, I row Savage Beatdown and play Hulk (who comes into play as a 15/12).

Red Shift and Hulk go away thanks to Red Shift’s ability.  Air-Walker and Human Torch team attack Invisible Woman.  I stun back AW.  Terrax replaces Apparatus to make me stun Mr. Fantastic.  Surfer stacks I Hunger on the top of Eric’s deck from the hidden area.  Terrax swings into Doom to gain Eric 5 life thanks to Human Torch’s ability.  Converters ends the turn by drawing the I Hunger.

Turn 7 (41-48)

I draw Boris and Dealing with the Devil; Eric draws Frankie and the nine drop Galactus.  I row Devil and flip Devil to team-up and draw Thing, Heavy Hitter.  He plays Kindred Spirits to stack Terrax and Galactus (9) on the top of his deck.  I flip Signal Flare, ditch Boris and get Sub-Mariner and recruit him.  He drops Silver Surfer, Last Zenn-Lavian and moves everyone to the front row to avoid Sub’s text.  Surfer puts an extra resource down for Eric.  He Souls a Silver Surfer 2 drop back into his hand.  He draws his Galactus (9) with his Converters.

Eric starts things off by replacing Soul World with Terrax.  I read Terrax again because I’m just flabbergasted by his power, and stun Doom as he is my only 4 drop.  Doom cards were dead anyway I guess.  Eric taunts me a bit, making sure I’m fully on tilt.  I spend a good amount of time surveying the board.  I’m startled at how high the endurance totals still are in this game.  Human Torch has kept this game pretty far out of my reach, and he’s really starting to erk me.  I peak at my cards once again; they haven’t changed.  Hulk turns sideways into Terrax, Hulk’s 14 atk vs. Terrax’s 13 defense means Eric takes 6 endurance.  My Sub-Mariner attacks into Silver Surfer and uses a Savage Beatdown.  Eric flips I Hunger and the attack is essentially nullified now that Eric will just gain 7 endurance as he’s losing 7 endurance.  Grrr (again!).  I pass attacks.  Eric attacks Red Shift into Hulk removing them both.  Then he team attacks me directly for a gain of 10 endurance.

Turn 8 (37-48)

I draw Mystical Paralysis and a Doomstadt the two most worthless cards I could peel on this turn; Eric gets Air-Walker and Silver Surfer (2).  Eric recruits Galactus; I lose 37 and Eric gains 37.  The score is now  0 – 85.  I row a Doomstadt and recruit the Silver Surfer.

At the start of the combat phase Silver Surfer gives me the initiative because I pitch a 4 drop Doom to his effect.  At this point I scoop there is no point in playing the rest of the game.  The life gain of Heralds just shut me down the whole game and I never had a chance to get the counter off of Human Torch who just locked me out.

Game 2

I take odds to once again get initiative on 7 AND 8.  My one and only goal this game is to get Human Torch’s cosmic counter off ASAP.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Human Torch, She-Thing, Mr. Fantastic, and Diabolical Doom; followed by Dealing with the Devil and Signal Flare.
Eric draws Absorba Shield, Air-Walker (5), Frankie Raye, and Silver Surfer (2); followed by Kindred Spirits and Relentless Onslaught.

I row Dealing with the Devil and neither of us have a recruit. 

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Purple Man and Dealing with the Devil (DwtD); Eric draws Kindred Spirits and Absorba Shield.  I row DwtD.  Eric spends an hour looking at his hand  and throws out the Silver Surfer 2 drop.  I play my Human Torch 2 drop instead of She-Thing because I want to burn myself to death this game.  The more damage I do to myself, the less Eric can steal on turn 8 with Galactus.  Eric uses Surfer to get himself a 3 drop, but realizes its illegal when he rereads Silver Surfer; and then finds his Human Torch instead.  Looks like Johnny Storm is going to be pivitol on both sides of the board this game.  I swing with my Torch into Surfer and pay 4 END so we both lose 6.

Turn 3 (44-44)

I draw She-Hulk and Thing (7); Eric gets Human Torch and Silver Surfer (7).   It’s my initiative so I row a Signal Flare and throw out Purple Man.  I flip Dealing with the Devil and ‘Cantrip’ into a Boris!  I flip a second DwtD and draw a Clobberin’ Time.  Eric recruits Frankie Raye.

Combat starts and he draws a Silver Surfer (2) with Frankie’s ability.  My Human Torch goes into his lover Frankie and I pay the 4 END.  There are double stuns and I lose 2 to Eric’s 3.  For my second attack Purple Man runs into Eric’s Surfer.  Eric powers-up the Surfer for the double stun, I windmill a Clobbering Time and Eric takes 6 to my goose egg (nothing).

Turn 4 (38-35)

I draw my Silver Surfer and Thing (5); Eric gets a Destroyer and Relentless Onslaught.  I throw down She-Thing into the row and then drop the man they call DOOM!!!!.  I flip up Signal Flare and turn it back down with Doom’s ability.  I get my 6 drop Hulk pitching (somewhat appropriately) She-Hulk.  Eric plays his Human Torch, and we move to combat.

Silver Surfer attacks into Purple Man, using Reckless Onslaught giving him +2 attack and drawing a Galactus (7).  Purple man KO’s a resource and takes a Kindred Spirits from Eric’s resource row.  Eric puts his top card down into his row and says, “That’s good for me!” Dangit!  I pass and take 3 to Eric’s 1 (due to Human Torch gaining him 4 life).  Human Torch attacks Human Torch (I’ll leave you, dear reader, to interpret that).  I think about playing Kindred Spirits as a joke, but stop myself when I see Hulk’s text.  Man that joke would have backfired on me!  No tricks on my part and I take 2.

I lose Torch in the recovery.

Turn 5 (33-34)

I draw Boris and Doomstadt; Eric draws Red Shift and Silver Surfer (5).  I row the Doomstadt and play the 5 drop Thing.  Eric rows a card and plays Air-Walker (5) .  Purple Man takes a stab at the Surfer, and Surfer powers up again!  The stun back is rough, but I look at my row and realize that there’s nothing I can do, so it’s the midnight train to double stun.  Eric takes 2 I take 3.  Thing clobbers on into Air-Walker and Eric flips World-Eater Apparatus to gain 3.  Eric loses 5 from the stun and the score is now tied at 30–30.  I flip Doomstadt and attack Human Torch with Doom.  Eric flips Absorba Shield and pitches a 7 drop, I show my Silver Surfer for no particular reason; Eric is going to brickwall this attack either way!  Eric uses World-Eater Apparatus togain 3 more with Silver Surfer. Then uses Kindred Spirits to find Terrax and his 3 drop Air-Walker.

Eric loses the Silver Surfer during recovery.

Turn 6 (30-33)

I draw Reign of Terror and Sub-Mariner; Eric gets Terrax and Air-Walker (3).  Eric rows a card and throws out Terrax.  I row my Reign of Terror since its deader then JFK (too soon?) and throw down Hulk, who smashes.

We move to Eric’s attack step.  Human Torch attacks Purple Man so I use his ability to steal a Destroyer from his row.  I ended up taking a dead card from him and netting him an I Hunger.  Shucks!  I was really hoping to force him to row his 9 drop Galactus!  He flips his newly aquired I Hunger and I take 0 while he gains 3.  Eric then replaces World-Eater Apparatus to stun my doom, gaining more endurance from I Hunger.  Terrax attacks Thing and I power up with my 7 drop Thing to try and Brickwall Terrax.  Eric flips Relentless Onslaught, drawing an Elemental Converter, and giving Terrax +2 attack.  I take nothing, he gains 6.  I finally get an attack and run Hulk into Air-Walker, Eric takes 5.  In retrospect, using Purple Man’s ability was a BAD move.  It allowed Eric to gain 13 endurance that turn!

Turn 7 (30-41)

I draw Flame Trap and Invisible Woman; Eric draws Galactus (9) and Soul World [Grrrrr!  Purple Man was so close!  He was one card away from putting Eric's finisher in the resource row!].  I row the Flame Trap and throw out Sub-Mariner.  Eric shows Elemental Converter and terraforms it into the row [Oh yeah, forgot about Terraform.  I guess he would have gotten Galactus back from the resource row anyway!].  He plays his Silver Surfer 7 drop and puts down another resource.  Eric then recruits and uses Surfer’s Board to put a Cosmic counter on Air-Walker and hides the Surfer in the support row, hidden.  Of course he put him in the support row just mock me as Sub-Mariner could not reach him.  I would have laughed my socks off if I had been packing hidden hate.  First “thing” first, Human Torch’s reinforcement ability has got to go; so I bash him with Thing.  Eric takes 4 I take nothing.  Hulk (a 17/12 if my memory serves me) attacks Terrax, Eric flips a Elemental Converter and pitches Red Shift to its cost, and draws a Frankie Raye.  Eric takes 10 to my nothing.  Sub-Mariner then attacks Air-Walker, Eric takes 8 more, and I still take nothing.  Finally, Eric’s hidden Surfer attacks Thing, and I take 10. Ow!

Eric keeps Human Torch, losing Terrax and Air-Walker.  Why would he keep his four and lose his five and six?  Probably because he knows I’ll steal his initiative next turn, and Torch’s reinforcement is the worst thing I can face right now!

Turn 8 (20-19)

I draw Luke Cage and Clobbering Time; Eric draws Terrax (4) and I Hunger.  Eric rows a card and drops the world eater!  I really miss the days when he didn’t hit the board until turn 9.  The score is suddenly 0-39.  I row a Luke Cage to help feed Hulk’s attack, and play the Surfer who’ll steal me the initiative.  Rob (the one typing up the notes) tells Eric that he left Human Torch in the support row so Eric slides him forward.  Thanks Rob   I do some math; it’s not looking pretty for the home team.  Eric plays I Hunger, which makes my turn even less pleasant.

Mariner and Thing attack Galactus.  Eric flips Soul World, pays 4 to pick up Galactus (7), and uses Absorba Shield, pitching that Galactus, I use its Clobbering Time to tie it up though, and the attack concludes with both the G-man and Mariner going down.  I lose nothing and I Hunger means that Eric only loses 2.  Hulk attacks Human Torch and Eric takes 4 thanks to Torch’s self-provided reinforcement.  Then 19 attack to the dome from the Surfer brings Eric down to 10.  I scoop as Eric declares his attack back from the Surfer.

This time it went much better for Common Enemy, but they still fell to the might of Galactus.  The two MVP cards in the Galactus deck are I Hunger and Human Torch.  In that second game, if Eric hadn’t drawn a single I Hunger I would have pulled away with the W.  It was a bad matchup anyway since Galactus should roll over any curve deck it faces.  The real test will be quick decks like MKKO.  I also found that I needed to damage myself along with my opponent, and I could have done that by mulliganing for the Human Torch 2 drop in both games.  Every time you use his effect, you’re doing four more damage to an opponent, and dropping four endurance that Galactus will steal eventually anyway.

Eric’s best play of the day was when he played I Hunger, used Terrax (6)’s ability, then attacked with Terrax.  This gained him 10 endurance, and left me with 2 stunned characters while he lost nothing.  Ugh!

I would make no improvements to the Galactus deck, but I would change a couple of things to the Common Enemy build.  First of all, the Luke Cage 2 drop, while I never hit him, probably would not have helped a whole lot.  I think I would always want the Human Torch 2 drop.  I never found myself needing the card draw all that much as the deck curved out both games without him, and the Torch 2 drop will always help me swing up the curve.  I also think that I need to fit in another Reign of Terror.  I never drew this card in time to use it, making my Doom practically worthless.  If I had been able to bounce his Silver Surfer 2 drop or his Air-Walker 3 drop either game, it would have helped a ton!  If the Flame trap I had played game 1 had been a Reign of Terror instead, he would have actually lost his Silver Surfer; instead he brickwalled the rest of my attacks and got to recover him in the recovery phase.

Marvel Defenders [Vs.] Wolverine Smash

Another matchup between Eric and myself.  We’re pitting the 2 Samantha Parrington decks against each other.  One focuses on direct damage, while the other focuses on digging through the deck and playing every plot twist possible.  Let’s see how it plays out.

Game 1

Eric takes odds.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Mobilize, 2x Trouble with Dinosaurs (TWD), and a Shield Agent; followed by a Hank Pym and a Shield Agent.
Eric draws Beast, Unexpected Assault, Devil-Slayer, Samantha; followed by another Devil-Slayer and Tania.

I row Mobilize and play an Agent.

Turn 2 (50-48)

I draw Speedball and another Agent; Eric nets Banished to the Abyss and Sub-Mariner.  I row TWD and play a Speedball and another Agent.  He plays Beast.  I tap Speedball and we both take 3.  Beast then goes into Speedball, I reinforce and take 1.

Turn 3 (46-43)

I Draw Tania and Samantha; Eric draws Banished to the Abyss and Flying Kick.  I row Mobilize.  Eric drops Sub-Mariner.  I flip Mobilize and ditch an Agent to get Wolverine, who bounces an Agent to my hand.  I put my lone Agent behind Speedball.  Beast goes into Penance who burns us both in response.  I reinforce and take 1.  Subs goes into the Agent for 5 more damage.  I respond with a direct attack from Wolverine.

Turn 4 (37-34)

I draw Tania and Flying Kick; Eric draws Beast and Close the Gap.  I row the Kick and play Samantha.  He plays Samantha as well and targets her with Beast to make her an 3/11.  She targets Subs with her ability so that he can attack a couple of times.  I target Wolvie with my own Samantha.

Penance burns Eric for 3.  Wolvie attacks and packs a Flying Kick and TWD for 14 damage.  Wolvie attacks again with another TWD (the Flying Kick modifier is still in place) for 14 more.  Eric runs Subs into Penance for 6.  I can’t find a way to do 3 more to finish Eric so we go to turn 5.

Turn 5 (31-3)

I draw Flying Kick and an Agent; Eric nets Hawkeye and Hellcat.  He recruits Tania via Substitute over Beast and Substitutes Hawkeye in over Subs.  He recruits Devil-Slayer.  Tania gives the Slayer +4 atk and Samantha targets the Slayer as well.  Hawkeye waits to see what I have.  I play Hank Pym (targeting Wolverine with his ability), 2x Agents and Speedball.  My own Tania and Samantha target Wolverine.  Hawkeye ends the build phase by targeting both Agents.  My Agents have put Eric in the negatives, so his Devil-Slayer must kill me this turn for him to pull out a win.  He plays 2x Banished to the Abyss on Devil-Slayer.  Slayer then goes into Speedball, who taps to burn Eric.  The Slayer’s ability reveals the top 5 cards of his deck, and among those he plays a Close the Gap and The B-Team.  Slayer readies via Samantha.  Eric also plays Unexecpted Assault, Clost the Gap and a Flying Kick on the Slayer from his and row.  He’s now a 24/13.  He then goes into Hank Pym who taps to give Wolvie +3.  His ability reveals the Order, 2 Restarts and Unexpected Assault.  He plays the Unexpected Assault and now up to a 28/17.  He plays Reset and attacks again revealing a Flying Kick, Blind-Sided  and The Order.  He plays the Flying Kick and powers-up.  34/22. Wow!  The score is now -29 to -4.  I attack with Wolvie and add a Flyinig Kick.  He’s a 16 attack and swings 2 times for 32 damage.

Final Score: -29 to -36

Game 2

I Draw Wolverine, an Agent, Speedball, and Tania; followed by a Devastaing Blow and TWD.
Eric draws Banished to the Abyss, Hawkeye, Hellcat, Sub-Mariner; followed by a Devil-Slayer and Tania.

I row Devastating Blow and play Penance.  I attack for 2.

Turn 2 (50-48)

I draw Mobilize and Adamantium Claws; Eric draws Richard Rider and Reset.  I row Mobilize and play Tania.  I target Speedball with Tania.  Eric plays a Tania as well and has her target herself.  I run Speedball (6/1) into his Tania.

Turn 3 (49-44)

I draw a couple of Agents; Eric draws Banished to the Abyss and an Unexpected Assault.  He plays Hellcat.  I row Claws and play Wolvie who bounces Penance.  Penance burns us both before he dies.  I target Wolvie with Tania.  He targets Hellcat with Tania.

Hellcat goes into Tania.  Wolvie goes direct with a Devastating Blow.

Turn 4 (39-28)

I draw Sam and Pym; Eric nets Close the Gap and Unexpected Assault.  I row a Mobilize and play Sam.  Sam and Tania backup on Wolvie.  He plays Nova targeting Wolverine and targets Hellcat with Tania.  Wolvie Swings and readies.  I play his Claws and TWD to bring him up to 19 atk.  This drops Eric to 9 END and I swing again for 14.  Eric realizes he doesn’t have much of anything to do and passes.

Final Score: 39 to -5

Eric and I played turn 5 for fun after the match ended.  Devil-Slayer smoked me, dropping me to like -90 or something.  But since it didn’t make it to turn 5, I guess Wolverine is the victor.  Talk about a not-very-interactive game.  Eric and I both agreed that the Devil-Slayer is actually probably the stronger deck of the two, since Wolverine suffers when facing any sort of hidden hate, but since the Devil-Slayer deck packed none, there was nothing it could do.

We also realized that Mobilize was maybe not the greatest search card for the Wolverine deck since you can’t hit Tania on 2 and Mobilize for Wolverine on 3, but I don’t think that deck needs any help, it already appears to do quite well!

Negative Zone [Vs.] She-Hulk Smash!

This match was done by our good friend Brendan Wilson (Bkwrds).  He mentioned some notes were lost or unreadable, but what he gave me still paints a good picture!  Enjoy!

Negative Zone legend
Negative Zone: Gateway will KO your opponent’s board if you have a ready NZ character.
Negative Zone: Prison Alpha will move an unprotected character to the hidden area.
Negative Zone: Harvester of Sorrows gains you 1 end for each stunned character your opponent has at the beginning of recovery, and
Negative Zone: Seat of Annihilation will allow you to draw a card if you have more stunned characters than your opponent at the beginning of recovery.

Game one: I draw Negative Zone Gateway, Negative Zone Alpha, Wave of Destruction, Thanos, Seekers, and Mobilize. Jdog draws and keeps Thing, Triton, Triton, and Lockjaw… then draws Press the Attack and a Flying Kick.

Turn one: I row Negative Zone: Seat of Annihilation. Turn one J-Dog puts Flying Kick in his row, plays Lockjaw, discarding Thing, and searches for San. I lose 2.

Turn two: I draw Negative Zone Harvester of Sorrows and Syphonn. Jdog draws Attilan and Maximus. Rows Attilan. He plays the San Lockjaw teleported into his hand last turn. I lose 4 more. After 2, I have 44 life left to my opponent’s 50.

Turn three: I draw Negative Zone: Seat of Annihilation and Negative Zone: Gateway. Jdog draws Signal Flare and another Flying Kick, rows it. I play Thanos and put Invasion Plans in my resource row… I can KO it later if I discard a Negative Zone to Mobilize. Free card, sort of? Thanos plays Invasion Plans and I draw two cards… another Thanos and Annihilus. J-Dog plays Flying Kick on San to make him 5/4 and then attacks Thanos. Mutual stun, I lose 4 after breakthrough. Lockjaw hits direct and we wrap up turn 4. Score is 49 for J-Dog 37 at me. It looks like J-Dog knows he has to hit fast to win this match.

Turn four: I draw Mobilize and Negative Zone: Harvester,. J-Dog plays Triton. I play Syphonn, after discarding my extra Thanos to flip over Negative Zone: Harvester of Sorrows. Combat, J-Dog plays another Flying Kick and attacks Thanos with Lockjaw. Mutual stun, so I lose 4 but gain 2 from Syphonn’s Cosmic effect. J-Dog attacks Syphonn with Triton, and then plays She-Hulk Smash to bring his attack up to 9, so he can break down Syphonn’s 8 defense. I lose 5 but gain 2 more back. San takes those 2 right back again. I flip another Negative Zone Harvester of Sorrows so I can bring my endurance back up a little more. I gained 8 endurance over the course of the turn, and boy did I need it. Score is 34 to 44 for JDog.

Turn five: I draw another Annihilus and a Swarm of Annihilus. I play Annihilus, forms in front of Syphonn. J-Dog plays She-Hulk in front row. I discard two cards to Negative Zone: Gateway, and another card to play Negative Zone: Prison Alpha and move She-Hulk to hidden. I activate Annihilus to stun She-Hulk without taking damage and play Swarm of Annihilus on Triton. Syphonn does not attack so that the Negative Zone: Gateway will indeed KO his board. I gain 4 endurance (took none over the turn) and J-Dog loses his entire board.

Turn six: I draw Negative Zone: Prison Alpha and another Syphonn. I play Ravenous and replace his Attilan. J-Dog plays Maximus but it looks like he’s unable to keep his row face-up. Success. My men form in an L, with Ravenous at the bottom and Annihilus at the top, with Syphonn behind him. Combat, Maximus attacks Ravenous. I lose a bunch because I decide not to reinforce. I foolishly activate to stun San, thinking I can clear his board again. Don’t realize I can win if I just attack directly… but J-Dog decides to throw up the white flag anyways, score is 37 to 11 and I am not likely to a) stop gaining life or b) stop destroying his characters.

Game two: I draw Negative Zone: Gateway twice, Skeet, Syphonn, Swarm of Annihilus and Negative Zone: Harvester of Sorrows.

Turn one: I have odds, I place Negative Zone: Harvester of Sorrows. No recruits either side. On we go to turn 2.

Turn two: I draw Negative Zone: Prison Alpha and another Skeet. Negative Zone hidden goes in row. Jdog plays San. I attack for 2 with Skeet. Score is 48 to 50 after two.

Turn three: I whiff, missing 2x Thanos, 2x Seekers, 2x Mobilize that I didn’t have in my opening hand. I drew Annihilus and Negative Zone: Seat of Annihilation. Combat comes, Skeet decides to attack Torch, and power up with Skeet. Sadly, Human Torch powers up too. Oh well. J-Dog loses 4 to Skeet’s effect and I lose 2 for stun cost, then J-Dog attacks for 7. My early game sucks. After three, score is 39 me, 44 for J-Dog.

Turn four: I draw Wave of Destruction and Thanos. Negative Zone: Gateway in row. I play Syphonn, and J-Dog plays Triton. His initiative. San and Torch team into Syphonn. I stun Torch. Again, I lose 4 through stun but gain 2 from Syphonn’s effect. Triton launches into my face, so I lose 7 more. After four, the score is 31 for me, 41 for J-Dog.

Turn five: I draw Seekers and Ravenous. I lay a Negative Zone: Prison Alpha and play Annihilus. J-Dog plays She-Hulk and puts her in the front row. Once my attack step starts, I flip Negative Zone: Prison Alpha (just like game one) and move She-Hulk to hidden. Annihilus activates to stun She-Hulk. Then I flip Negative Zone: Seat of Annihilation so I have four Negative Zones face-up, so I can play Swarm of Annihilus on Triton… which leaves Syphonn to hit JDog directly. JDog loses 9 for cost of stunning, and 8 to the face on the turn, putting him at 24. I lost nothing, on the turn, but come recovery, I can gain 2 from Negative Zone lifegain, if I let that resolve before Negative Zone KO his board, because Skeet is still ready in my hidden area. Good stuff. J-Dog loses his board and I actually gained endurance in the turn. Ouch. 24 for Jdog, 33 for me.

Turn six: I draw Thanos and Blastarr. He recruits Maximus the Mad, hoping to finally be able to hit me for some real endurance loss. I play Ravenous, and replace Attilan, so I can gain 4, bringing my life back up to 37. I’m ahead of him by 13 endurance, and I haven’t lost a character yet. He’s got one attacker. He hits Ravenous with Maximus, and I lose 9 to his 6. I attack with Annihilus and Syphonn, and they bring him to one endurance. JDog decides to capitulate when I show him Blastarr and he knows that a) I’m going to stun his board next turn and b) I’m not going to lose any endurance doing it. Ouch. Good games, JDog.

Dang!  Brendan’s She-Hulk deck didn’t make it past round 1.  It was a personal favorite of mine, however; Negative Zone’s ability to move characters hidden so that Annihulus could stun them is just brutal!

Crisis Doom [Vs.] Family of Four

Unfortunately, Carlos’ computer crashed after the match and all notes were lost.  He did  mention that Trooper won with the Crisis deck.  Maybe Trooper or Carlos would be willing to mention any noteworthy plays in the comments section below.  Carlos also said that if anything could be retained from his original hard drive he would send me the notes and I will post them here.

Long time coming…but first the text:

Ongoing: Non-army characters you control that share one or more names with a shifted card you own get +2/+2.

No More Mr.Nice guy, a card that has completely evolved Vs! From Cable to hulk, any character with the shift keyword, or weapon x can star in a solo deck that’s a problem! Back during the Golden Clone saga single character, I assembled Iron Man No More Mr Nice guy deck, you don’t want a ton of extremis upgrade 2/2 geeks walking around! Almost all characters with shift have big stats and those 2/2’s add up…quickly. 2 of these alone can almost outpump a beatdown! But this is a dangerious card, and weapon X (who’ll be festered later on) doesn’t help!

Golden Age Dr.Doom Vs the dangerious X-23 + Domino combo! It was non crisis and actually closer to MHG BYOS save for 5 drop power hungry doom and cover fire! I out pumped x-23 with cover fire! Amazing!!

Marvel Round 1 continues today with the next 5 reports.  The last five will hopefully be submitted soon so that I can get that up in a week as well!

Like always, the decklists can be found here.

Our first match today comes from Gambit.  He decided to wield the highley experimental BPRD matchup.  On one side we have the BPRD team, who’s goal will be to get all the Infinity Gems into hand so that  Hellboy can wear the Gauntlett and get an out-of-combat stun (maybe more by playing Break off the Horns) to add more counters to himself.  On the other side we have Thule, who’s looking to abuse baby Hellboy by swarming the board to make him huge!  Let’s see how it plays out…

Something is Coming [Vs.] B.P.R.D.

Game 1

B.P.R.D. won the roll took odds

BPRD drew Jaime Reyes, Liz Sherman, Roger, Cannibal Tech; kept, and drew Abe Sapien and Cannibal Tech.
Thule drew Klaus Werner, Huge Annoying Tentacles, Something is Coming, Nasty Surprise; kept, and drew Damn Nazis and Accept Your Destiny.

Turn 1
BPRD laid Cannibal Tech and played nothing
Thule laid Nasty Surprise and played Damn Nazis
Nazis hit for 2
50-48

Turn 2
Thule drew Hellboy and Accept Your Destiny
BPRD drew Pancakes and Hellboy(4 cost)
Thule laid Something is Coming and played Hellboy, flipped Something is Coming, and searched for Cavendish Hall.
BPRD laid Cannibal Tech and played nothing
Thule swings with Nazis and Hellboy for 2
50-46

Turn 3
BPRD drew Sidney Leach and Space Gem
Thule drew Plague of Frogs and Flying Kick
BPRD laid Pancakes and played Sidney (discarded Roger to search for Ego Gem) the exhausted Sidney removed Jaime to search for Mind Gem.
Thule laid Cavendish Hall, flipped Cavendish Hall and played Huge Annoying Tentacles.
BPRD… no attack, Thule sends Tentacles in to Sidney for 2; played Accept Your Destiny, exhausted Nazis to KO Sidney (gained 2); attack with Hellboy for 3 with Flying Kick for 6 total.
50-38

Turn 4
Thule drew Plague of Frogs and Black Flame
BPRD drew Jaime and Time Gem
Thule laid Plague and played Klaus Werner
BPRD laid Liz [Editor's Note: This last part sounds naughty!] and played Hellboy, flipped Cannibal Tech and, discarding Abe, searched for Soul Gem, and exhausted Hellboy removing Jaime and searching for Reality Gem.
Thule team attacked with Nazis and Tentacles into Hellboy for 9 (Klaus’ ability) Tentacles stun back, then Klaus and Hellboy swing to the face for 13 with Plague of Frogs on Klaus for +4 more (17) 21 for round
48-17

Turn 5
BPRD drew BPRD HQ and Sidney
Thule drew Karl Ruprecht and Cavendish Hall
BPRD laid BPRD HQ and flipped Cannibal Tech discarded Sidney to search for the Gauntlet equipped to Hellboy discarding six gems.  Exhausting Hellboy to stun Klaus.  This put a +1/+1 counter on Hellboy, bringing him up to a 9/8.
Thule laid Accept Your Destiny and played Karl (start of combat phase reveled Flying Kick Karl’s ability).
Thule team attacked Hellboy with Tentacles and Karl for 5 atk, playing a Plague of Frogs on Karl for +5 more (10 total) to stun Hellboy (who stun Tentacles back bringing his stats up to a 10/9) flipped Accept Your Destiny, exhausting Nazis to KO Hellboy (noooo!).
Recovered Klaus
46-13

Turn 6
Thule drew Wake the Devil x2
BPRD drew Weapons Lab and Kate Corrigen
Thule laid Wake the Devil and played Black Flame
BPRD laid Weapons Lab and flipped BPRD HQ discarded Kate to get Hellboy (4 cost), played Hellboy; activated Weapons Lab (got Power Gem) equipped Power Gem to Hellboy.
Thule team attacks on Hellboy with Nazis and Karl for 9, (Hellboy stuns back Karl going up to a 9/8) BPRD flipped Pancakes, discarded Power Gem, to recover Hellboy.  Team attack Hellboy with Klaus and Hellboy for 14 (Hellboy stuns back Klaus going up to a 10/9) but Black Flame swings to the face for 12.
Thule wins game one handily.
40 to -7

Game 2

Thule won roll took evens

BPRD drew Hellboy (4 cost), Space Gem, Mind Gem, Liz Sherman; kept, and drew Jaime and Weapons Lab
Thule drew Damn Nazis x3 and Plague of Frogs; kept, and drew Damn Nazis and Accept Your Destiny

Turn 1
BPRD laid Weapons Lab and played nothing
Thule laid Plague of Frogs and played Nazis
Nazis for 2
50-48

Turn 2
Thule drew Karl and Hellboy
BPRD drew Cannibal Tech and Sidney Leach
Thule laid Accept Your Destiny and played 2 Nazis
BPRD laid Cannibal Tech and played Sidney (no discard) exhausted Sidney removed Jaime and searched for Ego Gem.
Nazis into Sidney for 2 and the other 2 Nazis into the face for 3
49-43

Turn 3
BPRD drew BPRD HQ and Jaime
Thule drew Flying Kick and Black Flame
BPRD laid BPRD HQ and played Liz Sherman, exhausted Sidney, removed Jaime and searched for Power Gem, flipped Weapons Lab, activated (got nothing), and equipped Power Gem to Liz.
Thule laid Flying Kick and played Karl and Nazis (got nothing from Karl’s ability)
Liz into Karl for 8, but a Nazis.  Thule flipped Plague of Frogs on Karl for +5 atk for the stun back. Thule Nazis (just played) into Sidney for 2 and Nazis x3 attack with Flying Kick on one of them for 6 to the face.
Recovered Karl
46-32

Turn 4
Thule drew Cavendish Hall and Hellboy
BPRD drew Weapons Lab and Cannibal Tech
Thule laid Cavendish hall and played Nazis and Hellboy; flipped Cavendish Hall
BPRD laid Cannibal Tech, activated Weapons Lab (got Reality Gem), flipped Cannibal Tech, discarded Weapons Lab searched for Time Gem.  Played Hellboy, activate and return Liz to hand to stun little Hellboy.
Thule team attack Hellboy with Karl, two turn-old Nazis and a Nazis that was just played for 7 (Hellboy stuns Karl back going to 9/8).  Thule flipped Accept Your Destiny and exhausted Nazis to KO Hellboy.
48-28

Turn 5
BPRD drew Roger and Break off Horns
Thule drew Flying Kick and Klaus
BPRD laid Break off Horns and activated Weapons Lab (got Soul Gem) and played Liz with Power Gem
Thule laid Flying Kick and played Klaus
BPRD Liz attacked Karl for 8 but Karl had a Nasty Surprise for Liz, and the +5 attack was enough for the stun back. Thule attacks with Klaus, little Hellboy and Nazis x4 for with Flying Kick on Klaus (10), Hellboy (11) Nazis (10 total) 34 total in round.
Thule 40
BPRD -6

Thule wins 2-0

Notes me and my brother-in-law thought that Accept Your Destiny was the punch line in both games.  Without it, it would have gone the other way.
BPRD had too much discard for a 30 card deck found that you could not discard most of the time because of what you already had in your hand.  Though there were a couple of times I could have played an Ego gem to net some cards.  Maybe Cannible tech could have been Tech Upgrade.

Crime Lords Reinforcement [Vs.] Sniper Shot

Tim and Mr. Ben take the helm for this one.  Punisher, Captain America, take advantage of Spider-Man’s side-switch to help them take down the Crime Lords.

Game One

I win Rock, Paper, Scissors and give Tim odds.

Turn One

I got Tim to keep track of his hand for me this time. Neither of us mulligan.

Tim’s opening hand: Rosco Sweeny. Kingpin <> Overboss, Stilt-Man, Geraci Family Estate
My opening hand: Punisher <> Suicide Run, Neighborhood Watch, Sniper Shot, Spider-Man <> Webhead

Draw
Tim’s: Rough House, Fight to the Finish
Mine: Captain America <> Skrull Imposter, Underground Movement

Build
Tim recruits Roscoe in the front and passes.
I place Sniper Shot in my row and pass.

No combat.

Endurance totals at the end of turn one.
SS- 50 CLR- 50

Turn Two

Draw
Tim’s: Lay Down With Dogs, Saracen
Mine: Underground Movement, Spider-Man <> Outlaw

Build
I row a copy of Underground Movement, recruit Punisher <> Suicide Run in the back, hidden, and pass.
Tim places a resource, recruits Stilt-Man in the front, and passes.

Combat
I send Punisher into Roscoe. Tim takes three as Roscoe stuns.
Stilt-Man into my chin and I take three.

Endurance totals turn two.
SS- 47 CLR- 47

Turn Three

Draw
Tim’s: Bullseye <> Deadly Marksman, Uprising
Mine: Captain America’s Shield, Wild Ride

Build
Tim places a resource then activates Roscoe, paying one. He gets Kingpin <> Wilson Fisk and discards Rough House (When we played this game Tim actually forgot to discard for this effect. Later, when he used Roscoe again, he realized this error. So, having Rough House still in his hand he discarded it on turn six for this effect). He recruits Kingpin in the front next to Stilt-Man. Roscoe forms up behind Stilt-Man.
I row Neighborhood Watch and recruit Captain America in back with his Shield. Stilt-Man gains a counter. Punisher stays in the back.

Combat
I use the Shield, Tim exhausts Stilt-Man.
Kingpin into Captain America. We both stun. I take four, Tim takes three.
I flip Sniper Shot and exhaust Punisher to add an aim counter, then I KO Punisher to his ability and KO Kingpin.

Endurance totals turn three.
SS- 43 CLR- 43

Turn Four

Draw
Tim’s: Cobra, Mr. Hyde
Mine: The Captain and Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Build
I row another Underground Movement and flip Neighborhood Watch, choosing Nextwave to crossover. I recruit The Captain in front of Captain America who I equip with his Shield.
Tim places a resource and recruits Saracen next to Roscoe, who is still behind Stilt-Man.

Combat
At the start of combat I give The Captain the name Punisher and draw Hannibal King. I then exhaust him to Sniper Shot.
Stilt-Man into The Captain. I flip Underground Movement and move him hidden when the attack becomes legal. Tim adds Uprising and we both stun. I take four, Tim takes two.
I play Judge, Jury, and Executioner from hand and exhaust Captain America to KO Stilt-Man. Then I use the Shield and Tim exhausts Roscoe.
Saracen into Captain America. Cap stuns and I take six.

Endurance totals turn four.
SS- 33 CLR- 41

Turn Five

Draw
Tim’s: Geraci Family Estate, No Rest for the Wicked
Mine: Wild Ride, Punisher <> Suicide Run

Build
Tim places a resource and recruits Kingpin <> Overboss in the back between Saracen and Roscoe.
I row and then flip Wild Ride. I get Captain America <> Loyal Patriot and take five. I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot, giving it three counters, and then remove them to KO Kingpin [Editor's Note:  He's really got it out for the Kingpin.  That's twice now!]. Captain America enters play in the back row and I completely forget to put the Shield on him.

Combat
I give The Captain the name Captain America and recite his names. I draw Carrying the Torch.
Tim can’t get on top of Cap and passes his attacks.
Captain America into Roscoe Sweeny. Tim flips and activates Geraci Family Estate. Roscoe stuns, Tim takes one.

During recovery Tim discards Cobra to keep the Estates.

Endurance totals turn five.
SS- 33 CLR- 40

Turn Six

During the draw phase I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot.

Draw
Tim’s: Uprising, Fight to the Finish
Mine: Captain America’s Shield, Call in a Favor

Build
I row Carrying the Torch. Punisher <> Suicide Run enters play hidden in front of The Captain and I exhaust him to Sniper Shot. I recruit Spider-Man <> Webhead in front of Captain America and put a Shield on him and on The Captain.
Tim rows a resource, activates Roscoe, grabs Kirigi, discards Mr. Hyde and pays one. He forms Kirigi in front of Roscoe with Saracen adjacent in the back.

Combat
The Captain gains the name Hannibal King, I draw Punisher <> Secret Avenger.
I flip Carrying the Torch and remove Punisher <> Suicide Run from my KO pile, giving Captain America the name Punisher. I exhaust Captain America to Sniper Shot. With three counters I use it to KO Kirigi.
I use the Shield on The Captain and Tim exhausts Saracen.
Spider-Man into Roscoe. Tim uses Geraci Family Estates, Roscoe stuns, and he takes one.

During recovery Tim chooses not to discard and the Estates replaces into The Family.

Endurance totals turn six.
SS- 33 CLR- 38

Turn Seven

I exhaust Punisher to Sniper Shot.

Draw
Tim’s: No Rest for the Wicked, Rough House
Mine: Punisher <> Angel of Death, The Captain

Build
Tim places a resource and recruits Bullseye <> Deadly Marksman in front of Roscoe, discarding Rough House. Saracen stays adjacent in back.
I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot. Call in a Favor hits the row. I recruit Punisher <> Angel of Death in front of Spider-Man with Captain America adjacent in back. The Captain gets a Shield.

Combat
The Captain gains the name Spider-Man, I draw Judge, Jury, and Executioner.
I exhaust Captain America to Sniper Shot, then KO Bullseye.
I exhaust Spider-Man to exhaust Roscoe. Bounce the Shield on Captain America, and Tim exhausts Saracen.
Punisher into Roscoe. I move Punisher hidden. Tim flips and activates Geraci Family Estates. Roscoe stuns, Tim takes one.

During recovery Tim tosses No Rest for the Wicked to keep the Estates.

Endurance totals turn seven.
SS- 33 CLR- 37

Turn Eight

I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot.

Draw
Tim’s: Face the Master, Taskmaster
Mine: Ghost Rider, Spider-Man <> Outlaw

Build
I exhaust Captain America to Sniper Shot. Wild Ride gets rowed and Ghost Rider enters play in front of Spider-Man. Captain America gets his Shield back and stays adjacent to Spidey.
Tim places a resource and recruits Taskmaster in front of Roscoe. Saracen stays put.

Combat
The Captain gains the name Batman, I draw Call in a Favor.
Taskmaster copies Ghost Rider’s stats.
I exhaust Punisher to Sniper Shot and then KO Taskmaster.
Ghost Rider exhausts to his ability and I clear Roscoe and Saracen off Tim’s board.
Spider-Man hits Tim in the chin for four.

I failed to keep track one way or the other what Tim did with the Estates this turn.

Endurance totals for turn eight.
SS- 33 CLR- 29

Turn Nine

I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot.

Draw
Tim’s: Roscoe Sweeny, Deadpool
Mine: Punisher <> Captain America, Hannibal King

Build
Tim recruits Deadpool front row, hidden.
I row Call in a Favor and recruit Hannibal King concealed, adjacent to Punisher. Spider-Man <> Outlaw enters play, KOing Spider-Man <> Webhead. Spidey is adjacent to Ghost Rider up front with Captain America behind.

Combat
I activate Hannibal King, targeting Deadpool. Ghost Rider activates, KOing Deadpool, Tim takes five.
Punisher, Spider-Man, and Captain America team attack Tim’s face for thirtyeight.

Endurance totals turn nine.
SS- 33 CLR- -14

Game Two

I win Rock, Paper, Scissors and give Tim odds.

Turn One

Tim keeps his opening hand: Roscoe Sweeny, Kirigi, Roscoe Sweeny, Geraci Family Estates
I mulligan these: Punisher <> Angel of Death, Ghost Rider, Captain America’s Shield, Captain America <> Loyal Patriot
My opening hand: Captain America’s Shield, Hannibal King, Hannibal King, Spider-Man <> Webhead

Draw
Tim’s: Saracen, Uprising
Mine: The Captain, The Captain

Build
Tim places a resource and recruits Roscoe Sweeny in front.
I row a copy of The Captain.

No Combat.

Endurance totals at the end of turn one.
SS- 50 CLR- 50

Turn Two

Draw
Tim’s: Lay Down With Dogs, Bullseye <> Deadly Marksman
Mine: Call in a Favor, Punisher <> Secret Avenger

Build
I row Call in a Favor and recruit Hannibal King concealed in front.
Tim rows a resource, activates Roscoe, grabs Cobra, discards a Roscoe, and takes one. Cobra enters play adjacent to Roscoe in the front. Tim searches for Mr. Hyde and puts him into his hand.

Combat
Hannibal King into Roscoe Sweeny. Tim plays Uprising and we both stun, taking two.
Cobra into my chin. I take two.

Endurance totals turn two.
SS- 46 CLR- 48

Turn Three

Draw
Tim’s: Face the Master, No Rest for the Wicked
Mine: Sniper Shot, Underground Movement

Build
Tim places a resource then recruits Mr. Hyde adjacent to Cobra with Roscoe behind.
I row and flip Underground Movement, then recruit Spider-Man <> Webhead in the back row. Hannibal stays put. Spider-Man activates to exhaust Cobra.

Combat
Mr. Hyde into Spider-Man. Tim plays No Rest for the Wicked. Spider-Man stuns, I take four.
Hannibal King into Roscoe Sweeny. Tim plays Face the Master. We both stun and take two.

During recovery I KO Spider-Man.

Endurance totals turn three.
SS- 40 CLR- 46

Turn Four

Draw
Tim’s: Fight to the Finish, Uprising
Mine: Neighborhood Watch, Call in a Favor

Build
I row and then flip Neighborhood Watch, choosing Nextwave to crossover. I recruit The Captain from the resource row and replace him with Sniper Shot. He forms up in back.
Tim places a resource and recruits Saracen behind Cobra. Roscoe and Mr. Hyde are adjacent back and front, respectively.

Combat
I give The Captain the name Punisher, I draw Punisher <> Suicide Run.
Hannibal King into Roscoe. Tim flips and activates Geraci Family Estates, then plays Fight to the Finish. We both stun and KO. I take two, Tim takes one.
I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot.
Saracen into The Captain. I move him hidden. We both stun. Tim takes four, I take five.
Mr. Hyde and Cobra into my face. I take nine.
Tim discards Bullseye <> Deadly Marksman to keep Geraci around.

Endurance totals turn four.
SS- 24 CLR- 41

Turn Five

I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot.

Draw
Tim’s: Stilt-Man, Kingpin <> Overboss
Mine: Carrying the Torch, Punisher <> Suicide Run

Build
Tim places a resource then recruits Kingpin <> Overboss behind Cobra. Saracen and Mr. Hyde are adjacent back and front, respectively.
I flip Call in a Favor, discard Punisher <> Suicide Run to get Captain America <> Loyal Patriot. Tim tosses Stilt-Man to search for Bullseye <> Master of Murder. I recruit Captain America in the back row and equip him with a Shield.

Combat
I give The Captain the name Captain America and draw Ghost Rider.
I flip Carrying the Torch, remove Punisher <> Suicide Run from the KO pile, and give Captain America the name Punisher. I exhaust him to Sniper Shot. I remove three aim counters and KO Kingpin. I bounce the Shield and Tim exhausts Cobra.
Saracen into Captain America. I (foolishly) move Cap hidden in front of The Captain. Tim plays Uprising and we both stun. I take five and he takes four.
Mr. Hyde into my chin. I take five.

Tim discards Kirigi to keep Geraci Family Estates from replacing.

Endurance totals turn five.
SS- 14 CLR- 41

Turn Six

I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot.

Draw
Tim’s: Taskmaster, Rough House
Mine: Punisher <> Angel of Death, Wild Ride

Build
Wild Ride hits the resource row and I have a long debate with myself about recruiting the two drop Punisher exhausting him and then recruiting the three. I eventually decide that with the endurance the way it is I can’t afford the weenies. I exhaust Captain America to Sniper Shot and recruit Spider-Man <> Outlaw in the back row. I equip the Shield on Cap and leave the hidden guys the way they are.
Tim rows a resource and recruits Taskmaster behind Cobra. Mr. Hyde and Saracen stay put.

Combat
I name The Captain Spider-Man, and draw Judge, Jury, and Executioner.
Taskmaster into Spider-Man. I activate Spidey to exhaust Saracen. If this attack goes through Tim will be able to finish me this turn by attacking to the face, so I take a huge chance and flip Wild Ride. I search out the only copy of Spidey I have left, another six drop. I lose six endurance and put Spider-Man <> Outlaw into my hand. I discard him to powerup, and Tim has nothing. I bounce his attack and he takes six as Taskmaster stuns.
I bounce the Shield and Tim exhausts Cobra. He can’t get on top of Spider-Man and passes his attacks.

During recovery Geraci replaces itself with Hand Dojo.

Endurance totals turn six.
SS- 8 CLR- 35

Turn Seven

I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot, then remove three counters to KO Taskmaster.

Draw
Tim’s: Saracen, Rough House
Mine: Underground Movement, Carrying the Torch

Build
I row Carrying the Torch and recruit Punisher <> Angel of Death in front of Spider-Man. Captain America gets his Shield back and then I exhaust him to Sniper Shot.
Tim places a resource and recruits Bullseye <> Master of Murder behind Cobra. Mr. Hyde and Saracen stay put.

Combat
I don’t bother with The Captain.
I exhaust Spider-Man to exhaust Saracen, then bounce the Shield, and Tim exhausts Cobra.
With no attacks safe from Punisher’s bazooka Tim passes his attacks.
I exhaust Punisher to Sniper Shot.

Endurance totals turn seven.
SS- 8 CLR- 35

Turn Eight

I exhaust The Captain to Sniper Shot, remove three counters and KO Bullseye.

Draw
Tim’s: Lay Down With Dogs, No Rest for the Wicked
Mine: Punisher <> Captain America, Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Build
I row Underground Movement and equip Captain America with his Shield. I recruit Ghost Rider in front next to Punisher, Spider-Man doesn’t move. Not thinking ahead I exhaust Captain America to Sniper Shot.
Tim has no recruit. Mr. Hyde and Cobra are adjacent up front Saracen is behind Cobra.

Combat
I activate Ghost Rider and KO Tim’s whole board.
Punisher and Spidey team attack Tim’s face. I powerup three times to bring thirty two attack.

Endurance totals turn eight.
SS- 8 CLR- -1

Sniper Shot wins 2 games to 0.  One powerup was the difference in game 2, it would have been interesting to see how game 3 would have gone, but this is the way the cookie crumbled!

The Illuminati [Vs.] Warbound

pptmaster: Ok, first game of the match. TELBET and I will be taking turns writing our build phase with TELBET covering the combat phase since he took the notes on it. After playing a few games prior to starting the official match I knew one of the most important things to do was to stop or stall the Infinity Gauntlet plot twist from being used. This being said I played trying to keep his board presense low so as to prevent the illuminati from getting 6 characters out.

Game 1

TELBET: pptmaster won the roll to choose initiative order and opted to go with odds.

Turn 1:

pptmaster: I drew the 8, 6, and 5, drop Hulks and Hiroim. I kept it and drew Rick Jones and Hercules. Crap, all characters. Thankfully, Hercules has reservist so he proudly went into the resource row. No recruits.

TELBET: I drew Iron Man, Protector of the Reality Gem (5-drop), Secret Government, Professor X, Mutant Benefactor (1-drop), and Here Comes Tomorrow. Keeping this collection, I drew a second Here Comes Tomorrow and a Monster Island to start my game.

I placed a Here Comes Tomorrow as my resource and recruited Professor X. The good Professor peeked at the top card (Black Bolt, Illuminati) and left it there. Just for fun, Prof X swung to pptmaster’s face for zero!

Warbound 50, Illuminati 50.

Turn 2:

TELBET: Drew the 2-drop Black Bolt and The Elektra Situation. I placed the second Here Comes Tomorrow in my resource row, then, checked on the top card with Professor X. Thanos, Alpha and Omega went to the bottom of my deck. Black Bolt entered play in the hidden area and I used his ability to replace a Here Comes Tomorrow with Secret Government! I flipped up the first Here Comes Tomorrow and passed.

Pptmaster: Drew Archangel, and Imperial Dreadnaught. Set Imperial Dreadnaught and then recruited Rick Jones, Monster’s Best Friend who then activated to rally successfully netting me a Hulk, Green Scar (4-drop).

TELBET: At the start of combat, for Here Comes Tomorrow, I called the Inhumans affiliation. I flipped Secret Government and exhausted Prof X to bring out Iron Man, Earth 2020 (3-drop) from my deck to my hand. I played the second Secret Government from my hand and exhausted Black Bolt to do the same with Dr. Strange, Secret Avenger (2-drop).

Score: Still 50-50.

Turn 3:

Pptmaster: I drew The Strongest One There Is and the six drop Hulk. I rallied with RJ and got Bloodsport which went right into the resource row. I then proceeded to recruit Hiroim, The Shamed placing Him in front of RJ.

TELBET: A second The Elektra Situation and a second Iron Man 5-drop joined my hand. I set The Elektra Situation and recruited Iron Man to the visible area protecting Professor X. Iron Man began hunting Hiroim.

At the start of combat, I called X-Men for Here Comes Tomorrow. Pptmaster flipped up Imperial Dreadnaught to give all Warbound characters flight, and sent Hiroim through the skies to attack Professor X in my support row. Iron Man started my attacks with a powered-up blow to Hiroim that stunned the hunted character. Pptmaster removed him from play to give Hulks invulnerability, and I brought in the 2-drop Dr. Strange due to Iron Man’s effect. Dr. Strange rallied for a character (Sub-Mariner, Protector of the Time Gem), a plot twist (The 100 Ideas), and a location (Monster Island). Professor X, Mental Master (8-drop) went to the bottom of my deck as the rally for equipment failed. I passed on further attacks, and the turn ended Warbound-46, Illuminati 48.

Turn 4:

TELBET: I drew another The 100 Ideas and Clandestine Operations, which I set as my resource. I played The Elektra Situation and chose Hulk to lose all powers and keywords, exhausting Dr. Strange and Prof X for its cost. I then recruited Sub-Mariner into the hidden area, and had Prof X protect Iron Man in the visible.

Pptmaster: After drawing Righteous Anger and The Great Arena I rallied with RJ getting Hulk 3 drop. I then reluctantly brought in a Hulk, Green Scar (4) who resembled Bruce Banner after the Elektra Situation was played. I placed him in front of RJ and then went to Combat.

TELBET: At the start of combat, I chose to team up with Infinity Watch, then, passed on attacks. Pptmaster sent Hulk into Iron Man losing me 6 endurance. Then, a Righteous Anger stunned Hulk and readied him and he crashed into Prof X for another 6. Before falling, Prof X peeked at the deck and left Thanos there.

At the start of the recovery phase, Subby and Black Bolt exhausted to play Clandestine Operations. Now, all characters would exhaust after entering play. I sent Iron Man to the KO’d pile, job well done!

Hulk & Friends 42, Know-it-alls 35

Turn 5:

Pptmaster: I drew Bloodsport and the 4 drop Hulk. I rallied with RJ which only resulted in a Hiroim. I set Bloodsport and then flipped the Great Arena, and exhausted Hulk to exhaust Sub-mariner, and causing each of us to lose 4. TELBET then chained Sub-mariner’s effect, exhausting Sub-mariner and Dr. Strange to put Secret Government back on top of his deck – Hulk 5, then came in exhausted.

TELBET: I drew Thanos and Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath (7-drop). I set a second The Elektra Situation and recruited the 5-drop Iron Man to the hidden area. Before Clandestine Ops kicked in, I exhausted him and Prof X to play the Elektra plot twist calling Hercules to lose his mojo.

At the start of combat, I added Avengers to the list of teams. Both players passed and the turn ended with the score 38-31.

Turn 6:

TELBET: I drew Secret Gov’t and another Sub-Mariner. Pptmaster used the Great Arena to exhaust his 5-drop Hulk and my Iron Man, losing both sides 5 points. Iron Man responded by exhausting for a Secret Gov’t. Mr. Fantastic, Critical Thinker joined my hand. I placed the goofy-looking Monster Island, and recruited the Fantastic Four’s leader to the visible area protecting Professor X. I chained to Clandestine’s effect and looked at my deck’s top three cards. I kept a second copy of Mr. F, and put a 2-drop Dr. Strange and another Clandestine Operations on the deck’s bottom.

Pptmaster: I drew The Great Arena and Rick Jones and then set The Strongest One There Is so that I could recruit Hulk 6 exhausted. I rallied with RJ for Warbound to the End. Then laid down and took a nap…sorry then went to the combat phase.

TELBET: I called the FF affiliation. Prof X looked at the deck, liked what he saw and kept the top card right there, thank you very much. Fearing another Righteous Anger, the Professor went on a suicide run into the Hulk, losing a point. Then Sub-mariner went after Rick Jones with a power-up to ding the Warbound for 4. I then turned Dr. Strange and Black Bolt sideways to have Subby put Secret Gov’t back on the top of the deck.

Warbound 29, Illuminati 25.

Turn 7:

Pptmaster: I drew Hulk 7 drop and Warbound to the End. I set Great Arena and then played Warbound to the End, discarded RJ to search for Archangel. I then played another Warbound to search for Hulk (5). I did this in order to hopefully thin my deck so I would rally into Righteous Anger since there were only 5 cards left in the deck. It didn’t work. I rallied into a Hulk Smash (I don’t remember what) and then recruited Hercules from the resource row exhausted.

TELBET: I drew Secret Government, and…The Infinity Gauntlet! Professor X looked at the top of the deck and sent a copy of himself to the bottom. I placed the Gauntlet, and used it. All the Illuminati exhausted to KO Hulk. Pptmaster responded with the Great Arena, targeting Iron Man and lowering both our scores by 6 points. Then, I recruited the 7-drop Professor X, exhausted him before Clandestine did to exhaust Rick Jones and burn for 2. Rick rallied for Hulk Smash! Combat consisted of me declaring Atlantis as an affiliation.

21-19

Turn 8:

TELBET: I drew another 2-drop Black Bolt and Dr. Strange, Ally of the Four (6-drop). The Infinity Gauntlet was then used to make pptmaster discard his hand. Rick Jones rallied for Righteous Anger. I placed Monster Island, and recruited Dr. Strange. Seeing that I could now activate The Infinity Gauntlet twice a turn with Strange’s power, pptmaster conceded the win to the Illuminati!

Game 2

Pptmaster: Ok, game number 2, I chose evens so hopefully if the illuminati played like it did last time I might be able to bring in the 4 drop hulk in and stun him with Imperial Dreadnaught before TELBET could flip The Elektra Situation to remove Hulk’s powers this way I could stun all his two drops and lower so as to help prevent the Infinity Gauntlet from coming out.

Turn 1:

TELBET: I drew the 6-drop Dr. Strange, Monster Island, the 2-drop Dr. Strange, and The Elektra Situation. Sure I’d regret my decision, I took a mulligan and drew the 1-drop Prof X, the 8-drop Prof X, Here Comes Tomorrow and Clandestine Operations. For my turn, I drew Sub-Mariner and a second Clandestine Ops. Hmpf!

I set Here Comes, brought in the Professor, looked at another Subby on top of my deck and buried it.

Pptmaster: I chose to keep my opening hand of Archangel, Miek, Hulk 6 drop, and Bloodsport. I drew a Righteous Anger and Warbound to the End for my 1st turn. I set Righteous Anger and then moved on.
Score 50-50.

Turn 2:

Pptmaster: I drew the 4 drop Hulk and Hercules. And then I set Warbound to the End and recruited Rick Jones. RJ then rallied successfully resulting in the addition of the 7 drop Hulk to my hand.

TELBET: I drew The 100 Ideas and the 5-drop Iron Man. I set Clandestine Operations, but had no recruits. I flipped Here Comes Tomorrow and declared X-Men at the combat phase. Prof X sent another Here Comes Tomorrow to the bottom of my deck.

50-50

Turn 3:

TELBET: Rick Jones rallied for Hiroim. I drew Mr. Fantastic and the 7-drop Professor X. Sigh. I set a second Clandestine and recruited Subby to the hidden area.

Pptmaster: I drew Imperial Dreadnaught and The Strongest One there is. I set Imperial Dreadnaught and then recruited Hiroim in front of Rick Jones.

TELBET: Called Infinity Gauntlet, then sent Sub-Mariner into Rick Jones for 3. Prof X sent a copy of himself to the bottom, then got stunned by Hiroim when pptmaster attacked.

Warbound 47, Illuminati 48.

Turn 4:

Pptmaster: I drew another Hiroim and Hulk, Gladiator (5). I threw Bloodsport into my resource row and then recruited Hulk, Green Scar (4). I then rallied with R.J. to get Hulk Smash.

TELBET: I drew Mr. Fantastic and Thanos and set The 100 Ideas. Mr. F came into play protecting the bald X-Man.

As combat ensued, I called FF as another team, and Rick Jones rallied for Hulk Smash! Pptmaster sent the Hulk against the Critical Thinker with a power-up from a 6-drop Hulk. I powered up with my second Mr. F. Pptmaster chuckled. With 10 Hulks in his deck, he knew he could out power-up, and he did so with a 7-drop.

Professor X looked at the top card and sent the 3-drop Iron Man to the bottom. Mr. F activated and searched through Secret Gov’t, Black Bolt and Monster Island. He chose to keep the search card. The 100 Ideas allowed him to pull the 2-drop Black Bolt into my hand, and then Mr. F went nighty-night. Hiroim then plowed into Professor X for the stun.

I sent Subby into Rick Jones for 3. Pptmaster flipped up Imperial Dreadnaught and activated to stun Hiroim. He was removed from the game, and Hulks gain invulnerability.

At recovery, Professor X went to the KO’d pile.

Warbound 44, Illuminati 42.

Turn 5:

TELBET: I drew 5-drop Iron Man and 2-drop Dr. Strange. I activated Mr. F, kept The Elektra Situation and sent Secret Gov’t and The 100 Ideas to the depths. I recruited the 5-drop Iron Man to the hidden area.

Pptmaster: After drawing Warbound to the end and the 3 drop Hulk I rallied with RJ to get the Hulk(6). I set the Hulk Smash and then activated Imperial Dreadnaught to stun Hulk so I could gain 4 endurance since Hulk had Invulnerability. I then recruited Hulk (5) boosted, stunning Mr. Fantastic.

TELBET: I declared Avengers as an added team, then exhausted Iron Man and Sub-Mariner for Iron Man’s effect to turn the Hulk sideways. I played Secret Gov’t to put the 6-drop Dr. Strange on top of my deck.

Hulk 48, Wiseguys 38

Turn 6:

TELBET: Drew Dr. Strange and The Infinity Gauntlet. I flipped The Elektra Situation and called “HULK!” pptmaster chained Imperial Dreadnaught to stun his 5-drop Hulk and gain that much endurance before he lost his invulnerability. (53 – 38!)

Pptmaster: Drew Hulk 8, and Hulk 3. RJ rallies successfully getting me the 5 drop Hulk. I put Hercules into my resource row and recruited the 6 drop Hulk who could only get rid of the stunned 5 drop the normal way due to Elektra Situation.

TELBET: I placed The Infinity Gauntlet, and recruited Dr. Strange next to Mr. F in the support row.

At the start of combat, I called Atlantis, readied my exhausted dudes with Doc Strange and then turned Iron Man and Sub-Mariner on their ears to exhaust Hulk (with IM’s effect). Pptmaster passed. Mr. F grabbed a Secret Gov’t and sent a 3-drop Iron Man and a Monster Island down under. Dr. Strange attacked poor Rick Jones for 11.

Warbound 42, Illuminati 38.

Turn 7:

TELBET: Drew the 1-drop Prof X and The Elektra Situation. Placed Elektra. I recruited the 1-drop Professor and sent a Here Comes Tomorrow to the bottom of my deck with his free effect. I recruited the 2-drop Black Bolt to the hidden area, and replaced The 100 Ideas in my resource row with Monster Island, which I flipped up just ‘cuz.

I played the Infinity Gauntlet forcing pptmaster to discard his hand. He chained and discarded Archangel, Champion to give Hulk flight and +3 ATK for the turn.

Pptmaster: I forgot to write down what I drew but it all got discarded anyway and my second Righteous anger was in there at the time so that also ended up in the discard pile. Then RJ rallied for Great Arena, I set it and then recruited Hercules from the row. No replacement for Hercules.

TELBET: Combat: Placed DR. Strange’s effect on the chain, then Here Comes Tomorrow’s to call out Inhumans, so all Illuminati can ready. A second use of the Gaunlet KO’s the Hulk. Pptmaster chains The Great Arena to exhaust him and we each lose 6 endurance. Hercules is then sent into the helpless Professor X, and I lose 13.

Pptmaster: I’m chiming in here because while writing this I just realized how big of a mistake I made. I really should have played my Righteous Anger after I used the Great Arena. I had been saving it all game and I guess I somehow thought that I could use it on turn 8. Unfortunately due to a busy schedule this game was put off until late at night and I guess I just wasn’t paying full attention. I apologize.

Warbound 36, Illuminati 20.

Turn 8:

TELBET: I drew Monster Island and a 2-drop Dr. Strange. The Gauntlet was used again, this time to KO Imperial Dreadnaught in pptmaster’s resource row.

Pptmaster: I drew Bloodsport and Great Arena. Rick Jones rallied getting Hulk Smash and then I activated Hercules to ready RJ with 3 counters. RJ then rallied for Brood. I played Warbound to the End, discarding Brood to find my last Hulk. Unfortunately for my it was the 4 drop. I then recruited the 4 drop and prepared for defeat.

TELBET: I set a second Monster Island, and Recruited Thanos.

At combat, I declared Shi’ar, and used the Gauntlet to KO Hulk. Pptmaster played Righteous Anger to stun Hulk, recover and ready him! Unfortunately, thwarting the Infinity Gauntlet came with a price: the Hulk could now no longer be targeted with effects, so Hulk Smashes were useless. Thanos and a twice per turn Gauntlet loomed too large for the Green Team, so they surrendered and began plotting their revenge.

Pptmaster: Well folks, there you have it. Illuminati walked all over Hulk who was unfortunately turned back into Bruce Banner in both games because of the Elektra Situation. Looking at how things play I realize that Bloodsports and The Strongest One There Is were both useless against the Illuminati because they never dared to attack Hulk. However, Rick Jones was amazing in this format since he basically draws you are card every turn and with a thirty card deck its almost guaranteed you’ll get what you need. Some resource disruption would have been helpful but unfortunately there is nothing like that on team for Hulk. Overall they were frustrating but fun games and TELBET and I thoroughly enjoyed playing them. Congratulations to TELBET and all those who worked on the Illuminati deck (I seem to remember that being one of the longer threads) as well as those who worked on the Hulk deck (even though it lost I have to say that if I could choose a deck to take to a thirty card deck tourney it would be this one). Thanks for reading.

Spidey-Stall [Vs.] Sinister Swarm

Spidey goes up against all his mortal enemies with OSM at the helm.  Let’s see how this plays!

Game 1

He takes odds, rolling 10 to my 3.

Draw: Spidey 7, Mind Gem, ESU, Spidey 4; Mulligan, Draw Venom, Blade, Blade, Torch, Black Cat and Sentry.

Turn 1

Row: Blade
Recruit: Spidey passes, Razorfist comes down and a Glider is revealed via vault.

47-48

Turn 2

Draw: Mattie and Aunt May
Row: Blade
Recruit: Spidey drops Black Cat and SinSyn drops Fusion with Glider behind Razorfist.

Attacks: I pass. Fusion into Black cat. I draw Gift Wrapped ditching Venom. Razorfist into me with Hidden Cashe.

37-41

 Turn 3

Draw: Messiah Complex and Spider-Girl
Row: Messiah Complex
Recruit: Mattie Franklin,  He uses Vault, gets Basilisk. Plays Basilisk, Vulture and Tombstone. Double Legacy of Evil. U formation with Basilisk and Fusion in back. I put both in support row.

Attacks: Tombstone into BC. Evade, discard Sentry; Draw indebted. Fusion to MF, I lose 4. Rest come in directly, Vulture with Hidden Cache for extra burn.

20-37

Turn 4

Draw: Sensational and DBNO.
Row: DBNO
Recruit: Aunt May, discarding SG getting Sensational. SinSyn KOs a resource after setting one via Fusion. Discards Vulture, Adrian Toomes to keep Tombstone in play. Mendel, Swarm and GG, Insanity Unleashed join his side.

Attacks: MF into Fusion. Pay 2ATK to exhaust Basilisk. KOs Mendel and stuns GG for 2 +1/+1 counters. I try to search for another Mattie Franklin, but someone decided that Spider-Girl is the 2-of in the deck. What?? Search for Phil instead. No stuns. Spidey into Razorfist [protecting Fusion]. He plays No Fear and uses Hidden Cache. I pay 7 ATK in response, exhausting Fusion. Black Cat into Swarm. I don’t stun, he does. He swings Tombstone into Black Cat, I evade discarding HT and drawing BC. passes. He loses GG, recovers Swarm.

Turn 5

Draw: ESU, Down But Not Out
Row: ESU
Recruit: He recruits Carnage, Boost. Plays Spider Hunt. KOs Vault for Fusion. Phil.

Attacks: Fusion into Sensational. Not legal, Gift Wrapped all his 1-drops except Vulture. Vulture into Aunt May, Boost Messiah Complex for The Sentry. 26-27. Activates Cache. pass. 19-31. I pay 7 ATK to exhaust Swarm. Carnage is left. Carnage into Phil. pass.

9-27

Turn 6

Draw: Mind Gem and SG.
Row: DBNO
Recruit: Daredevil, Spider Slayer V.X. Discards Vulture.

Attacks: Flip DBNO. MF into Swarm, Pay 2 ATK to exhaust Slayer. Phil into Vulture. Pay 2 ATK to stun Razorfist and Tombstone. Daredevil into Fusion, pay 2ATK to exhaust Carnage. Spidey into Basilisk, Spidey wins 9 to -3

Game 2

He takes odds again.

Turn 1

Draw: ESU, Blade, Mattie, Venom; keep, draw DBNO and Indebted
Row: ESU
Recruit: Spidey passes, SinSyn has Vulture revealing Carnage.

Attacks: 48-52

Turn 2

Draw: Blade, Indebted
Row: Indebted
Recruit: Play Indebted, discarding Sensational. Recruit BC. SinSyn has Slyde, Basilisk Glider.

Attacks: Pass attacks. Vulture into BC. Discard Blade for Messiah Complex.

41-54

Turn 3

Draw: Sensational, Torch
Row: MC
Recruit: Spidey has Mattie Franklin, SinSyn has Mendel & Answer

Attacks: Plays Spider Hunt. Basilisk into Mattie Franklin, Evade. into Black Cat, hits. Alpha Strike! 13-61

 Turn 4

Draw: Stark and Mind Gem
Row: DBNO
Recruit: Spidey drops Mind Gem on MF, Sensational. SinSyn has Lizard and Electro.

Attacks: Lizard’s effect gets him Swarm. MF into Electro. Pay 2 ATK to exhaust Vulture. He KOs Mendel. pass, no stuns. Sensational into Answer, pass pass. Pay 7 ATK to exhaust Electro. Basilisk into BC, evade. Discard Venom draw SG. Slyde and Basilisk into MF. Stun Basilisk, bounce Mind Gem.

8-51

Turn 5

Draw: Fallen One, Gift Wrapped
Row: Indebted
Recruit: Spidey has Phil Urich, SinSyn has Carnage with Boost. Mind Gem on Black Cat. Draw Mind Gem. Mind Gem on Mattie Franklin KOing the other one. Draw Messiah Complex. Pay 7 ATK. Messiah a Sensational and Pay 7 for Answer. Gift Wrapped on Lizard, Electro and Slyde.

Attacks: Carnage into Sensational. 0-51. I swing into Electro with Phil, pay 2 ATK to stun Vulture and Lizard. He uses Hidden Cache to stunback. I use Messiah Complex with BC and MF on Fallen One to go to 4 to his 47. I lose Phil in recovery.

Turn 6

Draw: Gift Wrapped and SG
Row: GW
Recruit: Daredevil after evading Black Cat and using ESU trying to find him. Eventually I Indebted discarding my 7-drop. Green Goblin and Swarm enter on the other side of the board, Glider on Swarm.

Attacks: Mattie into Slyde, exhausting Vulture by paying 2 ATK. Flip DBNO. Reinforces with Swarm. Sensational into Answer. He activates Hidden Cache on Answer for +4. No Fear. I respond with Sensational’s effect on Green Goblin. No stuns. Daredevil into Answer, paying 2 ATK to exhaust Carnage. 2 to 20.

 Turn 7

Draw: ESU and Sleepwalker [1 card left in deck]
Row: DBNO
Recruit: Human Torch for, Fusion and Hammerhead for him

Attacks: before combat I stun his Vulture, Swarm, Fusion with Torch. In response to my attempt to stun Answer he stuns GG to give him a +1/+1 to avoid it. I GW his Carnage and exhaust Answer with Spidey. He scoops.

 Spidey wins 2-0 against Sinister Syndicate!  Both games were in reach for the dastardly Syndicate, but thanks to a few life gain tricks, Spidey was able to pull out the W!

Spirits of Vengeance [Vs.] Underworld

My friends Easy and Bob took this one off my hands for me.  Easy grabbed the Marvel Knights deck (because he like to win), and Bob got stuck with Underworld.  Let’s see how Ghost Rider does in taking down the forces of the Underworld!

Game 1

Easy takes evens.

Turn 1 (50-50)

Easy’s opening hand: Black Widow, Wild Ride, Blade, and Punisher followed by a turn 1 draw of Judge, Jury, and Executioner and Devastating Blow.
My (Bob) opening hand: Wake the Dead, Death’s Embrace, Mystique, and Mephisto followed by a turn 1 draw of Gravesite and Black Rose.

I row a Gravesite turn one, Eric throws down a facedown and Black Widow, I take 2 to the dome; end of the turn I flip up a Gravesite.

Turn 2 (48-50)

For my Gravesite draw I net a Mystique who I then pitch; Easy gets a Vengeance and throws away a Blade.
I draw Meatmarket and Madelyn Prior; Easy gets a Flying Kick and Devastating Blow.

Eric rows another card and throws out Punisher; I row a Wake the Dead, and throw down Black Rose.  Eric sends in Punisher and Black Widow as a team attack for 5, and I swing back with Rose for 2.

Turn 3 (42-48)

Draw for gravesite: I hit a Black Magic and pitch Mystique, Eric draws and pitches Crime and Punishment.
I draw Werewolf by Night and Shuma-Gorath; Easy draws the 2 drop Daredevil and Quick Kill.

I row a Death’s Embrace, and play Meatmarket in the visible area (Scott and I had a discussion on these decks and felt that absorbing damage with Meatmarket was the only way to get a W for the Underworld deck).  Thanks to the 2 Mystiques in the KO’d pile, Meatmarket was a healthy 7/6.  Eric rows a card, and throws down 2 drop Daredevil

My initiative I send Meatmarket across for 7 damage, and pass my attack with Black Rose. Eric sends the Devil o’ dare into Meatmarket and Black Widow tags along, their 7 attack to Meatmarkets 6 def is a rough play for me, I decide to make him burn a trick though, Wake the Dead on Meatmarket allows me to get a power-up and get another copy in the KO’d pile for his ability bringing his def to 8.  Daredevil decides to call on Iron Fist (his art at least) and plays a Flying Kick to kick Meatmarket in the face, bringing their attack to 10, I think the stun is justifiable in this case.  I stun Meatmarket taking 3 and stun back DD for 2.  Unfortunatley, Easy has a Judge, Jury, and Executioner to play on Meatmarket, exhausting Blade and making me a sad panda.  I use Black Rose at the end of turn to pick Meatmarket back up.

Turn 4 (39-39)

Draw for Gravesite.  I hit Death’s Embrace and pitch Werewolf by Night and gain one endurance; Easy hits Crime and Punishment and pitches Quick Kill.
Easy draws Big Leagues and Judge, Jury, and Executioner; I draw Chthon and Baron Mordo.

Easy rows a card then flips Wild Ride, and fetches Luke Cage, essentially wrapping up this game, as he can now attack my hidden area for the easy stuns and I just kind of eat it. Easy windmills the Luke on the table Jedi Knight style.  I row a Black Magic and throw down Meatmarket again, being sad. Eric’s attacks, DD into market, solo, DD’s 5 attack vs. MM’s 7 defense. Big League chew gives DD 4 more attack, makes him a 9 MM stuns, and I take 2 overflow for 5 damage total, DD stuns for 2 damage to Easy. Eric pays 3 endurance to let Luke bash the @#$% outta Black Rose.  She activates to pick up a free Meatmarket and I take 8 more. Judge, Jury, and Executioner (JJE) makes my board go bye bye, netting Easy a card through Luke Cage’s ability.

Turn 5 (27-30)

Draw for Gravesite: I hit Satana and pitch Meatmarket and gain 1; Eric draws and pitches Ghost Rider 6 drop (he must not expect it to go to 6).
I draw Werewolf by Night and Dimensional Rift; Easy gets Black Cat and Flying Kick.

I row Dimensional Rift, and windmill Satana, Easy rows a card and puts out Vengeance; who continues the trend of MK stomping me.  Satana attacks Vengeance and I play Black Magic, putting Black Rose back under the deck, and bringing Satana’s attack to 15 to Eric’s 7 defense so Eric takes 8 and 5, and I take 5 damage because of Vengeance’s vengeance.  Eric with some quick math shows two Devastating Blows, a Flying Kick, and a Crime and Punishment.  I vomit, dead.

Final Score: Negative something  to 17

My Meatmarket strategy was working; except for those nasty KO effects.  If I had been able to keep Meastmarket at the end of turn 3, I could have dropped chthon on 4, let them attack Meatmarket, used Chthon’s ability to recover Meatmarket, and forced him to go through 2 more characters (essentially making him drive through 3 four drops).  This could have been a game changer, but as it happened, he had what he needed to clear the way to victory.

Game 2

I take evens, hoping to steal the turn 4.

Turn 1 (50-50)

I draw Meatmarket, Chthon, Baron Mordo, and Wake the Dead followed by a turn 1 draw of Death’s Embrace and Black Magic.
Eric (Easy) draws Black Cat, Big Leagues, Daredevil, and Crime and Punishment followed by a turn 1 draw of Flying Kick and Quick Kill.

Eric rows a card and plays Black Cat, she attacks and cantrips for a Devastating Blow, I had rowed Wake the Dead with no recruit.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw Werewolf by Night and Mephisto; Easy draws Punisher and Black Widow.

I row a Black Magic and play Werewolf by Night. Eric rows a card and throws out Punisher. I swing with Werewolf for 3 and Eric swings back for 3, netting a Crime and Punishment with Black Cat.

Turn 3 (47-47)

I draw Black Magic and Satana; Eric gets Big Leagues and Quick Kill.  Eric rows a card and plays Black Widow and Daredevil, pretty deadly board he’s got set up; I row a Death’s Embrace and put out Meatmarket.

Werewolf mills a Queen Lilith from the top for me and Eric’s onslaught begins. DD into Meatmarket, I use Wake the Dead to fetch Meatmarket #2 and a powerup brings on the brick wall, however DD learns to fly again, and kicks Meatmarket in the face DD’s 8 attack to MM’s 6 defense I take 5 to Easy’s 2. Black Cat cantrips into a Ghost Rider on a solo attack, and Punisher and Black Widow hit me for 5 direct.  I swing back for two with Werewolf and turn endo.

Turn 4 (37-43)

I draw Satana and Werewolf by Night; Eric draws Wild Ride and Black Widow.

I row a 2nd Black Magic, and then throw out Chthon. Eric rows a card and Wild Rides for Luke Cage.  Taking 4 damage. He then windmills Luke Cage (again) and my board is left looking sad. My first attack is Werewolf into his dome, I powerup and flip two Black Magics to try and even the life totals. 10 damage to Easy’s face and then Meatmarket tags in for 6 more. Eric attacks Luke (paying 3) into Werewolf for 5 over and 2 stun (7) damage.  Daredevil and Black Widow attack Meatmarket, I stun back DD. I take 3 Easy takes 2. Eric attacks with Black Cat, and I use Chthon to recover Meatmarket to make the attack illegal, then Punisher attacks the newly recovered Meatmarket, a Crime and Punishment bringing Punisher’s attack to 7 and I take 4 to his 2. Quick Kill pitches a Black Widow to KO Meatmarket.  A second Quick Kill pitching Ghost Rider 6 KO’s my Werewolf and I’m still sad. Eric lets Daredevil die keeping Punisher. (He drew a Black Cat and Wild Ride with Luke’s ability)

Turn 5 (20-19)

I draw a Gravesite and a Mystique; Easy gets a Punisher and a Devastating Blow.  Eric rows a card, and plays Wild Ride for 5 finding the five drop Daredevil (now I know why he let the 2 drop die!), who he then plays. I row a Gravesite, and play Satana.  Eric’s attack, DD into Chthon, but he doesn’t pay for his ability, and I take 7.  Black Cat attacks for a cantrip (forgot to write this one down). Luke pays 3 to attack Satana with Big League chew bringing Luke up to a 12 attack and I powerup twice to make satana’s defense 12, so it’s a double stun.  I take 5 easy takes 4.  Eric attacks with Punisher.  Eric does no math and a Big League chew, Savage Beatdown, and Crime and Punishment on Black Widow spell game over.

Final Score: Negative something to 10.

So the lopsided games are over. Looking through the Underworld deck, I have little idea how the UW deck is supposed to win against MK since both are concealed decks, but MK has all the pumps and KO effects.  Perhaps against a curve deck UW could survive long enough to use Netherworld Gift, but the world will never know!

DC Round 1 was a smashing success.  Many people played, only one is in the lead.  Doomstat managed to nail all 8 matchups, so he better be looking over his shoulder this round as he has 50 other competitors looking to overtake him.

We’re on to the Marvel side of things now.  This first installation of the Marvel bracket will only reveal 4 of the 14 first round matches.  Look for the next two thirds in the upcoming weeks.

All decklists can be found here.

Let’s start off with Honor Among Thieves Vs. Coalition of Heroes.  Both decks were built around team-ups of the same names.  On one side we have Crime Lords and the Sinister Syndicate.  On the other side we have the two heroes that usual take down this rowdy crowd: Spider-Man and Daredevil.  How well will these legends work in tandem?  My friend Martie and I were gung-ho to find out.  He grabbed the untested Coalition of Heroes deck, while I took the former powerhouse; Honor Among Thieves.

Honor Among Thieves [Vs.] Coalition of Heroes

Game 1

Martie takes evens.

Turn 1

Martie’s opening hand had a Spider-Sense; Gift Wrapped; Clone Saga; Spiderman, Webhead.  He followed that up with a draw of Daredevil, Hornhead and Scarlet Spider.  My opening hand had no one or two drops so I shipped it.  I then got a Doc Ock’s Lab; Hammerhead; The Contract; Owl.  I followed this with a first turn draw of Vulture (yes!) and Sniper.

I row my Doc’s Lab and recruit Vulture and use both since I know his deck has no one drops.  Vulture is a 5/1 one drop that will hit for 5 and gain me 5; though it’s not quite a swing for 10 as I do have to pay 3 for Doc Ock’s Lab.

Turn 2 (52-45)

I draw another Lab and another Vulture; Martie gets Spider-Man, Cosmic Spider-Man and Spider-Man, Secret Avenger.  I row The Contract and recruit Hammerhead and Martie… misses!  Having Hammerhead and Vulture free to attack a player directly with a Doc Ock’s Lab might be the best possible turn two a Vs. player can have, and I take full advantage of it.

Turn 3 (56-33)

A 23 point endurance lead going into turn three with only two characters and one location being used is pretty stellar.  Let’s see if the bad guys can keep their momentum.

I nab a Mendel Strom and a Masked Marauder; Martie nabs Iron Fist and Spider-Man, Webhead.  I row another Lab and recruit Owl to give everyone flight.  Martie drops his first character: Spider-Man, Webhead.  It was almost like he hadn’t missed his two drop, because Spider-Man’s ability to tap my two and lower drops and absorb at least one attack was really frustrating!  I ran Owl into Spider-Man, who tapped Vulture in response.  Hammer then goes straight to the face with a Lab activation.

Turn 4 (50-21)

I draw Mysterio and No Fear while Martie draws Spider-Man, the Amazing Spider-Man and the Billy Club.  Martie drops his Hornhead while I row my No Fear and boost Mysterio to get two into play.  I put the two Mysterios behind Hammerhead and Vulture.

Martie sends Hornhead into Hammerhead and I reinforce with Mysterio.  Webhead then goes into Vulture and the other Mysterio reinforces.  Owl just chills so I only lose one character.  Plus, I know his deck is packing a ton of defensive pumps and Daredevil’s built in Acrobatic Dodge ability nullifies my No Fear.  I lose Vulture.

Turn 5 (47-21)

I draw Cobra and Stilt-Man; Martie draws Spider-Sense and Gift Wrapped.  I row Sniper and recruit a Vulture and a Masked Marauder.  Martie can’t meet the loyalty of Spider-Man, Secret Avenger so he underdrops another Webhead (revealing Scarlet Spider to drop uniqueness rules) along with Iron Fist with a Billy Club (this duo was probably better than hitting a five drop!).  I declare Vulture into Iron Fist, but Martie uses a Gift Wrapped on one of his Webheads to tap Vulture and Hammerhead.  I send one of my Mysterios into Iron Fist instead but Martie has a Spider-Sense.  I pay 3 endurance for my Lab to get another 3 atk, but he has another Spider-Sense (dang!).  I decide to flip another Lab, KOing the first one and going down a resource, to pay another 3 endurance to get another 3 atk and we both stun.  I then flip The Contract to team up Crime Lords and Sinister Syndicate so that I can send Owl and my other Mysterio into Hornhead, but he uses another Gift Wrapped on his other Webhead to tap Owl.  Mysterio and Marauder then go for Hornhead and Martie finally lets Hornhead go down.

Turn 6 (34-15)

I draw Mendel Strom and Marauder; Martie gets Indebted and Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser.  He plays that Indebted from the row ditching his new five drop Daredevil to get Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man – who he then recruits.  I row Mendel and play Cobra, getting and playing Hyde from my deck (remember I’m down to five resources now).  I’d tell you how I formed, but the six drop Spider-Man tapped my whole board anyway, so it’s not like I was going to be doing any reinforcing or attacking back.

Martie runs one of his Webheads into a Vulture and I have a No Fear for the dual-stun.  Hornhead then smashes Hammerhead.  Martie decides to pass; he can’t finish me and he doesn’t want to lose a character.  I lose Vulture.

Turn 7 (23-12)

I draw a Glider and Rhino; Martie draws Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and Daredevil, Protector of Hell’s Kitchen.  I row another Mendel and recruit Rhino, a boosted Stilt-Man, and a Glider on Rhino.  Martie drops The Amazing Spider-Man (uh-oh).

I send Cobra into a Webhead (Hyde is making him bigger).  Webhead taps him in response though.  Stilt-Man goes into the other Webhead, but that Webhead taps him as well.  Rhino then goes into Hornhead but The Amazing Spider-Man ditches a five drop Spider-Man to lock him down.  Hammerhead, Hyde, and Mysterio then try their luck into Spectacular Spider-Man, but he ditches a second seven drop Spider-Man to tap Marauder.  Out of attack possibilities, I have to pay for Marauder’s ability to tap his Amazing Spider-Man.  It’s all fruitless though.  No matter what I draw for turn 8 his 6 drop will tap my whole board and his other characters will just pick away at me until I’m below 0.  Scoop!

Grrrr!  After such a huge lead Honor Among Thieves couldn’t seal the deal.  Let’s try this again!

Game 2

I try evens because I’m sick of The Spectacular Spider-Man’s shenanigans.  Perhaps I can end Martie if I have the turn six initiative.

Turn 1

Martie’s opening hand contains Iron Fist; Daredevil, Protector of Hell’s Kitchen; Spider-Man, The Amazing Bag-Man; Scarlet Spider; followed by a Spiderman, Webhead and a Going My Way.  My opening hand had a couple of two drops and an Honor Among Thieves (HAT), but no one drops.  Since it was so important for this deck to hit from 1 on, I shipped (though I did deliberate a looong time!).  My new hand contained Vulture, Hammerhead (fantastic so far!), Uprising, and The Contract.  I then drew into Honor Among Thieves (yay!) and an Osbourne Industries.  Since Martie has no one drops, I row HAT and play Vulture; who attacks.

Turn 2 (52-48)

I get a Sniper and a Mysterio; Martie gets an ESU Science Lab and a Gift Wrapped.  I row Osborne Industries and play Hammerhead.  Rob throws down his Daredevil impersonator, Iron Fist.  Vulture goes into Iron Fist and Hammer swings at Martie’s face.

Turn 3 (51-41)

I draw Rhino and No Fear while Martie gets a Coalition of Heroes and Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man.  Spider-Man, Webhead hits the table on Martie’s side while I row Uprising and recruit Sniper, moving my whole board to the back row (it may seem purely defensive, but when I team-up, Sniper will give them all range).

Iron Fist attacks Hammerhead and both hit the dirt.  Then Martie flips a Going My Way and sends Webhead for Vulture, but I flip HAT to team-up Crime Lords and Sinister Syndicate.  This brings Vulture up to 3 atk, so the Uprising in my row in now more than enough for the double-stun.  Sniper then swings back for 4 from the hidden area on my attack.  I lose Vulture and Martie loses Iron Fist.

Turn 4 (43-32)

I get a Hammerhead and an Uprising; Martie nets a Going my Way and Daredevil, Protector of Hell’s Kitchen.  I row a No Fear and Boost Mysterio.  With HAT on the table, my 2 Mysterios are giving me 10 attack for my 4 resource points; not too shabby!.  Martie reveals Scarlet Spider to break uniqueness rules and recruit Bag-Man.  He uses Gift Wrapped tapping his Bag-Man to tap Hammerhead and Sniper.  He then forms with Bag-Man in front of his Webhead.  This means that if I try to stun Bag-Man with a single Mysterio, my other one will tap to Bag-Man’s effect.  Rather than fruitlessly waste a pump for that scenario to play out, I simply reside to a team-attack.  Martie has essentially stolen my turn 4, making me one sad panda.

Turn 5 (40-28)

I draw Cobra and a Marauder while Martie gets a Daredevil, Hornhead and a Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man.  He underdrops Hornhead, but that potential 10 Def sure doesn’t make it seem like an underdrop.  I row Uprising and flip my Osbourne Industries.  I use it to pitch my Rhino and draw into a Stilt-Man.  I recruit Cobra looking for, and recruiting Hyde from my deck.  Cobra goes in front of Hyde.  My two Mysterios are in the back to the left of Hyde.  Hammerhead is in front of the left-most Mysterio, making my formation a U-shape.  Sniper is still chilling by himself in the hidden area.

Martie flips Coalition of Heroes teaming up Marvel Knights and Spider-Friends.  He then flips his second Going My Way to give his whole board flight (uh-oh).  Hornhead flys over Cobra and nails Hyde.  Then Bag-Man (a 9/7 thanks to 2 Going My Ways) goes into Cobra.  I play No Fear and Uprising to get a double-stun.  With Bag-Man’s effect on the chain, Martie targets Hammerhead with Webhead so that I’m forced to exhaust a Mysterio or Sniper when Bag-man resolves.  I choose Sniper.  Then, during my attacks, I send both Mysterios into Hornhead praying that he doesn’t have defensive tricks yet.  It works!

Turn 6 (22-20)

I draw a Doc Ock’s Lab (finally!) and a Mendel Strom; Martie nails a Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man and a Scarlet Spider.  I pitch my Mendel to Osborne Industries netting another HAT.  I put HAT into my row and recruit Marauder along with Stilt-Man.  Martie recruits The Spectacular Spider-Man with the help of a revealed Scarlet Spider.  I declare Marauder and Sniper into his six drop, but he flips ESU Science Lab and taps his six and four drops to draw a card.  He then taps his Webhead to tap my Stilt-Man.  My attack finally resolves and Marauder goes down with his six drop.  Mysterio and Hammerhead then team attack into Bag-Man, who’s text exhausts my Hyde when he stuns.  Ugh.  All of Martie’s exhaustion tricks mean that I was only able to bring him down to 10 endurance.

Turn 7 (15-10)

Martie draws a Spider-Sense and an Iron Fist; I draw Mendel and Carnage.  Carnage is a dead card, because he’ll give all of Martie’s attackers +2 attack.  Martie shows my the Scarlet Spider and Amazing Spider-Man in his hand and I scoop.  After all, his Spectacular Spider-Man will exhaust my whole board, allowing him to do the 15 damage necessary with a single, well-placed attack.

Well, it would seem that Daredevil and Spider-Man make a pretty darn good team.  Their sheer number of off-initiative exhaustion effects left me little to do on my initiative; and since my deck aimed to kill early, once we got into those late turns it was game over!

Our next matchup pits Shadowtrooper against KardKrazy.  They volunteered to play Doomed Earth against Heroes of the City.  Heroes of the city is an equipment based deck that looks to fill the board with heavy burn devices such as Flamethrowers, Advanced Hardware, and Future Technology.  Doomed Earth is a Moloids army deck that looks to flood the board with Moloids, and swing big with Doomed Earth.  Let’s see how it goes!

Doomed Earth [Vs.] Heroes of the City

Game 1

We roll KK wins and picks odds.

Turn 1
I get an opening hand of Doomed Earth, Unthinkable and 2x Mr. Fantastics. I keep thinking that with no search I can’t really reshuffle and I need those mr. Fantastics. I draw 2 and get 2 Master of Puppets. Things are starting to look bad.
KK lays a resource and passes as he missed his 1 drop.
I lay Doomed Earth and also passed.

Turn2
Draw Unthinkable and Armies of Doom, no characters = Doomed Trooper. I lay Master of Puppets and pass
KK plays 2 drop Reed Richards and hits for 2.

Turn 3
Draw Moloids and Dr Doom 3 drop (finally).
KK recruits 3 drop Panther and chains a Midnight Sons to “team-up” and then searches for Future Technology.
I Lay the second Master of Puppets and recruit Doom while searching for robotic offensive as I have no characters to get Doomed Earth going.
Black Panther attacks Doom and Doom exhausts to play Master of Puppets we both pass and I take 6 KK takes 3 – KK plays Heroes of the City and draws a card he then sends Reed for 2 more.

Turn 4
As luck would have it I draw 2 Robotic Offensive and I decided to play boldly. I placed Unthinkable and recruited Moloids in front of Dr. Doom and passed. KK recruits Punisher Jury and passes. I play Robotic Offensive and send a Moloid with Unthinkable to Punisher. KK uses Punisher’s effect and puts Advance Hardware in play and burns me for 3. By stuns he takes 6 while I take 1. Doom goes after Reed and I get the stun as he takes 4. He activates Black Panther and I burn for 3. On recovery Master of Puppet burns KK for 1.

Turn 5
I draw Torture Chamber and Moloids. KK searches for Stretch and recruits him with a Flame Thrower. Baxter Building for draw then discard HERBIE for additional draw. I lay Torture Chamber down and recruit a Moloid. Then I play Armies of Doom to get a second moloid. I exhaust a moloid to play Master of Puppets. I then KO both Moloids for Doomed earth burning for 4. I then recruit Reed Richards to get the Moloids back. I do a quick KO of the Moloids to burn for 4 then get it back by exhausting doom. At this point endurance is me 33 KK 28. Doom and Fantastic up front with Moloids on the support. He sends Panther to Reed and Moloids reinforce we get a double stun. Punisher comes after the Moloids, I play Robotic to get the double stun and he pops Punisher’s equipment to KO Mr Fantastic. I allow it he burns for 2 and I reinforce Moloids. I lose 1 he loses 4. He then activates Mr Fantastic to burn me for 5. He then uses Mr F’s ability to transfer the equipment from Panther to Punisher. On recovery I use Torture Chamber yet again. Endurance = me 23 KK 13

Turn 6
I draw 3 drop Doom and Mole Man. I lay Unthinkable down and I activate torture KOing the Moloid. I then recruit reed and get the two Moloids back. I use Dooms ability to replace Unthinkable and burn for 2 more, but I get Moloids on the row. I then recruit Mole Man and get the Moloids back. I pass with endurance being me 23 and KK 7. KK lays a resource and proceeds to play Wild Ride Searching for Ant Man and burning for 2. Apparently KK wants to win by burning me to death which it is possible thanks to Cosmic Radiation. Ant Man enters play with Future Technology. A Dagger with a Flame Thrower and a Nathaniel Richards with Advanced Hardware. He then plays Salvage to get an Advance from KO pile and pitches it to ant man to draw a card. New Baxter for double draw discarding Human Torch. Flips second New baxter and draws and pitches Dr. Strange to ready the location. With 4 cards left he plays Wild Ride to thin deck out and draw Cosmic Radiation. He gets Marvel-Boy and burns for 3. With 3 cards left in his deck he draws and at this point KK becomes mad as the last 2 cards in his deck are indeed Cosmic Radiations. We do the math and in order for him to win by burn he needs both of them so he conceeds by showing me the 2 Cosmic Radiations in the draw pile.

Doomed Earth :1 Heroes of the City: 0

Game 2

KK picks Odds again.

Turn 1
I draw and get an oppening hand of Unthnkable, Moloids, Mr Fantastic and Doom-Bot Corps. I keep and draw Moloids and Doomed Earth. KK lays a resource and gets HERBIE while I lay Doomed Earth and play Moloids. HERBIE goes to Moloids and we double stun.

Turn 2
I draw Moloids and Master of Puppets. I lay Master of Puppets and play 2 Moloids. KK lays a resorce and recruits Ant Man. Moloids attack HERBIE and KK pitches Advance Hardware to Ant Man. We trade stuns. Moloids go to the face and then the last one exhausts for Master of Puppets. I pass to bait KK. He doesn’t fall for it so I KO the Moloids for Doomed Earth.

Turn3
Draw Ultron and Armies of Doom. KK lays a resource and says: “hmmmm…not a good turn…not a good turn at all” He removes HERBIE and puts Future Technology into play and flips New Baxter which he then exhausts, searching for a drop.  Nothing.  He then discards Advance Hardware to draw with Ant Man and apparently gets something he likes as he sends a “:)” my way. He plays Wild Ride which can only mean Black Panther. Indeed Panther enters play visible this time and he chains again with Midnight Sons and searches for the second Future Technology. He discards Marvel Boy to ready New Baxter Building and draws a card for his recently recruited New Baxter Building. I lay a resource and recruit the Doom-Bot. I passed. He sends Panther to a Moloid and I take 7 to his 3, then he burns me for 3 with Ant Man. I send Moloids and Doom-Bot to face for 11. On recovery I let Moloids go to KO pile to burn for 1 more. Endurance = Me 38 KK 28.

Turn 4
I draw Mole Man and Robotic Offensive. This is good. I lay Robotic and recruit Mr Fantastic who brings in 2 Moloids. I pass. KK lays a resource and he plays Signal Flare discarding 2 drop Reed. He searches for HumanTorch and recruits him. I want to avoid Reinforcement so I play Robotic and send Doom-Bot to humant Torch who is hidding behind Panther. He allows it an he activates everyone for 11 burn, he then plays Salvage and gets Advance Hardware which is pitched to Ant Man as he draws a card. He then plays Cosmic Radiation and burns me for 11 more and he passes with my endurance way down. We double stun as I take 3 and he takes 8. I then send a Moloid to Black Panther with an Unthinkable and I take 1 as KK takes 7. At this point its pretty clear thats game as I attack to the face with my remaining characters for 15.

Doomed Earth :2 Heroes of the City: 0

KK was a real sport as he didn’t mind me taking very precise notes of what happened during the game and thus making the games last a bit longer than they normally would. I would also like to thank him for replacing Carlos in this match as Carlos had computer problems.

Trooper Out!!!

Kree [Vs.] Skin

My brother in law and I played these over the weekend.  He is a newbie but we played 20 games so he can get the feel for it. I took Kree and he took Skin.  This is how it went!

Game 1

Skin won the roll and took odds.

Turn 1
Skin drew Lockjaw, Franklin Richards, Mutopia, Exploiting the Flaw, kept; and drew Tarnax IV and Quantum Bands.
Kree drew Lunatic legion x2, Captain Atlass, Dr. Minerva, kept; and drew Hala and Ultimus

Skin laid Exploiting the Flaw and played Lockjaw.
Kree laid Lunatic Legion played nothing.
Lockjaw swings for 2
50-48

Turn 2
Kree drew Stargate x2
Skin drew Captain America and Interstellar Offensive
Kree laid Stargate flipping Stargate and played Dr. Minerva (got Korath and Colonel Yon Rogg)
Skin laid Tarnax IV flipping Tarnax IV and played Franklin Richards.
No attacks
50-48

Turn 3
Skin drew Titanius and Elektra
Kree drew Lieutenant Kona Lor and Mar-vell
Skin laid Mutopia and played Captain America, removed Franklin’s cosmic counter, and moved Captain America to the hidden area.
Kree laid Hala, flipping Hala.  Kree then activated Stargate, returned Dr. Minerva to hand, and searched for Commander Dylon Cir; playing Dr. Minerva (getting another Dr. Minerva off the top of the deck) and playing Lieutenant Kona Lor replacing Tarnax IV. (Skin had apparantly replaced into another Tarnax IV and flipped it now).
Captain America attacks Dr. Minerva for 5 and played interstellar offence for 5 more (10) but Lieutenant reinforced, activated Hala on Dr. Minerva for +2 atk to stun Captain America.  Lockjaw attacks Lieutenant for 2 they both stun, franklin hits for 2.
Kree recovered Lieutenant and Skin recovered Captain
46-41

Turn 4
Kree drew Universal Weapon and Penal Colony
Skin drew Call to Arms and Interstellar Offensive
Kree laid Penal Colony activated Stargate returning Lieutenant and searching for a higher ranking officer, Admiral Galen Kor –  played Dr. Minerva, (got Ronan and Shatterax[Editor's note, I don't think Dr. Minerva can get you more than one card]) Lieutenant (replacing Tarnax IV again) and Commander.  I then played Universal Weapon on Commander.
Skin laid Interstellar Offensive, flipped Extended Family (got from replacing Tarnax IV) discards Call to Arms to give Captain his cosmic counter back and teaming up Inhumans and Skrull in the process.
Commander swings for 9, Lieutenant swings for 4, but a Hala activation gives her +3 atk for 7 total. Captain swings at Lieutenant for 5, but Dr. Minerva reinforces, Franklin swings for 2 and flips interstellar offence for 5 more (7) on dr. Minerva.
Kree recovered Dr. Minerva
30-33

Turn 5
Skin drew Call to Arms and Exploiting the Flaw
Kree drew Admiral Galen Kor and Nega Bands.
Skin laid Call to Arms and played Elektra
Kree laid Penal Colony flipping Penal Colony discarding Korath, activating Stargate to return Dr. Minerva and search for Shatterax.  Kree then played Dr. Minerva (got nothing), Captain Att-lass, Ronan and Admiral with Nega Bands on Admiral.
Franklin attacks Captain Att-Lass, Elektra hits Commander, and Captain America (with a Call to Arms) hits Admiral for 9.  Hala is then Activated on Ronan for +4 atk (9 total). Kree swings with Ronan and Dr. Minerva (11 total).
Kree recovers Admiral.
19-19

Turn 6
Kree drew Live Kree or Die x2
Skin drew Captain America and Extended Family
Kree laid Live Kree or Die; played Captain Att-lass, Colonel Yon Rogg and Ultimus.
Skin laid Extended Family and played nothing (uh-oh)
Kree exhausted Att-lass, Colonel, and Dr. Minerva to stun Elektra (with Colonel’s ability). Kree swings with Admiral, and Ultimus; activating hala for +3 atk on Admiral and flipping Lunatic Legion for +2 atk on both. 30 total
Captain America hits dr. Minerva with a power up, bringing his atk to 6. Franklin goes into Att-lass, but it’s not legal as an activated Penal Colony returns Att-lass to my hand.  There are no more attacks.

Skin -11
Kree 14
Kree 1-0

Let this match be a cautionary tale about flipping up locations (Tarnax IV) before you have a use for them!  If this location had been used even a couple of times, the game could have been Skin’s instead of Shirt’s err… Kree’s)!

Game 2

Kree won the roll and took evens (Bare with me on the first 3 rounds of notes, my son spilled milk on the paper!).

Turn 1
Kree drew Penal Colony, Shatterax, Lieutenant Kona Lor and Mar-vel, kept; and drew Dr. Minerva and Luantic Legion.
Skin drew Lockjaw, Mutopia, Invasion Plans, and Interstellar Offensive, kept; and drew Tarnax IV and Call to Arms.
Skin laid Mutopia and played Lockjaw discarding Invasion Plans searched for Franklin Richards.
Kree laid Lunatic Legions.
Lockjaw swings for 2
50-48

Turn 2
Kree drew Stargate and Korath
Skin drew the Great Refuge and Quantum Bands.
Kree laid Stargate flipping Stargate and played Dr. Minerva (got Captain Att-lass and Admiral Galen Kor).
Skin laid Call to Arms played Franklin
Dr. Minerva hits for 2; Skin does no attacks.
48-48

Turn 3
Skin drew Tarnax IV and Lockjaw
Kree drew Penal Colony and Nega Bands
Skin laid Taranx IV, once again prematurely flipping it, but had no play
Kree laid Penal Colony, flipping Penal Colony, and discarding Korath.  Kree then activated Stargate, returning Dr. Minerva, and searched for Commander Dylon Cir.  Kree played Dr. Minerva (got Ronan) and Lieutenant Kona Lor (replacing Tarnax IV once agaain.  My brother-in-law groaned so I assumed a character went down there, and later found out it was Captain America).
Lockjaw went into Lieutentant; then Franklin went into Dr. Minerva, but it was not legal because of a Penal Colony activation that returned her to hand.  Franklin then went to the face with Call to Arms for 6.
47-40

Turn 4
Kree drew Dr. Minerva and Lunatic Legion
Skin drew Captain America and Call to Arms
Kree laid Lunatic Legions and played Dr. Minerva (got Captain At-lass and the Admiral), Captain At-lass and Commander with Nega Bands.
Skin laid Tarnax IV, flipping Tarnax IV and playing Captain America but not moving him to the hidden area for some reason.
Captain At-lass into Captain America with a Power up on Captain At-lass to stun Captain America, Commander, Dr. Minerva, and the Lieuteneant to the face for 14.
Lockjaw attacking into Dr. Minerva was made not legal by an activated Penal Colony returning her to hand.  No more attacks.
30-38

Turn 5
Skin drew Wolverine and Exploiting the Flaw
Kree drew Hala and Colonel Yon Rogg
Skin laid Call to Arms and played Wolverine, flipped Mutopia - teaming up X-Men and Skrull [Editor's note: Mutopia teamed up every team that Wolverine had, which was Inhumans, X-Men, Skrull, Marvel Knights, Fantastic Four, and Kree] removed cosmic counter from Franklin moved Wolverine in hidden area
Kree laid Hala, flipping Hala.  Kree then activated Stargate returning Lieutenant to search for Ultimus.  Kree played Dr. Minerva (got Lieutenant Kona Lor), Lieutenant (replaced Tarnax IV again putting blackbolt in the row), Ronan, and Admiral.
Captain  America into Dr. Minerva activating Hala giving her +4 attack for the stun back, and reinforcing with Lieutenant, Wolverine into Captain Att-lass, Commander reinforces, Lockjaw into Commander with Call to Arms.  No more attacks.
Ronan and Admiral to the face for 14
Kree recovered Dr. Minerva
13-30

Turn 6
Kree drew Remnant Fleet and Stargate
Skin drew Super Skrull and Extended Family
Kree laid Remnant Fleet and activate Stargate returned Dr. Minerva to search for Colonel, played Dr. Minerva (got nothing), Captain Att-lass, Colonel Yon Rogg, Ultimus, and Shatterax.
Skin laid Extended Family and played Super Skrull; flipped Extended Family; teamed-up Skrull and Inhumans (discarded Exploiting the Flaw for a cosmic counter on Captain America).
Exhausted Captan Att-lass, Lieutenant, and Dr. Minerva to stun Super Skrull with Colonel’s ability, flipped Lunatic Legion, attacked with Admiral for 13 on Catain America, and Ultimus and Shatterax for 20 with an activation of Hala on Shatterax for +5 more (25 total).
Skin has no attacks.
Skin -30
Kree 30
Kree won 2-0

Notes even though my brother in law was a newbie there was not much he could do once the Kree got started.

Exiles [Vs.] Mojoverse

Aaron Mead (Onyxweapon) once again takes the reins for a match.  He wrote notes and observed the matchup, ensuring no play mistakes were made; while two friends of his wielded these fine decks!  Follow along as the Exiles try to free Longshot and the X-Babies from the clutches of Mojo!

Game 1

Exiles won the roll and opted for evens.

Turn 1 -Mojo init

Both players keep

Mojo player: Random punks/ Mojoverse/ Mojoverse/ Invasion plans
-draw- Press the attack/ Random punks

Exiles player: Mimic(4)/ Beak Saves the Day/ Blink(1)/Blink(7)
-draw- Blink(3)/ No More Mr. Nice Guy

Mojo player sets Mojoverse and recruits Random Punks.
Exiles player sets No More Mr. Nice Guy and recruits Blink(1) rallying into The Omniverse and placing it on the bottom of their deck.
Mojo player flips Mojoverse and attacks direct for 3. and the Exiles player retaliates with a mutual stun for 1.

Both players recover.

Mojo 48 Exiles 45

Turn 2 -Exiles Init

Exiles -draw- Frozen in Time/ Mimic(2)
Mojo -draw- Deadpool/ Longshot

Exiles player sets Beak saves and shifts mimic(4) and Blink(3)
Mojo player sets Press the Attack and recruits Longshot, calling out Random Punks and… netting THREE! Quickly followed by recruiting another Random Punk, and forming in an L formation with Longshot protected.

Exiles player sends Blink into the front row Random Punk, instead of powering up the Mojo player passes for the mutual stun.
Then Mojo player activates Mojoverse removing Longshot’s affiliations and attacks with Longshot and Random Punks for 6.

both players recover.

Mojo 46 Exiles 37

Turn 3 -Mojo Init

Mojo -draw- Mojo/ X-babies Attack
Exiles -draw- Blink(5)/ Mimic(6)

Mojo player sets Invasion Plans and recruits 3 Random Punks in a 3/3 formation with Longshot in the protected left flank.
Exiles player sets Frozen in Time and shifts out Blink(5) then recruiting Mimic(2) in the support row.
Mojo player declares a Random Punk into Mimic(2) to which Exiles player flips No More Mr. Nice Guy pumping Mimic to a 5/4. Mojoplayer then flips Invasion plans, exhausting Longshot, netting a Mojo/Invasion Plans; and immediately plays the second Plans exhausting a ready Random Punk, netting Press the Attack and X-Babies Attack. playing the X-Baby pump for +3 landing the mutual stun. Then following up with the remaining 3 Random Punks attacking direct for 9 more.
Exiles player retalliates with Blink(1) swinging on a Random Punk.

Mojo player loses a Random Punk during recovery and Exiles player recovers Mimic(2).

Mojo 42 Exiles 24

Turn 4 -Exiles Init

Exiles -draw- A Finer World/ Mimic(4)
Mojo -draw- Random Punks/ Random Punks

Exiles player sets A Finer World and shifts Mimic(6), then spends their remaining 3 resource points to max out Blink(3)’s shift counters and place a second counter on Mimic(4) Then shifts Blink(3) into play and, chaining to blink(3)’s effect, playing Beak Saves the Day, sending Blink 3 back to the shifted zone with 2 counters, and then having her effect resolve to add a third counter and shifting her back into play for her effect a second time. (this placed the 3rd and fourth counters on the Mimic(4) and he was also shifted into play, protected by Blink.  This KO’ed Mimic(2) and the hidden Blink(1) in the process due to uniqueness.  As Exiles player passed, Blink(5) and Mimic(6) both had 3 counters.
Seeking a simpler turn, Mojo player set Press the Attack, and recruited Mojo protecting Longshot in a cube formation and passed.
Exiles player started things off by sending Mimic(4) into Mojo at 9/9.  With 4 other unaffiliated characters it was a guaranteed stunback and they both went down.  Then Exiles player played Frozen in Time to shift out Mojo with 3 counters and Blink swung on a Random Punk with 7 thanks to No More Mr. Nice Guy.
Not one to see Exiles go a turn without losing a character, Mojo sent Random Punks into Blink(3) with an X-Babies Attack. Exiles player then pulled a shift counter from Mimic(6) to pay the cost for A Finer World grabbing Blink(1) and powering up. Mojo player responded with a Random Punks powerup and Exiles player decided to drop their only 7 drop in an effort to power-up and brick the swing. Unfortunately, another Random Punk went to power up the attack for a mutual stun.
With the easy face shot, Mojo player activated Mojoverse to remove Longshot’s affiliations and the three remaining characters attacked direct for 9.

-recovery-
Mojo players loses a Random Punk
Exiles player loses Blink(3)

Mojo 28 exiles 8

Turn 5 -Mojo Init

Mojo -draw- Random Punks/Goblin Glider ver.2
Exiles -draw- Wolverine Squad/ Blink(3)

Mojo player sets Mojoverse, pays 1 resource to bring Mojo back from shifted area, recruits Deadpool(2) and a Random Punk. Then equips Mojo with the Goblin Glider ver.2
Exiles player sets Wolverine Squad and shifts Blink(3) then spends 2 more resources to bring in Blink(5). And looking at Deadpool, decides Blink(3) is better off shifted and providing a +2+2 than being a victim. Then passes to Mojo player.
Mojo player activates Mojoverse on Longshot, removing all affiliations and thus jacking Mojo to an immense 23/7. Mojo with his flight takes a swing on the support row Mimic(4), to which Mimic gets powered up to a reasonable 10 defense.  However the damage is too much; and even though no other characters on the Mojo side can attack, the match is over.
Exiles player swings Blink on a Random Punk to staunch the endurance difference; however, it simply isn’t enough.  Game 1 goes to Mojoverse with a final score of:

Mojo 12 Exiles -10

Game 2

Stirred by the unexpected loss the the surprising Mojoverse build the Exiles player chooses odds this time.

Turn 1 -Exiles Init

both keep

Exiles starting hand – X-Corp: Paris/Frozen in Time/Wolverine Squad/Worthington Industries
-Draw- mimic(4)/ Longshot

Mojo starting hand – 3x Random Punks/ Goblin glider
-Draw- Press the Attack/ Deadpool(2)

Exiles player set X-Corp: Paris and immediately flipped it, activating it to a Worthington Industries and choosing to place it on the bottom of the deck, then recruits Longshot, activating him and calling out Blink and Mimic…  missing.  Blink(5), 2x Beak Saves the Day, and a Wolverine Squad go to the bottom.
Mojo player set Press the Attack and recruited a Random Punk.  With Longshot exhausted, Exiles pass and Mojo attacks for a mutual stun.

both recover

Mojo 48 Exiles 47

Turn 2 -Mojo Init

Mojo -draw-X-Babies Attack/ Random Punks
Exiles -draw-A Finer World/ Mimic(2)

Mojo player set X-Babies and recruited 2x Random Punks.
Exiles player set Worthington Industries, activated X-Corp: Paris, revealing Blink(7) and X-Corp: Amsterdam; opting to place the location on the bottom and keep Blink on top, Exiles activated Longshot once again calling for Blink and Mimic… sending an Omniverse to the bottom and landing Blink(1), Blink(7) and Mimic(6) then following up with a Worthington Industries activation hitting Mimic(2) Blink(1) and Longshot; opting to discard 2x Blink(1) and a Mimic(2).  Finally Exiles player shifts Mimic(4) and recruits Longshot (koing forst longshot) and activating the effect for Blink and Mimic yet again… sending X-Corp: Paris and A Finer World to the bottom of the deck and landing Mimic(6)and Blink(5).  (wth, this is only turn 2? Looks like this game will be ALOT of typing!)

Mojo attacks with a Random Punk for a mutual stun and swings direct for 4 more.

both recover.

Mojo 45 Exiles 39

Turn 3 Exiles Init

Exiles -draw- Mimic(4)/ Blink(5)
Mojo -draw- Longshot/ Random Punks

Exiles player sets Wolverine Squad and flips it, activating Paris to reveal No More Mr. Nice Guy and Blink(3), opting to send No More to the bottom of the deck and keeping Blink on the top, then activating Worthington Industries landing Blink(3) and sending Worthington Ind. and Wolverine Squad to the bottom, choosing to discard Mimic(4). Then Longshot calls out Mimic/Blink and misses sending a Blink(3), 2x Beak Saves, and an X-Corp Amsterdam to the bottom; shifting out Blink(3), Mimic(2) and Blink(5).
Mojo player sets Random Punks and recruits Longshot calling out Mojo… failing and sending Longshot, Random Punks, and Invasion Plans to the bottom of the deck.  Then he also recruits Deadpool.
Wincing, Exiles player passes combat, hoping to build up a counterassault soon.
Mojo player sends Longshot on Longshot for a mutual stun and Deadpool and 3 Random Punks swing direct.

both recover.

Mojo 44 Exiles 27

Turn 4 Mojo Init

Mojo -draw- Mojoverse/ Random Punks
Exiles -draw- Omniverse/ X-Corp Paris

Mojo player sets Mojoverse and recruits 2 Random Punks.
Exiles player having seen the entire deck takes a look at their notes and activates Longshot, calling A Finer World and No More Mr. Nice Guy; netting 2x No More, and 1 A Finer World, sending Worthington industries to the bottom.  Then setting No More Mr. Nice Guy and placing 2 shift counters on Blink(3) and 2 on Mimic(4); shifing in Blink(3) and from her effect landing a 4th counter on Mimic.  Opting to keep the max counter Mimic(2) shifted for the bonus from No More Mr. Nice Guy.
With no Mojo to pummel the Exile characters, a Random Punk attacked Blink(3) with an X-Babies attack for an intimidating 8 attack, then followed up with Deadpool attacking Longshot.  However with no ability to team attack they were forced to pass, and the 9/9 Mimic(4) swung over a Random Punk for an easy 9.

-recovery-
Mojo player loses a Random Punk during recovery. Deadpool auto-recovers.
Exiles player loses Longshot.

Mojo 32 Exiles 18

Turn 5 Exiles Init

Chaining to the draw, Exiles activates X-Corp: Paris to send Wolverine Squad and X-Corps: Amsterdam to the bottom. With 4 cards in the deck, Exiles knew that the next two cards were going to be quite helpful…

Exiles -draw- Beak Saves the Day/ Beak Saves the Day
Mojo -draw- Mojo/ Press the Attack

After some evil laughter Exiles player set and flipped another No More Mr. Nice Guy; then played Beak Saves the Day on Blink(3) and shifted Blink(7), Mimic(6), spent a resource to place a third shift counter on Blink(3), spent a resource to place a 3rd counter on Blink(5) and spent a final resource to place a counter on Mimic(6), then shifted in Blink(3) chaining the her trigger to shift her back out using Beak Saves the Day, and then gaining her third counter to return her to play.  This now allowed Blink(5) to enter play as well, and Mimic(2) shifted in as well.
Mojo player set Press the Attack and recruited Mojo, deciding against equipping the Goblin Glider in case of Frozen in Time.
With Wolverine Squad granting the multiple incarnations of Blink and Mimic, and both No More Mr. Nice Guy allowing +4+4 across the board, it was time for Exiles to seek revenge.  Blink(3) attacked Mojo with 9 for a mutual stun, Mimic(2) on a Random Punk with 7, Mimic(4) on a Random Punk with 11, Blink provided the coup-de-grace with 13 more on (you guessed it!) a Random Punk.
With no way to stun any of the Exiles Mojo passed and the game was over.

And in a stunning display of card-stacking tactics, the Exiles manage to win round 2 with a final score of:

Mojo -5 Exiles 15

Game 3

Mojo player chooses odds

both players keep.

Turn 1 Mojo Init

Mojo starting hand: Mojoverse, Deadpool, Random Punks, Invasion Plans
-Draw- Random Punks/ Random punks

Exiles starting hand: Worthington Industries, Wolverine Squad, Mimic(6), Blink(7)
-Draw- Blink(1)/ X-Corp: Paris

Mojo player sets Mojoverse and recruits Random Punks.
Exils player sets X-Corps: Paris and activates revealing Blink(3) opting to keep Blink on top Exiles then recruits Blink(1) rallying for an Exile character and shifting it with 1 counter.
Mojo player flips Mojoverse and attacks direct for 3.
Blink retalliates for a mutual stun.

both recover

Mojo 48 Exiles 45

Turn 2 Exiles Init

Exiles -draw- Blink(5)/ X-Corp: Amsterdam
Mojo -draw- Goblin Glider/ Mojoverse

Exile player sets and flips Worthington Industries, activating X-Paris to place Frozen in Time and the Omniverse on the bottom of the deck, then activates Worthington, netting Blink(3), and Blink(5) and sending an X-Paris to the bottom of the deck then discarding Blink(5) and (3) to the graveyard. Then shifting out Blink(5) and Mimic(6).
Mojo player sets Invasion Plans and recruits Deadpool protecting Random Punks.
Exiles pass combat, with Blink unable to stun Deadpool.
Deadpool and Random Punks attack direct for 8.

Mojo 48 Exiles 37

Turn 3 Mojo Init

Mojo -draw- Invasion Plans/ Deadpool
Exiles -draw- Longshot/ No More Mr. Nice Guy

Mojo player sets Invasion Plans, and recruits two Random Punks.
Exiles player sets No More Mr. Nice Guy and recruits Longshot, activating and calling Blink/Mimic and… failing; sending Longshot, Mimic(2), A Finer World, and Mimic(4) to the bottom of the deck.  Then activating X-Paris – sending Wolverine Squad to the bottom and keeping a Mimic(2) on top.  Following that Exiles activated Worthington Industries, netting a Mimic(2) and a Blink(1) and sending A Finer World to the bottom while discarding the Blink(1) and X-Amsterdam.  Then Exiles recruited Mimic(2)
Mojo player sent Random Punks over Longshot for a mutual stun, (exiles reinforced with Mimic(2). Then Deadpool attacked Mimic(2).
Exiles player flipped No More Mr. Nice Guy to staunch the end loss and thay both stunned as well.  Then 2x Random Punks swing to the face.
Blink(1) retalliated at 3/4 and stunned a Random Punk.

-recovery-
Mojo loses a Random Punk.
Exiles loses Longshot.

Mojo 42 Exiles 27

Turn 4 Exiles Init

Exiles chain to the draw activating X-Paris sending Worthington Industries to the bottom and setting Beak Saves on top.

Exiles -draw- Beak Saves/ No More Mr. Nice Guy
mojo -draw- Longshot/ X-Babies Attack

Exiles player set and immediately flips Wolverine Squad, activating Worthington to net Mimic(4) and Mimic(6), sending Beak Saves to the bottom, discarding Worthington and Mimic(6).  Then Exiles paid 2 resources to max Blink(3)’s shift counters and shifted Mimic(4) out paying an additional resource for his second counter.  Blink gets shifted into play and Beak Saves is chained to Blink(3)’s effect shifting her out with max counters and returning her once more.  This allowed Mimic(4) to accumulate 4 shift counters and he too entered play.
Mojo player set X-Babies attack and recruited Longshot calling (what else?) Random Punks and… nailing all 3! the three Punks entered play and combat began.
Blink(3) started things off attacking a Random Punk with 7, then Blink(1) swung on another for 3, Mimic(2) took down another with 5 and Mimic(4) swung for the fences with 9.
Mojo player responded by exhausting Deadpool for Invasion Plans drawing X-Babies Attack, and Random Punks; while Longshot exhausted for another Invasion Plans netting 2 Random Punks.

-recovery-
Mojo loses 3 Random Punks

Mojo 15 Exiles 24

Turn 5 Mojo Init

Exiles chain to the draw with X-Paris sending Frozen in aTime and The Omniverse to the bottom.

Mojo -draw- Mojo/ Mojo
Exiles -draw- X-Paris/ Longshot

Mojo player sets Press the Attack and recruits Mojo in the front row, and a Random Punk, then equips Mojo with Goblin Glider.
Exiles player sets No More Mr. Nice Guy and shift out Blink(7), spends 2 resources to bring in Blink(5) in the fron row adjacent to Blink(3) and spends the last 2 resources on the shifted Mimic(6) as a dump.
Mojo thinks for some time, then declares Random Punks into Blink(3) and plays X-Babies Attack putting the army card at 8 attack.  The Exiles player flips No More Mr. Nice Guy and both stun with no break.  Then Deadpool attacks Mimic(2) with a second X-Babies Attack and a power-up for 10 total attack.
Exiles player activates Worthington and lands Mimic(4) discarding X-Paris and sending Mimic(2) *not xmen* and A Finer World to the bottom, and chooses not to reinforce, hoping to swing back.
Then Mojo attacks Blink(5) with a Mojoverse activation to make Longshot non-affiliated and a power-up placing Mojo at 22 over Blink(5)’s 13.  This places the Exiles team exactly at 0.  With no other means to stun Mojo player was forced to pass.
Exiles picked it up with a grin, Mimic swinging into Longshot with a power-up for 12 atk and Blink swinging on a Random Punk for 4.  Just because he could, the Mojo player powered up three times but it was still a one-sided stun, and the game was over Exiles get SUPER huge with 2 No More Mr. Nice Guys and come from behind to take the series!

Final score:

Mojo -7 Exiles 0

Player thoughts:
Exiles- when the scry-engine is up and running i actually found searchers debilitating, especially in game 2 where by turn 3-4 i knew every card i was going to draw into because i had already cycled through the entire deck! I would have liked to see a few activated effects come into play, i often wished i had more options for Mimic(4) other than Longshot’s effect.

Mojoverse- This deck can swing for the fences, but without being able to team attack and with only access to two Invasion Plans, there were ZERO opportunities for Press the Attack to be played. None. Had those Presses been say, Flying Kicks instead, Mojo absolutely would have advanced today. And it’s a real shame too. No-one would have seen it coming. The deck absolutely needed more pumps, however I feel it really made the most of the two it was given.  Also, in a build exclusively relying on Mojo’s appearance, Professor Ivo might have been a better fit than Deadpool.  But hindsight is always 20/20 i suppose.

overall- Exiles had a definate advantage when both No More Mr. Nice Guy’s showed up.  And Mojoverse desperately needed more cards enabling up-curve swings. On the flip side, I can see Exiles lack of toolboxing options working against them in future matchups, but their swarm tactics are working just fine.  To summarize, players will specifically wish they had at least a few possible options for Mimic(4) interactions, but as long as the focus is getting to those No More Mr. Nice guys ASAP, they may just continue to finish on top.

Special thanks to everyone who participated in this weeks matchups.  I’ll get some more to you ASAP!

Just like Part 1, I’ll start these four matches off with one I played myself.  I met with my friend Rob once again (I’m sure he’s sick of me already) to play the Revenge Squad Vs. Superman Blue Abuse match.  By the way, after only two matches in this tournament, I’m full-on in love with Vs. again.  I hadn’t played in so long that I almost forgot what it was like.  I hope all my volunteers are similarly enjoying themselves!

Remember, all decklists can be found HERE!

Superman Blue Abuse [Vs.] Revenge Squad

Alright, let’s see how President Luthor does against his mortal enemy, Supes!

Game 1

Turn 1 (50-50)

Rob won the di roll and took odds for this first game.  His opening hand consisted of the 2 and 7 drop Brainiac 13’s, Never Ending Battle, and Standoff; his draw was Terra-Man and Ruin (nice!)*.  I on the other hand got a Soldier of New Genesis, Trial by Sword, Milenium, and Man of Tomorrow; my draw consisted of one more Soldier and a Trial by Sword.

Rob had nothing on turn 1, so I rowed a Millenium and recruited a Soldier who dutifully smacked Rob for 2.

Turn 2 (50-48)

I draw a Solder and a Lantern’s in Love; he drew a Maxima and a Battle for Metroplis.  He puts Terra-Man into play and I marvel at the goodness of the card (a Flight/Ranged character that gets bigger every turn just for sticking to the theme of the deck?  Sweet!).  My recruit was more of the same.  After rowing a Man of Tomorrow and recruiting two Soldiers, I sent one into Terra-Man, and the other Soldier to the dome.  Luckily for me, the Cosmic ability of the Soldiers prevented me from taking any damage.

Turn 3 (50-44)

I draw Superman, Blue and a Supertown; Rob nets another Brainiac 13 two drop and a Hostile Takeover.  After I see Rob recruit Ruin, I row the Super-Town like it is nobody’s business.  That card is the MVP in this deck (After Superman, Blue and the Soldiers of course).  At this point I had to do some thinking to do.  I had no recruit, but I had a Man of Tomorrow and a Superman, Blue in my hand.  I knew that I NEEDED Blue on turn five, but I really didn’t want to get way behind in the damage race as I knew he had cards like Terra-Man, Maxima, and Preus.  I decided to take a gamble.  I used Man of Tomorrow to turn that Blue Superman into a Red one and recruited him.  I made a box formation with 2 Soldiers in the back and 1 in the front next to Supes.

Ruin charges at Superman and Rob flips a Battle for Metropolis to fascilitate him.  As soon as the attack is legal, I flip up a Milenium (tapping Superman and drawing into a Supercycle) naming Team Superman and New Gods.  I reinforce, both characters stun, and he opts to use Ruin’s Vengeance ability to replace the Hostile Takeover in his row with an  Executive Privilege.  He immediately uses Executive Privilege, pitching a two cost Brainiac 13 and flipping over a Doomsday and a non-ongoing plot twist.  Doomsday goes to his hand.

Terra-Man, bigger now that Executive Privilege has been flipped, runs into one of my backrow Soldiers.  I can’t reinforce it because the one next two him reinforced Superman, but I do use Lanterns in Love, exhausting my two ready Soldiers to recover Superman, Red.  I also play two Trial by Swords to make my Soldier a 6/6 to Terra-Man’s 6/5; we both stun.  Rob opts to keep Terra-Man’s impressive stats on the board, and I lose no one.  I take advantage of my recovered Superman by flipping Super-Town so that he gets his counter back.  I really want that 8 attack in case I don’t get much of anything for turn four.

Turn 4 (46-42)

I draw Superman, Blue (yay!  No more sweating!) and Shock Troops; Rob pulls another Terra-Man and a Future Shock.  I row my Shock Troops and recruit my Supercycle to Superman, Red; putting all my forces in the front row.  Rob pitches a two drop Brainiac 13 to Executive Privilege revealing Prsident Luthor and Metallo.  He scoops up Metallo.  Metallo takes a seat in play and combat begins!

I run my 2 Soldiers that still have their counters into Metallo (they’re both 3/3’s from the Supercycle).  One of my invulnerable Soldiers bites the dust with Metallo, but I take four damage from Metallo’s burn effect.  I then run Superman, Red (invulnerable from the Supercycle) into Terra-Man for 5 damage.  My last 2 Soldiers swing for 2 each.  Rob loses Terra-Man and I lose a Soldier.

Turn 5 (42-31)

 I draw a Birthing Chamber and a Royal Decree while Rob’s hand aquires an Atomic Skull and a Preus.  Rob uses Executive Privilege to ditch his other Terra-Man, getting a Revenge Pact in return.  He then recruits that shiny new Preus.  I row my newly aquired Birthing Chamber and recruit Superman, Blue (after paying 1 endurance with Superman, Red’s ability of course).  I then flip and use Birthing Chamber to get myself another Soldier.

Rob flips Revenge Pact, making Preus bigger, and declares Metallo into Blue.  I use Blue’s ability to stun Metallo (I only had four Cosmic characters so I couldn’t take out Preus), but take 5 endurance loss to Metallo’s vengeance.  Preus then decides to go for Red (Rob was worried about losing a character if he chanced an attack into Blue), but I reinforce and take 3.  Supertown gives all the non-stunned members of my cadre their counters back, most importantly, Blue.

Turn 6 (33-27)

I draw a Soldier and a Shock Troops; Rob gets Knowledge is Powerand Path of Destruction.  I row my Royal Decree and flip it, drawing myself a 3rd Soldier.  I recruit 2 Soldiers and activate Birthing Chamber to see two cards (Lois and some plot twist); deciding to take a Lois Lane into hand.  I then recruit Lois who gets a Superman, Red of the top of my deck – so I recruit him too (paying that 1 endurance again of course)!  My board now consists of 4 Soldiers, 2 Reds, a Lois, and a Blue.  Rob uses Executive Privilege; ditches Atomic Skull and nets a Brainiac 2.5.  Instead of recruiting Brainiac though, he opts for the Doomsday he’s held onto for a while.  It is my attack step, so Brainiac wouldn’t do any good anyway.

I tap Blue targeting Doomsday and he responds by exhausting Doomsday and Metallo for Knowledege is Power.  He calls out Superman, aware that it won’t matter because Superman is non-unique for the turn, but at least all his effects that rely on Ongoings (like Preus and Metallo) get an enhancement.  Doomsday goes down and Rob takes 6.  I run 2 Soldiers into Metallo (that Supercycle is at it again!).  Rob flips a Standoff before allowing the attack to become legal, then I take six to Metallo’s burn, but lose nothing from my invulnerable Soldier.  I then run a Soldier, Lois, and the Red w/o the counter into Preus (that’s 10 attack to his 10 defense).  Preus and Red stun.  My red with the Cosmic counter attacks straight the face for 8.  It’s worth noting that I could have done my team attacks differently, but chose to include a Soldier in every one in case I need to use that Shock Troops in the row.

We did some quick math and found that Rob was at 4.  I ran my last Soldier into him with a Shock Troops (biting 2 endurance for Standoff) for four endurance to bring our first game to a close.

Final Score (20-0)

Game 2

Rob tries evens this time

Turn 1 (50-50)

I get 2x Soldiers of New Genesis, Man of Tomorrow and Lanterns in love; followed by a draw of Superman, Blue and another Soldier.  Rob gets Path of Destruction, Terra-Man, Maxima,  and the seven drop Brainiac 13; followed by a draw of Revenge Pact and the two drop Brainiac 13.  I row my Man of Tomorrow and recruit a Soldier.  Rob has nothing so he’s forced to take 2 endurance.

Turn 2 (50-48)

I draw a Man of Tomorrow and a Soldier; Rob draws a Path of Destructionand a Brainiac 2.5.  After watching Rob recruit Terra-Man, I row my  Lanterns in Love and recruit 2 more Soldiers to join the one on the field in a defensive ’L’ formation.  To my surprise, he declares Terra-Man into the front row Soldier without flipping any ongoings.  Both the Soldier and Terra-Man stun, but I can’t attack back because of my defensive posturing.

Turn 3 (50-46)

 I draw Superman, Red and Trial by Sword; Rob draws Terra-Man and Future Shock.  I use both of my turn 3 cards; rowing the TbS (not to be confused with The Ben Seck) and recruiting Red.  I push everyone to the front row.  Rob flips Revenge Pact and uses it; paying 3 endurance and pitching Path of Destruction.  Luckily (for him) he nabs Ruin off the top, and then recruits him behind Terra-Man.\

I start combat by running the two Soldiers that still have their counters into Terra-Man.  Terra and a Soldier bite the dust.  The last Soldier then runs into Run with a Trial by Sword.  Both stun leaving the board wide open for Superman to smash for 8.  I’m assuming Rob used Ruin’s ability, but I don’t have any notes on that, so either he didn’t use him, or I spaced what he did!  Rob loses Terra-Man, and I lose a Soldier.

Turn 4 (49-33)

I draw Shock Troops and Royal Decree; Rob nets Ruin and Executive Privilege.  Rob recruits Maxima and I follow rowing the Decree, flipping it, and nabbing a Super-Town off the top of my deck.  A turn to late as I wanted it in my row this turn so that I could Lanterns in Love my Superman and get his counter back before my initiative.  All I have for a recruit is a single Soldier.

Rob starts his combat by running Ruin into Red, flipping Executive Privilege and Battle for Metropolis.  He then plays a Path of Destruction from the resource row (remember there is one in the KO’d pile from earlier).  I reinforce with a back row Soldier so that we both only take 3 endurance loss.  He uses Ruin’s ability to replace the Path of Destruction and get another Battle for Metropolis.  He then discards the 2 drop Brainiac 13 to Executive Privilege (which is apparantly the play of the day) to get a Standoff off the top of his deck.  Maxima heads my back row Soldier that I can no longer reinforce (I guess we know why he wanted me to reinforce Red).  She’s  a 12/7 and I’ll be taking 10 on this attack, but not before I exhaust my two ready Soldiers to Lanterns in Love my Superman, Red to preserve my board.

Turn 5 (36-30)

I draw Superman, Blue and a Soldier Rob draw Standoff and the 2 drop Braininac 13.  I row my Super-Town; pay 1 endurance for Superman, Red’s ability; then recruit Superman, Blue.  Rob uses Executive Privilege pitching the 2 drop Brainiac 13 (again!) and netting a Metallo.  He recruits Metallo in front of Maxima and next to Ruin.

I Blue his Maxima (that sounds dirty) for an out-of-combat stun.  He takes his 4 and flips Standoff in preparation for actual attacks.  I run my Red (who has no counter) and a Soldier into Metallo (It burns!  Ze goggles, ze do nutzing!).  I take 8 to Rob’s 4 (who’s attack was that anyway?!).  My other 2 Soldiers run into Ruin, but he has the power-up, so I’m forced to play Shock Troops as that Standoff cooly stares me down.  A Soldier and Ruin bite the dust and we both end up losing 3 in the course of the attack.  Ruin’s ability goes off, KO’ing Executive Privilege to get a (wait for it)… Executive Privilege!  Not only does this thin the deck for better draws but now Rob can use the ability again, and he does – pitching Terra-Man to get a President Luthor AND a Knowledge is Power.

He chooses to keep Maxima while I’m flipping my Super-Town to give Superman, Blue and my non-stunned Soldier a counter back.

Turn 6 (24-19)

I draw Trial by Sword and Lois; Rob draws Atomic Skull and President Luthor.  He flips his second Standoff and recruits Brainiac 2.5.  I row Trial by Sword; pay 1 endurance to make Superman non-unique; and recruit my second Superman, Blue (which pretty much spells “game over”) along with a Soldier.  I tap both Blues to stun Maxima and Brainiac, then team attack my last two Soldiers and Superman, Red into his face for 10.

Final Score (24 – -1)

It’s worth noting that this Blue Abuse deck (tweaked with Super-Town) is now my favorite deck ever.
* Rob took draw notes, he did not actually show me his draws during the game.

Youth of Tomorrow [Vs.] Future Foes

Brendan Wilson (Bkwrds) and Carlos took up this matchup for our viewing pleasure.  It turns out these opposing teams were very well matched, but I’ll let them give you the details…

Game 1:

Turn 1:

I draw Let’s Go Legionaires, Karate Kid and Vic Stone. Have to mulligan because there’s no play before three. Next time I draw Vic Stone, Element Lad, two Timber Wolfs and Holly Granger and another card I can’t remember in opening hand.

I lay Titans of Tomorrow and pass. Carlos plays Emerald Eye, so I take 2.

Carlos 50 Me 48.

Turn 2:

I draw New Recruits and Foiled Assasination. Carlos plays Emerald Empress, and I play Holly Granger, and get to put Dawn in for free. Dawn gets targeted with Internal Injuries before the end of my build, and then Emerald Eye attacks Dawn. I lose 6. After that, Emerald Empress attacks Dawn. I lose 8 more. Ouch. After 2 turns, score is 50 to 34.

Turn 3:

I draw Youth of Tomorrow and Mega-Blast. I lay Youth of Tomorrow, and boost Timberwolf adding Element Lad. Carlos recruits Tharok. Tharok forms the elbow of an L in Carlos’ formation, with Eye in front of him. All of my cats are front-row for attacking.

Timber Wolf attacks Emerald Empress, no breakthrough. Element Lad attacks Emerald Eye, again for no breakthrough. Dawn and Holly team into Tharok. I search for a power up to make the 6 damage I need to stun him. Any single Def pump would have resulted in a brick. I really planned this turn out poorly, but lived to tell about it.

Turn 4:

I draw Mega-Blast and Apparition. Carlos recruits Manos, the Hands of Time. I place Mega as a resource and Recruit Conner. Element Lad and Dawn are hiding Behind Timber and Holly, with Connor on the right exposed in the support row.

Carlos plays Five Against One on Element Lad, and then Busted Knee on Timber Wolf. Timber Wolf is a lovely 0 def and can’t be reinforced. Good times. Tharok attacks Timber Wolf, I lose 8. Mano attacks and I lose 10. I did not have these endurance to spare. My swings? I play Mega-Blast on Dove, then team Hawk and Dove into Mano. Carlos picks Hawk to go down. Connor’s effect readies Dove. I play another Mega-Blast on her so I have enough to get over Tharok. No breakthrough, though. Sad. After that I get to attack directly with Connor and play Foiled on Dove to recover Hawk.

After 4 turns, the score is 26 Carlos 3 for me.

Turn 5:

I draw Ferro Lad and Mia Dearden, substitute Mia over Hawk, then play Ferro Lad, Apparition and Dawn. Carlos plays Time Trapper hidden.

I attack Mano with Ferro Lad. Ferro Lad’s effect to make him invulnerable, save endurance. Use Elemental Lad’s effect to give him +2 ATK. Activate Mia to get over his 8 Def. Carlos plays Busted Knee on Ferro to make me lose 2 endurance.

I team attack with the rest of my board and bring him to minus 1, but realize I have only enough counters to either attack hidden with Apparition or ready a character with Connor, but not both. What’s the American football expression? Won by inches not yards?

Game 2:

Turn 1:

I draw Jazmin, XS, Science Police Central, Past, Future and Present and Dawn Granger in my opening six. I lost the first game so I get to pick, and I took evens. I lay Past, Present and Future and play Jazmin. Carlos has no recruit so I swing for 2.

Carlos 48 Me 50

Turn 2:

I draw Mega-Blast and Connor Kent <> Superboy. Resource is Science Police Central. I recruit Dawn. Carlos plays Emerald Empress. I flip Science Police and then attack Emerald with Jazmin. Carlos powers up and bricks the attack by 1. Shucks. I pass attacks and then Emerald swings back on Dawn.

Carlos 48 Me 45.

Turn 3:

I draw Jazmin and Karate Kid. Carlos misses (sort of) and plays Emerald Eye. I lay New Recruits as a resource and recruit XS. I put all my characters up front, because I wanted them to attack and for some reason I thought they would be safe on the frontline against a deck that hits unreinforced characters for massive damage. Duh. Not a good example.

Carlos attacks Jazmin with Emerald Eye. I power up for a mutual stun. Empress goes into XS with a Busted Knee. Another mutual. Dawn chips in for 1. Recovery: Atomic Axe on XS. That is irritating, like being flicked in the ear.

At the end of the turn, 44 for Carlos and 38 for me.

Turn 4:

I draw Mia Dearden and Vic Stone. Resource is Mega Blast. I play New Recruits (discarding Karate Kid) to get Timber Wolf so I can recruit him and Mr. Vic Stone. Carlos plays Mano. I team Timber and Jazmin into Mano. Jazmin gets the Science Police boost for 8 ATK. Vic Stone’s effect triggers and I get to stun Emerald Empress for no charge. I lose 2 when Timber Wolf stuns. Dawn and Vic team-attack to the noggin for 8 more. Endurance after turn 4 is 30 for Carlos 36 for me.

Turn 5:

I draw Foiled Assassination and Titans of Tomorrow. Carlos recruits Emerald Eye and Time Trapper on turn 5. Titans in the resource row and I play Mia, and then Titans of Tomorrow to play Apparition. (Deck was out of 3’s, sadly.)

I have: Jazmin and Timberwolf up front, Dawn behind Jazmin, Vic behind Timber Wolf, and Mia unprotected support row adjacent to Vic. Apparition is chilling hidden still of course.

Carlos plays Five Against One on Vic. Emerald Eye attacks Vic, mutual stun. Mano attacks Dawn, I take 8 more. Carlos plays No Man Escapes on Apparition, so I put her next to Mia so I could reinforce. I hated that trick, so brutal to play. Got to No Man Escapes first or last, not in between. I reinforce. Then my swings: I team Timber and Jazmin into Mano again. Vic lost his counter, sad. I play Foiled Assassination to get Jazmin back in my hand, I can play her next turn.

End of turn 5: Endurance is 21 for me and 25 for Carlos.

Turn 6:

I draw Let’s Go, Legionnaires and Saturn Girl. I play Jazmin and Saturn Girl, and get excited about the synergy between Saturn Girl and Science Police Central. I team-attack Jazmin and Vic Stone into Mano. Saturn Girl gives Vic his counter back, so Vic Stone’s Cosmic effect triggers and Vic chooses to blast Time Trapper with his big blue gun hand thing. After I teamed Mia and Timber Wolf into Persuader with a Mega-Blast, Carlos scooped so we could move quickly to game 3.

Game 3:

Turn 1:

I draw New Recruits x2, Jazmin x2, Connor and Dawn. I lay New Recruits because I have odds again. I play Jazmin because I might get Dawn for free later. Carlos recruits Emerald Eye, 2/3 damage soaker. The high DEF is really irritating in this deck.

Turn 2:

I draw Let’s Go, Legionnaires and Foiled Assassination. New Recruits in the row again. I play New Recruits to get a 2 (Ferro Lad.) Carlos activates Saturn on Ferro and then plays Internal on Ferro. I discard Dawn to Saturn Queen’s effect. I lose 8 when Emerald attacks, but I swing back for 2 with Jazmin. After 2 I have 40 to Carlos 47.

Turn 3:

I draw Timber Wolf and Future, Past and Present. I play New Recruits discarding Timber to get Vic. I put Future, Past and Present in my row, recruit Vic, and then flip the team-up. I draw Youth of Tomorrow. Jazmin is protecting Vic and adjacent to Ferro in my formation. Carlos recruits Time Trapper hidden. Vic Stone and Jazmin team into Emerald Eye, and I get to shoot down Time Trapper for the billionth time. I don’t think Trapper did anything for Carlos in any game except lose him 3 endurance. This leaves Ferro to attack directly, which is awesome, because he’s got 0 DEF. Carlos has a ready Saturn Queen but he opts to save her for next turn. At the end of 3, the score is 38 to 39 for me.

Turn 4:

I draw Mia and Karate Kid. Carlos recruits Mano. I place Let’s Go as my resource, and then respond with Connor Kent. Jazmin is protecting Vic Stone and Ferro is protecting Connor in my formation. During his attacks, Carlos puts Time Trapper into Jazmin, I reinforce her with Vic Stone. After that, he attacks Vic with Mano. I exhaust Ferro to play Let’s Go, Legionnaires for the mutual stun. Vic then puts Saturn into Ferro for another mutual stun. I play Foiled Assassination after all this. I debated for a while and bounced Ferro so I could recover Jazmin. I thought I would need the counter more than the attack. After 4 turns, I have 27 to Carlos 24.

Turn 5:

I draw Hawk and Titans of Tomorrow. I play Hawk, she calls on Dawn, and then I recruit Karate Kid. Titans of Tomorrow is my resource. Carlos recruits Validus. That guy has a nozzle for a face and he looks mean. During my attacks, I team Karate Kid, Jazmin and and Dawn into Validus. He stuns Karate. Vic Stone’s effect hits Time Trapper. I ready Karate Kid with Connor, and then team Vic and Karate into Mano. He stuns Karate again. This leaves Connor and Hawk to hit direct for 10. After 5, the score is 19 for me, 2 left for Carlos. 

Turn 6:

I draw Science Police and Foiled Assassination.

It’s Carlos initiative and he recruits Persuader. Guy is huge. Gigantic.

I put SPC in my row and try to figure out who I am going to search for and recruit. I settle on Bart Allen 2-drop, and play Bart, Ferro Lad, and Mia Dearden. My formation of 10 characters looks like this:

Dawn Karate Kid Ferro Bart
Vic Connor Mia Holly Jazmin

Carlos attacks Karate with Persuader after playing No Man Escapes on him. I lose 17 damage, but before Persuader’s recovery triggers, I bounce him to Foiled Assassination so that Carlos can’t exploit him. This looks like the last turn, so no better use for that card, really. He then attacks Ferro with Validus. I reinforce. The rest of my crew teams Validus to tie our endurance in the negatives.

Turn 7:

I draw Element Lad and Mega Blast, which I am going to love playing on Bart Allen. I recruit Karate Kid and Element Lad. My formation looks like this:

Holly Dawn Element Ferro Karate Jazmin
Vic Connor Mia Bart

I honestly didn’t take any notes after this because it was pretty elementary. I played Mega-Blast on Bart, team-attacked, readied him with Connor Kent, cleared his board and then teamed direct for a bunch of damage for the win.

Founding Members [Vs.] Crime Syndicate of Amerika

This match was played by Alex Lloyd (OSM) and Shadowtrooper last minute to help us finish up the first round; so mad props to them.  This match pits the JLA against their Earth-3 foils.  The Crime Syndicate looks to amass a large ’beats’ board by sitting in the hidden area; but the JLA crew gains bonuses when the opponent has a larger board anyway!  Let’s see how it plays out!

Game 1

Turn 1

I take odds with JLA Founding Members vs Shadowtrooper’s IG Earth 3. We both mulligan. I set Terminal Velocity. He recruits Penguin. 49-50

Turn 2

He plays Secret Files and I fetch Barry Allen. He recruits Johnny Quick. I set Watchtower. I recruit Plastic Man as a 4/4. Johnny attacks Plastic Man with Skreeeeeee!.  Penguin goes to the dome. I play Watchtower which gets Superman. 45-48

Turn 3

I recruit Hal Jordan, set Bring it On. He recruits Black Manta. I team attack him for 6. On his return attacks, Quick + Flying Kick goes into Plastic Man. Penguin swings for 9 with an All Too Easy into Hal. Black Manta swings direct. Lost Plastic Man during recovery. 26-41

Turn 4

He recruits Jemm, discarding Catwoman. I recruit Barry Allen. I set Full Throttle. Barry goes  in front of Hal. I KO Hal to his own effect during an attack proposal to get Battle Training, opting to save as much endurance as possible, since I knew I could effectively absorb two attacks with Barry. Barry uses his ability when Jemm attacks, but I still take 4 breakthrough. Quick attacks Barry with a Big Leagues, but Barry says ‘Bring it On’; adding 4 to his DEF and scaring away the rest of Shadowtrooper’s attackers!  I discard Black Lightning for Watchtower, getting Wally. 22-41

Turn 5

I set Roll Call. Supes and Barry go in the front. I use Roll Call to gain a couple of endurance and cycle through some cards. He plays Ultraman and Catwoman. I team attack him for 27 with a power up and a Battle Training played on Superman during the build.  He return-swings Catwoman and Jemm into Supes (who is a rocking 14/14) with Stryker’s Island and Skree. I play Bring it On, adding 6 to Superman’s DEF; but he has a Big Leagues to get over it. Supes and Jemm go down.  Ultraman then goes into Barry, and the rest swing for the game with a Crime Syndicate of Amerika.

Game 2

Turn 1

I take odds again.  He recruits and attacks with Penguin, I draw into Mightiest Heroes with Penguin’s effect and use it to get Black Lightning to the top of my deck.

Turn 2

He plays Superwoman, I play Black Lightning (a 5/4).  He passes attack, I attack for 5.  49-45

Turn 3

I recruit Hal Jordan, set Roll Call.  He Secret Files for Black Manta.  I attack him for 9 with Black Lightning and Hal. On his return-attacks Penguin goes into Hal with an All Too Easy and Superwoman (now a 5/2) goes into Black Lightning.  I play Roll Call, hoping to cycle into a pump and block Superwoman, but to no avail.  Black Manta to the dome. Lost Black Lightning in recovery. 35-33

Turn 4

Jemm and Barry are recruited. He swings Jemm into Barry, I reinforce with Hal and activate Barry’s power. He can’t stun both Hal and Barry with his 1-3 drops, so I manage to keep both going into turn 5.

Turn 5

I play Battle Training on Hal, and play another Roll Call after Supes comes out; gaining 3 endurance.  He plays White Martian. I team attack him for 26. Jemm into Hal with CSA, I play Keystone City revealing 6-drop for reinforcement. Superwoman into Supeman with 2x big leagues and power up.  This made her a 16 atk to Superman’s 13 def, but I decided to take it; saving Bring it On for later. 27-5

Turn 6

I play Battle Training on Barry 6-drop.  He teams Jemm, Superwoman, and Black Manta into Barry. Bring it On adds six and he’s forced to dig for pumps. He plays Secret Files for double powerup to match barry, I power up to the scoop win.

Game 3

Turn 1

Catwoman to dome, 48-52

Turn 2

I play Black Lightning, and he takes a team attack for 2 from Superwoman and Catwoman 46-50

Turn 3

I recruit Hal, he recruits Black Manta. I team attack him directly for 9.  Superwoman into Hal, I power up using Mightiest Heroes and he Flying Kicks. Catwoman into Black Lightning with Skree, I power up, he powers up.  Black Manta smacks me for 8.  I lose Black Lightning in recovery,  31-38

Turn 4

Barry and Ultraman are recruited. Ultraman into Hal, who I remove from game for a Bring it On. Ultraman and Superwoman team attack into Barry but I use his power so that no one takes any damage. 31-38

Turn 5

I recruit Wally to his White Martian. I play two copies of Battle Training on Barry and set Keystone City. I send Wally into Black Manta, we both pass and Black Manta goes down. I swing for 16 with Barry.  I’ve got Trooper down to 13 while I’m still sitting at 31; but he has attacks still.  He sends Superwoman into Wally with a pump, and takes no stun damage thanks to Ultraman.  Then he sends Ultraman himself into Barry, but I have Keystone City for the reinforcement.  White Martian goes straight to the face and I lose Barry while he loses Black Manta. 10-13

Turn 6

His initiative. He recruits Penguin and Johnny Quick.  He swings his Martian and Penguin into my newly recruited Barry 6-drop with 2 powerups.  I had Bring it On, but he showed me the pumps in his hand and I realized it was time to scoop. 

Crime Syndicate wins 2-1!

Brave and the Bold [Vs.] Arkham Exhaust

Batman calls for the aid of all his Robins to help him take down Arkham’s Inmates.  I Bat-Signaled Robert for help with this matchup so that we could finally finish posting the results of DC Round 1!

Game 1

Turn 1 (50-50)

Rob takes odds.  I draw Anarky, KGBeast, three drop Charaxes, and Hush (Mystery Man).  Considering that’s my 1,2,3, and 4 drops; I keep!  I then draw another Hush, Mystery Man and a Calendar Man.  Rob draws Brave and the Bold, Bat-Signal, Cunning Strategy, and Hawk followed by a Mirage and a Dick Grayson.  He recruits Mirage revealing a Gotham Knight to give her a second affiliation.  I row Calendar Man (he’s a reservist) and play Anarky in the hidden area.  Rob passes because he knows that if he attacks, she will be exhausted when Anarky hits her, and Anarky’s effect will keep her locked down.  So I run Anarky into his ready Mirage.

Turn 2 (49-48)

I draw Crushing Blow and Scarecrow, Fearmonger while Rob nets Brave and the Bold and The Hook-Up.  After putting Crushing Blow in the resource row I recruit KGBeast.  Rob plays Hawk, who’s ability puts Dove into play.  He flips Brave and the Bold from his row and plays one from hand netting a Jason Todd and an Alfred off of the top of his deck.  Mirage and Hawk chill in the front row with Dove behind Mirage.

At the start of my attack step KGBeast exhausts Mirage.  I send Anarky into Mirage and Dove reinforces her.  KGBeast then goes for Hawk and, knowing Hawk is done for, Rob exhausts him for a Bat-Signal; getting the 2 drop Tim Drake.  Now that Hawk is exhausted, I decide to play my Crushing Blow for a one-sided stun which allows me to keep both of my characters while Rob is forced to lose Mirage.

Turn 3 (48-40)

I draw Sucker Punch and Smiles Everyone; Rob nets a Batman and a Garth.  He recruits Alfred and the Tim Drake two drop.  I row Smiles Everyone and recruit Charaxes, Drury Walker in front of KGBeast.  Rob moves his characters to the front except for Alfred, who he hides behind Dove.

Dove and Tim team attack into Charaxes, and Tim’s Rally ability nets Rob a Dynamic Duo.  He plays Cunning Strategy so that Charaxes will bounce to my hand when he stuns, which he does, taking Dove down with him (I wanted access to the Alfred behind her).  Hawk then goes for the double stun into KGBeast.  On my attack back I send Anarky into Alfred to keep him locked down with Anarky’s ability.  I lose Anarky during the recovery phase.

Turn 4 (41-35)

I draw No Man’s Land and Amadeus Arkham; Rob draws Alfred and Bat-Signal.  I row No Man’s Land and recruit Hush, Mystery Man.  Rob puts down Jason Todd.  I flip No Man’s Land, discarding Amadeus for its cost.  I then use No Man’s Land to exhaust Tim Drake, but Rob plays a Bat-Signal on the chain – exhausting Tim to its cost.  He gets a four drop Tim Drake out of his deck.  Jason Todd is Rob’s only ready character, so Rob is forced to exhaust him to KGBeast’s effect.

Before I begin my attacks I survey Rob’s exhausted board.  He has Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Alfred.  I assume that he searched out the Tim Drake four drop for a reason, so killing his Tim Drake two drop does not seem like a priority as he should get replaced.  As such I decide to run my Hush into Alfred and pay 1 endurance to his payment effect so that Alfred will stay exhausted should Rob choose to recover him.  KGBeast then goes into Tim Drake for a double-sided stun.  But Rob chooses to keep Tim at the end of the turn making me think he must not be recruiting that four drop next turn.

Turn 5 (39-25)

I draw another Smiles Everyone and a Fear and Confusion while Rob gets GCPD Headquarters and a Teen Titans Go!  Rob recruits his five drop Batman.  I row Sucker Punch and recruit Scarecrow in front of KGBeast.  Hush chills out in the hidden area.

Rob flips GCPD Headquarters and I instantly regret putting Scarecrow in the front row as Rob will most likely team all three characters into him and KO him.  Sure enough, Rob sends all three characters into Scarecrow netting a Follow the Leader with Tim Drake’s ability.  He flips up Dynamic Duo so that I can’t stun anyone back; and I instantly suspect a Teen Titans Go!, but silently take my 10 endurance damage (the extra five is from Batman’s ability) and put Scarecrow in the KO’d pile.  Then comes the inevitable Teen Titans Go!  Batman and Tim Drake team attack KGB.  I take four endurance while Rob collects a Cunning Strategy from Tim’s ability.  On my return attack, I send Hush into Batman playing a Fear and Confusion from hand and powering up to bring his attack equal to Batman’s defense.  I then play a Smiles Everyone and pass.  Rob flips The Hook-up and discards his Tim Drake four drop grasping at straws but passes after he draws his card.  I play a Sucker Punch to preserve my board.

Turn 6 (25-20)

Rob draws Vic Stone and Weapons Upgrade; I draw Matt Hagen and another Sucker Punch, both of which enter play.  Matt is in front of KGBeast.  Rob recruits Koriand’r (d’oh!  I forgot!) and uses her ability to get KGBeast.  At least now his six drop is exhausted, so I use No Man’s Land on Tim Drake.  I then team attack Matt and Hush into Starfire; playing a Sucker Punch and a Smiles Everyone to KO her.  Now I’m out of attackers, but his Jason Todd was in the backrow with no range, so combat is over.

Turn 7 (23-14)

I draw the three drop Charaxes and Bat’s Belfry.  Robert nets a two drop Tim Drake and a Teen Titans Go!  He recruits Alfred, then Boosts Vic Stone for ‘0′ resource points to dig for a 0-cost equipment.  Since there are no more in the deck, he shuffles and I cut.  He then recruits a Weapons Upgrade onto Vic from his hand (apparantly he just wanted to toy with me when he boosted!).  Alfred, Tim, and Jason all go in the front with Vic hiding behind Tim in the middle.  It’s a ‘T’ formation for Teen Titans Rob explains.  I row my Belfrey and (after generating 7 resource points) put Calendar Man into play from the resource row without replacing a resource (7 drops are the biggest drops in my deck anyway); then recruit the Charaxes three drop from my hand.  I put Clayface behind Charaxes with KGBeast in the back adjacent to him.  I then put Calendar Man in the back, but non-adjacent to anyone to use his power to maximum effect.  Hush is still in the hidden area.

Tim, Vic, and Jason go into Charaxes.  Tim’s Rally fails.  He plays follow the leader so that none of his attackers will stun this attack.  Charaxes stuns and KO’s thanks to GCPD Headquarters.  This makes me a sad panda.  He then plays Teen Titans Go and runs just Vic into Clayface (a 9/9 at this point).  I use Calendar Man to dig for a card and get a Glass Jaw.  That doesn’t help me much so I take 10 to his 4 (Weapons Upgrade provides the extra damage).  He then runs his two drop Tim Drake, Titan in Command into KGBeast for a double-stun,  and Jason Todd into Calendar Man for a one-sided stun.  On my attacks I send my hidden Hush into his last remaining character, Jaon Todd.  GCPD Headquarters reinforces him, so I just do three damage.  I keep Matt, he keeps Vic.

Turn 8 (3-5)

The game is close, but with my inititiative on turn 8, I don’t know if Rob’s 2-point endurance lead will hold.  I draw a Penguin and an Amadeus; Rob gets a Hawk and another Vic Stone.  I row Glass Jaw bringing me back up to seven resources and recruit the three drop Charaxes, Penguin, and Amadeus (all in the front row in case his deck has another Starfire!).  I recruited Penguin last as it emptied my hand, that way his ability didn’t force me to pitch my other two drops, who happened to use up all my resources already anyway.  Rob uses Alfred’s ability despite the fact he no longer has a deck to search through.  He simply did not want Alfred on the table as a breakthrough liability.  He then recruits Garth behind Vic.

I start off by using No Man’s Land on his Vic.  “Not a fan,” Rob replies as he taps his cyborg.  I then send Amadeus and Charaxes into Vic.  He powers up, then uses Garth to bring back the power-up and do it again.  This puts him one over my attack.  I show him my Glass Jaw in the row and he scoops.

Game 2

Turn 1 (50-50)

Rob takes odds again wanting to abuse having a Vic and a Batman on turn 5 no doubt.  It’s worth noting that this is my sixth consecutive game with Rob that I have not got to pick the initiative; it’s worked out for me so far, let’s see if my luck continues.  My opening hand is a Bat’s Belfry, 3 drop Charaxes, Amadeus, and a Sucker Punch.  I keep that and draw two Anarky one drops.  Rob’s opening mitt contains Garth, Vic Stone, Jason Todd, and Mirage.  He keeps and draws a Bat-Signal and a Cunning Strategy.  Rob recruits his Mirage and makes her a Gotham Knight by revealing one from hand.  I row a Bat’s Belfry and recruit Anarky in the hidden area.  Just like last game, Rob passes his attak with Mirage so that she’s not exhausted when Anarky attacks her; and just like last game I attack her with Anarky.

Turn 2 (49-48)

I draw Hush, Silent and Deadly along with a KGBeast; Rob gets Alfred and Follow the Leader.  I row Sucker Punch and play KGBeast.  Rob plays Alfred behind Mirage.  KGBeast’s effect goes on the chain, but Mirage exhausts for a Bat-Signal instead.  Rob pulls a Batman (who Rob refers to as ‘the man they call Jayne’ for all you Firefly fans out there) from his deck.  KGBeast goes into Mirage, which allows Anarky to go into Alfred.  I power Anarky up to prevent a stun-back.  Once again it looks like Anarky’s effect will be keeping Alfred in check.  It almost seems like they designed Anarky to be Alfred’s foil.  Despite being locked down, Rob chooses to keep Alfred.

Turn 3 (47-41)

I draw Charaxes, Killer Moth and a Penguin; Rob nets Brave and the Bold and Teen Titans Go!  He puts Jason Todd in front of his tapped Alfred.  I row my Amadeus and recruit Charaxes, Drury Walker in front of KGBeast.

Rob sends Jason Todd into Charaxes for the double-stun, but his Alfred is still tapped, so he passes his attacks.  I send my Anarky into Alfred, once again locking him for another turn; then KGBeast goes in direct

Turn 4 (42-32)

I draw Hush, Mystery Man and a Calendar Man while Rob draws Tim Drake, Titan in Command and Tim Drake, Leader of the Pack.  I row Calendar Man (Reservist) and recuit Hush, Silent and Deadly non-adjacent to anyone.  Rob recruits Vic Stone with his Weapon Upgrade in front of Jason Todd.

KGBeast’s effect locks down Jason Todd.  Rob flips Brave and the Bold, teaming up and drawing a card.  I fly my Charaxes over Vic Stone into Jason Todd because if I attack Vic first, Jason Todd can use his nasty ability to remove the attacker.  I play Sucker Punch (this card has proven to be BRUTAL!) and Jason Todd hits the KO’ed pile thanks to Charaxes nifty text.  I flip Bat’s Belfry and remove The Penguin and Charaxes, Killer Moth from the game for its effect.  Rob asks me if I have a Zoning Permit for my location, but I ignore him and proceed to attack.  Hush goes into Vic, and Vic exhausts because of Belfry; now that he’s exhausted, Hush does not stun back because of Sucker Punch.  Vic KO’s to Hush’s ability and KGBeast attacks with an open board.

Turn 5 (42-20)

I pull Two-Face and Hush, Mystery Man; Rob pulls Dynamic Duo and Dove.  Rob looks at his empty board and puts the four drop Robin into play with a Dove.  I row Hush, Mystery Man and recruit Calendar Man from my row (rowing a second Mystery Man to replace him).  I use Bat’s Belfrey to remove Charaxes, Killer Moth and Two-Face from the game, emptying my hand.  Then I recruit The Penguin, who draws and discards a Matt Hagen when he comes into play.  I have a very unusual formation at this point.  Calendar Man and Hush are being careful not to sit next to anyone (I’m not worried about breakthrough that much on Calendar Man, because if Rob wants to clear my board with team attacks, that means he won’t be causing breakthrough anyway) while  Charaxes and Penguin visit adjacent in the front row and KGBeast chills behind Charaxes.  Rob teams both his guys into Calendar Man with a Cunning Strategy.  I’m forced to pull Calendar Man back to my hand, but not before his activation nets me a Fear and Confusion.  Rob then plays Teen Titans Go!, or; as Rob always declares (in his best Mickey Moust impersonation), “Mee mee-mee Me.”  Both his characters now run into Hush with a Dynamic Duo.  He also comes bouncing to my hand.  I round out the turn by sending The Penguin into Dove for some breakthrough, and team-attacking Charaxes and KGBeast into Tim for some KO!

Turn 6 (33-11)

I draw Sucker Punch and Smiles Everyone; Rob, on the other hand, gets a Follow the Leader and a Bat-Signal.  I row my Sucker Punch and replay both my Hush, Silent and Deadly and my Calendar Man.  I also have the Charaxes six drop that I could have played, but I wanted to spread out my attacks a little for team attacks since I lacked significant attack pumps.  After all, Fear and Confusion adds 2 to the attack when two characters are team attacking, but only 1 when you’ve thrown a single attacker into the fray.  Everyone of my guys is put in the front in case of another Starfire incident like last game (who says I never learn?!).  Instead Rob drops Dick Grayson.

Dove taps to KGBeast.  Calendar Man draws me a Charaxes, Drury Walker.  KGBeast goes into Dove with a Sucker Punch and Dick Grayson uses his text to reinforce (ditching a Garth).  I then use Belfrey ditching Two-Face and Smiles Everyone before I team attack Charaxes and Hush into Dick Grayson.  He Bat-Signals just for the fun of it, knowing the end is near.  Finally, I run the Penguin at his face.

Final Score (33- -1)

Well, Arkham Exhaust takes the win.  It seemed a very solid deck while I was playing it.  It could always tap opponent’s characters when I needed them to be tapped; whether it was to stop an attack back, or to enable effects that trigger off of attacking an exhausted character.  The Brave and the Bold deck did not perform as well as expected.  We weren’t sure if it was because of the matchup - after all, Arham’s ability to KO the board every turn left few team attacks possible on Rob’s initiative; or if it was because the deck was missing Fizzle, Heroic Sacrifice, and Roy Harper - all staples in the classic build.  Dynamic Duo and Follow the Leader both prevent stun-backs.  We probably don’t need both.  It could be possible to cut one or two for Fizzles.  After all, if Rob could have stopped one Sucker Punch, or one Smiles Everyone, he could have much more easily amassed the board he needed for some serious damage.

Hope you guys enjoyed DC Round 1.  For those paying attention, the following bolded teams won their matchups:

This round had a couple of upsets.  Both Arkham decks (considered tier 2 or worse in the 60 card format) beat decks that are traditionally considered Tier 1.  Aside from those 2, the only other matchup I predicted wrong was the trouncing that Revenge Squad would have at the hands of Superman Blue.  That means I got 5/8 correct (don’t worry, my guesses don’t count for the competition, they are merely to keep myself entertained!);  hope you all fared better.  I’ll let you know as soon as I decided what the Round 1 prize is.

The results are in (mostly)!

I know a lot of peolple have been waiting anxiously to see how many points they’ve accumulated after this first round of matches, but it’s been delayed for good reasons.

1. I was on my honeymoon and unable to coordinate efforts of the volunteers very well.
2. More time meant more people could get involved in the Betting Pool (very important in the first round).
3. Volunteers have busy lives too.  There was a gamut of legitimate reasons some games had not been played or reports have not yet been submitted.

That being said, I had to post something ASAP.  This article will have half of the matches because 8 matches would be too much for one article!  Get reading, you’ve been waiting for this!

Remember that all decklists can be found HERE!

JLI [Vs.] Checkmate/VU

I played this match myself with my good friend Rob (the hooligan who got me started in the CCG world with Decipher’s Star Wars CCG).

Because it was the first deck he grabbed out of the tin, he got JLI; and I got CM/VU.  I paired these two decks together so that we could play out the Max Lord/Blue Beetle start of the 52 storyline.  Let’s see if the decks play out like the comics!

Game 1

Turn 1 (50-50)

Rob took odds after winning the coin flip and drew 2x Joseph Jones, Kooey, and Ted Kord.  I had Connie, Dr. Psycho, Ahmed, and Target Aquired.  We both kept.  He drew Booster and Running Interference (he kept draw notes for me), while I drew Threat Neutralized and Science Spire.

Rob recruits and taps Ted getting a Justice League Signal Device (discarding one of his Joes).   I row my Threat Neutralized, recruit Connie Webb, and – deciding not to trade ones against a deck that wants to beat me early – use her activated ability to grab Alan Scott; putting her on top of the deck.

Turn 2 (50-50)

I draw a Connie (who knew) and a Dr. Psycho while Rob draws a Tazmanian Devil and a Martian Manhunter.  I place Science Spire in the row  and recruit Dr. Psycho.  Rob drops a Booster behind Ted so that I can’t take advantage of Dr. Psycho’s effect without finding the ability to fly somewhere.  Dr. Psycho trades stuns with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold smacks me up.

Turn 3 (45-46)

I draw a Laser Watch and a Huntress; Rob gets a Ted Kord and a Trial by Fire.  Rob puts down Joeseph Jones (who makes me think – did that deck run a card that let it attack the hidden area?  I row a Target Aquired and recruit Ahmed (revealing Connie).  He transfers the Signal Device to Joeseph, which nets him a Sue Dibny at the start of combat.

Blue goes into Psycho, but I have a power-up and a Threat Neutralized that force him to play his Trial by Fire.  After that he sends 8 straight to the dome.  I return with an Ahmed into his Booster.

Turn 4 (32-39)

I draw Maxwell Lord (watch out Blue Beetle!) and Deathstroke; Rob hits Sue Dibny and Oberon.  I row Connie and and flip my Science Spire.  Then I recruit Alan Scott and Rolex er… Laser Watch on Dr. Psycho, which lets me tap the Science Spire to draw into a Brother Eye (I have Threat Neutralized, so I’m not too worried about having two kings on the table).  I put my newly-ranged Psycho behind Alan.  Rob drops an Oberon and Sue - getting an L-Ron out of his deck and onto the table.  Booster sits behind Oberon; Sue behind Joe; the scientologist sits alone in front.  Signal device fails (hitting a JLI Embassy), and we’re off to the races!

Psycho swings into Joe and Psycho’s ability takes down Oberon with everyone else.  A cardboard bloodbath!  Alan is now free to annihilate Booster; and Ahmed does the same to L-Ron.

Turn 5 (30-21)

I draw Ahmed and Threat Neutralized; Rob nabs a Batman and an L-Ron.  I row Brother Eye and recruit my third ‘king’ of the game, Maxwell Lord, in front of Dr. Psycho. Rob rows Tazmanian Devil and then recruits him – choosing not to replace (his deck wants four or less resources).  All his characters are in the front row.  Signal Device misses with a Kooey, which made Rob go, “Booey”.  OK, that didn’t happen, but I thought it.

Tazmanian Devil (a 12/7) went into  Max and they both hit the dirt.  Sue then went into Psycho, and when I tried to brickwall with a Threat Neutralized, he had the power-up.  But that was all he had, and it was my turn to attack.  Alan went into Joe, followed by an Ahmed attack (aided by a power-up and Brother-Eye) to the dome to end it.

Final Score: 21- -4

Game 2

Rob decides to try evens this time.

Turn 1 (50-50)

My hand didn’t have Ahmed or Connie, so I pitched it.  I got 2x Brother Eyes, a Safe-House, and a Brother I Satellite.  I then drew a Connie Webb and a Dr. Psycho (perfect!).  Rob drew 2x Running Interference, Ted Kord, and Dr. Light.  I rowed my Safe-House and put Connie into play while he drops a Ted into play, once again getting a Signal Device.  At the start of combat his Signal device proves its worth and nabs a Sue Dibny.  I decided to be little braver this game and ran Connie into Ted.

Turn 2 (49-49)

I draw a Spire and Psycho; Rob gets a Captain Marvel and JLI Embassy.  I put both my new cards into play, and Rob recruits Booster after searching him out with Ted (Rob has now pitched Running Interference and Captain Marvel to Ted’s ability this game).  I flip my team-up making it an official CM/VU deck!

Booster runs into Connie, but she runs away to get Ahmed.  He’s now forced to run Booster into Psycho and take the dreaded double-stun (from Pyscho’s ability).  I absorb some damage with my Safe-House and we both retain our boards (thanks to a timely JLI Embassy – ditching Dibny).

Turn 3 (46-46)

I drew Connie and Alexander Luthor; Rob nets Kooey and Batman.  I put out Ahmed after rowing a Brother Eye and rob recruits Dr. Light, tranferring the Signal Device to her.

I run Psycho into Booster, Flipping my Science Spire and Brother Eye so that I can nurse a +3 ATK from Brother Eye.  He reinforces and allows Booster and Ted to go down together with Psycho.  Ahmed then runs into Dr. Light for five more damage.  He pitches Trial by Fire (with a groan) to his Embassy to retain his board for his initiative.

Turn 4 (44-38)

I drew Bizarro and Ahmed while Rob drew a Signal Device and a Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha.  He recruits  Batman with that shiny new Signal Device.  I row a Brother I Satellite and recruit Bizarro behind Dr. Psycho.  His first Signal Device misses (Kooey), but the second one hits (Oberon).  He Kooeys (I have no idea what for), and his Batman is now a stellar component of his board (he now has four or less resources).

Booster attacks Bizarro with a Trial by Fire; that and Batman make him a 9/4.  I take six, and he gets to gain two because of Bizarro’s Vengeance.  Dr. Light (a 6/6) then goes into Psycho; followed by Batman for seven to the face.  I choose not to attack back with Ahmed as I wanted to retain my board.  Since I was going to lose Psycho anyway, I use Science Spire on him netting an Alan Scott and a Laser Watch.  I pitch the two Dr. Psychos in my hand and end the turn by recovering Bizarro.

Turn 5 (25-40)

I draw Brother I Satellite and Threat Neutralized; Rob got Captain Marvel and Tazmanian Devil.  Brother I Satellite goes straight to the row and is flipped, pitching Connie to get Talia.  I then flip my other Brother I Satellite, pitching Alan to get Sarge Steel (I was getting him to prepare for a very defensive turn 6, and I already had Alexander in hand anyway).  Rob drops a Rocket Red and Oberon.  Oberon goes behind Booster, Dr. Light was behind Bats, and Rocket Red was alone in the back row, inspiring Rob to break out into a terrible rendition of, “All By Myself.”

I run Bizarro into Dr. Light to tear apart his formation, but he taps Booster for Running  Interference (dang!).  I then send Talia into bats for some one-sided beats; and Ahmed into Rocket Red with a Brother Eye activation to make him an 11/6.  Red uses his own ability to absorb some damage, and Oberon powers him up to give him 2 more DEF (thanks to Booster’s Ally ability).

Turn 6 (25-28)

I draw Huntress and Sasha; Rob nets JLI Embassy and Blue Beetle.  He drops Taz from hand (leaving himself with 5 resource) and I comment that he must have a Kooey or Marvel in the row.  I put my second Brother Eye into the row and drop Alex, who draws me a Connie and a Sarge.  I then equip a Laser Watch to Alex (A play error.  His 11 attack, while normally low, is plenty to stun any character in Rob’s deck.  It should have gone to Talia to give her range) and exhaust a Brother I Satellite to draw a Maxwell Lord.  Alex protects Bizarro, and Talia chills in the back.  Robs 1st Signal Device nets him a Booster, while the 2nd one fails (Bwa Ha).

He sends Taz into my Luthor with a Captain Marvel from the row (I knew it!) to bring his ATK up to 20.  I reinforce and we trade stuns.  He then team attacks Booster, Rocket Red, Dr. Light, and Batman into Talia so that Dr. Light’s ability will stun Ahmed.  Instead, I tap Ahmed to KO my used and exhausted Brother I Satellite for another Safe-House.  I then bounce Ahmed to hand with Spire, drawing 2x Target Aquired and a Bizarro.  I pitch Sarge Steel (who goes into play in front of Talia thanks to her effect) and 2x Ahmed.  Steel now stuns instead of Talia (thanks to his text), and Talia stuns Batman.

Turn 7 (17-19)

I draw Deathstroke and a Laser Watch; Rob draws 2x L-Ron.  I choose Sasha over Deathstroke because it’s unlikely that he will ever stun back to trigger his Vengeance ability in this matchup.  I also drop my extra Watch on Talia (finally!), tapping my Brother I Satellite to draw into the last card in my deck… a Threat Neutralized.  Now I have to do some math.  All my plots added together could do +8 ATK on my characters (as I obviously wouldn’t tap my Brother Eye for Target Aquired).  Sasha’s ability would not allow me to use those plots if I chose to let it ‘go off’.  Her ability netted me +2/+2 to all four of my characters.  This seems obviously better, but remember, I can’t choose the distribution of ATK like I would be able to with the plot twists.  However, I still had Brother Eye (times 2) for emergencies, so Sasha’s ability won out!  Rob recruits a Blue Beetle and Joeseph Jones.  His front row has Taz next to Bats next to Oberon next to Joe.  His back row, in the same order, had Booster next to Dr. Light next to Rocket Red next to Blue Beetle.  His first Signal Device misses (Kooey), his second hits (Manhunter).

I send Bizarro into Red, but Dr. Light reinforces.  I then create another lovers quarrel by sending Talia into Bats.  Oberon powers up Bats (with Booster’s Ally) to make Bats a 8/8, and take less damage.  Sasha then SMASHES into Oberon with both Brother Eye activations on her.  This does 25 damage and drops Rob waaay negative.  Alex then takes out a reinforced Taz for 5 more.

Final Score (17- -23)

Checkmate/VU has it in only 2 games.  Rob and I discussed what could have changed.  Evens was clearly better for JLI, and if Talia/Sarge hadn’t stolen turn six, Rob could have had it.  We decided there were no critical play errors on the JLI side of things, but the deck could maybe have included some differenct cards.

• Dr. Light was too hard to pull off because her ability was ‘less than’ not ‘less than or equal to’.  She could have been Silver Sorceress instead (who could have pulled Ahmed visible).
• Running Interference, while clutch one time, was way to situational, and often a dead card. The deck needs more flight to make more team-attack combinations possible.  Maybe Air Strike instead so that we can squeeze more attack in there with flight.

Green Lantern Corps [Vs.] Emerald Enemies 

This match was arranged by Aaron Mead (Onyxweapon).  I say ‘arranged’ because he took it upon him self to be a neutral party, ensuring that both players were making optimal plays at all times.  What follows is the report he submitted.  His formatting is a little different than mine.  Here’s how each turn will look:

• The turn count and who controls Initiative
• Cards drawn by each player
• Initiative player build/recruit/formation followed by off-initiative player’s build/recruit/formation
• Combat details
• Recovery details (who recovered, who KO’d)
• Endurance total at end of turn

It’s on!

GL won the roll and opted for evens.

Game 1

Turn 1 -EE init.

Both players keep their opening hands.

GLplayer: GL Ring/Hal Jordan/Oa (autokeep)/Uppercut followed by a draw of Recharge the Sun/The Ring Has Chosen

EEplayer: Sonar/Trial By Fire/Obsidian/Fatality followed by a draw of Emerald Dawn/Henry King Jr.

EEplayer begins, setting Trial by Fire and recruiting Sonar.

GLplayer sets Oa, passes.

Sonar attacks for 1.

GL49 EE50

Turn 2 -GL init

GLdraw Light Armor/ G’nort

EEdraw Dr. Light/ Dr.Polaris

GLplayer sets Recharge the Sun, recruiits G’nort.

EEplayer sets Emeral Dawn, recruits Fatality adjacent to Sonar in the support row.

G’nort attacks Sonar for a mutual stun, Fatality attacks direct.

Recovery – GL recovers G’nort

EE recovers Sonar

GL45 EE 49

Turn 3 -EE init

GLdraw Brik/ Guy Gardner

EEdraw Sinestro/ Empire of Tears

EEplayer Sets Empire of Tears, recruits Dr. light in the support row adjacent to Fatality and protected by Sonar.

GLplayer sets The Ring has Chosen, recruits Hal Jordan adjacent to G’nort.

Fatality attacks G’nort. Hal reinforces and both pass. Sonar attacks Hal Jordan with a Trial by Fire, both stun. Dr. Light parades alone for 3.

Recovery – GL rcovers Hal, loses G’nort.

EE recovers Sonar

GL37 EE48

Turn 4 -GL init

Gldraw Arisia/ The Ring Has Chosen (TRHC)

EEdraw The Shark/ Empire of Tears

GLplayer sets TRHC, recruits Green Lantern Ring on Hal, and flips TRHC - searching out Ch’p and discarding Brik.  Ch’p then gets a Light Armor put onto him. Both form adjacent in the support row.

EEplayer sets Henry King Jr. and recruits Obsidian. And forms with Obsidian protected by Fatality, and next to her Sonar, similarly protecting Dr. Light in a box formation.

Hal Jordan attacks Obsidian, and pumps with uppercut from hand for +5atk, but eliminating breakthrough. Both stun. Then Ch’p declares into Dr. Light, and on the legal attack flips OA, discarding Arisia for its cost, and activating it on Ch’p putting him at a 15/6. EE debates using Emerald dawn and thinks better of it. Dr. Light stuns.

Recovery – GL recovers Hal

EE recovers Obsidian, loses Dr. Light

GL34 EE30

Turn 5 – EE init

GLdraw OA/ Boodikka

EEdraw Goldface/ Major Disaster

GLplayer sets OA and recruits Guy Gardner in front of Ch’p in an L-formation, and slaps a Light Amor on Ch’p.

EEplayer sets The Shark and recruits Major Force in Dr. Lights old support row position (maintaining a box formation) and moving Obsidian to the front row since he has no range. with Fatality formed behind him.

Fatality and Sonar team attack Hal Jordan and Hal stuns back Fatality.

EEplayer plays Emerald Dawn, KOing Sonar Searching for Tattooed Man. He then declares Obsidian into Ch’p flipping Empire of Tears KOing the face down Shark, and the face down Henry King Jr. and activating Empire of Tears to give Obsidian a +2+2; then using Obsidian’s effect to KO Empire of Tears for an additional +2atk.  GLplayer passes and the two stun (Ch’p was a 9/6 with the Light Armor) with only 2 resources remaining, Major Force swings over Guy with 12/12 and avoids the stunback.

Recovery – GL recovers Ch’p; losing Hal and Guy.

EE recovers Obsidian losing Fatality

GL11 EE24

Turn 6 – GL init

GLdraw Recharge the sun/ Oliver Queen

EEdraw Golden Death/ Goldface

GLplayer sets Recharge the Sun and recruits Boodikka adjacent to Ch’p

EEplayer sets Empire of Tears and recruits Sinestro (2 resources cheaper)

After debating the potential no-stunback boodikka swing, GLplayer chooses to go for straight damage, sending boodikka into Sinestro (only 2 resources face up so a measly 10 atk to boodikka’s 13/13).  The EEplayer thinks for a long bit, and then passes. Then Ch’p attacks Major Force, with an Oa pump, flips another Oa, discarding Oliver Queen and KOing the original; and OA#2 pumps CH’p again for a 21atk 4 drop.  Seeing this will put him exactly at 0, EEplayer flips Empire of Tears, KOing all his resources with the exception of Empire of Tears itself, and activates on Major force soaking the much needed 4 endurance and forcing one more turn. Obsidian does not attack.

Recovery – GL recovers Ch’p

EE recovers Major Force and loses Sinestro

GL7 EE4

Turn 7 – EE init

GLdraw Light Armor/ Kyle Rayner

EEdraw The Shark/ Prison Planet

EEplayer sets Prison Planet, then recruits Tattooed Man behind Obsidian in an L-formation.

GLplayer sets Light Armor and flips TRHC from the resource row, discarding Kyle Rayner to search out Sinestro. Sinestro is recruited in the front of Ch’p in an L-formation as well.

Obsidian started the fireworks attacking Sinestro. Once legal EEplayer flipped Prison Planet and activated Empire of Tears’ effect putting him at 12atk.  Then EEplayer used Obsidian’s effect to KO Empire of Tears and give Tat. Man +1 atk for the turn. Both stunned.  Then Tattooed Man attacked Ch’p with 8 atk. Boodikka reinforced but the EEplayer responded with Golden Death removing reinforcement and granting +2 atk.

Once again a mutual Stun. Major force batted Cleanup swinging on Boodikka at 15/13. Ensuring the win of game 1.

A closer game than the score might indicate, and a nail-biter to the end. EE triumphs over good in round 1 with a final of:

Team Green Lantern: -15 endurance

Team Emerald Enemies: -2 endurance

GAME 2

GL decides to try odds.

Turn 1 – GL init

Both players keep

GH has Light Armor/Arisia/Olapet/The Ring Has Chosen (TRHC) followed by a draw of Green Lantern Ring/ Hal Jordan

EE has Sonar/Emerald Dawn/Tattooed Man/Major Force followed by a draw of Trial by Fire/ Femme Fatality

GLplayer sets TRHC, and recruits Arisia in the support row.

EEplayer sets Trial by Fire, and recruits Sonar in the support row as well.

Arisia attacks Sonar for the mutual stun.

Recovery – Both recover

EE49 GL49

Turn 2 – EE init

GLdraw Uppercut/ Guy Gardner

EEdraw Emerald Dawn/ Goldface

EEplayer sets Emerald Dawn and recruits Tattooed Man adjacent to Sonar.

GLplayer sets Uppercut and recruits Olapet in the support row adjacent to Arisia.

Sonar attacks Arisia for a mutual stun, and Tattooed Man attacks Olapet for 1 breakthrough and avoiding the stunback.

Recovery – GL recovers Arisia, losing Olapet

EE recovers Sonar

EE48 GL46

Turn 3 – GL init

GLdraw GL Ring/ G’nort

EEdraw Sinestro/ The Shark

GLplayer sets GL Ring and equips the other GL Ring to Arisia. Then recruits Hal Jordan and equips him with a Light Armor.

EEplayer Sets Femme Fatality, flips Emerald Dawn, KOing Sonar to search for and recruit Dr. Light in the support row. Dr. Light activates to return Sonar, forming him in front of Tat. Man in an L-formation.

Arisia strikes first, attacking Dr. Light. her effect combined with the GL ring puts her at 4 atk and the Dr. stuns. Then Hal Picks a fight with Tat. Man at 8/4, and EEplayer plays Emerald Dawn, KOing Sonar to get the Tattooed Man power-up needed for the stunback.

Recovery – GL recovers Hal and loses Arisia

EE recovers Dr. Light, losing Tat. Man.

EE39 GL42

Turn 4 EE init

GLdraw THRC/ Oa

EEdraw Empire of Tears/ Major Force

EEplayer sets Empire of Tears and recruits Goldface, discarding Major Disaster and The Shark as an additional cost. Dr. Light then activates to place Tattooed man (at 2/2) into the front row in an L-formation protecting Goldface.

GLplayer sets Oa, and plays TRHC and searches out Kilowog, forming him in the support row adjacent to Hal.

Tat. Man begins by declaring into Hal Jordan with a Trial br Fire, for a mutual stun reinforced by Kilowog. Then Goldface attacks with his absurd 9/9 on Kilowog and avoids the stunback.

Recovery – GL recovers Kilowog loses Hal

EE recovers Tattooed Man.

EE37 GL33

Turn 5 GL init

GLdraw Guy Gardner/ Oliver Queen

EEdraw Fatality/ Dr. Polaris

GLplayer sets TRHC and recruits Guy protecting Kilowog.

EEplayer sets Fatality and recruits Major Force in the support row next to Goldface, then flips Empire of Tears, KOing two resources as an additional cost to flip (Fatality and Trial by Fire) and then activates Dr. Light to place Fatality into play protecting Major Force.

GLplayer begins by sending Kilowog into Dr. LIght. EEplayer chooses not to reinforce and Dr light stuns. Then Guy Gardner attacks Tattooed Man, discarding Oliver Queen to flip and activate Oa for a 14/7 Guy.  EEplayer again doesn’t reinforce, obviously wanting to retalliate.

Major Force strikes back swinging on Guy with an 11/11 frame, Guy powers up and EEplayer responds with activating empire of tears, flipping Femme Fatality and KOing a resource (Femme Fatality) for an additional +3 and guaranteeing Guy’s KO. Placing him at 17/14 and avoiding the stunback. Then Goldface attacks Kilowog and uses his own effect, KOing Emerald dawn (1 resource remaining) for a daunting 11/11, once more avoiding the stunback. Finally Fatality swings direct for an additional 3 dmg.

Recovery – GL recovers Kilowog

EE recovers Dr. Light and Loses Tattooed Man.

EE17 GL13

Turn 6 EE init

GLdraw Ch’p/ Arisia

EEdraw Prison Planet/ Empire of Tears

EEplayer sets Prison Planet, activates Dr. Light to place Tat. Man in the front row protecting Goldface.

GLplayer sets Arisia and flips TRHC to search for Sinestro, discarding Ch’P. Sinestro forms behind Kilowog.

Tattooed man attacks Kilowog, and on the legal attack, EEplayer flips Prison Planet and activates Empire of Tears, for an 8/6 attacker. Sinestro reinforces and Kilowog and Tat. Man both stun. Then Goldface attacks Sinestro and uses his effect to KO Empire of Tears, putting him at 13/11 and taking Sinestro down. with only 2 endurance left and a 15/13 Major force and a 5/2 Fatality to contend with the game is over.

EE wins two straight.

Had the attacks concluded final score would be:

Team Emerald Enemies: 11

Team Green Lantern: -17

GL Thoughts: While drawing copies of Uppercut, the few times I had the opportunity to play it were the times I needed breakthrough; and where was Chopping Block in this build?

EE Thoughts: Dr. Light is a beast and will singlehandedly win games as seen in game 2. While i wasn’t originally sold on Femme Fatality, seeing it singlehandedly close the door on GL has made me a believer. However with the teams potential to actually go to 0 resources on 5, I feel Light Armor would have been a sound inclusion since it technically has no threshold cost for its +3 this attack.(and of course since Major Force has willpower. (18 atk on turn 5 is always nice).

Overall feelings: GL felt like it could bring the hurt, however when faced against an opponent that consistently played larger characters early in the game, it seemed difficult for them to keep any sort of field presence to try to take advantage of Recharge the sun or the stacking wilpower based attack pumps. Limiting their remarkable up-curve power swings. EE has some interesting synergies that can blindside opponents, and Trial by Fire is absolutely an amazing fit. But in the end, Dr. Light maintains your field and allows for the often surprising Tat. Man up-curve swing; helping you push that kill turn.

I dont expect to see this EE deck lose to any curve deck. Period.  However its Achilles’ heal will be stall and a hyper rush looking for a turn 4 kill - or earlier.

Good Guys (JLA/JLI) [Vs.] Secret Society

Charles Burke (Uncle Chawie) and his friend Andrew took the helm for this game.  Again the format is different, though everything is labeled, so I think you can figure it out.  JLI took a beating in its match against CM/VU.  Let’s see how they fair when they team up with the JLA to take on the Secret Society.  Enjoy the read!

Game 1

Andrew wins roll and chooses Odds

SS Draw: 2x Acceptable Loss, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze

JLA/JLI Draw: Hall of Justice, Trial by Fire, Nth Metal, Hero’s Welcome – Mulligan

JLA/JLI Mulligan Draw: Fire, JLI Embassy, Magnificent Seven, Ted Kord

Turn 1:

SS Draw: Dr. Sivana, Deathstroke

JLA/JLI Draw: John Henry Irons, Shayera Thal

SS Resource: Acceptable Loss

SS Recruit: No Recruit

JLA/JLI Resource: JLI Embassy,

JLA/JLI Recruit: Ted Kord

JLA/JLI Combat: Ted Kord attacks direct for 2

Endurance: SS: 48 JLA/JLI: 50

Turn 2:

JLA/JLI Draw: Hero’s Welcome, Conner Hawke

SS Draw: The Riddler, Straight to the Grave

JLA/JLI Resource: Hero’s Welcome

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruit Conner Hawke forms with Conner Hawke in front of Ted Kord

SS Resource: Acceptable Loss

SS Recruit: Dr. Sivana, activates Dr. Sivana drawing Poison Ivy, discarding Mr. Freeze

JLA/JLI Combat: Conner Hawke attacks direct for 3, Ted Kord attacks direct for 2

Endurance: SS: 43 JLA/JLI:50

Turn 3:

SS Draw: Doomsday, Black Manta

JLA/JLI Draw: Kooey, Kooey, Kooey, World’s Greatest Heroes

SS Resource: Straight to the Grave

SS Recruit: Activate Dr. Sivana drawing Forced Conscription discarding The Riddler. Recruit Poison Ivy

JLA/JLA Resouce: Kooey, Kooey, Kooey

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruits Shayera Thal, Plays Worlds Greatest Heroes from hand drawing Light Armor. Activates Ted Kord discarding Light Armor searching for Nth Metal. Equips Shayera Thal with Nth Metal.

SS Combat: Poison Ivy triggers putting The Riddler into play. Activates The Riddler targeting self putting Gorilla City in KO’d pile. Poison Ivy attacks Conner Hawke. Charles plays Magnificent Seven for power-up. Discard Fire to Shayera Thal searching for Katar Hol. Andrew flips Acceptable Loss KOing The Riddler. Double stun

JLA/JLI Combat: Shayera Thal attacks direct for 6

Endurance: SS:34 JLA/JLI:42

Turn 4:

JLA/JLI Draw: Ted Kord, Booster Gold

SS Draw: Slaughter Swamp, Gorilla Gordd

JLA/JLI Resource: Booster Gold

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruits Katar Hol. Activates Ted Kord discarding Ted Kord searching for Nth Metal. Equips Katar Hol with Nth Metal.

SS Resource: Slaughter Swamp

SS Recruit: Recruits Gorilla Grodd. Forms all in back row. Activates Dr. Sivana drawing Dr. Sivana discarding Doomsday.

JLA/JLI Combat: Poison Ivy triggers putting The Riddler into play. Activates The Riddler targeting self putting Sinestro into KO’d pile. Team Shayera Thal and Conner Hawke into Gorilla Grodd who stuns back Shayera Thal. Katar Hol attacks Poison Ivy. Andrew flips Acceptable Loss KOing The Riddler and powers up discarding Poison Ivy. Double Stun.

Recovery: SS loses Gorilla Grodd, JLA/JLI loses Shayera Thal

Endurance: SS:26 JLA/JLI:35

Turn 5:

SS Draw: Dr. Polaris, Remote Facility

JLA/JLI Draw: Katar Hol, Sue Dibny

SS Resource: Remote Facility

SS Recruit: Straight to the Grave searching for Charaxes and Agility and putting them in KO’d pile. Recruits Black Manta putting Charaxes into play.

JLA/JLI Resource: Sue Dibny

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruits John Henry Irons equipping him with Nth metal from KO’d pile. Flips Kooey, Kooey, Kooey. KO’s Kooey, Kooey, Kooey searching for Magnificent Seven.

SS Combat: Poison Ivy Trigger putting The Riddler into play. Activates The Riddler on JLA/JLI putting Light Armor into KO’d pile. Activates Dr. Sivana on JLA/JLI drawing Kooey, Kooey, Kooey, discarding Katar Hol. Black Manta attacks Conner Hawke. Poison Ivy attacks Ted Kord. Charles plays Magnificent Seven on Ted Kord. Double Stun.

JLA/JLI Combat: Katar Hol attacks Charaxes. John Henry Irons attacks into Black Manta. Andrew pays 3 endurance for Black Manta getting Agility. Plays Agility. Bricks attack.

Recovery: Andrew loses Charaxes. Charles loses Ted Kord

Endurance: SS:14 JLA/JLI:23

Turn 6:

JLA/JLI Draw: Hall of Justice, Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha

SS Draw: The Riddler, Dr. Polaris

JLA/JLI Resource: Kooey, Kooey, Kooey

JLA/JLI Recruit: Flips Kooey, Kooey, Kooey. Ko’s Kooey, Kooey, Kooey searching for Shayera Thal. Recruits Shayera Thal.

SS Resource: unsure

SS Recruit: Flips Slaughter Swamp. Activates Slaughter Swamp discarding Dr. Polaris getting Mr. Freeze. Recruits Mr. Freeze putting Charaxes into play and readying Slaught Swamp. Activates Dr. Sivana on JLA/JLI drawing World’s Greatest Heores and discarding Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha. Activates The Riddler on JLA/JLI. Charles chains World’s Greatest Heroes drawing Trial by Fire. The Riddler resolves putting Sue Dibny into KO’d pile.

JLA/JLI Combat: John Henry Irons attacks Mr. Freeze. After Nth Metal triggers, KO Nth Metal to John Henry Irons for second power-up. Andrew Reinforces with Poison Ivy. Katar Hol attacks Black Manta. After Nth Metal triggers, KO Nth Metal to John Henry Irons for second power-up. Andrew reinforces with Charaxes. Team Conner Hawke and Shayera Thal into Poison Ivy. Poison Ivy stuns Shayera Thal.

Endurance: SS:0 JLA/JLI20

Game 2

Andrew chooses evens.

JLA/JLI Draw: Kooey, Kooey, Kooey, Trial by Fire, Light Armor, Heroes Welcome – Mulligan

JLA/JLI Mulligan Draw: Trial by Fire, John Henry Irons, Shayera Thal, World’s Greatest Heroes

SS Draw: Poison Ivy, Deathstroke, Charaxes, Slaughter Swamp

Turn 1:

JLA/JLI Draw: Kooey, Kooey, Kooey, Sue Dibny

SS Draw: Remote Facility, Straight to the Grave

JLA/JLI Resource: World’s Greatest Heroes

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruit Sue Dibny searching for Booster Gold

SS Resource: Remote Facility

SS Recruit: None

JLA/JLI Combat: Sue Dibny attacks directly for 1

Endurance: SS:49 JLA/JLI:50

Turn 2:

SS Draw: Sinestro, Gorilla Grodd

JLA/JLI Draw: Nth Metal, Ted Kord

SS Resource: Slaughter Swamp

SS Recruit: Recruits Charaxes

JLA/JLI Resource: Kooey, Kooey, Kooey

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruits Booster Gold

SS Combat: Charaxes attacks Sue Dibny

JLA/JLI Combat: Pass

Endurance: SS:49 JLA/JLI:47

Turn 3:

JLA/JLI Draw: Kooey, Kooey ,Kooey, Magnificent Seven

SS Draw: Acceptable Loss, Forced Conscription

JLA/JLI Resource: Kooey, Kooey, Kooey

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruits Shayera Thal. Flips World’s Greatest Heroes teaming up JLA and JLI drawing Katar Hol

SS Resource: Acceptalbe Loss

SS Recruit: Straight to the Grave searching for Agility and The Riddler and putting thing into the KO’d pile. Recruits Poison Ivy.

JLA/JLI Combat: Poison Ivy triggers putting The Riddler into play. Activates The Riddler targeting self putting Black Manta into the KO’d pile. Shayera Thal attacks Poison Ivy. Charles plays Magnificent Seven for the power-up drawing Hall of Justice. Andrew reinforces with Charaxes. Booster Gold attacks Charaxes. Charles plays Trial by Fire. Double Stun.

Recovery: Andrew KO’s Charaxes putting Agility into hand.

Endurance: SS:39 JLA/JLI:45

Turn 4:

SS Draw: Charaxes, Gorilla City

JLA/JLI Draw: Fire, Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha

SS Resource: Gorilla City

SS Recruit: Flips Slaughter Swamp. Activates Slaughter Swamp discarding Sinestro and returning Black Manta into hand. Recruits Gorilla Grodd readying Slaughter Swamp. Plays Forced Conscription putting Dr. Polaris, Forced Conscription and Dr. Sivana into Ko’d pile.

JLA/JLI Resource: Hall of Justice

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruit Hatar Hol. Equip Katar Hol with Nth Metal.

SS Combat: Poison Ivy triggers putting Dr. Polaris into play. Activates The Riddler on JLA/JLI putting JLI Embassy into KO’d pile. Poison Ivy attacks Sue Dibny. Charles reinforces with Booster Gold. Gorilla Grodd into Booster Gold. Andrew KO’s Dr. Polaris exhausting Katar Hol. Charles tries to play Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha forgetting that it only affects plot twists, sheepishly puts it back into his hand.

JLA/JLI Combat: Pass

Recovery: Charles loses Sue Dibny

Endurance: SS:39 JLA/JLI:36

Turn 5:

JLA/JLI Draw: Hero’s Welcome, Conner Hawke

SS Draw: Poison Ivy, Agility

JLA/JLI Resource: Hero’s Welcome

JLA/JLI Recruit: Flip Kooey, Kooey ,Kooey. KO Kooey, Kooey ,Kooey searching for Nth Metal. Recruits Fire. Equips Fire with Nth Metal.

SS Resource: Charaxes

SS Recruit: Recruits Black Manta putting Charaxes into play. Activates The Riddler on JLA/JLI putting Trial by Fire into KO’d pile.

JLA/JLI Combat: Katar Hol into Black Manta. Fire Triggers off Nth Metal. Discard Ted Kord to Shayera Thal searching for Katar Hol. Andrew plays Acceptable Loss KO’ing Dr. Polaris. Charles discards Katar Hol for power-up. Fire Triggers. Flip Hall of Justice. Activate Hall of Justice putting Magnificent Seven into Ko’d pile. Fire triggers off of Hall of Justice. Shayera Thal attacks Charaxes. Andrew Reinforces with Gorilla Grodd. Fire attacks into Poison Ivy. Fire triggers off of Nth Metal. Andrew plays 2x Agility.

Recovery: Andrew KO’s charaxes to put Agility into hand. Andrew KO’s The Riddler for the other Agility. Andrew KO’s Black Manta to Gorilla Grodd targeting JLA/JLI drawing Hero’s Welcome, SUE Dibny, 2x Light Armor, Shayera Thal discarding Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha, Light Armor, Conner Hawke, Sue Dibny, Hero’s Welcome.  Andrew is trying to run JLA/JLI out of cards at this point.

Endurance: SS:21 JLA/JLI:36

Turn 6:

SS Draw: Doomsday, The Riddler

JLA/JLI Draw: Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha, Ted Kord

SS Resource: The Riddler

SS Recruit: Recruits Deathstroke putting Charaxes into play

JLA/JLI Resource: Bwa Ha Ha Ha Ha

JLA/JLI Recruit: Recruits John Henry Irons equipping John Henry Irons with Light Armor from KO’d pile.

SS Combat: Poison Ivy triggers putting Dr. Polaris into play. Team Poison Ivy and Charaxes into Shayera Thal. Activate Hall of Justice putting World’s Greatest Heroes into KO’d pile to power-up. Fire triggers off of Hall of Justice. Charles discards Shayera Thal to power-up. Fire triggers off of power-up. Andrew discards Poison Ivy to power-up. Shayera Thal stuns Poison Ivy back. Gorilla Grodd attacks Booster Gold. Deathstroke attacks John Henry Irons. Andrew KO’s Dr. Polaris exhausting Fire.

JLA/JLI Combat: Katar hol attacks Charaxes. Fire triggers off of Nth Metal. Charles discards Light Armor for +3.

Recovery: Katar Hol KO’s to Deathstroke. Andrew KO’s Charaxes for Agility. Charles loses Booster Gold and Shayera Thal.

Endurance: SS:4 JLA/JLI:18

Turn 7:

JLA/JLI Draw: Nothing

SS Draw: Dr. Sivana, Gorilla Grodd

JLA/JLI Resource: None

JLA/JLI Recruit: Ted Kord

SS Resource: Dr. Sivana

SS Recruit: Recruits Doomsday putting Charaxes intp play.

JLA/JLI Combat: Poison Ivy triggers putting The Riddler into play. Activates The Riddler targeting self putting Black Manta into KO’d pile. KO’s The Riddler to Doomsday. John Henry Irons attacks Gorilla Grodd. Andrew reinforces with Charaxes. Fire attacks Poison Ivy. After Nth Metal triggers, KO Light and Armor Nth Metal to John Henry Irons to power-up 3x. Fire triggers 3 times. Andrew plays Agility.

SS Combat: Deathstroke into Ted Kord. Doomsday into Fire. Flips Gorilla City. Activates Gorilla City putting Dr. Polaris into KO’d pile.

Endurance: SS:-15 JLA/JLI:-13

Close!  But all three games have only had to go to two games so far.  Here are some notes from Charles:

As most of the characters had flight and range (JLA naturally, SS via Sinestro in the KO’d pile) I opted not to list the formations as they didn’t play a part in the overall outcome.

Game 1 – Evens for Secret Society may have changed the game somewhat. I’m glad I chose to use Conner Hawke. We would have ended up going to turn 7 if I had opted to get Booster Gold with Ted Kord. Could have changed the outcome completely with Doomsday hitting the field.

Game 2: I think KO’ding Charaxes to Gorilla Grodd on turn 6 would have changed things dramatically. I would have been forced to pass on the attacks or risk a stun back attacking into Grodd which would have forced me to KO my Nth Metal equipped Fire instead of Katar Hol. Either way, I’ve done over 3 less damage which ended up being the difference in the game. Also, KO’ing Black Manta to Grodd to try and deck me got me a couple of cards in my hand that helped. If he had targeted himself, he may have been able to get to the bottom of his own deck where the rest of his plot twists were hiding.

By the way, I can officially state that I absolutely hate playing against The Riddler. I can imagine though that I would absolutely love playing with him.

World’s Finest [Vs.] Arkham Insanity

Vssystem.org’s own mrben played this match with his friend Tim (moogcookbook83).  Will we finally have a match go to three games?  Stay tuned for more Bat-Action!  In this episode Batman calls on Superman to help him try and take out all of the escaped convicts of Arkham Asylum.  Let’s see how they fare…

Game 1

Turn One.

Initiative Arkham

Tim mulliganed.

Opening Hand- Mulligan
Superman <> Big Blue Boy Scout
At Their Finest
Superman/Batman Robot
Barbara Gordon

Starting Hand.
Barbara Gordon
Bat-Signal
At Their Finest
Brains and Brawn
Alfred Pennyworth
Tim Drake

Build- Tim plays Mad Hatter in the back row and passes.
I row the Bat-Signal and recruit Alfred in the back row.

Combat- Mad Hatter into Alfred. We both stun. Tim takes one. I take two.

Endurance totals at the end of turn one.
WF 48 AI 49

Turn Two.

Draw.
Azrael
The Hook-up

Build- I row The Hook-Up. Recruit Tim Drake into the back row. Activate Alfred, searching for Indestructible.
Tim recruits Tallyman into the back row.

Combat- I send Tim Drake into Mad Hatter. Tallyman reinforces, Hatter stuns. Tim takes one.

Endurance totals turn two.
WF 48 AI 48

Turn Three.

Draw.
Superman <> Last Son of Krypton
Bat-Signal

Build- Tim flips Pick a Card from his row. He reveals Burn Baby Burn and I let him keep it. He recruits Two-Face into the back row and forms Mad Hatter in front of Tallyman.
I row Indestructible and recruit Barbara Gordan front row and hidden. Her power nets me another copy of The Hook-Up. Tim Drake remains in the back.

Combat- Tim discards The Joker <> Out of his Mind for Two-Face’s effect and removes Joker from the game for his effect.
Two-Face into Tim Drake. He adds a Batzarro Beatdown, discarding Usual Suspects.
I Bat-Signal from hand, exhausting Tim Drake to grab the Superman/Batman Robot.
Tim Drake stuns and I take nine.
Tallyman then swings to my face for another two.

Endurance totals turn three.
WF 37 AI 48

Turn Four.

Draw.
Batman <> Cape and Cowl
Impervious

Build- I row another copy of The Hook-Up. Recruit Superman in front of Tim drake and reveal the Robot for his Loyalty. Bab’s power draws Brains and Brawn. I flip both copies of The Hook-Up, teaming up Team Superman and Gotham Knights twice. I discard Alfred to one and draw Krypto, then discard Krypto to the other and draw Superman <> Last Son of Krypton.

Tim recruits Firefly behind Two-Face. Tallyman stays behind Mad Hatter.

Combat- Tim discards Sondra Fuller to Firefly’s power.
Babs into Mad Hatter. Tallyman reinforces, Hatter stuns, and Tim takes one.
Tim Drake into Tallyman. Tallyman stuns, Tim takes two.
Superman into Two-Face. Two-face stuns, Tim takes six.

Firefly into Superman. I power-up to stun back. We both stun, I take one, while Tim takes four.

Endurance totals turn four.
WF 36 AI 36

Turn Five.

Draw.
Superman/Batman Robot
Alfred Pennyworth

Build- Tim recruits Poison Ivy in front of Firefly.
Babs power draws Batman <> Problem Solver. I discard Alfred and the Robot to the two Hook-Ups, drawing For The Man Who Has Everything and Superman <> Big Blue Boy Scout. I row Brains and Brawn then recruit the Superman/Batman Robot as a 10/10 in front of, and form Superman next to, Tim Drake. Barbara Gordon stays put.

Combat- Tim discards The Joker <> Crazy For You to Firefly.
Firefly into Superman. I flip Indestructible, exhaust Superman, and take two.
Poison Ivy into Superman. Tim adds Burn Baby Burn. Both stun. He takes four. I take two.

Superman/Batman Robot into Firefly. Firefly stuns, Tim takes six.
Babs and Tim team attack to the face. Tim Drake’s power nets At Their Finest. Tim takes six.

Endurance totals turn five.
WF 32 AI 20

Turn Six.

Draw.
Maggie Sawyer
Impervious

Build- Babs draws Maggie Sawyer. I discard two Maggies to the two Hook-Ups to draw For the Man Who Has Everything and Barbara Gordan. Substitute Babs for Babs, use her power to draw up the deck. The Bat Got your Tongue I drew is rowed. Recruit Batman <> Cape and Cowl behind Barbara Gordon. Superman is stunned next to Tim Drake, with the Robot in front of him.
Tim flips Money Talks and targets Superman. I flip Brains and Brawn to fizzle his effect. He then recruits Scarecrow <> Fear and Loathing in front of Firefly. With no cards in hand Tim can’t use Scarecrow’s coming into play effect.

Combat- Robot into Scarecrow. We both stun. Tim takes five.
Batman into Firefly. Tim flips kidnapping targeting the Robot. I exhaust Barbara to negate it with Bat Got Your tongue. Tim plays Jack in the Box, declaring three and gets a Batter Up. It’s a dead card. Combat resolves and Tim takes eight.

Endurance totals turn six.
WF 32 AI 7

Turn Seven.

No draw.

Build- Tim recruits Mr. Zsasz in the front not adjacent to Scarecrow.
I row and then flip At Their Finest. Recruit Azrael in front of Tim Drake. The Robot in front of Superman. No changes to the hidden area.

Combat- Tim passes his attacks.

Superman/Batman Robot into Scarecrow. We both stun, Tim takes seven.
At this point I said I was going to try and see how far I could blow it out. Tim said, “Well, in that case,” and flipped Roshambo. Two ties then he papers my rock, Azrael is exhausted. One tie and he exhausts Batman. Three more ties and I rock his scissors.
Superman into Mr. Zsasz. Zsasz stuns, Tim takes seven.
Babs and Tim Drake teamswing to the face for another six.

This leaves Tim at negative thirteen. He flips over the resource he just placed, Beside Myself.

Final endurance Game One.
WF 32 AI -13

Game Two

Turn One.
Tim wins choice and opts for odds. He keeps his hand.

Opening Hand- Keep.
At Their Finest
The Hook-Up
Bat Got Your Tongue
Indestructible

Draw.
Azrael
Superman/Batman Robot

Build- Tim places a resource and recruits Mad Hatter in the back.
I row The Hook-Up and pass.

Combat- Hatter to my chin. I take two.

Endurance totals turn one.
WF 48 AI 50

Turn Two.

Draw.
Brains and Brawn
Krypto

Build- I row At Their Finest and recruit Krypto in the front.
Tim plays Pick a Card, exhausts Mad Hatter, and reveals Burn Baby Burn. I let him keep it.

Combat- We both pass our attacks.

Endurance totals turn two.
WF 48 AI 50

Turn Three.

Draw
Impervious
Tim Drake

Build- Tim recruits Great White in the front hidden.
I row Indestructible then recruit Tim Drake behind Krypto. Flip the Hook-up and declare Team Superman and Gotham Knights.

Combat- Mad Hatter into Krypto. Tim plays Burn Baby Burn from hand. I play Impervious. Tim removes Burn Baby Burn from the game. With Great White’s effect his one drop is now a 9/2 to my 4/7. Tim Drake reinforces. We both stun. I take two. Tim takes one.
Great White into Tim Drake. I take three.

Endurance totals turn three.
WF 43 AI 49

Turn Four.

Draw.
Maggie Sawyer
Superman <> Last Son of Krypton

Build- Discard Maggie to the Hook-up, draw Brains and Brawn. Row Bat Got Your Tongue and recruit Superman behind Krypto.
Tim Recruits Batzarro into the back row non-adjacent to Mad Hatter. Great White stays up front.

Combat- Superman and Krypto team attack into Batzarro. Both four drops stun. Tim takes four and flips Money Talks, targeting Superman. With my board exhausted I have no response and Superman returns to my deck.

Endurance totals turn four.
WF 43 AI 45

Turn Five.

Draw.
Superman <> Last Son of Krypton
Alfred Pennyworth

Build- Tim plays Usual Suspects. Searches out Sondra Fuller and Joker <> Crazy for You, then discards Two-Face and The Joker (3). He recruits Scarecrow<> Fearmonger in front, Batzarro and Mad Hatter non-adjacent in the back. Great White is stationary.
With Fearmonger on the table the Robot is just a piggy bank for Scarecrow, so I discard it to The Hook-Up and draw a Robot. Recruit Superman in front of Alfred, who is exhausted by coming into play. Krypto next to him.

Combat- Scarecrow into Superman. I flip At Their Finest and Indestructible, completely forgetting about Great White’s effect which prevents the stun-back. No stuns, I take three breakthrough.
Batzarro into Superman. Tim plays Batzarro Beatdown, discarding Basil Karlo. We both stun. Tim takes four, I take five.
Mad Hatter into Alfred. Alfred stuns, I take three.

Endurance totals turn five.
WF 32 AI 41

Turn Six.

Draw.
Barbara Gordan
Bat-Signal

Build- I discard Maggie to The Hook-Up and draw Brains and Brawn, then place it in my row. Exhaust Krypto to the Bat-Signal. Search out and then recruit Batman <> Cape and Cowl hidden in the back.
Tim recruits The Joker <> Crazy For You then plays Certifiable, discarding Mr. Zsasz, Charaxas, Sondra Fuller, and Firefly. Joker, Scarecrow, and Great White are all in the front. Batzarro and Mad Hatter are in the back, none are adjacent.

Combat- Batman into Joker. I play Impervious before I realize I, once again, forgot about Great White hiding in the hidden area. The attack bounces with no stuns.
Superman into Mad Hatter. Hatter stuns, Tim takes six.

Scarecrow into Krypto. The dog stuns and I take ten. Scarecrow gains a counter.
Joker into Superman. Superman stuns, I take six.
I flip Brains and Brawn from my row.
Batzarro into Superman. Supes stuns. I take three.

Endurance totals turn six.
WF 13 AI 35

Turn Seven.

Draw.
Superman <>Big Blue Boy Scout
Bat-Signal

Build- Tim recruits Basil Karlo, his effect puts The Joker <> Out of his Mind into play. Both Jokers, Scarecrow, and Great White are in front. Batzarro and Basil in the back. None adjacent.
I recruit Azrael in front of Krypto. Batman stays in the back.

Combat- Tim moves Scarecrows counter to Basil.
Basil into Azrael. Krypto reinforces, Azrael stuns, I take seven.
Joker <> Out of His Mind into Krypto. Superman reinforces, Krypto stuns, I take two.
Joker <> Crazy For You into Superman. I power-up. Tim discards to Joker’s power. I discard Barbara Gordan to Batman’s power to negate. Tim flips Blackgate Prison and discards Clayface to give him plus three. Superman stuns, I take eight.
Great White, Batzarro, Scarecrow team attack my face. I take twenty-five.
Tim flips Roshambo. I exhaust Batman to negate it. Haha.

Final endurance Game Two.
WF -29 AI 35

Game Three

Turn One.

Tim wins the flip, again. He takes odds, again. He mulligans.

Opening Hand- Keep.
Superman/Batman Robot
Alfred Pennyworth
Krypto
Barbara Gordan
Bat-Signal
Batman <> Cape and Cowl

Build- Tim recruits Mad Hatter in back.
I row the Bat-Signal, and recruit Alfred.

Combat- Mad Hatter into Alfred. We both stun. I take two. Tim takes one.

Endurance totals turn one.
WF 48 AI 49

Turn Two.

Draw.
Tim Drake
Batman <> Problem Solver

Build- Krypto goes into the row. I recruit Tim Drake and activate Alfred to get The Hook-Up. Tim Drake is in back.
Tim recruits Calendar Man in the front. Mad Hatter is non-adjacent in the back.

Combat- Tim activates Calendar Man.
Tim Drake into Mad Hatter. Hatter stuns, Tim takes three.

Endurance totals turn two.
WF 48 AI 46

Turn Three.

Draw.
The Hook-Up
Superman <> Last Son of Krypton

Build- Tim plays Jack In A Box, declaring three. It hits on Mr. Zsasz. Tim Recruits him in the front non-adjacent. Hatter and Calendar Man stay put.
I row The Hook-Up and flip it, teaming up Teen Titans and Gotham Knights. I discard Alfred to The Hook-Up and draw Azrael. Recruit Barbara Gordan hidden in front, use her power. Draw Impervious.

Combat- Tim flips Beside Myself and activates Calendar Man. To save time I declared all time heads, so he could just flip until he hit a loss and I wouldn’t have to re-call it every time. I’ll keep track of the cards drawn with Beside Myself with a BS number next to the draw, or any other effects. This Calendar Man activation he was BS- Zero.
Mr. Zsasz into Tim Drake. Tim stuns, I take five.
Tim flips Kidnapping, targeting Tim Drake. Tim returns to the top of my deck. BS- Two.
Barbara Gordan into Mad Hatter. Tim plays Batzarro Beatdown, discarding Certifiable. We both stun and take three.
Tim flips Money Talks and Barbara returns to the top of my deck.

Endurance totals turn three.
WF 40 AI 43

Turn Four.

Draw. BS- Seven!
Barbara Gordan
Tim Drake

Build- I recruit Superman <> Last Son of Krypton in the back. Discard Tim Drake to the Hook-Up, draw At Their Finest.
Tim recruits Batzarro in front of Mad Hatter. Calendar Man and Mr. Zsasz are in front non-adjacent.

Combat- Superman into Mr. Zsasz. Tim uses Batter Up, discards Firefly, and gets plus four attack. I play At Their Finest and Impervious, making my defense a twelve to his ten attack. He flips Blackgate Prison, activates it, discards The Joker <> Crazy For You and becomes a thirteen attack. We both stun, Tim takes seven I take nothing.
Batzarro and Mad Hatter team attack my chin. I take seventeen.

Endurance totals turn four.
WF 23 AI 36

Turn Five.

Draw. BS- Two.
Maggie Sawyer
Maggie Sawyer

Build- Tim recruits Scarecrow <> Fear monger in front next to Batzarro. No one moves.
I toss Maggie to the Hook-Up and draw a Robot. Couldn’t recruit him if I wanted to because of the Dual Loyalty. So, after recruiting Batman <> Problem Solver hidden and flipping another Hook-Up (Team Superman and Gotham) I toss the Piggybank to it and draw Brains and Brawn.

Combat- Scarecrow into Superman. I exhaust Superman to the Bat-Signal, searching out a Superman <> Last Son of Krypton. Superman stuns, I take three breakthrough.
Scarecrow gets a counter.
Tim activates Calendar Man and draws his last card.
Batzarro to my face. Blackgate Prison gives him plus three attack, discarding Clayface. I take twelve.
I play Brains and Brawn. With Superman recovered Tim passes his attacks.
Batman into Calendar Man. Tim takes four.

Endurance totals turn five.
WF 8 AI 32

Turn Six.

Draw. With no cards left Tim no longer has a BS count.
For The Man Who Has Everything
Bat Got Your Tongue

Build- I toss Maggie to The Hook-Up and draw Impervious. Thinning the deck, I exhaust Batman to the Bat-Signal, grab Babs. I play For The Man Who Has Everything and get Superman <> Big Blue Boy Scout. I row Bat Got Your Tongue and recruit Batman <> Cape and Cowl in front of Superman. Batman <> Problem Solver KOs.
Tim recruits Sondra Fuller behind Scarecrow. Batzarro and Mad Hatter form up front and back next to them. Mr. Zsasz and Calendar Man are non- adjacent in the front.

Combat- Tim moves Scarecrow’s counter onto Sondra and plays Roshambo. He gets Batman exhausted before a loss.
Superman into Mr. Zsasz. Zsasz stuns and Tim takes five.
Sondra into Batman. I play Impervious and the attack bounces.
Mad Hatter, Calendar Man, and Scarecrow into Batman. Scarecrow and Bats stun. Tim takes five. I take six. Scarecrow gets a counter.
Batzarro into Superman. I power-up twice. Tim forgets to activate Blackgate. Superman stuns and I take nothing. We go another turn.

Endurance totals turn six.
WF 2 AI 18

Turn Seven.

Draw.
Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Pennyworth

Build- Tim recruits Basil Karlo whose effect brings Batzarro back out. He forms Scarecrow, Sondra, and Basil in front of Batzarro, Mad Hatter, and Calendar Man.
I toss Alfred and Babs to The Hook-Up, drawing Indestructible and For The Man Who Has Everything. I recruit Azrael in front of Batman.

Combat- Tim moves Scarecrow’s counter to Basil. I flip At Their Finest.
Basil into Azrael. Azrael stuns, I take nine.
I play For The Man Who Has Everything and find no characters.
Sondra into Batman. We both stun and take six.
The whole crew team attacks to my chin and I take twentyfive.

Final endurance totals Game Three.
WF -42 AI 12

Big Blue never hit the table?!  Dang!  At least we finally had a match go to game 3!  Fantastic write up Ben.  My only question in this match is your turn five decision not to play the Robot (because of his dual-loyalty) when you used The Hook-Up earlier that same game (implying both teams were already team-up).  Oh well, I doubt it would have affected the outcome when you consider the final swing was 54 endurance.  Who knew that Arkham Insanity had it in them (besides Big Spooky, the deck’s creator)?

There you have the first four matches.  The second four will be here as quickly as I can type/edit it all up.  See you next time!

The great catalog process begins….again.
I have decided to rebuild a golden and silver age book, mainly due to the sudden increase of formats and people wanting to mix things and themes up. I am debating on weither or Noe to go buy a common/uncommon toolbox. But until then….

While talking about the upcoming Marvel Superstars game with the worldwide flock of friends on CBR, we received a strange request for a large image of the Wrecker masterpiece by Arthur Suydam. Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? Mission accomplished.

I can’t wait to see the art for the new game.  Vs. System was one of the most glorious galleries that mankind has ever known.

It is the news we have all been waiting for, and it is official. Upper Deck will continue to produce the highest quality trading card games in the world using the most spectacular characters in the universe. The first new product will be called Marvel Superstars, and it will debut at GenCon Indianapolis on August 13th, 2009.

“We are extremely excited about the possibilities that this newest partnership opens up for us,” said Scott Gaeta, director of new business development at Upper Deck. “Gamers and trading card enthusiasts alike will benefit greatly as a result of the collaborative efforts by both companies.”

Paul Gitter, president of consumer products, North America at Marvel, added: “The Marvel Universe and Marvel Studios’ upcoming slate of feature films are ideally suited for trading cards and trading card games that will appeal to a wide audience.”

At this particular moment in time, on Sunday July 26th, 2009, at 2:12 pm Eastern, the googling of “Marvel Superstars” only turns up only one specific match. It is a gorgeous fan-based painting by Deputee on deviantart.com. Feast your eyes.

That is just a taste of what we have in store. Spider-Man, Captain America, and Nightcrawler against Magneto and Juggernaut, captured on cardboard. Here is another quote from Scott Gaeta to help us frame the future.

Vs. System was a great game but the general consensus in our discussions both internally and with Marvel is that we want to broaden the accessibility. Our target is still core gamers but the real growth potential is reaching the tens of millions of fans who have been exposed to all the great Marvel characters in recent years. Our goal is to bring new players in to our category and to do that we feel we need a new game. As we get closer to launch we’ll share more details but I can say that we are going to do something very fresh with our new Marvel TCG.

Very fresh indeed. Starting with the name. Marvel Superstars, here we go!

Stay tuned to this station for more, and bookmark our new blog which will be dedicated totally to the new game.

If you guys are like me, there’s a chance you thought this day would never come.  However, thanks to the help of community members like BatHulk, BerserkerBob, BigSpooky, blues686, bkwrds, Bliven731, captain_comet, carlosthedwarf, Christo, conykchameleon, cretin, Dawn_Kabaus, DDH, DoomStat, Eponymous, Fiend28, fizzle.me.sexy, Gambit07, gdaybloke, GREYDON, Grumga, Guglio, iLeKtRaN, I_Avian, InsanityFTW!, kansashoops, K’lrt, Likeitoldyourmom…, Locke, lukerod, m4g0, Melonball, mhtsos_gr, Morpheus1981, necaras, Obsidian3d, odietamo, On52@u9h7, OnyxWeapon, Orange_Soda_Man, Philosopher, pptmaster, Savage Tofu, Shadowtrooper, Shamilton777, sirthomas, Skrullfan, stubarnes, Sun Eater, Trader2699, unclechawie, vs_savant2, Zuranthium, and many many more (I’m waaay to lazy to scroll through all those threads to find a complete list, so forgive me if you were ommited – please make yourself known in the comments below to get your due recognition!), we’re finally ready to kickstart ‘The 100 Ideas’ tournament!

Even though I’ve been throwing this stuff at your face for months now, I’ll quickly describe The 100 Ideas for any of you that still have no idea what I’m talking about…

The 100 Ideas was something I whipped up to get my students excited about Vs.  I already had them playing UDE starter decks, but they were getting sick of playing Gotham Knights Vs. League of Assassins or X-Men Vs. Brotherhood, especially since the decks weren’t very complex.  I realized that I needed to have decks that focused on other teams; were a little more complex; and had all the characters that the kids loved from the Marvel and DC movies they had all seen.

With this in mind I decided to create 100 intermediate starter decks with the following rules in mind:
1) Only 30 cards allowed per deck
2) Only 2 of any card allowed per deck (with the exception of army characters)
3) The decks are limited to 2 teams (and unaffiliated characters)
4) All non-character cards need to refer to the chosen teams (or no teams at all)
5) On-team tutors and pumps should be used over generic ones (i.e. Legionaires should use New Recruits, not Mobilize)
6) Marvel and DC Universes should be kept seperate when constructing the decks
7) These are ‘Kitchen Table’ decks, not ‘Pro Circuit’ Decks. They can be competitive, but the goal is fun!

Sound easy?  It was not.  Any one of the aforementioned “dot orgers” will tell you that while some decks only took two or three posts to finalize, others took one-hundred plus postings!  We did it, but we did have to bend the rules a couple times to make some of the decks playable (though it was a pretty rare occiason).

Now these lists aren’t meant only for my classroom.  These lists were meant to help any newcomer get into the game.  If you have a friend that loves the Hulk/Wolverine/Superman/etc., whip up my 30 card Warbound/Wolverine, Agent of SHIELD/Phantom Phone Booth/etc. deck and let him pilot it against you!  You’ll have him hooked for life!

Before I go any farther, anyone who has not been following The 100 Ideas should do a little prerequiste reading.  The following links are everything you’ll need to know about this project; from its inception, all the way up to today.  Therefore I must present: The 100 Ideas Complete Timeline!

The 100 Ideas: Starters for Starters
The 100 Ideas: Unnatural Selection
The 100 Ideas: B(r)ack(et) in Action!
The 100 Ideas: 100 Decklists

Now, as I’ve explained, my intentions behind The 100 Ideas were to help new players get into the game, but that doesn’t mean we were going to do all that work just to post 100 decklists.  We’re going to play the darn things!   To that end, I’ve created a tournament bracket to pit these things against each other.  Click Marvel or DC to see the pdf version of the brackets, or just click the ‘B(r)ack(et) in Action’ link above to see the first round pairings.

Now that there are brackets, community members will need to volunteer to play the decks and write up tournament reports for them.  As exciting as that sounds, I want to make sure EVERYONE is involved, even those not playing.  To that end I’ve borrowed an idea from tournaments that have gone before me: betting pools!

That’s right, everyone will have a chance to make a wager on who they think the winner will be of every match (similar to filling out an NCAA bracket before the tournament).  The one big difference between this and an NCAA bracket will be that we’ll do ours round by round.  That means if you do poorly the first round, you’re not necessarily out of the tournament.  In fact, we’ll make each round worth increasing point values to ensure it stays competitive all the way through the tournament.

But wait, there’s more! Prizes will be given out throughout the tournament!  They could end up being anything.  I have an extra playmat, a ton of decktins, EAs, foils, and a worthless box of MSM that’s been sitting here unopened for a couple of years!

• 1 prize will go to the points leader of each round
• 1 prize will go to the overall points leaders
• 1 prize will go to a random participant each round
• 1 prize will go to the overall points loser *looks over his shoulder at that aforementioned box of MSM*

Now that you’re filled in, we’ve got to do two things.  First, click here to be redirected to a forum thread where you can volunteer to play the decks you love.  After all, there’s no way I can play them all myself (between my wedding August 7th and an 80-hour work week, life has been convoluted to say the least).  You can play these games with other community members over Magic Workstation, or with friends and family at your kitchen table.  Whatever you decide, once I give you the go-ahead,  just write-up a report as you go.  Include things like: what you draw, how you form, who attacks who, and how much endurance is left at the end of each turn.  Be sure to include some thought processes too!  Then submit the write-up back to me for editing before it gets the main-page treatment (if you have a blog of your own, we can put the article up there, but I’d still like a chance to do some formatting to the write-up and choose when the article is posted).

The second link, found here, will redirect you to the first round betting pool.  Before any matches are played, everyone needs to decide who’ll win each first round matchup.  Copy and paste the matchups below into a forum reply and underline the team you’re picking to win for each matchup (don’t skip any!).  Simple as that!  Here’s your list of our first matchups (I’ll also put these at the top of the forum):

DC Round 1

• Brave and the Bold (GK/TT) Vs. Arkham Exhaust (AI)
• World’s Finest (GK/TS) Vs. Arkham Insanity (AI)
• Superman Blue Abuse (TS) Vs. Revenge Squad Ongoings (RS)
• Youth of Tomorrow (L/TT) Vs. Future Foes (FF)
• Green Lantern Corps (GL) Vs. Emerald Enemies (EE)
• Good Guys (JLI/JLA) Vs. Secret Society (SS)
• Founding Members (JLA) Vs. Crime Syndicate of Amerika (AM/IG)
• JLI (JLI) Vs. Checkmate/VU (CM/VU)

Get to it!  I need volunteers; but if you can’t spare the time, at least vote on the rounds!!

Comic-Con 2009 has just gone transcendent. It happened during the Marvel Comics panel discussing their massive ongoing inter-title event known as Dark Reign.

Dark Reign is one of those messy affairs that threatens to destroy the very fabric of the Marvel Universe. Norman Osborn, that guy who throws little pumpkin bombs, is the main mastermind threatening world destruction. No one knows who, when, or how he will be stopped.

If Joe Quesada has his way, Dark Reign will end with a bushy red tail.

During the panel discussion, the conversation turned to Squirrel Girl:

Fan in the audience: ”Does she kick Norman’s ass?

Joe Quesada: “You read my mind, I want her to be the end of this!”

Dear Joe, we want that too. We realize that you were probably joking, and that you don’t have the power to make it happen on your own. Please consider it anyway.

Thank you.

This post is a reference post listing all 100 decks from The 100 Ideas.  I will list the names of the decks below as an index.  Hit control+f on your keyboard and type in the index code to skip down to the decklist you want to see (unless you’re a HUGE fan of the scroll wheel)!

You can also use the control+f feature to search out team names, character names, or mechanics.  This is a great feature for those of you trying to find decks that will help you get your friends in on the game.  Do they like Green Lantern?  Then do a search for ‘Green Lantern,’ ‘Kyle Rayner,’ or ‘Hal Jordan’.  Have a friend that already knows the basics and want to teach them the Willpower mechanic?  Then search it out below and assemble the deck!

On the off-chance you’re into the construction aspect of the game, you can also click the links to get to the discussion pages where the decks were created .  Enjoy!

Index code) Deck Name -> Description

01)Outsiders -> Batman helps Nightwingand his Outsiders take out the bad guys with Team Attacks.
02)Birds of a Feather -> Batman helps Oracle and her Birds of Prey clean up Gotham with powerful attacks from the hidden area.  A very good deck for introducing Concealed-Optional. 
03)Fearsome Five -> The Dr. Light and the Fearsome Five steal the Fate Artifacts and wreak havoc.
04)Green Lantern Corps->The Green Lantern Corps (Kyle Rayner, John Stewart, Hal Jordan, Kilowog, Guy Gardner) gets ready to give a Willpower-themed beatdown!
05)The Brave and the Bold-> Batman and his Robins (Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd) help out the Teen Titans in this Team Attack/burn deck.
06)World’s Finest-> DC’s two biggest icons (Batman and Superman) must work together to take down some of comics mightiest villains in this Dual-Legend deck.  This deck can also help explain the difference between 0-cost characters and no-cost characters.
07)Team Superman Protection -> Superman and some of his lesser known allies fight the good fight in this ‘protection’-themed deck.
08)Phantom Phone Booth-> Superman battles baddies and uniqueness at the same time in this Cosmic-themed deck.  All the different Supergirls join in to sort out all the Supermen!  This deck is a good tool to learn the Invulnerability keyword.
09)Total Recall -> Teen Titans and Doom Patrol join forces.  Pick up this deck if you have a thing for +1/+1 counters, or Beast Boy!
10)Teen Titans Go! -> Teen Titans are the ultimate Team Attack bunch.  All your favorite Titans are here, but the MVP is Roy Harper.
11)The Founding Memebers-> The Seven big guns of the JLA (Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman, Flash, Martian Manhunter) help out the denizens of Keytone City!
12)Rock of Eternity-> JSA and Checkmate join forces to abuse backup and activated abilities.
13)JLI-> Blue Beetle and Booster Gold lead the JLIinto battle.  Just be careful not to control more than four resources for too long.  Special guest spot: Captain Marvel!
14)Good Guys-> Blue Beetle and Booster Gold have to call upon the Hawk-people for assistance in this power-up deck that focuses on the Ally keyword.  Both JLI and JLA are featured.
15)Justice United-> This time the JLAteams up with the JSA in another power-up deck.  This deck adds an identity element to it and focuses on attacking up the curve.
16)Glock -> Green Lanterns must join forces with Emerald Enemies in this stall deck that uses Willpower and free recruits via Dr. Light.  Kyle Rayner lovers should nab this one quick!
17)Emerald Enemies-> Sinestro and Dr. Light try to go it alone in this deck that’s all about sacrificing your own resources for one explosive final turn.
18)Revenge Squad-> Though Professor Emil Hamilton makes the deck tick, I’m sure people will be picking this Ongoing-themed deck up to play with Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and Doomsday!
19)Arkham Insanity! -> This deck uses the Insanity keyword and features some of Batman’s greatest villains.  It also uses the non-adjacent and random discard themes.
20)Arkham Exhaust-> This deck contains more of Batman’s rouges gallery and focuses on the Arkham Inmates exhaustion and KO themes.
21)Injustice Gang Handfill-> Lex Luthor and The Joker join forces to try and get as many cards in your opponent’s hand as possible.
22)Crime Syndicate-> The Evil JLA counterparts from Earth-3 are here to wreak havoc from the hidden are.  This deck gains bonuses from attacking on your opponent’s initiative.
23)War Paint-> This Injustice Gang army deck burns your opponent with Zazzala by KOingyour own characters.  It also deals with +1/+1 counters and free recruits.
24)Youth of Tomorrow-> This time the Teen Titans join up with the Legionaires for some more Team Attack action.  Cosmic counters and the Cosmic-Surge mechanic feature heavily in this deck.
25)Future Foes-> This Future Foes deck forces you opponents to recover after stunning whether they want to or not!  Note: cards like Internal Injuries and Atomic Axe will guarantee the ‘not’ part!  This is also a good deck to use to explain the Boost mechanic.
26)Secret Six Victorious ->This deck has an alternate win condition that requires you to control all six of the Secret Six characters.
27)Manhunters -> This army deck recruits it characters from the resource row when its time to destroy its opponent.
28)Checkmate/VU-> Checkmate and Villains United work together in this location-themed deck that uses Ahmed to search out the cards it needs.  This deck features the game’s first auto-loss cards and fan favorites such as Bizarro and Deathstroke.
29)Vengeance-> This Villains United deck features the Vengeance keyword and hits hard with pumps and burn.  Chomin is your MVP.  He can trigger any Vengeance effect that your opponent is avoiding.  This deck also has a return-to-hand theme and contains such big hitters as Black Adam and Deathstroke.
30)Anti-Green Lanterns-> This Anti-Matter/Injustice Gang army deck features over-sized characters that KO themselves.  Chomin once again becomes the MVP by stunning these characters to remove their text.
31)Anti-Matter-> Alexander Luthor and Sinestrolead an attack from the concealed area with Anti-Matter Speedsters (double-attackers).  This deck has a changing-zones theme.
32)Qward-> Lower your opponents defense from the hidden area to get out-of-combat stuns with Qward.  This deck combines Krona (the creator of the Anti-Matter universe) and his Emerald Enemies minions with Anti-Matter characters.
33)League of Assassins-> Ra’s Al Ghul and those close to him aim to KO their opponent’s characters in this location-themed deck.
34)The Exchange-> This deck plays out the prophecy of Orion from the New Gods and Darkseid from Darkseid’s Elite.  There is a heavy burn element that plays into an alternate win condition.
35)Superman Blue Abuse -> This is a Cosmic counter deck that gets out of combat stuns with Superman, Blue.  Flood the board with New Gods’ Cosmic army characters; they’re invulnerable and have great stats.
36)Substibuse-> This deck teams up the unlikely duo of Darkseid’s Elite and Birds of Prey to abuse the Substitute mechanic.  Unravel Reality is the key card in this burn deck.
37)All Hail Darkseid -> The foil to Phantom Phone Booth.  Clone Darkseid and try to keep your opponent’s resource row face down for some nice bonuses.
38)Secret Society-> Poison Ivy runs the show by putting Riddlers and Polaris’ in to slow down your opponent.  Gorilla Grodd and many other JLA rogues gallery villains fill out the rest of this KO’ed-Pile themed deck.
39)Shadowpact->You can find DC’s magicians here (Detective Chimp, June Moon, Dr. Fate, The Phantom Stranger, etc.).  This deck has a low-endurance theme and uses Conjuration to recruit a drop one turn early.
40)Unaffiliated Curve-> This deck uses only characters with no team affiliation, which means no Team Attacking or Reinforcing.  It follows an equipment/KO theme and contains Wolverine and Bullseye.
41)Negative Zone-> Take a trip to the Negative Zone in this Blastaar, Annihilus, and Thanos deck that revolves around having Negative Zone locations in play and stunning opponents out-of-combat.
42)Exiles -> Blink, Mimic, and Longshotjump through dimensions with you as you explore the Shift mechanic.  Get one of each shifted, then use Wolverine Squad and No More Mr. Nice Guy to acquire a board of large characters.
43)Heralds of Galactus-> Silver Surfer and the other heralds try to help Galactus eat YOUR planet in this Cosmic counter deck.  You’ll be using life gain and exhaustion tricks to help you stall to turn 9.
44)Hellfire Club-> The Shaws, Magneto, and Madelyn Prior are some of the big hitters in this Hellfire Club deck that focuses on keeping one man visible and the rest in the hidden area.  The new mechanic here is Mutant Traits.
45)The Illuminati-> Play as the secret Illuminati group (Professor X, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Black Bolt) as you stall your way to a turn eight Thanos.  This ‘team’ is the only ‘team’ in Vs. without a cohesive affiliation.  Their cards simply target the five characters.
46)Kree-> Ronan and the Kree show you how to abuse the Press mechanic as they break every rule you thought you knew about resource points!
47)Warbound ->This control deck tries to keep only one character (Hulk) in play at a time by introducing characters with remove-from-the-game effects.
48)Curve Sentinels -> This classic curve army deck follows the House of M storyline in which Magneto had control of Sentinels.
49)Wild Vomit-> Longshothelps you fill the field withSentinels to smash your opponent, while Senator Kelly burns them to death!
50)Shi’ar Stall-> Professor X and the Shi’arteam-up with Magneto and his Brotherhood in this stall deck.  Blob, Fred Dukes is the main character in this deck.  Use Shi’ar Soldiers to make him an impossible wall to break through.
51)Starjammers->Professor X and his X-Men (Rogue, Mimic, Nightcrawler) team up with Corsair and his Starjammers in this space adventure.  Yar!  Pirates they be, and they’ll steal the hand of thee!
52)X-Men Assemble! -> This deck revolves around the Age of Apocalypse storyline.  It’s a Wolverine legend deck with support from some fan-favorite X-Men (Colossus, Morph).  The theme is all about recovering and +1/+1 counters.
53)Big Red-> This deck involves two X-Men love triangles: Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine; and Cyclops, Jean Grey, Emma Frost.  This Jean Grey legend deck wants as many Jeans in the KO’d pile as possible for a large turn five Jean Grey, Phoenix Rising.  Archangel also makes an appearance in this build.
54)X-Haust -> This Cyclops/Professor X X-Men deck stalls by getting multiple uses out of Puppet Master every turn and utilizing Cyclops legend cards.  Look to end the game with a massive burn.  Iceman fans should also scoop this one up!
55)X-Statix Loner-> The ultimate loner deck!  You want to control only one character for some spectacular bonuses.  Spider-Man, Zombie helps you cheat this a little by coming back into play every turn you get rid of him to his effect!  This deck is a must for fans of the off-beat X-Statix comic.
56)Multiple Man -> This X-Factor deck has a Jamie Madrox focus and is all about an explosive endgame with Strong Guy (who gets bigger from all the deck’s activated abilities).
57)Alpha Force -> This deck is for fans of Alpha/Omega Flight, X-Force, and Cable.  The theme is plot twist recursion and bonuses (in addition to the actual text of the plot twist).  Look to swing big with John Walker or Sasquatch.
58)Bosom Buddies-> A Cable/Deadpool dual-legend deck that focuses on cycling attack pumps and getting multiple attacks out of the two.  The two teams are X-Force and Weapon X.
59)Weapon X-> This deck revolves around the Hunter mechanic.  Look for such favorites as Wolverine, Hulk, Deadpool, and Iron Man.
60)Age of Apocalypse-> Cyclops and Havok take a turn for the worst in this Cyclops/Apocalypse legend deck that features the Age of Apocalypse storyline.  This deck uses its resources to shift characters with powerful effects while an unstunnable Havok takes the brunt of your opponent’s attacks.  Mr. Sinister makes an appearance in this deck as well.
61)Mauraders-> Mr. Sinister and Sabretooth go right for the throat in this deck that gains more momentum for each stunned character your opponent controls
62)Morlocks-> Storm and Callisto lead a bunch of sewer rats into combat in this deck that focuses on the Evasion mechanic.  The goal is to gain bonuses for stunning your own characters (how silly!).
63)Big Brotherhood -> This deck is focuses on power-ups with some of the original Brotherhood members (Mystique, Magneto, Blob, Toad, Quicksilver).
64)House of M -> This House of M deck focuses on Magneto’s family (Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch) and Juggernaut.  The theme is picking on lowest-cost characters.
65)The New Brotherhood -> The Acolytes show up led by Sabretooth in the fast-damage Reservist deck.  Try to get as many global pumps into your resource row as possible by using cards that replace your Reservist resources.  The goal is to say at four or less resources for The New Brotherhood.
66)Purifiers-> Use William Stryker to return Mystique to play so that you can use Identity Thief repeatedly in this Purifiers deck.
67)Kang Klones-> Kang is here to stay (every turn!).  This deck has an entire curve of one non-unique character.  Put lower drops of Kangback into play with Secret Identity to gain board advantage until you get to Kang, Lord of Limbo, who will allow you to do MASSIVE breakthrough damage.
68)Skin-> Franklin Richards unwittingly helps out the Skrulls in this Skrull/Inhuman deck.  The goalis to gain as many team affiliations as possible.  Look to clear their board with Elektra.
69)Spider-Stall -> Plenty of favorites (Blade, Human Torch, Daredevil, Venom, The Sentry) join Spider-Man and other Spider-Friends in this Pay-Attack themed deck.  Stall to turn nine with payment effects that drop your own attack values for some great payoffs.
70)Coalition of Heroes -> Daredevil and Spider-man bring together Marvel Knights and Spider-Friends in this deck that stalls with defense boosts and exhaustion effects.  Look to break Spider-Man’s uniqueness with Ben Riley.
71)Fury-ous Agents -> Nick Fury and Squirrel Girl take some S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents into combat in this burn deck.  Many cards in this deck return your characters to hand so that you can re-recruit them and take advantage of their burn effects multiple times
72)Wolverine, Agent of SHIELD-> Wolverine is the star of this S.H.I.E.L.D./Marvel Defenders deck.  Load him up with pumps and let him attack your opponenetdirectly (withhis text) multiple times with the help Lady Deathstrike and Samantha Parrington.
73)Sinister Swarm -> Venom,Carnage, and Green Goblin come looking for Spider-Man in this Sinister Syndicate deck.  Throw lots of damage at your opponent with powerful low drops that have hefty drawbacks.  Play fast; your deck needs to kill your opponent before it kills you!
74)Honor Among Thieves-> Crime Lords and Sinister Syndicate combine forces to take advantage of the globalattack pump from the team-up, Honor Among Thieves.  Masked Marauder seals the deal by exhausting opposing characters that would otherwise be used to reinforce, allowing you to do some massive breakthrough.  Grab this deck for some Sinister favorites (Carnage, Stilt-Man, Rhino, Mysterio).
75)Crime Lords Reinforcement-> This deck is all about having reinforcement. Kingpin, Bullsey, and Deadpool take the center stage in this deck that does more good on the defense than offense!
76)Double Agents!-> Jamie Madrox goes undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D. in this Red Skull Crime Lords deck that abuses the Energize mechanic in conjunctionwith Armed Escort.  Once you have Jamie Madroxequipped with Armed Escort next to Red Skull,Aleksander Lukin, your opponent cannot attack you with losing infinite endurance since you can infinitely redirect attacks to Jamie.
77)Underworld-> Mystique helps Meatmarket and Satana get big while the rest of your team focuses on messing with your KO’d pile and recruiting characters for free.
78)Sniper Shot-> Captain America and Spider-Man exhaust opponent’s characters while Punisher ’snipes’ them in this Marvel Knights/Nextwave build revolving around the Civil War storyline.
79)Spirit of Vengeance-> Ghost Rider steals the slow in this Concealed-Area Marvel Knights deck.  He, along with Blade, Daredevil, and other Marvel Knights regulars lay down big, early attacks and KO’s to end the game quickly.
80)Heroes of the City-> This Equipment-based Fantastic Four/Marvel Knights deck revolves around Mr. Fantastic, Punisher, Dr. Strange, and Black Panther.  Burn your opponent to death as you pass your equipments from character to character.
81)Squadron No-Hand -> Your chances of winning get better the less cards you have in your hand, so find any way you can to ditch them in this Squadron Supreme/Thunderbolts deck.
82)Project Utopia-> The theme of this deck is not to cause breakthrough damage.  Plenty of your cards have replacement modifiers that prevent breakthrough in favor of some very nice effects.  This Squadron Supremem deck also has an equipment sub-theme to it.
83)Doomed Earth-> Dr. Doom, Mr. Fantastic, and yes, even Mole Man take the reigns in this Doom army deck.  This deck contains lots of KO’d pile recursion and relies on a global pump supplied by Doomed Earth.
84)Crisis Doom-> Crisis on Infinite Earths allows you to run a whole curve of Dr. Doom by breaking uniqueness rules.  This is especially powerful with Dr. Doom because he has access to some of the most powerful cards in the game (Latveria, Doomstadt, Mystical Paralysis, Reign of Terror, Boris) in addition to stellar text on his persona.  Stall to turn eight where the Latverian Monarch will allow you two attack steps!
85)Common Enemy ->All four members of the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer must ally with Dr. Doom and Sub-Mariner in this Fantastic Four/Doom curve deck.  Doom cards bring a control element while Fantastic Four cards bring beats.  It’s a very competitive combination!
86)Family of Four -> This powerful Fantastic Four deck is a quad-legend deck with cards that often give bonuses for each member of the Fantastic Four you control.  The most powerful aspect of this deck is using Force Field Projections with Invisible Woman, First Lady of the Fantastic Four in the hidden area; wait to cancel attacks until after your opponent has wasted his attack pumps!
87)BPRD Infinity Gauntlet-> The goal of the equipment-based BPRD deck is to get Hellboyequipped with the Infinity Gauntlet.  He can then attack and use the gauntlet thanks to Break Off the Horns.  All of the Hellboy crew from the movies is here (Hellboy, Liz Sherman, Abe Sapien).
88)Marvel Defenders->  This deck focuses on the Backup mechanic.  Samantha Parrington will allow Devil-Slayer to attack multiple times, and each time he’ll dig through your deck for some fantastic attack pumps.  Reset will also help Devil-Slayer dig for more pumps, just be sure to save it for the second attack.  Beast, Hawkeye, Dr. Strange and Sub-Mariner can also be found in this decklist!
89)Avengers Reservist-> This deck is all about the Reservist mechanic.  Put characters instead of plot twists in your resource row to gain bonuses from cards like Avenger’s Mansion.  This all accumulates to an out-of-combat stun by Wonderman on turn six, and a double attack by Hercules on turn seven.  Notable characters are Black Panther, Hawkeye, and Sub-Mariner.
90)Secret Avengers-> Another Avengers Reservist deck, but this one plays heavily on the Rally mechanic.  The cast of this deck is the Secret Avengers from Marvel’s Civil War (Captain America, Punisher, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Hawkeye, Cable, Wolverine, Spider-Man, etc.)
91)Avengers Big Guns -> This deck is all about the Avenger’s Big Three (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor).  This deck features all of their legendary equipments, along with cards that play on their leadership abilities.  Hulk lends them some muscle too!
92)Avengers Team Attack-> Captain America and Iron Man lead some of the lesser-known Avengers in this Team Attack deck.  These guys (Natasha Romanoff, Quicksilver, Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel) have some amazing abilities that trigger off of Team Attacks; ranging from free stun and KO effects all the way to ready effects.
93)Radioactive Man-> This Civil War-based deck takes the Pro-Registration side (opposite of the Sniper Shot and Secret Avengers decks)  Follow Iron Man and Radioactive Man as they look to take down other good guys!  The goal is to get as many +1/+1 counters on Radioactive Man as possible to lock down your opponent’s plot twists.  Black Panther and Green Goblin add a ton of +1/+1 counter support in this Thunderbolts/Avengers mash-up.  This deck also contains a theme revolving around the Leader mechanic.
94)Thunderbolts Ready->  This Thunderbolts deck follows a ready-character theme.  Look to use Team Tactics, Marvel’s Most Wanted, and Deadly Conspiracy to set up one massive final attack with Jolt, Charcoal, or any other large character you have!
95)Faces of Evil-> Like Honor Among Thieves, this deck is build around a team-up that gives your characters a global pump.  The goal is to flood the board with as many characters as possible to take advantage of this.  Beetle, Bullseye, and the rest of the Masters of Evil/Thunderbolts lineup is here.
96)Bounty Hunters-> Wild Pack and Spider-Friends team-up in this equipment-based deck.  Look to get large amounts of card draw from Bounty Hunt with KO effects to offset the card-intensive nature of recruiting equipment.  Punisher, Loaded for Bear finished off your curve by ‘finishing’ off theirs!
97)Time Cops-> Cable and Bishop take center-stage in this X-Men weenie deck.  There are plenty of burn effects that go along with powerful team-attacks to make short work of your opponent.  This deck contains lots of fan-favorite characters like Jubilee (edit: wait, she has no fans), Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Cyclops, Shadowcat, and Multiple Man.
98)Mojoverse-> This unaffiliated deck takes advantage of Mojo’s powerful ability to grow for each character you control.  Look to equip Mojo with a Goblin Glider and swing big with all your attack pumps.  Use Longshot to nab extra Random Punks when he comes into play, and use Mojoverse to remove Longshot’s affiliation at opportune times.  Just remember, you can’t reinforce or team-attack with no affiliations.
99)She-Hulk Smash!-> This Inhumans/Fantastic Four deck tries to get your opponents into the front row (Maximus helps a lot with this!).  Once they’re in the front row, swing large with She-Hulk, Green Jeans.  Equip her with a Rapier and load her up with She-Hulk Smashes!  All four of the Fantastic Four make an appearance in this very fun deck!
100)Something is Coming! -> Hellboy is summoned by the Thule Society and is used as an ever-growing weapon in this Thule army deck.

01)Outsiders

2x Halo, Gabrielle Doe
2x Technocrat, Geoffrey Barron
1x Faust, Sebastian Faust
1x Owen Mercer <> Captain Boomerang Jr., Prodigal Son
2x Wylde,Charlie Wylde
1x Grace,Grace Choi
1x Katana,Tatsu Yamashiro
1x Roy Harper <> Arsenal, Ladies’ Man
2x Kimiyo Hoshi <> Dr. Light, Sunburst
1x Dick Grayson, Renegade
1x Eradictor, Spirit of Kryton
1x Batman, Twighlight Vigilante

2x Batman and the Outsiders
2x Betrayel of Trust
2x Soul Slicer
2x Recruiting Drive
2x Booze Elementals

2x Optitron Corporation
1x Markovia
1x Brooklyn HQ

02)Birds of a Feather

2x Lady Blackhawk, Zinda Blake
2x Gypsy, Illusionary Operative
2x Huntress, Vicious Vigilante
2x Barbara Gordan <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
1x Catwoman, Feline Fatale
2x Batman, Twilight Vigilante
1x Vixen, Mari Jiwe McCabe
1x Kate Kane <> Batwoman, Katherine the Younger
1x Savant, Brian Durlin
1x Dinah Laurel Lance <> Black Canary, Cry in the Dark

2x Bat-Signal
2x The Hook-Up
2x Blinding Rage
2x Combat Reflexes
2x Birds of a Feather
2x No Man Escapes the Manhunter
2x Mega-Blast

1x Gotham Central

03)Fearsome Five

2x Gizmo,Mikron O’Jeneus
2x Deuce, Miss Perception
2x Shimmer,Selinda Flinders
2x Dr. Sivana,Thaddeus Bodog Sivana
1x Mammoth,Baran Flinders
1x Charger, Power Conduit
2x Jinx, Elemental Sorceress
1x Neutron,Nat Tryon
2x Dr. Light, Arthur Light
1x Psimon, Dr. Simon Jones

2x Underworld Star
2x Home Surgery
1x Fate has Spoken

2x Helm of Nabu
1x Cloak of NAbu
1x Amulet of NAbu
2x Light Armor
1x Catchers Mitt

2x Dr. Fates Tower

04)Green Lantern Corps

 2x Arisia,Green Lantern of Graxos IV
1x G’Nort,Green Lantern of G’Newt
1x Brik, Green Lantern of Dryad
2x Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern
1x Olapet,Green Lantern of Southern Goldstar
2x Hal Jordan,Green Lantern of Earth
1x Tomar Re,Green Lantern of Xudar
1x Oliver Queen <> Green Arrow, Emerald Archer
1x John Stewart, Emerald Architect
1x Ch’p,Green Lantern of H’lven
2x Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps
1x Boodikka, Green Lantern of Bellatrix
1x Kilowog,Green Lantern of Bolovax Vik

2x Light Armor
2x Oa
2x Green Lantern Ring
2x Uppercut
2x The Ring Has Chosen
2x Recharge The Sun
1x Mogo

05)The Brave and the Bold

2x Alfred Pennyworth, Faithful Friend
1x Dawn Granger <> Dove, Avatar of Order
1x Mirage, Miriam Delgado
2x Tim Drake <> Robin, Titan in Command
2x Holly Granger <> Hawk, Avatar of Chaos
1x Jason Todd <> Robin, Crime Fighter
2x Vic Stone <> Cyborg, Human Machine
1x Tim Drake <> Robin, Leader of the Pack
1x Garth <> Tempest, Atlantean Sorcerer
1x Batman, Caped Crusader
1x Koriand’r <> Starfire, Alien Princess
1x Dick Grayson <> Nightwing, Defender of BlŸdhaven

2x Follow the Leader
2x Cunning Strategy
2x Teen Titans Go!
1x Dynamic Duo
2x Brave and the Bold
1x The Hook-Up
2x Bat-Signal

1x Weapons Upgrade

1x GCPD Headquarters

06)World’s Finest

2x Alfred Pennyworth, Faithful Friend
2x Maggie Sawyer, Gotham Central
1x Krypto. Guard Dog
1x Tim Drake ◊ Robin, Titan in Command
2x Barbara Gordon ◊ Oracle, Hacker Elite
1x Batman, Problem Solver
2x Superman, Last Son of Krypton
2x Superman/Batman Robot, Supa-Mecha-Bat
1x Batman, Cape and Cowl
1x Azrael <> Batman, Knightfall
1x Superman, Big Blue Boy Scout

2x Bat-Signal
2x For the Man Who Has Everything
2x Brains and Brawn
2x At Their Finest
2x Impervious
2x The Hook-Up
1x Indestructible
1x Bat Got Your Tongue?

07)Team Superman Protection

2x Lois Lane, Star Reporter
2x Hiro Okamura <> Toyman, Whiz-Kid
2x Kelex, Faithful Servant
1x Krypto, Guard Dog of El
2x The Guardian, Jim Harper
2x Vartox, Hero of Tynola
2x Scorn,Ceritak
1x Pyrogen, Supermen of America
1x Superman, Deterrent Force
1x Kara Zor-El <> Supergirl, Claire Connors

2x Desperate Sacrifice
2x For the Man Who Has Everything
2x Early Edition
2x Flying High

2x Kandor, City in a Bottle
2x S.T.A.R. Labs Orbital Platform, Non-Unique
1x Smallville
1x Fortress of Solitude

08)Phantom Phone Booth

2x Kelex, Faithful Servant
2x Superman, Red
1x Linda Danvers ◊ Supergirl, Matrix
2x Superman, Clark Kent
1x Alpha Centurion
2x Cir-El <> Supergirl, Daughter of Tomorrow
1x Superman, Blue
1x Kara Zor-El ◊ Supergirl, Last Daughter of Krypton
1x Superman, Kal-El
1x Eradicator, Soul of Krypton
1x Superman, Orange Soda Man
1x Superman, Man of Steel

2x Impervious
2x Men of Steel
2x Man of Tomorrow
2x Soaring to New Heights
2x Super Speed

2x Cadmus Labs
2x Phantom Zone

09)Total Recall

2x Elasti-Girl, Rita Farr
2x Argent, Toni Monetti
2x The Chief, Niles Caulder
2x Beast Boy, Garfield Logan
2x Mento, Steve Dayton
2x Negative Man, Larry Trainor
2x Robotman, Cliff Steele
1x Beast Boy, Freak of Nature

2x Misfits
2x Heroic Effort
2x Call of the Wild
2x Teen Titans Go
2x Total Recall
1x Forbidden Loyalties
1x Headstrong Charge

2x Drayton Manor

1x Atlantean Trident

10)Teen Titans Go!

1x Ray Palmer <> The Atom, Tiny Titan
1x Roy Harper <> Speedy, Mercurial Marksman
1x Dawn Granger <> Dove, Agent of Order
2x Tim Drake <> Robin, Young Detective
1x Hank Hall <> Hawk, Agent of Chaos
2x Roy Harper <> Arsenal, Sharpshooter
1x Vic Stone <> Cyborg, Mechanized Mentor
2x Terra, Tara Markov
1x Red Star, Leonid Kovar
2x Garth <> Tempest, Atlantean Sorcerer
1x Koriand’r <> Starfire, Alien Princess
1x Connor Kent <> Superboy, Tactile Telekinetic

2x Press the Attack
2x Blinding Rage
2x Teen Titans Go!
1x Removed From Continuity
1x Heroic Sacrifice

2x Optitron
2x USS Argus
1x Tamaran
1x Titans Tower

11)The Founding Members

2x Plastic Man, Plastic Fantastic
2x Black Lightning, Energetic Hero
2x Hal Jordan, Founding Member
1x Batman, Founding Member
2x Wonder Woman, Ambassador of Peace
2x Barry Allen <> The Flash, Crimson Tornado
1x Superman, Metropolis Marvel
1x Wally West <> The Flash, Keystone Cop
1x Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz
2x Barry Allen <> The Flash, Founding Member
1x Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas

1x The Watchtower
1x Keystone City

2x Mightiest Heroes
2x Battle Training
2x Roll Call
2x Bring it On
2x Terminal Velocity
1x Full Throttle

12)Rock of Eternity

2x Atom Smasher – Al Rothstein
2x Connie Webb – Knight
1x Terry Sloane <> Mr. Terrific – Golden Age Gold Medalist
1x Surveillance Pawn – Army
2x Jack Knight <> Starman – Knight Past
2x Ahmed Samsarra – White King
1x Michael Holt <> Mr. Terrific – Renaissance Man
1x Christopher Smith <> Peacemaker – Obsessed Outlaw
1x Roy Harper <> Arsenal – Knight
1x Power Girl – Child of Crisis
1x Huntress – Reluctant Queen
2x The Phantom Stranger – Wandering Hero

1x Brother Eye
2x Brother I Satellite
2x Checkmate Safe House – Team-Up
1x JSA Headquarters
1x Secret Checkmate HQ
2x The Rock Of Eternity

2x Threat Neutralized

2x T-Spheres

13)JLI

2x Sue Dibny, Charismatic Coordinator
2x Ted Kord <> Blue Beetle, Heir of the Scarab
1x Oberon, Micro Manager
2x Booster Gold, Michael Jon Carter
2x L-Ron, Robot Companion
2x Joseph Jones <> General Glory, Lady Liberty’s Champion
1x Rocket Red #4,Dmitri Pushkin Gorki
1x Kimiyo Hoshi <> Dr. Light, Sunburst
1x Batman, Hidden Avenger
1x Martian Manhunter,J’onn J’onzz
1x Tasmanian Devil,Hugh Dawkins
2x Captain Marvel

2x Bwa ha ha ha
2x Running Interference
2x Trial By Fire

2x Kooey Kooey Kooey
2x JLI Embassy

2x Justice League Signal Device

14)Good Guys

2x Sue Dibny, Charismatic Coordinator
2x Ted Kord <> Blue Beetle, Heir of the Scarab
1x Booster Gold, Michael Jon Carter
1x Connor Hawke <> Green Arrow, Son of the Archer
2x Shayera Thal <> Hawkwoman, Thanagarian Enforcer
2x Katar Hol <> Hawkman, Thanagarian Enforcer
1x John Henry Irons <> Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man
1x Fire, Beatriz DaCosta

2x BWA HA HA HA HA!
2x Magnificent Seven
2x World’s Greatest Heroes
2x Hero’s Welcome
2x Trial By Fire

2x Kooey Kooey Kooey
1x Hall of Justice
1x JLI Embassy

2x Light Armor
2x Nth Metal

15)Justice United

2x Chay-Ara <> Hawkgirl, Eternal Companion
2x Terry Sloane <> Mr. Terrific, Golden Age Gold Medalist
2x Prince Khufu <> Hawkman, Eternal Warrior
2x Kate Spencer <> Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
2x Kendra Saunders <> Hawkgirl, Eternal Heroine
2x Michael Holt <> Mr. Terrific, Renaissance Man
2x Katar Hol <> Hawkman, Eternal Hero
1x Superman, Earth 2
2x The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero

2x Justice United
2x A Moment of Crisis
2x Double Play
2x Living Legacy

1x JSA Headquarters

2x Nth Metal
2x T-Spheres

16)Glock

2x Salakk, Green Lantern of Slyggia
1x G’Nort, Green Lantern of G’Newt
1x Black Hand, Dark-Hearted Villain
1x Olapet, Green Lantern of Southern Goldstar
2x Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern
2x Dr. Light, Master of Holograms
2x Malvolio, Lord of the Green Flame
2x Katma Tui, Green Lantern of Korugar
1x Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar
1x Guy Gardner, Egomaniac
1x Mogo, The Living Planet
1x Kyle Rayner <> Ion, Torch Bearer

2x Helping Hand
1x Rain of Acorns
2x The Ring Has Chosen
1x Emerald Dawn
2x I’m Back, Poozers!
1x Zero Hour

2x Book of Oa

2xCatcher’s Mitt

17)Emerald Enemies

2x The Shark – T.S. Smith
1x Sonar – Dastardly Discord
1x Henry King Jr. <> Brainwave – Psionic Manipulator
2x Tattooed Man – Abel Tarrant
1x Fatality – Emerald Assassin
1x Hector Hammond, Super-Futuristic Mind
2x Dr. Light, Master of Holograms
1x Dr. Polaris – Dr. Neal Emerson
2x Goldface – Keith Kenyon
1x Obsidian – Todd James Rice
2x Major Force – Clifford Zmeck
2x Sinestro – Corrupted by the Ring

2x Femme Fatality
2x Golden Death
2x Emerald Dawn
2x Trial by Fire

2x Prison Planet
2x Empire of Tears

18)Revenge Squad

2x Terra-Man
2x Brainiac 13, Mental Giant
2x Professor Emil Hamilton ◊ Ruin
2x Lex Luthor, President Luthor
1x Maxima, Empress of Almerac
1x Metallo, Kryptonite Heart
1x Atomic Skull, Cursed
2x Preus
1x Brainiac 2.5, Future Intelligence
1x Doomsday, Evolution Advanced
1x Brainiac 13, B-13

2x Future Shock
2x Path of Destruction
2x Battle for Metropolis
2x Standoff
2x Executive Privilege
1x Revenge Pact
1x Never-Ending Battle
1x Hostile Takeover
1x Knowledge is Power

19) Arkham Insanity!

1x Mad Hatter, Mad as a Hatter
1x Calendar Man, Julian Gregory Day
1x Charaxes, Moth Monster
1x Tally Man, Tax Time
1x The Penguin, Crime’s Early Bird
1x Great White, Warren White
1x Mr. Zsasz, Scar Tissue
1x The Joker, Out of His Mind
1x Two-Face, Jekyll and Hyde
1x Batzarro, World’s Worst Detective
1x Firefly, Burning Desire
1x Hush, Silent and Deadly
1x Poison Ivy, Pamela Isley
1x Matt Hagen <> Clayface, Mud Pack
1x Scarecrow, Fear and Loathing
1x Scarecrow, Fearmonger
1x Sondra Fuller <> Clayface, Mud Pack
1x The Joker, Crazy for You
1x Basil Karlo <> Ultimate Clayface, Mud Pack

1x Batter Up!
1x Batzarro Beatdown
1x Beside Myself
1x Burn Baby Burn
1x Certifiable
1x Jack-in-the-Box
1x Kidnapping
1x Money Talks
1x Pick a Card
1x Roshambo
1x Usual Suspects

1x Blackgate Prison, Maximum Security

20)Arkham Exhaust

2x Anarky,Lonnie Machin
2x Amadeus Arkham, Architect of Insanity
2x KGBeast,Anatoli Knyazev
1x Calendar Man, Julian Gregory Day
2x Charaxes,Drury Walker
1x The Penguin, Arms Merchant
2x Hush, Mystery Man
1x Hush, Silent and Deadly
1x Matt Hagen <> Clayface, Man of Clay
1x Scarecrow,Fearmonger
1x Bane, The Man Who Broke the Bat
1x Charaxes,Killer Moth
1x Two-Face, Split Personality

2x Glass Jaw
2x Fear and Confusion
2x Sucker Punch
2x Smiles Everyone
1x Crushing Blow
1x No Man’s Land
1x Arkham Asylum
1x Bat’s Belfry

21)IG Handfill

2x Captain Boomerang, George Harkness
2x IQ, Ira Quimby
2x Lex Luthor, Nefarious Philanthropist
2x Lex Luthor, Megalomaniac
2x The Joker, Headline Stealer
1x Felix Faust, Soulless Mystic
2x Circe, Evil Enchantress
2x Scarecrow, Psycho Psychologist
1x Lex Luthor, Sinister Scientist

2x Criminal Mastermind
2x Secret Files
2x All Too Easy
2x Power Siphon
2x Home Surgery
2x Death Trap
2x Evil Genius

22)Crime Syndicate

2 Catwoman, Cat o’ Nine Tails
2 The Penguin, Gentleman of Crime
2 Johnny Quick, Earth 3
2 Superwoman, Earth 3
2 Black Manta, Deepwater Denizen
1 Owlman, Earth 3
2 Jemm, Son of Saturn
1 Ultraman, Earth 3
2 White Martian, Earth 3
1 Prometheus, New Year’s Evil

2 Flying Kick
2 Crime Syndicate of America
2 Combat Reflexes
2 Secret Files
2 All Too Easy
2 Mega Blast

1 Hunte Castle

23)War Paint

10x Infernal Minions, Army
2x Zazzala <> Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive
2x Shadow-Thief, Carl Sands
2x Mantis, Power Parasite
2x Tattooed Man, Living Ink

2x World War 3
2x Secret Files
2x Infestation

2x Hard Light Storage Tank
1x Birthing Chamber
1x Royal Egg Matrix

2x Philosopher’s Stone

24)Youth of Tomorrow

1x Mia Dearden <> Speedy – Deadly Aim
2x Jazmin Cullen <> Kid Quantum – Hero of Xanthu
2x Dawn Granger <> Dove – Avatar of Order
1x Holly Granger <> Hawk – Avatar of Chaos
1x Apparition – Tinya Wazzo
1x Ferro Lad – Andrew Nolan
1x Element Lad – Jan Arrah
2x Timber Wolf – Brin Londo
1x Karate Kid – Val Armorr
1x XS – Jenni Ognats
1x Bart Allen <> Kid Flash – Heir to the Mantle
1x Vic Stone <> Cyborg 2.0 – Titans Tomorrow East
1x Connor Kent <> Superboy – Inspiration to the Legion
1x Saturn Girl – Imra Ardeen

2x Foiled Assassination
1x Titans of Tomorrow
2x Let’s Go, Legionnaires!
2x Mega-Blast
2x New Recruits
2x Past, Present, and Future – Team-Up
1x Youth of Tomorrow – Team-Up

1x Science Police Central

25)Future Foes

2x Emerald Eye, Sentient Artifact
2x Emerald Empress, Fatal Five
2x Saturn Queen, Legion of Super Villains
2x Tharok, Fatal Five
1x Time Trapper, Temporal Manipulator
2x Mano, Fatal Five
2x Validus, Fatal Five
2x The Persuader, Fatal Five
1x Universo,Vidar

2x Atomic Axe
2x Busted Knee
2x No Man Escapes the Manhunters
2x Blind-Sided
2x Internal Injuries
2x Five Against One
2x Fatal Five Hundred

26)Secret Six Victorious

2x Mad Hatter, Mad as a Hatter
2x Fiddler,Isaac Bowin
2x Dead Shot, Dead Aim
2x Catman, Thomas Blake
2x Parademon,Apokoliptian Ally
2x Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue
2x Cheshire,Jade
2x Scandal, Savage Spawn
2x Lex Luthor <> Mockingbird, Evil Exile

2x Dodge the Bullet
2x Help Wanted
2x Its Not Over Yet
2x Secret Six Victorious
2x Lanterns in Love

2x House of Secrets

27)Manhunters

2x Kate Spencer <> Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
2x Manhunter Infiltrator, Army
2x Manhunter Engineer, Army
10x Manhunte Soldier, Army
2x Sleeper Agent, Manhunter Sleeper

2x Birthing Chamber

2x Epic Battle
2x Plans Within Plans
2x Qwardian Pincer
2x War Without End
2x There Is No Escape

28)Checkmate/VU

2x Connie Webb, Knight
2x Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant
2x Sarge Steel, Knight
2x Ahmed Samsarra, White King
2x Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1
1x Alan Scott, White King
1x Maxwell Lord, Black King
1x Talia, Daughter of Madness
1x Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double
1x Huntress, Reluctant Queen
1x Deathstroke the Terminator, Ultimate Assassin
1x Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype

2x Target Acquired
2x Threat Neutralized

2x Brother Eye
2x Brother I Satellite
2x Checkmate Safe House
1x The Science Spire

2x Laser Watch

29)Vengeance

2x Chomin,Qwardian Spy
2x Cheetah, Feral Felin
2x Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant
2x Ishmael Gregor <> Sabbac, Malevolent Marvel
1x Chemo, Chemical Golem
1x The Calculator, Evil Oracle
2x Zazzala <> Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive
2x Deathstrokethe Terminator, Lethal Weapon
1x Fatality, Flawless Victory
1x Black Adam, Teth-Adam

2x Power Gem

2x Grand Guesture
2x Baddest of the Bad
2x Blinding Rage
2x Return Fire!
2x High Society
1x 3…2…1…
1x Join Us or Die

30)Anti-Green Lanterns

7x Anti-Green Lantern, Army
2x Chomin, Qwardian Spy
2x Xallarap, Anti-Green Lantern Corps
1x Shadow-Thief, Carl Sands
2x Felix Faust,Infernal Dealmaker
1x Fiero,Qwardian Conglomerate
1x Tattooed Man, Living Ink

2x Banished
2x Cosmic Conflict
2x Mega Blast
2x Blinding Rage
2x Ring has Chosen
2x Trial by Fire

2x Willworld

31)Anti-Matter

2x Dead-Eye, Qwardian Conglomerate
2x Gnaxos, Arena Robot
2x Slipstream, Qwardian Conglomerate
2x Alexander Luthor – Earth 3
2x General Fabrikant-Qwardian General
1x Fiero, Qwardian Conglomerate
2x Johnny Quick, Crime Syndicate
2x St’nlli, Super-Qwardian
1x Sinestro, Korugaran Despot

2x Mobilize
2x Matter Convergence
2x Thunderous Onslaught
2x Q Field
2x Nero Unleashed
2x Banished to the Anti-Matter Universe
2x Air Strike

32)Qward

7x Shadow Creatures, Army
2x Kiman, Chief Weaponer
2x Malvolio, Lord of the Green Flame
1x Fiero, Qwardian Conglomerate
1x Element Man, Qwardian Conglomerate
1x Evil Star, Servant of the Star-Band
1x Krona, Creator of the Anti-Matter Universe
1x Anti-Monitor, Architect of Destruction

2x Helping Hand
2x Men of Steel
2x Rain of Acorns
2x The Ring Has Chosen

2x Birthing Chamber
2x Qward
2x Sector 2814

33)League of Assassins

2x Talia, Beloved Daughter
2x Bronze Tiger, Benjamin Turner
2x Hook, Hired Killer
1x The Mad Dog, Rabid Killer
2x Ra’s al Ghul, Eternal Nemesis
1x Ra’s al Ghul, Immortal Villain
2x Bane, Ubu
2x Nyssa Raatko, Daughter of the Demon
1x Dr. Ebenezer Darrk, Original Leader of the League
1x Lady Shiva, Master Assassin
1x Ra’s al Ghul, The Demon’s Head

2x The Demon’s Head
2x Tower of Babel

2x Mountain Stronghold
1x Flying Fortress
1x Lazarus Pit, Death’s Door
1x Stryker’s Island
1x Seiobo’s Garden
1x Pit of Madness
1x Lazarus Pit, Non-Unique
1x Ubu Encampment

34)The Exchange

2x Vykin, Forever People
2x Desaad, Royal Torturer
2x Mark Moonrider, Forever People
1x Shiloh Norman <> Mister Miracle, Soldier of Victory
2x Commander, Military Leader of New Genesis
1x Bernadeth, Leader of Female Furies
1x Glorious Godfrey, Persuader
1x Darkseid, Destroyer of Life
1x Scott Free <> Mister Miracle, Escape Artist
1x Big Barda, Barda Free
1x Lightray, Solaris
1x Orion

2x The Exchange
2x Royal Decree
2x Blood Feud
2x Apokoliptian Hospitality
1x The Prophecy Fullfilled

1x New Genesis

2x Mobius Chair
2x Beta Club

35)Superman Blue Abuse

8x Soldiers of New Genesis, Army
2x Lois Lane, Star Reporter
2x Superman, Red
2x Superman, Blue
1x Cir-El <> Supergirl, Daughter of Tomorrow

2x Lanterns in Love
2x Man of Tomorrow
1x Millennium
2x Royal Decree
2x Shock Troops
2x Trial by Sword

1x Birthing Chamber
1x Super-Town

2x Supercycle

36)Substibuse

2x Lady Blackhawk,Zinda Blake
2x Gypsy,Illusionary Operative
1x Huntress, Vicious Vigilante
2x Dark Lantern, Mockery
2x Barbara Gordon <> Oracle, Hacker Elite
2x Dark Firestorm, Mockery
1x Dark Martian, Mockery
1x Vixen,Mari Jiwe McCabe
2x Darkseid, Apokolipian Opressor
2x Dark Superboy, Mockery
1x Savant,Brian Durlin
1x Dark Champion, Mockery

1x Furnace of Apokolips

2x Created from Hate
2x Crackshot
2x Titans of Tomorrow
2x Unravel Reality
2x Joining the Darkseid

37)All Hail Darkseid

2x Mad Harriet, Female Fury
2x Speed Queen, Female Fury
2x Dark Firestorm, Mockery
2x Dr. Bedlam,Psionic Being
2x Darkseid, Apokoliptian Oppressor
1x Knockout, Female Fury
1x Darkseid, 8th Century
1x Dark Superboy, Mockery
1x Darkseid, Evil Reborn
1x Kanto,Darkseid’s Assassin
1x Darkseid, Apokolips Now
1x Darkseid, Nemesis

2x Ancient Throne
1x 31st Century Apokolips
1x Apokolips
1x Dark Matter Drain

2x Created From Hate
2x Servants of Darkness
1x Ancient Evils
1x Have a Blast!

2x Ego Gem

38)Secret Society

1x Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
2x Dr. Polaris, Polar Opposite
2x The Riddler, Riddle Me This
2x Dr. Sivana, Mad Scientist
1x Charaxes, Moth Monster
1x Peter Merkel <> Ragdoll, Malleable Miscreant
2x Poison Ivy, Intoxicating
2x Gorilla Grodd,Grodd Awful
1x Sinestro, Yellow Lantern
2x Black Manta, Underwater Marauder
1x Deathstroke the Terminator, Killing Machine
1x Mr. Freeze, Cold Blooded
1x Doomsday, Engine of Destruction

2x Agility
2x Straight to the Grave
2x Forced Conscription
2x Acceptable Loss

1x Slaughter Swamp
1x Remote Facility
1x Gorilla City

39 Shadowpact

2x Madame Xanadu,Cartomancer
2x Detective Chimp, Shoeless Gumshoe
1x Zatanna, Magical Manipulator
2x June Moon, Good Witch
1x Witchfire, Rebecca Carstairs
1x Dr. Occult, Richard Occult
1x Black Alice, Lori Zechlin
1x Dr. Fate, Hector Hall
2x The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel

2x Total Anarchy
2x The Conclave
2x Divination
2x Conjuration
1x Spectral Slaughter
1x Fate Has Spoken

2x Dr. Fate’s Tower
2x Chimp Detective Agency

1x Helm of Nabu
1x Amulet of Nabu
1x Cloak of Nabu

40)Unaffiliated Curve

2x Jaime Reyes <> Blue Beetle, High-Tech Hero
2x Professor Ivo,Anthony Ivo
2x Arcade,Master of Murderworld
2x Bullseye, #1 with a Bullet
2x Woverine, Patch
2x Deathlok, Luther Manning
1x Kanjar Ro,Kylaq Defense Minister
2x Holocaust, Nemesis
1x Adam Warlock, Savior of the Universe

2x Resistance is Useless
2x Secret Origins
2x Fate Has Spoken
2x Dr. Fate’s Tower
2x Helm of Nabu
1x Cloak of Nabu
1x Amulet of Nabu
2x Muramasa Blade

41)Negative Zone

2x Alpha Primitives, Army
2x Skreet, Chaos Mite
2x Seekers, Army
2x Thanos, Mad Titan
2x Syphon, Energy Leech
1x Centurions, Army
2x Annihulus, Anti Matter Master
2x Ravenous, Steward of Annihulus
2x Blastaar, The Living Bomb Burst

2x Mobilize
2x Swarm of Annihulus
1x Wave of Destruction

2x Negative Zone, Prison Alpha
2x Negative Zone, Gateway
2x Negative Zone, Seat of Annihulus
1x Negative Zone, Shadow Dimension
1x Negative Zone, Harvester of Sorrows

42)Exiles

2x Longshot, Rebel Freedom Fighter
2x Blink, Earth-295
2x Mimic, Earth-12
2x Blink, Earth-295 <> Clarice Ferguson
2x Mimic, Earth-12 <> Team Leader
2x Blink, Earth-295 <> Dimension Jumper
2x Mimic, Earth-12 <> Infected
1x Blink, Earth-295 <> Team Leader

2x Worthington Industries
2x X-Corp Paris
1x X-Corp Amsterdam
1x Omniverse

2x Wolverine Squad
2x No More Mr. Nice Guy
2x Beak Saves the Day
2x A Finer World
1x Frozen in Time

43)Heralds of Galactus

2x Silver Surfer, Skyrider of the Spaceways
2x Air-Walker, Gabriel Lan
2x Frankie Raye <> Nova, Soul Searcher
1x Human Torch, The Invisible Man
1x Terrax, The Tamer
1x Morg, Corrupt Destroyer
1x Air-Walker, Harbringer of Despair
1x Red Shift, Rift Walker
1x Silver Surfer, Righteous Protector
1x Destroyer, Harbringer of Devastation
1x Terrax, Harbringer of Ruin
1x Galactus, The Maker
1x Silver Surfer, Last Zenn-Levian
1x Galactus, Devourer of Worlds

2x Silver Surfer’s Board

1x Elemental Converters
1x Soul World
1x Worldeater Apparatus

2x Absorba Shield
2x Kindred Spirits
2x I Hunger
2x Relentless Onslaught

44)Hellfire Club

2x Courtney Ross, Once and Future Queen
2x Hellfire Initiate, Army
2x Sage, Tessa
2x Mastermind, Dark Dreamer
1x Harry Leland, Black Bishop
2x Madelyne Pryor, Black Rook
2x Shinobi Shaw, White King
1x Donald Pierce, White Bishop
1x Magneto, Black Lord
1x Sebastian Shaw, Black King

2x Shaw Industries
1x Hellfire Club

2x Deadly Game
2x Join the Club
2x Power and Wealth
2x Army of One
2x Absolute Power
1x Power Play

45)The Illuminati

2x Professor X, Mutant Benefactor
2x Black Bolt, Illuminati
2x Dr. Strange, Secret Avenger
2x Sub-Mariner, Protector of the Time Gem
1x Iron Man, Earth-2020
2x Mr. Fantastic, Critical Thinker
2x Iron Man, Protector of the Reality Gem
1x Dr. Strange, Ally of the Four
1x Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath
1x Thanos, Alpha and Omega
1x Professor X, Mental Master

2x Here Comes Tomorrow, Team-Up
2x Clandestine Operations
2x Secret Government
2x The Elektra Situation
2x The 100 Ideas
1x The Infinity Gauntlet

2x Monster Island

46)Kree

2x Captain Att-Lass, Starforce
2x Dr. Minerva, Starforce
2x Lieutenant Kona Lor, Lunatic Legion
1x Mar-Vell <> Captain Marvel, Soldier of the Empire
1x Commander Dylon Cir, Lunatic Legion
1x Colonel Yon-Rogg, Commander of the Helion
1x Ronan the Accuser, Exiled
2x Admiral Galen Kor, Lunatic Legion
1x Ultimus, Starforce
2x Shatterax, Starforce
1x Korath the Pursuer, Starforce

2x Penal Colony
2x Hala
2x Stargate

2x Live Kree . . . or Die!
2x The Lunatic Legion
1x Remnant Fleet
1x Strategic Retreat

1x Nega-Bands
1x Universal Weapon

47)Warbound

2x Rick Jones, Monster’s Best Friend
2x Archangel, Champion
2x Hiroim, Shamed
2x Hulk, Exile
1x Brood, Brood Creature 2 of 6
2x Hulk, Green Scar
2x Hulk, Gladiator
2x Hulk, The Green King
1x Hercules, Secret Avenger
1x Hulk, Sakaar’son
1x Hulk, Worldbreaker

2x Bloodsport
2x Hulk Smash
2x Righteous Anger
1x The Strongest One There Is
2x Warbound to the End

2x The Great Arena
1x Imperial Dreadnaught

48)Curve Sentinels

2x Boliver Trask – Creator Of The Sentinel Program
1x Hounds of Ahab-Army
4x Sentinel Mark II-Army
4x Sentinel Mark V – Army
2x Nimrod – Mutant Hunter
2x Bastion – Leader Of Operation Zero Tolerance
2x Magneto, Master of Magnetism

2x Genosha
1x South American Sentinel Base

2x Reconstruction Program
2x Search and Destroy
2x Savage Beatdown
2x Cover Fire
2x Finishing Move

49)Wild Vomit

2x Longshot, Rebel Freedom Fighter
2x Senator Kelly, Anti-Mutant Advocate
12x Wild Sentinel, Army
6x Sentinel Mark IV, Army

2x Reconstruction Program
2x Search and Destroy
2x Cover Fire

2x Underground Sentinel Base

50)Shi’ar Stall

2x Prof X, Mutant Benefactor
8x Shi’ar Soldiers
1x Scarlet Witch, Eldritch Enchantress
2x Blob, Fred Dukes
1x Lilandra
1x Gladiator
1x Mimic, Calvin Rankin
1x Magneto, Lord Magnus

2x Enemy of my Enemy
2x Planet X
1x Marvel Crossover
2x Insignificant Threat
2x Cover Fire
2x Press the Attack

2x Ego Gem

51)Starjammers

2x Raza Longknife, Space Pirate
2x Nightcrawler, Brimstone Cowboy
2x Corsair, Christopher Summers
1x Psylocke, Betsy Braddock
2x Rogue, Power Absorbtion
1x Ch’od, First Mate
1x Rachel Summers <> Marvel Girl, Deathmarked
1x Professor X, Charles Xavier
1x Mimic, Exile
1x Korvus, Korvus Rook’shir
1x Havok, Proud Son

2x Freedom Fighters
2x Enemy of my Enemy
2x Cannibal Tech
2x Savage Beatdown
2x He Who Watches

2x The Starjammer
2x Rapier
1x Med Kit

52)X-Men Assemble!

2x Bishop, Age of Apocalypse
1x Forge, The Maker
2x Morph, Exile
1x Wolverine, Logan
2x Wolverine, Age of Apocalypse
1x Emma Frost, Ice Queen
2x Wolverine, The Best at What he Does
2x Blink, Age of Apocalypse
1x Colossus, Organic Steel
1x Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath
1x Wolverine, Bloodlust

2x X-Men Assemble
2x Turnabout
2x Berserker Rage
2x Adamantium Claws
2x Healing Factor
1x Children of the Atom

1x Xavier’s Institute of Higher Learning
1x Cerebra
1x Cerebro

53)Big Red

2x Archangel, Angel
2x Jean Grey, Teen Telepath
2x Jean Grey, Telekinetic Fighter
2x Jean Grey, Age of Apocalypse
2x Wolverine, Logan
2x Emma Frost, Ice Queen
1x Jean Grey, Alive Again
2x Jean Grey, Phoenix Rising
1x Cyclops, Astonishing X-Man
1x Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath
1x Jean Grey, Phoenix Force

2x Children of the Atom
1x New and Improved
2x Splintering Consciousness
2x Turnabout

2x Cerebro
2x Worthington Industries, X-Corp
1x X-Corporation

54)X-Haust

2x Puppet Master, Philip Masters
2x Cyclops, Mutant Hunter
2x Iceman, Jack Frost
2x Professor X, Headmaster
1x Rogue, Power Absorption
1x Sunfire, Shiro Yoshida
1x Cyclops, Ultimates
2x Mimic, Exile
2x Professor X, World’s Most Powerful Telepath
1x Cyclops, Mutant Messiah

2x Concussive Force
2x Trickshot
2x X-Treme Maneuver
2x To Me, My X-Men!
1x Children of the Atom

2x Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters
1x Xavier’s Institute of Higher Learning
1x Cerebro
1x Worthington Industries, X-Corporation

55)X-Statix Loner

2x Phat, William Reilly
2x Orphan, Guy Smith
2x Anarchist, Acid Blast
2x Spider-Man, Zombie
1x Deadgirl, Crafty Cadaver
1x Colonel America, Zombie
1x Battering Ram, Short-Lived Strongman
2x Zeitgeist, Axel Cluney
1x Doop, Extra-Dimensional Void

2x Spin Doctoring
2x Dead Weight
2x Fight to the Finish
1x Flame Trap
1x Graduating Class
1x Star of the Show
1x Mutant of the Year

2x X-Statix HQ
1x X-Statix Cafe
1x Kang Kross-roads
1x Shaw Industries
1x The Hill

56)Multiple Man

6x Multiple Man – Army * HYDRA
5x Jamie Madrox <> Multiple Man – Army *Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
1x Rictor, Depowered
2x Siryn, Sonic Scream
2x Jamie Madrox <>Multiple Man – Jamie Prime
2x Strong Guy – Guido Carosella

2x Uncertain legacy
2x Hail Hydra
2x Government Sponsored
2x Mobilize
2x Re-Absorption
2x Cut Off One Head…

57)Alpha Force

2x Moonstar, Danielle Moonstar
2x Aurora, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier
2x Talisman, Elizabeth Twoyoungmen * Omega Flight
1x Julia Carpenter<>Arachne
2x Cable, Soldier X
2x John Walker <> U.S. Agent, Omega Flight
1x Cable, Dayspring
1x Sasquatch,Walter Langkowski * Omega Flight

2x Techno-Organic Virus
2x Enemy of my Enemy
2x Alpha Flight: Reborn
2x Black Box
2x Savage Beatdown
2x Flying Kick
2x Trouble with Dinosaurs
2x The Best at What They Do
1x Cutting Loose

58)Bosom Buddies

2x Moonstar, Danielle Moonstar
2x Aurora, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier
2x Cable, Soldier X
2x Deadpool, Earth 5021
2x Vision, Earth-10101
1x Cable, Dayspring
1x Deadpool, Chatty Kathy
1x Cable, Temporal Traveler

2x We Can Rebuild Him
2x The Select
2x Techno Organic Virus
2x Bosom Buddies
2x Cutting Loose
2x Black Box
2x Savage Beatdowns
2x Losing the Argument
1x Merc witha Mouth

59)Weapon X

2x Mesmero, Vincent
2x X-23,Laura Howlett
2x Iron Man, Earth-2020
2x Vision, Earth-10101
1x Deadpool, Earth-5021
1x Nuke, Weapon 7
2x Chamber,Jonothon Starsmore
1x Maverick, Agent Zero
2x Predator X, Genetically Engineered Monster
1x Garrison Kane, Reprogrammed Cyborg
1x Hulk, Earth-873
1x Wolverine, Unleashed
1x Ultimaton, Weapon 15

2x Weapon Plus Satelite

2x Erased
2x We Can rebuild him
2x War of the Programs
2x Memory Implants
1x King Hyperion

60)Age of Apocalypse

2x Havok, Age of Apocalypse
1x Caliban, Pestilence
2x Cyclops, Age of Apocalypse
1x Mr. Sinister, Famine
1x Dark Beast, Age of Apocalypse
2x Abyss, Age of Apocalypse
1x Apocalypse, Age of Apocalypse
2x Sunfire, Famine
2x Apocalypse, Mutant Messiah
1x Apocalypse, Age of Apocalypse
1x The Beyonder, Inhuman

2 Burn Rubber
2 Pleasant Distraction
2 Prismatic Shield
2 Call in a Favor
2 Messiah Complex
2 Concussive Force
1 Optic Blast

1 Cloak of Levitation

61)Mauraders

2x Senyaka, Suvik Senyaka
2x Unuscione, Carmella Unuscione
2x Riptide, Janos Quested
1x Mr. Sinister, Famine
2x Sauron, Dr. Karl Lykos
1x Harpoon, Kodiak Noatak
1x Scalphunter, John Greycrow
1x Sabretooth, Killer Instinct
1x Joanna Cargill, Frenzy
1x Blockbuster, Michael Baer
1x Mr. Sinister, Mutant Messiah

2x Acolyte Protection, Team-Up
2x Blinded by the Light
2x Deadly Ambush
2x Eviscerate
2x Sinister Disciples
2x Sewer Rats

2x Arctic Base
1x Savage Land

62)Morlocks

2x Electric Eve, Live Wire
2x Tommy, Runaway
1x Artie, Arthur Maddicks
2x Tar Baby, Adhesive Ally
1x Leech, Inhibitor
1x Postman, Memory Thief
2x Healer, Life Giver
2x Storm, Leader of the Morlocks
1x Hump, Servant of Masque
2x Marrow, Gene Nation
1x Callisto, Morlock Queen

2x Bloodhound
2x Last Stand
2x Morlock Justice
2x Shrapnel Blast
2x Retribution

2x The Alley
1x The Hill

63)Big Brotherhood

2x Mystique, Raven
2x Quicksilver, Mercurial Speedster
2x Toad, Mortimer Toynbee
2x Mystique, Raven Darkholme
1x Magneto, Mutant Terrorist
2x Blob, Fred Dukes
1x Toad, Leapfrog
2x Quicksilver, Speed Demon
1x Magneto, Erik Lensherr
1x Mystique, Freedom Force
1x Blob, Freedom Force
1x Magneto, Master of Magnetism

2x The Uni-Power
2x Freedom Force
2x Insignificant Threat

2x Lost City
2x Avalon Space Station
1x Soul World
1x Underground Resistance

64)House of M

2x Quicksilver, Mercurial Speedster
2x Quicksilver, Ultimates
2x Scarlet Witch, Mistress of Magic
1x Scarlet Witch, Magneto’s Daughter
1x Juggernaut, Ultimates
1x Magneto, Mutant Supreme
1x Mystique, Shapely Shifter
1x Juggernaut, Walking Disaster
1x Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
1x Mystique, Foxx
1x Sentinel Mark VII, Repurposed

1x Juggernaught’s Helmet

2x Underground Resistance
2x Genosha
1x Asteroid M

2x Sibling Support
2x Eviscerate
2x Unstoppable
2x Iron Extraction
2x Metallic Assault

65)The New Brotherhood

2x Barnacle, Acolyte
2x Rem-Ram, Acolyte
2x Kleinstock Brothers, Acolyte
2x Amelia Voght, Acolyte
2x Chrome, Acolyte
2x Joanna Cargill, Acolyte
2x Senyaka, Acolyte
2x Anne-Marie Cortez, Acolyte
2x Spoor, Acolyte
1x Scanner, Acolyte
1x Sabretooth, Savage Killer

2x Boot to the Head
2x Planet X
2x The Next Brotherhood
2x The New Brotherhood
1x Hammer Bay
1x Ruins of Avalon

66)Purifiers

8 Purifiers, Army
2 Mystique, Raven
2 William Stryker, Fundamentalist
2 Lady Deathstrike, Lady for Hire
2 Nimrod, Killing Machine
1 Bastion, Prime Sentinel
1 Sentinel Squad O*N*E*, Army

2 Invasion Plans
2 Enemy of my Enemy
2 Identity Theft
2 Finishing Move
2 Cutting Loose
2 Purified

67)Kang Klones

2x Kang, Rama Tut
2x Kang, Kang Kong
2x Kang, Time Warrior
2x Kang, Kang Ransom
1x Growing Man, Kinetic Stimuloid
2x Kang, Earth Mesozoic-24
1x Kang, Scarlet Centurion
2x Kang, The Conqueror
1x Kang, Destiny Warrior
1x Kang, Lord Kang
1x Kang, Lord of Limbo

2x Secret Identity
2x Assorted Aliases
2x Psyche-Globe
2x Entangle
1x Null Time Zone

2x Soul World
2x Damocles Base

68)Skin

2x Lockjaw,Inhuman’s Best Friend
2x Blackbolt, Enemy Within
2x Franklin Richards
2x Wolverine, Skrunucklehead
2x Captain America, Skrull Imposter
1x Elektra, Pawn of the Gorgon <> Hydra
1x Super Skrull, Kl’rt
1x Titannus

2x Interstellar Offensive
2x Call to Arms
2x Mutopia
2x Extended Family
2x Invasion Plans
2x Exploiting the Flaw

2x Great Refuge
2x Tarnax IV

1x Quantum Bands

69)Spider-Stall

1x Aunt May, Golden Oldie
2x Black Cat, 9 lives
2x Blade, Nightstalker
2x Spider-Girl, Daughter of Spider-Man
1x Mattiie Franklin, Reserve Webhead
2x Spider-man, The Sensational
1x Sleepwalker, Rick Sheridan
1x Venom, Lethal Protector
1x Phil Urich <> Green Goblin, Lunatic Laugh
1x Daredevil New Kingpin
1x Human Torch, Fiery Friend
1x Spiderman, Stark’s Protege
1x The Sentry, Golden Guardian of Good
1x Tenebrous, Of the Darkness

2x Gift Wrapped
2x Indebted
2x Empire State university
2x Down But Not Out
2x Messiah Complex

2x Mind Gem

70)Coalition of Heroes

2x Iron Fist <> Daredevil,Imposter
2x Spider-Man, Webhead
2x Daredevil, Protector of Hell’s Kitchen
2x Spider-Man, The Amazing Bag-Man
1x Daredevil, Hornhead
1x Spider-Man, Secret Avenger
1x Daredevil, Kitchen Cleanser
2x Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly
1x Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man
2x Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man
1x Spider-Man, Cosmic Spider-Man

2x Going My Way?
2x Indebted
2x Gift Wrapped
2x Spider-Senses or Combat Veteran
2x Coalition of Heroes
1x Clone Saga

1x ESU Science Lab

1x Billy Club

71)Fury-ous Agents

8x S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, Army * Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2x Speedball <> Penance,Painmonger
2x Maria Hill, Deputy Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2x Squirrel Girl, Doreen Green
4x Cape-Killers Unit, Army * Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2x Life Model Decoy, More Human than Human
2x Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

2x Out for Justice
2x Star Squad
1x Security Clearance

2x Shield Hellicarrier
1x Evil Lair

72)Wolverine, Agent of SHIELD

5x SHIELD Agents, Army
2x Hank Pym <> Yellowjacket, Initiative Instructor
2x Speedball <> Penance, Painmonger
2x Tania Belinskya, <> Red Guardian, Cold Warrior
2x Wolverine, Agent of SHIELD * HYDRA
2x Lady Deathstrike, Opportunistic Killer
2x Samantha Parrington <> Valkyrie, Chooser of the Slain

2x The “B” Team
2x Mobilize
2x Devastating Blow
2x Trouble with Dinosaurs
2x Flying Kick
2x Adamantium Claws

1x Godseye Satellite

73)Sinister Swarm

2x Lizard, Voracious predator
2x Vulture, Adrian toomes
1x Basilisk, Basil Elks
1x Mendel Stromm, Robot Master
1x Tombstone, Lonnie Lincoln
1x Fusion, Markely
1x RazorFist, Sociopathic Mercenary
1x Slyde, Jalome Beacher
1x Green Goblin, Insanity Unleashed
1x Hammer Head, Gangster
1x Electro, Maxwell dillon
1x Answer, Aaron Nicholson
1x Swarm, Fritz von Meyer
1x Spider-Slayer V.X., Arachnid Hunter
1x Venom, Mac Gargan
1x Carnage, Psychopath

2x Goblin Glider

2x Hidden Cache
1x The Vault
1x Doc Ock’s Lab

2x No Fear
2x Legacy of Evil
2x Spider Hunt

74)Honor Among Thieves

2x Vulture, Adrian Toomes
2x Mendel Stromm, Robot Master
2x Cobra, Klaus Vorhees
2x Hammerhead, Gangster
1x Stilt-Man, Wilbur Day
1x Sniper, Rich van Burian
2x Mysterio, Quentin Beck
1x Owl, Leland Owlsley
1x Rhino, Alex O’Hirn
1x Mr. Hyde, Calvin Zabo
1x Albert Malik <> Red Skull, Axis of Evil
2x Masked Marauder, Frank Farnum
1x Carnage, Cletus Kasady

1x The Contract
2x Honor Among Thieves
2x No Fear
2x Uprising

2x Doc Ock’s Lab
1x Osbourne Industries

1x Goblin Glider

75)Crime Lords Reinforcement

2x Roscoe Sweeny, Fixer
1x Stilt-Man, Wilbur Day
1x Cobra, Klaus Vorhees
1x Mr. Hyde, Calvin Zabo
1x Kingpin, Wilson Fisk
2x Saracen, Muzzafar Lambert
1x Bullseye, Deadly Marksman
1x Kingpin, Overboss
1x Deadpool, Wade Wilson
1x Kirigi, Master Assassin
1x Taskmaster, Mnemonic Assassin
1x Bullseye, Master of Murder

2x Face the Master
2x No Fear or Uprising
2x No Rest for the Wicked
2x Rough House
2x Fight to the Finish
2x Lay Down with Dogs
1x The Family

2x Geraci Family Estates
1x Hand Dojo

76)Double Agents!

7x Jamie Madrox <> Multiple Man, Army <> Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
2x Red Skull, Aleksander Lukin * RAID
2x Albert Malik <> Red Skull, Axis of Evil
1x Master Man, Max Lohmer * RAID
1x Red Skull, Johann Shmidt * HYDRA
1x Baron Strucker,Baron Wolfgang von Strucker * HYDRA

2x Cosmic Cube
2x Armed Escort
2x Satans Claw

2x Underground Laboratory

2x Prismatic Shield
2x Double Agent!
2x Tech Upgrade or Cannible Tech
2x Enemy of my Enemy

77)Underworld

2x Mystique, Raven
2x Black Rose, Roxanne Simpson
2x Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell
2x Meatmarket, Lilin
1x Queen Lilith, Den Mother
2x Chthon, Demon of the Darkhold
1x Illyana Rasputin <> Magik, Earth-4210
2x Satana, Satana Hellstrom
1x Mephisto, Soulstealer
1x Madelyne Pryor, Goblyn Queen
1x Baron Mordo, Karl Amadeus Mordo
1x Shuma-Gorath, He Who Sleeps but Shall Awake

2x Netherworld Gift
2x Black Magic
2x Gravesite
2x Wake the Dead
2x Death’s Embrace
2x Dimensional Rift

78)Sniper Shot

2x Hannibal King, Occult Investigator
2x Punisher, Suicide Run
1x Captain America, Skrull Imposter
1x Punisher, Secret Avenger
1x Spider-Man, Webhead
2x The Captain, Can’t Remember His Real Name
1x Punisher, Captain America
1x Captain America, Loyal Patriot
2x Spider-Man, Outlaw
1x Punisher, Angel of Death
1x Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch

2x Carrying the Torch
2x Sniper Shot
2x Call in a Favor
2x Wild Ride
2x Underground Movement
1x Neighborhood Watch
2x Judge, Jury, and Executioner

2x Captain America’s Shield

79)Spirit of Vengeance

2x Black Cat,Thrillseeker
2x Black Widow,Femme Fatale
2x Punisher, Suicide Run
2x Daredevil, Fearless Survivor
2x Blade, Independent Contractor
1x Ghost Rider, The Devil’s Rider
2x Luke Cage, Street Enforcer
1x Daredevil, Matt Murdock
1x Vengeance, Spirit of Vengeance
1x Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance

2x Wild Ride
2x Devastating Blow
2x Quick Kill
2x Judge, Jury, and Executioner
2x Crime and Punishment
2x Flying Kick
2x Big Leagues

80)Heroes of the City

1x Dagger, Child of Light
1x H.E.R.B.I.E., Robot Nanny
1x Shang Chi, Martial Master
1x Ant-Man, King of the Hill
1x Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards
1x Black Panther, King of Wakanda
1x Marvel Boy, Noh-Varr
1x Nathaniel Richards, Temporal Traveler
1x Human Torch, Hotshot
1x Punisher, Jury
1x Mr. Fantastic, Stretch
1x Dr. Strange, Ally of The Four

2x Future Technology
2x Advanced Hardware
2x Flamethrower

2x New Baxter Building
1x Baxter Building
1x Heroes of the City, Team-Up
1x Midnight Sons
2x Cosmic Radiation
1x Salvage
2x Signal Flare
2x Wild Ride

81)Squadron No-Hand

1x Haywire, Suicidal Lover
2x Joystick, Janice Yanizesh
2x Ape X, Xina
2x Melissa Gold <> Songbird, Sonic Carapace 
2x Shape, Malleable Mutant
2x Lady Lark, Linda Lewis
2x Golden Archer, Wyatt McDonald
2x Albert Gaines <> Nuke, Atomic Powerhouse
1x Skymax, Skrullian Skymaster

2x Now I’m Fighting Dirty
2x Answer the Call
2x Panacea Potion
2x Flying Kick
1x Other Earth

2x Air Skimmer
1x Thunder Jet

2x Rocket Central

82)Project Utopia

2x Haywire, Suicidal Lover
2x Ape X, Xina
2x Tom Thumb, Thomas Thompson
2x Lamprey, Donald McQuiggan
2x Inertia, Edith Freiberg
2x Amphibian, Kingsley Rice
1x Power Princess, Zarda
2x Nighthawk, Kyle Richmond
1x Hyperion, Mark Milton
1x Arcanna, Arcanna Jones

2x Airskimmer
2x Jetpack

2x Hibernaculum
2x Other-Earth
2x Eldritch Power
1x Project Utopia

1x Squadron City
1x Utopia Isle

83)Doomed Earth

8x Moloids, Army
2x Mole Man, Moloid Master
2x Dr. Doom, Richards’s Rival
1x Doom-Bot Corps, Army
2x Mr. Fantastic, Doom’s Adversary
1x Divinity, Vampiric General
1x Ultron <> Ultron 11, Army
1x Dr. Doom, Sorcerous Savant

2x Doomed Earth
2x Armies of Doom
2x Master of Puppets
2x Unthinkable
2x Robotic Offensive

1x Arsenal of Doom
1x Torture Chamber

84)Crisis Doom

2x Boris – Personal Servant of Doom
2x Lancer – Samantha Dunbar
2x Dr. Doom – Richards Rival
2x Dr. Doom – Diabolic Genius
1x Dr. Doom – Power Hungry
1x Kristoff Von Doom – Pretender to the Throne
1x Dr. Doom – Sorcerous Savant
1x Dr. Doom – Victor Von Doom
1x Dr. Doom – Fearsome Monarch
1x Dr. Doom – Lord of Latveria
1x Dr. Doom – Latverian Monarch

2x Crisis on Infinite Earths
2x Mystical Paralysis
2x Reign of Terror
2x Faces of Doom
1x Diplomatic Immunity
1x Time Thief
1x The Power Cosmic
1x Expendable Ally

2x Doomstadt
1x Latveria

85)Common Enemy

2x Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom
1x Luke Cage, Steel Hard Skin
1x Human Torch, Johnny Storm
1x She-Thing, Sharon Ventura
1x She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters
1x Mr. Fantastic, Flexible Thinker
1x Purple Man, Zebediah Killgrave
2x Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1x Invisible Woman, Sue Storm
1x Thing, Heavy Hitter
1x Hulk, New Fantastic Four
1x Dr. Doom, Victor Von Doom
1x Thing, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing
1x Sub-Mariner, Ally of Doom
1x Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd

2x Dealing with the Devil, Team-Up
1x Common Enemy
2x Signal Flare
2x Clobberin’ Time
1x Savage Beatdown
2x Mystical Paralysis
1x Reign of Terror
1x Flame Trap

1x Doomstadt

86)Family of Four

2x Human Torch, Matchstick
2x Luke Cage, Steel-Hard Skin
2x Invisible Woman, First Lady of the Fantastic Four
1x Thing, Idol O’Millions
2x Mr. Fantastic, Critical Thinker
1x Thing, Heavy Hitter
1x Invisible Woman, Sight Unseen
2x Human Torch, Flame On!
1x Thing, The Ever Lovin’ Blue Eyed Thing
1x Invisible Woman, Shield of the Four
1x Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd

2x It’s Clobberin’ Time
2x Family of Four
2x Signal Flare
2x Reset
2x Force Field Projection

2x Unstable Molecular Suit

1x Four Freedoms Plaza
1x Reed’s Workshop

87)BPRD Infinity Gauntlet

2x Jaime Reyes <> Blue Beetle
2x Sidney leach, Human Metal Detector
1x Kate Corrigan, Folklore Consultant
2x Liz Sherman, Pyrokinesis
2x Hellboy, Anung Un Rama
1x Abe Sapien, Icthyo Sapien
1x Roger, Humunculus
1x Hellboy, The Right Hand of Doom

2x Break off the Horns
2x Pancakes
2x Cannibal Tech

2x B.P.R.D. HQ
2x Weapons Lab

1x Ego Gem
1x Mind Gem
1x Power Gem
1x Reality Gem
1x Soul Gem
1x Time Gem
1x Space Gem
1x Infinity Gauntlet

88)Marvel Defenders

2x Beast, New Defender
2x Tania Belinskya <> Red Guardian, Cold Warrior
2x Hellcat, Patsy Walker
1x Hawkeye, Loud Mouth
1x Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis
2x Samantha Parrington <> Valkyrie, Chooser of the Slain
1x Richard Rider <> Nova, Xandarian Nova Corps
2x Devil-Slayer, Eric Simon Payne
1x Dr. Strange, Founding Father

2x Flying Kick
2x Unexpected Assault
2x Close the Gap
2x Banished to the Abyss
2x The Order
2x Reset
2x The B Team
1x Blind Sided
1x Press the Attack

89)Avengers Reservist

2x Rick Jones, A Hero’s Best Friend
2x Dane Whitman <> Black Knight, Heroic Paladin
2x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, Super Spy
2x Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger
2x Black Panther, T’challa
2x Doctor Druid, Anthony Druid
2x Hawkeye, Clinton Barton
2x Sub-Mariner, Namor
1x She-Hulk, Gamma Bomb
2x Wonder Man, Simon Williams
1x Hercules, Son of Zeus

2x Above the Law
2x Call Down the Lightning
2x Heroes in Reserve
2x Savage Beatdown

2x Avengers Mansion

90)Secret Avengers

2x Iron Fist, Secret Avenger
2x Dagger, Secret Avenger
2x Captain America, Secret Avenger
1x Echo, Secret Avenger
1x Hawkeye, Secret Avenger
2x Punisher, Secret Avenger
1x Cable, Secret Avenger
1x Jessica Drew, Secret Avenger
2x Human Torch, Secret Avenger
1x Storm, Secret Avenger
1x Wolverine, Secret Avenger
1x Spiderman, Secret Avenger
2x Luke Cage, Secret Avenger
1x Hercules, Secret Avenger
1x The Sentry, Mighty Avenger

2x Atlantis Attacks
2x Above the Law
2x Avengers reassembled
2x The Big Three

1x Pym Laboratories

91)Avengers Big Guns

2x Jarvis, Honorary Avenger
2x Falcon, Sam Wilson
2x Wasp, Janet Van Dyne-Pym
2x Captain America, Steve Rogers
1x Iron Man, Illuminati
2x Thor,Odinson
1x Captain America, Champion License
1x Wonder Man, Mighty Avenger
1x Sub-Mariner,Namor
1x Iron Man, Invincible
1x Captain America, Super Soldier
1x Hulk, Gamma Rage
1x Thor, God of Thunder

2x Mjolinir
1x Hulk Buster Armor
1x Captain Americas Shield
2x Shield Slash
2x Avengers Assemble
1x Cannibal Tech
1x Earths Mightiest Heroes
1x Salvage

1x Asgard

92)Avengers Team Attack

2x Hank Pym <> Ant Man, Diminutive Hero
2x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, Super Spy
2x Wasp, Janet Van Dyne-Pym
2x Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger
1x Captain America, Steve Rogers
2x Carol Danvers <> Warbird, Galactic Adventurer
1x Iron Man, Tony Stark
2x Monica Rambeau <> Captain Marvel
1x Sub-Mariner, Namor
2x Captain America, Super Soldier
1x Carol Danvers <> Ms. Marvel, Mighty Avenger

2x Carrying the Torch
2x Stars and Stripes
2x Legendary Battles
2x Avengers Assemble!
1x Cutting Loose

2x Playroom
1x Asgard

93)Radioactive Man

2 Green Goblin, Insanity Unleashed
2 Speed Demon, Whizzer
2 Beetle ◊ Mach, Discharged
2 Joystick, Fun and Games
2 Radioactive Man, Containment Suit
2 Iron Man, Mighty Avenger
1 Black Panther, Secret Avenger
1 Green Goblin, Director of the Thunderbolts
1 Melissa Gold <> Songbird, Caged Angel
1 Iron Man, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

2 Justice for All, Team-Up
2 Avengers Reassembled
2 New Identity
2 Speedball Is Dead
1 Avengers Forever
1 My Name is Peter Parker

2 Extremis Upgrade
1 Mindtap Mechanism

1 Stark Armory

94)Thunderbolts Ready

2x Dallas Riodan, Mayoral Aid
2x Mellisa Gold, Sonic Carapice
2x Beetle<>Mach, Discharged
2x Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster
2x Helmut Zemo <> Citizen V, Tactician
2x Jolt,Helen Takahama
1x Venom, Faithless Monster
1x Hawkeye, Leader by Example
1x Charcoal,Charles Burlingame
1x Melissa Gold <> Songbird, Heroine Unbound

2x Deadly Cospiracy
2x Win Lose Deal
2x Team Tactics
2x Marvel Most Wanted

2x G0blin Glider 2.0
2x The T-Wagon

1x Mech Bay
1x Mt. Charteris

95)Faces of Evil

2x Yellowjacket, Rita Demora
1x Beetle, Mach 1
1x Nathan Garret, Black Knight
1x Speedball <> Penance, Painmonger
1x Ogre, Weponsmith
1x Blizzard, Frosty Friend
1x Klaw, Sonic Construct
1x Dallas Riordan, Mayoral Aide
2x Beetle, Armoursmith
1x Melissa Gold, Sonic Carapace
1x Shocker, Vibro Shock Villian
1x Bullseye, Lester
1x Paul Ebersol <> Techno, Gadgeteer
1x Melter, Bruno Horgan
1x Meliss Gold <> Screaming Mimi, Mini Schwartz
1x Swordsman, Andreas von Strucker
1x Marcus Daniels <> Blackout, Dark Bringer
1x Heinrich Zemo <> Baron Zemo, Baron of Zeulniz

2x Faces of evil
2x Wrecking Crew
2x Call to Arms
2x Hard Sound Construct
1x Mystic Summons
1x Heroes Demise

96)Bounty Hunters

2x Powell, Southern Charm
1x Wild Pack, Army
1x Zabu, Constant Companion
2x Night Thrasher, Dwayne Michael Taylor
1x Dominic Fortune, Soldier of Fortune
1x Shanna the She-Devil, Shanna O’Hara Plunder
2x Quentino,Raul Quentino
1x Man-Eater, Intruders
1x Ka-Zar, Lord Kevin Plunder
2x Silver Sable, World’s Deadliest Mercenary
1x Sandman, Intruders
1x Punisher, Loaded For Bear

2x Capture Net
2x Image Inducers
2x Katana
1x Power Gem

2x Tech Upgrade
2x Bounty Hunt
2x Stealth Craft
1x Stark Tower

97)Time Cops

5x Multiple Man, Army ◊ Madrox
2x Domino,Neena Thurman
1x Jubilee, Mallrat
1x Shadowcat, Phase Shifter
2x Cable, Nathan Summers
1x Wolverine, Logan
1x Nightcrawler, Man of the Cloth
1x Bishop, Time Cop
1x Cyclops, Blue Leader

2x Bodyslide
2x Time Breach
2x Fastball Special
2x Cutting Loose
2x Battle Tactics
2x Bamf!
2x To Me, My X-Men!

1 Xavier’s Institute of Higher Learning

98)Mojoverse

14x Random Punks, Army
2x Longshot, Earth-Mojoverse
2x Deadpool, Interminable Terminator
2x Mojo, Ruler of Mojoworld

2x Goblin Glider, Ver 2.0

2x Mojoverse

2x X-Babies Attack
2x Invasion Plans
2x Press the Attack

99)She-Hulk Smash!

2x Lockjaw,Inhuman’s Best Friend
2x San, The Alienated One
2x Crystal, Elementelle
1x Human Torch, Sparky
1x Triton, Aquatic Ambassador
1x Mr. Fantastic, Critical Thinker
1x Thing, Rockhead
2x She-Hulk, Green Jeans
1x Maximus the Mad, Mental Manipulator
1x Invisible Woman, Flame On!

2x Great Refuge
1x Attilan
1x Construction Site
1x Substructure

2x Signal Flare
2x She-Hulk Smash!
2x Extended Family
2x Flying Kick
1x Press the Attack
1x Torch and Thing

1x Rapier

100)Something is Coming!

5x Damn Nazis, Army
2x Hellboy, Little Boy
3x Huge, Annoying Tentacles, Army
2x Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, Creator of the Apocalypse Army
2x Klaus Werner von Krupt, Project Leader
1x Hecate, Major Mythological Figure
1x Black Flame, Mr. Pope

2x Plague of Frogs
2x Nasty Surprise
2x Flying Kick
2x Wake the Devil
2x Accept Your Destiny
2x Something is Coming

2x Cavendish Hall

I was surfing around to see if anyone had leaked the zombie variant cover of X-Babies #1 this morning, and I found a treasure. That is the full Adam Kubert art from the variant cover of Uncanny X-Men #461. Why so special? Let me explain.

I had been working for Upper Deck nearly three years before I tiptoed the tikes into the arena. No one had ever mixed X-Babies and Vs. System before, and the new mutant power that had been given to the smaller characters with the X-Men team affiliation seemed fairly fertile. I named my deck “X-Babies Attack” and I wrote a full article about its strategy. The rest is history.

One year later, my efforts bore the ultimate in cardboard fruit. The progeny of my presence was rewarded by the highest honor possible in a trading card gaming community. Upper Deck named a card after my creation, and printed it in the Marvel Evolution set. It’s a beautiful thing.

Riffing on the old I… Vampire! Who could it be? None other than  Mike Allred.

Vertigo/DC Comics just announced a new series called I, Zombie written by Chris Roberson and drawn by our man. Could he actually revive the spirit of X-Statix, his masterpiece? Meet me back here on Halloween to find out.