Preview time is the best time of the year! Everyone clamors over the possibilities and wonders what gifts will drop out of the sky. And what a gift this one was! I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about a card before. I may be overstating myself a little bit, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Let me be the first to tell you this guy is one bad mamma jamma! In this article, I will break down the benefits and potential game breaking effects I think this little guy will have on the Vs. System.
HISTORY
Since I didn’t know much about Haywire, I decided to enrich myself so I could then, in turn, enrich you. What I found was a very interesting and obscure back-story.
The first thing that caught my eye (aside from his game text) was that Mistress Death is in almost as much of the artwork as Haywire himself. I looked far and wide to uncover their connection, and I finally found what I was looking for. In a little-known comic series (Avengers Celestial Quest #1–8), Haywire had a significant encounter with Mistress Death.
Haywire came over from Other-Earth to the Earth we all know in a battle with the Avengers. He decided to stay because our Earth’s continuum was far more stable than his; his Earth was still reeling from the effects of the Utopia Project. The death of his one true love, Inertia, also left him nothing to return to. He turned down an offer from Captain America to join up with the Avengers, instead expressing his desire to explore a world less war-torn than his previous home.
During his time in our Earth’s universe, Haywire hooked up with Scarlet Witch, Thor, and others for some intergalactic travel. This was where our card art came from, and also where Haywire met his demise. Once Haywire confronted Death, he demanded she bring back Inertia. When his request was denied, Haywire jumped into Mistress Death in an attempt to search for Inertia, killing himself in the process. (Thanks to UncannyX-Men.net for the info!)
FIRST OF HIS KIND
The history was fun to read and gave a great flavor to the card. I know what you are really interested in, though, so let’s get to it. Haywire, Suicidal Lover’s recruit cost is 0. Z-E-R-O! I sure hope that everyone noticed that, because I know it was the first thing I saw when I looked at this card. My head was (and still is!) spinning with all the possibilities that Haywire creates. For example:
- Birthing Chamber: Satisfying the requirements of this staple card has never been easier!
- Funeral For a Friend and other KO-specific cards: Some of these cards were deemed to have too high a cost to justify their use. Those days are over, my friends!
- The Calculator, Evil Oracle, No Mercy, and other Villains bounce effects: Now you don’t have to lose board position to get the benefit of these awesome Villains United plot twists and abilities!
- Rigged Elections: Free characters can equal free counters which in turn equals a quicker win condition. Pretty good in my book.
Those are just a few card interactions that could benefit from a 0 recruit cost character. But we shouldn’t forget about the intrinsic value of a 0 cost character. Take reinforcement for example: If you put Catcher’s Mitt on Haywire, your opponent must dedicate a character to stun him, with you losing nothing from the exchange. Think of the abuse you could dish out using this combo and the multitude of recovery effects like Revitalize. If you are in your attack step, throw some pump on Haywire and watch him swing in with impunity. It’s almost too good to be true.
All this interaction potential had me wondering for some time if UDE would introduce a character with a truly free recruit cost. We felt close with cards like Fiddler, Deadshot, Dead Aim, and Lois Lane, Earth 2, but we still had to pay an additional cost to get the benefit of a free recruit. Now that we have a truly free character, the creative juices can really get flowing. A new era of combo decks will be ushered in, mark my words!
RESERVIST IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL THING
It didn’t surprise me that I was given a Squadron Supreme character to preview, having experienced my biggest success with that team. I immediately revisited my old deck, which thrived on having no cards in hand. Haywire fits right in with this theme.
“While you have no cards in hand, Haywire gets +1 ATK.” That phrase immediately piqued my interest. Granted, a 1 ATK / 1 DEF 1-drop doesn’t do much, but thankfully Haywire is a lot more than that. He has range and several other interesting abilities.
Take his reservist status for example. No longer do you have to worry about those double Rocket Central draws on turn 5 that essentially shut down your Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke, Atomic Powerhouse, Panacea Potion, and the like. Now you can recruit Haywire, Suicidal Lover out of your resource row along with another reservist character of your choice, replace both resources and . . . Voila! No more cards in hand! I think this possibility alone warrants an inclusion in my Squadron Supreme deck and other decks that focus on reservist builds.
EQUIPMENT MADNESS!
One of the most popular decks floating around in Golden Age right now is “High Voltage.” For those who don’t know, this deck is a hyper-aggressive burn deck that’s all about characters, plot twists, and equipment that allow maximum use of this strategy. I think Haywire will see some play in this deck because it focuses on playing characters that search out equipment or are more beneficial when equipped. Haywire definitely meets the second criterion, receiving a +1 ATK bonus when he is equipped. The fact that he is free just means that you can do more with him early, such as equipping Advanced Hardware on turn 1. You could also recruit him late along with Golden Archer or Firestar, Hellion, giving you better board position or perhaps just an extra character to use with Die for Darkseid!. It’s easy to see how quickly he could fit into this type of deck.
IN THE END
I think it’s safe to say that Haywire, Suicidal Lover will be a lynchpin in many decks for a good while to come. I hope you enjoyed this preview and are as excited about Haywire as I am. I look forward to seeing what combos and aggressive decks he will pop up in!
Tomorrow's Preview:
