While most of the world was focusing on testing and teching GLEE at the inception of the DC Modern Age format, a player named Joe Brian brought a very basic Anti-Matter deck to the attention of the veteran group Team Realmworx. While the deck was mostly characters and clearly lacked refinement, players like Ryan Jones, Patrick Yapjoco, and David Spears saw potential in the concept: use Shadow Creatures to fuel a variety of effects based on a threshold of willpower. Combine them with defensive walls to minimize damage, land big hits when possible, and use stun effects like that of Kiman to equalize the field. It was a solid idea.

The deck was shelved for a while after being bandied about some of the game’s major teams. Patrick Yapjoco described it as “the worst kept secret in the format,” and according to him, “Everyone knew about it, but no one talked about it.” While most of the world’s serious competitors were worried about EE Rush and Blue Abuse matchups, this deck flitted around in the “back of the head” region of some of the game’s more successful pros.

And there it remained for quite a while, until recently when Realmworx decided to take a second look at it. Through extensive testing and innovation, they created a beast that had good matchups with virtually every deck in the format. And though a few other notable players (like Maik Stitch) had made the same discovery, most were either unaware of the strategy’s existence or simply chose not to regard it as much of a factor in the metagame.

The Shadow Creatures are the raw fuel on which the deck runs. In the early game, they start off by fulfilling the conditions for The Ring Has Chosen and Emerald Dawn while pumping the deck’s pilot full of endurance thanks to Sector 2814. As the game progresses, they can act as fodder for Element Man’s effect in order to cycle through the deck, and they provide bodies for Evil Star to feed off of in order to dish out big KO’s (a great way to deal with Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar).

Kiman and Qward aid in creating an engine of effect-based stuns, and the deck carries a huge defensive capability thanks to Qwardian Watchdog, Malvolio, Helping Hand, and Men of Steel. Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar can be abused by deploying large numbers of Shadow Creatures to the field via Element Man, and the game can end with that, Two-Face, or a big sacrifice of creatures through Anti-Monitor, depending on the tempo the opponent has attempted to dish out.

It beats GLEE through its controlling stun elements and the ability to pick off select characters with huge attacks. The same is true for EE Rush, where Anti-Matter Cannon gains even more value in taking out Prison Planet. Basically anything looking to win in the mid-game is repelled by the deck’s ability to exercise ungodly defense and longevity, and Blue Abuse doesn’t do much except watch in vain as its precious Soldiers of New Genesis get systematically stunned and robbed of their counters.

In the unlikely mirror match, this build has Anti-Matter Cannon to take apart the opponent’s Qwards and Sectors. Like most of its competition, it can be hurt if it loses its 1-drops, so Speedy can be damaging, but losing a single Shadow Creatures isn’t nearly as bad as losing a G’Nort or Arisia. While No Man Escapes the Manhunters can hurt, Element Man can always deploy more characters for reinforcement once per turn if needed.