Currently ranked 45th in the world in Constructed, Jason Dawson always seems to be among the top players in any tournament. He plays for Team Universe, the team representing the Vs. Universe website whose roster boasts some of the best players in the game—including Jason himself!

He entered Day 2 having only drafted Man of Steel once before, but the lack of practical experience barely showed as he was heading into the Web of Spider-Man draft after a 3-0 sweep. His strategy for Superman had been to draft plot twists early and then fill out the required drops. He told me that, “you can’t do that with Spidey, because the blues (plot twists) are really bad, so you have to go for the good drops.” He feels that everyone drafts Spider-Friends, so it is a good idea to draft Sinister Syndicate and let the rest of the table fight over the Spider-Friends characters. “If everyone drafted between Spider-Friends and Sinister Syndicate equally, Spider-Friends would destroy every match.” It’s the fight to get the good Spidey drops that makes Syndicate so powerful in draft.

His assumptions proved correct – all but one other person at his table went for Spider-Friends! As for his deck? He didn’t like the plot twists he saw early, although he did pass a Crushing Blow to draft Tinkerer. When I asked him about that, he simply grinned and said, “Tinkerer is awesome. Awesome!” He also said that Syndicate likes the low drops, and it’s best to focus on them “I didn’t see many 4-drops that were Syndicate. I would have liked another 4.” He said that Lion’s Den was a very good answer for that, using the extra resource point to allow a 3-drop to jump the curve and tackle the 4. Drafting Murderworld was also a bonus, as he can dump an extra weenie to take out his opponent’s 3-drop and gain important character advantage, even without the 4-drop. Also, equipment really helps to even the strength – both Rapier and Goblin Glider can give a serious boost to any low-drop deck.

As for Jason’s thoughts on his performance up to now? “I just wish the day was over. I like my record (10-3) where it is now. With six more games, I’ll have to win at least four more . . . ” Here’s hoping for six!

Jason’s Card Pool

Characters
1 Beetle, Abner Jenkins
1 Chameleon, Dmitri Smerdyakov
1 Cloak, Tyrone Johnson
1 Green Goblin, Altered Ego
2 Green Goblin, Norman Osborn
1 Hammerhead, Gangster
2 Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley
1 Kaine, Imperfect Clone
1 Kraven the Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff
3 Man-Wolf, John Jameson
1 Scorpion, MacDonald Gargan
1 Shadowcat, Pride of the X-Men
2 Silvermane, Silvio Manfredi
1 Tinkerer, Phineas Mason
1 Tombstone, Lonnie Lincoln
1 Wild Pack, Army

Plot Twists
1 Bamf!
1 Big Bully
1 Breaking Story
1 Crowd Control
1 Hired Goons
1 Sucker Punch
2 Termination Sequence
2 Unmasked

Locations
1 Latverian Embassy
2 Lion’s Den
1 Midtown High School
1 Murderworld
2 Oscorp Board Room

Equipment
1 Goblin Glider
1 Jetpack
1 Rapier
1 Smoke Screen

Jason’s Decklist

Characters
1 Beetle, Abner Jenkins
1 Chameleon, Dmitri, Smerdyakov
1 Green Goblin, Altered Ego
2 Green Goblin, Norman Osborn
1 Hammerhead, Gangster
2 Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley
1 Kaine, Imperfect Clone
1 Kraven the Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff
3 Man-Wolf, John Jameson
1 Scorpion, MacDonald Gargan
1 Shadowcat, Pride of the X-Men
2 Silvermane, Silvio Manfredi
1 Tinkerer, Phineas Mason
1 Tombstone, Lonnie Lincoln

Plot Twists
1 Big Bully
1 Crowd Control
1 Hired Goons
1 Sucker Punch
1 Unmasked

Locations
2 Lion’s Den
1 Murderworld

Equipment
1 Goblin Glider
1 Jetpack
1 Rapier