In the DC Modern Age format, a single piece of equipment can spell the difference between victory and defeat. There are six older equipment cards in the Superman, Man of Steel set that will be legal for Pro Circuit Indianapolis. Let’s take a look at each one and see how they stack up against the new metagame.

The Superman, Man of Steel set was released earlier than Green Lantern Corps, so some of the cards might have been forgotten. Four of the equipment cards in the set are team stamped, so we’ll begin with the two that are not. The first one is a hidden gem in DC Modern Age. Phantom Zone Projector can make life very difficult for Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. It seems that everyone agrees that the good doctor is the best turn 3 play in the format, usually returning Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern to fetch another Construct.

Let’s try to swim against the stream and attempt to stop that strategy with our old toys. Phantom Zone Projector might do the trick, and it does not cost us any resource points even if it is equipped to a non-willpower character. Any non-willpower strategy will be an underdog, since willpower is so strong in this format. In the best-case scenario, this old piece of equipment could actually get rid of both of GLEE’s key characters. We could consistently be able to stun Dr. Light, Master of Holograms on turn 3, with another ready character to activate Phantom Zone Projector, but we would need to risk the chance of not drawing Phantom Zone Projector in time. Although this toy could wreck the biggest threat in DC Modern Age, it remains extremely risky without a tutor to fetch the card.

Mother Box is the other generic piece of equipment from Superman, Man of Steel. Unlike Phantom Zone Projector, this toy will probably be included in quite a few decks at Pro Circuit Indianapolis. Willpower may be the hottest keyword in DC Modern Age, but cosmic is gaining momentum every day. Those wonderful little Soldiers of New Genesis that appeared in Green Lantern Corps are actually helping to build a “Blue Abuse” strategy that can stun an opponent’s entire board in the build phase by combining Superman, Blue with Super Speed and a swarm of cosmic counters. Doesn’t that sound like a tasty bowl of breakfast cereal? The prize is in the Mother Box!

Replenishing cosmic counters might come in handy when using another risky strategy. Big Bear is beefy enough to stun and survive against GLEE, and those weenies are equally vulnerable to Fastbak and the double attack as well. With a Mother Box or two, New Gods might shock the world. Again, we have no way to search for this toy, so the risk factor will be high. However, the rewards for beating the favorite might just be worth it, and there’s another piece of equipment that can help.

Supercycle is the first team-stamped toy that we’ll examine, and it is definitely my cup of tea. Swarming masses of Soldiers of New Genesis absolutely adore this card. It keeps them around long enough to feed Superman, Blue and it allows them to stun almost anything in a team attack. If we follow through with the New Gods beatdown strategy and combine an early Supercycle with Big Bear and Fastbak, our team simply gets bigger and bigger. We also get to fly into any character we want with an individual or team attack. We still risk those fateful games where we don’t draw enough early soldiers to equip or where we don’t draw Supercycle at all. For those who enjoy brute physical force, it might be worth that risk, and for those looking to abuse Superman, Blue, this toy is necessary to keep enough cosmic characters on the board.

Unfortunately, Brainiac’s Ship does not look viable in the current DC Modern Age environment. It remains very tempting, especially for rush and Beatdown strategies, but Revenge Squad does not seem strong enough to compete consistently. I would be more than happy to be proven wrong, if you’re up to the extreme challenge. Multiple Toy Soldiers might help, but the excessive amount of small characters that each opponent promises to recruit at Pro Circuit Indianapolis makes this strategy too risky even for me.

That brings our trip through the old toy box to the card with the best name in the bunch, Entropy Aegis Armor. This card intrigues me, since my version of Blue Abuse relies more heavily on beatdown with Superman, Red. (Yes, red and blue makes purple, but Sentinels aren’t legal in DC Modern Age.) Entropy Aegis Armor transforms a turn 4 Superman, Red into a 10 ATK/6 DEF monster on the attack. Add the Supercycle with a team-up, maybe a power-up fetched with Man of Tomorrow, and the big beats are on. That kind of strength should be able to survive almost every stun-back and keep those cosmic counters, too.

We saved the best toy for last, but alas—it seems that Beta Club will be absent at Pro Circuit Indianapolis. Risky players like me are perhaps the only fools wise enough to consider its potential to end a match on turns 4 or 5. It’s too bad that Darkseid’s Elite doesn’t seem consistent enough to play on the Pro Circuit. In the best Beta Club strategies I have discovered, a ready character is needed to exhaust for Apokoliptian Hospitality or Phantom Zone Projector. The problem with that is that it’s necessary to attack with all your available characters each turn in order to win fast enough. Darkseid’s Elite swarm strategies can completely run out of gas by turn 6, and their curve potential simply cannot compete with GLEE. That does not mean I will give up yet, as Beta Club is just too good on team attacks to ignore. Perhaps Soldiers of New Genesis can hold down the fort, team up with Parademons by using Armies of Qward, and ride a Supercycle all the way to the bank . . . or perhaps not.

The new toys that DC Modern Age received in Green Lantern Corps are much safer, and the Construct equipment will probably see massive play at Pro Circuit Indianapolis. Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern is simply the best tutor in the environment, and might be the best in the entire game. When you combine his ability with Dr. Light, Master of Holograms, you have the kind of consistency that Pro Circuits are made of. Anyone who does not utilize that combination of characters will be seen as a foolish risk-taker by the rest of the world. Sounds good to me, and I plan to bring some of my old toys along!

Rian Fike is also known as “stubarnes” in the VsRealms community. If you have a risky strategy that you would like him to cover, drop him a line at rianfike@hattch.com