Melbourne’s Kerryn “Kman” Rubin is no stranger to Vs System. This guy has been playing from the very beginning, and has a couple of $10K Top 8s to his name for his trouble. Today, we’ve not really seen a lot of particularly unique builds floating around that have had much success. Kerryn, however, is playing a nice Kree-Villains mash, that is sitting pretty at 5-2 after 7 rounds.

“I prefer to draft — I don’t really play much constructed ever! This is my last constructed $10K I will ever travel for,” Kerryn tells me as we sit down to discuss his deck. He’s going pretty well for a guy who really doesn’t care too much about constructed! Will it see him through a last hurrah of out-of-state constructed? Stay tuned. In the meantime, though, Kerryn got down and dirty with us about his PMS.  

What’s your deck called?

We’ve (we being Michael Walklate and myself, and a few others who we playtest with) argued about the name issue for a while now — Psycho Medical School was the pick. But we didn’t like that it abbreviated to PMS. Oh well . . . guess it’s PMS power now!

What’s the theme of the deck? What does it aim to do?

It’s quite different from the standard Kree build — it aims to win by turn 4 or 5, so it’s generally quicker. It also seeks to burn for massive endurance loss using the combined bounce effects of Kree and Villains. It actually doesn’t play any Kree until turn 4, by preference; it aims to get the Press engine online at 4 & 5. Turn 4, it seeks to press into Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive, to get the burn combos online, and, at this stage, it makes use of all the bounce effects of Kree and, particularly, The Calculator, Evil Oracle, who should generally hit the table on turn 3.

What's the best card in the deck?

No Mercy — it not only KOs their character, but it adds to the burn effect! It’s won me at least 3 of my 5 wins so far!

What's your optimal opening hand?

The Calculator, Noah Kuttler, and Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant at least. Calc gets my Team-Up which is essential for comboing the bounce effects, and Dr. Psycho is good against weenie decks. Having Psycho on the table also facilitates the team-up on turn 3 so that I can play all my various plot twists and bounce effects.

What does it win against?

Lost in Space — they tend to put all their eggs in one basket with the Fate Engine, then you KO their one beefy character, and they lose! They’ve wasted their entire board, and they have no cards in hand. I’m 2-1 today against Lost in Space. The game I lost was really unlucky — I missed all my No Mercy, and all my pumps!

What does it lose to?

Faces — if Faces can get the win by Turn 4, that’s that. It tends to lose to Skrull/Inhumans decks, which, fortunately, there aren’t a lot of today. It loses to Kree decks also, but mainly only when they get a god draw.

What do you think makes it so powerful in the current meta?

It wins to Lost in Space which is really dominant right now. Its power is that it consistently wins by turn 5. It has all the strengths of the Kree deck, a La The Four Horsemen. It’s slightly less stable, but it’s quicker. And it still does what Kree does best — which is press out and bash!

Psycho Medical School

1 Shatterax

1 Ultron ◊ Crimson Cowl, Dark Disguise

1 Ultimus

2 Admiral Galen Kor

1 Colonel Yon-Rogg

1 Mar-Vell ◊ Captain Marvel, Soldier of the Empire

3 The Calculator, Evil Oracle

2 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

1 Kang, Kang Cobra

4 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant

2 Lieutenant Kona Lor

2 Captain Att-Lass

4 Dr. Minerva

4 The Calculator, Noah Kuttler

2 Nenora

2 Coercion

4 Enemy of My Enemy

3 Flying Kick

1 The Lunatic Legion

3 Live Kree . . . Or Die!

4 No Mercy

4 Baddest of the Bad

4 The Science Spire

3 Hala