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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017
While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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| Deck Profile: Rubin Parry |
| Jason Grabher-Meyer |
| May 14, 2005 |
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Ever since his release in DC Origins, Neutron has reeked of two things: unfulfilled potential and awesomeness. I’ve personally tinkered with many deck ideas involving him, including an Arkham/F5 hybrid and a deck that does nothing but steal characters that is aptly named “Mine, all Mine.” Still, my efforts have come up short time and time again. Rubin Parry, however, has apparently cracked the code. He’s taken the following deck to a 3-1 record and it doesn’t look as if he’s about to slow down.
4 Gizmo
2 Shimmer
 2 Bishop
2 Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner
2 Archangel, Warren Worthington III
4 Shadowcat, Pride of the X-Men
4 Wolverine, Logan
4 Jinx, Elemental Sorceress
3 John Proudstar ◊ Thunderbird
2 Jean Grey, Marvel Girl
3 Neutron
3 Cyclops, Scott Summers
3 Children of the Atom
2 Fastball Special
4 Marvel Team-Up
4 Surprise Attack
4 The Underworld Star Innovative deck designer Rubin Parry is all smiles!
2 Danger Room
2 Madripoor
2 Metropolis
2 X-Corporation
Gizmo is the deck’s only 1-drop, and while Parry might not be packing any equipment, running Gizmo as a drop-filler allows the deck to meet Neutron’s loyalty condition while making the most of a turn 4 in which it can’t hit Jinx. Shimmer stalls, and from there until turn 4, the deck is just packed with low cost characters that allow for great plays when the field is locked down to turn 5.
Bishop can easily out-stat other 2-drops and take down many 3-drops with his effect. Nightcrawler allows for surprise plays and unpredictable reinforcement options while still permitting attacks, and Archangel punishes reinforcement, taking Nightcrawler’s key concepts and foregoing options for raw power. Shadowcat is a defensive powerhouse that can stymie one-shot combat tricks; and Wolverine, Logan is just very, very large.
Jinx is the drop of choice on turn 4 in most cases, allowing the deck to search out any of its two stat-boosting locations, Metropolis to get teamed up, or X-Corporation for added longevity against decks that don’t mind being locked out of their late game. She again fills drops with her effect, making sure resource points are never wasted by giving you alternative ways to use them.
John Proudstar and Jean Grey provide offense and defense oriented options as needed, and the curve is completed by Neutron and Cyclops, Scott Summers.
Children of the Atom keeps characters around, Marvel Team-Up’s use is obvious, and The Underworld Star lets you dig for characters as you need them. Fastball Special lets you make the most of your smaller characters and is an interesting way to maintain control of the game if the Neutron plan doesn’t go as hoped. Surprise Attack ends the game before an opponent can break your lock, which is important because of Neutron’s fragility.
The result is a strategy that sets an erratic tempo, locking the opponent and then dominating in a part of the game where he or she has far fewer options than this deck affords itself. If Neutron can’t be stunned or removed from the field, then Parry can quickly overwhelm virtually any opponent. Distinctly defined early game decks like Fantastic Fun, Titans, and Blitz are the only forces that can hold their own in those circumstances. Even against decks that can drop enough characters to match Parry’s, he’ll still beat them in raw numbers once Madripoor and Danger Room hit the field, and that’s really where this deck succeeds. As I mentioned, a lot of people have attempted to exploit Neutron, but the base numbers just haven’t been there in the past. The seemingly odd choice of teaming with the X-Men fixes that problem.
While this deck likely won’t make a big splash at PC: NY, it’s worthy of note for succeeding where so many others have failed. Pretty cool stuff! |
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