Okay folks, I know a bunch of you have been itching to see if there’s going to be a new Gambit in the set. As such, you all probably would ignore any witty remarks I make up here, because you’re just going to scroll down and check out the card anyway. So, I’m going to hold off on my comments so that you can scope out the card first.

Without further ado, I present to you the Ragin’ Cajun:

 

Before I continue, I’ll let the multitude of Gambit fans out there celebrate a bit.

**BigSpooky whistles “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” while the throngs of Gambit fans rejoice and call out accolades to UDE’s R&D department.**

Now then, there are certainly several interesting items of note regarding the new and improved Remy LeBeau. First and foremost, Gambit finally has range! I know that many Vs. System die-hards criticized UDE for not giving the original Gambit range. After all, he throws exploding cards at enemies, so that should merit some consideration. Well fret no more, my friends! The Ragin’ Cajun can now toss cards and crack his staff at your opponent’s characters from the safety and comfort of the support row, hopefully while protected by a big X-beater like Colossus.

The next item of note is Gambit’s effect. One thing I thoroughly enjoyed about the original Gambit was that his effect was a very eloquent reflection of the character (tossing cards and such). UDE has maintained this flavor in the new version. However, they also changed the effect sufficiently to alter how the Ragin’ Cajun operates. On the plus side, Gambit now fits into decks outside of X-Men, as his discard effect requires an Energy card as opposed to an X-Men card. In addition, Gambit no longer has to exhaust as part of the cost of his effect—he can simply toss a card to take out a weenie and then plunge head-on into your opponent’s larger characters. Assuming that you can chuck an Energy card to take out a 3-drop, have Gambit safely attack into a 4-drop, and then have your 4-drop attack up the curve into your opponent’s 5-drop, you’re initiating a 3-for-1 trade (which will usually result in your opponent losing his or her two lower-cost characters). If you still have your 3-drop on the board, you could pull any number of shenanigans to sweeten the deal (attack directly; KO the opposing 5-drop with Finishing Move, Drain Essence, or the like; do a couple of handstand push-ups;* and so forth).

However, this new version of Gambit also loses something from the original version. While the Ragin’ Cajun could potentially benefit from the requirement to discard an Energy card, it could also be detrimental, because he cannot easily be splashed into a standard X-Men deck. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a sure bet that the X-Men team will have some great Energy character cards in this new set. However, gone are the days when any X-Men character could satisfy Gambit’s discard requirement.

Another possible issue is Gambit’s loss of off-initiative effectiveness. One great thing about the Marvel Origins Gambit is his ability to be effective on or off the initiative. This new version doesn’t have the same flexibility. Along with the loss of the exhaustion cost for Gambit comes the limitation that the effect can only be used during the attack step. Given that the Ragin’ Cajun is a 5-drop, it will be interesting to see how this affects his playability.

The next item of note is Gambit’s stats. One trait of the X-Men team prior to the release of the X-Men set was that their 5-drops were thought to be underpowered. Granted, they made up for this disparity by having some of the best effects in the game. I don’t think anyone would argue that Wolverine, James Howlett is not amazing, especially if you have a couple of Burn Rubbers at your disposal. However, for many Vs. System players, size does matter, and there has been a lot of “X-avoidance” because of the team’s relative weakness in the mid-game. Gambit, Remy LeBeau was emblematic of this, as his amazing effect did not make up for the fact that the average 4-drop could attack him and not get stunned back.

The new-and-improved Gambit solves both of these problems. Not only is Gambit bigger stat-wise than any X-Men 5-drop prior to this set, but he is also big enough that most other 5-drops cannot attack into him without suffering a debilitating stun back. Granted, his 8 DEF makes it feasible for opposing 4-drops to attack up the curve to stun him, but that’s why UDE gave him range. Opposing characters have to go through a tank like John Proudstar ◊ Thunderbird before they can get at the Cajun. Besides, Gambit’s 10 ATK makes it just as feasible for you to attack up the curve into an opposing 6-drop!

Finally, let’s move away from game play for a second and check out the sweet artwork on display. If you’re at all familiar with the X-Men comics, then you’ll know that Gambit’s character is a suave, crafty Cajun (much like Dennis Quaid in The Big Easy, but with a good Cajun accent). When he isn’t bashing Brotherhood baddies with charged-up cards, he’s romancing some innocent female beauty (usually Rogue). Suffice it to say, Gambit is tres cool! The artwork on the card depicts the smooth, debonair X-Man in all his glory. You see, Gambit is a man of action. And nothing could be more fitting than an image of our favorite Cajun in mid-air, tossing not one but three aces of spades at his adversary!** What could be cooler than that?

Getting back to game play, we must wonder what kind of impact Gambit will have in Sealed Pack and Constructed formats. In Sealed Pack, Gambit will be a major player. The Avengers set revealed to us how cards that can take out multiple opposing characters can make or break games. For example, Whizzer and Speed Demon, Second Chance Speedster were both very high picks in Avengers Draft because they had the potential to take out multiple characters by themselves. Gambit will be similarly envied in this respect, since having Gambit on the board and an Energy card in hand will usually mean that you can force a 2-for-1 (or even a 2-for-0) trade. Fortunately, UDE had the foresight to make Gambit an uncommon, so while we can expect to see him regularly in Sealed and Draft formats, copies of Gambit will still be scarce enough that we won’t see him in every Sealed Pack deck. In Draft, this will make the Cajun a highly valued (and early drafted) pick for an Energy deck.

On the Constructed side, we can only imagine what kind of impact Gambit will have. Early previews of cards like Bevatron and Chill Out! indicate that Mutant–Energy decks will have some formidable weapons at their disposal. Gambit should fit into these builds nicely, as his effect will not only help Energy decks keep swarm decks (like Faces of Evil) contained, but his size will also allow Energy decks to compete with curve decks in the late game.

So get ready, my friends. In a few days, you’ll be sitting front and center at the X-Men Sneak Preview, ready to chuck some cards with Gambit. And if your Gambit does, in fact, propel you to a victory or two, then it’s quite all right to say, “M’Sweet, I never gamble . . . I win. At everything.”

Just as long as you can say it with a straight face and a Cajun accent!

* Assuming that your name is Tim Batow, of course.

** In both versions of Gambit in the Vs. System and in the comics, Gambit always seems to be tossing aces at his enemies. It makes one wonder what happened to the remainder of the cards. I mean, I know it’s cool and all for him to be hurling high cards at his adversaries, but there are 48 other cards in the deck that go neglected, folks!***

*** Now that I think about it, Marvel would probably make a better thematic statement if Gambit were to vary the cards that he threw according to the enemy he faced. I mean, that’s what I’d do if I were Gambit and had to face off against my “enemies.”

(Spoken in a very bad Cajun accent:)