This week, I am featuring Sydney Games Centre regular Troy Armstrong. Troy is renowned for his offbeat Draft strategies that often pave the way for a better understanding of a format. He was the first person I saw draft off-curve Faces of Evil in The Avengers and the first person to turn the Hellfire Club into an archetype in The X-Men drafting in Sydney. Troy has been enjoying regular success with Infinite Crisis and can often be seen with strange Checkmate and Secret Six synergies on his side of the table. In this draft, Troy came in with a particular deck in mind, and his attempts to force it met with perhaps dubious success. Read on to find out why!

Pack 1, Pick 1

Manitou Dawn, Spirit Shaman; Count Vertigo, Werner Vertigo; Tricked-Out Sports Car; Arms Deal; Checkmate Armory; Knight Armor; Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1; Living Legacy; Cheshire, Jade; Stepping Between Worlds; Amadeus Arkham, Architect of Insanity; Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat, Golden Age Pugilist; Target Acquired; Black Adam, Ruthless Hero

There are many options in this pack, and Troy made an intriguing selection. Whereas I might have gone with something like Ted Grant, Troy picked Cheshire, explaining that he had a particular strategy in mind. Troy said that he likes to take high DEF characters of cost 5 or higher quite highly. He believes that this allows him to take advantage of the plethora of defensive options in this format. Where possible, he prefers to have concealed early characters maintaining board and large late game characters to soak up ATK values and return endurance totals to more of an equilibrium. Troy has had consistent success in this format with this plan, so I wasn’t in any position to doubt him here. Considering there wasn’t really any standout pick from the pack, it would be interesting to see how this plan would develop in what seemed like favorable circumstances early on.

Troy’s pick: Cheshire, Jade

My pick: Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat, Golden Age Pugilist

Pack 1, Pick 2

Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army; Chay-Ara ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Companion; Thanagarian Invasion; Zatanna, Showstopper; Justice United, Team-Up; Talia, Beloved Betrayer; The Penguin, Arms Merchant; House of Secrets; Wonder Woman, Earth 2; Zatanna, Magical Manipulator; Mystical Binding, Magic; Valentina Vostok, Negative Woman; A Moment of Crisis

This second pack also contains several very playable cards. The most powerful card overall is probably Thanagarian Invasion, but as my experience with this format grows, it seems prudent to me to secure the character curve first. Fortunately, there are several good characters in this pack. In fact, none of the characters are really mediocre, so I think Troy did the right thing staying with his first pick and taking Talia, one of the better 2-drops in the format.

Troy’s pick: Talia, Beloved Betrayer

My pick: Talia, Beloved Betrayer

Pack 1, Pick 3

Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic; Wonder Woman, Earth 2; T-Spheres; Knight Armor; Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger; Epic Battle; Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive; Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee; Coercion, Team-Up; Superman, Earth 2; It’s Not Over Yet; Mystical Binding, Magic

In my mind, this is the first difficult choice of the draft. T-Spheres is a controversial card; some people have a soft spot for it and other people think it is vastly overrated. I think it is awesome and would have slammed it down here. It is powerful enough to take over decent characters early on. A third pick T-Spheres seems like as good a signal as anything else to me at this stage, and there are other strong JSA cards in the pack in Superman and Wonder Woman.

Troy took a different tack, staying in one team with Zazzala. He explained later that this kept him on course with his plan of a big late game and a concealed early game. He said that he recognized the signal but was happier shipping it further downstream to try to throw the player to his left off the Villains United scent and hard into JSA.

Troy’s pick: Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

My pick: T-Spheres

Pack 1, Pick 4

Rose Psychic, Ghost Detective; Justice United, Team-Up; Valentina Vostok, Negative Woman; Watch the Birdie!; Carter Hall ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Champion; Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype; Abjuration, Magic; Black Thorn, Elizabeth Thorne; Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger; Zatanna, Showstopper; Surveillance Pawn, Army

Another difficult selection here. The very powerful Abjuration is a clear signal that Troy can most probably have any Shadowpact he wants. Without any real pick for VU, Troy is going to have to make a choice here about which direction he wants to take. Troy picked Watch the Birdie!, saying later that it’s very underrated and that he doesn’t really like Shadowpact, no matter how powerful the cards seem to be. I have been burnt by Abjuration too much not to take it here, but I can respect his reasoning.

Troy’s pick: Watch the Birdie!

My pick: Abjuration, Magic

Pack 1, Pick 5

Ragman, Redeemer of Souls; Madame Xanadu, Cartomancer; Burning Gaze; Baddest of the Bad; Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive; Obsidian, Todd James Rice; Lex Luthor, Champion of the Common Man; Fiddler, Isaac Bowin; Neutralization Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army; Secret Checkmate HQ

Considering the direction that Troy had decided to take, this was a relatively simple pick with another Zazzala. The rest of the pack is either mediocre characters or average plot twists, so you might as well secure the curve when you can do it so cheaply.

Troy’s pick: Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

My pick: Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

Pack 1, Pick 6

Chay-Ara ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Companion; Thanagarian Invasion; Checkmate Safe House, Team-Up; The Calculator, Crime Broker; Graziella Reza, Knight; Return Fire!; Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic; Multiverse Power Battery; Brainiac, Earth 2

I was quite surprised at Troy’s pick and reasoning here, though it makes sense to me in retrospect. I would have thought that the Thanagarian Invasion was now late enough to pick up, and even if Troy was feeling exceptionally conservative, he might take the 7-drop Villains character. Even Brainiac might have been a possibility.

Instead, Troy took Checkmate Safe House. Having passed on Shadowpact and trying to force others into JSA, Troy was only really left with Checkmate as a Team-Up (not counting Secret Six). Troy explained that this was a good card in that team and could be used as a generic Team-Up anyway if things went bad. I probably still would have stuck with Thanagarian Invasion, but Troy seemed to have a firm idea of where he wanted to take his deck.

Troy’s pick: Checkmate Safe House, Team-Up

My pick: Thanagarian Invasion

Pack 1, Pick 7

Black Adam, Ruthless Hero; Neutralization Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army; Secret Checkmate HQ; Ultra-Humanite, Metahuman Manipulator; Surveillance Pawn, Army; Burning Gaze; Join Us or Die; Ragman, Redeemer of Souls

Having made a decision to get into Checkmate, Troy grabbed the HQ here. It is probably the most powerful card in the pack, with Burning Gaze its only real competition considering the deck Troy is trying to build.

Troy’s pick: Secret Checkmate HQ

My pick: Secret Checkmate HQ

Pack 1, Pick 8

Coercion, Team-Up; Heroic Rescue; Prince Khufu ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Warrior; Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster; The Oblivion Bar; Superman, Earth 2; Kilowog, Drill Sergeant

Well, it does look like Troy could have very easily had a very good JSA deck, but he was firm in his decision and continued to pass the goods. I might have bitten the bullet here and taken the Prince Khufu or the Superman, but if I were thinking the same way as Troy, Coercion is the pick.

Troy’s pick: Coercion, Team-Up

My pick: Coercion, Team-Up

Pack 1, Pick 9

Tricked-Out Sports Car; Arms Deal; Living Legacy; Stepping Between Worlds; Amadeus Arkham, Architect of Insanity; Target Acquired

I was extremely surprised with this pick. Troy went with the Sports Car, explaining that at that stage he wanted to pursue a heavy Checkmate plan of equipment and locations. I can agree with that reasoning, but I would have taken Target by the same logic! I still find Target to be good regardless of the number of locations you have, whereas Sports Car is dependent on having a location that you don’t need to exhaust at the right time.

Troy’s pick: Tricked-Out Sports Car

My pick: Target Acquired

Pack 1, Pick 10

Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army; Justice United, Team-Up; The Penguin, Arms Merchant; House of Secrets; A Moment of Crisis

Considering that Troy is now in Checkmate / Villains and has two Team-Ups already, this is an easy pick.

Troy’s pick: Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army

My pick: Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army

Pack 1, Pick 11

Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic; Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee; Superman, Earth 2; It’s Not Over Yet

Wow. This is pleasant surprise. Although it’s off-team, with no late game yet, this is a good pick-up.

Troy’s pick: Superman, Earth 2

My pick: Superman, Earth 2

Pack 1, Pick 12

Justice United, Team-Up; Surveillance Pawn, Army; Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger

Hmm, there is one reason why you shouldn’t pick Team-Ups too early in this format (where it can be avoided): they seem to come around pretty late. I don’t really like Troy’s pick here, as I like the Pawn much more, but the worst part is that we have to pass the best generic card in the pack because we already have two Team-Ups. Making the most of your wheel is important in Vs. Draft, as you have to play at least six of them, so it always hurts to let something as compulsory as a Team-Up go.

Troy’s pick: Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger

My pick: Surveillance Pawn, Army

Pack 1, Pick 13

Secret Checkmate HQ; Obsidian, Todd James Rice

Heh. Getting your seventh pick thirteenth is both good and bad.

Troy’s pick: Secret Checkmate HQ

My pick: Secret Checkmate HQ

Pack 1, Pick 14

Multiverse Power Battery

That is extremely lucky. Like Mourn for the Lost a few weeks back, cards like this shouldn’t come last pick.

Pack 2, Pick 1

Aspiring Pawn, Army; Secret Checkmate HQ; The Calculator, Crime Broker; Weather Wizard, Mark Mardon; Lex Luthor, Champion of the Common Man; Systematic Torture; Zatanna, Showstopper; Brother I Satellite; Animal Man, Buddy Baker; Maxwell Lord, Black King; Revitalize; Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1; Return Fire!; Graziella Reza, Knight

These are the sort of first pick options you want to have. There are a lot of good cards in this pack, but there are also two standout cards. Brother I Satellite is amazing. It not only fixes your curve, but it also feeds into the whole Checkmate location theme better than most other cards. Systematic Torture could be even better. Finishing Move is excellent at the best of times, but taking 3 endurance burn from your opponents in addition is amazing. Troy had to make a big decision here, and I think he got it right. Torture not only fits in with his plan of having concealed early drops (the exhaustion cost will be easy to meet), but it also provides a unique effect. There is a chance other locations will come by to augment his Checkmate plan if that’s the direction he wants to continue to take. Note that the HQs do not stick around long enough to be reliable in the location theme.

Troy’s pick: Systematic Torture

My pick: Systematic Torture

Pack 2, Pick 2

Nightmaster, Jim Rook; Coercion, Team-Up; A Moment of Crisis; Zatanna, Magical Manipulator; Black Adam, Teth-Adam; Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype; Collecting Souls, Magic; Zatanna, Showstopper; Threat Neutralized; Batman, Earth 2; Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman, Man of the Hour; 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .; Double Play

This is a pretty average pack overall, but Troy definitely gets an excellent second-pick card in Black Adam. I have come to respect this character a great deal recently, and I try to snap it up at every opportunity now.

Troy’s pick: Black Adam, Teth-Adam

My pick: Black Adam, Teth-Adam

Pack 2, Pick 3

Blue Devil, Dan Cassidy; Secret Checkmate HQ; Cheetah, Feral Feline; Black Adam, Ruthless Hero; Spectral Slaughter, Magic; Tricked-Out Sports Car; Double Play; Dr. Fate’s Tower; No Mercy; Defend Yourself!; Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue; Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army

This is a very strong pack. Defend Yourself! is always a good pick, though with double HQ, we probably don’t need it so much. The 5-drop OMAC is very powerful, as it doubles as a 7-drop and has a situationally game-winning ability. Personally, I would have taken the Dr. Fate’s Tower, even without any Fate Artifacts yet, as I have seen too many drafts won by the player utilizing the ridiculous power of this card.

Troy took a card I really wasn’t expecting in No Mercy. Recently, I have been forced to respect the generally high power level of the VU cards in general, but I didn’t value this card that highly. Troy has had more success in this format than me, so I am happy to defer to his judgment here.

Troy’s pick: No Mercy

My pick: Dr. Fate’s Tower

Pack 2, Pick 4

Ragman, Patchmonger; Return Fire!; Justice United, Team-Up; Target Acquired; Witchfire, Rebecca Carstairs; Mordru, Dark Lord; T-Spheres; The Calculator, Noah Kuttler; Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath; Talia, Daughter of Madness; Connie Webb, Knight

Ugh, how is that T-Spheres still here? It seems that Troy wasn’t as successful with his plan of getting everyone on his left into JSA as he’d hoped. Troy decided on Mordru here, though I would have taken Target Acquired and left myself needing another 5-drop. I don’t really like picking Mordru outside of the Katar Hol deck.

Troy’s pick: Mordru, Dark Lord

My pick: Target Acquired

Pack 2, Pick 5

Thanagar; Sinestro, Villain Reborn; Rex Tyler ◊ Hourman, Inventor of Miraclo; Huntress, Reluctant Queen; Ragman, Redeemer of Souls; Deadshot, Dead Aim; Taking Up the Mantle; Threat Neutralized; Arthur Kendrick, Knight; Nightshade, Eve Eden

This pick came down to a matter of taste. Troy went with Arthur Kendrick, a card he loves and that fits into his overall plan of concealed 3-drops. At this stage, with two 3-drops already, I would have tried to get my later curve into line by taking the 6-drop Huntress or Sinestro, Villain Reborn. 4-drops seem easier to get, so I would likely have defaulted to the 6-drop.

Troy picked: Arthur Kendrick, Knight

My pick: Huntress, Reluctant Queen

Pack 2, Pick 6

Kilowog, Drill Sergeant; Lex Luthor, Champion of the Common Man; Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive; Helm of Nabu, Fate Artifact; Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype; No Mercy; Superman, Earth 2; Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Knight; Jacob Lee, Knight

Having picked the Kendrick, we have three 3-drops. Still, Zazzala is exactly what we want, and given that we now have three 5-drops already, Roy isn’t much of a priority. The only other card really worth considering is No Mercy, but we do have a lot of playable blue already, so we might as well finish off the 3-drops from this pack.

Troy’s pick: Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

My pick: Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

Pack 2, Pick 7

Chay-Ara ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Companion; Collecting Souls, Magic; Death from Above; Black Adam, Ruthless Hero; Charles McNider ◊ Dr Mid-Nite, Golden Age Academic; Zatanna, Magical Manipulator; Brothers in Arms; Valentina Vostok, Negative Woman

Troy is pretty much forced to pick up an on-team 4-drop here, as he is decidedly lacking at that spot on the curve. Fortunately, Vostok is far from terrible.

Troy’s pick: Valentina Vostok, Negative Woman

My pick: Valentina Vostok, Negative Woman

Pack 2, Pick 8

Mystical Binding, Magic; Lex Luthor ◊ Mockingbird, Evil Exile; Thanagarian Invasion; The Calculator, Crime Broker; Captain Marvel, Earth’s Mightiest Mortal; Nightshade, Eve Eden; Scandal, Savage Spawn

Hmmm. I could not pass another Thanagarian Invasion here. I just couldn’t. I can see Troy being worried about his 7-drops, but you can get Calculator, Crime Broker almost whenever you want. The common 7-drops for each team seem to go round and round, so I wouldn’t worry about them.

Troy’s pick: The Calculator, Crime Broker

My pick: Thanagarian Invasion

Pack 2, Pick 9

Aspiring Pawn, Army; The Calculator, Crime Broker; Lex Luthor, Champion of the Common Man; Animal Man, Buddy Baker; Maxwell Lord, Black King; Graziella Reza, Knight

Well, don’t I feel smug. I would probably take the 7-drop now, though Animal Man is very underrated. The only thing that stops me from taking Animal Man is that it is very easy to get decent 4-drops from both Checkmate and Villains United. Although 7-drops are easy to get, the benefit of being on-team with your 4-drops is probably worth waiting for. Really, though, it probably depends on how good you think the 7-drop Sasha is. I think she is barely playable, so I much prefer to get Calculator cheaply in this sort of deck.

Troy’s pick: Animal Man, Buddy Baker

My pick: The Calculator, Crime Broker

Pack 2, Pick 10

Nightmaster, Jim Rook; A Moment of Crisis; Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype; Collecting Souls, Magic; Double Play

Troy took Sasha, taking the opposite view of the situation in the last pick. I probably would simply have cut A Moment of Crisis here.

Troy’s pick: Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype

My pick: A Moment of Crisis,

Pack 2, Pick 11

Cheetah, Feral Feline; Tricked-Out Sports Car; Double Play; Secret Checkmate HQ

At this stage, Troy had given up on the location theme, so he took Cheetah. Two HQs is more than enough. Still, I would have taken the Car here, as I think that even if the pump is random, his deck needs it for cards like Cheshire.

Troy’s pick: Cheetah, Feral Feline

My pick: Tricked-Out Sports Car

Pack 2, Pick 12

The Calculator, Noah Kuttler; Justice United, Team-Up; Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath

More Team-Ups! Hmmm. This comes down to whether or not you think Dr. Psycho is playable. I don’t really, except for in the most dire circumstances. Having a searcher for one of your Team-Ups is probably more important.

Troy’s pick: The Calculator, Noah Kuttler

My pick: The Calculator, Noah Kuttler

Pack 2, Pick 13

Threat Neutralized; Nightmaster, Jim Rook

A bit of a bonus.

Troy’s pick: Threat Neutralized

My pick: Threat Neutralized

Pack 2, Pick 14

Jacob Lee, Knight

Pack 3, Pick 1

Terry Sloane ◊ Mr. Terrific, Golden Age Gold Medalist; Fiddler, Isaac Bowin; Power Girl, Earth 2; Arthur Kendrick, Knight; Laser Watch; Stepping Between Worlds; Multiverse Power Battery; The Phantom Stranger, Wandering Hero; End of All that Is; Blue Devil, Big Blue; Burning Gaze; Sarge Steel, Knight; Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue; No Mercy

There are a lot of good cards in this pack, but not many for Troy, unfortunately. Still, you only need to take one card from each pack, and you can’t be unhappy with another 3 ATK / 3DEF 2-drop.

Troy’s pick: Sarge Steel, Knight

My pick: Sarge Steel, Knight

Pack 3, Pick 2

Death from Above; Magical Conduit; No Mercy; Dr. Occult, Richard Occult; Deadshot, Dead Aim; Cloak of Nabu; Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Heroine; Catman, Thomas Blake; Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero; Systematic Torture; Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic; Hourman III ◊ Hourman, Time Machine; Magical Lobotomy, Magic

This is good and bad. The good is that Troy is going to get a great second pick in Systematic Torture. The bad is that it seems like the JSA is just going to flood through. That’s a cause for concern, but there is little he can do at this stage.

Troy’s pick: Systematic Torture

My pick: Systematic Torture

Pack 3, Pick 3

Lex Luthor, Champion of the Common Man; Rex Tyler ◊ Hourman, Inventor of Miraclo; Sasha Bordeaux, Knight; Dr. Fate, Hector Hall; Nightmaster, Jim Rook; Rann; Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter, Fearless Renegade; Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat, Golden Age Pugilist; Kilowog, Drill Sergeant; Mystical Binding, Magic; Defend Yourself; House of Secrets

The JSA is definitely coming through in waves now, but being in both Villains and Checkmate means that Troy will likely always have picks. Here, he has a choice between a decent 2-drop (Sasha) and a decent plot twist (Defend Yourself). He chose to round off his 2-drops, which seemed like the best plan at this stage.

Troy’s pick: Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

My pick: Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

Pack 3, Pick 4

Abjuration, Magic; Target Acquired; Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat, Golden Age Pugilist; Burning Gaze; Kilowog, Drill Sergeant; Allied Against the Dark; Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger; Jakeem Williams, JJ Thunder; Coercion, Team-Up; Cheetah, Feral Feline; Amanda Waller, Black Queen

Similar to the pack above, we are getting picks here, but our poor position in the draft means that we are passing much better ones. Another Abjuration goes through to a very happy camper down the line, while we are forced to take the on-team 4-drop to shore up numbers. The Target in the pack has lost a lot of its value with the lack of opportunities we had to pick up locations.

Troy’s pick: Amanda Waller, Black Queen

My pick: Amanda Waller, Black Queen

Pack 3, Pick 5

Spectral Slaughter, Magic; Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker, Obsessed Outlaw; Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman, Man of the Hour; Living Legacy; Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army; Divination, Magic; Surveillance Pawn, Army; Dr. Fate, Hector Hall; Rann; Parademon, Apokoliptian Ally

Again, there’s a lot of JSA gas, but interestingly enough, we get a great Checkmate card here in Christopher Smith. It is our fifth 3-drop, which may indicate that we were too keen on 3-drops earlier on, but he is really too good to give up; he promotes the sort of character advantage Troy is trying to model his deck around. Rann is a potential pick here, but we don’t seem to be struggling for blue and don’t have many reasons to take too many locations anymore.

Troy’s pick: Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker, Obsessed Outlaw

My pick: Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker, Obsessed Outlaw

Pack 3, Pick 6

The Calculator, Noah Kuttler; Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype; Magical Lobotomy; Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army; Justice United, Team-Up; The Oblivion Bar; Seiobo’s Garden; Heroic Rescue; Zatanna, Showstopper

It’s funny how things change from format to format. In The X-Men, there was a multitude of playable 6-drops, so you could afford to wait and wait for them. In Infinite Crisis, there is a real lack of excellent 6-drops. Cards like Alexander Luthor and Power Girl are very high picks in my estimation. This means that you really need to snap them up when you see them. As this column has shown, many players have had to rely on a Scandal or two to close that spot on the curve.

Here, Troy makes that decision. He has to pass on the much better OMAC Robot to fix up his curve with Zatanna. I don’t know if I’d have made the same decision, but I can’t blame him.

Troy’s pick: Zatanna, Showstopper

My pick: Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army

Pack 3, Pick 7

Ragman, Redeemer of Souls; Batman, Earth 2; Traitor to the Cause; Scandal, Savage Spawn; Help Wanted, Team-Up; Black Alice, Lori Zechlin; Brother Eye; Neutralization Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army

Heh. I guess I would have had to pick up the Scandal here. Instead, Troy went with Batman to close out his 4-drops. The worst part is having to let Brother Eye go, which just isn’t that good in his deck.

Troy’s pick: Batman, Earth 2

My pick: Scandal, Savage Spawn

Pack 3, Pick 8

Magical Lobotomy, Magic; Talia, Beloved Betrayer; Deadshot, Dead Aim; Aspiring Pawn, Army; Superman, Earth 2; Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype; Grand Gesture

Hmm, now the 6-drops come! Troy looked to improve his 2-drops with this pick, but I would have gone with Magical Lobotomy, a card I like a lot. I have started to find Grand Gesture very narrow.

Troy’s pick: Talia, Beloved Betrayer

My pick: Magical Lobotomy, Magic

Pack 3, Pick 9

Fiddler, Isaac Bowin; Stepping Between Worlds; Multiverse Power Battery; End of All that Is; Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue; Blue Devil, Big Blue

With one Multiverse already, Troy is able to pick up the very underrated Ragdoll.

Troy’s pick: Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue

My pick: Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue

Pack 3, Pick 10

Death from Above; Catman, Thomas Blake; Hourman III ◊ Hourman, Time Machine; Magical Lobotomy, Magic; Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic

This is ugly. Something tells me we should have run with that T-Spheres in the third pack. You have to cut this guy here, though he may be better than Mordru in this deck.

Troy’s pick: Hourman III ◊ Hourman, Time Machine

My pick: Hourman III ◊ Hourman, Time Machine

Pack 3, Pick 11

Mystical Binding, Magic; Lex Luthor, Champion of the Common Man; House of Secrets; Nightmaster, Jim Rook

More cuts.

Troy’s pick: Mystical Binding, Magic

My pick: Mystical Binding, Magic

Pack 3, Pick 12

Target Acquired; Jakeem Williams, JJ Thunder; Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger

I don’t know why this card wheeled so late.

Troy’s pick: Target Acquired

My pick: Target Acquired

Pack 3, Pick 13

Spectral Slaughter, Magic; Parademon, Apokoliptian Ally

Troy’s pick: Parademon, Apokoliptian Ally

My pick: Parademon, Apokoliptian Ally

Pack 3, Pick 14

Seiobo’s Garden

This is the deck Troy ended up with:

Characters

The Calculator, Noah Kuttler

Jacob Lee, Knight

Cheetah, Feral Feline

2 Talia, Beloved Betrayer

Sarge Steel, Knight

Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

2 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

Arthur Kendrick, Knight

Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker, Obsessed Outlaw

Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue

Animal Man, Buddy Baker

Valentina Vostok, Negative Woman

Amanda Waller, Black Queen

Mordru, Dark Lord

Cheshire, Jade

Black Adam, Teth-Adam

Superman, Earth 2

Zatanna, Showstopper

Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype

Plot Twists

Coercion

No Mercy

2 Systematic Torture

Watch the Birdie!

Multiverse Power Battery

Locations

2 Secret Checkmate HQ

Checkmate Safe House

Troy ended up going a disappointing 1-2 with this deck. He was unlucky with his curve in a few of his games, but I think he definitely had to take either T-Spheres or Abjuration early on in the draft to establish himself for a good third pack. In the end, he had to pass up too many good cards just to keep his deck together. Objectively, I don’t think Troy’s deck is bad at all, but the power level of the draft seemed very high, and even having to give up on the location theme within his own team cost him a bomb in Brother Eye. If you retrace Troy’s steps, it may be difficult to put too much blame on him for following through on a plan that had worked for him before. But it does seem in Infinite Crisis Draft that you have to remain as flexible as possible for as long as possible.