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“Don’t Click on the Link!”

Those were the frantic words of my friend John Hall after I received a hyperlink message from him via AOL Instant Messenger. Apparently, a worm program had found its way into his computer and had hijacked his instant messenger in an effort to infect other systems. And my machine became the next target of the worm’s malevolent machinations. Of course, given my buddy’s warning, I certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to let my computer get infected.

Unfortunately, I didn’t receive John’s warning until two seconds after I had already clicked the link.

Chaos ensued. First, the worm dropped about five gigabytes of spyware onto my computer, sending my spy sweeper into shock. Then, the worm attempted to rewrite my browser and memory settings to host the program on my machine. While I’m sure my anti-virus software didn’t appreciate this, it really wasn’t up to the task of stopping it. Finally, the worm sent the aforementioned link to everyone on my AOL buddy list (which is almost everyone in the online Vs. community).

That last part worries me the most, as I am sure that my actions ticked off a few people. My teammate Shane Wiggins made references to my intelligence in terms that I can’t use on a public forum. Dave Spears hexed me with a voodoo curse. And someone (I’m pretty sure it was Team FTN) sent a hit man after me.* Suffice it to say, I’ve been trying to lay low these past couple of weeks.

Is it “Feed a cold, starve a fever”?

If there is any consolation to be had, it’s that the incident gave me a ripe idea for this week’s card. Following the first Pro Circuit in Indianapolis, Common Enemy was the top deck in the metagame. Right behind it was the relatively new Teen Titans. Both decks were formidable and well represented at $10K Texas last November.**

I decided that in order to be competitive, I would need a deck that could consistently beat both of these powerhouses. After much testing, I eventually settled on My Beloved. The combination of Gotham Knights and League of Assassins had the size and consistency to match Common Enemy and the disruption necessary to stave off the Titans (primarily in the form of Tower of Babel). I found that against either deck, dropping Ra’s Al Ghul, The Demon’s Head on turn 8 usually meant victory for me and my deck.

I spent several weeks playtesting various versions of the deck.*** My eventual build centered around Alfred Pennyworth in unison with several low drops in the first few turns to set up the plot twists that I would need for the remainder of the game. I then played straight up the curve on turns 4 through 8, eventually reaching the crescendo of Ra’s Al Ghul, The Demon’s Head. Since I usually had two to three copies of Acrobatic Dodge in hand by that time, and since most Common Enemy decks didn’t play Savage Beatdown, Silver Surfer wasn’t too much of a threat—my opponent couldn’t play It’s Clobberin’ Time! without any team affiliations.

AAH… AAH… AAAAAAAH-CHOOOOO!

While this was the variant of the deck I eventually settled on, I spent a good deal of time testing alternative strategies. One of the versions that I really liked (but could never get to work properly) was the build that utilized Clench Virus. I think that most players knew how potentially devastating Micro-Sentinels was in Curve. The key difference between Micro-Sentinels and Clench Virus is that Micro-Sentinels can dole out multiple counters (depending on how many Sentinels characters you have on the board). However, Clench Virus has an added advantage in that it can affect any character, not just characters on the board when it’s played.

Our challenge today will be to build a deck that not only gives us access to multiple copies of Clench Virus, but also has sufficient support for the “Plague KO” strategy.

The Build

Before we start shoving cards into the build, we need to determine the most effective way to approach the deck. As stated earlier, we want as many copies of Clench Virus on the board as possible (because there is no greater joy than KO’ing Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius on turn 5). On its own, the League of Assassins team does not have reliable access to the copies of Clench Virus in the deck. While Doom and Gotham Knights may seem like viable counterparts (thanks to the searching power of Boris and Alfred Pennyworth), we can’t afford to rely on either butler. In addition, replaying a 1-drop every turn would put us behind quickly, as we would be forced to play off-curve to continue searching for plot twists.

What we really need is a way to bring Clench Virus directly into play. The one card that currently allows for bringing ongoing plot twists directly into play is Hostage Situation. Given that Hostage Situation is team-stamped to Revenge Squad, it appears that they would be the best team to join Ghul and Co. in their nefarious scheme to plague the board.

Given our focus on putting Clench Virus into play and the Revenge Squad’s love for ongoing plot twists, it is only sensible for us to make most of our non-character cards ongoing plot twists. However, we don’t want so many that we’ll end up with a lot of dead cards in hand; ongoing plot twists that can be played out of hand will be helpful.

First and foremost, we want to include four copies of Clench Virus. Additionally, we should include four copies of Hostage Situation to assist in fetching Clench Virus. Of course, Team-Ups are rather important. While Millennium and its added card draw is tempting as our Team-Up of choice, we’re going to defer to good old Marvel Team-Up. With Lacuna in play, Marvel Team-Up is another card that can be brought directly onto the board. However, we will include a couple copies of Millennium as a backup.

Moving on, we need to consider toolbox cards to assist our deck. Obviously, a deck focusing on ongoing plot twists needs to have a way to protect its resource row. So, a copy of State of the Union would not be amiss. While we won’t be able to guarantee its presence in every game with only one copy in the deck, we can use Hostage Situation to search for it in dire circumstances. Moreover, playing only one copy of State of the Union lessens the likelihood that we will have unplayable cards in hand.

We also need to consider the ramifications of the loss of Mountain Stronghold by forcing our deck into an ongoing plot twist build. In essence, we might need to find other draw and search options. Given the deck style, our best choice is probably Revenge Pact. While it is nice for moving through the deck, it can get expensive if it’s used too much. Hence, we will limit it to two copies.

Thematically, we should probably note that the deck has a KO flavor to it. In keeping with that, we’ll toss in four copies of Death of Superman. Not only is the card a powerful board control tool that has nice synergy with Clench Virus, but it also has the added benefit of being playable from the hand.

Of course, all of our cards so far have either been support for Clench Virus–searching or part of the ongoing plot twist theme. So, we’ll divert for a second to add in some much needed attack power. While opinions may vary, it’s hard to argue that Savage Beatdown isn’t the best ATK pump in Vs. System. The time may come when our deck will need a little bit of oomph to push past a wayward power-up or Acrobatic Dodge, so we’ll add four Savage Beatdowns to the build.

Finally, we’re going to toss in something from the Justice League of America set. My initial intention for this deck was to add a couple of Wheel of Plagues to speed up the distribution of plague counters. The downside to this idea was that the payments for Wheel of Plagues and Revenge Pact could really add up, even if used only once per turn. However, the new set brought us a plot twist that can add plague counters for free—Poisoned!.

Talk about a new card that’s tailor-made for this deck! Not only does Poisoned! give us a new and improved method for adding plague counters, but it can also be used as an offensive or defensive weapon in a pinch. On defense, the -1 ATK can prevent lateral stuns. On offense, you can use Poisoned! to add additional counters in response to a stunback attempt (via a card like Nasty Surprise) to KO the defender before the attack concludes.

Let’s take a quick look at our plot twist selections:

On the character side, we have a small challenge in that we need a decent early game to ensure that we have the characters we need if we have to utilize Hostage Situation. However, we would also like to have a reasonable curve if the game progresses to later turns. Throw in the fact that we only have 32 card spaces in the deck to work with, and we have a bit of a task to undertake.

Our options at the 1-drop slot are rather limited. Since there is a possibility that we might be under-dropping in later turns, we should probably consider some 1-drops that are above the curve. Fortunately, a pair of such characters exists in Hope and Whisper A'Daire, Serpent-Tongued Seductress. In addition to above-average ATKs, these lovely ladies have great synergy with the build—Hope in her ability to protect the resource row, and Whisper in her stat boost in later turns.

A much more important series of choices comes at the 2-drop. In addition to considering several playable options, we need enough characters at this drop to ensure our ability to exhaust for Hostage Situationand allow for a Team-Up. Obviously, we need to include at least one copy of Lacuna to support our plans with Marvel Team-Up. We should probably also look at characters that can help support our later turns. A good choice to fill this role is three copies of Talia, Beloved Daughter. Not only is Talia a much-needed League of Assassins character in an early game filled with Revenge Squad characters, but she also ensures that one incarnation or another of her father will be present for later turns. One final League of Assassins character we need to include is Assassin Initiate. While he doesn’t have overly spectacular stats, his effect assists the KO theme of the deck. One copy should suffice.

On the Revenge Squad side, we’re going to lean more toward effect utility than character stats. Although this may seem a bit confusing (especially since I spoke so glowingly about strong ATK and DEF values in the 1-drop section), it will become readily apparent why ATK and DEF values are overrated in some cases. First, we have two copies of Atomic Skull. While his stats are absolutely pathetic, he has a positively game-breaking effect. On your attack step, you’ll essentially get a free stun of (in all probability) your opponent’s second largest character. In later turns, this can be game breaking. In addition, we’ll throw in a couple copies of the Fifth Dimension Imp himself, Mr. Mxyzptlk. Not only is he a welcome guest in any team attack (since he can’t be stunned), but given his recruit effect, he is also great to have around as an extra character to exhaust for various effects.

For our 3-drop, we need look no further than the Commander in Chief, Lex Luthor, President Luthor. The plethora of ongoing plot twists should get our presidential card-drawing engine up and running rather quickly. We will also toss in a copy of Kyle Abbot, Wolf in Man’s Clothing. Not only does Kyle combo well with Whisper A'Daire, Serpent-Tongued Seductress, but his massive boost effect also makes him a great under-drop in later turns.

At the 4-drop position, we are going to include a single copy of . He is quite the force to be reckoned with on your initiative given his phenomenal KO effect. We won’t need more than one copy, though, since we can search him out with Talia, Beloved Daughter. Besides, the real star at the 4-drop position is going to be the JLA set’s new powerhouse, Maxima. Since we plan to make every card in our resource row an ongoing plot twist, Maxima will be a very formidable attacker when she hits the board. With a potential 10 ATK on turn 4 (and the very real possibility of getting larger in later turns), Maxima ranks up there with the great 4-drop phenoms in Vs. System.

Turn 5 represents our shift from primarily Revenge Squad characters to primarily League of Assassins characters. And there aren’t too many better at 5 than Bane, Ubu. While Bane has only average stats, he does possess one of the most devastating KO effects in the game. If we can keep the board clear with Clench Virus and Hostage Situation and keep Bane unstunned, then we can create a near lock on the board.

Turn 6 gives us a fairly straightforward opportunity in the form of three copies of Sensei. While not nearly as effective in this deck as in a League Bomb build, Sensei can still be very beneficial in helping to clean up any wayward cards that find their way into the resource row. In addition, there is a nice synergy with Sensei and Atomic Skull if you happen to drop an ongoing plot twist with Sensei’s effect—a free stun of your opponent’s largest character is never a bad thing!

Finally, at 7, we’re going to go with two copies of Ra’s Al Ghul, Undying. This incarnation of Ghul has a solid 15 ATK / 15 DEF frame that should be able to deal with almost any threat your opponent presents on turn 7. In addition, if the game is a rather close one, Ghul’s effect of regaining any stun damage taken can swing the endurance totals in your favor.

With that, we have reached the climax of this grand escapade. I now proudly present our new creation!

Spooky’s Computer (60 cards)

Characters: 32

2 Hope, Amazon Bodyguard

2 Whisper A’Daire, Serpent-Tongued Seductress

1 Assassin Initiate, Army

2 Atomic Skull, Joe Martin

1 Lacuna, Media Darling

2 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Fifth Dimension Imp

3 Talia, Beloved Daughter

1 Kyle Abbot, Wolf in Man’s Clothing

4 Lex Luthor, President Luthor

4 Maxima, Empress of Almerac

1 Ra’s Al Ghul, Eternal Nemesis

4 Bane, Ubu

3 Sensei, Martial Arts Master

2 Ra’s Al Ghul, Undying

Plot Twists: 28

The initiative is not a major issue. However, odds would probably be preferable. Since there is certainly the potential for you to have three copies of Clench Virus on the board by turn 5, you could KO your opponent’s 4-drop on your turn 5 attack step. This would leave you open to attack up the curve into your opponent’s 5-drop with Maxima (who should have at least 10 ATK by then) and have an unstunned Bane, Ubu on the board with which to KO the 5-drop.

Thus concludes another exciting edition of Breaking Ground. If you have any ideas or suggestions for future articles, feel free to send ’em my way at BigSpooky1@hotmail.com, and I will gladly re9*ad 0th^$em.?

8Wh@t $th4e??/1? 0h 9nO#t a!Gai=n..%. STUP//1d VIr,U5!!1!

* Fortunately, I was able to dissuade the hit man by bribing him with an old Yu-Gi-Oh! trophy, a half-eaten pack of peanut M&Ms, and my Tim Batow–autographed copy of Garth ◊ Aqualad.

** The very same tournament where Curve Sentinels came into prominence. I vividly recall the beating I took at the hands of Dave Spears. Maybe it was proactive retribution for the virus.

*** Ironically, I was living and going to school in Norman, OK at the time, so my version of the deck was developed independently of the version that Tim Batow and Michael Dudley built. That led to some heated arguments between Michael and myself about who the true Oklahoma progenitor of the deck was. But regardless of who was the first Oklahoman to bring My Beloved to life, I can honestly say that Michael’s build was much better than the version I took to Texas, and not just because Tim won a $10K with it!