Rob Leander is back! Your heard me correctly. He took a Vs. sabbatical and has now returned. He hasn't played since $10K Orlando—hasn't even
touched a card since Orlando—and is now coming back, ready for battle. I sat down with Rob tonight to get a handle on where his mindset is and how he feels about the weekend.
Metagame: What do you think of Green Lantern Corps?
Leander: I hadn't seen it at all before tonight. I'd seen all of the previews, read the (spoiler) list, but I hadn't played the cards. I drafted tonight to get a handle on them.
Metagame: How did the draft go?
Leander: My deck was terrible! The set is fun, though. Interesting plot twists, with willpower and dealing with new mechanics. When looking at the set, though, there is a lot of power in Green Lantern. Previous sets haven't changed the metagame at all, but Green Lantern Corps has the chance to.
Metagame: Because of the new mechanics?
Leander: Willpower is an excellent mechanic! It definitely has a chance of breaking the meta.
Metagame: And concealed—optional?
Leander: I like it a lot. It gives you the option to play a drop if you need to, to avoid the endurance loss, or hide them for attack advantage.
Metagame: How'd you do tonight in your first Green Lantern Corps draft?
Leander: I lost in the second round to a swarm Manhunters deck. I would have won if we'd had one more turn—I had
Krona and two
Lantern's Lights, but didn't last past turn 7 to get the initiative on turn 8. On turn 5, I had to drop Mousetrap and
Sonar instead of
Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps or
Solomon Grundy. This is one of the harder sets to draft, but so much more rewarding if you draft it well!
Metagame: Will it be as strong in Constructed?
Leander: For sure. Green Lantern's going to make a lot of the legacy cards more playable. There are so many combos in Green Lantern with the existing legacy cards. The legacy teams are especially strengthened with
Hush,
Two-Face, Split Personality,
Azrael ◊ Batman . . .
Metagame: Better than Marvel Knights?
Leander: Unfortunately, yeah, I like Marvel Knights, but it hasn't had an impact at all beyond Modern Age. I just can't see it outside of Draft.
Leander: That's the one great card. I wish they hadn't made
Hounds of Ahab an Army character. It would have been fairer if you couldn't just use
Boliver Trask to grab them. Searching with Boliver makes it ridiculous.
Metagame: So we'll see Green Lantern Corps in Golden Age, but not Marvel Knights.
Leander: Exactly. And I'm also really excited for DC Modern Age. There will be some crazy decks.
Metagame: So give me your five favorite Green Lantern Corps cards at this point.
Metagame: With Green Lantern Corps an unknown factor, what about your Marvel Knights drafting?
Leander: I'm pretty solid on Marvel Knights. I did a lot of Marvel Knights drafting before Orlando, so I know that pretty well.
Metagame: Do you know what you're going to play this weekend?
Leander: I haven't decided yet. It's between Curve Sentinels, Teen Titans and Evil Medical School. I'll figure it out at playtesting tonight. I'm leaning a bit towards the purple right now. It seems as though everyone's going to be playing purple.
Metagame: Have you tinkered or modified those decks at all?
Leander: We've modded Titans and Curve a bit, but EMS is pretty solid as is.
Metagame: Who are your Top 5 picks for this weekend?
Leander: Gotta put Gabe Walls up there. (Antonino) De Rosa. (Vidi) Wijaya. Hans (Höh). And the fifth one—a tough one . . . Mike Dalton.
Metagame: Everyone seems to put Dalton on their lists.
Leander: He's an amazing player. A little slow, because he thinks on his moves a lot, but fantastic.
Metagame: And your favorite opponents?
Leander: Casual or competitive?
Metagame: Either.
Leander: (Antonino) De Rosa is always really fun to play against. Dave Spears is hilarious, and a fun casual opponent. I like playing against John Rich. It's always a learning experience with him. And Roy St Clair—games against him either take three minutes or three hours
Metagame: Are you excited for the weekend?
Leander: Excited but anxious. I really like the atmosphere here, but I can't stop shuffling cards to keep the tension down. It's good to get back in the game, though.
Metagame: Any last words of advice to those playing this weekend?
Leander: Be prepared to draft. With Curve Sentinels being so popular, and it's easy to play, so you don't have to think so much, there are a lot of not-so-good players that make it past the first day with decent records. Then they can't draft, so they go 0-9 on day 2. It's all about Draft, in a way, so practice the drafting or the best deck in the world is meaningless.