For a variety of reasons, equipment has seen very little Constructed play thus far. With the exception of the Fantastic Four decks built around Mr. Fantastic, Stretch, almost no deck elects to use any equipment cards. This is true for one of two reasons: either the equipment card costs 0 to play but simply doesn’t do enough to validate playing it over a plot twist or location (both of which effectively cost 0 resource points and do far more), or it costs 1 or 2 resource points but doesn’t enhance a character enough to make it more powerful than a character that costs 1 more to recruit. For example, the average 4-cost character equipped with Twin Sidearms (probably the most powerful of the generic character-enhancing equipment cards) still is less powerful than the average 5-cost character. Mr. Fantastic, Stretch, gets around this problem by making all equipment cost 1 less resource point to recruit, allowing a player to play the 1-cost equipment cards (which are much more powerful than the 0-cost ones) for 0 resource points. In essence, to make most equipment with a cost of 1 or greater playable in Constructed, it effectively needs to cost 0.

Therefore, the potential of Goblin Glider, an equipment card arriving in the Web of Spider-Man expansion, is truly exciting. With the equipped character gaining +4 ATK, flight, and range, the enhancement effect is greater than that given by Twin Sidearms, which already borders on Constructed-worthiness. (In fact, some Fantastic Four decks at the recent PC ran one copy of Twin Sidearms). While the cost to recruit Goblin Glider is a rather high 2 resource points, it costs 1 less for each Sinister Syndicate character you have recruited the turn you recruit it. While this card might appear fairly harmless, I think it gives a Sinister Syndicate deck the potential to fill up gaps in its curve and have very explosive turns, especially when it has the initiative.

The real beauty of Goblin Glider, in my opinion, is that it can be played efficiently on any turn. While having no character to recruit on a given turn is certainly every player’s nightmare, Goblin Glider can be played for the full amount in these situations. While this isn’t the ideal scenario, the power of Goblin Glider is comparable to that of most 2-cost characters, and is probably far better in the later stages of the game. Assuming that you have at least one character to recruit every turn, Goblin Glider should never cost any more than 1 point to recruit. At a cost of 1, Goblin Glider certainly does more than any 1-cost character you can recruit, and when you have the initiative, I could see situations where you would want to play a 3-cost character and equip it (or something else, for that matter) with Goblin Glider rather than playing a 4-cost character. If you assume that in a Sinister Syndicate deck, Goblin Glider has a base cost of 1 resource point (and if it ever costs you the full 2, it’s not like you wouldn’t have enough resource points to recruit it, since you wouldn’t have a character play for the turn), Goblin Glider already more than warrants consideration in a deck.

What will make Goblin Glider especially awesome is the fact that it can cost 0, which can give you some overwhelming turns while you have the initiative. In one turn, you could play two characters, equip one with the Glider, and use the equipped character to stun the character your opponent played that turn (almost regardless of what turn it is) while having an additional character left over to stun a smaller character or cause more endurance loss. Keep in mind that the Glider isn’t even unique, which could lead to some amazing early starts. Imagine a third turn that involved playing a 1-drop, a 2-drop, and two Goblin Gliders. Even if the characters in question weren’t too spectacular to start out with (which shouldn’t be the case, if Vulture and Electro, found in the Web of Spider-Man Starter Set, are any indication) they sure will be now, with an additional 4 points of ATK, plus flight and range. Starts like this can blow your opponent out of the game before it even gets started.

If the cards available in the Web of Spider-Man Starter Set give us any information, it’s that the Sinister Syndicate will probably be a very aggressive affiliation. If that’s the case, expect “4 Goblin Glider” to start appearing on a lot of Constructed decklists. To properly evaluate this card, just ignore the “2” found in the upper left hand corner and replace it with a “1,” since Goblin Glider should really never cost more than that. At a cost of 1, Goblin Glider is already more powerful at enhancing a single character than any equipment card previous. If the Sinister Syndicate ends up becoming a Constructed force, I wouldn’t be surprised if Goblin Glider ended up at the forefront of the deck.