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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017

While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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Top 8 Decklists

Tim Willoughby

November 05, 2005

Hans Joachim Hoh and Andre Muller

Both Hans and Andre are part of the same team, until recently known as team $Mir, but now increasingly referred to as Team Hans. You can expect to see the T-shirts soon. If you roll Andre and Hans into one, you get a colossal (and quite hairy) Vs. playing machine, which demolishes the opposition (and small cities) in its wake. Taken individually, this is exactly what they did in the Swiss rounds, with Hans only loss in the Swiss being a concession in the final round to Andre, so that they would go into the Top 8 seeded such that they wouldn't meet until the final. This did mean that Hans had to give up on his headhunter T-shirt, but that didn't seem to be something that he minded too much.

The deck that both of the Germans chose to play was their second choice for PC LA (and knowing Hans, it wouldn't be too surprising if his first choice was Sentinels), but it seemed to cause a lot of trouble for the field. They dubbed it “Chicken Supreme,” after a popular German hamburger. Given that Andre has been heard to state on record that all it takes to get him to join a team is some food, I think we get a pretty clear picture of what motivates Team Hans besides big shiny trophies. For those of you keeping track, this is a shot for Hans to equal Michael Jacob’s current trophy lead, as he already has two $10K wins under his belt and would very much like a third. This is Hans' seventh $10K Top 8 in a row, so he is well used to the bright lights. For Muller, this is his third $10k Top 8. Could the third time be the charm?

Here's the list.

Characters

4 Ape X

4 Albert Gaines ◊ Nuke

4 Shape

1 Whizzer

Plot Twists

Locations

Equipment

2 Jetpack

This Squadron Supreme deck is about as aggressive as it can get, eschewing even a 6-drop for more early threats. It establishes its empty hand strategy with lots of reservists in the resource row, and plot twists and equipment from the hand. Do you notice the lack of Savage Beatdown? This once ubiquitous combat pump has been rendered redundant in this deck, when compared with Flying Kick and Mega Blast. The key to these two? You can play them at any time during the turn, meaning that emptying your hand in the build phase to enable an Answer the Call is not a problem. These crafty Germans, eh? Whatever will they think of next? Check out the PC LA coverage to find out.

Pablo Molina

Pablo is a 22-year-old medical student from Madrid who travelled over with one teammate specifically for the $10K, and he’s reaped the rewards with his innovative deck, which he refers to as “Can't Touch This.” While other opponents were busy on Hammertime with very aggressive decks, Pablo’s total control plan seemed very powerful, and he squeaked into the Top 8 as the lone 7-3 player on the strength of only losing to the best.

Characters

4 Boris, Personal Servant of Dr. Doom

3 Valeria Richards

4 Rama-Tut

4 Mr Fantastic, Reed Richards

2 Boris, Doom's Caretaker

4 Invisible Woman, Protector

3 Dr Doom, Diabolic Genius

1 Dr Doom, Lord of Latveria

1 Onslaught

Plot Twists

4 Common Enemy

3 Devil's Due

4 A Child Named Valeria

1 Salvage

Locations

3 Avalon Space Station

3 Coast City

1 Antarctic Research Base

Equipment

At first glance, this build of Common Enemy looks a little off. No Reign of Terror? No big Fantastic Four beaters? Time Platform?!? This is a very different deck, and one that has a rather clever answer to the beatdown elements of the metagame. Decks have been using A Child Named Valeria to stall out the game prior to playing a colossal threat on one of the later turns for a very long time now. William Jensen was doing it back before PC 1 with his Four Freedoms Plaza deck. The problem was always that sooner or later, one would run out of copies of A Child Named Valeria. With this build though, it seems a little unlikely. It has a virtual hard lock on the board by using Rama-Tut to return A Child Named Valeria each turn, Devil's Due to KO Rama-Tut, and Avalon Space Station to return Tut to your hand to be played again. With various reinforcing equipment, and a Time Platform to stop anything that might break the lock (and indeed a Salvage to get it back), this Rare Enemy deck (it is way off uncommon) might be the dark horse of the Top 8.

Paul Race

22-year-old Paul 'Racy' Race from Mansfield, England is a professional slacker, who graduated from Yu Gi Oh! to Vs and managed to combine diligent testing with creative deckbuilding and convert it into a Top 8 berth. With a bit of help from Ian Vincent and some grumpy comments from the corner of the room from yours truly, the Team Tactics deck he played seemed well set up for the field. Sometimes being able to attack for an absurdly high number just wins games. In the case of Paul, it won eight games, which was just the right number.

Characters

2 Paul Ebersol ◊ Techno, Man of Metal

3 Hawkeye, Leader by Example

4 Beetle ◊ Mach 2

4 Blizzard

4 Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Heroine Unbound

4 Dallas Riordan ◊ Vantage, Ionic Inheritor

4 Dallas Riordan, Mayoral Aide

2 Jolt

2 Melissa Gold ◊ Songbird, Sonic Carapace

1 Helmut Zemo ◊ Baron Zemo, Uber Enemy

Plot Twists

2 Blind Sided

4 Deadly Conspiracy

4 Savage Beatdown

4 Justice, Like Lightning

4 Win-Lose Deal

4 Team Tactics

4 Null Time Zone

3 Marvel's Most Wanted

1 Avengers Disassembled

There were a few Team Tactics decks in the field, including one piloted by Team FTN's Alex Tennet, but only one cracked the Top 8. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the combo, it revolves around attacking for an absurdly large amount of damage by using Deadly Conspiracy to ready an attacker, and Team Tactics to exhaust it again to double its power. When you throw in some powerful combat pumps, a Blind Sided or Blizzard activation to mess with breakthrough endurance loss, and Null Time Zone to protect against problematic plot twists like Systems Failure or Fizzle, you have a surprisingly resilient and powerful combo, which can go off as early as turn four.

Karl Bown

Karl, along with his wife Audrey, is the owner of the Games Store and Comic Culture shops. This forms the base for a team of seven or eight players who all share testing and prizes such that they can remain competitive at the highest level. Karl himself has played in two Pro Circuits, and is a figure who melds the idea of having fun with the game and being competitive into one big smiley package. Today he is rocking his black Comic Culture shirt, making himself Concealed rather than the very visible red of yesterday. This is no excuse not to look out for him in this Top 8, though.

Characters

4 Rick Jones

4 Beast, Furry Blue Scientist

4 Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy

4 Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight

4 Black Panther

4 Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger

4 Carol Danvers ◊ Warbird

4 Hawkeye, Clinton Barton

4 She-Hulk, Gamma Bombshell

4 Wonder Man

4 Hercules

Plot Twists

4 Call Down the Lightning

4 Heroes in Reserve

2 No Man Escapes the Manhunters

3 Savage Beatdown

Locations

3 Avengers Mansion

This build of Avengers takes a slightly more direct approach than Michael Jacob's listing, playing four of each of the Avengers reservists, with the exception of Hulk, Gamma Rage. It eschews Avengers Assemble! in favor of more characters and straightforward beatdown. For anyone looking for a deck that’s relatively cheap to build and straightforward to play this is probably a good list to ensure that tournament fatigue doesn't wear you down too badly. It might not be as clever as the Jacob list, but it's definitely big.

Fergus O'Shea

Fergus O'Shea is a 24-year-old software engineer from Eire, who is on his breakout performance with this Top 8. A gamer in general, he has experience in various TCGs, which prepared him for competitive play in general and left him looking cool, calm and relaxed, even on the final round where he had to win in order to get in. Last year's $10K Gen Con UK was nearly won by an Irishman. Could the luck of the Irish be with him now?

Characters

4 Rick Jones

4 Natasha Romanoff ◊ Black Widow, Super Spy

4 Dane Whitman ◊ Black Knight

4 Black Panther

4 Quicksilver, Mutant Avenger

3 Hawkeye, Clinton Barton

3 Carol Danvers ◊ Warbird

1 Hawkeye, Leader by Example

2 Monica Rambeau ◊ Captain Marvel

3 She-Hulk, Gamma Bombshell

4 Wonder Man

4 Hercules

Plot Twists

3 No Man Escapes the Manhunters

2 Legendary Battles

4 Call Down the Lightning

Locations

Of the two Avengers decks in the Top 8, this one is the largest departure from the Michael Jacob list favored by so many of the field on Day 1. With Acrobatic Dodge in the mix rather than a full set of Savage Beatdowns, there is a slightly more defensive lean to this deck than might be considered typical for the Avengers. Heroes in Reserve also shines in quadruple, working on attack or defense to keep opposing characters in check wherever necessary.

Sam Roads

Sam is a longtime TCG player whose claim to fame is that he introduced Richard Edbury, the successful $10K player, to TCGs many moons ago. Edbury returned the favor by showing Sam Vs some years later, and now Sam has a reason to thank him as he plays in the Top 8. This Englishman living in Wales has a creative deckbuilding mind and a playful spirit that ensures that if there is an out-of-the-box plan, he is more than open to it.

Characters

4 Alfred Pennyworth

4 Micro-Chip

2 Dr Light, Master of Holograms

2 Mr Fantastic, Reed Richards

1 Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Sharpshooter

1 Garth ◊ Tempest

1 Dr Light, Arthur Light

1 Shimmer

2 Mikado and Mosha

4 Dagger, Child of Light

1 Ape X

2 Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl

Plot Twists

4 A Child Named Valeria

2 Fizzle

Equipment

4 Utility Belt

1 Catcher's Mitt

1 War Wagon

Sam has dubbed his deck “Both Guns Blazing,” referring to Dr. Light, Arthur Light and Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, and the effect they have on the board once Cosmic Radiation starts to come online. Yes, this requires a lot of team-ups. The deck runs eight, including a full Midnight Sons engine. To see it play is to see the crazed love child of Fantastic Fun and New School dominate the game outside of the attack step. Sam has been playing the deck in one form or another for a while, including in $10K London, where he finished in the money, but it has had significant changes since then to make it more consistent and powerful. Dr. Light, Master of Holograms can be pretty powerful with Cosmic Radiation—or so I’ve heard. Roads feels that the current build is one of the top three decks in Golden Age as it stands, and if the metagame turns out to be aggressive, then he may well be correct.

Andrew Lam

Andrew is the one representative of team Fanboy3, a Manchester based gaming store, in this top eight. The team as a whole are always visible at UK Vs. events, with their bright red t-shirts, and lapsed student Andrew is no exception. While Sentinels had a bit of a rough time over the course of the weekend, Andrew's build, with a few interesting choices seemed to be strong enough, and as one of the 50 percent English field, he will be flying the flag looking to keep the trophy in Great Britain for the second time in Gen Con UK's $10K history.

Characters

7 Sentinel Mark V

7 Sentinel Mark II

4 Bastion

4 Magneto, Master of Magnetism

4 Nimrod

Plot Twists

4 No Man Escapes the Manhunters

4 Null Time Zone

3 Nasty Surprise

2 Finishing Move

4 Reconstruction Program

Locations

4 Genosha

Ah, the Sentinels. After so long at the very top, it seems that their powers are on the wane. With Justice League of America foreshadowing a time of Scarecrows and such, this may well be their last gasp. The build here has a few surprises, including System Failure and a surprise of the Nasty variety. While definitely a non-bo (not a combo) with Nasty Surprise, it can well serve as one on its own. There are a lot of decks out there with little men attacking for big breakthrough endurance loss, so that the fact that it's no Overload may not be a problem.

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