4 Stopped Cold
4 No Man Escapes the Manhunters
4 Cosmic Conflict
4 Q Field
4 Emerald Dawn
4 The Ring Has Chosen
4 Willworld
Let’s start with the evolution of the deck. TJ Holman turned me on to Willworld, and I started testing madly with a three-team rush deck that he graciously shared with me. I knew that I wanted to use Anti-Green Lantern because the DC Modern environment seemed to be totally devoted to Chopping Block on turn 2. Anti-Green Lanterns really don’t care if they get chopped, and they are the closest thing the format has to my darling Wild Sentinels. TJ’s deck had nine copies of Anti-Green Lantern and it won with Prison Planet. That deck taught me how to cycle through a game gleefully, filling every resource point with wondrous weenies. Willworld is such fun that it reminds me of the glory days with Longshot. It’s a true joy to play.
I didn’t really like the Emerald Enemies focus of the deck, so I started leaning toward even darker regions of the Modern metagame. Dr. Light, Master of Holograms synchronized so well with The Ring Has Chosen and Dead-Eye that I had to use that combination, and I eventually abandoned the team-ups altogether to focus on “Anti-Matter Light.” I was finding that Dr. Light, Master of Holograms was a sitting duck after he activated on turn 3, so I began to look for ways to protect him as often as possible. Both Q Field and No Man Escapes the Manhunters can pull one character out of the hidden area to sit in front of the good doctor, and I couldn’t sleep the night I discovered how strong Stopped Cold could be in that situation. I had visions of Xallarap dancing in my head, standing in front of Dr. Light with a Stopped Cold in the resource row. I will admit that this combination is not the most consistent strategy to bank on, but the reward is worth the risk . . . for a casual fun-hound like me, at least.
Xallarap stops almost every early attacker in its tracks, but the ideal play for this deck is Dr. Light, Master of Holograms on turn 3, followed by the big pink guy on turn 4 with an Anti-Green Lantern sidecar. That means Dr. Light needs to fend for himself early unless he has a faithful companion. Yes, Qwardian Watchdog is on his way to Pro Circuit Indianapolis as Light’s Best Friend.
There’s no doubt about it—Dr. Light, Master of Holograms loves the discard. With this deck, mulligan for Willworld unless you have the good doctor himself and an early curve. Not only does Willworld allow a missing Light to rise to the top of the deck and into your hand, but it also allows Dead-Eye to be discarded as a target for the doctor’s third-turn ability. Don’t forget how huge the little guys can be, too—one Lighted Anti-Green Lantern can stun almost anything on the third turn by itself. The Ring Has Chosen often fetches Dead-Eye on turn 2 and discards him immediately for a Dr. Light to play on turn 3. This leaves the first turn for a character that will not disappear immediately. G’Nort delights in pumping up Anti-Green Lanterns, but he does not shield Dr. Light much. Therefore, we need a powerful pet.
Qwardian Watchdog should be a surprise in this tournament. It cannot attack and it becomes quite useless when it stuns and moves to the hidden area. It is good for one thing—protecting Dr. Light. Later on, Element Man might be able to use our puppy to recycle a resource, but that is a minor advantage. We need our hot little dog to scare away the attackers that have a Chopping Block ready for our key character.
What about my other risky strategies? Anti-Life Equation did not add up, after all. The consistency Willworld lends to filling resource points and feeding Dr. Light is too good and too much fun. I would love to be proven wrong, but I don’t see a viable Darkseid’s Elite deck for Pro Circuit Indianapolis. I have heard rumors about some strong burn decks, so we might be shocked when it’s all over. As for the Superman, Man of Steel equipment, I’m tempted to try to squeeze in a couple of Phantom Zone Projectors to slap on to our hot dog’s collar. Don’t be alarmed if they are in the deck when I play it under the lights in Indianapolis. In fact, it will be quite fun to compare the above version with the final decklist after one more week of tweaks.
With two months of testing and more than a few big sighs behind me, this is what I finally decided on for my return to Indianapolis. It’s a mess of wild weenies . . . and one hot dog. The risks it presents will reward me with good times and maybe a little prize money. Who’s got the mustard?
Rian Fike is also known as “stubarnes” in the VsRealms community. If you have comments, questions, or suggestions for future risky subjects, contact him at rianfike@hattch.com.