In a day and age when innovation in Curve Sentinels means being the first person in line at the booth to pick up two or three copies of Mojoverse, PC mainstay John Rich is breaking the mold—the Master Mold!

Not only is the bearded beatdown artist running a conspicuous copy of the seated Sentinel, but he's also spicing up the rest of the “old reliable” listing with innovations that run the gamut from the unconventional to the lunatic. But there's a method to the madness of this man, and I was able to sit down with him following a tight tenth-round match against Kristian Kockott, who often had to lean over and read some of John's seldom-seen card selections.

GT: I guess this is “Curve Sentinels: John Rich Style!”

JR: Yeah, it definitely is that. I started with Magneto and Genosha. Hans had increased the ability of the deck by playing Nasty Surprise and Overload, but I felt today that a lot of people would be playing Not So Fast, and I've encountered at least four matches that have had it. So, I decided to take out the Overloads and Nasty Surprises and meta against the Evil Medical School and Not So Fast decks.

GT: So how does Search and Destroy affect your matchup against, say, Evil Medical School?

JR: Well, they tend to exhaust all your guys, so when they go to exhaust, you can then Search and Destroy—which also gives you a great advantage when you look at an opponent's hand. Even by itself, that's a powerful effect. I can see what is going to come from my opponent. Not only that, it rips any copies of that card from his or her hand.

GT: And what about Master Mold? One thing I noticed in your last game was that your Cover Fires were almost dead, but you were able to play Master Mold and quickly multiply the number of characters with range you had in play starting on turn 6. You made Cover Fire useful again.

JR: That game, I actually made a play error. If I hadn't used my two Cover Fires early and had just taken the 4—or was it 7?—7 points of endurance loss, when I played Mags next turn, I would have been able to give my guys +8 DEF with those Cover Fires.

GT: Back to Search and Destroy. Does it affect any other matchups?

JR: It's really good against the Xavier's Dream deck. I can stun my own characters so my opponent can't put counters on Xavier's Dream. It also works against Fantastic Fun. I can stun in response to A Child Named Valeria, and if I take Reed Richards or Invisible Woman out, it will take out everything with that name from your opponent's hand. In the mirror match, I can get out of Hounds lock and rip out more cards with it. You can do so many things.

GT: And what matchups does Master Mold affect the most?

JR: He's actually really good in the mirror. And he's excellent against Gamma Bomb and EMS, since he gives me more characters that I can get out and multiply. The only other card in there that I actually play is Mark II, Number II.

GT: Yes, I noticed that.

JR: He's won me two games, because people have had Flame Trap, Nasty Surprise, and Overload. I've had a couple of players actually Nasty Surprise my guy and then read Mark II, Number II and be like, “OK, can't do anything!”

GT: Catches them by surprise, huh?

JR: It really does! And not only that, but I've sent him with double Savage Beatdown against a copy of Nimrod without a repair counter, and they can't Overload me. It's great for attacking up the curve, because they can't do anything.

GT: So your deck has a better matchup than conventional Curve Sentinels against Evil Medical School. Have your matchups against any decks gotten worse as a result of these changes?

JR: I feel I actually have stronger matchups than most players against anything, because no one is expecting what I'm playing. It throws them off-guard, and they don't know how to play against it.

GT: Do you think that once the surprise factor of this deck is gone, it will be less effective?

JR: No, because the cards are too versatile. You have so many options. And the more options, the better your game is.

GT: What is your absolute best matchup with this deck?

JR: Best? Honestly, I want to see almost anything. This last match was the first against Curve, and I was pretty much devastated in the first four drops.

GT: Until you got out of it.

JR: Yes, I got out of it.

GT: It was Search and Destroy, right?

JR: Yes, Search and Destroy got me out of Hounds lock.

GT: Currently, you have a 6-4 record. You need one more win to reach the draft tables tomorrow. Think you can do it?

JR: I've had to win out to make Day 2 at PCs before. I've done it.

GT: Well, good luck and thanks for your time!

JR: Thank you.

If you're looking for an alternative approach to Curve Sentinels, John Rich may have your ticket! Check back at Metagame.com to follow John's progress as he makes his move toward Day 2.