Welcome back to Theoretically Speaking. Because of the Marvel Team-Up and Hellboy Essential Collection previews, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to present any strategic content. But fear not, my faithful readers—I am back, and I plan to give you something that you will probably find quite valuable. It’s Pro Circuit season, and that means it’s time for me to analyze the metagame for all you aspiring pros. Hopefully, by the time you are done with this article, you will have a better understanding of what to expect at the next Pro Circuit, which in turn can potentially improve your performance.

All for One, and . . . Who are You?

Recently, a couple of my teammates and I traveled up to Kansas to compete in a World of Warcraft TCG Regional Qualifier. Tim Batow, John Hall, and I arrived at the game shop about an hour before the tournament was supposed to start. Since we were there so early, John Hall and I decided to play some pickup Vs. matches. Apparently someone saw us playing and recognized us, because during the lunch break of the tourney, a player came over and introduced himself to us. He looked at Tim and said, “You must be the TAWC guys, right?” We said yes, and before we could introduce ourselves, he looked at Tim and said, “And you’re Tim Batow, right?” Tim nodded, and the player then looked at me and asked, “So that makes you Shane Wiggans?” This time I nodded, smiling because it’s always nice to find friendly players to talk with. Next, he looked over at John Hall with a perplexed look on his face, and said, “I have no clue who you are, though.” It was silent for about five seconds before Tim and I burst into laughter and John introduced himself. It was uncertain if the player thought he had offended John (or us as his teammates), as he didn’t laugh with us. What I was certain about is that even though Tim and I laughed, and even though we may be more recognizable than John, I knew that he wasn’t upset about the situation. That’s what is so important about having a team and actually subscribing to a “team” concept; if one of us does well or is recognized for an accomplishment, then everyone is. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I would not have the high finishes I’ve notched without the support of John, Tim, Michael, or Jeremy. Each person is as important as the others, and when I have a bad day, it can still be salvaged as long as someone else on my team finishes well. When all was said and done, this situation reminded me of why I’m on a team and gave us a good little laugh.

Practice Pro Circuit?

The most recent Constructed $10K happened to be the same format as the upcoming Pro Circuit—a rare circumstance that provides us with an interesting look at a potential metagame for the PC. Because we are in the unique situation of having a top level event to build from, I thought it would be a good idea to examine the Top 8 decklists, talk a bit about those decks that seemed to thrive in the Silver Age format not too long ago, and analyze whether that success can be replicated in less than a month.

Kree/Villians United­

Kerryn Rubin

Characters

1 Shatterax

1 Ultron ◊ Crimson Cowl, Dark Disguise

1 Ultimus

2 Admiral Galen Kor

1 Colonel Yon-Rogg

1 Mar-Vell ◊ Captain Marvel, Soldier of the Empire

3 The Calculator, Evil Oracle

2 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

1 Kang, Kang Cobra

4 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant

2 Lieutenant Kona Lor

2 Captain Att-Lass

4 Dr. Minerva

4 The Calculator, Noah Kuttler

2 Nenora

Plot Twists

2 Coercion

4 Enemy of My Enemy

3 Flying Kick

1 The Lunatic Legion

3 Live Kree . . . or Die!

4 No Mercy

4 Baddest of the Bad

Locations

4 The Science Spire

2 Hala

There were two players who played this team-up to a Top 8 finish at $10K Sydney; however, their lists were very different. First of all, Kerryn’s list played The Science Spire and the other did not. I think this is one of the most compelling reasons to play this team-up deck. In a team-up deck where there are multiple “bounce” effects, The Science Spire shines above all else. Not only do you get to bounce a character back to your hand for free, but you also get to cycle through your deck to search for other press characters or a key plot twist. There is no question that if this deck shows up at Pro Circuit Sydney, it will live and die with The Science Spire. I did mention other bounce effects, so I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about them as well. Baddest of the Bad provides a great search effect, allowing you to bounce key press characters like Dr. Minerva to build your hand. Also, you have Calculator, Evil Oracle (who is quite underrated in my opinion) to give you another bounce option and provide you with a beneficial power. With all the bouncing effects this deck has at its disposal, it would only make sense to play Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive to throw some burn into the mix. Overall, I expect to see this deck played at lot at the upcoming Pro Circuit.

Skrulls!

Michael Lou

Characters

4 Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend

4 Nenora

4 Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth

1 Black Bolt, Illuminati

4 Warskrull

3 Wolverine, Skrunucklehead

3 Captain America, Skrull Impostor 

1 Crystal, Elementelle

1 Ethan Edwards

1 Triton

4 Paibok

Plot Twists

4 Act of Defiance 

4 Mutopia

3 Extended Family

4 Interstellar Offensive

4 Call to Arms

4 Blinding Rage

Locations

4 The Great Refuge

Back at $10K Columbus in October, fellow Metagame.com contributor Mark Slack tried to break Skrulls into the competitive tournament scene. While he had moderate success with them, it wasn’t until Michael Lou surprised us all at $10K Sydney that we were finally willing to admit that the little green guys could compete. This decklist is surprisingly efficient, and was a great metagame call at the time. There was very little concealed hate running around, so Lou could easily set up his board and swing for the fences behind the power of Captain America, Skrull Impostor. To be honest, this is my favorite deck at the moment. It is incredibly easy to build, with the only essential rare card being The Great Refuge. (Blinding Rage can be replaced with generic pump.) Unfortunately, the deck concept is very fragile. If Franklin Richards, Creator of Counter-Earth gets stunned, or can’t move your characters around for whatever reason, the deck will ultimately fail. That normally wouldn’t be a problem in an environment where there is little hidden tech; however, I expect many Pro Circuit competitors to be ready for a deck that relies heavily on keeping characters hidden, which may make this deck a poor choice for a high level event.

Checkmate/Villains United

James Kong

Characters

4 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant

2 Talia, Beloved Betrayer

1 Sarge Steel, Knight

4 Ahmed Samsarra, White King

1 Christopher Smith ◊ Peacemaker

4 Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1

1 Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot

1 Fatality, Flawless Victory

1 Maxwell Lord, Black King

1 Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard

1 Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot

1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen

1 Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double

1 Terrax, Harbinger of Ruin

1 Deathstroke the Terminator, Ultimate Assassin

1 Two-Face, Split Personality

Plot Twists

3 Meltdown

4 Enemy of My Enemy

4 Knightmare Scenario

3 Threat Neutralized

Locations

2 Brother Eye

4 Brother I Satellite

4 Checkmate Safe House

2 Phantom Zone

1 Slaughter Swamp

1 Sewer System

1 Ego the Living Planet

2 The Science Spire

Equipment

3 Knight Armor

The champion of the original Silver Age is still competitive. It is very interesting to me that this deck is so obvious, yet at the same time, so difficult to play against. Many players can take advantage of an opponent’s deck if that deck tends to be too predictable, but the ability to brickwall attacks and crack back for a ton of damage cannot be understated. I think that the previously mentioned Kree / Villains United deck has made this deck somewhat of an afterthought, which could prove dangerous for players if they don’t recognize the potency of this deck before the PC.

Toolbox Decks

Pretty much the rest of the Top 8 at $10K Sydney consisted of toolbox decks utilizing the recently banned power of Frankie Raye ◊ Nova, Optimistic Youth. I am fairly certain that many players will show up with toolbox decks at Pro Circuit Sydney, though they will likely be built a tad differently from those at $10K Sydney. For the most part, it’s hard to analyze a toolbox deck because each drop is based upon the deckbuilder’s anticipated metagame. Obviously, cards that can net you an automatic stun—such as Terrax, Harbinger of Ruin—are always good. The player who chooses to play this type of deck has to make the more difficult decision of whether to include silver bullet cards (such as Kang, Kang Cobra) that are only good against a particular matchup. This type of deck is incredibly hard to build correctly and even harder to play to perfection, but I expect many of the top level pros to show up wielding a deck consisting of about twelve different teams and four copies of Enemy of My Enemy.

Metagames Outside of $10K Sydney

There are a myriad of other decks that could see play at the next Pro Circuit that were not featured at $10K Sydney, so what follows are two potential deck concepts that I think are still strong and could make waves.

Good Guys

For a while, there was a rumor that all Aussies loved Good Guys. Thankfully, that gossip is being replaced by the new rumor that TAWC loves Good Guys even more. It seems to me that no matter how twisted a metagame becomes, this deck has an answer for it (and my team immediately flocks to it). To be fair, this deck has been buried pretty much since PC: Indianapolis, but I think it could be poised for a comeback—especially since Mobilize is now available to help smooth out problems with the curve. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some people trying to win it all with the World’s Greatest Heroes.

Faces of Evil Variants

This deck always gets some publicity before a major event, but it never seems to show its face when it’s show time. I think that could change with this Pro Circuit. For the most part, I believe that this Pro Circuit will be dominated by Kree, so if you can find a deck that can win—or can get in a position to win—before the Kree variants, then you should have a decent contender. Typically, a good Faces of Evil deck should be able to finish things off on turn 5, which is generally a turn quicker than most of the Kree builds that I have seen. The biggest problem that this type of deck faces is the fact that Mikado and Mosha is still alive and well in Silver Age. This deck is all about the 1-drop character owning, and it’s hard to effectively make attacks and restrict an opponent’s field when he or she can just discard a Mikado and Mosha and ruin your day. In the end, I expect this deck to have a meager showing, but it is nonetheless something that you should consider.

New Stuff?

We have gone through the most recent premier event decklists and analyzed potential sleeper decks that have been around for a while. The next question we need to ask ourselves is whether there is anything out of the new sets that could have an impact upon our predicted metagame. I don’t believe any of the new teams will show up as focal points of decks at the Pro Circuit; however, I do believe there are several cards that could be included in other Pro Circuit caliber decks:

• Time Trapper – There is little question that this guy will see play. What’s ironic is that the Trapper will likely only show up in toolbox decks that use him as tech to combat other toolbox decks. He makes a great Enemy of My Enemy target and has a decent body for his cost, thus making him an attractive inclusion in any deck that can support him.
• Rose Wilson ◊ The Ravager, Titans Tomorrow East – I really like this card. I didn’t think much of it at first, mainly because of the subpar stats. As it turns out, she’s great on your initiative to clear a board while still maintaining your own. The problem with Rose is that after she has done her job, she is a major liability due to her 2-drop-esque stats. Still, there may be other substitute characters that find their way into decks to help limit her potential drawback.
• Mobilize – I have to list this card even if it’s obvious to you. This card will enable a lot of deck creativity, which will hopefully beckon the return of the vaunted “mono-team” deck. It seems like this card will often play second fiddle to Enemy of My Enemy because the potential card pool will be bigger, but when talking about sheer power out of the Legion of Super Heroes set, this card definitely has the most!

Preparing for the Unknown

At this point, I have taken you as far as I can. The rest is up to you. No one can fully know what to expect at a given tourney (unless they have cool time-traveling powers like Hiro on that new Heroes TV show). Still, I do have some advice for you: don’t over-tech your deck. This is probably the single worst thing you can do when preparing for an event. After you have a good idea of what you want to play, it’s only natural to try to improve matchups that you expect to see more than others. Nevertheless, I strongly urge you to remember your deck’s identity and not lose sight of it in an attempt to prepare. Knowing when a deck has reached its optimum output level is the mark of a good deckbuilder, and a threshold that many players never see or understand. If you can find that happy medium and prepare a deck for the unknown while still accomplishing your deck’s specific goals, you have achieved a great feat indeed.

In the End

I hope this walkthrough of potential deck choices was informative, and at least a bit entertaining. It is a daunting task to approach a Pro Circuit and not have a clue what you’ll see there. If you put in some time analyzing information as well as looking at older decks and tournaments, you will probably find yourself well along the road to preparedness. I wish all of those who are attending Pro Circuit Sydney good luck, and I will see you all back next week!

Shane Wiggans, one of the nicest guys with a tattoo sleeve, is also a member of Team Alternate Win Condition and has fallen in love with the new TV show Heroes. If you have any questions or comments for him, feel free to say hey at any event, or email him at piercedlawyer@yahoo.com.