Fire and ice.
Chaos and order.
Starsky and Hutch.
Opposites like these can be found all around us. Most of the time, when those opposites interact, they are destroyed. Fire and ice can never coexist—fire melts the ice into water, which in turn douses the fire. Sometimes, though, the two actually enhance each other. Starsky was a great cop. Hutch was pretty good himself. Put them together and no one stood a chance. Not even Vince Vaughn. And he’s the man.
The man.
Sometimes, one of the opposites is stronger than the other. Take order and chaos, for example. I really don’t want to get into the first law of thermodynamics or anything else with five or more syllables, so I’ll keep my example simple. You build a house of cards. Apart from crying, “Don’t shake the table!” a million times, you have to spend a considerable amount of time making sure that every card is in place. Then your idiot friend bumps the edge of the table. An hour of work collapses in a fraction of a second. I’m not saying that you can’t ever get order from chaos; I’m just saying that it’s easier to mess something up than to organize it.
Aggression and control comprise the two basic deck types in Vs. System. Some decks, such as Gamma Doom, are pure control. Other decks, such as The New Brotherhood, are pure aggression. Some, like Common Enemy, blend the best elements of both worlds. Regardless of where a deck lies on the spectrum, it has to be either the aggressor or the controller. If an aggressive deck plays against an even more aggressive deck, it will have to play the role of the control deck—it simply isn’t the best aggressor, so it must adopt the other role. Realizing the role your deck needs to play in a given matchup is especially important when you’re playing another deck that lies on a similar part of the spectrum.
Flash to DC Modern Age. At first glance, it appears that there will be far more viable aggressive decks than control decks. One opposite is clearly stronger than the other is. In fact, not one team in the format is devoted strictly to control. Ironically enough, the team that got the best controlling elements also got some of the best aggressive cards in the format. Which Lantern is the best? I’ll let you decide.
First, let’s take a look at the aggressive build.
Police Brutality
Characters
4 Arisia, Green Lantern of Graxos IV
4 G’Nort, Green Lantern of G’Newt
4 Salakk, Green Lantern of Slyggia
4 Olapet, Green Lantern of Southern Goldstar
4 Tomar Tu, Green Lantern of Xudar
4 Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern
3 Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Earth
3 Tomar Re,Green Lantern of Xudar
1 Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern of the Universe
1 Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps
1 Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar
Plot Twists
4 The Ring Has Chosen
4 Breaking Ground
4 Lanterns in Love
4 No Man Escapes the Manhunters
Equipment
4 Light Armor
Locations
3 Oa
4 Willworld
Let’s break this down . . .
First, notice that there are only three characters in the deck with a cost of 4 or more. And they’re all single copies. This deck functions as an off-curve, aggressive deck. Arisia is absolutely ridiculous when using an off-curve strategy. The bonus she allows will almost always let you smash up the curve and decimate your opponent’s board. G’nort, a.k.a. G-Unit, provides all of your characters with a nice +1 ATK/ +1 DEF bonus. If you’ve ever been across from G-Unit and unable to make a good attack because of him, you’ll understand how strong that seemingly innocent bonus is.
Tomar Tu’s ability is strictly for keeping your most important guys safe in the early game. Little T just sits in front of your Arisia or G’Nort and forces your opponent to bash through him—a feat that your G-Unit will probably make difficult. Synergy rocks.
Kyle Rayner, Last Green Lantern is so essential to this deck it hurts. Make no mistake—he is your 2-drop of choice. His ability is incredibly versatile. Playing against Emerald Enemies? Search out a Breaking Ground to deal with that Prison Planet. What do I do against Manhunters? Get a Lanterns in Love, of course. Just try to swarm me now. Have to deal with a defensive deck? Light Armor will make short work of it. Kyle’s a veritable Swiss Army knife. He even has a fire hydrant, just in case the deck gets too hot for you.
Tomar Re’s ability mirrors Kyle’s, although you get slightly less card advantage. Despite that, Big T is still great at getting you out of a tight spot.
The three single-copy characters in the deck are there for a bit of added versatility. Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern of the Universe helps to keep your best guys safe from harm in the face of incoming beats. His ability is so good because most of the card pool has flight and range. This has the unfortunate effect of making formation almost useless. Kyle will have none of that. If you have the initiative on turn 6, Guy Gardner, Strong Arm of the Corps is the man for you. His boost ability makes all of your guys extra powerful and ready to decimate your opponent’s board. If turn 6 belongs to your opponent, Sinestro, Green Lantern of Korugar is the man for you. Everyone’s favorite Green Lantern turned homicidal maniac will make your opponent want to vomit at the prospect of attacking you. All of your guys are so small that they will stun, and as the saying goes, an eye for an eye. Combine Sinestro with Kyle Rayner, Green Lantern of the Universe, and life becomes even worse.
The rest of the characters in the deck are primarily there as beaters to fill in where necessary. Salakk, Green Lantern of Slyggia is another 1-drop the deck can play. His willpower 2 is kind of nice for cards like Arisia and The Ring has Chosen. Hal Jordan, Green Lantern of Earth is a nice little beater with willpower 2. And then there’s Olapet, Green Lantern of Southern Goldstar. What a good card! He’s one of the cards that make this off-curve approach viable. For a mere three resources, he nets you a solid 2 ATK/3 DEF body and a 1-drop of your choice. Need an Arisia? Not any more. G-Unit miss the party? His limo’s out back. Not only that, but from turn 5 on, he becomes an absolute powerhouse. Arisia and Oa attach a staggering 8 ATK to his 2-drop frame.
Who’s your daddy?
The plot twists are pretty self-explanatory. The Ring Has Chosen is there for consistency, plain and simple. You should always be able to get what you need when you need it. Breaking Ground is essential against some of the other decks around. Prison Planet and Empire of Tears are extremely powerful, and you have to be able to deal with them to have a chance against Emerald Enemies. Not to mention that it kills those annoying ongoing plot twists like Millennium and Rain of Acorns. Lanterns in Love is nice for protecting the little puzzle pieces of which your deck is comprised. Lastly, where would an aggressive deck be without No Man Escapes the Manhunters? Not only does it allow for smashing up the curve, it also yanks unsuspecting guys out of the hidden zone.
All that leaves us with are the locations and equipment. Light Armor is the only equipment in the deck. It’s always free in this deck and it makes your guys even bigger. A +3 ATK is huge in a highly aggressive build such as this. Oa is also huge in this deck. The average willpower of your characters is 2, so you can generally count on at least that. When used with Olapet, though, it becomes better than Savage Beatdown. Willworld is another card, like The Ring has Chosen, that works hard to maintain consistency.
I really think that everyone should take a long look at this deck while testing for the upcoming PC. I’m sure someone out there will tweak a few cards around and come up with a truly powerful version. It just has so much potential.
Speaking of the PC, it’s rapidly approaching. There are only a few weeks left to get things ordered and figured out for the new format. I’m really looking forward to it. Not only is it in my backyard, but it comes attached to one of the coolest events to happen each year—the one, the only, Gen Con.
Gen Con is actually the greatest of great times. It has something for everyone. If you play a game (which, if you’re reading this, you probably do), you’ll have fun. Other than the PC, I have one major reason for going.
Puzzles.
I love them. I’m not talking jigsaw puzzles. I’m talking massive scavenger-esque puzzles that span the entire Indiana Convention Center. I’ve gotten a free ride to Gen Con the last couple of years running simply via my puzzling prowess, and I intend to continue getting them. My team is actually awesome. Our goal for this year is under a day. Should be interesting.
I really do think that Gen Con may be the most fun place on Earth this side of the Playboy Mansion, and UDE is lucky enough to have one of their Pro Circuit events situated at ground zero. It is the one event this year that I would attend no matter what I had to do to get there. All it takes is ten points. Since you get points for placing in the Top 8 at a PCQ, putting in the time and effort to play more increases your chances of qualifying.
Hmm . . . Spend my time playing a game I enjoy so that I can travel to the gaming equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory to play that game I enjoy for a chance to win dollars? Where do I sign up? All the gaming your heart desires, and you don’t even have to clean up after those messy little Oompa Loompas.
I’ve said my piece, so I’ll be taking my leave now. I’ll be back next week with the tails to this week’s heads, the Green Lantern control deck. I have to go now, though. One of those freakin’ Oompa Loompas just . . . uh . . . relieved himself in the corner.
I really have to housebreak them.
Time to buy a squirt bottle.
Questions and comments can be sent to the_priceis_right@yahoo.com. I really appreciate those of you who have sent me feedback about my articles thus far. I love hearing what you guys think and it helps me become a better writer. Thanks a bunch.