There are only two more teams until the Justice League of America breakdown is completed. The next team up on the block is the Injustice Gang. I think that the Injustice Gang theme is one of the coolest—yet hardest to abuse—themes created so far. They force opponents to draw cards and then deny them abilities based on an excess of cards in hand. This is an interesting theme to have in a set where one of the main abilities requires discarding cards. It seems to be quite effective, though, at making your opponents ineffective. This strategy certainly requires the help of a few cards to pull off right, especially those that force card drawing, but it’s really frustrating for your opponent when it all comes together.
Now it’s time to introduce the Gang.
Abra Kadabra, Citizen Abra - Abra is a modest-sized 5-drop with a couple of rather lackluster abilities. His leader ability almost never becomes relevant, and his IG ability has a very limited use in Sealed Pack.
Captain Boomerang, George Harkness - This guy’s a really good 2-drop for the Injustice Gang theme. First off, he has a decent body for a 2-drop in this set. Add to that his utility in the later game and you have a winner.
Circe, Immortal Sorceress - Being a mythology buff, I’m a fan of this card for flavor alone. But she also serves a useful purpose. The other theme the Injustice Gang has is a 1-drop Army theme. Circe helps to get it online, and at no cost to you. Since you are able to KO any character, stunned or not, you never have to KO a character that wasn’t going to die anyway. This serves the purpose of getting you additional characters and improving your later draws.
Creeping Doom, Army - This is the first Army character we get to in the Injustice Gang’s arsenal. At merely 1 ATK / 1 DEF without flight or range, these guys don’t have the best stats, but they always seem to stick around for longer than they should thanks to their ability. If you end up with a pretty strong Army theme in your deck, consider playing these guys.
David Clinton ◊ Chronos, The Time Thief - This guy is exactly what the Injustice Gang doctor ordered. He’s a solid body with a great ability that meshes well with other cards that will probably make your deck. His only real downside is his lack of flight and range.
Dr. Light, Light Shaper - Yes, he’s Dr. Light. No, he’s not that Dr. Light . . . or anywhere near as good, luckily. If you manage to get a fantastic Army deck, this guy could prove to be very good in it. But you probably won’t, so he’s not all that spectacular.
Evan McCulloch ◊ Mirror Master, Smoke and Mirrors - In most other sets, this guy would be an average 4-drop. But there are a number of playable 10 ATK / 8 DEF 5-drops in this set, so he becomes a little better thanks to that. He also has a spectacular ability that fits in very well with the Injustice Gang theme. I really like this guy.
Floronic Man, Alien Hybrid - He’s a big guy with an ability that will serve you very well against almost every deck you’ll play against. It even reinforces the team theme. How can I say no?
Illusionary Warriors, Army - I have a special place in my heart for these guys. They are annoying little pests that live to wreck your opponent’s attacks. They’re concealed, so there’s less of a chance that opponents can mess with them. What’s not to love? I’d play these guys if I got my hands on them.
Infernal Minions, Army - This is another 1-drop Army character with a useful ability. These guys never become useless. As long as you have another character in play, they will simply attach themselves to it and make it bigger. I don’t often say this, but this is another 1-drop Army character worth playing.
Insectoid Troopers, Army - I guess the floodgates have opened. These guys are 1 ATK / 1 DEF with flight and range and get bigger on team attacks. All of these are qualities I like in my 1-drops. Since they’re Army, they get to take advantage of the IG’s Army sub-theme.
IQ, Ira Quimby – You’ll love this guy from the first time you play him. Any card that hurts your opponent for following the rules of the game is fine by me. If this guy sticks around for even three turns, he’ll do 6 damage to your opponent with his ability alone, and that’s not counting any extra card drawing or attacking. Play this guy every time.
Lex Luthor, Nefarious Philanthropist - Now that’s what I’m talking about! This card is the Injustice Gang. He is a card-drawing engine with an ability that hurts your opponent for drawing cards. He’s also a solid body that works as a Team-Up! Lex, will you marry me?
Lex Luthor, Evil Incorporated - This guy is a monster 6-drop. He’s a little above average in the size department, and he also packs a wicked ally ability. I’ve always preached the virtues of cards like Sweeping Up, and this guy has that ability built in. Combine him with a couple other cards from the Injustice Gang (such as David Clinton ◊ Chronos) and you have yourself a deadly way to keep your opponent frozen under IG abilities.
Libra, Alien Conqueror - This guy’s got some real potential. He doesn’t really abuse the IG main themes at all, but with these abilities, who cares? He’s a little smaller than your average 7-drop, but his abilities more than make up for it. Line him up properly and you give your opponent’s characters -3 ATK, which can be devastating. Also, since you can KO stunned characters for his ability, you can run your adjacent characters in on suicide attacks to take out your opponent’s team before sending Libra in for the two-shot kill. I give him a thumbs up at the 7-drop slot.
Ocean Master, Son of Atlan - I’m still not sure about this guy. He really depends on your deck. If you manage to get all of the cards that are reciprocal card drawers, he becomes really good; since you are drawing the extra cards too, he gives you an outlet to use them. And if you’re drafting Secret Society as well, he becomes a way to get cards into the KO’d pile. The one thing that I’m really not a fan of is the fact that it takes two other cards to make him a normal 6-drop. The investment seems a little steep. I suppose, however, that if you have enough cards, it won’t hurt too badly.
Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose - This is another card that greatly depends on what’s in your deck and what other team you’ve drafted. Since locations are key to Secret Society, she’s almost always worth it in an Injustice Gang/Secret Society deck. If you have any locations in your deck that are worth getting into play, she’s worth it. Since you can KO a stunned character, she gets to activate at essentially no cost to you.
Prometheus, Darker Knight - This guy is pretty good, but not really up to par with Libra. Assuming you have the cards in your hand, which you probably will, he effectively gives all of your opponent’s characters -2 ATK. He’s also a bit bigger than Libra. However, I would take the overall power of Libra over the situational usefulness of Prometheus. Despite the fact that I like Libra better, he’s a rare, so you’ll probably end up with this guy instead anyway.
Sam Scudder ◊ Mirror Master, Reflective Rogue - This guy is a wall your opponent will have to contend with. He won’t do too much when attacking, but he’ll make attacks difficult for your opponent over the next couple of turns. He also has a useful ability that triggers when your opponent powers-up (or discards for any other reason), which makes him more useful. He’s not my favorite 3-drop, but he isn’t bad, either.
Scarecrow, Psycho Psychologist - This guy can really put the hurt on an opponent. If your opponent has a mere four cards in hand, you’re getting the advantage from his ability. Since the opponent usually has more than that, Scarecrow can really pack a wallop. This guy is a really good 5- or 6-drop for the IG deck.
Shadow-Thief, Carl Sands - Hmmm. This guy is an underpowered character without flight or range that tries to make up for it by getting a 1-drop Army character when he’s recruited. I suppose that if the situation is good (such as having multiple copies of characters in your hand), you could fetch an Illusionary Warriors. Or even an Infernal Minions might be alright. If your deck has a decent Army sub-theme, you might give this guy a whirl. If not, you should probably stay away.
Tattooed Man, Living Ink - Once upon a time, I got this guy as my preview card. I didn’t have a spoiler at the time, so I had nothing to go on when deciding how good he would be. It’s really hard to judge the worth of a card that relies on 1-drop Army characters when you don’t know what 1-drop Army characters are available. After looking at the set in detail, I’ve found that he has some real potential. The Army sub-theme can be very powerful if you get enough of the right cards. If you manage to put it all together, Tats becomes very powerful. If not, he’s a dud.
The General, Wade Eiling - The General eats big characters for breakfast. When he hits the table on turn 6, there’s bound to be at least one leader ability that you could do without your opponent having. He’ll take care of that for ya. On top of that, he gets to suicide into your opponent’s 6-drop and come out unscathed. That’s pretty good in my book.
The Joker, Headline Stealer - Okay, assuming that your deck went according to plan, you’ve got a few ways to make your opponent draw cards. Thanks to the overflow of cards, your opponent now has many plot twists in the grip. The Joker shuts them down, usually allowing only one plot twists to be played each turn. He’s also a little bigger than most of the characters at the 4-drop slot and is even able to take down many of the 5-drops in the format. He is a very good 4-drop for the IG theme.
The Shark, Karshon - For the Injustice Gang, keeping your opponent’s hand full shouldn’t be a problem. Since the opponent will more than likely have the required number of cards, the Shark is almost always big. A 6 ATK / 5 DEF 3-drop is pretty saucy and will always make my deck.
Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Royal Genetrix - This is how the Army deck works. She is concealed—optional, so you’ll always have her around. You’re Injustice Gang, so you’ll be drawing lots of cards. She makes all adjacent 1-drop Army team attackers unstunnable. Since most of your 1-drop Army characters are concealed, this shouldn’t be a problem. She makes the Army deck work.
Well, that will wrap it up for the Injustice Gang. Once we get to the plot twists section, I’ll give you a better idea of how to get cards into everyone’s hands. Until then, the main thing you should take away from this is that the Injustice Gang thrives on forcing hand sizes up and then punishing opponents for their excesses. Draft them accordingly and you’ll see just how powerful they can be.
As always, questions and comments can be sent to the_priceis_right@yahoo.com.