Do you hear that? It’s the sound of about 350 Vs. System players breathing a heavy sigh of relief. Coming into this event, everyone thought that there would only be a few decks that would be viable in this DC Modern Age metagame. It turns out that they were all very, very wrong.
After Day 1, we had five players with 9-1 records, and all of them were playing different decks. Mike Sewell and Tim Batow were at first and second respectively; both were playing Good Guys but were following extremely different philosophies. Mike’s deck is a more traditional build that runs the standard package of eight 1-drops that search for only two 2-drops. Tim’s deck follows a different philosophy, instead placing importance on hitting Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman.
Mike and Tim were joined by Anthony Justice, who was playing the dark horse of the tournament, TDC’s Shadowpact / Secret Six deck. The deck centers around playing lots of cheap characters like Manitou Dawn; Blackbriar Thorn; and Zatanna, Magical Manipulator with a lot of Magic plot twists to gain card and board advantage, pumping Blackbriar Thorn well into the double digits.
Josh Hensley and Sal D’Agostino rounded out the 9-1 players. Josh came to the tournament with the contingent of Ohio and St. Louis players who brought a Secret Society deck that focuses on the power of Deadshot, Floyd Lawton and Crystal Frost ◊ Killer Frost to control the board. In fifth place, Sal was playing the other deck of the tournament to stake its place next to Good Guys, Checkmate / Villains United. CMVU was a strong deck in Silver Age coming into the tournament and was expected to make waves in this DC Modern Age.
There are a wide variety of decks at the top of the standings, and regardless of what happens during the drafts, the only guarantee is that there will be an exciting Top 8 to follow!
Mike Sewell
9-1
Characters
1 Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Hard-Traveling Hero
1 Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Emerald Archer
1 John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man
1 Fire
1 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero
3 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Thanagarian Enforcer
1 Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl
4 Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman
1 Connor Hawke ◊ Green Arrow
1 Booster Gold
3 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
4 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle
4 Sue Dibny
Plot Twists
3 Hero’s Welcome
4 Magnificent Seven
3 UN General Assembly
1 Fate has Spoken
4 World’s Greatest Heroes
3 Trial by Fire
4 Removed from Continuity
Locations
4 Kooey Kooey Kooey
Equipment
4 Nth Metal
1 High-Tech Flare Gun
1 Helm of Nabu
1 Cloak of Nabu
1 Amulet of Nabu
Tim Batow
9-1
Characters
1 Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Hard-Traveling Hero
1 Oliver Queen ◊ Green Arrow, Emerald Archer
1 John Henry Irons ◊ Steel, Steel-Drivin’ Man
3 Fire
1 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero
4 Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Thanagarian Enforcer
4 Shayera Thal ◊ Hawkwoman
4 Booster Gold
4 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
4 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle
2 Maxwell Lord, Financier
Plot Twists
4 Hero’s Welcome
4 Magnificent Seven
4 Magical Lobotomy
4 World’s Greatest Heroes
4 Trial by Fire
2 Blinding Rage
1 BWA HA HA HA HA!
Locations
4 Kooey Kooey Kooey
Equipment
4 Nth Metal
Josh Hensley
9-1
Characters
1 Psycho-Pirate
2 Mark Desmond ◊ Blockbuster
3 Gorilla Grodd
4 Crystal Frost ◊ Killer Frost
1 Fatality, Flawless Victory
4 Hector Hammond, Mind Over Matter
4 Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose
4 Deadshot, Floyd Lawton
4 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
4 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle
4 Manhunter Clone
Plot Twists
4 Straight to the Grave
4 Funky’s Big Rat Code
Locations
1 Satellite HQ
1 Gorilla City
3 Dr. Fate’s Tower
4 Slaughter Swamp
Equipment
1 Quadromobile
4 Helm of Nabu
2 Cloak of Nabu
2 Amulet of Nabu
Anthony Justice
9-1
Characters
4 The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel
1 June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Bad Witch
4 Detective Chimp, Shoeless Gumshoe
4 Madame Xanadu
4 Manitou Dawn
4 Blackbriar Thorn
4 Zatanna, Magical Manipulator
1 Dr. Occult
1 June Moon ◊ Enchantress, Good Witch
2 Nightmaster, Jim Rook
Plot Twists
1 Transmutation
1 Mystical Binding
3 Magical Conduit
4 Divination
2 The Conclave
4 Stepping Between Worlds
4 Abjuration
4 Magical Lobotomy
4 Collecting Souls
Locations
4 Chimp Detective Agency
Sal D’Agostino
9-1
1 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
3 Connie Webb, Knight
4 Dr. Psycho, Mental Giant
1 Sarge Steel, Knight
4 Ahmed Samsarra
4 Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1
1 Elimination Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot
2 Maxwell Lord, Black King
1 Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot
2 Alexander Luthor, Diabolical Double
1 Huntress, Reluctant Queen
1 Deathstroke the Terminator, Ultimate Assassin
1 Psycho-Pirate
Plot Twists
4 Threat Neutralized
4 Knightmare Scenario
4 Straight to the Grave
Locations
4 Checkmate Safe House
4 Brother I Satellite
2 Brother Eye
1 Slaughter Swamp
1 Dr. Fate’s Tower
1 Satellite HQ
2 The Science Spire
Equipment
4 Knight Armor
2 Tricked-Out Sports Car
1 Cloak of Nabu
1 Amulet of Nabu