Mon is an IT consultant by day and plays in a rock band at night. He used to play Hero Clix and converted during the era of Web of Spider-Man. He has been a comic fan for a long time and realized that it is easier to carry cards around than figurines.
His format of choice is really Constructed, but he made an exception for the $10K event. He was in Europe during $10K Manila last year, so this is his first $10K event and he is really excited to be playing. Mon hopes that UDE will bring more $10K tournaments to Manila and perhaps even a Pro Circuit to Asia. He says that the Philippines has a large Vs. System community and the concentration of Pro Circuits in the US makes it difficult for Asian players to participate in them.
Mon’s Sealed Pool
Checkmate
1 Amanda Waller
2 Aspiring Pawn
1 Black Thorn, Elizabeth Thorne
1 Connie Webb
1 Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot
1 Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Knight
1 Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman
Emerald Enemies
1 Obsidian, Todd James Rice
JSA
1 Black Adam, Ruthless Hero
1 Carter Hall ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Champion
1 Huntress, Earth 2
1 Jay Garrick ◊ The Flash, Golden Age Speedster
1 Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter, Fearless Renegade
1 Kendra Saunders ◊ Hawkgirl, Eternal Heroine
1 Power Girl, Earth 2
1 Richard Tyler ◊ Hourman
1 Sand, Sanderson Hawkins
1 Stargirl, Courtney Whitmore
1 Superman, Earth 2
1 Ted Grant ◊ Wildcat
1 Terry Sloane ◊ Mr. Terrific, Golden Age Gold Medalist
1 Wesley Dodds ◊ The Sandman, Golden Age Gunman
Secret Six
1 Cheshire, Jade
1 Deadshot, Dead Aim
1 Fiddler, Isaac Bowin
1 Lex Luthor ◊ Mockingbird, Evil Exile
1 Parademon, Apokoliptian Ally
Shadowpact
1 Captain Marvel, Champion of Magic
1 Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee
1 Nightshade, Eve Eden
1 Ragman, Patchmonger
1 Rose Psychic, Ghost Detective
2 The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel
1 Witchfire, Rebecca Carstairs
1 Zatanna, Showstopper
Villains United
1 Deathstroke the Terminator, Lethal Weapon
1 Dr. Psycho, Twisted Telepath
1 The Calculator, Evil Oracle
2 Weather Wizard, Mark Mardon
2 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive
Unaffiliated
1 Mordru
Plot Twists
1 Abjuration
1 Collecting Souls
1 Grand Gesture
1 Heroic Rescue
1 I Still Hate Magic!
1 It’s Not Over Yet
1 Knightmare Scenario
1 No Mercy
1 Relentless Pursuit
1 Stepping Between Worlds
1 Systematic Torture
1 Threat Neutralized
1 Traitor to the Cause
2 True Name
1 Watch the Birdie!
Locations
1 Brother I Satellite
1 Checkmate Armory
1 Leslie Thompkins’s Clinic
1 Rann
1 Secret Checkmate HQ
1 Seiobo’s Garden
Mon’s first impression of his Sealed pool was that most of his plot twists were team stamped. He was thus worried that the affiliations his good plot twists were associated with would not have good characters. This proved to be true for the Shadowpact affiliation.
However, he also noticed that the low Villains United drops were pretty good, though the characters petered out later into the curve. Another observation was that the later drops from the JSA affiliation were pretty good. These two observations would help set the tone for his deck.
Mon’s Sealed Deck
Checkmate
1 Roy Harper ◊ Arsenal, Knight
1 Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman
JSA
1 Black Adam, Ruthless Hero
1 Jay Garrick ◊ The Flash, Golden Age Speedster
1 Power Girl, Earth 2
1 Sand, Sanderson Hawkins
1 Superman, Earth 2
1 Terry Sloane ◊ Mr. Terrific, Golden Age Gold Medalist
Secret Six
1 Cheshire, Jade
Shadowpact
1 Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee
1 Rose Psychic, Ghost Detective
1 The Phantom Stranger, Fallen Angel
1 Witchfire, Rebecca Carstairs
Villains United
1 Deathstroke the Terminator, Lethal Weapon
1 The Calculator, Evil Oracle
2 Weather Wizard, Mark Mardon
2 Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive
Unaffiliated
1 Mordru
Plot Twists
1 Abjuration
1 Grand Gesture
1 I Still Hate Magic!
1 Knightmare Scenario
1 No Mercy
1 Relentless Pursuit
1 Systematic Torture
1 Watch the Birdie!
Locations
1 Leslie Thompkins’s Clinic
1 Rann
The concept behind Mon’s deck is to hit the early Villains United characters so he can play Systematic Torture and No Mercy. Aside from the theme of Villains United KO effects, he has Deathstroke; Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive; and Cheshire, Jade to directly burn an opponent. Mon said that his deck has twin themes that complement one another.
Another thing he noticed was that his plot twists allowed him to attack concealed characters. Since players in the Philippines like to play Checkmate Kings like Ahmed Samsarra, he felt that his deck was well poised to win games through these alternative win conditions.
However, Mon also felt that his deck was too reliant on KO effects. If he fails to hit his early Villains United characters, his deck will be pretty weak; he’ll have to mulligan for them.
In addition, he has no real Team-Ups, save for mediocre ones like Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee and Rann. Oops! Reading his cards, he discovers to his horror that Detective Chimp, Bobo T. Chimpanzee has loyalty—reveal! He’s running only three other Shadowpact characters.