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The Sentry™
Card# MTU-017
While his stats aren’t much bigger than those of the average 7-drop, Sentry’s “Pay ATK” power can drastically hinder an opponent’s attacking options in the late game.
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| Feature: Four Men, Three Decks |
| Mary Van Tyne |
| July 24, 2004 |
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There are four players here today that have performed quite well in previous Vs. System tournaments. Bill Hodack, as you may recall, was the Origins $10K champion, defeating Carl Perlas in the finals. Jason Dawson placed in the Top 8 at the Wizard World Philadelphia $10K championship. And Eric Wood, the most decorated of Vs. System players thus far, placed in the Top 8 at both Origins and Wizard World Philadelphia.
These four players have all previously chosen to pilot versions of one of the most popular decks in Vs. It’s no secret that the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants has the most fans among Vs. players. Apparently, Super Heroes may be fun to play with, and saving the world is a nice feeling, but Super Villains win more games. Evil holds a definite allure for many players.
"Big Brotherhood" by Bill Hodack, Origins $10K Champion
Origins $10K Championship
4 Toad
4 Mystique, Raven Darkholme
4 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
4 Blob, Fred Dukes
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
4 Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
4 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
4 Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin
2 Sabretooth, Victor Creed
4 Magneto, Master of Magnetism
4 Acrobatic Dodge
2 Burn Rubber
4 Overload
4 Relocation
4 Avalon Space Station
4 Lost City
 Big Brotherhood is, in short, everything that a Vs. player could want from a pile of cards. The Brotherhood team features characters that are way ahead of others on the ATK/DEF curve, meaning that they’re cheap to play and hit for lots of damage. Sabretooth, Feral Rage best exemplifies the Brotherhood’s approach to characters—short-term gains at the expense of the long term. Magneto, Master of Magnetism and Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin end up at the top of the curve in this deck, but because of Big Brotherhood’s overwhelming early game, it’s not essential that they even come into play.
The other essential aspect of a Big Brotherhood deck is its reliance on two key locations: Avalon Space Station and Lost City. Lost City provides Brotherhood characters with a more powerful power-up, giving them +3 ATK/+3 DEF instead of the normal +1 ATK/+1 DEF, and Avalon Space Station allows the player to trade one Brotherhood card in his or her hand for one in the KO’d pile. It’s easy to power up Quicksilver, Speed Demon two or three times per turn with skillful manipulation of the KO’d pile. Add to that a focused understanding of combat math, and it’s easy to see why Bill Hodack emerged victorious at Origins.
The other version of the Brotherhood deck is called "New Brotherhood" after its own key plot twist. Compare this deck to the previous one. They may look similar at first glance, but a detailed comparison reveals their differences.
“New Brotherhood” played by Eric Wood, Origins $10K Top 8
Origins $10K Championship
3 Destiny
3 Lorelei
2 Phantazia
3 Avalanche
2 Pyro
3 Toad
3 Blob
4 Rogue, Anna Raven
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
4 Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
3 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
3 Blind Sided
4 Crushing Blow
2 Ka-Boom!
1 Not So Fast
4 Savage Beatdown
4 The New Brotherhood
4 Genosha
4 Savage Land
 If Big Brotherhood is the beatdown deck, New Brotherhood is its direct-damaging relative. Rather than going for large, undercosted characters, New Brotherhood focuses on playing small, efficient characters, such as Lorelei and Pyro, then backs them up with The New Brotherhood, a plot twist that gives all Brotherhood characters in play +2 ATK as long as their controller controls four or fewer resources.
Instead of having a character curve that tops out at 7, New Brotherhood’s curve tops out at 5. Savage Beatdowns and Savage Lands add additional ATK, allowing small characters like Phantazia or Rogue, Anna Raven to obliterate larger defenders. Additionally, Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff can go after an opponent’s endurance total directly, providing an extra source of endurance loss. Where Big Brotherhood focuses on inherently powerful characters, New Brotherhood focuses on enhancing small characters to make them more powerful.
In the previous tournaments, these four players have all had success with variations on these two basic decks. Bill Hodack won the Origins $10K Championship with Big Brotherhood. Jason Dawson played Big Brotherhood to great success both in Philadelphia and at the X-Men #1 tournament at Origins. Carl Perlas placed second at Origins with his New Brotherhood deck. Eric Wood chose to play Big Brotherhood in Philadelphia, but switched to New Brotherhood for Origins.
What are Bill, Jason, Carl, and Eric playing today?
"Child Lock" played by Bill Hodack and Jason Dawson
San Diego Comic-Con $10K Championship
4 Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl
4 Boris
4 Kristoff von Doom
4 Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards
4 Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius
1 Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria
1 Apocalypse
3 Onslaught
4 A Child Named Valeria
4 Common Enemy
4 Faces of Doom
3 Finishing Move
1 Flame Trap
1 Gamma Bomb
1 Mystical Paralysis
2 Reign of Terror
4 Signal Flare
4 Swift Escape
2 Tech Upgrade
1 Latveria
4 Personal Force Field
1 The Pogo Plane
 “I wavered back and forth between playing and not playing [this deck],” Bill said. “I originally decided not to play it because it was losing to the popular decks, and then I got here and decided to go with it.”
Child Lock may have a lock on the strangest-looking deck here today. This deck uses A Child Named Valeria to keep Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards and Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl from being stunned. Personal Force Field keeps them both safe through attacks. Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius serves to reset A Child Named Valeria, and may or may not attack before taking advantage of Swift Escape. Common Enemy also helps the cause, giving Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman the Doom team affiliation and setting up the eighth turn. On turn 8, Dr. Doom, Lord of Latveria comes into play, and since Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman both count as Doom characters, he’ll reset three plot twists to lock down the game. Finally, when the game’s locked up completely, leaving the opponent crippled and helpless, Onslaught or Apocalypse hits play and wins the game. It’s complex and confusing. Playing this deck without lots of prior practice is definitely not recommended.
“If [your opponent has] a Pyro, or some way to deal direct damage around your lock, then you’re on a clock and can’t win the game at your own pace,” Jason added. “The worst thing that can happen is when you get to turn 9 or 10, you don’t have Onslaught, and [your opponent has] a way to kill you.” Apparently, this deck is also vulnerable to She-Thing, because she can attack a character (like Mr. Fantastic or Invisible Woman) and KO all their equipment (like Personal Force Fields making them invulnerable to harm). Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing can be a problem as well, because of his ability to return small characters to their owners’ hands. “You want to have the even initiative so that you can Mystical Paralysis Thing to buy you enough time to get to turn 8,” Jason said.
In contrast to these brave souls, Carl Perlas is sticking with what he knows. His “Hybrid Brotherhood” deck combines the best features of Big Brotherhood and New Brotherhood to take advantage of the Brotherhood’s strengths while minimizing its weaknesses.
“Hybrid Brotherhood” played by Carl Perlas
San Diego Comic-Con $10K Championship
4 Pyro
2 Toad
4 Mystique, Raven Darkholme
3 Quicksilver, Pietro Maximoff
3 Blob
4 Sabretooth, Feral Rage
4 Magneto, Eric Lehnsherr
3 Quicksilver, Speed Demon
2 Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin
1 Sabretooth, Victor Creed
1 Blind Sided
3 Flying Kick
3 Global Domination
3 Not So Fast
4 Savage Beatdown
4 The New Brotherhood
4 Avalon Space Station
4 Genosha
4 Lost City
 “It’s like the New Age Brotherhood,” Carl commented. “[It] plays both New Brotherhood and Big Brotherhood put together.” The strength of Carl’s deck lies in its versatility. He can tailor his strategy based on his opponent’s deck. If his opponent plays an Overload, he can switch to a Big Brotherhood-style strategy, with Quicksilver, Speed Demon, Mystique, Shape-Changing Assassin, and Sabretooth, Victor Creed at the top end of his curve. If he’s playing against an opponent with a slower deck, he can flip over The New Brotherhood and do as much quick damage as possible. “I don’t believe in 7-drops and I don’t believe in 1-drops. You don’t want to draw them at the wrong times in the game.” Despite his unconventional approach, Carl is quite pleased with his deck and its performance. “It’s not too fast and it doesn’t really stall. Turns 5 and 6 are where it really gets going.”
Finally, Eric Wood has chosen to go with a Sentinel deck today, trying his own slight variation on the popular “Wild Vomit” Sentinel deck.
“Sentinels” played by Eric Wood
San Diego Comic-Con $10K Championship
4 Longshot
4 Senator Kelly
16 Sentinel Mark IV
24 Wild Sentinel
4 Cover Fire
4 Not So Fast
4 Underground Sentinel Base
“[It’s] basically like the previous builds that have been played, except I took out the four Combat Protocols and replaced them with Not So Fast,” Eric said. Not So Fast can help defeat Big Brotherhood, Fantastic Four, and other decks that run Overload in an attempt to stop the Sentinels in their tracks. “Not So Fast pushes the matchup in your favor, and a lot of people don’t expect it from the deck.”
Eric also helped test the mysterious Child Lock deck that Jason and Bill are playing, but he didn’t feel that it was the right deck for him to play today. “I went on vacation and didn’t have enough time to test it to feel comfortable. There’s a half-dozen choices per turn, and you can make one little mistake that will cost you the game really easily.”
The metagame will undoubtedly shift over time. The impending legality of DC Origins will have far-reaching changes on every aspect of tournament play. The Child Lock deck won’t work nearly as well, with all of the new cards designed to counteract equipment. Carl’s pet deck may not be quite as versatile against the League of Assassins and Ra’s al Ghul. The Sentinels will have completely new kinds of mutants to hunt and destroy.
One thing is certain, though. These four have an excellent shot at winning the whole tournament today. It will be fascinating to see how they end up.
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