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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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| Deck Profile: Angel Ledesma |
| Jason Grabher-Meyer |
| May 08, 2005 |
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 Angel Ledesma is Mexico’s Netrep. I didn’t know that when I saw him pounding in faces in a matchup of the undefeated players, but it explains some things. Namely, how he was sitting at a top table undefeated with such a creative deck.
Decklists speak louder than words sometimes, so I’ll just toss this one out there before discussing it.
GK/Superman
Characters
3 Alfred Pennyworth
3 Lois Lane
1 Perry White
2 Barbara Gordon ◊ Oracle
2 Tim Drake ◊ Robin, the Boy Wonder
1 Batman, World’s Greatest Detective
1 Jason Todd ◊ Robin
3 Superman, Red
1 Cassandra Cain ◊ Batgirl
3 Superman, Clark Kent
3 Batman, Caped Crusader
1 Cir-El ◊ Supergirl
1 Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing, Defender of Bludhaven
2 Superman, Kal-El
1 Kara Zor-El ◊ Supergirl
1 Superman, Man of Steel
1 Superman, Big Blue Boyscout
Plot Twists
3 Bat-Signal
3 Acrobatic Dodge
2 Pleasant Distraction
2 Detective Work
3 Fizzle
2 World’s Finest
3 Man of Tomorrow
2 Dynamic Duo
1 Savage Beatdown
Locations
1 Daily Planet
2 Cadmus Labs
2 GCPD Headquarters
3 Metropolis
Equipment
1 Utility Belt
One of the most prominent things you first notice when looking at the deck is that it doesn’t use a single card four times. Even key cards like Bat-Signal and Alfred are only run in triplicate. The result is a deck that can have more options than most. If you’ve played with Alfred or Boris, you know what it’s like to build a toolbox engine—a pool of cards that you don’t intend to draw into but have means of searching for. This entire deck functions as one giant toolbox.
Seven 1-drops mean that the deck intends to play off-curve a good deal of the time. Lois Lane and Alfred Pennyworth serve as a good chunk of the deck’s search capability, and cards like Pleasant Distraction and Superman, Clark Kent keep them safe from harm. The deck’s 2-drops are effect generators not intended for combat, and the deck doesn’t really go on the aggressive until its very strong third turn. There, it ideally uses Superman, Red to stun down the curve and cost an opponent a KO by attacking back, or use Batman, World’s Greatest Detective to cut down cards like The New Brotherhood.
Turns 4, 5, and 6 offer a variety of offensive options that can be tailored around different matchups and situations. Turns 7 and 8 are nothing but Superman, and the deck packs a total of five cards (Cadmus Labs and Red) that make sure Superman doesn’t KO a previous version of himself.
 Bat-Signal and Man of Tomorrow promotes the deck’s ability to hunt down characters just when it needs them, and Dynamic Duo encourages the sometimes-necessary off-turn plays. GCPD Headquarters does the same, giving some extra utility to those copies of Perry White and Lois Lane that make it to the mid-game. Fizzle and Detective Work are, well, Fizzle and Detective Work negate threats to the deck, ensure that defensive tricks don’t disrupt its tempo, and are generally great regardless of the matchup.
The deck packs five team-ups, three Metropolis and two World’s Finest, and its ability to search out the copies of World’s Finest when needed allows the deck to not team up until it really needs to. In truth, Ledesma probably could have gone even lower here and added a bit more tech to the deck, but he played it safe. That’s always a good thing to do with such an experimental and creative deck.
All in all, this is a unique deck and that uniqueness runs a lot deeper than the teams it pairs up. Where others see inconsistency, Ledesma sees options, and his approach to deckbuilding may be something worthy of mimicry in the near future. |
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