The Pro Circuit dust has settled and we have crowned a new champion. Kyle Dembinski brought home the trophy in a whirlwind of Silver Age glory.
In our last article, we covered a truncated tournament report documenting the genesis of the Quick Fate deck that Team Alternate Win Condition piloted in the Los Angeles Pro Circuit Championship. One part foreshadowing and one part amazing luck—an evolved version of the Quick Fate deck struck PC gold. I received a barrage of emails asking questions about the decklist, so I thought it would be both timely and interesting to talk about the deck’s strengths and weaknesses. Further, I think most pro players may be able to learn a lesson about deck choices for Silver Age.
In PC: L.A. 2005, I took the Squadron Supreme into battle. I barely snuck into Day 2 in the face of Sentinels and Common Enemy builds. I earned a 6-4 record, though other players steered the Squadron to higher finishes. The deck found a place in the Top 8 but was clearly outdone by Dr. Doom.
The following PC saw the evolution of the build into the Silver Age champion’s choice. I took a tweaked decklist and went 9-1 on Day 1. My teammate Shane Wiggins landed a second place finish, while Vidi Wijaya brought home the fancy champion glass with the FTN version of the build.
Fast forward to the Modern Age format in San Francisco. We find an inspiring build combining the strengths of Checkmate and the Villains United competing with the infamous discard decks and Mexican Hardware Store. Tim Batow landed a Top 8 berth but fell to eventual champion Ian Vincent. The Checkmate / VU build made big waves in the following PC, landing multiple players in the Top 8. Half a year later, Ian took a similar build and found success in Sydney. The deck’s place in multiple formats is secure.
In our most recent trip to L.A., we found ourselves with the largest card pool Vs. System had ever seen. The Black King and Villains sat by while Dr. Doom regained control of the world. But if you look closely, you might see the beginnings of our newest championship build, Quick Fate.
In a historical parallel, a strong build found at PC: L.A. evolved into the “must play” choice for the subsequent PC. The lesson may be simple: if a deck can handle the Golden Age format, it may have a good chance in Silver Age, barring the loss of too many key pieces.
One email I recently received asked why this near unbeatable Silver Age deck did not flourish in the Golden Age format. Let’s begin to answer that by examining some of the card choices in the initial build and in the Silver Age transition that led to Kyle’s championship deck.
Quick Fate, PC: L.A. 2006
Characters
4 Ape X, Xina
1 Black Panther, King of Wakanda
1 Dewoz, Dark Reflection
1 Human Torch, Sparky
1 Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend
1 Luna Maximoff, Only Human
1 Micro-Chip, Linus Lieberman
1 Mikado and Mosha, Angels of Destruction
4 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
4 Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage
4 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle, Heir of the Scarab
Plot Twists
4 Flying Kick
4 Mega-Blast
4 The Royal Guard
3 Wild Ride
Locations
4 Dr. Fate’s Tower
4 Soul World
4 The Great Refuge
Equipment
1 Advanced Hardware
2 Amulet of Nabu
2 Cloak of Nabu
1 Flamethrower
4 Helm of Nabu
The basic formula for the deck involves pumping Quicksilver’s ATK with modifiers that last the entire turn. With a completely revealed resource row, you have the opportunity to ready Quicksilver for large amounts of damage.
The deck offers serious aggression, fast action, and can win on turn 3 or 4 with some frequency. On the best draws, the deck can be insanely hard to thwart. Our initial game plan was to acquire as many of the Fate Artifacts as early as possible. If you can Fate up on turn 2 or 3, then you’ll be in good shape to win the game. The deck has huge characters, great search capability, and offers few easy answers for opponents.
The Golden Age version of the build packed the King of Wakanda for additional equipment search; had access to the Flamethrower, Flying Kick, and Mega-Blast; and sported Marvel Knights search and early characters. It was tough but had some specific weaknesses in Golden Age.
The deck had great matchups against the slower High Voltage builds and owned the Teen Titans. It even fared well against the new Brotherhood variations that made a splash in the format. However, it packed a large number of low characters and relied on having the largest early game characters on the board. The deck lost several matches when it could not finish the game by turn 5 or 6. When the deck met the serious stall decks fueled by Dr. Light, Master of Holograms; Dr. Doom; and Reign of Terror; it had problems. The Moloids variants provided an answer to the Fated Quicksilver, giving an enhanced Doom a shot at stunning it. If a player unexpectedly stunned a pumped Quicksilver on an initial attack, it could cost the aggressor 10 or more endurance that might have been dealt. This was often enough to give the deck problems and was the primary reason for my losses against Adam Prosak.
The Moloids were tough but did not pose the difficulty of the stallish builds packing the efficient Human Torch and Terrax in the late game. Often, the Quick Fate deck ran out of steam and could not close the proverbial deal. Once you have to face down 7-cost characters, the 2-drop becomes laughable.
Quick Fate, PC: Sydney 2007
Characters
4 Ape X
4 Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle
1 Luna Maximoff
1 Lockjaw, Inhuman’s Best Friend
2 Mr. Mxyzptlk, Troublesome Trickster
4 Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose
4 Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage
1 Human Torch, Sparky
1 Dewoz, Dark Reflection
Plot Twists
4 The Royal Guard
4 Kill or be Killed
4 Air Strike
4 Windstorm
4 Flying Kick
Locations
4 The Great Refuge
2 Dr. Fate’s Tower
2 Soul World
Equipment
4 Helm of Nabu
3 Amulet of Nabu
3 Cloak of Nabu
In Kyle’s updated version of the Quick Fate deck, we see the obvious loss of some of the burn capability. But the burn is replaced with more aggression, including Kill or be Killed, which protects Quicksilver from an untimely death by stun. Cards like Mr. Mxyzptlk and Soul World fuel your hand. You still use the Great Refuge for search, and now there is the added comfort of Poison Ivy for the additional consistency and location search.
Luna, Lockjaw, Sparky, and Dewoz pair with Quicksilver to give you a searchable drop across the curve and complement the utility characters provided in the build. It is important to understand the role of hand advantage in the deck. You typically need to keep your hand size up to turn on the most aggressive possibilities. When you use cards like the Helm, you need have cards to pitch in order to keep the newly found aggressive plot twists uncovered in your search. In a deck where +3 ATK turns into 12 damage, you want to abuse cards like Mr. Mxyzptlk. You never want to be left discarding your aggressive potential.
This deck seemed to have a good matchup against the Kree builds, and like its Golden Age predecessor, it came out of nowhere for the turn 3 kill. It was reported that Kyle earned two third-turn kills during Day 1 play at the Sydney championship. That makes for a fast round and time to relax between rounds.
As you guys prepare for Hobby League tournaments or other Silver Age play, consider this deck. It is fun and fast and offers the chance for some serious aggressive potential in a format teeming with hard-hitting alternatives. If you want to find its weaknesses, look for a stun on a pumped-up Quicksilver, impairment of the key equipment cards, or a chance to take the deck into uncomfortable later rounds.
Hopefully, when preparing for your next Silver Age tournament, you might peruse the potential decklists in the prior Golden Age formats that are keeping their relevant core cards. If you gain new supplemental cards that put the deck over the top, you should play them. If the deck’s primary threats fade into Golden history, then it may be the time for your deck to shine. It is all about evolution across the changing Ages.
Class dismissed.
Jeremy “Kingpin” Blair (7-drop, TAWC) is a psychologist and Vs. System historian. He is currently working on learning from the past in order to achieve world domination in the future. If you have constructive comments or questions, feel free to contact him at Tampakingpin@yahoo.com.