This week, we continue down the road from the Secret Society’s meeting place and wind up on the JLI’s front porch. The JLI is the latest team in the long, storied history of Vs. System to go with the off-curve strategy. They take a unique approach, however—one that is vaguely reminiscent of the TNB decks of old. Instead of using the maximum number of resources each turn, the JLI tries to limit itself to only four resources in play at a time. Thanks to a few useful abilities that allow them to KO their resources, good JLI decks are very capable of maintaining a tight leash on their board position.
This strategy is a little more difficult to pull off in Sealed Pack than in Constructed, and many of these characters should be looked at in a different, more impartial light. The main reason that an off-curve strategy becomes viable in a format is because of another card that generates a highly beneficial effect for the off-curve strategy. In Avengers, that card was Faces of Evil. Green Lantern Corps had multiple cards, including Arisia, G’Nort, and Dr. Light, Master of Holograms. All of these cards generated an incredibly powerful effect that was good enough to elevate off-curve strategies to a competitive level.
I don’t think that there is a viable card like this in the current environment. There are a few cards of this variety that are very good, such as Justice League Task Force for example, but those cards aren’t strong enough to make the resource-restriction strategy viable. I am open to being proven wrong and I plan to flesh this out a little more in my section on plot twists, which is still to come. If I am proven wrong between now and then, rest assured that I’ll be the first to tell you. Until then, however, I think that the JLI should be looked at as just a team with solid characters, and not as one that works around a theme as fully as the Secret Society does. With all of that said, it’s time to take a look at the cards.
Batman, Hidden Crusader – This is a very solid 4-drop in any situation. First off, in the hidden area he’s an 8 ATK / 7 DEF with flight. Sadly, his leader ability doesn’t usually mean a thing if he’s in the hidden area. Also unfortunate is the fact that unless the resource-restriction strategy becomes more viable, his leader ability doesn’t mean a whole lot anyway. If it does, however, his ability is very, very good. A +2 ATK / +2 DEF can never be ignored. Even if we settle for sticking this guy in the hidden area, he becomes a very worthwhile 4-drop.
Bluejay, Jay Abrams – “I eat 3-drops. Munch!” His real downside is his measly 1 DEF, but his ability to take down many of the 4-drops in the set makes him very good. He almost always sees the light of the visible area.
Booster Gold, Michael Jon Carter – One part of the almost mythical duo of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. His boost is exceptional for getting a leg up on the game. Boost a Booster Gold (always fun to say) and put a Bluejay into play and tell me you’re not having a good time. He also helps you get more characters into play, which is always good for the many JLI team-stamped plot twists. He also has pretty good stats for a 2-drop and an ally ability that is situationally very powerful. This makes for a very solid 2-drop.
Captain Atom, Nathaniel Adam – This guy’s leader ability is absolutely nuts. Nuts, I say! If you manage to get to turn 6 with a few extra guys in play, which is highly possible with the JLI team, his attack bonus really adds up. Since the attackers don’t have to be adjacent to him to increase the bonus, every team attack involving an adjacent character can generate a separate bonus. This allows you to take advantage of some well-executed team attacks to generate an effect that’s like getting multiple ATK-pumping plot twists. That’s a pretty good card.
Captain Marvel, Billy Batson – Shazam! Not to be confused with the very similarly named movie starring one Shaquille O’Neal, Shazam is an interesting card. Being a reservist, you usually end up playing him in your resource row. If you don’t draw another 7-drop, simply recruit him and bash your opponent. But if you do manage to peel another 7-drop off the top of your deck, heaven help your opponent. Your 5-, 6-, and 7-drops become monsters with your opponent’s blood on their minds. Even if this ideal scenario doesn’t happen, a 17 ATK / 17 DEF is still enormous, even by 7-drop standards. Take this guy early. Very Early.
Catherine Cobert, Embassy Chief – Other than having a sultry French accent, Catherine doesn’t really bring that much to the team. As I said last week, 1-drops are of lesser importance in this set than in the last, so she loses a few points there. On the off chance that you manage to get three or four locations that warrant playing, her ability becomes good enough to take notice. However, as a 1-drop, she tends to be rather fragile and not long for the world. She is best used as an under-drop if the occasion presents itself. Like I said, though, it has to be a near-perfect situation to warrant not staying on curve.
Crimson Fox, Vivian and Constance D’Aramis – I’ve been having this dream for a while now. In it, this card had been printed before. It was called Nimrod. Well, maybe not exactly, but still really good. The lack of flight and range is only a mild annoyance, but it allows you to make a suicide attack on turn 4 and get your opponent’s 4-drop.
Dinah Laurel Lance ◊ Black Canary, Blonde Bombshell – What a mouthful! This is one big woman. There’s 12 ATK / 10 DEF on a mere 5-drop’s frame. She definitely works out. However, unless you manage to get the good resource-restriction deck, she’ll never be anything other than a mere 8 ATK / 10 DEF.
Dr. Fate, Kent Nelson – See his cost. There ya go.
Fire, Beatriz DaCosta – Hot! Nice stats, flight and range, and a decent ally ability . . . how can I say no! On top of that, she doubles as a 7-drop since you can boost her out to get her very cleverly named partner in justice, Ice. This has the secondary ability of enhancing the “overwhelm” strategy that seems to appear on a few of the JLI’s cards.
Guy Gardner, Egomaniac – The bowl cut returns in 7-drop form. He has a high ATK for a 7-drop, but his mere 12 DEF leads to some problems with attacking. However, his ability is quite powerful on defense. His enormous ego gives an umbrella of protection that covers all of your JLI and GL defenders. His big talk is worth it in my opinion, so don’t be sad about playing this guy in your deck. Just try to keep him in check.
Ice, Tora Olafsdotter – Cool! On her own, she’s an average 7-drop with an above average ally ability. The ability to make a character stay exhausted on the coming turn is incredibly powerful and not to be taken lightly. On top of that, if you’re lucky enough to get both Fire and Ice in your deck, you can boost the former on turn 7 to get the latter. That is if she’s not in your hand already.
Joseph Jones ◊ General Glory, Lady Liberty’s Champion – This guy has some real potential. He’s only an average 3-drop and he doesn’t even have flight or range. But he has the ability to KO your opponent’s greatest-cost character each turn if you can get to it with three or more JLI team attackers. This usually requires hitting every drop from 1 to a million, but if you do, the reward is complete control of the game. Keeping your opponent from having expensive characters is a first class ticket to a win. However, your characters have to survive to get in on the fun and maximize his ability.
Kimiyo Hoshi ◊ Dr. Light, Starlight Sentinel – Another very good Dr. Light . . . go figure. This one isn’t quite as format defining as her predecessor, but good none the less. Her ability is devastating in the later stages of a game. Send in two guys and give them each +3 ATK. A 2-drop and a 3-drop eat a 6-drop. A 3-drop and a 4-drop eat a 7-drop. I could go on, but you get the idea. As adept as JLI is at getting characters to survive the early game, that could be incredibly powerful.
L-Ron, Robot Companion – This guy is an average 2-drop. He has the potential to get slightly above average stats, but in general, he is merely average. The one time he shines is against an Injustice Gang deck. Their theme involves filling up a player’s hand and then punishing opponents for large hand sizes. He allows you to manage your hand size, which may prove to be very good in the long run.
Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz – This guy is probably the best 5-drop in the set. He’s one of the few characters I’ve seen that I’d pick over any plot twist put in front of me. He’s that good. You simply put him in the hidden area and your opponent never has any good attacks for the rest of the game. The 2 endurance is usually less than the breakthrough that he saves you. He also allows for mutual stuns on your opponent’s attacks, which is something I’m all for. This guy is first pick material. If your opponent plays him on you, find a way to get rid of him and fast.
Martian Manhunter, Manhunter from Mars – He probably has the most obvious version in the entire game. Other than that, he serves as a power-up for your 5-drop Manhunter. He’s absolutely absurd if he hits play. Which will happen every one in a hundred games. If you’re lucky. What’s a turn 8?
Maxwell Lord, Financier – I really like this guy. He’s just your average 2-drop that gets you the Team-Up you need when you need it (and that’s usually early). He’s especially good if you’ve got a good Team-Up in your deck like Justice League Task Force, Funky’s Big Rat Code, or World’s Greatest Heroes. I’ve never been displeased with this guy, and don’t expect that you will be either.
Metamorpho, Rex Mason – This dude is an exceptional 6-drop. He’s no bomb by any means, but he gets the job done and done well. He can attack down for a bit of extra breakthrough. He can attack up with minuscule help. He can force opponents to blow multiple plot twists to take him down. He’s just really flexible.
Oberon, Micro Manager – Ally is an incredibly powerful mechanic. Consequently, cards that enable ally are very good. This guy can’t come down on turn 1 thanks to his loyalty, but he is still incredible on later turns as an under-drop. He’s a 2-drop in a 1-drop’s body. He makes up for missing the curve with a single activation on a good ally character. Try him out and you’ll see.
Power Girl, Karen Starr – She’s 14 ATK / 14 DEF, eh? And all I have to do is put her in front of another character? Seems like there’s a catch. There isn’t? Oh, that card sounds really good, then.
Rocket Red #4, Dmitri Pushkin – I love characters that get better as the turns go by. He’s a little small at 4 ATK / 3 DEF for a 3-drop, but his activated ability makes up for his shortcomings. Whether you need to Spider Senses or Nasty Surprise, Red will be better at it on each consecutive turn. He isn’t bad as a turn 4 play, either. He gets to be a standard 7 ATK, which isn’t bad considering his mere cost of 3.
Scott Free ◊ Mister Miracle, Man of a Thousand Escapes – He’s an average sized 3-drop with flight—a fine start. He is the master of saving small amounts of endurance loss. Characters that cost 3 or less don’t cause much stun damage, but then again, every bit of endurance loss saved is good in my book.
Silver Sorceress – She lets you get an early jump on your opponents. Move the guy your opponent leaves unprotected to the hidden area and maul the rest of the team. It isn’t perfect because it only works during the first two turns, but it’ll do.
Sue Dibny, Charismatic Coordinator – I love this card. I’m a big fan of any card that improves deck consistency. Normally, this ability wouldn’t intrigue me as much as it does, but JLI loves 1-drops more than the average Justice League of America team. She can be incredibly good either as a 1-drop, a 3-drop, or even a 5-drop, provided you have the cards to fetch. She helps take advantage of the plot twists that require an abundance of characters. She’s definitely worth playing.
Tasmanian Devil, Hugh Dawkins – He’s one of the characters that can lay claim to the throne of “best 5-drop in the set.” He hits play as a 12 ATK character and just gets bigger from there. More than once I’ve used this guy to take down a 7-drop. Not many 5-drops can claim to have done that. This guy hits hard, fast, and often. Pick him really early.
Ted Kord ◊ Blue Beetle, Heir of the Scarab – Not a bad little 1-drop we have here. He grabs Booster Gold, who we’ve already seen is a pretty solid 2-drop. On top of that, if you’re lucky enough to get an Nth Metal or two, he can get you that. Plus, it’s pretty cool when you can line him up behind a Booster Gold for the full art effect. It’s like that Dawn Granger ◊ Dove and Hank Hall ◊ Hawk thing. There isn’t another possible formation if they’re both in play. It was just made to be that way.
Well, like I said, I’m not sure that the resource restriction strategy will be viable in a Sealed Pack format. The under-dropping that many of the JLI team-stamped plot twists almost require is very alive and kicking. Many of these characters, including Booster Gold and Fire, almost seem to encourage it. I’ll keep trying to get the resource restriction strategy to work, and you guys keep refining your skills. If you manage to break this, let me know. I’d be interested to see how it works. As always, you can reach me at the_priceis_right@yahoo.com. Next week, we’ll move on down the list and hit another team as we wade our way through the sea that is Justice League of America Draft.