Just by checking out the message boards on VSRealms.com and other fan sites, it’s obvious to us here in R&D that the community is pretty fired up about the City Championships, and with good reason. Not only is this an opportunity for the entire player base to explore a fresh format with Marvel Team-Up, but one lucky player will also end up with his or her mug on a card. Of course, winning your City Championship is only the first step. Your deck then has to be selected by the discerning members of R &D, which is another game unto itself.
I’ve read a lot of players speculating about what types of decks are likely to be selected. The more astute among you have guessed that winning with QuickFate or a stock Checkmate / Villains United deck is not the best route to ending up as one of the final eight. Outside of that caveat, I feel that there’s a lot of room to get funky, especially since R&D is composed of many different personalities and styles of play. If you want a few hints on not only having your deck selected, but also getting it selected by your favorite designer or developer (maybe it’s egotistical of me to think that someone out there actually has a favorite developer), here’s a quick guide to building a deck that will resonate with that special someone.
Andrew Yip: Yip is all about action, if you couldn’t tell that from his Heralds of Galactus and Marvel Team-Up designs. Anything that cheats resource points (Kree, or any of the free characters we haven’t banned yet) or readies a gigantic character over and over again (avoid using the Fate Artifacts, please) is likely to catch his eye. Something that generates a giant number (for example, a ton of recruits and Hala) or explores an alternate win condition (Project Ragna Rok) is also going to hit home. Yip also likes tricks that make things miserable for his opponent, so if there’s some sort of “Evasion / target character can’t ready this turn” trick in this format, base a deck around it. During Heralds development, Andrew played at least one copy of Enemy of the Empire in all his Kree decks, so if you’ve got an open slot in your press deck, throw one of those bad boys in there.
David Humpherys: For starters, it has to be a curve deck. If there’s one deck I associate with Hump, it has to be X-Mental. It’s got a curve of solid characters, a lot of ways to cycle through the deck, solid tricks on both sides of the initiative, and a powerful endgame. These are the types of decks he looks for. Hump loves the solid, generic mods, so Flying Kick and Shrink are a bonus, as are versatile cards like Level 12 Intelligence. I also don’t know anyone who complains more about having to put a non-reservist in his resource row, so a deck with lots of reservists or terraform locations will be up his alley. Play an 8-drop. Hump already takes a lot of time to take his turns, so please avoid repeat search cards (Poison Ivy, Deadly Rose, etc.). Not only can he not stand them, but I can also only bear these matches going on for so long; the fewer options, the better.
Ben “TBS” Seck: Renowned designer and DC snob Ben Seck has a very distinct style of deck he traditionally builds, so nailing his sort of deck might be the easiest. Remember, this is the man behind Legion of Super Heroes, so any deck focusing on one of those teams is a sure hit. As an extension of this, he loves attacking his opponent in non-conventional ways, so try to make Darkseid hate on your opponent’s resource row, or play any deck based around the Future Foes. Play lots of ways to draw cards, even at the expense of having things to actually draw in your deck. No combat pumps are allowed unless your deck has no characters with flight, in which case you may play exactly four Flying Kicks (this rule is set in stone). It’s totally cool if your deck has a fuzzy, inconclusive endgame; you’re better off stalling and fumbling around a bit than splashing Galactus, Devourer of Worlds in your deck. Ben is also a bit of an obscurist, so building decks around teams and characters (DC, of course) that aren’t tier 1 will make him smile. A deck involving Triad is almost a lock.
Antonino DeRosa: Of all the people on this list who are likely to select an established, top-tier deck, it’s Antonino. Remember, the man has some deep roots in the Pro Circuit, so he’s very used to selecting decks with raw power in mind. That isn’t to say the man doesn’t have some style. For example, during Marvel Team-Up development, he built what appeared to be a stock Checkmate / Villains United deck with one copy of Hulk, Joe Fixit enabled by a single Geraci Family Estate. The fondest memories of his PC days involve X-Stall, therefore a control-ish X-Men deck or a deck featuring some 8 ATK / 8 DEF 5-drops will win Ant’s heart. Of course, so will any deck featuring some of our more, uh, generously proportioned heroines. (Power Girl, anyone?) In the end, Ant is the most capable of putting his nostalgia aside to win the tournament, so if you have to show up to this tournament with a stock deck, Antonino might just pick you.
John Fiorillo: John’s also got a bit of a PC background, but he’s motivated by more than just a desire to win. John wants to grind you out. He wants to drag the game out. And then he wants to kill you with the biggest character he can find. Any deck that allows for dramatic stonewalls (using Insignificant Threat-style cards, or certain builds of ally decks) or the exhaustion of opposing characters will catch his attention. I know personally that John has a lot of love for his old Brotherhood / Spider-Friends team-up deck that ran Lost City and Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, so if you can build some sort of stall-ish deck around the new Spider-Men and throw in some Brotherhood action, John will likely get on board. Unlike TBS, John frequently gets busy with Galactus, so try to get him in there, too. John also hates off-curve decks with the fire of a thousand suns, so if you have to play Enemy of My Enemy, John will cut you some slack as long as there’s a Hawkeye, Clinton Barton or some other such character to go get. Basically, if there’s some way in it to grind a bunch of little characters into the dirt with Spider-Man, John will select your deck for sure.
Matt Hyra: Matt loves goofy decks. Matt also loves his Hellboy Essential Collection. As such, Project Ragna Rok is right up his alley, as is Hellboy loner and Thule Society Army, so get cracking with those. Matt is also the genius behind Justice League of America, and would greatly appreciate you exploring some of the themes that fell a little short in competitive play. So Secret Society +1 ATK / +1 DEF counters, JLI five or more resources (hello, Captain Marvel), JLA willpower, Injustice Gang leader, or any unaffiliated deck will be an auto-choice. Much like his partner in crime TBS, Matt loves DC comics, so look in that direction in general.
Mike Hummel: Hummel is like everyone’s father around here; he’s the lead designer of many excellent sets, and in many ways is the creative inspiration behind every set in some form or another. Like all designers, he has an affinity for the mechanics he created that never quite got there. So, the list of decks are (take a deep breath): Morlocks “no reinforcement” characters, Mutant—Physical, Squadron breakthrough replacement, Masters of Evil resource point payment characters (think Enchantress, not Melissa Gold ◊ Screaming Mimi), Thunderbolts “help out the others” (again, not Melissa Gold), Kang curve (you know, as opposed to Kang off-curve), and Brotherhood “3 or more breakthrough.” Mike likes the iconic characters too, so if you can somehow pull off a curve of, for example, Iron Man / Hulk / Thor, it’ll catch his eye. Above all, Hummel is about having fun gaming, so if you can somehow win with something that looks like a blast to play, Mike is likely to take your deck.
Patrick Sullivan: Lastly, yours truly. I believe there is a perception that I only like off-curve decks. While I prefer them, I’m mostly looking for an honest deck. Pay a cost. If you play more than one team, please plan on flipping a team-up. Don’t search your deck every turn. No Fate Artifacts unless you have Dr. Fate, Hector Hall. Of course, playing the Syndicate is the surest way to my heart. That said, you’d better be planning on KO’ing some resources, and you’d better be planning on doing it before the turn you kill your opponent (I’m talking to you, Bullseye people. . . ). Assuming that no Syndicate decks make it to the top, I’ll be looking for some of our less-explored themes. Any deck that plans on connecting with Doctor Spectrum, for example, has a good shot at being selected.
Clearly some of this was written in jest. I mean, Injustice Gang leader isn’t even close to a deck, nor was it intended to be. But the point remains that we are looking for some innovative and powerful decks. We know that a lot of players were upset that they never had an opportunity to innovate for themselves because local tournaments always followed a PC of a given format. Now we’re giving you the chance to innovate on a level playing field, and we’re hoping to see some impressive stuff from the lot of you.
Collectively, I would say that our department has some pet cards or strategies. That said, here is a list of ten cards, or classes of cards, that will help in getting you selected. In no particular order:
1) The Infinity Gauntlet
2) The cross-mutation X-Men characters (Trevor Fitzroy, etc)
3) Doctor Spectrum
4) Mjolnir with the intent of equipping Thor
5) Secret Six Victorious
6) Plastic Man (with some method of endurance manipulation)
7) Bouncing Boy
8) Gog
9) Supreme Intelligence
10) Dr. Ub’X
All this information should give you a good start on building the deck of R&D’s dreams. Good luck!