It has been an exciting couple of weeks for the Vs. System community. We witnessed the crowning of a new Pro Circuit Champion (congrats to Kyle), the implementation of the City Championships, and the rotation of Marvel Team-Up and the Hellboy Essential Collection into Silver Age. I was specifically happy to see that a deck utilizing Quicksilver, Inhuman by Marriage won Pro Circuit Sydney. My teammates and I thought a great deal about a deck featuring Quicksilver when testing for Golden Age (we ultimately took it to our own ruin), and we were all happy to see that we were only one Pro Circuit off having the winning deck! Given my intricate knowledge of the deck, I was curious to see what changes Kyle and the rest of the Donkey Club made to our original design. As I was comparing lists, I realized that modifying a deck to go from one format to another is often a difficult task because it requires you to reevaluate your goals for the deck and often find replacements for “irreplaceable” cards. While this task can be daunting, it is not impossible, and it is definitely a skill worth honing.
Picking Up Where We Left Off
When I last left you, I tried to give you a heads-up on all that good stuff and provided you with a new build of the Sinister Syndicate (which I fondly referred to as the Sinister 60). As I said before, building a deck is hard, and it’s even harder to admit mistakes or change things you believed in when you constructed said deck. Let’s look at the Sinister 60 and see what changes need to be made to make it legal in Modern Age.
The Sinister 60
Characters (32)
2 Basilisk, Basil Elks
2 Fusion, Markley
4 Lizard, Voracious Predator
2 Slyde, Jalome Beacher
2 Vulture, Aerial Stalker
4 Vermin, Sewer Rat
2 Answer, Aaron Nicholson
1 Black Tarantula, Carlos LaMuerto
1 Electro, Shock Jock
2 Spider-Slayer V.X., Arachnid Hunter
2 Swarm, Fritz von Meyer
2 Trapster, Peter Petruski
3 Spider-Man Robot, Timespinner
3 Carnage, Psychopath
Plot Twists (23)
4 Flying Kick
4 No Fear
4 Trial by Fire
4 Legacy of Evil
4 Legion of Losers
3 Spider Hunt
Locations (3)
3 Hidden Cache
Equipment (2)
2 Dual Sidearms
The first task when trying to modify a deck for a stricter format is to identify the cards that will be illegal and how they impacted the deck.
Vermin, Sewer Rat – This guy was the crux of the deck during the initial building phases. The ability to gain you board and hand advantage was just awesome, and it’s sad that this will be lost in Modern Age. In terms of liability, he really didn’t hurt the player too much, but given all of the options that the Syndicate has, there definitely were more aggressive choices that could have been made.
Basilisk, Basil Elks – I was talking to Dave Leader about this guy, and Dave thought he was less than optimal. He didn’t like how Basilisk came into play exhausted or the fact that his ability didn’t fit into the theme of aggressiveness. Obviously, Basilisk has a great ATK for his cost, but Dave posited that unless you hit him on turn 1, your opponent either will be able to reinforce, or characters will be large enough to not take breakthrough from Basilisk’s attack. Thankfully, since we are forced to remove him, we don’t have to tackle the issue (or incur the wrath of Dave Leader).
No Fear – I really like this combat pump. The ability to function as two cards is always a plus in my book, and there is almost never a scenario where its slight drawback would hurt you. Sadly, it too has to be shelved to take the Syndicate into the new Modern Age.
Trial by Fire – This is another card that fits in well with the deck but can easily be supplanted by cards that are available in Modern.
When my teammate John Hall and I constructed the deck, we tried to keep it as close to Modern Age legal as possible, which is reflected by the small number of cards that fall outside of the new Modern Age restrictions. Unfortunately, this is not always the case when you try to move a deck into a new format; as such, the first thing to consider is whether the deck in question is even a viable option in the new format. There is no hard-and-fast rule on when a deck is viable and when it is not, but if it is not fully realizing the original deck’s “goal,” then it may be time to retire it.
Cutting the Fat
As you can see, only four different cards are unavailable for Modern Age. When analyzing a deck, however, you can’t stop there. This is a pitfall for many deckbuilders. Some people will just look for what is no longer legal and then try to plug the gaps. This may be okay for a random tournament, but for the Pro Circuit (or any other premier event), you need to be prepared. Hindsight is 20/20, and through your testing you may have found cards that worked well or cards that didn’t work at all. If you are going to give your deck a face-lift, you might as well spring for the liposuction too!
Legacy of Evil – I honestly thought this card would be amazing. The ability to gain card advantage if you play it from your resource row is just sick. Unfortunately, the only turn that I was ever able to utilize this card was my final turn, when its impact would be negligible at best. There were times I would use it and draw a Spider Hunt that I couldn’t play because I had just played Legacy of Evil. Overall, another card could have a more beneficial impact.
Spider-Man Robot – Long story short, Carnage is my preferred finisher, not this character. If he isn’t in there as a finisher, he shouldn’t be in there at all.
After some significant playtesting, it was apparent that some cards just did not work well within the deck. This situation presents itself to every deckbuilder, and it is often hard to cut a card which is strong in theory. Still, if you can bite the bullet and admit that a card you thought would work well in your deck doesn’t, your deck will be more consistent and hit with a lot more power.
Building a Better Machine
Now that you have cut several cards out of your respective decks, the next step is to look at what is available to you in your limited card pool. Again, when selecting new cards for a deck, you need to be sure that they fit within the overall theme and synergy of your deck. If you stray too far away from those concepts, the deck will not function as well as it did in the previous format.
For the Syndicate deck, maximizing the damage dealt (via pumps, low drops with significant ATK, and useful powers) was the biggest priority. After some careful consideration, several cards leapt out at me.
Planet of the Symbiotes – I didn’t have to go far to find my replacement for No Fear. Instead of having to attack or defend up the curve, you replace that liability with straight endurance loss—something that I am fine with. Overall, this was an easy choice.
Razorfist, Sociopathic Mercenary – Seriously, how can you not like a character that has razors as hands? I am sure Edward Scissorhands is his idol. In all seriousness, this guy has the body of Vermin, Sewer Rat but costs one resource less. Granted, he is another one of those crazy Syndicate characters that like to burn you at the start of the combat phase, but just like I said last time, if you play correctly, you can limit that liability.
Venom, Mac Gargan and Bullseye, Assassin for Hire – Essentially, both of these guys could see inclusion due to Hawkeye, Loud Mouth. Hawkeye will undoubtedly see play, as he is the most effective way to deal with off-curve decks given what we know of the Modern Age card pool. Playing both of these characters can limit his impact against this deck. Also, Bullseye can be rather devastating to an opponent by KO’ing Hawkeye or another character that is posing this deck a problem. Venom is just a big house and can be your beatstick if needed.
Justice Is Served! – This card essentially took the place of Trial by Fire. While it provides 2 fewer ATK, it makes up for it by allowing you to KO equipment with a cost of 0 or less on a defender. With so much 0-cost equipment floating around in the card pool, I figure this card deserves inclusion until we see what World’s Finest holds.
Nasty Surprise – I know many of you will say that this card does not fit this deck. I will humbly disagree. The loss of Vermin, Sewer Rat left me trying to find a way to maintain board presence and continue to swarm my opponent. Unfortunately, there isn’t another card in the Modern Age format that provides the same utility that Vermin did. Nasty Surprise can help limit your opponent’s board, which, at the very least, can result in a push. With you underdropping and maxing out your resources with multiple characters, cards like this and Planet of the Symbiotes can ensure that you have characters which get to attack directly.
Doppelganger, Killer Clone – Free characters are good. Really good. Essentially, this guy can get into a 3-drop with one pump at the cost of 6 total endurance (5 for his alternate recruit cost and 1 for his stun), and then allow the rest of your team to attack up or down depending on what is presented to you. Overall, he just seemed like a good inclusion.
The Finished Product
The NEW Sinister 60
Characters (32)
2 Doppelganger, Killer Clone
2 Fusion, Markley
4 Lizard, Voracious Predator
2 Slyde, Jalome Beacher
2 Vulture, Aerial Stalker
1 Razorfist, Sociopathic Mercenary
2 Answer, Aaron Nicholson
2 Black Tarantula, Carlos LaMuerto
2 Electro, Shock Jock
2 Spider-Slayer V.X., Arachnid Hunter
2 Swarm, Fritz von Meyer
2 Trapster, Peter Petruski
3 Bullseye, Assassin for Hire
2 Venom, Mac Gargan
3 Carnage, Psychopath
Plot Twists (23)
4 Flying Kick
4 Nasty Surprise
3 Planet of the Symbiotes
4 Justice Is Served!
4 Legion of Losers
3 Spider Hunt
Locations (3)
3 Hidden Cache
Equipment (2)
2 Dual Sidearms
In the End
Adapting a deck from one format to another is often a viable strategy. Sometimes it pans out, and sometimes it doesn’t. The first step will always be to cut out the cards that are illegal in the format to which you’re adapting, but one of the most important things to remember is to maintain the deck’s overall theme. This is an ongoing process. Every time you play a game, you need to look at which cards worked well for you and which cards were less than stellar. If you can identify cards that are legal for the format of your choice but are not doing the work you want them to, you are definitely on the right track. After you have found these cards, remember your theme when determining what you will replace them with, and you should have the tools necessary to take a strong deck to any format of your choosing.
Shane Wiggans, one of the nicest guys with a tattoo sleeve, is also a member of Team Alternate Win Condition and is excited to take the Sinister 60 to a City Championship near you! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to say hey at any event or email him at piercedlawyer@yahoo.com.