Comic book racks bulge with Civil War. “JSA won the crisis,” a voice recounts. Super hero toys pose for retail, and there is a constant jingle of little metal bells dangling from atop my local game store entrance. As one moves toward the back of the building, there are two hand-painted signs distinguishing a pair of similar wooden doors; “Heroes” and “Villains” supplant the traditional male and female stick figures. (My girl never knows what to choose. I use both.) The bathroom walls read like a teenage dream, offering the upcoming Vs. System Marvel Knights expansion, action figures based on “Hush,” and posters of attractive female comic icons. Used industry rags from the past routinely predict the present, offering comic title previews that have already been viewed. Too lazy to recycle, we use permanent marker to scribe the repetitions of diminishing 50-counts during our Hobby League games—there’s never a clean piece of paper in the joint. There are single copies of mixed rare cards in a binder labeled “For Trade or Sale,” and glass counters encase foil copies of the most desirable finds to escape the prisons we call packs.
About a year earlier, the owner knocked out the back wall, offering players a larger space in which to play and a shot at landing more frequent Sneak Preview events. Instead of seating fifteen gamers, it fits all thirty of us rather comfortably now. There are still pipes looming down from the ceiling, and unfinished drywall reminds us of the effort it took to accommodate the extra tables.
There are random dice under the tables, broken pencils and empty pens strewn about, and the occasional glass cosmic counter that slipped into the concealed crack of one of the comfortable chairs. Fantastic Sams, a hair salon, went out of business and left all of the blue professional chairs by the dumpsters behind the game shop. We dragged those babies in to replace the hard metal frames of card table seats and those flimsy, plastic lawn chairs that have become too popular. One chair has a metal footrest and can be raised over two feet, while another looks like Captain Kirk’s command chair on the Enterprise. There are two chairs that are in a permanent recline, originally for the purpose of allowing one to relax while getting one’s hair shampooed. The loser of each match gets demoted to the “hair wash” chairs, while the winningest Hobby Leaguer guides the gaming ship where no Vs. player has ever gone before.
I love game stores. They offer hobby temptations, a variety of products, and a shot of victory. At any given time, you might happen into a conversation pitting the DC universe against Marvel, a heartfelt critique of the acting in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or a presentation of the most accurate historical accounts of fantastic things that never happened. I like the busy feel and the overwhelming sensation of all the colors, figures, and strange characters that frequent the establishment. I like the steadfast nature of the men and women who work the registers and act as comic world librarians, able to search the comic card catalogues to find the specific issue where Aunt May went cosmic.
My local game store is like a hilarious, dreamlike home away from home. The people that play and work there are my extended family, and I wouldn’t trade ’em for any other group of people. I like looking at the way different players organize their collections, watching people’s crazy ideas come to life, and hearing the background stories surrounding their best and worst card-flipping moments. Everyone has his or her niche. We have a guy that only plays DC cards and a guy that only collects Marvel cards, a guy collecting every Extended Art card ever made, and another guy with a binder full of the spooky Valeria Richards with Doom in her eyes. Some guys are pro players and some guys are pro pizza makers, but we all get together once a week to battle.
The Adam Prosak of Sneak Previews
My niche is an obsession with Sneak Preview play. I love the time when new sets drop. I like having my teammates post crazy new combos and infinite loops they cracked while fighting insomnia, and I like the feeling of anticipation I get when I rip into packs with almost entirely novel content. I spend days reading the preview card write-ups and looking back through my collection to break open new deck ideas. I like sneaking a peek at the FAQ released the night or two before the set. My homework is usually done come game time, and it pays. Vidi wins Pro Circuit trophies, and I win playmats. I am the Adam Prosak of the Sneak Preview. He has won the most $10K Championship events (a fairly impressive task), but I have secured victory in every Sneak Preview tournament I’ve attended since Marvel Knights.
I accept my lot in life. I would like to be a Pro Circuit Champion, but there are a few of “them” and so many more of “us.” We are the weekend warriors battling for pride. I don’t know if it’s luck, or possibly the fact that I am a real man of genius, but I always do well in the Sneak Preview tournaments. Rather than horde my Sneak Preview winning secrets, I am prepared to divulge many of my tactics in this article.
The first step to successful Sneak Preview play is research. The preview cards are just the beginning of your obligation. Not only should you scour the internet for information about those upcoming cards, but it also pays to check out the set release FAQ and rules updates in the UDE tournament section. I typically print a copy off and read through the new keywords and card text in the “little villains” room. There have been many occasions when familiarity with rules changes and new keywords has given me an edge in card evaluation after opening my Sealed Packs.
When building, I typically look for plot twists that either add to the ATK or DEF of a character in combat, or KO an opponent’s character. There are wide exceptions to this rule, but the KISS rule (Keep It Simple, Stupid) works well during the Sneak Preview. I have built some complicated decks that fell on their faces, but I have had some great success with simple, combat-oriented builds. There is no defined Sneak Preview metagame. Therefore, I default to a combat-focused curve deck.
Another technique that is vital to taking home that chase Extended Art and sweet, sweet playmat is as follows: Read . . . the . . . card! Read the card. Read it again. Read it again. Read it before you play it. Read it after you play it. Read it before your opponent plays it. Read it between matches. More games are won and lost on the back of reading comprehension than could ever be estimated. I have watched players attempt stylish moves with complex cards only to turn them face down. I have seen players attack into DEFs too large to stun and have seen those same players stun their own characters. A little time spent reading the cards will serve you well.
My final hint at Sneak Preview tournament domination is to explore the Constructed themes and keywords developed for the new set. If you see that the keyword cosmic is making a comeback, then you might want to try it out. The set designers tend to make the new set keywords both innovative (read: fun) and important (read: powerful).
The Kingpin’s Pick for Sneak Preview Bombs
I rode the back of some powerful cards to playmat-obtaining victory during my last Sneak Preview. The set is outstanding and contains great hidden characters, the Ego Gem, and awesome backup abilities. I ran a Marvel Defenders / Underworld team-up deck that abused the backup abilities of the Defenders with the power-ups and trickery of the Underworld. The deck was a card drawing and pitching machine with Ego Gem and characters like Luke Cage, Neighborhood Watch; Queen Lilith; and Blade, Nightstalker. I typically aimed at filling my KO’d pile with characters in the early game in order to turn on the Surtur’s Anvil and my shiny rare Blackheart, Black King.
I had a myriad of pumps—including Zzzax Attax!, Rabbit Fire, and Gotcha!—paired with huge 5-drop characters like the new Hulk, Grumpy Green Goliath and the dual loyalty Hellstorm. Did I mention that Ego Gem fits nicely on a certain Green Giant? The deck played a game of improving characters by using activated effects of lower-cost characters (like Hellcat and Tania Belinskya ◊ Red Guardian), hid out in the concealed area, and basically wrapped up with devastating board-clearing attacks on turn 6 with the Kingpin’s favorite new Sealed card: Madelyne Pryor, Goblyn Queen. She has great stats, flight, range, and one of the most outstanding cosmic abilities ever—she can clear an entire board of stunned characters. This card seems very strong, and served as the ultimate ender in most of my matches. After making some well-planned attacks, the deck would KO a board full of opposing characters while leaving me relatively untouched.
It has been a while since I built an effective deck that wanted to dominate Sneak Preview play on the even initiative. I commend the R&D guys for making this set. It offers depth, is very fun to play, and gave me the chance to continue my quest of becoming the first Vs. player ever to win 25 consecutive Sneak Preview events. Now, if I could only Top 8 in a $10K or PC, that would buy baby a new pair of shoes . . .
Class dismissed.
Jeremy “Kingpin” Blair (7-drop, TAWC) is a card flipper and student of the game from the southeastern part of the United States. Although the Kingpin was rejected in his application to be Tony Stark’s newest protege, you may contact him if you have constructive comments or questions. Thanks for all of the recent comments and mail; look forward to seeing the answers to your questions in an upcoming lesson.