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Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero

Batman, Earth 2

Madame Xanadu, Cartomancer

Dr. Fate, Lord of Order

T-Spheres

Manitou Dawn, Spirit Shaman

Blue Devil, Dan Cassidy

Blackbriar Thorn, Druid of Cymru

Rose Psychic, Ghost Detective

Dr Occult, Richard Occult

Blue Devil, Big Blue

Black Alice, Lori Zechlin

Zatanna, Showstopper

Abjuration

Mystical Binding

Stepping Between Worlds

Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

Harry Stein, King in Check

Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype

Brother I Satellite

Secret Checkmate HQ

Traitor to the Cause

Count Vertigo, Werner Vertigo

Alexander Luthor, Duplicitous Doppelganger

Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature

Zazzala ◊ Queen Bee, Mistress of the Hive

Bizarro, ME AM BIZZARO #1

Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard

Talia, Daughter of Madness

The Calculator, Crime Broker

Fiddler, Isaac Bowen

Animal Man, Buddy Baker

Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue

Kilowog, Drill Sergeant

Pariah, Herald of Doom

Scandal, Savage Spawn

Harbinger, Multiverse Messenger

Forbidden Loyalties, Team-Up

Looking over the JSA, I found myself fairly happy. I had several excellent 1-drops if I needed them, and I also had my favorite 2-drop in the whole set, Kate Spencer ◊ Manhunter, Fearless Renegade. More importantly I had numerous playable 3s and 4s, as well as a decent 5-drop in Wonder Woman, Earth 2. Power Girl, Earth 2 is one of the better 6-drops in Sealed Pack, as she can break open a late game or even substitute as a 7-drop in a pinch. I also had two other very playable 7-drops, and I had access to the powerful T-Spheres. All in all, the JSA would easily be able to provide the backbone of a strong curve deck, and they even offered off-curve options to boot.

Superficially, the Shadowpact cards seem fine. However, by this stage of the Sneak Preview, I had really gone cold on Shadowpact. I was far from dismissing the affiliation as useless (that is an almost ignorant thing to do), but cards like Manitou Dawn, Spirit Shaman, Rose Psychic, Ghost Detective, Dr. Occult, Richard Occult, and Zatanna, Showstopper didn’t really impress me as Sealed cards. I could see them being powerful in Draft with some focus in a deck, but overall they didn’t really do much unless the themes of the team, such as being under 25 endurance (which is already risky), were firing. Generally I think the Blue Devils are quite good in Sealed, where size is paramount, but overall I just wasn’t hot on Shadowpact. This is something of a shame because their plot twists tend to be very good, with game-winners in Abjuration and Mystical Binding. Still, I wasn’t going to touch Shadowpact unless the other teams I had fell short of the mark.

Fortunately, Checkmate held a few options. I don’t mind Retrieval Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army at all, finding that the potential of such abilities often acts as enough of a deterrent that you often effectively have a 3 ATK / 3 DEF to begin with. If you only ever have to pitch one card, he seems fine, as in curve decks where you often have a few cards lying around (the choice of what to discard is much easier later in the game when you are drawing dead drops). Double Sasha Bordeaux, Knight is very good. The 3-drops are ok. Even if I am loathe to play 4 ATK / 5 DEF characters at that slot, Graziella Reza, Knight looks as though she might be able to make it to 5 ATK / 5 DEF in this deck. While Harry Stein, King in Check is a bit of a risky proposition, Valentina Vostok ◊ Negative Woman, Bishop is excellent, with an ability that directly counteracts the cost of exhausting a 4-drop. Annihilation Protocol ◊ OMAC Robot, Army is a powerful Sealed card, though I am distinctly unimpressed by Sasha Bordeaux, Autonomous Prototype. In the non-character department, things don’t really get much better than Brother I Satellite. If we have a good chance of having a Checkmate character at most of the early drops, which it looks like we do, this card single-handedly will double the chances of us playing this affiliation in an on-curve deck, as it effectively gives us an extra character at each drop. If we are going to be heavily Checkmate, Secret Checkmate HQ seems ok.

The Villains United pickings look pretty slim. Utility 1-drops are not really my style, as I feel that you only get a very small window in which to draw them (i.e., the first six cards) before they become dead cards. Dr. Polaris, Force of Nature, Talia, Daughter of Madness, and The Calculator, Crime Broker are also cards I don’t think stand up to four rounds of tussling on the curve. Considering we only have a few cards left, the Villains United plot twists seem like a waste of time, although it is something of a shame to let Systematic Torture go. Bizarro and Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard are good enough characters to make any deck that needs some help at those slots, but that is about it for Villains United.

Generally, the members of the non-core teams are decent. After having two bad experiences with Kilowog, Drill Sergeant, the guys I thought playable were Catman, Thomas Blake, Animal Man, Buddy Baker, Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue, Scandal, Savage Spawn, and Harbinger, Multiverse Messenger. Ragdoll is the only character who is at a level good enough where you might think about displacing a guy in one of your major teams, but the others could serve as fine filler if need be. My generic plot twists, equipment, and locations seemed a bit dry, but I was very grateful to have two generic Team-Ups this time around in Checkmate Safe House and Forbidden Loyalties, Team-Up. Laser Watch and I Still Hate Magic! are automatic inclusions in any deck, and for a curve deck, Revitalize can be very good at blunting an opposing initiative or simply maintaining a character advantage. I am a fan of Relentless Pursuit in this format, even if it seems a bit underpowered. Burning Gaze and Return Fire! are both generally average cards, but they could make the final cut if I couldn’t find anything better.

There doesn’t seem to be any reason to go anyway else besides a Checkmate/JSA curve deck. There are several appealing things about a Checkmate/JSA build to me, such as a character search card in Brother I Satellite, decent characters early on that are in-team, and access to cards that can break the late-game open like Power Girl, Earth 2 and Alan Scott ◊ Sentinel, Golden Age Guardian. Here is the skeleton of the deck:

Characters

2 Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

Batman, Earth 2

Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero

Plot Twists

Locations

Equipment

This build already seems pretty good, though it is patchy in places. Fortunately, we do have several guys on the bench who can easily make it onto the team. Specifically, it looks like we need two extra 4-drops, an extra 5-drop, and an extra 6-drop. The spare 4-drops are so good that I think I may have gone a little crazy here. Now while Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1 is definitely in the deck, being able to cover the 4- and 5-slot (as well as easily swinging up the curve when I hit him as my turn 4), Animal Man, Buddy Baker and Ragdoll, Resilient Rogue are also very good. In the end, I made a decision to go with the biggest fliers I could, so I put in Animal Man and Bizarro at the expense of the in-team Batman, Earth 2. I felt that with so much flexibility, I would rather have the largest characters who could take advantage of a multitude of board positions than play a guy with a fairly weak ability and no access to the back row. Ragdoll was left out for similar reasons, as I wanted to take the game by the scruff of the neck early, and not just hang on. The extra 5-drop was a pretty easy choice in Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard, and I wasn’t too concerned about having to run Scandal, Savage Spawn, as my only other option was Zatanna, Showstopper, who I cannot abide.

After all those changes, I was left with this:

Characters

2 Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1

Animal Man, Buddy Baker

Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero

Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard

Scandal, Savage Spawn

Plot Twists

Locations

Equipment

It was pretty easy to fill in the rest of the non-character slots. All I had to do was decide whether or not Secret Checkmate HQ was worth my time. In the end, I decided that it wasn’t, as I wasn’t sure I could always team-up Checkmate with the right team considering the splash I had made in the middle of the deck. I wasn’t prepared to give those characters up for an effect I think greatly overrated (i.e., insurance on stunning back). That left me with the filler plot twists mentioned earlier. It may surprise some of you that I went with Return Fire! over something like Secret Checkmate HQ. I am a big fan of surprise burn, even awkward-to-use burn like a non-Villains United use of Return Fire!, as many Sealed games end with players being ultra-conservative to ensure victory. Often a 6-point endurance loss is enough to push the game just that little bit you need to win.

So, the final deck:

Characters

2 Sasha Bordeaux, Knight

Bizarro, ME AM BIZARRO #1

Animal Man, Buddy Baker

Katar Hol ◊ Hawkman, Eternal Hero

Mr. Freeze, Brutal Blizzard

Scandal, Savage Spawn