Omni-impotence

Hargh. Just received 3 copies of Omnipotence in the mail Friday (didn’t want to bother buying the Galactus Raid box), stuffed them into my Illuminati deck, and realized… I lock out the card that I name for everyone, not just my opponents. Which resulted in me crippling myself and one of my teammates in a 3-on-3 multiplayer VS brawl.

See, there was another Illuminati player on the opposing side, my friend Ben, and I was concerned that he would make things difficult for my team unless I could nullify him completely. So I got the Infinity Gauntlet online by turn 5 during my team’s initiative, and, worried that hitting him with the glove would get negated, named Pathetic Attempt with Omnipotence before firing the glove.

Ultra bad idea.

I got the glove off, all right, but by naming Pathetic Attempt, I had made myself and my teammate Rey helpless against the opposing targeted effects that blunted my glove usage, exhausted certain of our characters, and in the end allowed Ben to get his revenge on me by gloving me when he had the initiative.

The ironic thing is that I don’t think Ben played Pathetic Attempt in his Illuminati build, which means I could have used the Omnipotence on something much more useful instead of shutting down my team’s negation capability. I had 3 Pathetic Attempts in my hand that would have saved my team a whole lot of grief if I had been able to play them.

Hahahaha. Oh well, that’s what I get for not reading the card. Chalk it up to casual play experience.

DCU Fantasy Card Previews: Tom Bronson, Wildcat & Rope-A-Dope

With the future of DC VS still hanging precariously from the ledge of license renewal, a stalwart group of VS enthusiasts have taken the initiative to cobble together a DC Universe set for us to enjoy, as well as keep our mouths watering for the myriad of possibilities available should such a set cross over into reality. Always eager to help out the global VS community, I signed up for, and was provided with, a couple of DCU preview cards for one of the designer’s favorite teams, the Justice Society of America.

Introduced in the Identity Crisis expansion, the JSA have been renowned for their extensive usage of three game mechanics or themes:  (a) gaining benefits from controlling exhausted characters, (b) attacking characters with greater cost than the attacker, and (c) exploitation of the Identity characteristic.  The new DCU Justice Society, while presumably retaining these team strengths, also seeks to take advantage of the new Rally keyword, which has been proven to have excellent synergy with Reservist decks, due to the higher-than-average character card count in these decks.

While this all seems to make for a very complicated new incarnation of the JSA, the actual cards aren’t quite so difficult to utilize.  Case in point?  The latest character to adorn the Wildcat mantle, Tom Bronson:

Tom Bronson is fairly straightforward as far as characters go, providing your characters with the ability to attack hidden characters for the turn, which is extremely valuable in today’s hidden-heavy environment.  Curiously, he isn’t a Reservist.  Nonetheless, he works fine as a silver bullet to fight opponents to like to park everyone in the hidden area in the hopes of swinging back monstrously every turn.  Given the JSA’s propensity for slapping higher drops around, you probably won’t mind playing Tom Bronson as an under-drop in conjunction with other small drops.

Tom’s most significant trait, it seems, is the fact that he sports the Wildcat Identity.  We’ve seen Legend cards already (the Flash) that key off an Identity rather than a name, and with no less than four characters in the past having assumed the persona of Wildcat, it’s only proper that we receive some Wildcat Identity Legend cards:

Rope-A-Dope has a somewhat inconvenient cost, given that the characters we’ve seen so far are not all Reservists (including Tom over here), so whether the JSA can run with an all-Reservist build remains to be seen.  It’s a mediocre effect in general, a small ATK boost on either side of combat, but if that character just happens to have the Wildcat Identity, then it becomes a much heftier pump of +4 ATK on the attack or defense, enough to stun up at least one spot on the curve.  If new cards exist that allow you to provide Identities of your choice to your characters, this card becomes a +4 ATK for just about anyone, at practically any time.

I realize this is up kind of early (my preview date was July 25) but I may not have access to my computer on Friday due to work reasons, and I suppose it doesn’t hurt so much to have little presents like these two cards come in a few days ahead of schedule.

Stay tuned at dcupreviews.wordpress.com for more brilliant DCU previews!

Across the Universe: A MUN Set Review, Part 10 (with Negative Zone discussion)

Wow, Part 10 already and we’re still plodding through the ginormity of the MUN expansion. Having cleared all the major (and arguably standalone) teams of the set, we have finally arrived at one of the more interesting and highly-anticipated minor teams, the Negative Zone, one that has been around since the first VS basic set but never really received any attention due to a severe lack of representation, until now. The Negative Zone’s greatest threat in recent memory has been the Annihilation Wave, led by that impervious insect himself, Annihilus, so it makes sense for him to be the Legend of the team, with all the fearsome abilities that Legend status implies.

Even with the significant boost in Negative Zone cards available for play, we may not have enough for a good standalone team build, so we’ll be looking outside the team for some reinforcements for the armies of Annihilus. But first, the MUN Negative Zone cards:

Card Name: Annihilus, Anti-Matter Master
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 10/9
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
When Annihilus enters play, if Negative Zone is not in play, exhaust him.
{Activate} {>} Stun target hidden character. Use only during your attack step.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-206

Lorenzo: The first new incarnation of Annihilus is a fine-sized 5-drop that suffers from the drawback of getting exhausted upon entering play if no Negative Zone is in play (this includes your opponent’s resource row). Not as painful as other Negative Zone character penalties, but still stifling enough to make you worry about putting this guy in without a Negative Zone around. For the risk involved in recruiting him, 2 out of 5.

Fred: In Constructed, players wouldn’t play him without a fair number of Negative Zone location cards, so what we’re really looking at is that direct-stun ability, which is excellent for dealing with all those pesky hidden characters that ruin your day and doesn’t care how big the target is. Against a fully visible board he’s still got decent stats, and there are ways to dump characters into the hidden area anyway. Plus, he’s Annihilus, so he enables those evil Annihilus Legend cards. 4 out of 5 if you’re in the Zone.

Card Name: Annihilus, The Living Death That Walks
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone
Cost: 8
Atk/Def: 20/20
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
At the start of the combat phase, KO up to X target resources, where X is the number of Negative Zone locations in play.
Flavor Text:“I am Annihilus. My name means death!”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-207

Lorenzo: Oh look, it’s Apocalypse from MOR with a twist. The 8-drop Annihilus weighs in as far as 8-drops go, although his ability kicks in a bit late in Limited to really be of much use. If you’re geared to reach turn 8, though, he’s still a huge body, and he doesn’t suffer any drawback from Negative Zone not being in play. 2 out of 5, since he’s an 8-drop.

Fred: If you’re fighting a stall/control deck, Annihilus seals the deal for you by knocking out your opponent’s resources if you’ve got the Negative Zones to power his rampage. Hopefully you’ll have gotten at least 4 Negative Zones under your control, which will wipe out your opponent’s resources and his chances of winning the game with some game-ender like Galactus or Imperiex. As far as 8-drops go for their respective teams, he’s a walking win condition. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Blastaar, The Living Bomb Burst
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone/United Front
Cost: 7
Atk/Def: 15/16
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
When Blastaar enters play, if Negative Zone is not in play, exhaust him.
{Activate} {>} Stun target visible character. Use only during your attack step.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-208

Lorenzo: Since the grand majority of characters, particularly those of higher cost, are visible, Blastaar can reliably stun any of them without fear if you’ve got the initiative. He’s really there to make your attack step relatively painless, so even if you end up trading stuns with all your other drops you’ll come out ahead, but if you manage to reach turn 8 on your initiative and your opponent’s got an 8-drop, then you’ve got the advantage. I’d say 3 out of 5, since it’s a solid ability, but not one you’d use all the time.

Fred: Blastaar and 5-drop Annihilus function like their MOR counterparts to trap one pesky character so that he gets blasted no matter where he is. Though one of the two stuns in MOR could be avoided with some thoughtful formation, this new Negative Zone duo can reliably pick off two characters on turn 7 with the help of the Negative Zones from MHG and MUN (the new Prison Alpha). Make sure you’ve got odd initiatives. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: The Centurians, Army
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 9/5
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
At the start of the combat phase, if Negative Zone is not in play, discard a card.
The Centurians cannot be stunned while attacking.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-209

Lorenzo: Stunnable by lower drops on defense, and capable of stunning 5-drops on offense without fearing a stunback, the Centurians seem like something of a win-lose deal, but regardless of who has the initiative, as long as you haven’t been overwhelmed in the first few turns, they put you in a decent position. If you’ve got evens, they attack the 4-drop without fear, and your 3-drops trade stuns, leaving you with one less stunned character. If you’ve got odds, you can attack the opposing 5-drop with the Centurians, then have your 5-drop attack down into the 4-drop, with (hopefully) no stuns to the opponent’s 2. The card discard is a bit of a hassle, though, so you’d better be packing N-Zones when you play them. 3 out of 5.

Fred: With the power of the various Negative Zones at your command, the Centurians are an unstunnable attack force that help preserve your board advantage, and can be hidden away by the MHG Negative Zone or Prison Alpha to inflict pain turn after turn with impunity. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Currs, Army
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: 2/0
Abilities:
Rules Text:
At the start of the combat phase, if Currs is in your KO’d pile and you control Annihilus, you may discard a card. If you do, put Currs into play.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-210

Lorenzo: Eh. 1-drop that’s nothing special and key’s off Annihilus, so practically Legend suite. 1 out of 5.

Fred: And there’s too much discarding going on with the Negative Zone already. 1 out of 5.

Card Name: Ravenous, Steward of Annihilus
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: 13/11
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
When Ravenous enters play, you may replace target face-up resource and gain endurance equal to its cost.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-211

Lorenzo: A free Have a Blast! and some endurance gain to boot? Not bad. Worst case scenario you can use the ability on your own resources to gain some endurance back and hopefully draw into something more useful. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Though he’s a blank box after his effect resolves, it’s a pretty strong effect that isn’t susceptible to Omnipotence. Good splash for other builds, and he’s a decent addition to the Negative Zone forces. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Seekers, Army
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 5/4
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
When Seekers enters play, rally for a card with “Negative Zone” or [Negative Zone] in its name, affiliation, or game text.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-212

Lorenzo: Though rally has proven to be a fun and potent mechanic, “Negative Zone” is a little narrow to reliably exploit in a Limited setting, given the relative lack of Negative Zone cards in the set. 2 out of 5.

Fred: Negative Zone is always scrambling for extra cards in hand due to its hefty discard requirements for flipping N-Zones. What the Seekers provide isn’t much, though. You’re better off with something that can reliably draw you cards every turn. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Skreet, Chaos Mite
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone/Underworld
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 2/3
Abilities: Flight
Rules Text:
Whenever Skreet becomes stunned while visible, move her to your hidden area, and target opponent loses 4 endurance.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-213

Lorenzo: Skreet’s an average 2-drop with a 4-endurance burn effect that will only trigger once in practically every game. Not really abuseable in Limited. 2 out of 5.

Fred: There are a number of teams that can shunt Skreet into the visible area every turn, which may work to your advantage as the 4 endurance loss can add up if she manages to stay in the field for a few turns. Worst case scenario, she’s the ready N-Zone character that you can have sit back in the hidden area to trigger the effects of the N-Zone Gateway. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Thanos, The Mad Titan
Type: Character
Affiliation: Negative Zone/Underworld
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 5/4
Abilities:
Rules Text:
{Activate} {>} Put target character or location card from your KO’d pile face-down into your resource row. If you do, KO a resource you control. Use only once per turn.
Flavor Text:“Thanos serves no master. Be comforted that our goals are the same, for now.”
Rarity: Rare

Lorenzo: Returning locations and characters from your KO pile is nifty, although those characters had better be Reservists or they’re stuck as dead resources. Thanos’ value is somewhat dubious in Limited. 3 out of 5.

Fred: I realize people are raving about Thanos, but I honestly don’t see it. The synergy is there, true, with the discarded N-Zones making their way back into your resource row, but Thanos neither searches your deck for N-Zones nor makes them easier to play. He’s no Ahmed Samsarra for Negative Zone, for certain.  A case could be made for helping him fix your resource row later on for the N-Zone dependent cards, but it’s still a narrow application.  2 out of 5.

Card Name: Cosmic Control Rod, Unique
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Equip only to Annihilus. Equipped character has invulnerability.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-215

Lorenzo: Invulnerability? That’s it? Not to knock all the endurance loss you’ll save, but it seems somewhat out of theme.  And it’s Annihilus Legend Suite, too.  1 out of 5.

Fred: The Rod will possibly save you about 5-10 endurance on the average, but is that enough to merit inclusion in a Negative Zone deck, to say nothing of including various effects to search for it to equip on Annihilus?  I’d have to say no.  2 out of 5.

Card Name: Negative Zone, Non-Unique – Gateway
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To flip, discard two cards.
At the start of the recovery phase, if you control a ready [Negative Zone] character, KO all stunned non-[Negative Zone] characters.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-216

Lorenzo: The discard cost is rather steep, and the effect trigger condition tough to fulfill.  Also, if you don’t get the team-ups you need, you may end up KOing your own.  1 out of 5.

Fred: Skreet will probably help trigger this wicked location, that effectively amounts to a KO for all of your opponent’s stunned characters, recovery effects aside.  The hefty cost of opening the Gateway is more than offset by its incredible benefit.  4 out of 5.

Card Name: Negative Zone, Non-Unique – Harvester of Sorrows
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To flip, discard a card.
At the start of your recovery phase, gain 1 endurance for each stunned opposing character in play.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-217

Lorenzo: A little bit of endurance every turn is nice, and the effect stacks, so a couple of these could be gaining you 2-3 endurance during each recovery phase.  Still, its dependence on your opponent’s numbers makes it an impractical strategy upon which to rely.  2 out of 5.

Neeka: This is monstrous in multiplayer. 

Fred: Perhaps the weakest of the Negative Zones, it will most probably be included anyway due to the need to bolster the Negative Zone count in the deck.  2 out of 5.

Card Name: Negative Zone, Non-Unique – Seat of Annihilation
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To flip, discard a card.
At the start of the recovery phase, draw a card if an opponent controls more stunned characters than you do.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-218

Lorenzo: The condition for drawing a card with this N-Zone is difficult to fulfill when you’re not completely in control of what your drops and/or strategy will be.  2 out of 5.

Fred: Since one of the Negative Zone’s themes is to stay ahead of the opposition by using non-combat stuns and an unstunnable character, this will more than likely net you a few cards over the course of the game, and its effect stacks with multiple Seats.  3 out of 5.

Card Name: Gift for Death
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, discard three cards.
KO target stunned character.
Boost: Exhaust a Thanos you control: Draw three cards.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-219

Lorenzo: Awfully high cost for a KO effect.  Not worth it in Limited.  1 out of 5.

Fred: This may see some use in an Underworld deck that utilizes Thanos.  In Negative Zone, a team that tosses a lot of cards already, this is too expensive.  2 out of 5.

Card Name: Swarm of Annihilus
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control Annihilus.
Stun target character with cost less than or equal to the number of Negative Locations in play.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-220

Lorenzo: Annihilus Legend suite.  1 out of 5.

Fred: Off-initiative stuns are always powerful.  The fact that this can possibly stun the largest character on your opponent’s side (if your resource row is all N-Zone) makes it extremely enticing.  If it even takes out a 3-drop, it’s at least as good as Starbolts or Batwoman, with the potential to be much more.  4 out of 5.

Card Name: Wave of Destruction
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control Annihilus.
To play, pay X endurance. Replace X target face-up resources.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-221

Lorenzo: Annihilus Legend suite, but if you’re planning to slip him into your deck anyway, this is one of the easier Legend cards to play, with a truly catastrophic (for your opponent) effect.  2 out of 5.

Fred: Easier to use and more devastating than many other resource destruction cards out there, Wave of Destruction allows you to scrub your opponent’s resource row clean of team-ups, annoying locations and pesky ongoing plot twists, and for a little more endurance, helps you cycle through your own resource row as well to discard used twists.  The endurance loss amounts to just 1 endurance per resource replaced, which is an excellent trade-off.  4 out of 5.

Upon examining the cards available to the N-Zone, it becomes clear that they probably need to be teamed with a team that (a) can manipulate locations and fix the resource row, (b) draw extra cards or not mind losing cards to the KO pile, and/or (c) stun opposing characters without much stunback.  Whom does the Annihilation Wave turn to for the alliance proposal?

Checkmate: Perhaps the premier team for boosting other teams, the Checkmate machinery, courtesy of Ahmed Samsarra, helps shuttle N-Zones into the resource row consistently and can make use of Rook Control to keep characters like Annihilus and the Centurians safe during off-initiative turns.  Since most Negative Zones function without having to be activated, they can be exhausted to power a Huntress discard or a Target Acquired.

League of Assassins: Another team renowned for location manipulation, but not quite as strong as Checkmate since they lack a Samsarra-like searcher, and must litter the resource row with more LoA locations as opposed to Negative Zones for full effect.

Inhumans: The N-Zone already has a couple of characters from MHG that are dual-affiliated with the Negative Zone, and San can search for N-Zones when he comes into play.  Like LoA, however, it will be harder to set up the resource row.

Underworld: The discard of cards that you want in the KO pile anyway to flip N-Zones has good synergy with the tactics of Underworld, and the team also has a couple of N-Zone double agents (Skreet and Thanos).  It may be essential to play Umar to keep the card hand size up.

Marvel Knights: Ghost Rider can utilize Chains of Vengeance to stun additional characters after combat, and the new Blade is an excellent partner for either Annihilus or Blastaar.

Whew.  I’ll see if I can add to this in my next post, as well as take a look at a couple of N-Zone builds.

Random Ramblings: Clandestine Operations

Writing Part 10 of the MUN Set review has been plenty exhausting, given that I’ve written 9 other parts and the momentum I achieved earlier is starting to wane. Not to mention, between my grandfather’s passing, my visiting relatives from the U.S., and my poor health as of late, I just haven’t been able to concentrate on this blog and give it the attention that I should.

But then, I figure not every post has to be a full-blown article about something. So I thought it would be fun to just blab about what is becoming one of the most intriguing cards of the MUN expansion, Clandestine Operations.

It has been discussed before in other blogs of greater renown that Clan Ops is an instrumental element of the Illuminati puzzle, giving you some much-needed breathing space to stall into the later turns where you take control of the game. Of this I have no doubt, although I have yet to test out its actual effectiveness, seeing as I only recently snagged a copy of the card, with a couple more or so arriving at my doorstep in the next week or so.

The exhaustion of opposing characters every turn without having to devote resources or character powers to it is a fantastic stall mechanism, practically ensuring that, with proper combat management, you won’t see a turn where you will be overwhelmed by a bunch of characters popping in to kick your butt. As the elite VS player Patrick Yapjoco was kind enough to share, even without the rest of the Illuminati tricks, Clan Ops is worth building a deck around. But what teams, or legends, would have the best synergy with Marvel’s own “Secret Six” and their covert plottings?

Doom: Captain Spud of The Lost Hemisphere has cobbled together a build that uses the Illuminati as a supplement to Dr. Doom (just the way Doom would have wanted it, haha), whose stall/control capabilities are legendary. Mystical Paralysis and Doom’s own plot twist recursion/shutdown go hand-in-hand with Clan Ops and the Infinity Watch Iron Man. I don’t need to wax further about its potential, which has been adequately covered by Captain Spud’s Illuminati article.

Inhumans: Black Bolt is an Inhuman, and his team has plenty of exhaust/non-readying capability, so this seems like a good fit. Waking the Ancestors, Jolen and Nahrees keep people tired, Medusa strangles them further and makes sure no exhausted payment power shenanigans occur, and Gorgon stops readying altogether. From that point you can play the 8-drop of your choice, though 7-drop Starfire works just as well to stun all the opposition. Galactus at 9 for the win! At the 5-drop slot, Iron Man seems fine to keep characters locked down in conjunction with Nahrees, with the 5-drop Mr. Fantastic as a backup since he’s Inhuman and can be searched out easily enough.

Spider-Friends: Spectacular Spider-Man helps you out against the lower drops with his ability and Gift Wrapped, leaving the higher drops to Iron Man until he comes back at turn 7 to lock down bigger opposing characters. Sentry and Galactus finish things off.

Heralds of Galactus: More exhaustion tech from Air Walker and I Must Obey, and the mass card draw of the Heralds gets you to your key cards quickly. Red Shift has decent synergy with Clan Ops. Life gain elements also make it easier to survive to the later turns. Galactus cleans up on turn 9, of course.

Warbound: The Great Arena is a fine stall card, and though Hulk Red won’t be of much use, Strongest One There Is, Bloodsport and Hulk, Green Scar should make short work of incoming attackers. You can use an aggro-control variant to take potshots at opponents when you see an opening.

Argh. I’m tired now so I’ll stop here, but I’m certain there are many other teams and combinations out there that we have yet to consider.

MUN Building: First Impressions – Philippines

Well, the first few boxes of MUN have managed to trickle into our shores here at the Archipelago, and of course people are trying to build formidable new decks out of what’s available. The major obstacle here is that “what’s available” amounts to about a case and a half for the entire Philippine VS population thus far, making deck construction an exercise in compromise (if not frustration). What really compounds matters is the fact of MUN being an oversized set in which even uncommon playsets are difficult to assemble. Out of 3 boxes, I’ve yet to pull even one copy of certain uncommons.

As such, building a deck like, say, the Illuminati is practically impossible. I’ve only got one copy of the Gauntlet and one Elektra Situation, and no Clandestine Operations (which are key to playing the stall game). I’ve only got two Secret Governments as well, and have been forced to turn to other less desirable methods of securing my drops. Warbound, with its rare-heavy battle complement, is also proving to be tough to construct. Savage Beatdown is a monstrous card, but it feels somewhat lacking in comparison to Hulk Smash! and Trouble With Dinosaurs, both of which go for at least US$25 each according to local price guide averages. More luck may be had with the S.H.I.E.L.D. characters (both the main team and the Thunderbolts), though the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are hard to collect and Radioactive Man 3 is nowhere to be found. New Avengers Reservist is the most feasible option at the moment for anyone wanting a playable MUN deck, with only the 2-drop Dr. Strange being the difficult component to hunt down, and Avengers Reassembled not that essential to the team’s success. Crime Lords follows closely, with the uncommons being a little difficult to pin down. Surprisingly, I got enough Negative Zone characters to slap together a viable deck, but none of the Annihilus legendary stuff that would make it even Hobby League competitive. Pulling a rare 8-drop or 9-drop is a pain, as usual, although it stings much more right now due to the sheer number of other good rares it could have been.

Well, three boxes in and it’s an awesome set with too few of the really good cards to do much more than cobble together some awkward team-up decks or play teams with a lot of poor substitutes. Seems everyone is building Avengers Reservist, Thunderbolts Radio and S.H.I.E.L.D. army, as these seem to be the least rare-heavy of the archetypes. Crime Lords not receiving quite as much love, but could be the sleeper hit. Heh. It’ll be some time before the Illuminati or that wild Carrying the Torch world champion deck emerges over here.

Avengers: Reservist Avengers looks to be as competitive now as the former Avengers Reservist build, with not as much out-of-combat stun capability but lots of consistency with the new rally mechanic and burn courtesy of Human Torch. The Young Avengers build looks to be an intriguing hybrid of the team attack theme that Avengers espoused way back when and the Teen Titans, and a team-up with either them or the Outsiders seems feasible.

Thunderbolts: Substitute and counter growth appear to be in conflict with each other, but the only character that really needs to pile on those counters is Radioactive Man, who can lock out enemy plot twists for the rest of the game. Blizzard + Radio = zero movement for your opponent. In spite of its seemingly aggressive emphasis, the Thunderbolts seem more suited to a control archetype, where they resist attacks and stifle the enemy, looking to overwhelm the opponent eventually as the game moves into the later stages.

Crime Lords: Their reinforced defense theme is not only intact, but augmented significantly to make it a bad idea to attack the Crime Lords even when they aren’t reinforced. Red Skull burns the opponent badly in all his incarnations and is a key element of their ironclad defense. They’ve also got a direct attack theme going on which actually complements the defense strategy somewhat during off-initiatives, so that your characters don’t go swinging into their dooms after having defended so well.

S.H.I.E.L.D.: S.H.I.E.L.D. is definitely the swarm team of the set, peppered with curve characters that either augment the army weenies or cripple your opponent in some way. The team doesn’t appear to lend itself to any other effective construction.

Warbound: All this loner needed were X-Statix cards similar to Star of the Show and Mutant of the Year to be perfect. As it stands, though, Warbound is an exercise in extremes, either ridiculously effective or woefully neutered depending on what you’re fighting. Supposedly Radio keeps Hulk at bay but I’m inclined to think otherwise, since Hulk has several ways of exhausting or stunning Radio out of combat.

Negative Zone: These guys really need a team-up, because with some help they can wipe out an opponent’s board and destroy his resources like nobody’s business. Checkmate and League of Assassins seem like the best candidates due to their location utility themes, although Inhumans also seems to be a good choice and has a few members that are dual-affiliated with the N-Zone.

Alpha Flight: Also in dire need of a team-up, it doesn’t help that their curve is built on 3 rare characters and a rare plot twist. Was thinking Doom for plot twist recursion, but Doom 4 conflicts with the awesome USAgent. Gotham Knights, perhaps, or Darkseid’s Elite since you can flip down resources, but Darkseid 4… Hrrm. This will require some more thought.

Nextwave: Wow. No binding theme here, which I believe is the intention, seeing as they’re more of an in-joke than anything else. Thus far only The Captain is tournament-worthy, though Elsa Bloodstone is just too much fun not to use.

United Front: Which isn’t actually united. Like the Fearsome Five of old, each character could potentially complement another team or strategy, though they haven’t seen much action yet.

Phalanx: Only one guy, but Ultron is one heck of an introduction, able to make himself unstunnable against your opponent’s characters as the game wears on. Give him a Coast City and put someone behind him who provides reinforcement and you’re all set to drag the game on as long as you want until you find a huge win condition.

Unaffiliated/Legacy: The Punisher Captain America is receiving a lot of attention, as is Quicksilver, though people have yet to find something that abuses him. Fin Fang Foom is just nasty, and people have been looking at the Marvel Defenders 7-drop Hulk to do take advantage of the purple-panted dragon. Beyonder and Death are getting attention as well for their “free” Recovery/KO effect. On the non-character card side, Superhuman Registration Act and Carrying the Torch are the obvious frontrunners, the stuff of combo decks and brilliant VS tricks to come.

Sigh. So many deck ideas, so few cards.

Across the Universe: A MUN Set Review, Part 9

Card Name: Ninjas! Ninjas! Ninjas!
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if a [Crime Lords] character attacked a player directly while under your control this turn. KO target stunned character.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-177

Lorenzo: This card could be utterly worthless or a key character removal effect depending on the characters you manage to obtain (and to a certain extent what your opponent plays). Attacking directly won’t happen too often if you don’t have those Crime Lords direct attackers, and even if you do you’ll have to stun a character instead of slipping in to inflict some sweet direct attack breakthrough. 2 out of 5.

Fred: With Viper or even Wolverine sniping your opponent every turn, Ninjas!x3 is an excellent KO card for the Crime Lords. If you don’t play the Viper/Wolvie/Crossbones build, though, this card is a dud. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Radically Advanced
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control Red Skull. Whenever an opposing character becomes stunned this turn, gain endurance equal to its cost.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-178

Lorenzo: Nuts. Red Skull Legend Suite. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Hrm. I’ve been thinking about this and the fact that all Red Skulls are common, so Lorenzo may want to jack this and that other Red Skull card up a notch. Anyway, this isn’t so desirable as Acts of Vengeance, but it could save you quite a bit of endurance. In multiples, the endurance gain could be very significant. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Archangel, Champion
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound/X-Men
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 5/4
Abilities: Flight
Rules Text:
Discard Archangel {>} Target Hulk gets +3 ATK while attacking and has flight this turn.
{Activate} {>} Return Archangel to his owner’s hand. Use only during the combat phase.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-179

Lorenzo: Flying Kick on wings, Archangel is a solid 3-drop that can return to hand if necessary to power a Hulk solo assault. 3 out of 5.

Fred: As Lorenzo said, with the added bonus of being an effect that is not easily negated and makes character recursion that much more devastating in Warbound. Why waste Soul World on a power-up when you can get an extra +3 ATK out of it? 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Brood, Brood Creature 2 of 6
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 7/7
Abilities: Flight
Rules Text:
Whenever Brood becomes stunned, you may remove her from the game. If you do, characters you control named Hulk have “Whenever Hulk stuns a character, KO that character.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-180

Lorenzo: Brood is average all around (though flight is nice, of course), but she’s got a wild removed-from-game effect that transforms any Hulk you control from that point forward into a Punisher, Guns Blazing. It’s difficult to gauge her and similar Warbound characters because they all focus on strengthening one character, but presuming that you get a decent number of the common Hulks, she’s a 4 out of 5.

Fred: In Constructed, Brood is one of the two Warbound that you need to hit to get full mileage out of your loner Hulks. KOing any character the Hulk stuns is a potent effect that ensures that you won’t get overwhelmed by an enemy board with constantly increasing character count. 5 out of 5.

Card Name: Caiera, The Oldstrong
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: 13/12
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever Caiera becomes stunned, you may remove her from the game. If you do, characters named Hulk have “Whenever Hulk stuns a character, ready Hulk. This power triggers only once per turn.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-181

Lorenzo: Caiera has decent aggressive stats for a 6-drop, but little else going for her since you typically would much rather have the 6-drop Hulk around as a finisher. Readying to attack again is all well and good, so it’s a shame that the best Hulk for that job has the same cost. 2 out of 5.

Fred: Hulk 6 will normally clock in at 18/18, bigger even than the 7-drop Hulk, and Hercules 7 has a preferred readying effect. If you’re not afraid to underdrop, though, Caiera can be used to attack up the curve into the opposing 7-drop, remove herself from the game, and ready the oversized 6-drop Hulk to smash face into the opponent. Caiera may do just as well in a Marvel Defenders deck that seeks to abuse the readying Hulk 7 or a Marvel Knights deck that wants its Savage Hulk to hit twice. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Elloe Kaifi, Slave of the Empire
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: 2/1
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever Eloe Kaffi becomes stunned, you may remove her from the game. If you do, characters you control named Hulk get +1/+1.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-182

Lorenzo: A very minor boost, and she’s a 1-drop. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Hulk’s curve is fairly tight as characters go, and the preferred 1-drop leaves no room for anyone else. 1 out of 5.

Card Name: Hiroim, The Shamed
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 4/5
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever Hiroim becomes stunned, you may remove him from the game. If you do, characters you control named Hulk have invulnerability.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-183

Lorenzo: Invulnerability to the Hulk is more of a nifty bonus than an essential piece of the Hulk puzzle. Archangel is the better option, though the stiff 3-drop Hulk cost may merit Hiroim’s consideration. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Hiroim’s Hulk bonus is nice to have, but there doesn’t seem to be a right time to play him. Brood is the preferred 4-drop, so the earliest benefit from Hiroim that you’ll get is with the 5-drop, which is a little late to be seeing Hulk engage the opposition. His stats are lousy for what is designed to be a combat-heavy archetype team. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk, Exile
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 7/6
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To recruit, discard a card named Hulk.
Flavor Text:“Stupid bugs. Just like the humans.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-184

Lorenzo: 3-drop Hulk has excellent stats, but a rather prohibitive recruit cost. Since you may not pull that many Hulks and/or see any recursion from your KO pile, this will most probably be a pass. 2 out of 5.

Fred: In Constructed, ditching a Hulk card is less of a hassle, and you get a 7/6 beatstick in return who helps you benefit early from all the Warbound game effects. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk, Green Scar
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 8/7
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Hulk enters play with a gamma counter.
Whenever Hulk becomes stunned, if you control no other characters, you may remove a gamma counter. If you do, stun all characters with cost 2 or less.
Flavor Text:“You’ll always be a monster to them.”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-185

Lorenzo: The “no other characters” condition is tough to fulfill in Limited, and the gamma counter one-shot Flame Trap is less useful in the curve-dominant Limited environment. Not to mention, he’s the only average-sized Hulk of the lot. 2 out of 5.

Fred: 4-drop Hulk is a situational one-of, and would be preferable to Brood only against off-curve or army swarm decks. It does allow you to stun a hefty character with the 5-drop, but the Guns Blazing effect is really too good in practice to pass up. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk, Gladiator
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 10/10
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Boost: KO a Hulk you control with cost X: When Hulk enters play, stun target character with cost X or less.
Flavor Text:“Embrace as brothers, or I’ll kill you myself.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-186

Lorenzo: Big for a 5-drop with no recruit drawbacks, the 5-drop is one of the linchpins of the Warbound strategy, equally horrific to deal with on either offense or defense. You may not be able to exploit his boost effect, but his size and the fact that he’s Hulk make him a contender. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Normally, you’ll be able to stun at least a 3-drop with Hulk’s boost, which is a strong effect from any 5-drop that is endowed with a similar direct stun ability. Add that to his size and the fact that he is Hulk, gaining benefits from all the Warbound that you’ve managed to remove from the game, and you’ve got a character who will most assuredly swing the game in your favor. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk, The Green King
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: 13/13
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Boost: KO a Hulk you control with cost X: Hulk enters play with X +1/+1 counters.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-187

Lorenzo: Since both Hulk 6 and Hulk 5 are common, it shouldn’t be too hard to see both of them in play, with the 5-drop being sacrificed to make the 6-drop bigger than most 7-drops. An 18/18 Hulk is a finisher, no doubt. 4 out of 5.

Fred: If he doesn’t win the game for you on the turn he comes out, he’ll seal the deal for you the turn after with some Hercules/Caiera action. He’ll always come in too large for an opponent to work around or defeat easily. 5 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk, Sakaar’Son
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 7
Atk/Def: 17/17
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever Hulk becomes stunned during the combat phase, if you control no other characters, you may KO target resource.
Flavor Text:“Never stop making them pay.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-188

Lorenzo: Well, he’s oversized, at least, but his ability relies on the “no other characters” condition to trigger, he essentially replaces the almighty 6-drop Hulk, and he doesn’t kick as much butt. 2 out of 5.

Fred: 7-drop Hulk is strong medicine against stall decks that seek to end the game in the later turns. With Hulk and self-stun cards like Imperial Dreadnaught and Righteous Anger, you could drag an opponent’s resource count to a point where he won’t be able to recover. More for the stall version than the aggressive version of the Warbound loner strategy. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk, Worldbreaker
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 8
Atk/Def: 20/20
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever Hulk becomes stunned, if you control no other characters, KO all opposing characters.
Flavor Text:“What happens next is on your heads!”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-189

Lorenzo: 8-drops are not typically favored in Limited, and it’s not the easiest thing to clear the board for his arrival. 1 out of 5.

Fred: If you’re packing the 8-drop and planning to reach that drop point, you’re better off packing Caiera over Hercules for your turn 7 play, as there is no easy way of removing Hercules from the board short of getting him stunned and not recovering him. With that done, one Righteous Anger is all it takes to bash your opponent’s head in by removing all opposition before swinging in for 20. 4 out of 5 in the proper build that uses Worldbreaker as a finisher.

Card Name: Korg, Kronan Warrior
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 10/9
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever Korg becomes stunned, you may remove him from the game. If you do, characters you control named Hulk have “Whenever Hulk becomes stunned, recover him. This power triggers only once per turn.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-190

Lorenzo: Korg’s essentially a blank box, and he conflicts with the most essential of the Hulk drops, drop 5, who gets the ball rolling. The ability is nice but also somewhat redundant because Hulk will most likely be your recovering character anyway, without losses, and Righteous Anger recovers him as well. 2 out of 5.

Fred: If only we could give Hulk all those Warbound permanent effects! Since we have to be more selective, though, Korg’s ability is one of the less desirable ones, and I’d much rather bring out the 5-drop Hulk with Miek’s and Brood’s abilities active than add another power without benefiting from it until turn 6. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Mastermind Excello, Amadeus Cho
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: 1/2
Abilities:
Rules Text:
{Activate}, Discard a card named Hulk {>} Draw two cards.
{Activate} {>} Return Mastermind Excello to his owner’s hand. Use only during the combat phase.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-191

Lorenzo: 1-drops without swarm potential are not favored in Limited, and you typically will not have the Hulk cards in hand to take full advantage of Cho. 1 out of 5.

Fred: In Constructed, though, Cho’s a card-drawing monster who can remove himself from play in a pinch if Hulk feels the need to be alone. I’ve never regretted having him down, and would underdrop him if necessary for the card advantage he generates. Seriously, he’s that good. 5 out of 5.

Card Name: Miek, The Unhived
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 4/1
Abilities: Flight
Rules Text:
Whenever Miek becomes stunned, you may move him from the game. If you do, characters you control named Hulk have “While Hulk is attacking, defenders lose and can’t have reinforcement.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-192

Lorenzo: Nice aggressive stats and flight for a 2-drop, and the ability he grants Hulk is one of the two most important ones for the green giant to have. 4 out of 5.

Fred: One of the major problems of the loner strategy espoused by X-Statix and Hellboy is the matter of dealing breakthrough, since you typically only had one or two attacks, which could easily be reinforced against with the proper formation. Miek removes that concern by enacting a mass Blind Sided against all who would oppose the Hulk, ensuring that he can deal all the breakthrough endurance loss he needs to pound your opponent into the dirt. 5 out of 5.

Card Name: Rick Jones, Monster’s Best Friend
Type: Character
Affiliation: Warbound
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 2/3
Abilities:
Rules Text:
{Activate} {>} Rally for a card with the word “Hulk” in its name or game text.
{Activate} {>} Return Rick Jones to his owner’s hand. Use only during the combat phase.
Flavor Text:“All this violence…it won’t solve a thing.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-193

Lorenzo: If you miss Miek, Rick’s not a bad alternative. His Rally helps sift through your deck and should hit more often than not if you’ve packed the Warbound in there, along with all of those plot twists and locations that reference Hulk. 3 out of 5.

Fred: In a typical Warbound deck, Rick will hit his Rally 3 out of 4 times on the average. I’ve had him down with Amadeus Cho and they’ve got me drawing 3 extra cards each turn. Miek’s still the 2-drop star, but Rick is no slouch. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: The Great Arena
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
{Activate}, Exhaust a Hulk you control with cost X {>} Exhaust target character with cost X or less. Each player loses X endurance. Use only during the build phase.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-194

Lorenzo: Hulk is already enough of a beast to deal with on-initiative, but UDE graciously provided him with something nasty to do off-initiative, as well. You should be able to use this to limit an opponent’s attacks or leave him unable to attack, while doing some direct endurance loss to him at the same time. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Depending on the Hulk curve that you employ, the Great Arena is a potent stall mechanism that, barring any Pathetic Attempts or similar cards, can pin your opponent down during those turns that you can’t wail on his poor characters. The burn effect is a nice bonus. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Imperial Dreadnaught
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Terraform
[Warbound] characters you control have flight.
{Activate}, Stun a [Warbound] character you control with cost X {>} Gain X endurance.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-195

Lorenzo: The point of this location, aside from the flight, is to provide the Warbound with a painless stun effect so that they don’t have to engage in combat to trigger their Hulk bonuses, or in the case of Hulk, his solo stun Vengeance-like effects. It’s a fine enabler in theory, but not worth it in Limited. 2 out of 5.

Fred: A typical Warbound deck is already jammed full of so many more useful effects than that provided by the Dreadnaught, that it’s more of an afterthought than an essential inclusion. 1 out of 5.

Card Name: Sakaar
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
At the start of the recovery phase, you may stun a [Warbound] character you control. If you do, each opponent stuns a non-stunned character he controls with equal or lesser cost .
Flavor Text:This is the story of the Worldbreaker and how he unbreaks his world.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-196

Lorenzo: There’s enough self-stunning going around already without having to resort to Sakaar, and if you’re playing Warbound properly, you shouldn’t have to worry about stunning some character during the recovery phase. 1 out of 5.

Fred: I suppose you could use Sakaar after trouncing your opponents to snag some annoying hidden character, but its usage in the Warbound is relatively narrow and comes in a bit late in the turn to be really disruptive. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Bloodsport
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control a defending Hulk.
Target opponent chooses a team attacker he controls, removes all other attackers from this attack, and readies those other attackers.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-197

Lorenzo: The overwhelming size of the Hulk will in most cases draw team attacks from your opponent, particularly since they won’t have any other characters to attack anyway. This card will make those team attacks just as fatal, forcing your opponent to toss a poor schlub into the path of the Hulk, and hopefully leaving him with no further attack options. Particularly nasty if used with defensive cards or Hulk 6. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Eventually, opponents will try to team attack Hulk to get past his size and those Hulk Reds you’ve been packing. This card will make them regret that decision. Not a 4-of, but nice to have for tech purposes, and fun against off-curve. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: The End of the World
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, stun X [Warbound] characters you control. Put X +1/+1 counters on target Hulk.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-198

Lorenzo: Yet another self-stun effect that makes a big Hulk even bigger, but not by much, and with all the Hulk replacement going on up the curve, not an effect you’ll get a lot out of during the course of a game. 2 out of 5.

Fred: Not a fan of most of the self-stun effects, and this one is no exception. The frequency with which the Hulks replace themselves makes this no better than a pump for the turn in most cases. 1 out of 5.

Card Name: Fight or Die!
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Target [Warbound] attacker gets +3 ATK this attack.
Boost: Discard a card named Hulk: That attacker gets an additional +3 ATK this attack.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-199

Lorenzo: Well, it’s a combat pump for +3 ATK, which I would snag in Limited any day. The bonus +3 is nice if you’ve got an extra Hulk for the discard. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Hey, it’s a +6 ATK pump for the cost of a discard, essentially. A little iffy because you may find yourself running out of Hulks to discard, but in a Hulk-heavy deck, worth at least a couple of copies. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk Red
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Target [Warbound] defender you control gets +2 DEF this attack, or +4 DEF if you control no other characters.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-200

Lorenzo: Mediocre in Limited because it’s harder to get to that one character status, but it’s a DEF pump nonetheless so it passes muster. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Dead Weight was a key defensive card for X-Statix even if the character couldn’t attack afterwards, and Hulk Red is a far superior version for the Hulk loner to smash back after successfully defending against an attack. 5 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulk Smash!
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Target attacking Hulk gets +8 ATK this attack.
Flavor Text:Not even evil medical school could have prepared him for this.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-201

Lorenzo: You’re drafting or assembling Warbound if you pull this unbelievable combat pump. +8 ATK is too huge to ignore. 5 out of 5.

Fred: +8 ATK, no drawbacks other than you can only play it on Hulk. If you’re Warbound, what drawback? 5 out of 5.

Card Name: Righteous Anger
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Stun target Hulk you control. If you do, recover and ready him.
That Hulk can’t be the target of effects this turn.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-202

Lorenzo: If you can avoid getting stunned on the attack, Righteous Anger allows Hulk to attack once more. If necessary, it can also be used as a sort of Pathetic Attempt to effectively negate a nasty incoming effect. 4 out of 5.

Fred: It’s Fate Has Spoken and an uber-Pathetic Attempt rolled into one nifty effect, a fine blade as opposed to the Hulk Smash blunt instrument. Not to be used haphazardly, but a winner if played at the right time. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: The Strongest One There Is
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, stun a defending Hulk you control with cost X or more.
KO target attacker with cost X.
Flavor Text:“Puny humans, you’re just making me stronger.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-203

Lorenzo: There are people who are on the fence about this card, which I consider to be the best of the self-stun effects. The KO of an attacker is a devastating blow to the opponent, particularly since it bypasses all those “can’t be stunned while attacking” effects. Sure, your Hulk gets stunned, but wouldn’t he have gotten stunned anyway if the attack went through? Also, you don’t need a ready Hulk to use it, so Hulk can Great Arena another hapless opposing character before proving that he’s The Strongest One There Is. 4 out of 5.

Fred: What Lorenzo said. With Pathetic Attempt floating around this is a bit of a gamble, but when it hits, your opponent will be out a character. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Warbound to the End
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, discard a character card. Search your deck for a card named Hulk. If you control Hulk, you may search for any [Warbound] character card instead. Reveal that card and put it into your hand.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-204

Lorenzo: It’s a search card with a simple cost for the most important Warbound character and/or his cohorts.  5 out of 5, definitely.

Fred: The poor Warbound player’s Mobilize, except that it still costs quite a bundle on the secondary market.  If you’re packing Mobilize this is a fine additional search card for the team.  4 out of 5.

Card Name: World War Hulk, Team-Up
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control Hulk or a [Warbound] character.
To play, choose an affiliation other than [Warbound].
Ongoing: Crossover [Warbound] and that affiliation.
Rarity:
Card #: MUN-205

Lorenzo: Easy to use team-up if you’re playing Warbound already.  Practically a Midnight Sons.  4 out of 5.

Fred: Better than a Midnight Sons, in certain cases, since it can be played with any Hulk, regardless of affiliation, to give it the Warbound affiliation.  Not seeing the team-up possibilities with Warbound at the moment since the team seems to have all it needs to be a threat, but this is the card for that eventuality.  3 out of 5.

In Memoriam

Haven’t had the time to write anything over the past week, folks, due to my grandfather, Gil L. Angeles, passing away on July 2, 2008 at around 4:11 p.m. He was 87 at the time of his passing.

My grandfather was a World War II veteran and a practicing physician until the age of 80, so he was superheroic in every sense of the word, and more than deserving of the above image.

If they’ve got a Hall of Justice up in Heaven, I’m sure he’s just been offered permanent membership.

Across the Universe: A MUN Set Review, Part 8

Card Name: M.O.D.O.K., Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing – A.I.M.
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: 11/14
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
Concealed-Optional
Discard three cards {>} KO target stunned character in the same kind of area (hidden or visible) as M.O.D.O.K.
Flavor Text:“Today, I destroyed my ex-girlfriend! Tomorrow…the world!”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-151

Lorenzo: Here’s a card I thought would never make it into VS. Anyway, this ridiculous creature is built for defense and for helping to thin out your opponent’s board — except the power is quite a pain to use without a significant draw engine functioning, and restricted to wherever you decide to place M.O.D.O.K. when he comes into play. Might be worth it for one toss. 2 out of 5.

Fred: With a large enough hand and some shuttling between the hidden and visible areas, M.O.D.O.K. could wipe out your opponent’s board, and he doesn’t need to exhaust to do it, either. Tough to use, perhaps, but almost guaranteed to clear your opponent’s field every turn from the time he comes into play. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Mandarin, Tem Borjigan
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 3/6
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
At the start of the combat phase, rally for an equipment card.
Discard ten cards {>} Stun target character.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-152

Lorenzo: Ten cards? In Limited. Pass. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Curiously, the Mandarin seems to work best in a deck devoted to his nemesis, Iron Man, who’ll be happy to recover Mandarin every turn in exchange for Tem doing some fetch duty for all those upgrades. During a critical turn, stun your opponent’s biggest threat, then attack for the win. Sigh, if only Pathetic Attempt wasn’t so readily available. Ten cards is a big deal. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Master Man, Max Lohmer – Raid
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 7/6
Abilities: Flight
Rules Text:
Substitute
Whenever Master Man defends, put two +1 / +1 counters on him.
Flavor Text:“You shall call us ‘The Master Race.’”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-153

Lorenzo: Below average stats, but excellent for even initiatives, and moreso if you can keep him from getting stunned since those counters are added every time he defends. Substitute, too, so you only need to drop him when he’ll be most effective. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Master Man gets huge in a hurry, and the Substitute ensures he’ll be in play when you need him most. Use recovery effects to draw more than one trigger of his ability. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: MODOC Squad, Army – A.I.M.
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 5/4
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
MODOC Squad has reinforcement while protecting a character.
A character protected by MODOC Squad can’t be attacked.
Flavor Text:Military Operatives Designed Only for Combat.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-154

Lorenzo: An excellent 3-drop for the Crime Lords, and even in general, since it is effectively reinforced all the time as long as you have a character to protect. The ability isn’t team-stamped either. 4 out of 5.

Fred: What Lorenzo said. Use with recovery effects for serious defensive strength. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Red Skull, Aleksander Lukin – RAID
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 5/5
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Leader: Whenever an adjacent character defends, each opponent loses 2 endurance, and you gain 2 endurance.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-155

Lorenzo: Who’s this poor excuse for the Red Skull? Stats are fine, though, and the Leader ability is vanilla but solid. 3 out of 5.

Fred: He doesn’t have any real weaknesses, and allows you access to the Red Skull Legend suite. Not bad. My biggest concern, though, is you’ll be replacing him with the mighty Red Skull 5-drop two turns later. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Red Skull, Johann Shmidt – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 9/9
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Leader: Whenever an adjacent character becomes stunned during the combat phase, target opponent loses endurance equal to its cost.
Whenever Red Skull becomes stunned, adjacent characters get +3 DEF while defending this turn.
Flavor Text:“This is only the beginning of my enemy’s suffering.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-156

Lorenzo: In the spirit of Captain America 4’s headache-inducing defensive capabilities, Red Skull 5 makes life difficult for your opponent whether he goes after RS first or saves him for last. 5 out of 5.

Fred: Two wonderful abilities plus the Red Skull Legend suite make for an awesome Crime Lord. 5 out of 5.

Card Name: Red Skull, Master of Creation
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 7
Atk/Def: 14/17
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Leader: At the start of the recovery phase, target opponent loses endurance equal to the combined cost of all adjacent characters.
Flavor Text:“My mind fills with the secrets of the cosmos! Galactic mysteries, atomic enigmas…they unravel within me with crystal clarity!”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-157

Lorenzo: Dig these defense-oriented stats of the Crime Lords. Red Skull 7 can really put the hurting on your opponent, if he manages to survive into the recovery phase. The 17 DEF should go some way into ensuring that happens. 3 out of 5.

Fred: As Lorenzo said, but with recovery effects the chances of a big burn are much higher. I don’t like the idea of replacing the amazing 5-drop Red Skull so soon, though. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Scientist Supreme, Monica Rappaccini – AIM
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 7/7
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Whenever another [Crime Lords] character you control defends, you may move it adjacent to Scientist Supreme. Leader: Adjacent characters have reinforcement.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-158

Lorenzo: As we all know, reinforcement is one of the dominant Crime Lords themes, so any character that can give it to all adjacent characters is valuable. More interesting is how her power functions since she’s in the hidden area. Opponents most probably won’t be able to attack her, so they’ll attack one of your visible characters, who can be shunted into the hidden area adjacent to Scientist Supreme and reinforced. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Her power is quite nifty, but she’s competing against Kingpin and Master Man, both of whom seem superior at the 4-drop slot. Nonetheless, she has excellent utility in saving you some endurance and hiding your important characters. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Silver Samurai, Kenuichio Harada – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 6/3
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Substitute
Whenever Silver Samurai defends, you may exhaust target character in the same row as an attacker.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-159

Lorenzo: I’m not fond of the low DEF stats on Silver Samurai, considering his power is a defensive one. Careful attacking on the part of the opponent may nullify his ability. 2 out of 5.

Fred: Great if your opponent’s characters are all formed in a single row, or against off-curve. You can Substitute him in for full potency, to surprise an opponent who was not expecting him. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Sin, Synthia Schmidi – Raid
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 3/2
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Concealed
Whenever Sin defends, move her to your hidden area.
{Activate}, Move Sin from your hidden area to your visible area {>} Target defender has reinforcement this attack.
Flavor Text:“What can I say? I just prefer wholesale destruction sometimes.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-160

Lorenzo: Sin is a handy reinforcement enabler, but in Limited, you may get only one use out of her. 2 out of 5.

Fred: With recovery effects and/or hidden/visible area juggling, Sin may well be one of the more efficient ways to reinforce your Crime Lords. That said, she doesn’t seem worth wasting all that tech when you can just ditch an AIM agent from your hand in a pinch. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: The Sleeper, Doomsday Device – Raid
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 8
Atk/Def: 20/15
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Reservist
[Crime Lords] characters you control can attack opponents directly and can’t attack characters.
Flavor Text:“Wake the Sleeper!”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-161

Lorenzo: Wow, that’s terrible DEF on an 8-drop. Unlikely also that you’ll get that far in Limited, and if you do, there are better options. 2 out of 5.

Fred: A monstrous finisher for the Crime Lords, with the Sleeper you can slam the opponent in the face for the combined ATK of all your characters, and enjoy his pain as he tries to get past your stalwart defenses. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Viper, Madame Hydra – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords/Hellfire Club
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 3/3
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Viper can attack hidden characters and can’t attack visible characters. Viper can attack an opponent directly while he controls no characters she can attack.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-162

Lorenzo: Whoa, Hellfire Club dual-affiliation! Good stats on this 2-drop, and a reliable method of reaching into the hidden area to pick off your opponent’s Concealed weenies. If your opponent has no hidden characters, of course, feel free to “burn” him for 3 endurance every turn. 4 out of 5.

Fred: The direct attack theme of the Crime Lords is looking sweeter with every card we’ve seen. While it’s annoying that Viper can’t muscle in on visible characters, at least she’ll be hitting your opponent for her full ATK value each turn. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Cosmic Cube
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Equip only to Red Skull. Exhaust equipped character, put Cosmic Cube on the bottom of its owner’s deck {>} Search your deck for a card and put it into your hand.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-163

Lorenzo: Red Skull Legend Suite. 1 out of 5.

Fred: If you’re playing the Red Skull, the ability to search for any card in your hand is a swell thing. The exhaust requirement is somewhat annoying, though. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Death Warrant
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Concealed-Optional
To recruit, exhaust a [Crime Lords] character you control.
Equip only to an opposing character.
Whenever equipped character becomes stunned, return Death Warrant to its owner’s hand and KO that character.
Flavor Text:“Today you die.”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-164

Lorenzo: A pre-emptive Finishing Move that’s reusable. Solid. 3 out of 5.

Fred: The exhaust requirement isn’t so bad, since the Crime Lords are generally better defending anyway. More importantly, you won’t have to wait until the character is stunned to mark him for death. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Satan Claw
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Equipped character gets +2 ATK. While equipped to Baron Strucker, he has “{Activate} {>} Stun Baron Strucker and target character with equal or lesser cost. Recover those characters at the start of the recovery phase this turn.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-165

Lorenzo: It’s a permanent +2 ATK, which is fine in Limited. 3 out of 5.

Fred: The Claw’s true utility comes when you attach it to Baron Strucker, who can recover with his ability immediately even as he stuns an enemy across the board. If I’m reading this correctly, it also means even if he gets stunned again that turn, he’ll still recover at the start of the recovery phase. Powerful stuff for the Baron. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Fortress Yashida
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
{Activate} {>} Target visible [Crime Lords] character you control gets +1 ATK this attack for each hidden character you control.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-166

Lorenzo: A couple of hidden characters early on could mean a reusable +2 or +3 ATK for either an attacker or defender you control, so long as it has the Crime Lords affiliation. Requires some forethought to set up, but resuable pumps are fairly valuable in Limited, so this may be worth the effort. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Cardinal Law didn’t see much action for the Hellfire Club, and this works on more or less the same principle. The fact that it’s reusable is a point in its favor, though. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: HYDRA Armageddon Carrier
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Terraform
{Activate}, Discard X [Crime Lords] character cards {>} Stun target character with cost X that attacked this turn. Use only during the recovery phase.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-167

Lorenzo: The difficulty with using this location is the hefty discard cost, specifically requiring Crime Lords character cards. Its restriction, that it can only be used during the recovery phase, renders it less than useful as a direct stun trick for combat purposes. Guess it’s fine for picking off weenies, but otherwise it’s inferior to most other out-of-combat stun effects. 2 out of 5.

Fred: A decent card draw engine could help you get mileage out of the HYDRA carrier, but the fact of it only being usable during the recovery phase really lessens its strength. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Underground Laboratory
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Exhaust a [Crime Lords] defender you control with reinforcement {>} Draw a card.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-168

Lorenzo: This is a nifty card draw enabler for the Crime Lords, capable of netting you a card or two on the average during your off-initiatives, so you get the most out of your defenders. 3 out of 5.

Fred: I’m not sold on the Underground Laboratory because a character has to be defending with reinforcement to get you the card, which is not so hard with Crime Lords but limits the draw abuse potential. It’s still a solid card, just not the crazy card draw we would appreciate. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Acts of Vengeance
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
If a Red Skull you control would become stunned this turn, instead, you may stun another character you control.
Flavor Text:“I can’t believe we didn’t think of this before!”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-169

Lorenzo: Red Skull Legend suite. 1 out of 5.

Fred: This works well in conjunction with any of the Red Skulls to keep their potent Leader abilities intact, as well as to screw with your opponent’s attacks, since chances are he won’t be expecting the stun redirection. Take note that this does not turn the new target into a defender, so no such abilities will trigger. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Assault on Hellicarrier 13
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever a [Crime Lords] character you control attacks this turn, you may exhaust an opposing character.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-170

Lorenzo: If you manage the team-up or are playing solid Crime Lords, this is sweet for dealing with hidden attackers or stopping reinforcement with some careful attacks. 3 out of 5.

Fred: A good offensive card for the Crime Lords that can be used to prevent nasty counterattacks, ensuring that, in fine Crime Lords tradition, you only get attacked when you’re ready. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Cold Storage
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, remove a [Crime Lords] character you control from the game.
Ongoing: KO Cold Storage {>} Return that character to play exhausted.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-171

Lorenzo: With the loss of a resource as an effect cost, you’ll likely only KO Cold Storage the turn before your kill turn, if your field got decimated. 2 out of 5 since the resource loss is much more of a hindrance in Limited.

Fred: I would probably use this as a pseudo-recovery effect to maintain or trigger some impressive Leader ability, but why not just play a recovery effect instead? 1 out of 5.

Card Name: Cut Off One Head…
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, KO an Army [Crime Lords] character you control. Return two other target Army character cards each with cost 2 or less from your KO’d pile to play.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-172

Lorenzo: Considering the low odds of grabbing enough army characters for an army deck in Limited, this card won’t be much use in that format. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Hurt by its high threshold cost, nonetheless, Cut Off One Head can net you 4 resource points worth of characters for as little as 1 resource point. Since the new army characters come into play without restrictions, a global pump, possibly off-team, can attack immediately or be exhausted for various effects. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Double Agent!, Team-Up
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if [Crime Lords] and [SHIELD] are affiliations among characters you control.
Gain 4 endurance.
Ongoing: Crossover those affiliations.
Flavor Text:“Whose side are you really on?”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-173

Lorenzo: A team-specific team-up, with a sweet little effect. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Not sure how the gaining of 4 endurance works with the strategy of either featured team, but 4 endurance is one of the better team-up effects. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Enemies of the State
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Target [Crime Lords] character gets +2 ATK this attack. If that character has at least one other affiliation, it also gets +2 DEF this attack.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-174

Lorenzo: Though not that many Crime Lords in this set are dual-affiliated, you’ll likely be using team-ups more actively in Limited, increasing the full utility of this card. Worst case scenario it’s a +2 ATK pump in either direction. 4 out of 5.

Fred: It’s difficult to rate an otherwise decent combat pump high when it depends on a dual-affiliated character or an active team-up to function properly. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Hail Hydra!, Team-Up
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, reveal a [Crime Lords] or HYDRA character card from your hand.
Ongoing: Character cards you control and character cards you own gain the [Crime Lords] affiliation and the HYDRA version.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-175

Lorenzo: A fine team-up that grants an affiliation and a version to all your characters, making team attacking and reinforcement far less difficult. 4 out of 5.

Fred: I don’t much care for the HYDRA version, but the granting of an affiliation to all characters you own and control is a sweet deal, particularly if you’ve got unaffiliated characters or a bunch of guest stars. Not as slick as SHRA but good if you’re running a heavy Crime Lords complement. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: New King in Town
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Ongoing: Non-Army [Crime Lords] characters you control that share the highest cost among characters you control have reinforcement.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-176

Lorenzo: Reinforcement for your biggest character isn’t normally that useful, but key to the success of the Crime Lords, and if you’re playing off-curve somehow then this can affect more than one character.  Not bad.  3 out of 5.

Fred: Saving yourself a few points of breakthrough is fine, but you’re really in it for the “free” reinforcement that fuels a bunch of Crime Lords effects.  3 out of 5 for the team that needs it.

Across the Universe: A MUN Set Review, Part 7

Card Name: Stark Armory
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
At the start of the combat phase, put a tech counter on Stark Armory.
{Activate}, Remove X tech counters {>} Put X +1 / +1 counters on target Iron Man.
Remove X +1 / +1 counters from an Iron Man you control {>} Put X tech counters on Stark Armory.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-127

Lorenzo: Whoa, where did Neeka go? Oh yeah, she’s kind of tired and needs to sort her card stacks anyway, so she’ll only interject every so often, when she feels the card deserves special mention. Moving right along, Stark Armory is part of the Iron Man Legend suite, so it’s not likely that you’ll be getting much use out of it in Limited. 1 out of 5.

Fred: I wouldn’t necessarily say Stark Armory a key card in an Iron Man Legend deck, because the stat growth it provides is in small increments, and if we’re only taking Modern Age into consideration, you’ll only get about 2 or 3 +1/+1 counters out of it in each game. The Tech counter transfer is nice for when you have to a replace lower-drop Iron Man with a higher-drop alternative, but still not a game breaker. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Company of Heroes
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Target [SHIELD] character gets +2 DEF this attack.
Boost: Exhaust a leader you control: That [SHIELD] character gets an additional +2 DEF this attack.
Flavor Text:“This is your shot, Carol. Don’t screw it up.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-128

Lorenzo: DEF bonuses are difficult to come by in Limited, and this one can potentially provide a +4 DEF bonus both ways, so it’s golden. 4 out of 5.

Fred: This is a good DEF booster if you build the deck with its usage in mind. The Leader trait isn’t as plentiful as we would like in this set, much less S.H.I.E.L.D., so it won’t save you from every situation. More problematic is that you won’t get full utility out of playing multiple copies unless you’ve got the characters to exhaust. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: I’m a Futurist
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control Iron Man. Search your deck for a card with cost greater than the number of resources you control, reveal it, and put it into your hand.
Flavor Text:“The best is yet to come.”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-129

Lorenzo: Iron Man Legend suite. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Considering that the cheapest Iron Man weighs in at a cost of 4 (not counting the MHG Doom-affiliated one), you’ll get most use out of this search card in a curve build to get your next drop. There aren’t many useful non-character cards that cost more than 4, limiting the viability of this card. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: The Intiative, Team-Up
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, choose a leader you control and any number of its affiliations.
Draw a card.
Ongoing: Characters you control gain those affiliations.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-130

Lorenzo: Hey, a team-up for Limited… but with a significant cost to play. Leaders being relatively scarce overall, this card will probably not see much action. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Fine for those multiple-team Leader builds, lousy otherwise. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: License to Kill
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, choose a [SHIELD] character you control.
Ongoing: Whenever an opposing defender becomes stunned, you may discard a card and exhaust the chosen character. If you do, KO that defender.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-131

Lorenzo: This one’s pretty effective if you can recruit a low-cost Concealed character early on to use as your 007, though you should keep an eye on your hand to ensure that it doesn’t hurt too much as the game progresses. 3 out of 5.

Fred: The card cost is negligible if you’ve been maximizing the S.H.I.E.L.D. “character cards in hand” tactic, and with a low-drop hidden character, this is a mighty board-clearing machine. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Out for Justice
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, return a non-stunned [SHIELD] character you control to its owner’s hand.
Target attacker or defender gets +2 / +2 this attack.
Flavor Text:“We used to make one heck of a team, Sharon.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-132

Lorenzo: We’ve seen loads of +2/+2 pumps over the history of VS, but this one falls a little flat since it requires the return of a non-stunned character. Fine if you’ve got some useless or expended drop, but very situational. 2 out of 5.

Fred: This will probably work best in a deck with Squirrel Girl and Nick Fury helping to chuck out extra characters. The non-stunned requirement hurts this card the most. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: S.T.A.R. Squad
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Return target Army [SHIELD] character card from your KO’d pile to your hand.
Boost: Return a ready non-Army [SHIELD] character you control to its owner’s hand: If that Army card has the same cost as the character you returned, put it in play instead.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-133

Lorenzo: Hmm. Trade a non-Army for an Army? Might be okay in certain circumstances. But you’ll need an Army card in the KO pile first, which bites. 1 out of 5.

Fred: This could see play with some Army characters outside of the S.H.I.E.L.D. line-up and a team-up. Very narrow application, though. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Scarlet Spiders
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Ongoing: Discard X [SHIELD] character cards {>} Target attacker or defender gets -X ATK this attack. Use only once per turn.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-134

Lorenzo: Scarlet Spiders is simply too card-intensive in Limited to be of significant use. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Ah, something to do with all those character cards amassing in your hand. Perhaps it won’t be used every turn, but even an ATK reduction of 2 or 3 during a critical attack may spell victory. Take note that the discarding has to be done all at once, and not in increments depending on what your opponent does. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Secret War, Team-Up
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, choose an affiliation and return a [SHIELD] character you control to its owner’s hand.
Ongoing: [SHIELD] characters gain that affiliation.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-135

Lorenzo: It’s not Midnight Sons, but it’s close enough, though the return of a S.H.I.E.L.D. character may be rather pricey in Limited. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Midnight Sons for S.H.I.E.L.D., and the character return shouldn’t be a problem for this team. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Security Clearance
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To play, return a non-stunned [SHIELD] character you control to its owner’s hand. Search your deck for a card and put it into your hand.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-136

Lorenzo: I can search for any card! Oh wait, it’s got a threshold of 6. Blah. 2 out of 5, since it’s still all right, but comes into play too late to be truly useful.

Fred: This is a setup card for the late game of S.H.I.E.L.D., improving consistency and allowing you to toolbox late-game elements to adapt to the situation. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: You’re Under Arrest!
Type: Plot Twist
Affiliation:
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control a [SHIELD] character. Negate target activated effect from a character.
Boost: Return a character you control to its owner’s hand: The character whose effect was negated can’t ready this turn.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-137

Lorenzo: Though I don’t see too many activated abilities to fear in this set, this card increases the chances that all your opponent will have to show for a deadly activated power is an exhausted character. If you can afford the boost, you also lock down that character until next turn, which is a solid tactical move. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Situational but strong, particularly with the lockdown effect. Nice in conjunction with Power Dampeners. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: A.I.M. Agents, Army – A.I.M.
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: 1/1
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Discard A.I.M. Agents {>} Target [Crime Lords] defender has reinforcement this attack.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-138

Lorenzo: And we’re at the Crime Lords, finally! I’d hold onto these and consider them plot twists. Reinforcement is sometimes good enough by itself, but is more integral to the Crime Lords, raising the value of this card for play. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Given that reinforcement is one of the driving themes of the Crime Lords, the A.I.M. Agents are fine enablers. More importantly, since their effect is not a plot twist effect, it will be much harder for opponents to negate. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: Arnim Zola, The Bio-Fanatic – Raid
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 2/3
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Concealed-Optional
{Activate}, KO a character you control {>} Target player loses 2 endurance and you gain 2 endurance.
Flavor Text:“As long as I have my work, I need nothing else.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-139

Lorenzo: I suppose he’s all right to get mileage out of stunned characters that are going to hit the KO pile anyway, since his stats make him unsuitable for combat. However, if your characters are dropping like flies, Arnim Zola won’t be the one to save you. 2 out of 5.

Fred: Arnim Zola is a trash compactor whose 4-endurance swings are nifty, but hardly fatal. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Baron Strucker, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: 13/12
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Whenever Baron Strucker becomes stunned while defending with reinforcement, recover him. This power triggers only once per turn.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-140

Lorenzo: If your opponent is lacking in flight, Baron Strucker makes a delightful defensive protector who technically forces foes to go through him twice each turn. Whatever’s left after taking down the Baron twice probably won’t be enough to do significant damage to your remaining field. 3 out of 5.

Fred: The Baron’s a wall with proper reinforcement tactics. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Crossbones, Brock Rumlow – Raid
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 8/5
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Concealed
Substitute
Crossbones can attack an opponent directly while he controls no ready visible characters.
Flavor Text:“The Skull ain’t here to take his revenge, so I gotta be his hands.”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-141

Lorenzo: The other dominant Crime Lords theme, as we’ve already seen from the S.H.I.E.L.D. Wolverine, is direct attack of an opponent. Crossbones has a pathetic DEF but he’s Concealed so it isn’t as much of a concern. During off-initiative turns, he can simply bypass your opponent’s exhausted visible characters and swing for 8 to the face. Substitute, too, for him to come in when he can actually perform for you. Evil stuff. 3 out of 5.

Fred: Between Wolverine and Crossbones the Crime Lords may just be the new IG, happy to lose the initiative so that they can slap an opponent around for a combined 14 endurance at least each turn. Since they do well on the defensive this could be a brutal archetype. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Doctor Faustus, Johann Fennhoff – RAID
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: 2/1
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Substitute
When Dr. Faustus enters play, you may have target character get -3 ATK this turn.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-142

Lorenzo: The -3 ATK penalty is certainly significant, and with Substitute, you can get it into play when you need it. However, being a 1-drop, it’s unlikely unless you play off-curve that you’ll be able to use his ability well. 2 out of 5.

Fred: Multiple substitutions of Dr. Faustus can nullify your opponent’s attack step by spreading those nasty ATK penalties everywhere, or lumping them on his biggest character. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Elektra, Pawn of the Gorgon – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords/Skrull
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 10/8
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Concealed
Whenever Elektra stuns a character with cost less than or equal to the number of affiliations she has, KO that character.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-143

Lorenzo: Great, she can KO 1-drops. While Elektra may gain slightly improved utility by playing enough team-ups, she’s much better off in a Skrull deck, which won’t happen here in Limited. 1 out of 5.

Fred: It’s time to rebuild that Skrull deck, and whiile Paibok is an excellent 5-drop, Elektra can put plenty of hurting on your opponent with enough affiliations running. For the Crime Lords, she doesn’t have quite so much use. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: The Gorgon, Tomi Shishido – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 8/10
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Whenever a character attacks you directly, it can’t ready this turn.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-144

Lorenzo: If you muster a full hidden character curve, your opponent will be trying to outdo you through sheer direct endurance loss attacks. The Gorgon ties up such plans, pinning down his characters so you can swing in with impunity next turn. 3 out of 5.

Fred: With all these hidden characters, Crime Lords may well be crushed by IG Concealed or MKKO, whose ATK output seems to be greater. With The Gorgon on your side, though, those evil beaters don’t stand up for the next turn, allowing you to seize victory as your characters beat down without fear of retaliation. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: The Hand, Army – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: 1/1
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
{Activate}, Put The Hand on top of its owner’s deck {>} Recover target stunned [Crime Lords] character that defended this turn.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-145

Lorenzo: If you can get these out early on, barring any hidden hate, you can set up a turn where your opponent will have to work through a large defender multiple times. Of course, your opponent will expect it since the Hand will be on the table, but it won’t make things much easier. What I don’t like about it is that it retards your draw, which can kill you in Limited. 2 out of 5.

Fred: I dig the recovery effect, but placing the Hand on top of your deck isn’t so enjoyable unless you’ve got a way to sift them around. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Head Case, Sean Madigan – AIM
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 9/10
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Substitute
Whenever Head Case stuns an attacker, you may KO Head Case. If you do, KO all characters that attacked him this turn.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-146

Lorenzo: The only time I would use Head Case’s ability would be if (a) I managed to defend with him successfully multiple times, or (b) if it meant KO’ing a character of equal or higher cost. Scenario (b) being much more likely, I’d say he’s only about average. 3 out of 5.

Fred: We’ve seen enough attack redirection these days to make Head Case potentially fatal to your opponent’s attack plans. Between that and some DEF tech, you can take out a couple of large characters with his effect, leaving your opponent sorry he’d attacked you. Which is the essence of Crime Lords, anyhow. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: The Hood, Prince of Pistols
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 8/6
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
Discard X cards {>} Exhaust target character with cost X.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-147

Lorenzo: That’s a hefty discard cost. If you accumulate the cards then he might be worth it for that one turn, but otherwise he’s just another Concealed 4-drop. 2 out of 5.

Fred: In a deck with a draw engine of some kind, The Hood may be a stall monster. Note that his ability has no “once per turn” restriction, so you can lock down your opponent’s entire board with enough cards. He’s monstrous against off-curve. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: HYDRA Recruit, Army – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 3/2
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Whenever HYDRA Recruit becomes stunned during the combat phase, rally for a card named HYDRA Recruit.
Flavor Text:“Hail HYDRA!”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-148

Lorenzo: Decent size for a 2-drop, but the rally ability is only good in decks packing many copies of it, which won’t happen in Limited. 1 out of 5.

Fred: Since the rally ability can potentially trigger every turn, in a deck packed with HYDRA Recruits, you can ideally fill your hand in a hurry. Mr. Fike will definitely find something sweet to do with these minions. 3 out of 5.

Card Name: James Barnes ~ Winter Soldier, Communist Puppet – Raid
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 5/3
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Concealed
Put James Barnes on top of his owner’s deck {>} Stun target character attacking a [Crime Lords] defender you control with reinforcement.
Flavor Text:“Should I take the shot?”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-149

Lorenzo: Would have been nicer for Mr. Barnes here to return to your hand instead of the top of your deck. His ability is fine, though, and works well as a deterrent against unwary attackers. 3 out of 5 since he still requires some setup.

Fred: In an environment chock full of cheap effect negation, Barnes is too much of an investment to stun an attacker for one turn. All those conditions, and he retards your draw as well. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Kingpin, War Profiteer – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: Crime Lords/Sinister Syndicate
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 7/7
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Leader: Whenever an adjacent defender stuns an attacker, you may KO that attacker.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-150

Lorenzo: Kingpin begs to be stunned first, of course, but if you can protect him adequately, your opponent will be very reluctant to attack. Excellent Crime Lords material. 4 out of 5.

Fred: With Coast City, Kingpin should be able to force at least one KO. Combine with the defender recovery tech available to the Crime Lords and your opponent risks losing all his characters to your lethal defense. 5 out of 5.

Across the Universe: A MUN Set Review, Part 6

Card Name: Sharon Carter, Agent 13 – Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D.
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 8/7
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Concealed
Discard a character card {>} This turn, Sharon Carter can attack target character as though it were visible and unprotected, and it loses and can’t have reinforcement.
Flavor Text:“If Captain America doesn’t follow the law, then who does?”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-108

Lorenzo: Sharon’s great for picking off those annoying little hidden characters of your opponent, or breaking up protective formations. Since she herself is Concealed, she can act as a sniper unit to pick on your opponent’s smaller units or hidden characters regardless of who has the initiative. 4 out of 5.

Neeka: With the right combat pumps, Sharon can put the hurting on any character into the midgame, but her role is more of a hunter of your opponent’s annoying units than a smasher, which role you should assign to some bigger unit or your swarm. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Excellent for her utility and continuing usefulness, Sharon is a valuable component in a tactical S.H.I.E.L.D. build. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: She-Hulk, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 8/9
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Reservist
At the start of the combat step, you may replace a reservist resource you control. If you do, put a +1 / +1 counter on She-Hulk.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-109

Lorenzo: It takes a couple of turns to improve She-Hulk’s stats on her own, although at 9/10 she’s a little above average on the turn she comes into play, and becomes progressively harder to deal with. Nothing flashy, but decent for Limited. 3 out of 5.

Neeka: Obviously most useful in conjunction with any number of effects and teams that give +1/+1 counters. Pair with the Thunderbolts or Doom Patrol for extra mileage. 3 out of 5.

Fred: She-Hulk’s stat increase isn’t so impressive due to the fact that she’s already below average to begin with, and needs to expend her effect just to reach a decent level. Best in a Thunderbolts/S.H.I.E.L.D. build so she can pile on some more counters. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: Spider-Man, Unmasked
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Spider-Friends
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: 6/9
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Evasion
Leader: If an adjacent character would become stunned during the combat phase, instead, you may return it to its owner’s hand.
Flavor Text:“Gotta be honest – it feels good to be back in the old webs.”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-110

Lorenzo: More unusual high DEF stats here for the S.H.I.E.L.D. Spidey, and Evasion to maintain board advantage as necessary. The Leader ability fits into the S.H.I.E.L.D. theme, allowing you to avoid some stun endurance loss while saving the character card if you know it’s going to hit the KO pile anyway. Particularly effective if you’ve got some smaller characters, like the Army guys, who can find their way back into play through alternate means. 4 out of 5 for good tactical qualities overall.

Neeka: Bouncing characters back to hand is always preferable to KOing them, especially if you can save yourself some endurance while you’re at it. Spidey may find lots of applications in Kree, Villains United (in conjunction with Zazzala) and any number of janky combinations. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Spider-Man’s S.H.I.E.L.D. incarnation isn’t an outright combat monster or some no-brainer activated powerhouse. He’s a strategic asset that helps sustain the various S.H.I.E.L.D. themes, and if handled with care, will definitely facilitate victory. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Squirrel Girl, Doreen Green
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers
Cost: 1
Atk/Def: 1/2
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Reservist
When Squirrel Girl enters play, you may put an Army [SHIELD] character card with cost 1 or less from your hand into play.
Whenever an Army [SHIELD] character you control becomes stunned during the combat phase, you may return it to its owner’s hand.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-111

Lorenzo: Squirrel Girl is much more of a Constructed asset than a Limited one. While she could conceivably net you a few extra points of damage early on, she’ll be taking up valuable space that could instead have been served with more useful higher drops. 1 out of 5.

Neeka: How can we not love this S.H.I.E.L.D. Army-enabling keystone? Free characters are always good, and she plays well into the “return characters to hand” theme. 4 out of 5.

Fred: An important component of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Army build, Squirrel Girl keeps you stocked with fresh troops and boosts your swarm growth with her “comes into play” ability. 3 out of 5 for being a solid 1-drop enabler.

Card Name: Thing, Conscientious Objector
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Fantastic Four
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: 15/15
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Thing can’t attack.
A character protected by Thing can’t be attacked.
Flavor Text:“Fergit ‘dis, I’m going tah France.”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-112

Lorenzo: Gosh. He can’t attack, but he’ll make life very difficult for your opponent on turn 6 if you’ve got odd initiatives. No cheap shots either since the character protected by Thing can’t be attacked. If you’re seeking to end the game on 7 or more, Thing simply can’t be beaten. 4 out of 5.

Neeka: Mr. Sinister 5 will regret being in play with this version of the Thing around. If you’re playing with Only Human, it’s possible for you to use it on Thing during your attack step so that he loses his “power” of being unable to attack and can clobber your opponent with his 15/15 mass. 4 out of 5.

Fred: An excellent defensive option and the first “wall” character we’ve seen in the game (huge stats but can’t attack), Thing provides additional protection to one of your key characters against an enemy onslaught. As mentioned, Only Human can remove the “wall” status from Thing and turn him into a 15/15 attacker on turn 6, which your opponent definitely won’t expect. 4 out of 5.

Card Name: Thor, Cyborg Clone
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D.
Cost: 7
Atk/Def: 17/14
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
Discard your hand {>} Target player loses X endurance and you draw X cards, where X is the number of [SHIELD] character cards you discarded this way. Use only once per turn.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-113

Lorenzo: A boon if you’ve got odd initiatives on turn 7, Thor has tremendous ATK and a decent endurance-burning effect that helps you trim your hand of dead cards, and hopefully draw into a couple more plot twists or effects. Not the most favored Limited finisher, but a decent choice. 3 out of 5.

Neeka: Thor can get pretty silly in a S.H.I.E.L.D./Villains United/Kree deck, particularly if all you’ve got in your hand are for-the-turn pumps and a boatload of character cards. I can see a 10 endurance burn and a fresh hand of at least 10 cards happen pretty easily. 4 out of 5.

Fred: Thor is the culmination of the S.H.I.E.L.D. strategy that involves filling your hand with characters, and could spell a significant endurance swing plus draw you a whole bunch of useful plot twists. This could be enough to finish off your opponent on turn 7, and if not, he can always call down the lightning again on turn 8. 3 out of 5, since he’s only really good if you’ve managed to build up that card hand.

Card Name: Tigra, Greer Grant Nelson
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 6/3
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Reservist
When Tigra enters play, target character loses and can’t have reinforcement this turn.
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-114

Lorenzo: Great ATK, lousy DEF, and an ability that doesn’t mean much on the turn that she comes into play. Obviously she’s meant to be exploited with the various S.H.I.E.L.D. character manipulation engines, but in Limited it will be very hard to assemble the pieces. 2 out of 5.

Neeka: She’s kind of blah in spite of her skewed stats since her ability doesn’t seem adequately supported by or integral to her team. Neither is she Substitute, so unlike the Dark Martian, she can’t exploit her Blind Sided effect when you need it most. 2 out of 5.

Fred: Seems that the best thing you can do with Tigra is to bring her down on turn 4 with even initiatives using Bishop. Given that her ability only triggers for the turn when she comes into play, it’s hard to conceive many situations that can fully exploit her. 2 out of 5.

Card Name: War Machine, Director of the Initiative
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers
Cost: 6
Atk/Def: 12/12
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
Reservist
Characters get -1 / -1 while attacking War Machine.
Flavor Text:“Until Tony Stark says different, I’m in charge of this operation. Anyone got a problem with that?”
Rarity: Common
Card #: MUN-115

Lorenzo: Effectively a 13/13 on defense, War Machine becomes rather more of an obstacle against Army swarm decks or off-curve decks that have to muster more collective ATK to penetrate War Machine’s armor. Nothing flashy, about average overall. 3 out of 5.

Neeka: Nothing special or superior to 6-drops we’ve seen before.  1 out of 5.

Fred: War Machine neither supports the S.H.I.E.L.D. or Avengers core strategies nor appears to be a powerful character in his own right.  If you’re playing S.H.I.E.L.D., you’ve got Captain Marvel for aggression and Thing for stall.  1 out of 5.

Card Name: Wasp, Mighty Avenger
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 3/2
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
Whenever Wasp defends, return her to her owner’s hand and remove all attackers from this attack.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-116

Lorenzo: While attack negation is nice, it isn’t so good when you can’t control when it happens.  1 out of 5.

Neeka: One smart attack from your opponent is all it takes to negate Wasp.  1 out of 5.

Fred: I’m not fond of losing field advantage involuntarily when it provides me very little benefit.  1 out of 5.

Card Name: Wolverine, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Crime Lords
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: 6/6
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Concealed
Reservist
To recruit, return a [Crime Lords] or [SHIELD] character you control to its owner’s hand.
Wolverine can attack players directly.
Flavor Text:“I can feel them in my head. I can’t…stop myself.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-117

Lorenzo: Wow, interesting dual affiliation.  The cost for recruiting this version of Wolverine may be a bit hefty, but it’ll be well worth it for an oversized 3-drop that can remain threatening the rest of the game by sniping your opponent for 6 every turn from the hidden area.  Wolverine may as well read “Activate-> target opponent loses 6 endurance”.  He’s simply unfair.  4 out of 5.

Neeka: A deck was built around Elektra, who came in a turn later with almost the same stats.  Wolverine could very well set up for a turn 4 or turn 5 kill with his horrific abilities, a lot of “for the turn” combat pumps, and Sam Parrington.  Hrm.  5 out of 5.

Fred: The recruit cost of Wolverine may not be the hardest thing to pull off given the S.H.I.E.L.D. propensity for popping out “free” characters.  His stats and his ability are simply brutal.  The fact that he’s Concealed makes him all the more difficult to remove.  I’m not even going to delve into the horrors of the Wolverine Legend suite.  5 out of 5.

Card Name: Wonder Man, Mighty Avenger
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers
Cost: 5
Atk/Def: 10/8
Abilities: Flight, Range
Rules Text:
Reservist
If Wonder Man would cause any amount of breakthrough, instead, you may stun a character with DEF less than or equal to that amount.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-118

Lorenzo: Flight is an important trait for any character whose power depends on his being able to cause breakthrough, so Wonder Man already has something going for him.  Although it’s unlikely that you’ll be slapping around your opponent’s biggest characters every turn with his ability, you can use him to snipe those pesky little hidden characters that annoy you with their utility powers.  3 out of 5 for a solid power that’s not very abusable in Limited.

Neeka: Dominated on a flying stick, Wonder Man is.  Great against off-curve, and it’s not so hard to raise his ATK to take out two characters with a single attack.  For a cheap shot, you can attack a character who has almost no chance of stunning Wonder Man back, and use his ability to stun a high drop.  Sweetness.  4 out of 5.

Fred: Wonder Man provides indirect stun capability, which is great for clearing your opponent’s board and gives you a significant tactical advantage.  4 out of 5.

Card Name: Yelena Belova ~ Black Widow, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. – HYDRA
Type: Character
Affiliation: S.H.I.E.L.D./Crime Lords
Cost: 2
Atk/Def: 2/2
Abilities: Range
Rules Text:
Return Yelene Belova to her owner’s hand {>} KO target stunned character. Use only during the recovery phase.
Flavor Text:“No survivors.”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-119

Lorenzo: Why is this rare?  She’s not as effective as the common 2-drop Punisher from MVL, and she has lower stats.  1 out of 5.

Neeka: This is kind of like the 2-drop Roy Harper, except better for the fact that she outright KO’s the stunned character.  3 out of 5.

Fred: I’m rather disappointed with Ms. Belova, who has lousy stats and an uninteresting ability that is restricted to the recovery phase.  Sure, she returns to your hand instead of being KO’d, which her team affiliations appreciate, but it doesn’t seem enough to merit inclusion.  2 out of 5.

Card Name: Extremis Upgrade
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Concealed-Optional
Equip only to Iron Man.
If equipped character would become stunned, instead, you may KO Extremis Upgrade. If you do, exhaust equipped character.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-120

Lorenzo: Iron Man Legend suite.  1 out of 5, since the chances of you getting an Iron Man to use it with are fairly low.

Neeka: A great card for Iron Man on either initiative, this equipment compels your opponent to face him at least twice each turn.  Combo with Salvage for defensive frustration galore.  4 out of 5.

Fred: We’ve seen equipment like this before (Dr. Doom’s Armor), but never at a 0 cost.  Although it lacks the surprise value of, say, Indestructible on Superman, it fulfills much the same purpose.  4 out of 5.

Card Name: Hulkbuster Armor
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Equip only to Iron Man.
When equipped character enters combat with one or more opposing characters, he gets +X ATK this attack, where X is the combined cost of those characters.
Flavor Text:“I don’t just wear the armor…I am the armor.”
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-121

Lorenzo: Iron Man Legend suite.  1 out of 5.

Neeka: If the defensive nature of the Extremis Upgrade isn’t to your liking, the Hulkbuster Armor is a much more brutal option.  On the defensive, it almost guarantees a stunback, and on offense, Tony can attack way up the curve, particularly if he’s been building up those +1/+1 counters from Stark Armory.  The ATK bonus is significant either way.  4 out of 5.

Fred: I’m torn between this and Extremis Upgrade, although ideally both can be used to maximum effect – EU during an off-initiative turn, then HA the turn after.  Great ATK bonus, for certain, and doesn’t lose its effectiveness on defense.  4 out of 5.

Card Name: Power Dampeners
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Play only if you control a [SHIELD] character. Equip only to an opposing character. Equipped character loses and can’t have non-activated powers.
Flavor Text:“Get ready to be normal, kiddies.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-122

Lorenzo: I’m annoyed that this isn’t Concealed-Optional, but otherwise it’s a fine card, practically a permanent Only Human.  The type of opposition you’ll be facing will determine its effectiveness.  3 out of 5.

Neeka: Many of the more threatening powers of characters these days are non-activated, so Power Dampeners does a good job of abating those threats.  3 out of 5.

Fred: A decent card for what it does, though its status as an equipment that isn’t Concealed-Optional hurts its utility.  3 out of 5.

Card Name: S.H.I.E.L.D. Flying Car
Type: Equipment
Affiliation:
Cost: 0
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Equip only to a [SHIELD] character.
Equipped character has flight.
Whenever equipped character becomes stunned during the combat phase, you may return S.H.I.E.L.D. Flying Car to its owner’s hand. If you do, return that character to its owner’s hand.
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-123

Lorenzo: Fine, you can recover the character card for the various purposes of S.H.I.E.L.D., but for what it does, it’s a waste of deck space.  1 out of 5.

Neeka: I’d much rather have a Jetpack, which at least gives a +2 ATK bonus.  1 out of 5.

Fred: There are many other ways in S.H.I.E.L.D. alone to bring characters back to one’s hand.  1 out of 5.

Card Name: Godseye Satellite
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Terraform
{Activate} {>} Target [SHIELD] character you control gains +X ATK this turn, where X is its cost. At the start of the recovery phase this turn, return that character to its owner’s hand.
Flavor Text:“I’m sorry Bruce. You left us no choice.”
Rarity: Uncommon
Card #: MUN-124

Lorenzo: I actually like the bonus that this location provides, for stunback or to punch through an opponent’s defenses, and for the turn at that.  The return of the character to hand is a tough penalty, but not so bad for S.H.I.E.L.D., and if used properly, such as during your kill turn, won’t really matter anyway.  4 out of 5.

Neeka: Solid ATK bonus, and a drawback that can be exploited by S.H.I.E.L.D.  4 out of 5.

Fred: The ATK bonus provided by Godseye isn’t to be used haphazardly, considering the inconvenient drawback.  It’s quite a bonus, though, particularly in the midgame, and lasts for the turn.  4 out of 5.

Card Name: Negative Zone, Non-Unique – Prison Alpha
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 4
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
To flip, discard a [Negative Zone] or [SHIELD] character card.
When you flip Negative Zone, the controller of target unprotected character moves it to his hidden area.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-125

Lorenzo: Prison Alpha’s uses seem rather narrow, as you’ll either be using it to send one of your own to the relative safety of the hidden area or sending some opponent’s character away so that it can’t defend/protect/take advantage of Leader abilities/provide Leader abilities/etc.  2 out of 5.

Neeka: Perhaps this will be useful for creating that Negative Zone row for the new Negative Zone team cards.  As it stands, though, it isn’t very impressive.  2 out of 5.

Fred: Prison Alpha provides a costly and mediocre effect that does not seem to jive with the S.H.I.E.L.D. strategies.  2 out of 5.

Card Name: S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
Type: Location
Affiliation:
Cost: 3
Atk/Def: /
Abilities:
Rules Text:
Terraform
To flip, return up to three non-stunned characters you control with combined cost 3 or more to their owner’s hands.
[SHIELD] characters you control get +2 ATK and have flight.
Rarity: Rare
Card #: MUN-126

Lorenzo: The augmentation provided by the Helicarrier is great, but the cost may be too steep unless you’re playing off-curve, where this card really shines through exponential bonuses.  3 out of 5.

Neeka +2 ATK to all your characters, without qualification, is excellent.  4 out of 5.

Fred: In the S.H.I.E.L.D. army build, this is going to be a key card, with a cost that actually works to your advantage.  4 out of 5.