Quintessentially Quirky – Rockslide

The following article has been submitted by a fellow UK player, Garry Hewitt, known around the forums as HappyMoog. A great builder of fun decks as is the british way, Garry’s sealed rating is therefore a lot better than his constructed…..although the recent round of Elite Series did see him set about rectifying that fact. This will be the first in his series of fun casual decks, a series that I am going to name after a snippet from my welcome thread, Quintessentially Quirky. 

ROCKSLIDE – Infinite Thing Deck.
When Crisis on Infinite Earths was released in the JLA set, it became clear that there were some abusive combinations that could be brought to the table. Crisis Doom was a powerhouse deck that looked to bypass the problem that using all the powerful plot twist based effects that the Evil Doctor possessed meant minimal field presence through Uniqueness. It had consistency and power, able to merge the most powerful cards from an assortment of teams, in order to create a curve of high utility and power.
However, this card was also a comic book fan’s best friend. If you had always wanted to play a deck that focused on the main facets of your favourite character, this was your chance. All it needed was a bit of imagination and you could bring your Hero (or heroine) to the table in their resplendent glory. Here is one such deck….

The Thing, aka Mr Ben Grimm, is the rock-coated heart of the Fantastic 4. In the game, he has ATK and DEF stats above the curve on most of his drops. What he lacks in finesse and trickery he makes up for in power.

So the build….

Characters:  26

4x Alicia Masters

Any deck focused on Thing needs to include this powerful curve jumper. She needs protecting, but you will see that I have added a couple of things in to the deck to help protect her. If you can drop her on turn 1, any deck that does not run a 1 drop will find themselves quickly behind.

4x Thing: Ben Grimm

The first 3 drop version of the Thing to be released in Marvel Origins, at 5/5 he is a powerful character that can definitely bring the beats. His additional effect is unlikely to be that useful, but we will need all the copies of the Thing we can muster.

 

4x Thing: Idol o’ Millions

The Marvel Legends 3 drop sacrifices the equipment throwing ability for an extra ATK point. Not a bad trade off quite frankly.

4x Thing: Rockhead

The only version to have any affiliation other than F4 (although he is dual-affiliated). Working for the Inhumans, the cosmic surge ability takes him from being an average 4 drop and makes him an average 5 drop in power. Not the strongest version of Thing, but you may find uses for him, and 8 Def on turn 3 should give you a 9/9 and an 11/11 on turn 4… not to be sneezed at. But you will need to protect Alicia Masters.

4x Thing: Heavy Hitter

This is possibly the second most iconic version of Thing. His ATK and DEF are way above the curve when you consider the lack of a drawback. Dropping him on turn 5 presents headaches for your opponent. If you manage to recruit him earlier then your opponent will probably scoop.

4x Thing: Strongman

This was a landmark card because the starter set was one of the first to start using vanilla characters with decent stats to help new players learn the game. The Thing’s simple approach to issues made him an ideal candidate for such treatment, and this card was born. There have been similar cards printed in recent sets, but the vanilla cards in the F4 and Batman starters were the first to come along. For this deck, this is a good finisher on turn 4/5 if you manage to keep Alicia in play.

2x Thing: Ever Loving Blue Eyed Thing

This is the signature version of the Thing. His ability to clear the field will be very difficult to trigger in this deck, but if you manage to get him in to play on turn 5/6 (which is possible) he should finish the game for you.

Locations: 7

3x Coast City

This is the first card that will be used to protect Alicia Masters from unwanted attention from opponents. When combined with our other useful card, this should guarantee that as long as you are stunning your opponents board each turn you will be able to use her ability to stay ahead of the curve.

4x Yancy Street

This is a great card for the deck. Obviously keeping your stunned characters free of KO effects is a nice trick. But when your opponent works out that every stun they cause allows you to search your deck for the next drop, the look on their face should be priceless.

Plot Twists:  20

4x Crisis on Infinite Earths

The mulligan condition (along with Teamwork), this is the core of the deck. Once this is out, you can start building a field of powerful characters to control the combat step.

2x Teamwork

Useful to both fetch and protect Crisis on Infinite Earths, this will help you hit the central pillar of the deck.

4x Clobberin’ Pine.

This is the second part of the protection for Alicia Masters. When defending off-initiative. A Thing in front of Alicia and one to the side will guarantee that you will not lose the vulnerable little sculptress prior to next turn.

4x Cosmic Radiation

Save the copies up and then use multiple copies to jump the curve with a freshly recruited Alicia. Two copies will allow the 7 drop to appear on turn 6 if you didn’t keep the sculptress around. Turn 5 if you did. Plus after you have swung in for damage, it will allow you to ready your un-stunned characters ready to activate Tech Upgrade or Clobberin’ Pine.

3x Unipower

This allows Thing to get to the concealed area, as well as to fly. If you want to be more aggressive then Flying Kick may be a better choice for the slot, but being able to hit through a vulnerable concealed character may be the damage outlet you require to get the win.

3x Tech Upgrade

This allows you to fetch copies of the one-of equipment that I have included to boost the already large characters off-initiative.

Equipment: 7

3x Power Armour

It gives additional attack and the ability to fly. What is not to love, oh and it is free to recruit. This should be self-explanatory. You want to do a lot of damage fast.

1x BPRD Signal Device

This card is an easily obtainable defence from the perils of Mystical Paralysis and other stall effects. Plus the extra DEF is a nice bonus.

1x Steel Girder

Sometimes you will have an odd resource point to spend, and what better than on a means of keeping the worst characters your opponent controls off of the board. This card is extremely powerful in the hands of a character capable of hitting up the curve, and this deck wants to have you hitting down.

1x Mandroid Prototype Armour

Two resource points is expensive, but once you have your 6/7 drop in play, you may have them spare on a given turn. So why not make your highest cost character a further +3/+3 bigger in a straight fight, and almost impossible to shift via a team attack? An under-estimated piece of equipment when put in the right situation.

1x Force-field Belt.

Being able to spend spare resource points is likely to be of primary importance. The extra DEF will help in a straight fight, but making the 7 drop a couple of points larger on later turns may be enough to avoid being over-whelmed if you haven’t put the game away earlier.

   

The deck is a straight forward combat deck. The Mulligan is for Crisis, so that you can recruit multiple Things on to the board and build field presence. You should also be looking for the Cosmic Radiation/Alicia Masters combination to jump the curve as quickly as possible. If you pull both elements off, you should start controlling the board through sheer brute size.

An ideal draw will have Alicia, a 3 drop and a Crisis in the first 6 cards. Unlikely, I know, but if you can have a 3 drop on turn 2 things will soon become very difficult for your opponent. This is not for the player who likes consistency, and it has no plan B. But once you start getting Alicia Masters going and Yancy Street is ensuring you hit your preferred drop, the wall of rock will be very imposing for your opponent.

Preferred initiative is probably Evens as that way you can see if your opponent recruits a 1 drop and play accordingly. But this deck is probably not that bothered either way.

Don’t expect this to win a tournament. But in a casual format you may find that you will be surprised how much trouble it causes….

If just using the Thing was a bit too one-track for you, and you fancy a bit more versatility then you could change the focus.

By removing the 10 equipment dedicated cards to put in 4 copies of Firewall, 2 Heat waves and 4 Mobilizes, and then choosing a selection of Human Torch characters through out the curve, you could change the deck quite a bit while still keeping the core tricks. This would help get round the issue of not hitting Crisis by giving you alternate drops to recruit, and would mean not having to scoop without it. Plus some of the older Human Torch characters are extremely aggressive. Certainly they will cost you END to use their effects, but they will do a lot of damage in the process, and they can still also jump the curve with the help of Alicia Masters.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of how to build a Crisis Deck that lets you use your favourite characters in a way that people won’t see coming.