Hand of Doom - Big Red Gauntlet

Another deck of workable jank from Happymoog 

Big Red Gauntlet

This is another janky deck that looks to do something a bit quirky and odd to win the game.

I adored the Hellboy Essential Collection. It had great artwork, one of the better rule books I have seen, and two decks that brought something interesting to VS. A lot of starter decks have been overly simplistic decks that have also been under-powered when paired up against more traditional builds. This was not something that the H.E.C suffered from. Both decks had their own definite themes and play styles that were competitive.

I have decided to take one of those themes and see if I can combine it with possibly the most ridiculous suite of cards in VS.

The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Development are known for two things: Big Red himself, Hellboy, and the use of other-world technology to overcome their opponents. This was represented by some of the strongest equipment support in any team. So I wanted to give them so powerful toys to play with, and the best toys in town are…………… no, not the Fate Artifacts, they are for beginners! Much better than that……

The Infinity Gauntlet and its component gems! Anything that costs 10 resource points to recruit has to be good, and you are not disappointed. This is a powerful piece of kit… but nothing this good comes easy J (see earlier deck lists for why this is a good thing!)

The individual gems are not exactly bad either, with effects that can seriously affect the game.

So to help Big Red and his mates assemble the Gauntlet, I have recruited help from an equipment loving mercenary…. Jamie Reyes.

Now unlike previous Quirky Decks, this is also Silver Legal J

 I have also kept this single team with unaffiliated support. (I’ll never actually recruit him)This has been done to challenge the building process and to keep it more thematic. I know there are better options in a silver age or golden age deck, but I just like the jank.

Characters:

4x Jamie Reyes <> Blue Beetle
He is a walking plot twist that goes to fetch the key parts of your deck. Simply put, he is too useful not to have in the deck.

3x Kate Corrigan
Getting the right locations in this deck will be important. So tutoring is good. She isn’t the primary drop, mainly because she doesn’t hang around and her alternative is even more useful in this deck. But it all helps the consistency.

4x Sidney Leach
More equipment search is good. The discard can be pricey, but we should be drawing cards to help mitigate the cost. (plus spare locations are always good discard fodder).

2x Liz Sherman
She is great at getting rid of problem 3 drops… and there are a few in the game at the moment. Turn 6, recruiting her twice against a swarm deck is brutal. She works well the back-up plan of recruiting Hellboy and going character.

4x Thomas Manning
He has reasonable stats, but really comes in to his own when leading other members of the BPRD who are bearing tools for battle. Anything that stops an attacker getting stunned is useful, and when the only cost is formation and being equipped, it is simply golden in this deck. He will allow you to clear opponent boards on initiative without losing your own field presence. Great for setting up a field lock with the Gauntlet as the game progresses.

4x Ben Daimo
A 4 drop that gets bigger when equipped and allows you to get in to the hidden area. This is another part of the BPRD team that loves to be equipped.

1x Hellboy
A good alternative 4 drop if you have the Gauntlet on that turn and minimal field presence.

3x Lobster Johnson
An aggressive 5 drop who moves equipment around and can get to those cowardly characters hiding in the support row is a strong pick for the team.

1x Roger (6 drop).
An aggressive 6 drop who can also burn for extra damage will help keep the pressure on the opponent

1x Liz Sherman
The bigger, more aggressive version brings a powerful burn effect along with decent stats.

1x Hellboy
This is the finisher. Decent attack and a great turn 7 off initiative play. Stunning their 6 and 7 drop in the build step is always nice. This leaves you free to hit them hard in the face, always good fun.

Locations:

4x New Baxters Building

Drawing a card every turn is good. It keeps the deck ticking along. Combined with the other drawing cards and you should have no problem paying for the discard effects that the deck has.

4x Weapons Lab
This is Awesome in an equipment deck. It digs for those wonderful gems and allows you to equip the BPRD Signal Device and the Infinity Gauntlet to the same character.

4x BPRD Headquarters
Character search is critical in this deck to hit your later game and also to compile the key elements of the deck (I’m looking at you Sidney!). A team stamped character tutoring location seems to fit the bill.

Plot Twists:

4x Cannibal Tech

More Equipment Search to dig out the key bits of the Infinity Gauntlet

Equipment:

2x Ego Gem

I have doubled up on this card simply because it allows you to draw more cards as well as fuels the Infinity Gauntlet

2x Mind Gem
You are looking for particular cards, so digging through the deck will always be a good option.

1x Space Gem
Fuels the Gauntlet and can allow you to re-use Sidney Leach on consecutive turns by returning him to your hand.

1x Soul Gem
Fuels the Gauntlet and can help clear the field when facing a swarm deck by bouncing opponent characters that you stun.

1x Power Gem
ATK power and fuels the Gauntlet

1x Time Gem

Plot Twist Protection and fuels the Gauntlet.

1x Reality Gem
Re-usable resource destruction and fuels the Gauntlet

1x Infinity Gauntlet
The big daddy, the main tomato, the holy grail, the big fist of opponent beating!

2x Jet Pack
Flight and +2 ATK is good

2x Dual Fire Arms

Range and +2 ATK is also good

2x BPRD Signal Device
+1 DEF and untargetable is strong, don’t you think.

In terms of playing style, you are hard mulligaaning for either Jamie or Sidney. Once you have searched out an Ego Gem, you should start digging through your deck. With Baxters Building and Weapons Lab in play you should look to have the Infinity Gauntlet in play on turn 4 or 5. If that is looking unlikely you can switch to a more aggressive build using the strong BPRD characters in the mid-game, as their effects make them a powerful offensive force on turns 4 and 5.

This is not a pretty deck in terms of combos or tech slots. It looks to do one thing as fast as possible, put a big scary metal gauntlet on somebody and beat everybody to death with it. Once you are stunning your opponent’s biggest character every turn, the rest of the boys should be able to bring down the rest of the field with minimal trouble.

The Gauntlet is immune to all equipment hate in the Silver format, although the Gems are quite vulnerable. But once the main weapon is out, it is the character that is risky. This is why the BPRD Signal Device is there.

My favourite character to put the Gauntlet on is Thomas Manning. He can then direct the more aggressive members of the team while eliminating the most powerful opponent. Just what a Leader should be doing.

I think you want evens. You are better equipped to deal with defending on odds for the following reasons:

Turn 1 is usually a bit of a wash out.

Turn 2 is ideally Sidney Leach to start building the Gem.

Turn 3, Drop Thomas if you are near building the Gauntlet. Otherwise drop the other two drop, searching for Weapons Lab or Baxters Building if necessary..

Turn 4, Using equipment to attack up the curve you should be able to stun enough to avoid losing the field position. If you have the Gauntlet now, then things become easier, but without it you are looking to use Ben Daimo to start pushing home the advantage. The use of Hellboy on 4 is an option if field presence is proving difficult to maintain.

Turn 5, You should definitely have the Gauntlet. At which point you can defend strongly and hopefully stun back in combat.

Turn 6, your initiative. Again you are looking for the aggressive play. Your 6 drop is slightly above the curve in attack, so is capable of applying more pressure to the opponent.

Turn 7, You stun their 7 drop with your Gauntlet. You recruit Hellboy and return everyone to your hand to stun their 6 drop. They then have no board to threaten you with. It’ll probably never work, but it’ll be fun if it does.

It ain’t perfect and will lose to an opponent packing Pathetic Attempts. But in a casual field, this is one hell of a fun deck to play J