TAWC GEN CON MODERN AGE CHAMPIONSHIP REPORT!

By Michael Barnes

This story begins with a thread posted on these very Realms.  One week before the VsSystem World Championships, I was reading Yoel Izsak’s tournament report of Mega Weekend New York.  Of particular interest to me were Yoel’s impressions of Marvel Universe from a limited perspective.  While I fancy myself a decent limited player, I willingly admit that there are players out there (such as Yoel) with far better understanding of the limited side of Vs. System.  Considering Yoel’s prior success with the Vs. System limited format, I figured that I could learn a lot from his comments.

 

 

Initially, I was a bit distraught by his statement that Marvel Universe limited is a “fast format”.  While I have played rush and off-curve in limited formats in the past, I find that I am far more comfortable playing control curve in Sealed and Draft.  However, Yoel’s initial comment was merely a setup for his thoughts about how to use this trait to your advantage by playing cards that would allow you to play towards the later turns.  In particular, he identified endurance gain and reinforcement tricks as being key to pushing the game towards later turns.  While Marvel Universe has some amazing pumps and dominating low-cost characters available in limited, they also contain an underrated group of reinforcement and endurance gain cards.  And, according to Yoel, foremost among these is Messiah Complex.

 

 

Okay… so I readily admit that I never really considered Messiah Complex to be a “power card” in limited.  I come from the very basic school of thought that the only non-character cards worth playing are pumps (offensive and defensive), draw/cycling effects, and board control cards (recovery and KO).  To me, endurance gain has never seemed like something that had the potential to be “game-breaking” in limited.

 

However, I am willing to admit that Yoel probably knew what he was talking about.  So I started actively picking copies of Messiah Complex in practice drafts (as well as other endurance gain/reinforcement tricks).  And you know what?  Yoel WAS right.  In the right decks, Messiah Complex proved to be absolutely amazing.  Not only could you pitch your late drops for various discard effects; secure in the knowledge that you could retrieve them, but you could gain substantial benefits in the bargain.  Seven extra points of endurance may not seem like much.  But if you consider that gaining seven endurance is the pseudo-equivalent of completely nullifying an opposing 4-drop’s attack, it becomes clear how good such an effect can be.

 

Fast forward to Day 2 of Worlds.  I had just finished a disappointing Day 1; where my 4-3 performance was a pale shadow of the 5-2 or 6-1 record I had hoped to post.  Of course, I was still grateful to be playing on Day 2.  However, given the power level that we judged Warbound at, I felt that I should have put up a better performance.  Unfortunately, a few poor draws conspired to ruin my chances of a better record.

 

I was able to go 2-1 in my first draft pod; and I knew that I would have to 3-0 the second pod if I wanted to have any shot at Day 3.  From the experience in my first pod, I realized that control archetypes – particularly Crime Lords – were being sorely under drafted.  So, I decided to force Crime Lords; drafting off-team characters with high defensive values (like Daisy Johnson) and using cards like The Initiative and Hail Hydra! to make them Crime Lords.  In some regard, I was successful in this feat.  I managed to pull three copies of the much vaunted Red Skull (two 3-drops and one 5-drop); along with a copy of Acts of Vengeance.  Additionally, I had several defensive tricks that would catch my opponents off guard (like three copies of No Retreat, No Surrender – one of the most underrated cards in the set).  On the other hand, I didn’t manage to draft a single 7-drop; which is a bit of a problem for a deck trying to stall for the win on seven.

 

However, I did have one ridiculous combo in the form of Messiah Complex and The Beyonder.  When I first drafted these cards, it didn’t occur to me how amazing they could be together.  But in my first match of the second pod against Travis Frazier, when I managed to push the game to turn seven after going into negatives, I realized just how amazing the combo could truly be.  I was able to use the combo again to great effect in the second match of the pod.  Despite the fact that I didn’t see Messiah Complex in my third match (instead having to rely on the Boost from No Retreat, No Surrender to pull off the victory), I considered the combo to be the MVP of my second draft.

 

About that time I started brainstorming to find a way to abuse the Messiah Complex combo in Constructed play.  While it wouldn’t be nearly so amazing in Constructed, I still felt that it was worth of consideration; especially since the Modern Age metagame was likely to shift after the success of MKKO, Avengers Reservist, and SHIELD Burn at Worlds.  The ten point endurance gain could be perfect for control decks that might need help getting to turns six and seven; where they could take control.

 

I initially thought about trying to integrate the combo into a Crime Lords build (since I absolutely loved Red Skull in draft).  However, I really couldn’t find too much synergy with the combo and the deck.  It was about this time that Todd Carlson showed me the decklists for the Top 8; and I got to see Mike Jiles’ Secret Society deck.  Now HERE was a deck that had synergy with the Messiah Complex combo!  Apart from the obvious benefits from the combo, Messiah Complex fit neatly into the Secret Society’s KO’s pile-centric theme.  If you didn’t draw into a copy of Remote Facility, Messiah Complex could be used in a pinch with Straight to the Grave.  Additionally, the inclusion of the toolbox 10-drops The Beyonder and Death gave Secret Society some additional tools to combat KO effects (like Quick Kill and Punisher, Secret Avenger) and some KO power of their own to deal with problematic characters (like Radioactive Man, Containment Suit and Human Torch, Secret Avenger).  Of course, playing the Messiah Complex combo with Black Manta allowed for the possibility of gaining endurance with the combo every turn (as Manta could keep recurring Messiah Complex).

 

The build was effectively the same as Mike Jiles; with a few changes for certain matchups… and the Messiah Complex combo, of course.  Here’s the build that my teammate John Hall and I settled on:

 

Society Complex (60 cards)

 

Characters (31)

1 Chemo, Toxic Waste

2 Dr. Polaris, Polar Opposite

4 The Riddler, Riddle Me This

2 Charaxes, Moth Monster

4 Dr. Sivana, Mad Scientist

1 Dr. Psycho, Demented Dwarf

4 Poison Ivy, Intoxicating

4 Gorilla Grodd, Grodd Awful

1 Sinestro, Yellow Lantern

3 Black Manta, Underwater Marauder

1 Deathstroke the Terminator, Killing Machine

1 Mr. Freeze, Cold Blooded

1 Doomsday, Engine of Destruction

1 Death, The Second Force of the Universe

1 The Beyonder, Inhuman

 

Plot Twists (24)

4 Agility

2 Death of the Dream

2 Going Ape

4 Messiah Complex

4 Mobilize

4 Savage Beatdown

4 Straight to the Grave

 

Locations (5)

2 Gorilla City

3 Remote Facility, Non-Unique

 

 

Aside from the combo, the only major changes that we made were to add a copy of Dr. Psycho for the MKKO match to get rid of Black Cat (since the extra card draw from her effect is just plain ridiculous); and to add a couple of copies of Death of the Dream as an answer against combo decks.  Birthing Chamber was a tough cut, but we found that the deck had plenty of cycling power already.  Besides, in the new aggressive Modern metagame, we didn’t feel that we’d be in too many situations where Birthing Chamber would be useful.  Also, Pathetic Attempt was cut simply because we thought that two copies of a pure reactive card weren’t enough to be useful in most matchups.

 

It’s already been documented how John did with the deck; managing three feature matches and splitting for first place with Robert Rietze.  However, here’s the report of my experience with the deck:

 

Round 1 – Matt McDonald (MK/Avengers Reservist)

Matt was essentially playing an Avengers Reservist deck with the addition of Wild Ride to search some of the dual team stamped characters (Iron Fist, Dr. Strange, etc.)  In my testing with John, we found the Avengers Reservist matchup to be very favorable.  While the deck has probably the most consistency and power of any of the Modern Age aggro decks, it can only maintain that level of aggression for a brief period of time.  After turn four, the deck leans very heavily on big characters and the burn from Human Torch to finish the game.  The results from Mike Jiles’ match against Matthew Ross at Worlds are a bit deceptive; as Ross drew into an insane amount of pump, and Giles completely missed his 5-drop in game 2.  Before the addition of Messiah Complex, the matchup was slightly in Secret Society’s favor (probably 60-40).  After the addition of Messiah Complex (which can easily extend a game an extra turn), the matchup became closer to 80-20.

 

Sure enough, Messiah Complex was the difference maker in this match.  Matt drew well in the match, but I was able to use Messiah Complex twice (for a net gain of 17) to draw the game out until turn six.  Even though Matt had the initiative, I had so much board presence on six that I was guaranteed to get an attack in.  In the end, that extra character made the difference; as I was able to send Mr. Freeze in directly with a Savage Beatdown to take Matt lower in the negatives than I already was. 1-0

 

 

Round 2 – William Baldwin (Avengers Reservist)

Up to this point, I’d actually had a long run of losses to William.  He’d already beaten me soundly three times earlier this weekend.  Of course, he was playing Avengers Reservists; and was certainly one of the strongest players to be wielding the deck at this event.  However, like I said earlier, my deck has a very good matchup against Avengers Reservist.  William had his Top 8 match at Worlds against Mike Jiles still fresh in his mind; and remarked that he just needed to watch out for Going Ape.  Of course, when I managed to draw BOTH copies of Going Ape, I knew that it was going to be a good match for me. 2-0

 

 

Round 3 – Wilson Fisher (World’s Finest)

Generally, Secret Society can hang in this matchup if 1) it is able to draw into its curve; and 2) Riddler can mill the appropriate cards to shut off negation.  Unfortunately, neither of those things happened in this matchup.  While I had Riddler from the start of the game, he didn’t mill the right cards at the right time to allow me to neutralize Wilson’s negation (which was considerable; with both Bat Got Your Tongue? and Early Edition in the deck).  Additionally, Wilson had a near perfect curve; with Alfred on one, then Alfred and Maggie Sawyer on two.  But the nail in the coffin was when Wilson flipped a copy of Phantom Zone.  While the primary purpose of the devastating location in the deck is to remove cards to make Early Edition more effective, it has the added bonus of completely wrecking Secret Society.  I never had a chance in this match. 2-1

 

 

Round 4 – Bilal Murphy (Warbound)

After getting trounced by the World’s Finest (which, from a flavor perspective, is exactly what should have happened), I had to venture into unfamiliar territory against Bilal and the Warbound.  I had never actually played this matchup, but I was pretty familiar with the Warbound deck (obv!)  I knew that most of the plot twists cost either 3 or 4; and that there were a number of cards in the deck at those respective costs (nearly 3/4ths of the deck).  So, Riddler could be a valuable ally in the matchup.  I was fortunate enough to hit Riddler on turn one; then get a second copy in play via Poison Ivy on three.  On four, I milled a copy of Hiroim; blocking all of Bilal’s search.  Subsequently, he completely missed his 4-drop.  Another 3-cost card hit the bin on five; and Bilal missed on that turn as well.  While he did have a 6-drop, my twin Riddlers milled a 3- and 4-cost that turn (meaning that Bilal wouldn’t be playing any search, Hulk Smash, Trouble with Dinosaurs, The Strongest One There Is, Blood sport, Hulk Red, Righteous Anger… do I need to go on?)  A couple of attacks later, Bilal scooped up his cards. 3-1

 

Round 5 – Jerome (Avengers Reservist)

My profuse apologies to Jerome, but I couldn’t recall his last name; and I didn’t have it written down on my score pad.  Jerome was apparently new to the game, but it seemed that his Avengers deck was doing well for him.  It was reminiscent of Matthew Ross’ Worlds deck; with a minimal amount of search and disruption, and a whole lot of pump.  Jerome hit me extremely hard in the early turns, dropping me into the teens by the end of turn four.  However, I was able to stabilize with a copy of Messiah Complex to return The Beyonder to my hand.  On five, Jerome managed to pull of stuns on both Black Manta and Gorilla Grodd.  He then went for the win with an all-out attack on Charaxes with Echo.  But after he dumped something like ten points of pump on Echo, I used Beyonder to recover Grodd, then KO’d Charaxes to his effect.  This pretty much sucked the wind out of Jerome’s sails, and not even the might Luke Cage could stop the Society onslaught on turn six. 4-1

 

Round 6 – Dan Clark (SHIELD Burn)

A few players at RIW Hobbies in Livonia Michigan are highly acclaimed for their accomplishments in Magic and other TCGs… So much so that players like Dan Clark don’t get the recognition that they deserve.  However, I have a LOT of respect for Dan’s play and deck building skill; and he’s an all-around nice guy.  The only other time that I played Dan, I had an amazingly strong draw to assist me in my victory.  In this match, I found success more due to Dan’s poor early game draw.  He failed to draw into any of his search or cycling effects, so he was never able to put any real pressure on me.  I was able to stun Squirrel Girl every turn to prevent Dan from bouncing his characters back to his hand.  After the draw step on six, with me still sitting at over 30 END, Dan scooped. 5-1

 

Round 7 – John Hall (Mirror)

Matches against a teammate at this point in a tournament are somewhat bittersweet.  On one hand, we were both happy to face one another; because that meant that one of us would definitely make Top 8.  On the other hand, it also meant that one of us was going to lose; putting that person in a “do or die” situation for the final round.  The match was pretty uneventful; with both of us hitting the exact same curve for the first four turns.  The difference came on five; when John milled a 3-cost card with his Riddler.  I had a copy of Straight to the Grave, but I couldn’t play Messiah Complex; meaning that I was going to miss my 5-drop.  When John recruited his Black Manta, I scooped. 5-2

 

Round 8 – Jon Phillips (MKKO)

With my loss to John, I had to win to make Top 8.  Fortunately, I was paired up against Jon Phillips; who had a 6-1 record.  So, even if I won the match, Jon would still make Top 8.  Unfortunately, Jon was playing a very aggressive MKKO deck; which is a somewhat unfavorable matchup.  I told him that if he was able to draw into 3 or more KO effects, that I probably couldn’t win.  I was somewhat fortunate in the fact that Jon missed Black Cat on one, decreasing his odds of drawing into his devastating KO cards (I would later find out that he didn’t play Black Cat in his deck).  However, that didn’t stop John from still hitting FIVE KO cards – two copies of Finishing Move, one copy of Quick Kill, and two copies of Punisher, Suicide Run.  Normally, that kind of a draw would be enough to force me to scoop.  However, I did have a few things working in my favor.  First, drawing all of those KO effects meant that Jon wasn’t drawing as much pump.  Second, I was able to maintain my endurance and board presence with Messiah Complex for The Beyonder on four (who was subsequently discarded to offset Punisher attempting to KO my Gorilla Grodd).  Third, my Riddler activations created a lot of trouble for Jon in the early game; and he was forced to under drop on turns four and five.  Despite Jon KOing Black Manta on five, I sat at a very healthy 34 END going into turn six.  Mr. Freeze provided the size I needed to deal the final points of endurance loss to Jon; giving me the win and a Top 8 berth.  6-2

 

 

Quarterfinals – Robert Rietze (SHIELD Simmer)

Anyone who’s ever met or played against Robert Rietze can tell you that he tends to be a bit obnoxious.  But once you get past that, he’s actually a fairly friendly and EXTREMELY chatty guy.  Moreover, he is one of the more innovative deck builders that I have ever met.  His impressions about deck building are so far off the radar that they are either completely mad or totally genius (maybe both).  Against other SHIELD decks, I knew exactly what to expect.  Against Rietze, I never know what to expect.

 

My hope in this matchup was that I could get an early copy of Messiah Complex, then use it to push the game into the late turns; where my deck could take over.  However, despite a strong early draw, my deck was not forthcoming with any copies of Messiah Complex.  With the initiative on turn five, Rietze attempted to end the game with a hefty flurry from Wolverine and SHIELD Helicarrier-enhanced 1-drops.  While Chemo took care of the Helicarrier, Rietze still had enough pump to put me to -3 END.  On my attacks back, I pitched a copy of Sinestro to give my crew flight.  The resulting attacks from Poison Ivy and Grodd too Rietze to 9 END.  The final attack sent Black Manta into a SHIELD Agent.  Two power-ups and activation of Gorilla City took my 5-drop to 14 ATK – enough to put Rietze at -4 END.  With no cards in hand, Rietze flipped the card that he had placed into his row from his earlier Thunderbolts Mountain activation – Dangerous Liaisons.  Good game.

 

Good game.

 

 

 

 

Following the event, John and I decided that two copies of Death of the Dream were too many.  Instead, the deck would probably play one or no copies.  Additionally, one copy of The Stamford Incident could be game-breaking against SHIELD.  If you could resolve it during the build phase off-initiative, then you could potentially swing directly with all of your characters.  With Straight to the Grave and Black Manta, this play becomes possible as early as turn five.

 

Other possible cuts would be the other copy of Death of the Dream (you can rely on Chemo to replace resources if necessary) and Dr. Psycho (who is really only good for getting rid of Black Cat and *possibly* Blizzard).  That being said, though, there weren’t any cards that leapt out to either me or John that we should add to the deck.  For the cut copy of Death of a Dream, another copy of Gorilla City could be good.  As for the cut Dr. Psycho, it might be nice to include a copy of Gorilla Grodd, Psionic Simian (the 7-drop); or perhaps a game-ending 8-drop (such as Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch or Helmut Zemo <> Baron Zemo, Master of the Moonstones).

 

That’s all for my tournament report.  Sorry it took so long to write, but I hoped that you enjoyed reading!

 

Michael Barnes (a.k.a. BigSpooky) is an avid Vs. System player who is a founding member of Team Alternate Win Condition (TAWC). When he isn’t concocting crazy deck ideas that no sane person would think of, he occupies his spare time working as an accountant in Dallas, TX. Any questions, comments, suggestions, or guesses regarding which deck will show up next week that you might have for Michael can be sent to him at BigSpooky1@hotmail.com.