Tuesday, July 3, 2007
World's Finest-Initial Thoughts
Well for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, Anthony Cheng and VSRealms forum members JPinter, darcspiral13, and WeissX did the bulk of the work I believe (if there is anyone else who contributed let me know) and the rest of the site pitched in and there's an almost complete spoiler based on packs that have already been opened which you can find here.
As I look over the spoiler, there aren't very many cards that jump out and say, "Hey, play me! I'm really good!" Of the sets in Modern Age now, I would rate this one as the third most powerful, behind the two Marvel sets, but still a little ways ahead of DLS. Heralds and MTU are significantly more powerful though. There are some pretty solid cards in the set though. Crackshot will get a ton of play as it's almost as good as Flying Kick. Soul Slicer seems ridiculous.
Team Superman got some decent cards. All of the Superman cards seem to be pretty good to me. There's a 4 drop with flight and range that basically has invulnerability and is unaffected by any card that references cost. The 5 drop is a 9/9 with flight and range that will usually have invulnerability on your turn which is a very good ability in limited. The seven drop will also be a monster in limited, and could see some play in Constructed. The 9-drop doesn't quite live up to other 9-drops though. Can't be stunned is solid, but it's no Galactus. The protection theme and messing with your opponent's attacks might be worth looking into, but most good opponents will probably be able to play around your tricks anyway.
Gotham Knights got some solid cards. Again, I think all the Batman cards are solid. The 8-drop in particular is very intriguing to me. I could see some sort of stall/combo deck that gets the big Bat into play and then plays a ton of plot twists into some ridiculous effect. I'm not sure what that is yet, but it's worth exploring. The team doesn't really have a theme other than plot twist negation and looking at your opponent's cards. The negation theme will probably get some of the Knights splashed into other decks, but looking at your opponent's cards is just so....bleh. Kate Kane could be ridiculous, but that may require to much work to pull off.
The Birds of Prey are really a minor team in this set. The fact that they are all Concealed-Optional gives you a lot of ummm...options when you play them. Expect Cassandra Cain to be very good, with 3 drop Oracle allowing you to draw a bunch of cards, she will be taking out a lot of 6-drops in the coming months.
The Outsiders initially strike me as the best team. Their theme is the one big team attack and they seem like the trickiest team (which usually leads to long turns and cries of abuse). They have some of the best cards in the set and a lot of potential both in a team-up scenario and as mono builds. They can be built off-curve or on and do some really cool stuff. They are the team I plan on working with the most right off the bat.
I was a little, no a lot, disappointed in Arkham. I wasn't one of the people who had been waiting years on this re-feature just to play the team, but I was quite excited to see all the really dumb, borderline broken Insanity cards and they're just not there. You would indeed have to be insane to play a deck like that, because only about 4 of the cards warrant it.
The Revenge Squad themes are pretty weak as well giving you marginal rewards for terrible formations. The ongoing plot twist thing will be the only thing worth even considering trying to make a deck with. The Sqaud does sport a nice curve though, even with the lack of a quality supporting theme. After the Outsiders, Revenge Squad seems to be the most playable out of the box.
One of the complaints I've heard from a lot of people is that this set is too bland and boring. I find this ironic because a few weeks ago, the big complaint was the one of the main drawbacks of the game is the complexity. Well, here they make a set with A-list teams that at least look to be competitive without making them require 20 minute build phases. A lot of casual players will enjoy getting to swing with Batman just to deal extra damage, or not taking any stun endurance when Superman gets stunned. Getting back to just playing the game with high-profile comic book characters seems to be the focus of this set, which will probably be good for the game as a whole. If that was indeed the desired effect, and it does draw new players in, then I will say that this set was a success despite the fact that it is unlikely to stand up in power to the Marvel sets at the Pro Circuit.
As I look over the spoiler, there aren't very many cards that jump out and say, "Hey, play me! I'm really good!" Of the sets in Modern Age now, I would rate this one as the third most powerful, behind the two Marvel sets, but still a little ways ahead of DLS. Heralds and MTU are significantly more powerful though. There are some pretty solid cards in the set though. Crackshot will get a ton of play as it's almost as good as Flying Kick. Soul Slicer seems ridiculous.
Team Superman got some decent cards. All of the Superman cards seem to be pretty good to me. There's a 4 drop with flight and range that basically has invulnerability and is unaffected by any card that references cost. The 5 drop is a 9/9 with flight and range that will usually have invulnerability on your turn which is a very good ability in limited. The seven drop will also be a monster in limited, and could see some play in Constructed. The 9-drop doesn't quite live up to other 9-drops though. Can't be stunned is solid, but it's no Galactus. The protection theme and messing with your opponent's attacks might be worth looking into, but most good opponents will probably be able to play around your tricks anyway.
Gotham Knights got some solid cards. Again, I think all the Batman cards are solid. The 8-drop in particular is very intriguing to me. I could see some sort of stall/combo deck that gets the big Bat into play and then plays a ton of plot twists into some ridiculous effect. I'm not sure what that is yet, but it's worth exploring. The team doesn't really have a theme other than plot twist negation and looking at your opponent's cards. The negation theme will probably get some of the Knights splashed into other decks, but looking at your opponent's cards is just so....bleh. Kate Kane could be ridiculous, but that may require to much work to pull off.
The Birds of Prey are really a minor team in this set. The fact that they are all Concealed-Optional gives you a lot of ummm...options when you play them. Expect Cassandra Cain to be very good, with 3 drop Oracle allowing you to draw a bunch of cards, she will be taking out a lot of 6-drops in the coming months.
The Outsiders initially strike me as the best team. Their theme is the one big team attack and they seem like the trickiest team (which usually leads to long turns and cries of abuse). They have some of the best cards in the set and a lot of potential both in a team-up scenario and as mono builds. They can be built off-curve or on and do some really cool stuff. They are the team I plan on working with the most right off the bat.
I was a little, no a lot, disappointed in Arkham. I wasn't one of the people who had been waiting years on this re-feature just to play the team, but I was quite excited to see all the really dumb, borderline broken Insanity cards and they're just not there. You would indeed have to be insane to play a deck like that, because only about 4 of the cards warrant it.
The Revenge Squad themes are pretty weak as well giving you marginal rewards for terrible formations. The ongoing plot twist thing will be the only thing worth even considering trying to make a deck with. The Sqaud does sport a nice curve though, even with the lack of a quality supporting theme. After the Outsiders, Revenge Squad seems to be the most playable out of the box.
One of the complaints I've heard from a lot of people is that this set is too bland and boring. I find this ironic because a few weeks ago, the big complaint was the one of the main drawbacks of the game is the complexity. Well, here they make a set with A-list teams that at least look to be competitive without making them require 20 minute build phases. A lot of casual players will enjoy getting to swing with Batman just to deal extra damage, or not taking any stun endurance when Superman gets stunned. Getting back to just playing the game with high-profile comic book characters seems to be the focus of this set, which will probably be good for the game as a whole. If that was indeed the desired effect, and it does draw new players in, then I will say that this set was a success despite the fact that it is unlikely to stand up in power to the Marvel sets at the Pro Circuit.
# posted by B Lyons @ 2:06 PM 
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