From: Nakaiya21@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 9:41 AM
Subject: Is Alfred Pennyworth really worth $12.39? - Nakaiya21

Ok so I was looking at shuffleandcut.com to check out cards for my "ultimate" Gotham Knights deck. (ultimate = can at least stand up to a brotherhood deck) The first thing I noticed was Alfred Pennyworth is going for $12.39. Whoa..$12.39! That seems awfully high considering what DC cards are usually going for.....

Well, I know that shuffle and cut definitely sells their cards at reasonable prices (not to mention that they have one of the best organized sites for Vs singles), so I figured that this card must be just that good.

That is when I decided to look into this card a little further....

I can definitely understand why this guy is a rare....anytime you can search your deck for a plot twist or equipment card is sweet! However, his drawbacks make me hesitate....First you have to bring him into play exhausted. Then you can only use him when you have another gotham knights character on the field. Finally, he returns to your hand and you get to start all over again after you activate him. Yikes!

Granted if I can get my characters to fall properly this guy will not be a problem at all, however, if I get this guy on turn 4 I probably will not be happy. Getting him later than turn three means that you will spend more of an effort defending him, which could really screw you if you have initiative and need to attack to keep your opponent at bay.

If he does hit the field properly, I would probably only be able to use him once before it would be too late in the game. At that point it might be too early to predict the proper card to get (Do I go for the savage beatdown or should I choose fizzle?). If I try to leave him up until the crucial time in the game (turn 5/6) how many characters am I possibly going to lose because I choose to recover him instead?

Hmmm at this point I think I will sit back and wait before playing this guy. In the mean time Barbara Gordon - Oracle looks real good (and cheaper). If I even hope to pull off the 7 drop Batman (ugh) then I am going to need her more than Alfred. Yep, two of her will fit in my deck real well. I'll let you know if I change my mind down the road....

-Nakaiya21