10.12.04 

Hey all, and welcome back to the VS Deck Garage! Since I took a look at a Spider-Friends deck last week, it only seems fair to work on a Syndicate deck this week. The deck was submitted by Critter, who has this to say…

Hey Paul,

Right here i am sending you is my home brewed Sinister Syndicate right now i think i am using the best of my resources and characters but i am still not quite sure. Currently the current meta game at my local hobby shop is spiderman, sentinal, common-enemy, teen titan, and brave and the bold. I know i should be using savage beatdown but all i manage to get is 2. Well here it is.

Charaters

4x Tombstone, Lonnie Lincoln
2xElectro, Maxwell Dillon
4xRhino, Alex O'Hirn
4x Kraven the Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff
2x Morbious, Dr. Michale Morbious
4x Green Goblin, Norman Osborn
4x Venom, Eddie Brock
2x King Pin, Crime Boss
2x Dr. Octopus, Doc Ock
1x Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur

Plot Twist

4x Acrobatic Dodge
2x Savage Beatdown
4x Spider Slayers
3x Not So fast
2x Overload
4x Sadistic Choice
4x Combat Reflexes
2x Have a Blast


Locations
4x Doc Ock Lab
4x Lion’s Den
3x Avalon Space station


Most changes i should most likely be able to get so give it a look thanks.

Jumping right into it, I think Critter is on the right track by playing Tombstone. Surprisingly, he seems to be in contention for best Syndicate 1-Drop, when I really thought that there was no way to unseat Vulture. I also agree with Electro, but Critter should probably be playing more than two 2-Drops. Browsing through the good Syndicate 2-Drops, I spotted Hammerhead, Gangster, and he looks *really* good.

+1 Electro, Maxwell Dillon
+3 Hammerhead, Gangster

The same issue arises when looking at Critter’s 3-Drops: he has spotted the really good one, but there needs to be another. Rhino is more than acceptable, but I think Alistair Smythe, Ultimate Spider-Slayer might be a decent addition. He seems absolutely sick against anything with Dr. Doom in it.

+2 Alistair Smythe, Ultimate Spider-Slayer

Since Syndicate wants to be a really aggressive deck, I completely agree with playing Kraven the Hunter. However, I also *really* like Venom, Alien Symbiote – who doesn’t like 4-Drop 10/10s or 9/9s? Evasion only makes him better, so…

-1 Kraven the Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff
+3 Venom, Alien Symbiote

I’m not so sure that Morbius is the best call for the 5-Drop slot. Carnage is more than acceptable, especially since he can double as an 8-Drop later. He also goes along with the theme of “make my dudes huge”.

-2 Morbius, Dr. Michael Morbius
-1 Green Goblin, Norman Osborne
+3 Carnage, Cletus Kasady

Next, because we added Venom, Alien Symbiote to Critter’s deck, I’m going to cut two of them and throw in Hobgoblin. He is an all-around better option that Kaine, who is only good in one match-up, and his size makes him more suitable than Kingpin.

-2 Venom, Eddie Brock
-2 Kingpin, Crime Boss
+2 Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley

Finally, we come to the 7-Drops. At first, I was leaning towards Green Goblin, Alter Ego, but then I gave some thought to the two versions of Venom in the deck. This has a possibility of harming Critter in the long-run, but not too much. However, replacing characters *twice* in one game is too much. Thus, Dr. Octopus gets to stay. As the final act against characters, I am cutting Apocalypse. On Turn 8, Critter should be able to use Lion’s Den or a boosted Carnage, so there really isn’t much need for the big man.

-1 Apocalypse, En Sabah Nur

Turning our attention to Plot Twists, I agree with a lot of the choices Critter has already made. I assume that two Savage Beatdowns are the extent of his collection, which is fine, especially considering the four Spider Slayers in the deck.

The next card I checked for was Sadistic Choice, and since it was there, I was able to move on. Right after this, I discovered something interesting: there aren’t a lot of good Syndicate Plot Twists. Get Him My Petsss is awful and the same applies to Rejuvination. Hired Goons is too limited, Dangerous Experiment is a bit risky, and Sinister Salvo is a glorified Surprise Attack.

Looking over the Plot Twist selection, I’m not sure any of the remaining cards are really warranted. Not So Fast is Not So Good, especially since I’m seeing fewer Overloads appearing in people’s decks. Combat Reflexes is just being excessive on the pump cards, and Overload is easy to play around. I suppose Have a Blast! is still good, so I’ll toss in one more and be content.

-4 Combat Reflexes
-3 Not So Fast
-2 Overload
+1 Have a Blast!

The last thing I’ll mess with is Locations, and that is a really simple call: ditch one copy of Lion’s Den, one copy of Doc Ock’s Lab, and one copy of Avalon Space Station. None are vital to the deck, but each is good enough to keep a few of.

[SIDE NOTE: For those who didn’t notice (I almost missed it!), the reason Avalon Space Station gets to stay is because Critter can get in some trouble with Tombstone in the early game. Critter might decide to ditch a Venom since he wants to keep Tombstone and he has decent odds of pulling up a 6-Drop in the next four draw steps. If he fails to do so, he can always go fish one out of his KO pile.]

-1 Avalon Space Station
-1 Lion’s Den
-1 Doc Ock’s Lab

These three cuts wrap up work on the deck. Check it out!

CHARACTERS (35):
4 Tombstone, Lonnie Lincoln
3 Electro, Maxwell Dillon
3 Hammerhead, Gangster
2 Alistair Smythe, Ultimate Spider-Slayer
4 Rhino, Alex O'Hirn
3 Kraven the Hunter, Sergei Kravinoff
3 Venom, Alien Symbiote
3 Carnage, Cletus Kasady
3 Green Goblin, Norman Osborn
2 Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley
2 Venom, Eddie Brock
2 Dr. Octopus, Doc Ock

PLOT TWISTS (17):

4 Acrobatic Dodge
3 Have a Blast!
4 Sadistic Choice
2 Savage Beatdown
4 Spider Slayers

LOCATIONS (8):
2 Avalon Space Station
3 Doc Ock Lab
3 Lion’s Den

I hope that helps, and good luck, Critter!

I’ll see y’all next week – same time, same place.

-Paul Hagan