VS Deck Garage
League of Assassins
by Paul Hagan

07.26.04  Hey all, and welcome to another edition of VS Deck Garage! This week, I’ll be reviewing a League of Assassins deck sent in by Tom. The deck seems to run fairly well, but can have problem getting the proper character on the right turn. Here is Tom’s current decklist:

CHARACTERS (30):
2 Ratcatcher, Otis Flannigan
2 Malaq, Money Man
2 Thuggee, Army
1 Joseph Witschi, Talia’s Assistant
3 Assassin Initiate, Army
1 Talia, Daughter of the Demon’s Head
2 Hassim, Loyal Retainer
2 Ubu, Ra’s Al-Ghul’s Bodyguard
2 Kyle Abbot, Wolf in Man’s Clothing
2 Dr. Tzin-Tzin, Master of Hypnosis
2 Ra’s Al-Ghul, Immortal Villain
2 The Demon, Jason Blood
2 Bane, Ubu
1 Whisper A’Daire, Cold-Blooded Manipulator
2 Ra’s Al-Ghul, Master Swordsman
1 Lady Shiva, Master Assassin
1 Ra’s Al-Ghul, The Demon’s Head
1 The Demon, Etrigan

PLOT TWISTS (20):
3 Acrobatic Dodge
2 Break You!
2 Clench Virus
1 Concrete Jungle
1 Dual Nature
2 Fast Getaway
1 Flying Kick
1 From the Shadows
1 Gone But Not Forgotten
1 Hidden Surveillance
1 Nasty Surprise
1 Not So Fast!
1 Shape Change
1 Tag Team
1 Tower of Babel

LOCATIONS (7):
1 Avalon Space Station
1 Flying Fortress
3 Lazarus Pit
2 Mountain Stronghold

EQUIPMENT (4):
1 Escrima Sticks
1 Jet Pack
1 The Shrike
1 Twin Firearms

Checking out the equipment first, I think that there really isn’t a need for anything but the Shrike. The League of Assassins has great characters as is, so there isn’t really a lot of need for equipment. However, the option of the Shrike is just a bit too good to pass up.

-1 Escrima Sticks
-1 Jet Pack
-1 Twin Firearms
+2 The Shrike

Under locations, I agree with all of the card choices, but I would like to increase the number of many of them. Lazarus Pit is an amazing card, especially with cards like Bane, Ubu in the deck. Mountain Stronghold is like a small Flying Kick every turn, and Mountain Stronghold is a great search option, which will help smooth out all of Tom’s consistency problems.

+2 Flying Fortress
+1 Lazarus Pit
+2 Mountain Stronghold

Next, in Plot Twists, I have to disagree with many of the choices Tom has made, mostly because there are so many of them. The Plot Twists lack some consistency, so what I’d like to do is convert many of the one-ofs into full sets of cards.

-1 Concrete Jungle
-1 From the Shadows
+2 Clench Virus

I absolutely love Clench Virus, just because unlike Micro-Sentinels, you can really put the fear into opponents with multiples in play.

-2 Fast Getaway
-1 Hidden Surveillance
-1 Nasty Surprise
+3 Burn Rubber

As long as Tom is playing Fast Getaway, why not play Burn Rubber instead? It does essentially the same thing (prevents breakthrough), and Burn Rubber can do stupid tricks like moving characters behind other characters to make an attack illegal.

-2 Break You!
-1 Flying Kick
-1 Shape Change
+4 Savage Beatdown

Tom said in his e-mail that he doesn’t have a problem getting cards, so why not throw in the best? Savage Beatdown is unsurpassed in its sheer power, and with such large characters in the League of Assassins, Overload isn’t as much of a concern.

-1 Gone But Not Forgotten
+1 Dual Nature

Dual Nature is an interesting card, in that you wind up behind, but at the same time, you can stay ahead by not being down any characters. Combined with Lazarus Pit, Dual Nature will allow Tom to have complete control over his stunned characters.

-1 Tag Team
-1 Not So Fast!
+1 Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel can be a huge pain, especially to decks that rely on team attacking or reinforcement to do the deed against larger decks (read as: Teen Titans, Sentinels).

Moving on to characters, I immediately want to change the 1-Drops to just Thuggee and Joseph Witschi. Thugees are amazing, even late game, just because they are guaranteed to punch through at least one point of endurance.

-2 Ratcatcher, Otis Flannigan
-2 Malaq, Money Man
+1 Thugee, Army

Moving onto 2-Drops, I have to say that I absolutely loath Talia. Tom isn’t playing nearly enough locations to make her worthwhile (and few people will), thus she is probably better off being another Hassim, Loyal Retainer.

-1 Talia, Daughter of the Demon’s Head
+1 Hassim, Loyal Retainer

I can’t call Kyle Abbot a bad card, but I will say that I almost always would prefer to have Ubu, Ra’s Al-Ghul’s Bodyguard. However, I am going to leave a lone copy of Kyle Abbot in the deck, just so Mountain Stronghold can fetch him as need be.

-1 Kyle Abbot, Wolf in Man’s Clothing
+2 Ubu, Ra’s Al-Ghul’s Bodyguard

I will admit that The Demon, Jason Blood is a decent card, but I also never like having a card with a large target on its chest in my deck. Jason Blood is just that – he isn’t League of Assassins, meaning he probably won’t be reinforced. Thus, I’m pulling him in favor of two Ra’s Al-Ghul, Immortal Villain. This guy is amazing against Doom and Lost Brotherhood (both of which rely on locations), and thus belongs in every League deck.

-2 The Demon, Jason Blood
+2 Ra’s Al-Ghul, Immortal Villain

I like the current set-up for Tom’s 5-Drops, 6-Drops, and 7-Drops – Mountain Stronghold will solve any consistency issues. The last change I think that should be made is the loss of The Demon, Etrigan. The largest Ra’s Al-Ghul should be enough.

-1 The Demon, Etrigan

That about wraps up the work on Tom’s deck. The final decklist looks something like…

CHARACTERS (28):
3 Thuggee, Army
1 Joseph Witschi, Talia’s Assistant
3 Assassin Initiate, Army
3 Hassim, Loyal Retainer
4 Ubu, Ra’s Al-Ghul’s Bodyguard
1 Kyle Abbot, Wolf in Man’s Clothing
2 Dr. Tzin-Tzin, Master of Hypnosis
4 Ra’s Al-Ghul, Immortal Villain
2 Bane, Ubu
1 Whisper A’Daire, Cold-Blooded Manipulator
2 Ra’s Al-Ghul, Master Swordsman
1 Lady Shiva, Master Assassin
1 Ra’s Al-Ghul, The Demon’s Head

PLOT TWISTS (18):
3 Acrobatic Dodge
3 Burn Rubber
4 Clench Virus
2 Dual Nature
4 Savage Beatdown
2 Tower of Babel

LOCATIONS (12):
1 Avalon Space Station
3 Flying Fortress
4 Lazarus Pit
4 Mountain Stronghold

EQUIPMENT (3):
3 The Shrike

Hopefully, that will help Tom in his future games. Good luck, Tom!

That about wraps up this edition of VS Deck Garage. Remember, if you would like to see your deck in the Deck Garage, drop me an e-mail at Hagan0001@aol.com and tell me everything you think that I need to know about your deck. I should get back with you within a day or two.

Happy gaming!

-Paul Hagan
 

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