08.16.04 Hey all, and welcome to the VS Deck Garage! Before I get started, I just want to let everyone know that there won’t be a Deck Garage next week, as I will be in GenCon playing in the Pro Circuit event. However, since I am bailing on y’all for a week, I’ll post up a tourney report (whatever the result, be it 1st place or 400th) in addition to my normal article. Let me know if there is anything specific you want to know about the trip / my deck; I’ll throw it in!

On with the normal business! This week, the Deck Garage will be setting up shop around Brave and the Bold deck (Gotham / Teen Titans) submitted by Angel. Here is Angel’s e-mail:

Hi my name is Angel. I run a Brave and the Bold deck and I’m trying my best to improve it. At the moment I’m trying to get a couple of Beast Boys, Terras, USS Argus, Alfred Pennyworth, Tamaran, and a few Fizzles. I would also like to get a few Savage Beatdowns but it almost feels impossible to get one. Do whatever you think is best for the deck and thanks for the help.

Characters (29):
1- Drops
2 Pantha, X-24
2 Dawn Granger, Dove

2- Drops
2 Hank Hall* Hawk
1 Tim Drake* Robin, The Boy Wonder
1 Tim Brake* Robin, Young Detective

3- Drops
2 Huntress
2 Batman, World’s Greatest Detective

4- Drops
2 Cassandra Cain* Batgirl
2 Dick Grayson* Nightwing
1 Terra
1 Bart Allen* Kid Flash

5- Drops
2 Batman, Caped Crusader
2 Garth* Tempest
1 Lady Shiva

6- Drops
2 Dick Grayson* Nightwing
1 Azrael
1 Koriand’r* Starfire
1 Conner Kent* Superboy

7- Drops
1 Raven

Plot Twist(24)
3 The Brave and the Bold
3 Dynamic Duo
3 Teen Titans Go!
3 Shape Change
3 Bat Signal
2 Flying Kick
2 Acrobatic Dodge
1 Burn Rubber
1 Circle Defense
1 Concrete Jungle
1 Foiled
1 Nasty Surprise

Locations(6)
2 Titans Tower
1 Tamaran
1 USS Argus
1 Goth Corp
1 Batcave

Equipments(1)
1 Batmobile

Angel is off to a great start with his deck, but the big issue I am seeing with it is consistency. He has quite a few 1-of plot twists and locations, and without a tutor to search them out (such as Alfred or Boris), this isn’t a good thing. We’ll start our work in Plot Twists. First and foremost, I’d like to see a complete set of The Brave and the Bold, so I’ll up the count there.

+1 The Brave and the Bold

Next, because of the sheer power, Teen Titans Go really needs to be a full set. With Tim Drake * Robin, Young Detective in the deck, Angel will have a great time team-attacking and then resetting his important characters to swing again.

+1 Teen Titans Go

Another card I’d like to fill out is the Bat Signal. With these two teams, you have the option of Bat Signal or Optitron, and honestly, Bat Signal seems much better. You get to search for the best card to play on a specific turn without losing a resource point with which to pay for that character.

+1 Bat Signal

Next, I’m not a huge fan of Shape Change outside of decks like Big Brotherhood, which run a lot of large characters and plot twists. In its place, I’m going to fill out the Acrobatic Dodge count, as it is just generally better and more reliable.

-3 Shape Change

+2 Acrobatic Dodge

Next, a couple of cards are just going to make the trip because there is only one and we need the space. On the list are Concrete Jungle, Nasty Surprise, Burn Rubber, and Foiled – they are pretty unnecessary here, and the slots can likely be used for better cards.

-1 Burn Rubber

-1 Concrete Jungle

-1 Foiled

-1 Nasty Surprise

Since Angel is having a difficult time getting Savage Beatdown, I’ll fill out Flying Kicks instead. I honestly like Flying Kick more than Mega-Blast, only because whenever my opponent has Mega-Blast, I can usually tell (Gee, why is Sabretooth on the back row when you have initiative?), and I would rather have my opponent *not* planning around Plot Twists that I haven’t shown off yet.

+2 Flying Kick

As a final tweak to the deck’s Plot Twists, I’m going to cut a lone copy of Dynamic Duo and turn it into a Circle Defense. I really like both cards, but I’m not sure which is best, so why not play both and find which works best?

-1 Dynamic Duo

+1 Circle Defense

As a final word on Plot Twists: Angel, when you get Fizzles, play them. I didn’t include them just because I’m not sure if you have been able to get ahold of them. When you do pick them up, I would suggest running them over Dynamic Duo and Batcave.

With locations, I’d like to cut a Tamaran and a GothCorp in favor of another Batcave and another U.S.S. Argus. Both are solid cards and deserve as many slots as you can squeeze in. Seeing how your opponent builds on his or her turn before you build is never a bad option, so Batcave definitely makes the cut. The U.S.S. Argus allows you to get the best of what you would be drawing, making the loss of a card per turn not hurt nearly as much.

-1 GothCorp

-1 Tamaran

+1 Batcave

+1 U.S.S. Argus

As for equipment, I’m not a fan of Batmobile. In fact, the only piece of equipment that I like in either of these teams is Utility Belt, and honestly, I don’t think there is room (especially with all of the cool Plot Twists). Anyways, Angel can probably do without Batmobile (if it had a threshold cost of zero, I’d play it!), so…

-1 Batmobile

In characters, I think Angel would be better off by cutting the Dove-Hawk combo. It isn’t so much that they are bad, but that there are better options available. Thus:

-2 Dawn Granger * Dove, Agent of Order

-2 Hank Hall * Hawk, Agent of Chaos

We now have a shortage of 1-Drops that we’ll fill with a couple more Pantha. Having a 3/1 attacker on first turn just seems too good to pass up, especially with Tim Drake * Robin, Young Detective.

+2 Pantha, X-24

As far as Angel’s 2-Drops go, I think he should go with the Boy Wonder (Gotham) over Young Detective (Teen Titans) when it comes to Tim Drake * Robin. To help keep the balance between Titans and Gotham, why not throw in Donna Troy * Wondergirl, Amazon Warrior? She is absolutely *massive* for a 2-Drop, and her drawback of returning to her owners’ hand when stunned can actually turn out to be a bonus later in the game, when Angel may find himself wanting to keep smaller, weaker characters off of the board.

-1 Tim Drake * Robin, Young Detective

+2 Tim Drake * Robin, The Boy Wonder

+3 Donna Troy * Wondergirl, Amazon Warrior

Since Angel is still on the hunt for Beast Boy, I’ll leave him out of the equation when it coems to 3-Drops. I’m honestly not a huge fan of Huntress, especially when Angel has Roy Harper * Arsenal at his disposal! I’d also like to increase the number of Batman in the 3-Drop slot by one, just to help maintain consistency.

-2 Huntress, Helena Rosa Bertinelli

+1 Batman, The World’s Greatest Detective

+3 Roy Harper * Arsenal, Sharpshooter

When you look closely at 4-Drops, you will begin to see that this is where the deck really comes together. Teen Titans have some mediocre 4-Drops with decent abilities (such as Terra or Kid Flash), while Gotham Knights have the powerhouse cards like Batgirl and Nightwing. I like where Angel’s deck is with this, so we’ll leave it be.

Because of space becoming an issue, I think we should cut one of Angel’s 5-Drops. Since the deck already has Batman in it, and there is no way that Garth * Tempest is dropping (he is the best 5-Drop in the game, hands down), it looks like the Caped Crusader must go down by one.

-1 Batman, The Caped Crusader

As this deck has powerhouses in 4- and 5-Drops that, with their good abilities, can be useful drops on Turn 6, I think that Angel can cut a few 6-Drops. Azrael is first to go, mostly due to his lackluster ability (even though yes, he is huge). Next, out goes Dick Grayson * Nightwing. Why? We already have a couple as 4-Drops, and his ability is decent, but not over the top amazing. This leaves Starfire and Conner Kent.

Why those two? Conner Kent is a pain for opponents to deal with due to his DEF-pumping ability. He also is a great contributor to the fight against Fantastic Four decks, where he can destroy all of those pesky Fantasticars. Starfire makes the cut because she has a great ability even on the turns where Angel doesn’t have the initiative.

-1 Azrael, Jean Paul Valley

-2 Dick Grayson * Nightwing, Defender of Bludhaven

Finally, why don’t we up the count on Raven, just to fill out the deck?

+1 Raven, Daughter of Trigon

That about wraps up the work on Angel’s deck. The finished product is below.

CHARACTERS (30):
4 Pantha, X-24
3 Donna Troy * Wondergirl, Amazon Warrior
3 Tim Drake* Robin, The Boy Wonder

3 Batman, World’s Greatest Detective

3 Roy Harper * Arsenal, Sharpshooter

1 Bart Allen * Kid Flash, Speedster
2 Cassandra Cain* Batgirl, Martial Artist
2 Dick Grayson* Nightwing, High-Flying Acrobat
1 Terra, Tara Markov
1 Batman, The Caped Crusader
2 Garth* Tempest, Atlantean Sorcerer
1 Lady Shiva, Sandra Wooson

1 Conner Kent * Superboy, Tactile Telekinetic
1 Koriand’r* Starfire, Alien Princess
2 Raven, Daughter of Trigon

PLOT TWISTS (24):

4 Acrobatic Dodge
4 Bat Signal

2 Circle Defense
2 Dynamic Duo

4 Flying Kick
4 Teen Titans Go!

4 The Brave and the Bold

LOCATIONS (6):

2 Batcave
2 Titans Tower
2 U.S.S. Argus

I hope that helps, Angel, and good luck! That’s all for the VS Deck Garage this week and next, but I’ll be back the following week with more mechanical work on all of your decks, and a report of how GenCon went for me! ‘Til then – Happy Gaming!