exiledforcefreak
RIP Jacob KT 2/16/06
Introduction and History
When the Silver Age format was first announced I was ecstatic for one reason; Flame Trap was gone and I love playing off curve decks. When the silver age testing season started Eric Hunter proposed a JLI-MoE off curve deck cause of some games he played with me online* a few months earlier and Scott Hunstad's 10k Auckland deck profile. We quickly discovered that the deck could lure your opponent into a false sense of security by doing little to no damage for the first few turns and then proceed to deal upwards of fifty damage.
You won't hear a member of Your Move Games called the deck "Wrecking Crew Combo" when talking to another member of Your Move Games. We call the deck "Knights", the name is derived from the team-up (Justice League Task Force) because the Jedi Knights are a task force**. The first public appearance of the Knights deck was at Pro Circuit San Francisco where Anthony Shaheen piloted it to a 9th place finish; soon after, Steve Garret put the deck on everyone's radar screen by featuring it in his "One Step Beyond" column.
Fast forward a week to 10k Hamilton; I had missed the Pro Circuit because my brother's high school graduation was that weekend and I was itching to prove my valor. Although in the end only Nick Cuenca wanted to go, I was willing to forgo the expenses and drive 10 hours to Hamilton. Because my car broke down 3 times on the way to Canada***, my performance was poor to say the least. Lack of rest and blood sugar were contributing factors, but the main reason I did poorly is because I was pre-occupied with how I was going to get home and was unable, or possibly unwilling, to rise to the occasion.
The Build
Notable finishes for this deck include 9th at a Pro Circuit San Francisco piloted by Anthony Shaheen and 8th at a 10k Hamilton Piloted by 10k Boston winner Nick Cuenca. Although the deck looks similar to a Faces of Evil deck, it functions very differently. This is my personal build with the appropriate post-10k Hamilton changes.
Characters:
1 DJL-057 Oberon ~ Micro Manager
1 MAV-140 Paul Ebersol <> Fixer ~ Problem Solver
1 DCR-102 Surveillance Pawn ~ Army
1 MAV-139 Nathan Garrett <> Black Knight ~ Corrupt Crusader
1 MXM-219 Gargantua ~ Edward Cobert
1 MMK-020 Mikado and Mosha ~ Angels of Destruction
3 DJL-062 Sue Dibny ~ Charismatic Coordinator
3 MAV-152 Yellowjacket ~ Rita DeMara
1 DJL-064 Ted Kord <> Blue Beetle ~ Heir of the Scarab
3 MAV-124 Beetle ~ Armorsmith
1 DGL-020 Kyle Rayner ~ Last Green Lantern
1 DJL-055 Maxwell Lord ~ Financier
2 MAV-136 Melissa Gold <> Screaming Mimi ~ Mimi Schwartz
1 MAV-137 Melter ~ Bruno Horgan
1 DJL-202 Fatality ~ Emerald Assassin
1 DJL-040 Bluejay ~ Jay Abrams
1 MAV-144 Shocker ~ Vibro-Shock Villain
1 DJL-094 Poison Ivy ~ Deadly Rose
1 DJL-041 Booster Gold ~ Michael Jon Carter
1 DJL-053 L-Ron ~ Robot Companion
2 DGL-040 Dr. Light ~ Master of Holograms
Plot Twists:
3 DJL-194 Trial by Fire
1 MSM-165 Unmasked
4 MAV-161 The Wrecking Crew
4 DGL-204 No Man Escapes the Manhunters
4 DJL-068 Justice League Task Force ~ Team-Up
4 MXM-194 Enemy of My Enemy
3 MAV-156 Hard Sound Construct ~ Construct
Locations:
3 DJL-069 Kooey Kooey Kooey
4 DGL-182 Birthing Chamber
Equipment:
1 DGL-186 Chopping Block ~ Construct
Knights is an off curve deck that likes to gain board advantage by team attacking up the curve with bonuses from Justice League Task Force and eventually cause massive endurance loss with Melissa Gold and multiple copies of The Wrecking Crew. Every card in the deck plays a specific role whether it's for a specific match up, point in the game, or making everything run smoothly.
Versatility is the name of the game as this deck can take either initiative against most popular decks in the format and pull through a win. The deck has the ability to put in any card as tech; Enemy of my Enemy and Beetle let you tech in any character, Ted Kord lets you add any equipment, Poison Ivy lets you add in any location, Kyle Rayner lets you add in any construct, and to top it all off Kooey Kooey Kooey lets you play anything else. Since the deck takes full advantage of this, you can pull any number of useful cards to combat a variety of situations.
The Strategy
The basic premise of the deck is to build up a massive army of weenies, team attack up the curve a lot to generate an advantage, and go "all in" to do massive amounts of endurance loss for the win in one turn. Let's pretend for a moment I'm your opponent, it's turn five, I have the initiative, and the endurance totals are 27 to 47 in your favor. Fast forward a few Hard Sound constructs, Kooey Kooey Kooeys, and The Wrecking Crews to the recovery phase endurance check"¦ the life totals? 21 to -12 in my favor! This isn't a seldom occurrence with this deck, the game I just described to you was an actual game I played a few days ago against a Fate-Squad deck.
Although there are a few guidelines, there is no specific mulligan condition because nothing in the deck is absolutely vital on your path to victory. If you have Sue Dibny or Yellowjacket, you keep that hand; if you have a two drop and a Dr. Light (or a way to get him), keep that hand; if you have a two drop and a Justice League Task Force or Birthing Chamber, keep that hand. If you have Sue Dibny, Justice League Task Force, Dr. Light (or Enemy of my Enemy), and Birthing Chamber, congratulations, you have officially gotten the nuts draw.
It is not the end of the world if you do not play a character on turn one. In fact, the deck has only eight 1 drops that you will ever actually play on turn one, because of this; you aren't always going to hit your one drop. Of course eight one drops isn't enough for an off curve deck, you are actually running 13 excluding Mikado and Mosha; if you counted only 12 that's because you forgot Booster Gold.
Turn two you simply play whatever character you have; if you have a choice, your best turn two play is Maxwell Lord. Make sure you try to get a character in the KO'd pile this turn for Dr. Light whether you have him or not. This can be done by playing Ted Kord, Nathan Garret, Maxwell Lord, Beetle, or L-ron. Dr. Light is obviously your turn 3 play but it's not the end of the world if you don't get him; you are definitely still in good shape. Any time you plan to get at least two activations out of the bad Dr. then it's a good time to play him, if you miss him, just play something else, preferably Beetle (and something else) searching for Kyle Rayner or Poison Ivy.
After turn 3 you want to build up to your kill turn by stock piling Kooeys, Hard Sound Constructs, and Justice League Task Forces while maintaining a board presence. If you have the initiative on turn four then you typically want to use up a few pumps and a Hard Sound Construct and stun the opposing board. Then, on turn five your opponent should only be able to stun two of your guys. Depending on if everything is set up, it may be time to attack back for the win; even if it's not time to attack for the win, if you have the pumps plus some insurance to stun both opposing characters, do it.
If you have the odd initiative then you want to hang back and attack when it is to your benefit until turn five. Turn five is typically going to be your kill turn when you have the odd initiative. If your opponent manages to stem off enough damage to keep them above zero endurance turn five, then you simply use Melissa Gold and/or swing back to push through the final endurance loss on turn six.
Matchups
Checkmate:
This matchup is the reason you want to take the even initiative; being able to attack the turn your opponent plays Fatality not only lessens the impact she has on your board, it also ensures you get another two resource points worth of characters out of your Dr. Light. If you can you want to use Kyle Rayner to get Chopping Block and CHOP off Fatality's head (don't forget to leave space in your trophy case back home). If course Checkmate also wants the even initiative so half the time your opponent is going to get it. All is not lost as long as you draw into birthing chamber naturally by turn three. In addition to getting Birthing Chamber, Hard Sound Construct becomes your most valuable player; you need this card to rebuild after the devastation that is Fatality.
Don't be afraid to use No Man Escapes the Manhunters to make Ahmed Samsara Visable even if you aren't going to attack into him. Always make sure your opponent's Ahmed is exhausted and there are no Brother I Satellites in row or Huntresses in hand that you know of when you use No Man Escapes the Manhunters. It is also advisable to have at least two No Man Escapes the Manhunters when you do this. The more characters your opponent has the more momentum they have, this is true when using this deck more then it is true while using other decks.
Slaughter Swamp not only lets your opponent abuse Mikado and Mosha but it also lets them play mind games with your Dr. Light. The best thing you can do is simply play around Slaughter Swamp. One last thing you need to watch out for it five drop Talia with Sarge Steel, the best way to lessen the blow of this combo is by forcing your opponent to use Slaughter Swamp in the build phase by using Dr. Light (and then using Hard Sound Construct anyway). If the combo is unavoidable then your only option it to use No Man Escapes the Manhunters on Talia to soften the blow as you will be attacking her twice.
Fate-Squad:
Anything short of a turn one Joystick with all three artifacts followed by the absolute nuts draw***** is a win for you. If you know you're opponent it playing Fate-Squad take the odd initiative to kill on 5. Stick to your game plan, make defensive attacks and go offensive the first time you have the initiative after turn three. Aside from the obvious, set a No Man Escapes the Manhunters or Trial By Fire on turn one or two in case they play Melissa Gold on turn two. If you lose to this deck, you are doing something wrong.
Mexican Hardware Store:
Just like the Fate-Squad deck, this deck has no defensive tricks other then power-ups; this means that like the Fate-Squad deck, you can cut lose, not worry about insurance (pumps in case of defensive tricks) and deal more damage then your opponent can simply because your deck does a better job at it. Same stuff as before, make defensive attacks and build up to your kill turn.
Good Guys:
This can be tough match-up, especially if your opponent plays Katar Hal, Eternal Hero. You are going to play defensively almost all game. In fact, don't expect to do anything other then stun damage from team attacks until your kill turn. On turn 5 if you haven't naturally drawn into Unmasked then you want to Kooey for it; if you don't plan on winning on turn 5 then you want to use L-ron to put it into your resource row. If you know you're opponent is playing good guys then you want the odd initiative, otherwise you'll get it anyway half the time because Good Guys wants evens. You pretty much don't want to make any attacks unless you have A LOT of insurance. The best thing you can do is get as many Justice League Task Forces down in your row as possible, make defensive attacks, and play hidden characters. Oh, and don't forget some Good Guys decks use Slaughter swamp. You should win this game 80% of the time.
Glock:
Don't worry too much about your opponent's life gaining tricks, worry more about you're board position. Surveillance Pawn is very important in the early game for stunning back the weenies while defending, try to get him out as early as possible, even go as far as to bring him out on turn 3 with Dr. Light if you think it's necessary. Make your attacks in a way that minimizes the effectiveness of Lanterns and love and Helping hand. If you do these things correctly you should walk away with a relatively easy win.
Mental:
This is your only bad match-up, you will lose more often then you win. Your plan here is to use chopping block on fatality to allow continued use of Dr. Light and get out your two-drop Fatality by turn 4. Try to burn with Melissa Gold a lot and use as many Hard Sound Constructs as possible. There isn't much advice I can give on this match-up because you are going to lose it a lot anyway.
The Mirror:
The mirror is tipped in favor of the one with the odd initiative. The plan here is to play as many hidden characters as possible, and use Hard Sound Constructs to gain advantage. Get Surveillance Pawn as soon as possible, he is very important in keeping the scales from tipping in your opponent's favor. The number one rule of off-curve Vs. off-curve is have more characters then your opponent, so forgo getting hand advantage and go for as many characters as possible.
Conclusions
With a favorable matchup against almost every deck in the format, the Knights deck is arguably the best deck in silver age. At the same time it is the most complex and intricate deck after the banning of "Justice League of Arkham". You can't simply pick it up and play it at the LCQs, it requires experience and skill. I encourage all players to take a break from their DCMA testing and give this deck a whirl, if for nothing else then to improve your skills or have some fun.
Alex "ExiledForceFreak" Lasky wishes you luck at the last chance qualifiers and can be reached for comments, questions, criticisms, thoughts, or just to say hello, at exiledforcefreak@gmail.com
*I had made a golden age JLI-MoE off-curve deck and had been waiting to make it silver age
**Eric Hunter likes to name decks as far removed as possible
***the whole story can be found in the general discussions forum on vsrealms.com
****Anthony claims he would have won his quarter-final match and lost his semi-final match
*****This actually happened to me at 10k Hamilton
When the Silver Age format was first announced I was ecstatic for one reason; Flame Trap was gone and I love playing off curve decks. When the silver age testing season started Eric Hunter proposed a JLI-MoE off curve deck cause of some games he played with me online* a few months earlier and Scott Hunstad's 10k Auckland deck profile. We quickly discovered that the deck could lure your opponent into a false sense of security by doing little to no damage for the first few turns and then proceed to deal upwards of fifty damage.
You won't hear a member of Your Move Games called the deck "Wrecking Crew Combo" when talking to another member of Your Move Games. We call the deck "Knights", the name is derived from the team-up (Justice League Task Force) because the Jedi Knights are a task force**. The first public appearance of the Knights deck was at Pro Circuit San Francisco where Anthony Shaheen piloted it to a 9th place finish; soon after, Steve Garret put the deck on everyone's radar screen by featuring it in his "One Step Beyond" column.
Fast forward a week to 10k Hamilton; I had missed the Pro Circuit because my brother's high school graduation was that weekend and I was itching to prove my valor. Although in the end only Nick Cuenca wanted to go, I was willing to forgo the expenses and drive 10 hours to Hamilton. Because my car broke down 3 times on the way to Canada***, my performance was poor to say the least. Lack of rest and blood sugar were contributing factors, but the main reason I did poorly is because I was pre-occupied with how I was going to get home and was unable, or possibly unwilling, to rise to the occasion.
The Build
Notable finishes for this deck include 9th at a Pro Circuit San Francisco piloted by Anthony Shaheen and 8th at a 10k Hamilton Piloted by 10k Boston winner Nick Cuenca. Although the deck looks similar to a Faces of Evil deck, it functions very differently. This is my personal build with the appropriate post-10k Hamilton changes.
Characters:
1 DJL-057 Oberon ~ Micro Manager
1 MAV-140 Paul Ebersol <> Fixer ~ Problem Solver
1 DCR-102 Surveillance Pawn ~ Army
1 MAV-139 Nathan Garrett <> Black Knight ~ Corrupt Crusader
1 MXM-219 Gargantua ~ Edward Cobert
1 MMK-020 Mikado and Mosha ~ Angels of Destruction
3 DJL-062 Sue Dibny ~ Charismatic Coordinator
3 MAV-152 Yellowjacket ~ Rita DeMara
1 DJL-064 Ted Kord <> Blue Beetle ~ Heir of the Scarab
3 MAV-124 Beetle ~ Armorsmith
1 DGL-020 Kyle Rayner ~ Last Green Lantern
1 DJL-055 Maxwell Lord ~ Financier
2 MAV-136 Melissa Gold <> Screaming Mimi ~ Mimi Schwartz
1 MAV-137 Melter ~ Bruno Horgan
1 DJL-202 Fatality ~ Emerald Assassin
1 DJL-040 Bluejay ~ Jay Abrams
1 MAV-144 Shocker ~ Vibro-Shock Villain
1 DJL-094 Poison Ivy ~ Deadly Rose
1 DJL-041 Booster Gold ~ Michael Jon Carter
1 DJL-053 L-Ron ~ Robot Companion
2 DGL-040 Dr. Light ~ Master of Holograms
Plot Twists:
3 DJL-194 Trial by Fire
1 MSM-165 Unmasked
4 MAV-161 The Wrecking Crew
4 DGL-204 No Man Escapes the Manhunters
4 DJL-068 Justice League Task Force ~ Team-Up
4 MXM-194 Enemy of My Enemy
3 MAV-156 Hard Sound Construct ~ Construct
Locations:
3 DJL-069 Kooey Kooey Kooey
4 DGL-182 Birthing Chamber
Equipment:
1 DGL-186 Chopping Block ~ Construct
Knights is an off curve deck that likes to gain board advantage by team attacking up the curve with bonuses from Justice League Task Force and eventually cause massive endurance loss with Melissa Gold and multiple copies of The Wrecking Crew. Every card in the deck plays a specific role whether it's for a specific match up, point in the game, or making everything run smoothly.
Versatility is the name of the game as this deck can take either initiative against most popular decks in the format and pull through a win. The deck has the ability to put in any card as tech; Enemy of my Enemy and Beetle let you tech in any character, Ted Kord lets you add any equipment, Poison Ivy lets you add in any location, Kyle Rayner lets you add in any construct, and to top it all off Kooey Kooey Kooey lets you play anything else. Since the deck takes full advantage of this, you can pull any number of useful cards to combat a variety of situations.
The Strategy
The basic premise of the deck is to build up a massive army of weenies, team attack up the curve a lot to generate an advantage, and go "all in" to do massive amounts of endurance loss for the win in one turn. Let's pretend for a moment I'm your opponent, it's turn five, I have the initiative, and the endurance totals are 27 to 47 in your favor. Fast forward a few Hard Sound constructs, Kooey Kooey Kooeys, and The Wrecking Crews to the recovery phase endurance check"¦ the life totals? 21 to -12 in my favor! This isn't a seldom occurrence with this deck, the game I just described to you was an actual game I played a few days ago against a Fate-Squad deck.
Although there are a few guidelines, there is no specific mulligan condition because nothing in the deck is absolutely vital on your path to victory. If you have Sue Dibny or Yellowjacket, you keep that hand; if you have a two drop and a Dr. Light (or a way to get him), keep that hand; if you have a two drop and a Justice League Task Force or Birthing Chamber, keep that hand. If you have Sue Dibny, Justice League Task Force, Dr. Light (or Enemy of my Enemy), and Birthing Chamber, congratulations, you have officially gotten the nuts draw.
It is not the end of the world if you do not play a character on turn one. In fact, the deck has only eight 1 drops that you will ever actually play on turn one, because of this; you aren't always going to hit your one drop. Of course eight one drops isn't enough for an off curve deck, you are actually running 13 excluding Mikado and Mosha; if you counted only 12 that's because you forgot Booster Gold.
Turn two you simply play whatever character you have; if you have a choice, your best turn two play is Maxwell Lord. Make sure you try to get a character in the KO'd pile this turn for Dr. Light whether you have him or not. This can be done by playing Ted Kord, Nathan Garret, Maxwell Lord, Beetle, or L-ron. Dr. Light is obviously your turn 3 play but it's not the end of the world if you don't get him; you are definitely still in good shape. Any time you plan to get at least two activations out of the bad Dr. then it's a good time to play him, if you miss him, just play something else, preferably Beetle (and something else) searching for Kyle Rayner or Poison Ivy.
After turn 3 you want to build up to your kill turn by stock piling Kooeys, Hard Sound Constructs, and Justice League Task Forces while maintaining a board presence. If you have the initiative on turn four then you typically want to use up a few pumps and a Hard Sound Construct and stun the opposing board. Then, on turn five your opponent should only be able to stun two of your guys. Depending on if everything is set up, it may be time to attack back for the win; even if it's not time to attack for the win, if you have the pumps plus some insurance to stun both opposing characters, do it.
If you have the odd initiative then you want to hang back and attack when it is to your benefit until turn five. Turn five is typically going to be your kill turn when you have the odd initiative. If your opponent manages to stem off enough damage to keep them above zero endurance turn five, then you simply use Melissa Gold and/or swing back to push through the final endurance loss on turn six.
Matchups
Checkmate:
This matchup is the reason you want to take the even initiative; being able to attack the turn your opponent plays Fatality not only lessens the impact she has on your board, it also ensures you get another two resource points worth of characters out of your Dr. Light. If you can you want to use Kyle Rayner to get Chopping Block and CHOP off Fatality's head (don't forget to leave space in your trophy case back home). If course Checkmate also wants the even initiative so half the time your opponent is going to get it. All is not lost as long as you draw into birthing chamber naturally by turn three. In addition to getting Birthing Chamber, Hard Sound Construct becomes your most valuable player; you need this card to rebuild after the devastation that is Fatality.
Don't be afraid to use No Man Escapes the Manhunters to make Ahmed Samsara Visable even if you aren't going to attack into him. Always make sure your opponent's Ahmed is exhausted and there are no Brother I Satellites in row or Huntresses in hand that you know of when you use No Man Escapes the Manhunters. It is also advisable to have at least two No Man Escapes the Manhunters when you do this. The more characters your opponent has the more momentum they have, this is true when using this deck more then it is true while using other decks.
Slaughter Swamp not only lets your opponent abuse Mikado and Mosha but it also lets them play mind games with your Dr. Light. The best thing you can do is simply play around Slaughter Swamp. One last thing you need to watch out for it five drop Talia with Sarge Steel, the best way to lessen the blow of this combo is by forcing your opponent to use Slaughter Swamp in the build phase by using Dr. Light (and then using Hard Sound Construct anyway). If the combo is unavoidable then your only option it to use No Man Escapes the Manhunters on Talia to soften the blow as you will be attacking her twice.
Fate-Squad:
Anything short of a turn one Joystick with all three artifacts followed by the absolute nuts draw***** is a win for you. If you know you're opponent it playing Fate-Squad take the odd initiative to kill on 5. Stick to your game plan, make defensive attacks and go offensive the first time you have the initiative after turn three. Aside from the obvious, set a No Man Escapes the Manhunters or Trial By Fire on turn one or two in case they play Melissa Gold on turn two. If you lose to this deck, you are doing something wrong.
Mexican Hardware Store:
Just like the Fate-Squad deck, this deck has no defensive tricks other then power-ups; this means that like the Fate-Squad deck, you can cut lose, not worry about insurance (pumps in case of defensive tricks) and deal more damage then your opponent can simply because your deck does a better job at it. Same stuff as before, make defensive attacks and build up to your kill turn.
Good Guys:
This can be tough match-up, especially if your opponent plays Katar Hal, Eternal Hero. You are going to play defensively almost all game. In fact, don't expect to do anything other then stun damage from team attacks until your kill turn. On turn 5 if you haven't naturally drawn into Unmasked then you want to Kooey for it; if you don't plan on winning on turn 5 then you want to use L-ron to put it into your resource row. If you know you're opponent is playing good guys then you want the odd initiative, otherwise you'll get it anyway half the time because Good Guys wants evens. You pretty much don't want to make any attacks unless you have A LOT of insurance. The best thing you can do is get as many Justice League Task Forces down in your row as possible, make defensive attacks, and play hidden characters. Oh, and don't forget some Good Guys decks use Slaughter swamp. You should win this game 80% of the time.
Glock:
Don't worry too much about your opponent's life gaining tricks, worry more about you're board position. Surveillance Pawn is very important in the early game for stunning back the weenies while defending, try to get him out as early as possible, even go as far as to bring him out on turn 3 with Dr. Light if you think it's necessary. Make your attacks in a way that minimizes the effectiveness of Lanterns and love and Helping hand. If you do these things correctly you should walk away with a relatively easy win.
Mental:
This is your only bad match-up, you will lose more often then you win. Your plan here is to use chopping block on fatality to allow continued use of Dr. Light and get out your two-drop Fatality by turn 4. Try to burn with Melissa Gold a lot and use as many Hard Sound Constructs as possible. There isn't much advice I can give on this match-up because you are going to lose it a lot anyway.
The Mirror:
The mirror is tipped in favor of the one with the odd initiative. The plan here is to play as many hidden characters as possible, and use Hard Sound Constructs to gain advantage. Get Surveillance Pawn as soon as possible, he is very important in keeping the scales from tipping in your opponent's favor. The number one rule of off-curve Vs. off-curve is have more characters then your opponent, so forgo getting hand advantage and go for as many characters as possible.
Conclusions
With a favorable matchup against almost every deck in the format, the Knights deck is arguably the best deck in silver age. At the same time it is the most complex and intricate deck after the banning of "Justice League of Arkham". You can't simply pick it up and play it at the LCQs, it requires experience and skill. I encourage all players to take a break from their DCMA testing and give this deck a whirl, if for nothing else then to improve your skills or have some fun.
Alex "ExiledForceFreak" Lasky wishes you luck at the last chance qualifiers and can be reached for comments, questions, criticisms, thoughts, or just to say hello, at exiledforcefreak@gmail.com
*I had made a golden age JLI-MoE off-curve deck and had been waiting to make it silver age
**Eric Hunter likes to name decks as far removed as possible
***the whole story can be found in the general discussions forum on vsrealms.com
****Anthony claims he would have won his quarter-final match and lost his semi-final match
*****This actually happened to me at 10k Hamilton