Darkseid Undenied Part II: Legends at play!
&nb sp; The fire that fueled this idea comes from understanding who Darkseid is and I am a big Darkseid fan. Anyone who can fight on par with DC’s greatest superhero, Superman has to be given respect. Darkseid is displayed in his full glory in Countdown to Final Crisis as well. Darkseid can fight on par with Superman, but that is not his style. Darkseid would rather manipulate and connive his opponent into submission. How many fist-fights have you actually seen Darkseid in? Not too many. He usually flees once his best-laid plans are put to rest.
&nb sp; On top of this attitude the creators at UDE decided to give Darkseid the toolbox of support cards and themes that support his cunning idea of destruction. Servants of Darkness, Anti-Life, and Unravel Reality are just the tip of the iceberg. When do you make an action playing against Darkseid that you don’t burn for? You flip a resource you burn for it and he benefits from it. That resource is there and causing him headache, he gets rid of it and you burn for it. You attack and he produces some really powerful effects like No Match for Darkseid or He gets meaty with Lord of Apokolips and All Hail Darkseid!
&nb sp; Darkseid reigns in hell on a whole new level, his particular hell, Apokolips is a little worse for wear than the hell I typically had in mind. The one drawback you face in playing Darkseid is that until the later turns with the more powerful incarnations of Darkseid present on the field you have very little in attack prowess. Even the 4-cost Darkseid, Apokoliptian Oppressor isn’t great in attack. He isn’t bad because you definitely get rewarded for him and he is just +1 ATK away from your 7/7 stats, figuring you play Dark Fury in your decks he is a 10/9 the turn you play him.
&nb sp; The 5 and 6 slots are where Darkseid’s powers have always been on great Display, back to Darkseid, Uxas and Darkseid, Heart of Darkness and now Darkseid, The Omega and Darkseid, The Destroyer of Life. So let’s look at this Darkseid at play.
&nb sp; Do you have better choices than playing Anti Life, yes, you do. Not too many cards exist in the game where choices like this are on the line, burn 3 endurance or KO something you control. This deck is geared at one thing and one thing alone, making your opponent submit. Anti-Life supports this in a major way. The idea is to force your opponent to make game-breaking decisions that will either put their backs to the wall or have them outwit the deck. If they outwit the deck then like Darkseid does he will leave and come back another day. To dread Darkseid even in defeat there is something gained.
&nb sp; Let’s look at Anti-Life’s inclusion in the deck. Anti-Life is a 4 cost plot twist that relies on you controlling Darkseid at the start of the recovery phase. If you do your opponent must pay 3 endurance or KO an object they control in play. In this deck you will always almost certainly control Darkseid after turn 4. If you don’t, you probably lost the game long before it started. On turn 4 when you have your first Darkseid in play it really isn’t effective unless you have multiples in your resource row, but even that depends on how you measure effectiveness. Netting 3 endurance is effective to me.
On turn 5 it becomes more effective because you are on-initiative with the 5-cost Darkseid, Destroyer of Life we want equipped with a Beta Club. A successful attack with this Darkseid against an opposing 5 drop will automatically hit your opponent to the gut for a loss of 10 endurance. Your opponent is then forced to make the decision, lose another 5 endurance or KO my 5 drop. That is 15 endurance plus what you have racked up in breakthrough. Anti Life burning for an additional 3 and the possibility they will KO the 4-cost character in play.
It really is disheartening to see you endurance totals drop so low on one attack. What’s great about this Darkseid is that unlike his 5-cost predecessor, Darkseid 8th Century his ability is on and off initiative. The Beta Club may not be, but if he doesn’t stun in his attack, your opponent attacking back is not likely. Anti Life just continues to support.
On turn 6 your opponent has initiative and they will probably set up for attacks, but you have an initiative stealer in the combo Darkseid, The Omega and The Rock of Eternity. Your opponent is pretty much on their knees at this point. Darkseid 5 and 6 with Anti Life in the Row and the only way to get rid of The Rock of Eternity in the resource row is to KO it to the Anti Life and be down a resource.
So turn 6 becomes the questionable lock condition.
1. They lose out on their attacks for that turn.
2. Darkseid, The Omega and Darkseid, Destroyer of Life attack their board.
3. Anti Life gives them the decision, get rid of The Rock of Eternity and fight an uphill battle
4. Don’t get rid of the Rock of Eternity and stare down losing the game without ever even playing attacks after turn 6 and try to win out of combat.
The Decision is made for you, when you see substitute cards like Darkseid, The Omega. Then you have to risk that another The Rock of Eternity is not in hand along with another Darkseid, The Omega.
T-Man asked a question about the use of Ancient Throne over Ancient Evils. So let me address that. Ancient Throne is a Location card that gives you the ability to turn a plot twist face down when your opponent flips a resource. It also makes your Darkseid’s non-unique. Ancient Evil’s is a team-up for your Darkseid’s that also make them non-unique.Locations are a lot more susceptible to opposing effects. Plot twists are too, but not Team-up’s. Team-up’s still stand as one the most protected resources in the game with very little getting rid of them, especially if you just have 1 in the row. Ancient throne allows you to turn a resource face down for use later. We are trying to place as many Anti Life’s in the resource row as possible along with Ancient Evils. We don’t have much use for Ancient Throne’s 2nd ability. Stay Tuned for Match Play!
Tags: Darkseid VS Versus System
Related to:
Vs System
