Deck Deconstruction: Sniper Shot
07/03/2008
Deck Deconstruction: Sniper Shot
by Brian Eugenio
(Here is the Deck Deconstruction of the World Championship deck, by the master himself)
P.S. I Hate You
[Captain America, The Patriot, Secret Avenger] + [Captain America's Shield]:
[Punisher, Suicide Run]:
[Professor Emil Hamilton <> Ruin, Power Suit]
[The Captain, Can't Remember His Real Name]:
[Captain Atom, Quantum Energy]:
[Scarecrow, Chiroptophobic]:
[Air-Walker, Herald]:
[Black Manta, Underwater Marauder]:
[Human Torch, Fiery Friend]:
[Spider-Man, Outlaw]:
[Punisher, Angel of Death]:
[Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch]:
[Carrying the Torch]
[Sniper Shot]:
Hate cards ([Omnipotence], [Have a Blast!], [Pathetic Attempt]):
Search cards ([Mobilize] and [Wild Ride]) + team-ups (Superhuman Registration Act] and [Neighborhood Watch]):
[Stars and Stripes]:
[My Name Is Peter Parker . . .]:
Match-ups
The Big Three: World's Finest, IG Concealed, and FF
World's Finest
IG Concealed
FF
Other match-ups new and old.
MKO
Hulk
Avengers
Radioactive Man.dec
Looking back at the cards I should have added.....
Mr. Sinister
Spider-Man, Webhead
Black Widow
That's it guys. The deck is a struggle to play because it takes a long time to get set-up, but the rewards are big. Playing the deck takes a while to get used to because of Ruin and what you set such as Punisher or Captain America so you can [Carrying the Torch] or set-up ahead of time when you set search cards. Remembering [Sniper Shot] counter adds got me the first few times I played the deck since if you lay a resource you can't go back to the Draw Phase.
I wish I can write a tourney report but my memory is so bad, but going to vsrealms reminds me that I actually won, and it wasn't a dream. See you all at GenCon where I will play a new deck that I hope will be good enough to live up to the title of World Champion Deck.
-Brian Eugenio
Characters
Plot Twists
Equipment
This card was a late addition to the deck. Since I was pulling off the [Sniper Shot] I was still losing because the remaining characters still attack for the rest of my endurance. If you look at my feature match with Niles or Matt, [Captain America's Shield] saved me from actually losing the match by like 1 or 2 endurance. Since you can [Carrying the Torch] your other control characters, the shield can never be a dead card even if they get rid of your [Captain America] or missed him entirely. Since exhausting Captain America is part of shield's effect as opposed to a cost, you can use all the abilities of your characters then use shield (i.e. [The Captain] exhausting to put an aim counter on [Sniper Shot] then using the shield).
A must on turn two to pull of a snipe on turn 4. A great power on a concealed character, that can be used in a pinch when you stun back or attack down.
Ahmed Samsarra of ongoings, enough said.
"This character is the bones." - Tommy Ashton. He definitely is. A draw effect, reservist, flight, range, and names of anyone you want. Too good.
This guy was always in my lists for control deck since I was a fan of robot destroyer. Why not this guy? Amazing against off curve, and on curve.
Another late addition to the deck. I was worried that when people see I snipe a guy a turn they would just under drop and make my Sniper Shot irrelevant. He saved me in a bunch of games at worlds plenty of times. He's two resource points less than Thing-7 and just as potent.
The last thing I added. And good thing I did. Big body and great against Radioactive Man-3. Just shows you that every character deserves a look even if they were in a raid deck. LOL.
Garth in Modern Age is always nice. Buying back all the hate cards i.e. [Have a Blast], [Pathetic Attempt], or a replaced [Omnipotence] can be the thing you need to get through other control decks.
This guy is an MVP. Against rush getting to this guy can hands down win you the game. If you manage to KO 4-6 by turn 6 and they have average stats on their 1-3 drops, Torch can fry them all.
Another character put in to exhaust Radioactive Man-3 and [Jemm] because Torch can't stun Jemm. He's not played much in the weekend seeing as that I only played against Radioactive Man twice and IG beats never.
This guy is plain good. If they pass their attacks you can put a counter in the recovery if you have already exhausted for the other phases or steal their attack and attack yourself.
Sniper Shot handles high drops, this guy handles the rest. He's always in my top characters for the 8-drop slot since effect is insane.
Makes anyone Punisher or Captain America, need I say more?
The card I have built the deck around. Average when you have one Punisher out. Amazing when you have 2-3 out. KO'ing a character a turn or every other turn at anytime is unfair in my opinion.
These cards are rock paper scissors to each other, and what could be better than using all of them in a single game of roshambo.
It's a combination to be able to search for you characters and, with Ruin, the team-ups aren't a mulligan condition, unlike other decks.
This card was added because I though this card can help in the MKKO match up, but it doesn't. It can be good at times but most of the time [My Name is Peter Parker] is better.
This card saves Ruin from dying and its cost is moot when SHRA lets them see what you have anyway. Good card altogether.
Granted I didn't see any of the match-up, but I tested against it heavily.
The deck is slow so you can set-up your row. [Bat Got Your Tongue?] is a problem, but Ruin can be ran into Supes to gain your [Sniper Shot]. Batman can be stopped by [Omnipotence] so this match-up hinges on getting [Omnipotence] in later turns.
Win probability 70-30
This deck can kill on turn 4 so its very, very, very, very, very hard. (I don't think I used enough there.) [Captain America's Shield] can help, but not win the match-up. It's necessary to be able to shoot on turn 4. If they run [Pathetic Attempt] and draw it turn 4, you're doomed, but if they don't then you have a chance. Get to Human Torch and fry the board. That's what he's there for.
Win probability 25-75
Since there is a lot of ways to build FF I'm going with the PA and Omni build because any other build is too easy to beat. Captain needs to draw a lot of cards to get to [Have a Blast!] and [Omnipotence].
Win probability 90-10
This match is ridiculous. Almost impossible. They have to have a really bad draw so Sniper Shot can get going. I lost almost every time in our testing and with 1 day before Worlds I just said "F it I don't want to build another deck."
Win probability .0000001-99.9999999
This match is pretty easy if you have Sniper Shot ready and going on turn 4 with 3 counters. They can't go crazy because you can shoot before the attack is legal and they have to [Righteous Anger] it to keep their Hulk and they can't pump after that. Omnipotence, naming Righteous Anger is game. And they KO their own characters. Too easy.
Win probability 85-15
Question is, can they kill you on turn 4? If they don't, then you win. Depends on their draw.
Win probability 40-60
This match-up is tricky. If you get the roll you win with just a flip of [Sniper Shot]. If they win then you need to top deck one of your outs.
Win probability 50-50
Amazing against Radioactive Man and any attack step powers. Can shut off [The Captain] mirrors. Definite add in.
Maybe could get out of rush matchups maybe.... Since he's MK, [Wild Ride] can fetch him.
Helps with Cap's Shield since you can KO the 1 and they have to exhaust something with a higher cost. A good under drop on turn 5 with [The Captain] and her.