Pyrahmancy

Welcome back to Pyrahmancy. Once again a little late this week; my brain must still be addled from the French Draft we did last Friday. I managed to win with a Spider-friends/Marvel Knights team-up deck, but X-statix had me on the rocks for a lot of the final game. But that’s a story for another time perhaps, onto the set review…

90. Hank Hall <> Hawk, New Bird

A 4/3 flyer for two is pretty sweet, for one is awesome! However the fact that he always costs you a card is less good and costing two cards is pretty much unacceptable for a one drop, whether it has high stats or not. There are plenty of 2/3 two drops around, some with good abilities and slapping a Jetpack on any of them gets you an attacker as good as this guy. With the high card cost of substitute already I don’t see myself wanting to run this guy in BoP and Titans have got lots of better Hawk options.

2/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

So Dawn’s counterpart is… pretty mediocre all around. First, I hate discarding a card for an effective +1 attack on a 2-drop. Second, he’s visible. His only saving grace is he + Dawn = 2 cost, total (well, and 2 cards, which makes it a bit more of a downer), which is a nice effect. It’s still more Teen Titan than Birds, but he hits hard and I can accept that.

On Team (BoP): 3-star. I think you can do better, but haven’t reviewed the rest of the 2s. He does have good stats etc. I just want to hide my 2-drops on-team

On Team (Titans): 3-star. Again, just not as impressive as most Teen 2 drops, including the original Hank.

Limited: 3-star. Big, and he and Dawn are common, so sure I might take him 7th or 8th and not regret it.

 

91. Huntress, Helping Hunter

Four attack on a hidden two drop is nice, six is bordering ridiculous. Okay you are probably going to have to sub her in to get the effect off, but she’ll certainly make Bab’s 3 ATK much more palatable when she can stun pretty much any 3-drop without further assistance. Just that stats and affiliation probably mean she will go into outsiders decks too even if they can never trigger her effect as variety amongst low drops is key for uniqueness issues. (Although putting Babs in the press build might not be too bad anyway…)

3/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

Now HERE is a 2-drop. Has that valuable name drop (Huntress) for various effects, becomes a 6/1 2-drop when subbed in later (while Babs or Dinah are around). She is everything you’re looking for, a 4-of staple in every agro Birds deck. Even on the outsiders being a 4/1 hidden is “enough” to justify her as a 1-of.

On Team (BoP): 5-star. She represents the team, and is your earliest access to a critical name.

On Team (Outsiders): 3-star. She’s hidden, she’s on team. That’s enough to make the cut as a 1-of on that team.

Limited: 4-star (5-star). Might almost splash her just a hidden high-power 2-drop. On team I’d grab her early so opponents don’t get tempted to do that.

92. Huntress, Hunter in the Dark

When they printed the DCX cards Hush was one of my favourite. Huntress reminds me quite a lot of him, switching her power on may be a little more difficult but it certainly achievable from turn five onwards and probably on turn four with a bit of help from Carrying the Torch and/or running the JLA one drop Dinah. With the BoP’s roster of hidden characters it is also easier to force your opponent to attack into huntress and get the KOs off initiative, especially if you are packing Nasty Surprise effects. I’d love to see if it were possible to team up and play with the “only visible character” theme that Hellfire or Hellboy had, but I don’t know if it would be possible with the double legend stamping…

4/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

Hmmm… well, I respect her stats. And REALLY respect her ability. The issue? It’s probably not going off on 4 sadly. You can get lucky and get a 1-drop Barbara and 3-drop Dinah, which would mean that, combined with Huntress’ KO and Dinah’s stun, would leave an opponent helpless on 5. This is REALLY good, but hard to pull off (easier in Silver, where said deck would Carrying the Torch Barbara’s name onto Huntress herself). But even on 5 it’s respectable. That assumes you are aiming to make it to 6 with the Birds deck, which is much less likely than one would think, so I’d say she is “passable”. On GK, 3-drop Dinah + 6-drop Oracle is a nice “setup” anyway (and the 1-drop Barbara is on-team, so hey), so you can sub her in and team attack down their 6 for a free KO, that makes her splash-worthy.

On-team (Birds): 2-star. You can really do better, her ability won’t trigger enough

On-team (GK): 3-star. Her ability is still tough to pull off, but a little more thematic here, I’d certainly keep 1 around to search for and sub in later.

Limited: 3-star. She’s solid, there are enough of those names running around where I might pull her ability off, and if I do it will probably be “game” for opponent. But I wouldn’t take her early.

93. Huntress, Taking it to the Streets

A nice negation effect, but again very card hungry – requiring a substitute and a discard. This version of Huntress seems more at home with her GK affiliation but Cape and Cowl probably elbows her out of most decks. I think in a BoP Trinity Deck I’m going to much prefer to have the 4-drop Huntress out and run big Babs at 6. Not a bad card and I’d be pleased to see her in limited but I can see her making her way into many of my constructed decks…

2.5/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

All right, for those mediocre stats, I expect no “ifs ands or buts” on a 6-drops ability to fizzle once per turn. As it stands, bad stats, OK ability that ONLY triggers if I subbed her over my other 6-drop… generally will pass on this one. Maybe a dedicated GK-sub deck she might be a 1-of, but probably not.

On team (Birds): 1-star. Seriously, she’s a 6 with bad stats and an exceptionally limited ability.

On-team (GK): 2-star. A little better, but still probably wouldn’t even bother as a 1-of

Limited: 1-star. I can do better than a 12/12 with a one-time fizzle, and I don’t play enough 6s to play the late-game sub trick.

94. Infinity, Silent Runner

Moving opposing characters between areas can be quite useful and powerful, however you don’t have much control with Infinity to do so short of Kamikaze-ing her into your opponents drops. Without any ability to attack hidden characters she is going to most useful shifting visible ones out of the way. She can perform this task quite well late game though; If you’ve got 3 drop Babs still sitting around on turn 6/7 then after you’ve drawn your card you can sub in Infinity and use her to shift your opponents biggest drop to the hidden area or break up reinforcement formations, leaving your heavy hitters free to attack the opponent’s smaller characters (or directly) for breakthrough. If this is the effect you are going for though perhaps Lay Down with Dogs might be preferable? Infinity is more easily tutorable though…

2/5

Evil Dave’s Review: (editor’s note: I think Dave may have mis-read this card – check back soon for an update)

I like her as a 1, a lot. She’s hidden, which in and of herself makes her good, and she starts “working for you” as early as turn 2. With the “god hand” (turn 1 her, turn 2 Huntress, turn 3 Dinah), their 2 drop will be hidden by Huntress (so no longer a threat as damage prevention / future stuns), then turn 3 Huntress will stun their 2 (moving it hidden) and Dinah will follow up to make that 2 locked down in the hidden area. She also lets 3-drop Barbara do “suicide runs” to make characters hidden. A lot to like here.

On team: 4-star. She really work engines, and has GREAT synergy with the early named characters

Limited: 4-star. Stops people from trying to become control decks on you.

 

95. Katana, Queen of Blades

Like Cardiac and The Ravager before her, Katana is a three drop that takes down two drops out-of-combat with no risk of a stun back. Unlike the others though she stands a chance of actually beating 2 drops in combat as well. Katana’s effect may only be a one shot but as she removes the 2-drop from the game rather than stunning it, against curve decks it doesn’t really matter. And, once she has done her thing you are ready to substitute in Babs next turn. It does mean that she is not so useful against off curve strategies.

3/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

You know, as cute as her ability is, I don’t see either Birds or Outsiders WANTING this ability. And she can’t be further subbed if she uses it. I’d rather just swing down that 2, and no 2-drop is going to annoy me enough to make me want to waste my time with her. If Birds had a little better search I MAY consider playing her as a 1-of to stop my face from being eaten by Syndicate.

On team: 2-star. I may consider her as a 1-of, but with so many amazing 3-drops on team, I doubt it. It’d only be if I suspected a REALLY aggressive format where everyone was trying to kill me on 5. She does eat Carnage though.

Limited: 3-star. A little better here, as everyone smart will have hidden their 2-drops, and the free hit may make up for the limited stats. The format also has a lot of substitute, so I could eject her out (hopefully) the next turn, as 3-drops I tend to play more of than any other drop.

96. Kate Spencer <> Manhunter, The 8th Manhunter

A 2/2 that becomes a 4/2 whilst attacking up the curve, but only whilst equipped? I don’t really think the 1 extra point of DEF is enough to make me want to play this over 2 drop huntress especially as BoP decks probably aren’t running a huge amount of equipment and the bits they are running will probably be more useful on other girls. She is also of the wrong teams to fit into an equipment themed deck…

1/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

Really? 2/2 with situational fearless? There have been fearless 2 guys that were 3/2 and not situational, being hidden and substitutable does NOT make up for this.

On-team (any): 1-star. Really, no excuses here. Even in an equip deck.

Limited: 0-star. Expect this one to table a lot.

97. Kendra Saunders <> Hawkgirl, Sky’s the Limit

Apart from one or two exceptions characters causing people to lose flight has been limited pretty much to the X-men team in the past. Now the BoP can get in on the action to, grounding your opponents board whenever Kendra is exhausted. Granting all of your girls flight for a turn is also quite useful. Most of the time though I think I’m going to prefer to have Huntress out at 4 or even Wildcat.

3/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

Gives flight, removes flight, pretty solid. Only problem is the teams she is on. Birds don’t really care if opponents can fly, but do like flight themselves; this and their lack of solid 4s (along with her hidden status) make her playable here. JSA, she’ll never be a substitute for Hawkmans high-defense and can power up with identity text, so she’s a bit of a waste here (Though they do like her defense ability more than Birds)

On-team (Birds): 3-star. Global flight Is nice, and the team needs hidden 4-drops

On-team (JSA): 2-star. Her defensive ability is more likely to trigger here, but she can’t beat out the top contendor on this team.

Limited: 3-star. Solid ability, can conceal or not. I’d take her relatively early, not insanely, but I would not regret her.

98. Lady Blackhawk, Aerie Ace

Across the board flight is good and +1 ATK for everyone pretty nice to. This is the kind of effect that is worth running conceal equipment for. No substitute means that you’ll be playing this girl early or under dropping to get her out in a curve BoP deck though. However the bonuses she provides aren’t team stamped so Lady Blackhawk could find her way into any swarm deck that doesn’t mind running some concealed equipment. (SRA/Black Bolt?).

3/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

All right, if she’s not equipped she sucks, horribly, obviously. But if you’re running enough equipment… eh, you’d probably want them on more meaningful people. She has her place in life, but probably not in a deck. Ah, where is my original Lady Blackhawk, she would have been a welcome reprint.

On-team: 2-star. She does a lot of what I’m looking for, and might make the cut if I’m running 8-10 equips.

Limited: 1-star. I’m not equipping my 1-drop.

99. Lady Shiva, Street Fighter

A 14/14 6-drop is okay but an 11/11 is not. Being concealed probably means she is likely to be able to pick her fights but it also means her “big butt” is not going to give you any added protection on the defence. BoP have better six drops and she is not really worth trying to splash else where.

2/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

A 14/14 by any other name? If she’s Skreeed out they can team attack her down with their 2 and 3, but generally she’s as 14/14 as they come. The issue? The team doesn’t really want a 14/14 that can’t defend, and GK doesn’t want a no-text no-defending 14/14 either.

On-team (Birds): 2-star. I’m not saying she is bad per se, she’s just never what you are looking for. If Birds had a search that could make her a 1-of you could argue (in a mobilize format, for instance).

On-team (GK): 2-star. She can be a solid finisher, and could potentially be seen as a 1-of target. But probably not.

Limited: 4-star. 14/14 finishers on my preferred kill initiative. Limited is where Lady Shiva would be my angel of death.

100. Misfit, Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe

Misfit is very similar to the original Nightcrawler, except you still take the two damage for her being stunned, your opponent does have a chance to respond to her ability with a finishing move or similar and you can’t make use of readying tricks with her. However having the option of being hidden means that the fact than she can be stunned whilst defending is less of an issue. Against most decks Misfit gives you a 3 ATK character that will last you the whole game.

4/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

3/2 “flight and range” is not so bad for a 2-drop. Her other ability is semi-relevant… essentially it lets you trade whatever equipment you have in exchange for keeping your 2-drop. So overall just a solid character, no huntress, but she’s good.

On-team: 3 star

Limited: 4-star. I love 3/2 flight/range hidden characters in limited, and again her ability is not irrelevant. I may even trade an equip for a recovery effect.

101. Power Girl, Bird of Power

+3 ATK across your whole board is pretty strong! Sure you have to exhaust your seven drop to do it, but you can do that by attacking. Her JSA affiliation makes her look like a good choice for The Rock of Eternity deck, and a single team-up allows any team to benefit from the across the board pump. I think she could be very strong in a variety of decks especially those that go off curve a little bit or have “free characters” like secret society.

4/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

Ah, JSA’s much beloved finisher card. Sadly I don’t see a birds deck trying to (or succeeding at) seeing turn 7, but what an effect if they did. Big Barda. Pah! Solid stats, a global +3 attack, what more could you ask for? Oh right, some defensive ability and not on a 7-drop. Well, win some, lose some, she’ll certainly finish limited games for you.

On-team: 2-star. But if I wanted a finisher, this would be the one.

Off-team: 3 star. I could see people who could bring her into the affiliation finishing with the global +3 attack.

Limited: 3-star. You may be surprised with all I said, but in limited I expect if I have turn 7 init and a 7-drop I’m likely to win. I prefer 7 drops who give me a chance if it’s my opponents initiative.

 

102. Rose <> Thorn, Wild One

I think I’ve said before on Pyrahmancy that one of my favourite uses for hidden one drops is finishing move type effects. Well Rose has one built-in, and as long as your aren’t playing against Ultimates this effect is a little more permanent than a KO. Because she doesn’t have to exhaust for this power she can even finishing move as well, or just swing in for one. Again she is tied to the BoP trinity but unless you really want to use this power on a very low drop you’ll most likely have one of them out anyway. With Rose, Katana and 4-drop Huntress perhaps BoP can start to build something akin to MKKO?

3.5/5

Evil Dave’s Review:

After Infinity, probably my favorite on-team 1. A 1-time KO effect, and can even ping opponents for 1 before using her effect. Combined with Dinah lockdown, she will certainly make things look grim on turn 4 or 5 for opponents.

On-team: 3-star. A 1-resource KO effect, but an on-team character, can be subbed in when you are ready to use her. Not as continual as Infinity, but few are.

Limited: 4-star. Only because you require a correctly named character. I love KO effects in limited.
Until next time…