The first deck I’m going to spotlight here is an early build of my first attempt at Future Foes, which was brought on by one of the new 4 drop Felix Fausts from the DC Legends set. I know I’m not the only one that thought of Future Foes when I saw the Injustice Gang Faust that burns your opponent for 2 every time they discard, especially since Squire, Cliff and special guest Steve Garrett mentioned that selfsame idea on The Ring Has Chosen (the best damned gaming podcast on the net, people). The nice thing about this is the fact that Faust fits into a pretty good spot in the Future Foes curve. The standard 4 drop in the discard strategy is more than likely going to be Lightning Lord, who is a very good character in that he’s almost guaranteed to force a discard, or ends up being the size of a 5 drop. This is great, but my main issue with it is the fact that it’s a one time discard effect. Characters like the two Ra’s Al Ghuls, Cosmic King (provided you can protect his counter), Time Trapper, 5 drop Computo, Ol-Vir and (to a much lesser extent) Glorith can force multiple discards throughout the game. Those are the types of effects I would prefer if I’m going along with the Felix Faust strategy of really setting up a bad situation for your opponent. Nearly every card in the deck is designed to affect your opponent while using as few card as possible that actually target my opponent’s side of the board, considering the proliferation of Pathetic Attempt in nearly every deck these days.
The hope would be to use these discard effects early, as a way to try and limit their hand size as soon as possible through the use of 1 drop Ra’s Al Ghul and Cosmic King, as well as the Asteroid JS-1967 location and Plot Twists like Chain Lightning. To be honest, Faust isn’t really in the deck to deal endurance loss, but more to further discourage my opponent from wanting to discard so I can get the effects I want, giving me the option to swing down the curve and do tons of breakthrough by taking away reinforcement, which also turns on my search, Fatal Five Hundred. Let’s go through the important drops in the deck, shall we?
Characters:
4x Ra’s Al Ghul <> Leland McCauley, U.P. President
4x Emerald Empress, Fatal Five
2x Saturn Queen, Legion of Super Villains
3x Cosmic King, Legion of Super Villains
3x Time Trapper, Temporal Manipulator
4x Felix Faust, Soulless Mystic
1x Lightning Lord, Legion of Super Villains
3x Computo, Rogue Program
1x Ra’s Al Ghul, Engine of Change
2x Ol-Vir, Legion of Super Villains
1x The Persuader, Fatal Five
1x Universo, Vidar
Locations:
3x Asteroid JS-1967
Plot Twists:
4x Chain Lightning
2x Dominated
4x Fatal Five Hundred
3x Five Against One
4x For Khundia!
3x Return of the Demon’s Head
2x Sorcerous Suppression
2x Enemy of My Enemy
4x Flying Kick
Here's specific breakdowns of most of the cards and why they're in the deck.
Ra’s Al Ghul <> Leland McCauley, U.P. President – This is a very strong reusable forced discard effect. He works much like Dark Martian can (post turn four for the Martian, at least) in that he’s basically Blind Sided on a stick that can be used at any time. He’s very important for those effects that require breakthrough (Computo, Fatal Five Hundred), and because of that, he just might get a card out of your opponent’s hand.
Emerald Empress, Fatal Five – One of two oversized recovery character I’m putting in the deck, mainly because Saturn Queen is pretty underwhelming. She’s big, and will most likely do some good damage turn two if Leland’s on the board.
Cosmic King, Legion of Super Villains – Here’s a strong character. He’s a 7/6 if your opponent doesn’t discard, and they most likely will try to discard due to the fact that his ability is tied to a cosmic counter. Because of this, if Cosmic King is played on turn three, especially on your initiative, it’s a good turn to throw out some of the Plot Twists and possibly knock them down to only one or two cards in hand, or otherwise do a ton of damage that turn.
Time Trapper, Temporal Manipulator – This is basically a match dependant call. Any teams designed to constantly search are going to be very upset to see Time Trapper in the visible area. Checkmate, the Inhumans, and a Ruin based Ongoing Plot Twist Revenge Squad deck are all going to hate this guy. Plus, he’s a 5/5 and not cosmic, so bonus.
Felix Faust, Soulless Mystic – As I mentioned before, Faust just amps up the whole “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” ideal of the Future Foes team. The choice between having your lowest drop losing reinforcement on turn five or discarding a card and losing two endurance is a tough choice indeed. It’s especially strong in tandem with Time Trapper, when a Mobilize is going to cost your opponent two cards and two endurance. Lightning Lord is your backup here, and he’s already been talked about.
Computo, Rogue Program – This is where all the various reinforcement neutralizing effects comes into handy. One swing can shift card advantage pretty handily, especially if you’re using one drop Ra’s to take away reinforcement, and respond with a Five Against One when they discard.
Ol-Vir, Legion of Super Villains – Another good discard ability. It’s certainly not as damning as the others, but there’s absolutely no reason to not use his effect every turn he’s on the field.
The Persuader, Fatal Five – He’s a finisher. He really likes using Dominated to swing down on your opponent’s lowest drop, recover him, and stun the six, allowing you to swing down on him again.
Universo, Vidar – If it goes to seven, he can wreak havoc. He’s a one of in the deck.
Asteroid JS-1967 – A reusable location that can take away reinforcement if they don’t discard? Yes, please.
Chain Lightning – Think of this as basically either a +2 or +4 attack that works on attack or defense with the built in discard mechanic. Very good for causing breakthrough or swinging up the curve to break someone’s formation.
Dominated – Potentially a supremely powerful card. Out of combat stuns are fantastic, and it’s a very good way to create board advantage. Very good with the oversized recovery characters.
Fatal Five Hundred – I love search that doesn’t involve a discard, and with the rest of the support from the team, causing breakthrough should not be difficult at all.
Five Against One – This is great, as it acts as both a Chain Lightning style attack pump while at the same time usable to take away reinforcement.
For Khundia! – Nothing wrong with +2 attack, and hidden decks are going to be really upset when Computo comes ravaging into the hidden area to take out their one drop…
Return of the Demon’s Head – This card is just mean. You can play it on five to completely wreck their board and cause a ton of breakthrough, and there’s a very good chance that they’ll just discard the two. Hymn to Tourach effects are awesome, especially if they’re taking four at the same time. Swarm decks really don’t like this card.
Sorcerous Suppression – Once again, use it to exhaust a potential reinforcer or possibly hose their initiative on three.
Enemy of My Enemy – Gotta get Faust into your hand somehow.
Flying Kick – Don’t exactly need to explain the importance of Flying Kick here.
I pretty much want odd initiatives just about every time. It helps with Computo on five, and it's always fun to have Time Trapper on the board before your opponent even lays his fourth resource.
I’d love to hear some feedback on this, both in the form of critiques about the deck itself or the article. Is it too long? Should I lose the individual card breakdowns? Let me know in the comments. I'm hoping to throw out a deck just about every week, whether it's new or old. I believe my next deck post will most likely be a write up on the first deck I ever built, Heralds/Inhumans Random Punks.
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