Choices, Choices

My local City Champs is this Sunday. Kinda snuck up on me, really. I luckily just received the commons and uncommons (and a few rares) I needed to complete a few of the decks that are in the running for a chance at the Champs. Let's go through them now, shall we?

1. Injustice Gang hidden beats.

Now this is a simple deck. Play characters. Attack with said characters. Play pumps. Beat faces.
Strengths: It's super fast and not very prone to play mistakes. Strong against non-stalling curve decks.
Weaknesses: No visible characters means that it's very dependent on how many pumps I draw if going against another rush deck. Plays fast and loose with endurance. Has more and more trouble dealing with later turns. I only have two copies of Crime Syndicate of Amerika.

2. Skrulls

More hidden beats, this time with the added bonus of not stunning on attacks.
Strengths: It's also super fast and probably has the most raw ATK on the board thanks to cards like Ethan Edwards, Visitor from Another World, Wolverine, Skrunucklehead and Quicksilver, Inhuman By Marriage. Not stunning on attacks is a very good thing. Also affords the opportunity of Ronan lock.
Weaknesses: It's not required, but the deck nearly falls apart if I don't hit Franklin Richards on two and Captain America on three. Extended Families can restore cosmic counters, but it's not an exact science. I've got enough tutors not to worry too much about hitting Franklin, but I'd either have to draw into Cap or an Enemy by three, which isn't a guarantee. This deck also really doesn't like hidden hate.

3. Substibuse

Capable of massive burn in one turn, as well as strong card draw, this is a potent deck.
Strengths: Most damage is done during the build phase, which is harder to disrupt than during combat. Able to take away nearly all your opponent's endurance in a single turn.
Weaknesses: Another hidden area heavy deck. Losing any amount of characters hurts your ability to substitute. If your opponent doesn't play anything from the row (or everything in his row costs 1), the main strategy of the deck falls apart. Unravel Realities susceptible to replacement effects.

4. Earth 3/Birds of Prey

Teams up and uses the Earth 3 location to combine the ATK power of both IG and the Birds of Prey, as well as allowing for a single massive visible character to soak damage off initiative.
Strengths: Whenever a character like Vixen or Jemm is shipped into the visible area, they're going to have a huge DEF. Still allows for the raw power of a concealed beats deck. Allows for card cycling via The Hook Up.
Weaknesses: I don't have the optimal build, as I only own three Lady Blackhawks and two Crime Syndicate of Amerika. Requires both Earth 3 and a Team-Up in the row, as well as Aerie Ones on the field. The added complexity of a second team dilutes the raw aggro potential. I haven't had a chance to test this deck.

So that's what I'm thinking. At the moment, I'm leaning toward Skrulls, but I need to consult with Brian. We share our playsets, which basically means that he has the Enemies, while I control the Mobilizes. If he's running a deck with Enemies, I'm most likely going straight IG. More updates as the week rumbles on, and expect a full tournament report come Sunday Night/Monday of next week.