Note: our weekly tournament was cancelled for weather reasons this week. This article describes a team I ran a couple of weeks ago but never got around to writing about.
Sometimes, when a card is revealed, I immediately think, “how does this work with (x)…” Whenever I see a Basic Action with a “**” effect, I immediately think of Morph. So of course, when Paige, Manager was revealed, I immediately decided to start…
Paging Thanos
The Team: Thanos, you should really buy a cellphone.
The core idea is fairly simple: field Morph, choosing the Paige basic action card for its effect. Then, attack with Morph to add a big bruiser to my bag. I chose two big guys as potential targets: Thanos (who punishes my opponent if I get to field him before he gets his newly acquired die) and The Rock (nice global, fun ability). Technically, I guess Thanos is my main win condition (just burning you with your own characters), with The Rock being a fun bruiser that can hurt in his own right.
I wanted a way to get my big guys if Morph were neutralized. Why not use discounts? I have The Rock, of course, but he’s hardly enough. Enter Asuka. Not only can she help me get my big guys cheaper, but even 4-costs are discounted to 2 (!). I decided to use two 4-cost Mask characters: Mimic (for fantastic removal) and Big E (who is self-explanatory with the amount of Becky and God Catcher teams floating around).
The rest of the team for utility. Shriek is there for blanking as usual, Resurrection is there for ramp, churn and bag fixing, and finally, there’s Bobby Heenan. I needed a 2-cost, and wanted it to come from WWE to test things out. Some blocker hate also makes sense if I happen to field The Rock (a definite possibility!).
And with all of that said, on to the games!
Game 1:
I started off against a WWE team featuring the 4-cost Becky Lynch, alongside Booker T and Jerry Lawler (sounds familiar?).
My strategy was pretty straightforward: field Morph T3, use his ability to put Thanos in bag, field Thanos T4. Despite a silly misplay on my part (misheard what he’d bought early on), I managed to get him locked down pretty quick, with Thanos on Becky Lynch and Shriek stopping his main source of removal, Asuka (the one with Intimidate). He had no way to stop my Thanos dice from burning and rushing him down. I won.
1-0
Game 2:
I then followed up by facing a team running the 5-cost Becky, obtained by ramping with Thrown Bricks. My opponent also used Attune and unblockable Parasite-fueled Yuan-tis as a backup win condition (Parasite helps Becky as well!). Morph got me Thanos quickly again, and Thanos did his thing. After Thanos hit the field, I went for The Rock. And honestly, The Rock just dictated the pace: there’s no reason to let him through, so he gets blocked by multiple characters reliably. I ran out of high costs, and thanks to Asuka, I ran out of Mimics as well, eventually. I wore my opponent down bit by bit and won.
2-0
Game 3:
And unsurprisingly enough, I finished the evening against the 4-cost Becky Lynch again, using Booker T and Jerry Lawler, with Parasite to buff Becky (yeesh). The 8-cost Overcrush Thanos was in her team too. Lots of crazy stuff in this one. I went for Thanos to stop her stuff, so of course she Shrieked Thanos. Thanks to Asuka, I easily got Big E and used Mimic, accidentally copying her Big E (which was quite helpful, actually!). Eventually, after several turns with limited damage, she got Becky out and did her shenanigans. I blocked with everything, including Shriek and Thanos, to get Becky off the field. The following turn, I Shrieked her Shriek, fielded Thanos, named Becky, and drained a big chunk of her health shortly after as her Becky Lynch dice hurt her the following turn. Shortly after, I charged in for the win.
3-0
Post-Mortem:
-Paige + Morph = Peanut Butter and Jelly. This synergy is wonderful if you build your team right. Expect me to do this again in the future, if I can figure out something funny enough. (come on, Wizkids, announce a new 10-cost!)
-Asuka + anything mask = also Peanut Butter and Jelly. She made this whole team run so much smoother, and I ran out of dice consistently on some cards. I could’ve put 4 dice on Mimic, easily.
-I should’ve put more dice on my big characters as well: I ran out of Thanos and The Rock dice on games 2 and 3. Attacking with 4 The Rock dice, in particular, could be hilarious…if I can get a second copy of that darn team pack.
-Bobby Heenan didn’t really get a chance to shine here: too much going on. I just bought him as a cheap die and his effect was rarely relevant. Will try him in different builds in the future.
Overall, this was fun, but very messy. With the free dice and discounts, my bag was a mess. Note to self: run one awesome discount machine per team, not two.