Welcome back to Team Brew Switcharoo! Here, we take a random selection of cards from the Team Builder and try to create a Team that is somewhat functional.
The Rules
We are not going to keep the team as the Team Builder gives us. We will be allowed to make substitutions based on some limitations. The limitations for this challenge are as follows:
- I am only allowed to substitute 4 cards from the initial selection.
- I must follow a randomly selected “rule” to build the Team around.
Last time, we decided to start things off easy with a Modern DC build. This time, we are going to widen the initial field significantly. Thanks to a suggestion from our resident King of Jank Jackalopespam, we are looking at a specific class of cards. The rule we will build around for this week is…
Affiliation Substitution Only
All cards must have an Affiliation and any substitution made must have the same Affiliation as the card being removed. If characters with multiple Affiliations come up, the substituted card must have all of the same Affiliations. Any card in Dice Masters is eligible for this.
The Cards
Yikes… this one is a little random. Nothing is really jumping out at me as a core keeper, however I have some ideas of other versions of these characters. Let’s see if we can make something workable here.
With no obvious win condition in these cards, this is where the initial swaps need to come in. There is a power couple in this group (Spidey and MJ) that could be fun to mess around with. That may be the focus here.
Since there is no real plan in place until we make some cuts, we will jump through the rest of this section and make my case for why I did what I did. Here are the cards that are getting the axe:
The Substitutions
I said I wanted to focus on the duo here, so that is what we are going to do. Given my limitations, I did not have many other Iron Spiders to play with. I did consider Suit Up to try and flood my Field with Spiders, but ended up going with Too Cool For Words. The reason here was that I should have some built in removal when he gets fielded. That is going to be our strategy here. Clear things out and try to swing through a thin Field.
Knowing that we will have at least two Spider-Friends in play, I should have some decent damage from the Iron Spider.
Speaking of the other Spider-Friend, let’s look at our MJ swap… which is literally MJ. This is our best Mary Jane to bring into our game. She will give any non-Villain Overcrush, which pairs well with my Iron Spider’s base stats. The trick will be getting her out of the Field in order to do it again.
This is where we look to our BAC’s. Neither of them are particularly useful to us so one needs to go. Out with Save Civilians and in with Misdirection. This swap opens the door for a lot of shenanigan options with what we have left. It also gives us access to some much need Prep that we do not currently have. This card gives me a reason to keep a bunch of other cards on the Team as well.
One slot left and I don’t have a Global to use yet so let’s go digging through the options. I could look at a buff Global, which exists in the Avengers Affiliation… however, I lose access to cheap fists that would be helpful in getting to Iron Spider. Instead we are going to look to the Guardians and move out Beta Ray Bill for good old Groot. The Groot Global seems solid to help cycle around my Iron Spider and MJ dice a little easier.
Our strategy is more about thinning the Field instead of sending in a giant attacker, so that is my thinking here. Plus if someone brings me a buff Global, there is no reason I cannot pivot to that option.
You may notice the subs here will probably never happen again. Iron Spider for Iron Spider, Mary Jane for Mary Jane, Wonder Woman on a BAC for Wonder Woman on a BAC, and orangey-brown Guardian for an orangey-brown Guardian. I also managed to swap rarity for rarity… which was not entirely planned.
Those are the substitutions I chose to make on this group of cards. For those playing along, here is the final Team Builder link:
Affiliation Switcharoo
Here is the plan: Obviously I will be using Iron Spider for clearing things out with MJ to help give him some more damage potential against the remaining blockers. The key will be cycling these two as needed. Black Widow is my cheap fist option to help get to Iron Spider.
Here is where Misdirection will be the hard worker for the Team. This will give me the most flexibility in what I can do with the remain Team members. Let’s look at that right now.
I think Misdirection gives me the best chance to get Aftershock to fire off with Daisy Johnson. The idea would be to swap into her when the opposing stats will KO here. She will help thin out the weenies on their side, and could even help with the Iron Spider/MJ cycling on the right levels. The same shenanigans could come into play with Grundy, although I am unlikely to purchase a 5 cost on this Team.
Davil Starsong is an interesting character here. I have not used this ability, but I think it has some potential to spam Spiders into my Field. I am all about the numbers here, and I think this might help me accomplish this. The Groot Global helps set the bag with the characters that I want, and maybe maked Davil’s ability a little easier to fire off.
Hitch is more of a back-up plan but does pair well with shenanigans (assuming I can fire an action off before using Misdirection). I do not see that happening honestly, but it is nice to have the option. Perhaps Surprise Attack comes into play here, but trying to get two actions to come out on the same turn is… difficult.
Now, this Team is all on paper right now. How would it actually function? It feels like it is a little clunky and perhaps the buff Global was the better choice, but you don’t know until you try.
What do you think? How would you change the Team? What would you do differently? What random meta rules do you want to see in future TBS articles?
Let us know in the comments below. Talk to us on all of the Socials @dmNorthTV. Send us an email at mailbag@dm-north.com. We would love to hear from you.
Thank for reading!
– jourdo