Body Block-ing goodness
I'm just going to dork it out on this one with some Raw Deal jibber-jabber. For those who don't know of and/or don't care to hear about Raw Deal, this is a must skip for you.
Unforgiven Spoilers: Wave 1 - 2 Rant
After the initial news that Captain Charisma was going to be changed to CLB (a complete cosmetic change), I soon relaxed as news broke out from Barron that Keibler's Instincts would instead get an errata, rather than place some redeeming text to cover the name change on the superstar itself. This saves me having to worry about the meta being changed just because of players wanting to play CLB, and people just packing White Wedding as a means to pull off an irreversible KI.
But before I jump on the CLB chatter, I want to talk about the first wave of non-Superstar specific spoilers in the High Risks and Strike maneuvers listing.
While I'm disappointed that none of these helped out my concept for a Throwback RTC design, that doesn't mean that these aren't some solid cards in of their own right. In fact, these help out a lot of superstars, and while being bland when compared to some of the monstrositys of sets past, these give out some real boosts of playing power in the right superstars.
First thing that jumps to mind immediately is Body Block; if Atomic Lariat was big in your area, this is your staple to calm that abuse down. For a Rene Dupree, this is a must pack in an already tight packed deck. The 5/7 stats as a High Risk are very mediocre, but for Dupree, that potential 7D reversal drop are just too good to pass, especially when you consider how vulnerable to Atomic Lariat he is early game if he can't secure Fifi Interferes in his openning hand.
Counter Slash, on the other hand, is very mediocre looking, but for what it does and what it avoids, could put Elbow to the Face on look out as no longer being a "3x" must, which is always a nice change of pace, especially when you consider the most popular maneuvers are hard to reverse in some fashion or another. This just further adds to that idea in some instances, by pushing for other reversals to take over, such as Clumsy Opponent (especially if Chain is heavy in your meta).
Girly Slap stands out as a band version of Girly Punch, only because it helps to promote Elbow to the Face, and runs into some really bad late game reversals, such as Backslide, Back Rake, Manager Interferes, and the most disgusting of all, Power Slam TB. Early game, it only worries about Elbow to the Face, which you can avoid in some fashion, especially if your meta pushes away from Elbow's.
Running Elbow Smash TB stands out as being a long over due Heat card, as it finally puts more power in the hands of Heat decks as a means to pitch those Heat cards out to your bin to activate your power reversals, namely Headstrong. If only more Heat maneuvers had this type of text, then it would truly stand out further as being a moron friendly mechanic.
Standing Drop Kick TB and Ap Chaki Kick just scream Tajiri push, as the Standing Drop Kick TB gets a nice discard theme going in for his kicks (and with his ability, he can punch with this thing twice before you can think about Cowing or even Backlash!-ing him), and the Ap Chaki Kick, as a maneuver, further adds to the discard mechanic he gets. But more importantly, that Ap Chaki Kick acts as a 0F juiced JBI/Cow that deals out 5D, just the bridge he needs for his Octopus, which bridges into his Asian Mist (TB or non, I believe), which means he can turn into a real mean scoop deck if built properly (and if the remainder of the spoilers kind of lead towards this). Add to this, he already has an infinite recovery engine in Ask Yourself: How Many Are There?, which he can now pick up a lot more often with these new and better kick maneuvers at his disposal.
Knee Breaker TB resurrects Ring Psychology: Leg and Man of 1,000 Holds, so beware the Freak'n Machine on this one. Back Fist signs in as a strong 0F maneuver for Dupree, that serves as a 6/4 3D or less maneuver reversal, so expect a more controlish feeling from Dupree (Defensive Cover and Immune to Pain?) to better use this card.
Back Body Drop TB, which not incredibly powerful, holds a lot of potential in any Set-up build, if just for the recovery engine built into it. The reversal portion sort of leads something to be desired, but the maneuver portion is spot on serving as a 5/12 that gets either a +5D or +6D, pending on which Set-up you throw before it. Personally, a Throw might be nastier, as it can serve as a two port experience; pulling your opponent's Surge (or Surge-esque card), and does a total of 18D, which is practically Trademark damage. Find a way to make it hard to reverse, and this bad boy might as well be a Trademark.
Everything and the Kitchen Sink might as well be called Panic Trash, and have a Dudley Boyz logo on it, as they might be the only ones to really abuse this cards text. Playing multiple FO maneuvers in addition to playing this card is like stacking maneuvers for Trademark damage. The only restriction is, you can't pair this up with 180-Degree Chair, which just plain out sucks. I guess Barron kept an eye on this card for the sake of keeping the Dudelyz in check.
Precision Clothesline is a spectacular card, and can serve as a 0/8 drop. Now anyone not playing a Heat deck can have a 0/8 drop, but of course, JBL, Los Guerreros and Rikishi do the Sucker Punch fetch better, and to boot, it doesn't cost them a card to get it as a 0F drop. But I prefer this, as it helps out Heat decks if you really think about it. Go on, I'll wait until you think of how this helps. ;)
As for CLB/Captain Charisma/Leader of the Christian Coalition/The Peep's Champ/Triple C, the fact that his ability is basically something I've been craving since I learned to play and build Control decks is only one reason to enjoy playing him. Accompanied by Tyson just further pushes me need to play him. Fetching back some dirty Pre-match cards ad-nauseum is amusing, and adds a world of depth to his strategy pool. He's practically the best looking control deck out there, even when compared to the likes of Dude Love, simply because of the trickery he can pull off that other superstars only WISH they could pull off.
Thus far, none of the cards spoiled stand out as big aides to Captain Charisma/CLB/etc. just based on his ability, and we have a long way to go before we see his Pre-match selections out of the set, but I'm looking forward to how he further shapes up. Thus far, I already know what I'm going to have to do; beg, borrow, plead and kill for some of these complete sets I have yet to complete, just to pull out some crazy new "tech" for the Unforgiven environment.
Geek out over. Time to go back to my normal, usual, dorky self.
Unforgiven Spoilers: Wave 1 - 2 Rant
After the initial news that Captain Charisma was going to be changed to CLB (a complete cosmetic change), I soon relaxed as news broke out from Barron that Keibler's Instincts would instead get an errata, rather than place some redeeming text to cover the name change on the superstar itself. This saves me having to worry about the meta being changed just because of players wanting to play CLB, and people just packing White Wedding as a means to pull off an irreversible KI.
But before I jump on the CLB chatter, I want to talk about the first wave of non-Superstar specific spoilers in the High Risks and Strike maneuvers listing.
While I'm disappointed that none of these helped out my concept for a Throwback RTC design, that doesn't mean that these aren't some solid cards in of their own right. In fact, these help out a lot of superstars, and while being bland when compared to some of the monstrositys of sets past, these give out some real boosts of playing power in the right superstars.
First thing that jumps to mind immediately is Body Block; if Atomic Lariat was big in your area, this is your staple to calm that abuse down. For a Rene Dupree, this is a must pack in an already tight packed deck. The 5/7 stats as a High Risk are very mediocre, but for Dupree, that potential 7D reversal drop are just too good to pass, especially when you consider how vulnerable to Atomic Lariat he is early game if he can't secure Fifi Interferes in his openning hand.
Counter Slash, on the other hand, is very mediocre looking, but for what it does and what it avoids, could put Elbow to the Face on look out as no longer being a "3x" must, which is always a nice change of pace, especially when you consider the most popular maneuvers are hard to reverse in some fashion or another. This just further adds to that idea in some instances, by pushing for other reversals to take over, such as Clumsy Opponent (especially if Chain is heavy in your meta).
Girly Slap stands out as a band version of Girly Punch, only because it helps to promote Elbow to the Face, and runs into some really bad late game reversals, such as Backslide, Back Rake, Manager Interferes, and the most disgusting of all, Power Slam TB. Early game, it only worries about Elbow to the Face, which you can avoid in some fashion, especially if your meta pushes away from Elbow's.
Running Elbow Smash TB stands out as being a long over due Heat card, as it finally puts more power in the hands of Heat decks as a means to pitch those Heat cards out to your bin to activate your power reversals, namely Headstrong. If only more Heat maneuvers had this type of text, then it would truly stand out further as being a moron friendly mechanic.
Standing Drop Kick TB and Ap Chaki Kick just scream Tajiri push, as the Standing Drop Kick TB gets a nice discard theme going in for his kicks (and with his ability, he can punch with this thing twice before you can think about Cowing or even Backlash!-ing him), and the Ap Chaki Kick, as a maneuver, further adds to the discard mechanic he gets. But more importantly, that Ap Chaki Kick acts as a 0F juiced JBI/Cow that deals out 5D, just the bridge he needs for his Octopus, which bridges into his Asian Mist (TB or non, I believe), which means he can turn into a real mean scoop deck if built properly (and if the remainder of the spoilers kind of lead towards this). Add to this, he already has an infinite recovery engine in Ask Yourself: How Many Are There?, which he can now pick up a lot more often with these new and better kick maneuvers at his disposal.
Knee Breaker TB resurrects Ring Psychology: Leg and Man of 1,000 Holds, so beware the Freak'n Machine on this one. Back Fist signs in as a strong 0F maneuver for Dupree, that serves as a 6/4 3D or less maneuver reversal, so expect a more controlish feeling from Dupree (Defensive Cover and Immune to Pain?) to better use this card.
Back Body Drop TB, which not incredibly powerful, holds a lot of potential in any Set-up build, if just for the recovery engine built into it. The reversal portion sort of leads something to be desired, but the maneuver portion is spot on serving as a 5/12 that gets either a +5D or +6D, pending on which Set-up you throw before it. Personally, a Throw might be nastier, as it can serve as a two port experience; pulling your opponent's Surge (or Surge-esque card), and does a total of 18D, which is practically Trademark damage. Find a way to make it hard to reverse, and this bad boy might as well be a Trademark.
Everything and the Kitchen Sink might as well be called Panic Trash, and have a Dudley Boyz logo on it, as they might be the only ones to really abuse this cards text. Playing multiple FO maneuvers in addition to playing this card is like stacking maneuvers for Trademark damage. The only restriction is, you can't pair this up with 180-Degree Chair, which just plain out sucks. I guess Barron kept an eye on this card for the sake of keeping the Dudelyz in check.
Precision Clothesline is a spectacular card, and can serve as a 0/8 drop. Now anyone not playing a Heat deck can have a 0/8 drop, but of course, JBL, Los Guerreros and Rikishi do the Sucker Punch fetch better, and to boot, it doesn't cost them a card to get it as a 0F drop. But I prefer this, as it helps out Heat decks if you really think about it. Go on, I'll wait until you think of how this helps. ;)
As for CLB/Captain Charisma/Leader of the Christian Coalition/The Peep's Champ/Triple C, the fact that his ability is basically something I've been craving since I learned to play and build Control decks is only one reason to enjoy playing him. Accompanied by Tyson just further pushes me need to play him. Fetching back some dirty Pre-match cards ad-nauseum is amusing, and adds a world of depth to his strategy pool. He's practically the best looking control deck out there, even when compared to the likes of Dude Love, simply because of the trickery he can pull off that other superstars only WISH they could pull off.
Thus far, none of the cards spoiled stand out as big aides to Captain Charisma/CLB/etc. just based on his ability, and we have a long way to go before we see his Pre-match selections out of the set, but I'm looking forward to how he further shapes up. Thus far, I already know what I'm going to have to do; beg, borrow, plead and kill for some of these complete sets I have yet to complete, just to pull out some crazy new "tech" for the Unforgiven environment.
Geek out over. Time to go back to my normal, usual, dorky self.