What up my Glip-Glops!
BrownMessiah here with a follow up to our segment on removal from Episode 12 of the Double Burst Podcast. If you haven’t checked it out, well you should. Do it, now!!!
Okay, now that you’re back let me clear something up. I did not write the whole segment! I told them which cards to mention, but as the guys said, there are so many tools you can use for removal it’s hard to get them all. Plus that segment would have gone way longer if I were there.
😉
So in case some of you just kept reading and didn’t go listen, or can’t, what is removal? Removal is the mechanic in the game to remove whatever may be obstructing your way. Pretty self explanatory. There are many ways to do this. Much like Russ, The KO King, I also love finding and using different ways to remove my opponent’s characters in the field. There are three types of removal: spot removal, board wipes, and combat damage. It is also important to remember the distinction between an ability that targets your opponent characters versus one that targets an opposing player. Abilities that target an opposing player are going to be better as most characters and actions have abilities that interact with your opponent’s characters whereas abilities that target an opposing player won’t trigger those characters abilities that protect their characters (ie. GATF: Batgirl – Comish’s Daughter, Half Elf Bard: Apprentice Order of the Gauntlet, Wondering: C Wondergirl WOL/UC Ring of Magnetism YGO.) The guys talked about a lot of cards so I’m gonna go over some others that aren’t as popular but still work supremely well.
Dice, Bags, Action!
I am of the opinion that actions remain to be a very underutilized tool in the game that most people overlook because it’s not a character. Sometimes, having a way to remove characters without relying on a character is nice. Unless your meta is set up to combat actions, it’s almost like free removal. Millennium Puzzle is the first one that comes to mind for most but Millennium Rod was brought up in discussion and I decided to take second look at it. They are both nice because they are continuous actions. Even though they don’t specifically say “continuous” Wizkids has errata’ed both of them to say continuous
Taking control of a character is actually pretty good if you have some sort of KO mechanic like fabricate or Blue-Eyes White Dragon: Monstrous Dragon; its global reads: “Pay bolt. Knock out one of your monsters and reduce the cost of the next die you buy by 2. Their KO’d character gets sent to their prep area and you don’t have to worry about it! I also like the Basic Action: Brother Fights Brother. This is nice because both players have to do it and it doesn’t really “target” as both players have to to fulfill the condition. Also, if you have something that has a “when fielded” ability you’re gonna wanna try and KO it so you can keep getting that ‘when fielded’ ability like Storm: Wind Rider. It also has the global for some life gain which is nice.
Always remember that Polymorph can be used defensively by swapping one of their fielded characters with one in their used pile. Do they have a Goblin or a Miri Riam in their used and got that annoying Hulk GG starin at ya in the face. Poly that suka outta here and bring in that Goblin!
Reliable Removal
I like to split all removal up into two categories: reliable and unreliable. In short, reliable removal is always gonna get rid of what you want where as unreliable abilities like rerolling have the chance of not removing the character. It all comes down to your play style. Do you like to roll characters or do you always want to get rid of stuff? Personally, I like rolling characters, it is a dice game after all.
Solomon Grundy: Buried on a Sunday is an excellent example of reliable removal because you’re gonna KO an opposing character if you KO him. Again, Blue-Eyes, fabricate or even the aforementioned Brother Fights brother fit well with him. Another form of reliable removal is capturing characters. SR Mindflayer comes to mind. He has some super beefy stats and is great at capturing opposing characters.
With Civil War we were given a bunch of new keywords. Along came Intimidate. Intimidate is a “when fielded” ability that allows you to remove target character from the field but returns at the the end of the turn. In Civil War draft, Punisher: Unlikely Ally, was an excellent way to end the game and push get those last few characters out of the way. His stats are awesome, get in for 6 damage or KO it and possibly intimidate again.
The uncommon is the one I most want use in constructed. He does not have intimidate but everything fielded after him does! Excluding sidekicks of course. With a bit of bag control, and a strategic KO or two, you can intimidate your opponent’s entire field away.
Combat Removal
Another way of reliable removal is just straight up combat damage and fighting with your characters. Taunting is when you are forcing your opponent to either block or attack with one of their characters. Any of the Phoenix from Avengers v. X-Men have the global ability: “Pay bolt. Target character must attack this turn.” Bane from World’s Finest does as well in all rarities but pay a fist and Mr. Fantastic from AVX with a mask. We’re still waiting for that shield one Wizkids.
Characters with the “Must Block” global ability are great if you want to be a little more aggressive and attack more. These globals are available for every energy type with the exception of bolts. Giant Spider from Faerun Under Siege for shield, Wasp from the Civil War starter for mask, and Goblin Attack Force from Yu-Gi-Oh for fist.
But you pair that with any of these boys and things start to get nasty. Deadpool is that much better when you pair him with a “Must Block” ability and forcing two blockers. Iron Fist is nice because of his high attack value so with a “Must Attack” ability Iron Fist is gonna be hurting some feelings; or you can be just be mean and intimidate them into submission. Remember, any “when fielded” ability works.
Unreliable Removal
So what about unreliable removal? Well as it says in the name, it’s unreliable and doesn’t always work out, in my opinion that’s more fun. I like rolling dice and that’s why I play this game.
All of these cards involve rerolling your opponent’s characters and hoping they roll energy. It’s a 50/50 chance which is why they are unreliable. You may get it, you may not. But that’s what I like so that’s what I do UC Black Cat and Black Canary are nice spot removal and SR Black Cat is a nice board wipe that targets your opponent. Scarecrow is pretty nice against those teams that want to buy multiple copies of a character. If you’re playing D&D only you can get in on some Gorgon or Rare Umber Hulk action. Of course I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t include my baby, Storm. Personally, I am a bit attached to the five cost as it was the first promo whose art just captivated me. On top of that, it’s potentially four damage.
Thanks for reading guys. Hope you found this insightful. Like the guys said in the episode, there are soo many tools we can use for removal and there are a lot of different ways to do so that can fit your play style. Like to fight characters? Use a “Must attack/block” global and some big beefy guys. Want your characters to do something when they come into play? Intimidate them with that Punisher and your whole team! The great thing about this game is there are so many ways to play it and so many options to play it the way you like to. Thanks again and until next time. May the rolls be with you. Always.
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Tags: Dice Masters, Double Burst
