Blatant Plagiarism – Gang Gone Wild

Blatant Plagiarism – Gang Gone Wild
by Graham Beadle

I have an aversion to netdecking. I totally comprehend the reasons why it occurs and I often ’steal’ ideas to in incorporate into existing decks that I’m running. However it is very rare that I’ll go out of my way to copy a deck directly.

However, with every rule of thumb, there is normally an exception to the rule. With me this occurs when I see a competitive, non-tier 1 deck, that looks fun to play. So with this in mind I have to thank Big Spooky, Michael Barnes for his post on Vs Realms detailing his Injustice Gang/Wild Pack build that exploits Bounty Hunt for card draw and a number of other cards to keep your opponents board at a non existent level. I just had to build a similar version.
The premise of the deck is simple, see character, bounce character, draw cards for bouncing aforementioned characters. Big Spooky’s build was good, however for our local meta some changes were needed. There are a lot of hidden dudes hanging around at present in Maidstone (Darkseid Sub, Illuminati, Hellboy) so some hidden hate was obviously necessary. I also found that four copies of Bounty Hunt was definitely a ‘win more’ scenario so some changes were made there. This is what I came up with, bearing in mind the local metagame.

The deck has posted a winning record to date (around 65%), when it has hit it’s early drops and a team up it has won comfortably. It is almost tempting to run additional 1-drops to ensure this happens in future, a bizarre statement being as we are talking about a curve deck that already runs twelve cards of the one cost variety. However, when the deck hits a one drop on turn one, either two one drops or Captain Boomerang turn two, He ‘who only comes out at night’ on three and Sable on four thisw deck is nigh on unstoppable, having posted a 100% record when it does so. With Secret Files available on turn two and Enemy on turn three, this is not altogether unfeasible.

4 Infernal Minions, Army
4 The Penguin, Gentleman of Crime
4 Powell, Southern Charm
4 Cpt. Boomerang, George Harkness
4 Maneater, Intruders
1 Lex Luthor, Nefarious Philanthropist
3 Silver Sable, Worlds Deadliest Mercenary
1 Fin, Intruders
1 Joker, Headline Stealer
1 Circe, Evil Enchantress
1 Scarecrow, Chiroptiphobic
1 Scarecrow, Psycho Psychologist
1 Ocean Master, Son of Atlan
1 Lex Luthor, Sinister Scientist

2 Bounty Hunt
2 Enemy of My Enemy
2 Criminal Mastermind
4 Death Trap
4 Gang Up
4 Nasty Surprise
3 Savage Beatdown
3 No Man Escapes the Manhunter
4 Secret Files
2 All Too Easy

Obviously with this deck being used in our local GA events I was able to put in better search than in Big Spooky’s original. With the reduction in Bounty Hunts and Criminal Masterminds I was able to find more Combat Pumps. The Best addition to the deck however were the Infernal Minions. Hidden if played on turn 1, visible any other turn to facilitate the enlargement of key cards such as Silver Sable. Scarecrow, Psycho Psychologist is a great addition on turn 5 when you have the initaitive in comparison to Circe. His ability to both burn and attack is incredible. Also with the addition of Lex at the three slot as a back up option, the deck can play out as a more traditional IG Handfill deck if needs be. I mean you don’t wan’t 2 Criminal Masterminds in play if your opponent can just play all the additional cards, otherwise it’s like putting out fire with gasoline.

The deck is fun to play, frustrating for opponents to play against and can adapt well according to your opponents deck type. Rush can prove problematic but not unbeatable.

All in all though I have no qualms about blatantly plagiarising this deck.