So, we have our new modern age.
In this, the current modern age we will have 25 different army characters. So, with the influx of army in this set, does army stand a chance in modern?
Lets take a look at our options shall we?
DWF
Gotham Central S.W.A.T, Army
The Newsboy Legion, Army
MVL + MAA
Multiple Man, Army * MadroX
Doom-Bot, Army
Doom-Bot II, Army
Pacifier Robot, Army
Swarm Bots, Army
Ultron, Army
Shi’ar Soldier, Army
Random Punks, Army
The Infinites, Army
DCL
Novice Assassins, Army
Sea Creatures, Army
Shadow Assassin, Army
MUN
Cape-Killers Unit, Army * Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D
S.H.I.E.L.D Agents, Army * Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D
Sentinel Squad O*N*E, Army
A.I.M Agents, Army * A.I.M
The Hand, Army * HYDRA
HYDRA Recruit, Army * Hydra
MODOC Squad, Army * A.I.M
The Centurians, Army
Currs, Army
Seekers, Army
Atlantean Warriors, Army
Hmm. What’s wrong with this picture? Other than only a few of those are actually seeing play at the moment. Or, is this picture the best you’ve seen in years?
11 Army characters from MUN alone. This means that almost half of the army characters in the current modern age are coming from MUN. Given that the sets are coming out 6 months at a time, we will hopefully have around 2 years of army glee. This will make for ‘exciting times’ for army lovers such as Rian Fike, Soshi Kenpachi and myself.
So, lets look at the possible army decks that could come out of modern age within the next few months.
The real problem here is the distinct lack of punch. Sure, you could form them up all box like and have some 2/2’s and some 1/1’s. But that is about it. They lack the much wanted range, which means in order for them to attack you have to rely on cards that give them range.
So, what can make them playable?
Smallville is an interesting little card, making them all 2/2’s and the back row ones having of the range.
Sadly, there is no way of finishing the game, because there are other 2/2 one cost army characters which have no extra cards required.
So, if we were to take them just as weenies and not focus quite so much on the army theme, we have the outsiders. Sure the outsiders love army, because they keep their board nice and big. But other than a Kimiyo Hoshi and a few Batman and the Outsiders, there is not a real need for the ‘Army’ in the deck.
So, 50% of DWF through and we are lacking some serious punch.
So, they have a cost of 2. I have a thing about playing army characters with even costs. It is mostly the fact that turn 3 screws you to hell. You need to have drawn another one drop character in order for it to be any good.
They don’t have huge stats, this isn’t good news, but with stats like this, hopefully we will have a #####ing ability to boot. So, the ability. It’s good. Just good. This ability tells you everything you need to know about this character and how to play it. This isn’t an army character that you try to swarm with. This is an army character that you try to just have at the two slot in a curve deck. You will only be able to get 4 of them out by turn 4, and then they don’t have enough attack to team attack their 4, so they can sit and stop damage. You lose your board, but they can soak some damage.
So, will the loss of DWF affect any other aspect of an army deck? Not really. There aren’t any generic draw effects out there that will be missed when this goes silver.
So, DWF isn’t amazing for Army, which means for me, it can only get better.
So, Multiple Mans second appearance in the game. Basics, 2/2 on a one cost army character with no drawback hasn’t been seen for a long while. Not to mention that this time X-Men has finally seen the weenie love that they deserve. In modern, they have some pretty nice effects to go with them.
Tricks. They have the fastball special which is always a surprise, and is always expected at the same time.
Draw, they have Xaviers Institute, which is amazing. In any army deck wielding an army of one drops this will almost garuntee you a card every single turn.
Pump, Battle Tactics is to put it bluntly Insane. One of these allows two of your one drops to quite safely take out their 5. A single turnabout makes 3 drops cry.
Cable, Nathan Summers. Late game, cable wins. He drops onto the table, and barring an early game Total Anarchy, -which would probably lose you the game anyway- burns for lots.
His enormous stats, and his X-Men affiliation could slot him into a number of modern decks namely X-Babies, and Super Troopers.
One very interesting thing to mention is his dual-version. This then allows him access
They’re back, and they’re kickin it more than ever. But can they hold up in modern age? Well, we lose a few cards from the silver deck. Namely Fister Mantastic and Armies of Doom.
So, they can ready Dr. Doom. Thats, quite interesting given the amount of pumps that are available in modern age right now. We have Crackshot and Combat Reflexes to give him bonus’s for the turn, and we have a few ways of boosting his defence while attacking. So, hopefully with a the Diabolical genius getting multiple uses out of your plot twists, you could stomp the crap out of some little guys.
So. Again with the even costs. For a +1/+1 to a Doom character, which is incredibly useful on turn 2 off initiative making himself a 3/4. Other than that he is a little like the Gotham Central, a curve filler. Other than that, I can’t see him seeing that much play.
Finishing Move on a small stick. At 4/3 he is going to be taking some beatings, and he can’t really dish out much damage. With a built in finishing move, for an ability it is a little better than average. It makes your Dr. Doom a lean mean board reducing killing machine. BUT, it shares a drop with the Doom-Bot, which is a problem. Since I think it would be almost always better to double attack than to KO a character. You can get multiple uses out of this over the game where as the Doom Bot is a one shot deal. I think this is a to taste card, where as I would always go with the Doom Bot, I have seen the Pacifier Robot played.
We have seen cards like this before, in the form of Devil’s Due and Apocalypse, where it is pretty much a resource point for a +1/+1 counter. I really like this card, because with the new cards giving army a real chance, you could beef the Diabolical genius to quite terrifying proportions. This is the kind of army card that really benefits from Rogue squadron.
Say you manage to get a full six out by turn 3, when turn 4 rolls around you can make your Dr. Doom a 13/12. Turn 5, an 18/17. In modern they also have a nice amount of Army love. Sacrificial pawns is pretty harsh after one attack and you don’t worry about KOing a swarm bot.
They also play really well with the Doom-Bot, make Doom Big, and swing swing swing.
Ultron is a pretty funky card. He is a 7/7 with flight and range, which is of course not bad. As for a swarm of him, it isn’t really an option. He is a powerhouse in an army curve deck, he isn’t useless after his turn, and he has the ability to pump himself to rediculous proportions. Can you fuel him to victory in the modern environment? Probably not, for the pure reason that he shares a drop with the Diabolical Genius.
This is one hell of a funky card. It’s turn 4, and you have been able to play and keep 4 of them around. You could potentially give someone +16 defence. This is an army card that even though it costs two I don’t mind playing.
You could couple this with the various defence pumps that are available in the modern age. Shrink and Combat Veteran with reinforcement tricks like Burn Rubber and Duty Calls.
Gladiator likes the Soldiers as well, as when he comes in he can easily be a 13/9, even a 14/10. With the defensive capabilities of the Shi’ar Soldier he can quite safely make it into the next turn.
So, an unaffiliated army character. Sigh. Sure, 2/1 range are some nice stats, but with the serious lack of an affiliation, you are going to get some serious beats.
So turn one, and on average you can do them for 4 damage, which is pretty good for turn 1, but baring in mind that your characters are unreinforceable, you are going to take some hefy damage without filling your deck with reinforcement tricks.
You can give them affiliations with a few cards in modern age. The legendary Superhuman Registration Act will give you an affiliation and give you on average an extra card a turn. With the various draw effects you should be able to get a punks on top to recruit without diminishing your hand size.
Rigged Explosives could really help these punks to the top. Sure, you have to get it online EARLY, but in a swarm deck running Random Punks by turn 4, should you have filled every resource point, you will have burned them for 20 damage, just from recruits. With a turn one or two Rigged Explosives, you should be able to do some more serious damage in a few turns later.
People like this card. I don’t. Sure a 4/4 is pretty funky. But they get smaller?
I think these are mediocre at best in an army deck, and are best in a curve Horsemen deck, just to fill the curve, or are pure bait for Freak Out/Breeding Pens.
They could also be pretty awesome in some kind of Superhuman Registration Act though. A deck that just plays the cheapest largest characters.
As for support, one thing that MVL does not have to offer is card draw. The only card that they have is Genosha.
Since some of the army cards could benefit from the Superhuman Registration Act, Construction Site / Research Facility could be rather useful, to get you a card deeper into your deck.
The set also has a few good equipments. The Steel Girder is pretty useful, because if were to underdrop with characters, an auto KO is something I would consider worth it.
Forward assault makes for some interesting attack steps, making your one drop army guys stand a fighting chance agaisnt a character with a much larger cost.
Savage Beatdown. Need I say anything?
New Mutations. Simply fantastic, this card will make your characters into a block reinforcing machine. It will easily allow you to make a giant block with your characters and stand a chance of attacking back. Even if it just gave your characters either flight or range it could be rather useful. I think flight is a little more valuable in your average curve deck, but in a swarm deck range is where it is at. Not as aggressive, but can allow you to survive pass turn 4/5 while still dealing some damage out if need be.
Overwhelming Force is good. In army decks? It is really good. It allows to keep a serious amount of board presence, for either attacking with next turn, or protecting characters this turn.
Well, I said it could only get better. It did.
Rian’s little babies. These gezeers are absolutely insane. 3/3 army characters that cost 2 is good, that fact that they can cost one if you have an aquaman in play is pretty funky too.
One downside is the distinct lack of aquaman until turn 4. This can be gotten around with a few cards in Marvel Universe making a character called Aquaman. You could make a 3 drop Aquaman meaning that you can start spamming Sea Creatures out from turn 4 onwards. The problem here is that you not only need draw effects, but you need Carrying the Torch, and an Aquaman in your KO’ed pile. This makes it quite conditional, and less sturdy and more janky. While I am a fan of jank, the complete inability to search for the needed cards is making the deck look less and less possible.
That said, one Common Bond will make them all a 5/3. That is stupidly impressive, making way for some serious beatings.
These little chappies are an obsession of mine. 0/1 with neither flight nor range, to begin with it seems I may not like this. With an ability this powerful, I can’t not like this. 4 one drops can take down most 7 drops with ease. This is pretty darn good, since 4 of your average one drops can only take a 4 drop.
The way I see it is that there are three feasible ways to build this in modern. The first, mono league. This way is the safest as you aren’t relying on a team-up. The problem with this is, is that it lacks punch. The only tricks really involve Demonfang on a duplicate birthing chamber, but thats about it.
Another way this could be built is with S.H.I.E.L.D, using Squirrel Girl and Nick Fury to spam as many out as humanly possible. Maria Hill helps with the hand filling problems of modern and pumps them even more.
They also work pretty nicely with the Teen Titans and Tim Drake. Follow the Leader is pretty ridiculous, boosting them further than they really need to be. Teen Titans Go is amazing for these, as with a few TTG’s and Follow the Leaders you can quite safely clear a board and attack diectly for a LOT of damage.
When I first saw these, I thought they were mildly impressive. The ability to attack directly is always good, but on an army character it is funky. The problem is that you have to devote a lot of energy to exhausting the entire visible board AND swarming.
These do have potential just not in the current modern age, it is too aggressive. These Assassins are not as good as their novice counterparts. I think they could have been a little more competitive should they have only costed one. But for a character that costs one it would have been way too powerful.
Birthing Chamber, if DCL had only one card to give army a chance this is it. The thing that seperates good army jank from bad army jank is the handfill. Wild Vomit had Longshot and Warpaint had Hard-Light Storage Tank.
The problem is that it also gives us some serious hate. Blind Sided will nail your endurance down like nobodies business, and Total Anarchy just down right wrecks you.
So does DCL help or hinder? Help. Even though a few cards can absolutely nail you into the floor, Birthing Chamber is a little too good to pass up.
I like these, they’re pretty darn funky. It’s like a conditional psuedo-press. You have the chance of pressing, but also the chance of failing. But if you manage to press, you get another card.
So, lets talk swarming ability. With a way of revealing the top card of your deck, this has some serious potential. Since between recruits you can activate the Birthing Chamber and go frickin’ nuts.
Having 2/2’s with flight and range that cost 1 or 2, can do some serious damage. With a Common Bond thats 4/2’s which I would call impressive.
The other possibility is that you can gain the resource point and spend it on something else, like a Steel Girder, Twin Firearms, S.H.I.E.L.D Agents or Maria Hill.
S.H.I.E.L.D Agents are awesome. In my eyes, the ability to burn your opponent for 2 endurance outweighs the lack of an attack. So, in a similar fashion to the Random Punks, by turn 4 you can have burned your opponent for 20 endurance without ever needing to attac
k. But unlike random punks, it doesn’t kill you as well.
Maria Hill plays nice with these. Giving them some actual functionality, making them playable. 1/2 with range is respectable for an army character.
The reservist on them is what makes them so good. It gives them access to the Research Facility and Construction Site, since they have reservist it doesn’t matter what you replace into.
Squirrel Girl has never looked so sexy. She is as crucial to any army S.H.I.E.L.D deck as Owen Mercer is to Outsiders, or as Tattooed Man is to Warpaint.
These, I like. I am not sure how they can hold up in modern because, well they cost 5. they don’t have a game breaking ability, but what they do have is the S.H.I.E.L.D Affiliation. And what does S.H.I.E.L.D have? Secret War.
Why is this important? What affiliations can we give these guys. Manhunters, There Is No Escape. So, you could in thoery have 4 of these in play on turn 5. This isn’t an easy deck to build, or play. But it could be worth it. Even if you don’t really like this, his boost can give him three power-ups.
Hmm. 1/1 with range is respectable. Discard ability as well? I like this card, just not really with swarm. Though Crime Lords do have a nice amount of Army love, like Cut off One Head… and Underground Laboratory.
One reason I do like this is Squirrel Girl. Bounce them back, and you can discard them if you need them. Between S.H.I.E.L.D and Crime lords you can have some serious swarm capabilities.
But to be perfectly honest I am thinking that the A.I.M Agents may be best used in a curve Crime Lords deck. As if you draw one on turn 5, it is not a dead card.
When I saw these, I was for the first time in a long time speechless.
Finally, I had a replacement for the Infernal Minions. By this, I don’t mean the ability but an awesome concealed one cost army character.
Golden age and Random Punks, the mind boggles the possibilities as to what could happen with these. Hellfire Club, Morlocks, X-Men…
In modern age though, I think there are a few ways to build this. Build: the first, Mono Crime Lords. Give a little character reinforcement, and go frickin nuts with the reinforcement and just defend every attack.
The second way, Is to play Windslow Schott to keep rebuying Cut Off One Head… to keep swarming then smack peoples with Fortress Yashida.
Third way is to build with Gotham Knights and equip a visible character with the Batmobile. Take very little damage, which could be fun.
I think the best way though is the most obvious. X-Men Assemble. Pack your deck full of New King in Towns, draw effects and X-Men Assemble, and Nasty Surprise type effects. I am not sure how this would actually work, but no doubt in a few weeks I will.
The one downside with these is that you have to get them back off the top of your deck. But if you can get some draw effects on the go you should be able to do that, even if not you know what is coming next turn and that you will be able to recruit something.
Urgh.
Standard stats, meh ability. They lack punch, they lack everything. Sure, when it gets stunned you can possibly get another one from your deck. But how much damage can you realistically do with these? Since most of the blanket attack pumps are gone with the X-Men set, and in modern you only really have Forward Assault. Even then, a 4/2 is good, but a lot of work is required.
Cape-Killers are one ATK less, but can cost less so I am inclined to think that these are not for me.
I will try them out though. The one thing that they do work well with is the Hand. HYDRA Recruit becomes stunned and goes past your the Hand, then they have to go through it again, and you have a chance of getting another Recruit. But it is a lot of work, and probably not worth it unless you are a Jank/Army enthusiast like me.
These are interesting. Not sure what for, but I like their effect. It’s really annoying, because I love this ability, but I just wouldn’t know where these can fit in to any decks. It’s almost like Coast City, but not as good, its almost like Batmobile, Burn Rubber but not as good. But it is these on a stick.
The only thing I can think of with these is just in curve crime lords, and I am fairly certain that there are many better choices.
When I first saw these, I thought they were awesome. Then I thought about it, and I thought they sucked. Then I thought about it, and I thought they rocked. Then I thought about it, and I thought they sucked. I am fairly certain you can see where this is going.
Lets be realistic. You can play three of these by turn 6, and you have 3 extra reso
urces to spend between these turns. What can you spend them on? Currs? I’ll get to these later. So that leaves us with equipments. What can we equip these bad boys with? Twin Firearms is pretty good, but what really shines is the Steel Girder. Turn 5, your initiative, they can lose 2 characters so long as you form correctly.
These also work really well with the Seat of Annihilation, because you are going to be having less stunned characters for the most part.
Finally. A free army character that I like. Free.
Turn 5 is when you can start playing with these, and boy it’s the most interesting playtime you’ve ever had. You can pretty much get a free character per card in your hand.
So then. The question is, what do want them for? To attack is my best guess, but I am really liking them for the Negative Zone, Gateway. To make sure that you can get everybody.
Sleeper Cells is a pretty neat card, but is it too pricy? Three cards, and three exhaust to ready a Centurian or Annihilus. Or maybe even a Punisher if you can get him online by turn 4.
It costs 3. It almost draws you a card when it comes into play. So, I like it. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to draw cards, it is my favourite thing ever.
But it lacks punch, along with quite a few characters in this set. The Doom-Bot readies Doom, the Pacifier Robot KO’s stunned characters and the MODOC Squad is Coast City on a stick. Drawing a card, not quite the same.
This is awesome. They can be recruited from the KO’d pile which means you really don’t need that much handfill, as birthing chamber works in your favour both ways.
A Concealed 3/2 with range that you never need in your hand?
Can I get a “hell yeah”? Can I get a “what the hell”? I love this card. But, it costs two. Which I can get over. But it only has the Atlantis Affiliation, so I will struggle to fill the resource points, especially since the awesome equipments in modern don’t have concealed-optional. So a team-up is going to be needed in order to fill your resource points, otherwise you are just pissing them away.
MUN has the biggest amount of army support in modern age. Some actual army love and some general awesomeness.
Alias Investigations works pretty darn well with army, especially the Superhuman Registration Act/Losing the Argument, as it guarantees at least one card drawn. It also works pretty awesomely with The Hand, as you know what is coming next.
Agents of H.A.T.E loves the army characters, as guess what? They all got that army version. Novice assassins on a stick. This makes even the S.H.I.E.L.D Agents playable and able to actually attack, or the Novice Assassins go even further up the curve.
Annihilating Conquest can get you a mini Quicksilver/ Nightcrawler on a stick, and can let the Novice Assassins kick more arse than Chuck Norris. Three of these in one turn can clear up, if only there was a reliable way of making people unstunnable.
Invasion Plans is a fair trade. A one shot exhaust for a 2 cards, a reusable exhaust to draw usually gets you one card. So an Ego Gem usually gets you about 4 cards a game, because sometimes you just need to attack. Since we don’t actually have the ego gem in modern anymore, 
can Invasion Plans take its place? I think it could. Even though it is restricted to your attack step, two cards could be worth it.
Losing the Argument is pretty amazing. I love this card, because while it may not net you a card. What it does is get let you mildly rearrange your hand, and get things in advance.
Rogue Squadron is pretty amazing. While it doesn’t actually get you any cards, it does make sure you don’t draw multiples of team-ups, locations and non-army characters. It ensures you will have something to play next turn.
Superhuman Registration Act is amazing, and I don’t think I need to say anything about it.
Trouble With Dinosaurs. Who doesn’t want a massive defence pump? Not amazing, but could be pretty game breaking should you be able to brickwall an attack.
Uncertain Legacy, amazing. Rogue Squadron puts them back into your deck, then Uncertain Legacy shuffles them back in. It acts as a free card draw that guarantees you get what you want.
Underground Movement, because hiding characters is fun.
Then again, it also has a few cards that kills army decks as well. The Stamford Incident and the Raft are pretty devastating for you, for relatively obvious reasons.
So, let’s review. I think that as support goes this is a pretty good modern age, with plenty of draw effects and free handfill. Enough I think to sustain the needed draw to support an army deck.
There are also some pretty vicious army characters in modern like the Novice Assassins, the Hand, S.H.I.E.L.D Agents and Currs. Do they have enough to win in the current modern meta?
I’ll let you figure that out for yourselves.
