[{"text":"Picture this: you\u2019ve entered your first competitive DC deck building tournament. What main character combos will you try to play? What combos will you likely play against? The draft process will influence the viability of different combos from round to round, but it\u2019s always good to be prepared by having a few ideas up your sleeve. I\u2019m going to outline what I believe to be the strongest main character combos within the current Ban &amp; Tier format."},{"image":[{"src":"bb-308680bb-as-co.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Beast Boy TTG (4) - Alan Scott (2) Consistency is key for a combo to thrive in a tournament environment.&nbsp; This combo is the epitome of consistency because you won\u2019t need to rely on the line-up or what your opponents are doing.&nbsp; You can live on a steady diet of Kicks if you need to.&nbsp; Beast Boy will activate from each Kick you play, giving you a strong filtering\/digging mechanic to get past your weak cards and to your best cards.&nbsp; While you can live on Kicks alone, Alan Scott will really begin to shine if you are able to pick up non-Kick Super Powers from the line-up.&nbsp; Each unique Super Power you play will allow you to add an extra layer of filtering and give you card advantage on top of what Beast Boy is already doing.&nbsp; If you are able to get going with this combo, there will be turns where you can draw\/filter most\u2500or even all\u2500of your deck (enabling you to play all your best cards while your weak cards end up in your discard pile)."},{"image":[{"src":"bla329553black-ad.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Black Adam (2) - Constantine (2) - Aquaman (2)r Have I mentioned how important consistency is? This combo can also take advantage of a continual flow of Kicks to achieve consistency. These characters have great synergy leading to a repeatable sequence that can be used once during each of your turns to gain card advantage and VP advantage. First, buy a Kick and put it on top of your deck using Aquaman. Then, use Constantine\u2019s ability to play that same Kick with a bonus +1 power. Finally, use Black Adam\u2019s ability to destroy the Kick which allows you to gain a VP and draw a card. After completing this sequence, you will end up with the same power you would have had otherwise, but now you have an extra card and a VP token as well! There are a few key items to remember when playing this combo: you must make the power to buy the Kick (or other Super Power) without playing any Super Powers because Black Adam will only work on your first Super Power played. Also, remember that you cannot buy the Super Villian and from the line-up or Kick stack in the same turn. If you are planning to buy the Super Villian, then you\u2019ll need to skip your in-turn combo sequence. You can read more about this team here:&nbsp; https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10787"},{"image":[{"src":"gg-76300gg-biz-c.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Golden Glider (5) - Bizarro (1) If you\u2019ve seen Golden Glider do her thing, then you won\u2019t need me to tell you how strong she can be at all stages of the game.&nbsp; This is a card game afterall, and it turns out that playing more cards than your opponents do is usually a good thing. The ability to teamwork is intrinsically powerful already and when you add Golden Glider\u2019s greedy draw ability on top of that, you are able to play at least 7 cards on a normal turn (starting turn 1!).&nbsp; Don\u2019t overlook the fact that Glider can be triggered by plenty of main deck cards as well.&nbsp; Bizarro is included for defensive purposes here. Cases can be made for other tier 1 MCs to be included instead, but for my money, Bizarro is worth the assurance that I won\u2019t be using Glider\u2019s ability to draw weaknesses. You can read more about this team here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10711"},{"image":[{"src":"bra103864brainiac.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Brainiac 5 (2) - Trickster (2) - Captain Boomerang (2) When playing this combo, the goal is to use Brainiac\u2019s ability to play a strong card every turn.&nbsp; Trickster and Captain Boomerang are along for the ride to make Brainiac even more efficient.&nbsp; Trickster helps make sure Brainiac has a target and Captain Boomerang mitigates some of the cost by giving you another card to discard.&nbsp; Most of the Brainiac targets found in the main deck are fairly strong and having one on a yo-yo is not to be underestimated.&nbsp; The limiting factor to getting this combo online is initially adding a Brainiac target to your deck.&nbsp; I\u2019ve crunched the number\u2014112 of 664 cards in the main deck are non-ongoing Brainiac targets.&nbsp; That\u2019s about 1 in 6 cards.&nbsp; Given those odds, you are actually very likely to see a good Brainiac target in the first two turns.&nbsp; Because of Captain Boomerang's gifts and Trickster\u2019s teamwork ability, you have over 75% chance of making 5 power by turn 2.&nbsp; Buy the first Brainiac target you can and you\u2019ll have some very early momentum.&nbsp; Even if you aren\u2019t able to get Brainiac going early in the game, you\u2019ll still be building some early game acceleration from your other MCs to keep you on track for success. You can read more about this team here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10715"},{"image":[{"src":"kil122470killer-s.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Killer Frost (4) - King Shark (2) The winner of the 2016 DC Deck Building Invitational piloted this combo every round on his way to victory.&nbsp; Almost two years later it is still at one of the strongest combos to play and, in my opinion, the best &#34;hate&#34; strategy available.&nbsp; After you gain the VP from King Shark, find the best option in the line-up to play with Killer Frost.&nbsp; You will be able to consistently create extra power for yourself while also keeping your opponents from buying key cards from the line-up. You can read more about this team here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=9644 The tournament report can be viewed here: https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=9679 "},{"text":"Honorable Mentions: \u2022 Cyborg (3) - Indigo 1 (3) - Open strategy rewarded for playing multiple types &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;\u2022 https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=9519 \u2022 Sinestro (4) - King Shark (2) - VP farming? Yes. Card Advantage? Yes. Attacks? Yes. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;\u2022 https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=9610 \u2022 Roy Harper (3) - Oliver Queen (3) - Who doesn't like free Super Powers? \u2022 Heatwave (4) Black Adam (2) - A little bit of luck and a lot of VP \u2022 Harley Quinn (3) - Red Lantern Supergirl (3) - Make them rue the day they destroy any card I will be (pleasantly) surprised if\u2500when we see the results for the upcoming Oklahoma tournament\u2500one of the aforementioned combos is not piloted by the winner."}]