[{"text":"Hello everyone! My name is Stango. I\u2019m a competitive Smash Bros. Melee player and a enthusiastic DCDB player! I play most frequently on Discord through Tabletop Simulator. You can join our online community here (https:\/\/discord.gg\/E7ZNeZP)! It\u2019s a ton of fun and right now its the best place to get practice and have fun with the Cube in my opinion! Today I'm here to talk to you about a Main Character combination that is the hivemind creation of myself and Atmoz. The primary function of this combination is derived of building a deck that focuses on Defense cards and cards that force you to discard from hand. Today I will show you some strategies you can do with this combination that I have developed through my experiences of playing this team extensively. The two main objectives that I can clearly say that you need to focus on first and foremost is:&nbsp;"},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Buy or gain defense cards from lineup."},{"caption":"This combination is very trigger happy, you will be doing its effects quite frequently so you need to make sure that you are getting all of your activations and not missing any queues. The result of this will cause you to lose power and potential drawing."}]},{"text":"Now let's get to it by meeting each Character!"},{"header":"deadshot"},{"image":[{"src":"dea300887deadshot.jpg"},{"caption":"Floyd Lawton, also known as Deadshot, is the &#34;man who never misses&#34;"}]},{"text":"Deadshot is a tier 2 main character, his ability reads as: Once during each player's turn, if any player discards one or more cards, you may put a card with cost 5 or less from your discard pile on top of your deck. Deadshot is the star of this combo and you\u2019ll see why in a minute, but first let's introduce the rest of the team!"},{"header":"booster gold"},{"image":[{"src":"boo711309booster-.jpg"},{"caption":"Michael Jon Carter, also known as Booster Gold"}]},{"text":"Booster Gold is a tier 2 main character, his ability reads as: +1 power for each Defense card you play during your turn. When you avoid an Attack, draw a card. Very simple to follow, now for our last partner in crime!"},{"header":"stargirl"},{"image":[{"src":"sta834754stargirl.jpg"},{"caption":"&#34;I have one memory I would love to forget. But will not forget. It is the reason... I... will not... give... UP!&#34; Courtney Whitmore AKA. Stargirl"}]},{"text":"Stargirl is a tier 2 main character, her ability reads as: When you play a Defense card during your turn or avoid an Attack, you may draw a card and then discard a card. Also a very simple effect.&nbsp; Now that we know what each of these MCs do, allow me to explain how they work topgether.&nbsp; Let\u2019s do a very simple scenario, Let\u2019s say a few turns have gone by and this is my current hand.&nbsp;"},{"image":[{"src":"vul696250vulnerab.jpg"},{"caption":"Vulnerability, 3x Punches & Katana"}]},{"text":"Lets say it\u2019s my opponent's turn and\u2026 they just attacked me with Bane:"},{"image":[{"src":"ban263974bane-4.jpg"},{"caption":"OH NO!! Whatever shall I do!"}]},{"text":"Well good thing we have a defense in our hand. The bad thing is that I\u2019m playing Booster Gold and therefore I want Katana in my hand for the additional power.&nbsp; On the other hand I also want to draw through my deck quickly.&nbsp;&nbsp;If only there was a way to Defend this Attack and get the benefit of drawing some cards, all while keeping Katana in my hand...oh wait, maybe there is! Let's go through this step by step and I'll show you how to play this situation perfectly. "},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Step 1: We defend the attack with Katana (Don\u2019t worry she\u2019ll be back). We resolve her Defense ability fully, so we discard her then draw a card."},{"caption":"Deadshot triggers! Booster Gold triggers! Stargirl triggers!"},{"caption":"Since all of your characters triggered at the same time, you can choose the order in which you resolve them. I\u2019ll show you the best order for this."},{"caption":"Step 2: Resolve Deadshot, and put that 5 or less cost defense you just defended with (in this case, Katana), back on top of your deck."},{"caption":"Step 3: Resolve Booster Gold\u2019s effect to draw that card you just placed on top of your deck (the Katana)."},{"caption":"Step 4: Resolve Stargirl to draw and then discard...let's trade that pesky Vulnerability for another card!"}]},{"text":"By Defending an Attack, I was able to cycle a card (meaning draw and then discard) and put the Defense I just used back into my hand either to Defend another Attack with, or I can use it for additional power from Booster Gold and deck cycling with Stargirl on my next turn. That's a lot of triggers, and that can only mean one thing: we are well on our way to winning this game! Now I would like to take time to talk about Deadshot, and how he might be a high value pick against one the strongest MCs in the game right now. "},{"sbs":[{"src":"cap995512capture1.png"},{"caption":"As we saw in Atmoz\u2019s article recently (http:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/x.php?id=10804), the change to the tiers and teamwork have opened a path for new MC combos to be formed and made viable. As he described in his article, Harley Quinn has the potential to be one of, if not the strongest, MCs in the game right now. With the combo I just mentioned, I would argue that Deadshot is a very strong counter to Harley Quinn (if you suspect she will be picked), because he benefits off her MC 'discard' combo as well. Although he doesn't prevent her ability from resolving, he does punish the usage of her. Let's take a look at how this can happen.<div> <\/div>"}]},{"sbs":[{"src":"cap33865capture3.png"},{"caption":"Harley players have to determine if it\u2019s worth it for themselves to allow you to stack your deck with your best cards. I see strong potential for Deadshot to be selected at future tournaments if you are against a player that predominately drafts Harley.&nbsp; She will most certainly be a mainstay character in the current meta and this is the price she will have to pay if she decides to compete.&nbsp;"}]},{"text":"Now let\u2019s talk about this combo\u2019s strongest cards.&nbsp; I\u2019ve compiled a list of cards that I feel are definitely worth taking a look at: "},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Draw two Defense cards (Cape and Cowl, etc)"},{"caption":"Reveal Defense cards (Jay Garrick, etc)"},{"caption":"Ongoing Defenses (Mogo, etc)"},{"caption":"Return X card(s) back to your hand (retrieval style) cards"}]},{"double":[{"src":"the708995the-cape.jpg"},{"src":"jay280515jay-garr.jpg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"mog332157mogo.jpg"},{"src":"pow374947power-of.jpg"}]},{"text":"Another style of card to pick up when you can is any card that will trigger Deadshot, either by having you discard, or by your opponents discarding.&nbsp; A few are... "},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Per Degaton"},{"caption":"Attacks that make a player Discard (Sniper Rifle, Power Drain, etc.) "}]},{"double":[{"src":"per318884per-dega.jpg"},{"src":"sni52583sniper-r.jpg"}]},{"text":"Now let's look at some of the strengths and weaknesses of this team."},{"header":"Strengths"},{"image":[{"src":"sup823919super-st.jpg"},{"caption":"This team is strong!"}]},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"You can literally cycle through your deck almost every turn with enough Defenses"},{"caption":"One of the few MC combos that can control your deck and what cards you will draw by constantly putting cards back on top of it"},{"caption":"You receive a huge benefit if you Defend an Attack, especially if that Attack comes from another player. Attacks are quite common, and almost guaranteed from the Super Villain stack, so a Defense strategy can be quite good"}]},{"header":"weaknesses"},{"image":[{"src":"wea695406weakness.jpg"},{"caption":"We have just a few"}]},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Can occasionally be blocked out of Defenses in the Line Up by some players aggressively buying them no matter what combo they are playing"},{"caption":"Can give teamwork strategies a decent card if they hit your top card after stacking your deck with Deadshot. (With the recent rules change this is almost neglible and you should never skip a Deadshot trigger just to try and avoid this.)"},{"caption":"Relies on a certain sequencing to occur, for example: If you Defend an Attack when you have no deck to draw from you won\u2019t be able to &#34;top deck&#34; that defense since it will be shuffled into your deck before you can resolve Deadshot"}]},{"text":"I'd like to take time to thank everyone for reading, and give a shout out to the DC Cube discord group (https:\/\/discord.gg\/E7ZNeZP), and a shout out to everyone over at https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com for inviting me to write an article. If you have any questions or wanna discuss this strategy with me more indepth you can catch me looking for a game over on discord or on twitter at: @StangoSSBMr"}]