[{"text":"Hello everyone! My name is Lenny, but the majority of you on the DCDB discord know me as LRock. I\u2019ve been given the opportunity to contribute to the DCDB website. In this article, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite new MCs from Crisis 4. He\u2019s capable, he\u2019s versatile, and most importantly\u2026 he\u2019s fast!"},{"image":[{"src":"the904955the-flas.jpeg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Here we have the Flash (the Wally West version, for those that care about that sort of thing). Through all of the testing I\u2019ve done with this character, he\u2019s quickly (heh) becoming one of my favorite MCs. His versatility is unmatched outside of any other Tier 2 that isn\u2019t named Aquaman. First things first, let\u2019s have a look at that ability:"},{"image":[{"src":"abs505858absd.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Wow, free ramp! For those of you that haven\u2019t played a lot of deck building games in the past, ramp\/cost reduction is fantastic, and the best part with Flash is that you can technically get it on ANY card that isn\u2019t a Kick or a Super Hero\/Super Villain. You also get to play one turn ahead of the person to your immediate left since you get to see the top card of the main deck before they do. Combined together, and with a little bit of luck, these can create a lot of options, even for the dreaded 5 Punch\/2 Punch openers. Of course, an ability this powerful does come with a slight downside, or else he wouldn\u2019t be a Tier 2: in order to be able to flesh your deck out the way you want, Flash does require a decent amount of solid-to-good variance for the player. The upside of this is that he\u2019s going to add quite a bit of extra punch to teams that already expect a fair degree of variance, from a few Tier 4 choices to a solid 3-character lineup consisting of various 3-2-1 and 2-2-2 configurations, and maybe even some 2-2-1-1 selections! Let\u2019s go over a few teams that I\u2019ve worked with recently, broken down by point counts:"},{"header":"DONNA TROY (2) + THE FLASH (2) + THE COMEDIAN (2)"},{"double":[{"src":"don187839donna-tr.jpeg"},{"src":"the314422the-flas.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"the781792the-come.jpeg"},{"src":"car728893card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"All of the ramp! This team is a bit direct, to say the least. There are only a few specific types of cards that they want to have over the course of the mid-to-long game, but the best part is that flipping them off the top of the main deck grants you extra cost reduction for Defenses and Attacks. In the case of Donna Troy, Defenses are definitely the tougher sell here since they\u2019re always at such a premium due to Super Villains doing what they do, but getting to see potential Defense cards in the lineup a turn before your opponents do is huge. Seriously, don\u2019t act like you wouldn\u2019t be super stoked to get to pay 4 Power for a Blue Beetle or World\u2019s Greatest Detective! Getting Attacks on the cheap, however, is never going to be a bad thing, and in some cases, it isn\u2019t even difficult since a lot of people don\u2019t want cheaper attacks like Harley Quinn or Dr. Light from Forever Evil. But imagine flipping something like Scarecrow or Psycho Pirate and paying only 3 Power for it? Amazing! The best part is that most of them are Villains which means you get extra draw power from the Comedian as well!"},{"header":"CARDS TO WATCH FOR"},{"text":"Cards you especially want to be on the lookout for are super cheap Attacks and Defenses like these. If you Flash them into the lineup, they\u2019re free cards to purchase! What a deal!"},{"double":[{"src":"kat790679katana-.jpeg"},{"src":"vig455676vigilant.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"dea179733deadshot.jpeg"},{"src":"kil213231killer-m.jpeg"}]},{"text":"This team could also work well by going in one specific direction rather than going ramp heavy. If you want to keep Donna, consider swapping out Comedian for Booster Gold or Stargirl; if you\u2019re feeling Comedian, try swapping out Donna for Lightning Lad or The Joker."},{"header":"ANIMAL MAN (3) + THE FLASH (2) + BLACK MANTA (1)"},{"double":[{"src":"ani346755animal-m.jpeg"},{"src":"the264956the-flas.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"bla590314black-ma.jpeg"},{"src":"car484560card-bac.jpg"}]},{"header":"CHEETAH (3) + THE FLASH (2) + BLACK MANTA (1)"},{"double":[{"src":"che899491cheetah-.jpeg"},{"src":"the577444the-flas.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"bla348749black-ma.jpeg"},{"src":"car794485card-bac.jpg"}]},{"header":"INDIGO-1 (3) + THE FLASH (2) + BLACK MANTA (1)"},{"double":[{"src":"ind793598indigo-1.jpeg"},{"src":"the600155the-flas.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"bla43211black-ma.jpeg"},{"src":"car714213card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"For all intents and purposes, Flash\/Black Manta has been my favorite shell thus far this season, and picking your favorite 3-point MC is essentially just like picking your favorite color. They all seem to be pretty great for all intents and purposes, and these are just three examples that I\u2019ve listed. Animal Man provides the strongest early game since your turn 3 is going to be amazing as long as you buy cards from the lineup; Cheetah allows you to ramp into double purchases and start destroying your Starters quickly; and Indigo-1 incentivizes Hero and Villain purchases, but also provides more of a mid-to-late game boost than Animal Man likely would. With these teams, essentially what you\u2019re looking to do is buy a card from the lineup every turn (or in Cheetah\u2019s case, two cards or one plus a Kick) until you\u2019re ready to start beating Super Villains unless you pick up an excellent farming tool like Metron or T-Wing\u2026 but more likely, you\u2019re going to want to just start attacking Super Villains. Flash always ensures that there\u2019s an extra card in the lineup for you AND it will be cheaper, and Black Manta is the best incentive available to buy cards from the lineup since he speeds up your deck, so it\u2019s a match made in harmony!"},{"header":"DOCTOR FATE (4) + THE FLASH (2)"},{"double":[{"src":"doc380895doctor-f.jpeg"},{"src":"the521107the-flas.jpeg"}]},{"header":"GREEN LANTERN (4) + THE FLASH (2)"},{"double":[{"src":"gre897991green-la.jpeg"},{"src":"the282753the-flas.jpeg"}]},{"header":"WILDCAT (4) + THE FLASH (2)"},{"double":[{"src":"wil245660wildcat-.jpeg"},{"src":"the212262the-flas.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Similar to the 3-2-1 teams that have their own configurations, Flash also pairs well with a number of 4s. It just comes down to what your personal preference is. Doctor Fate is probably the most powerful of the three choices here, since there\u2019s no cap to his ability, and Flash adds a decent amount of incentive to buying multiple cards in a turn (example turn: with a 4-Punch hand, flipping a 2-cost into the lineup allows you to buy it for 1 along with a Kick or other 3 cost and you suddenly have two cards that trigger Fate that you successfully ramped to). Similarly, Lantern\u2019s biggest downside has always been a clogged lineup that forces him to purchase Kicks, but that\u2019s rarely a problem if he\u2019s paired with Flash, and your mid-to-late game becomes incredibly powerful with an extra 3 power every two out of three turns or so (just need to get rid of those pesky Starters). Wildcat is similar to Indigo-1 with the incentive to buy certain card types, but the extra draw power can get you where you want to be for effectively no extra cost, and cheap Heroes and Villains are just as good for your ability as Solomon Grundy and Indigo Tribe are. "},{"header":"closing thoughts"},{"text":"That\u2019s going to do it for me today! I hope this has been enough persuasion for any number of you to give Wally here an honest attempt the next time you\u2019re flinging cardboard with your friends in casual cube games, and who knows, it might even take down a tournament table or two! Until next time, keep on reading, and we\u2019ll keep on writing! "}]