[{"text":"Hi, friends! LRock here, and I wanted to put the spotlight on one of my favorite teams today. I\u2019ve been playing this team off and on since the Spring 2018 season when I started playing cube, and while it has its shares of highs and lows, it can truly be an effective team with the proper table positioning. It\u2019s certainly one of the most combo-heavy shells that I\u2019ve ever played, and with proper deck construction, your deck is going to have some seriously explosive turns. So, without further ado, I\u2019d like to introduce you all to\u2026"},{"header":"THE BIRDS"},{"double":[{"src":"red771882red-robi.jpeg"},{"src":"rob655330robin-mc.jpeg"}]},{"text":"So, there are a couple of things to note. First, obviously, this shell is only 4 points, which gives us an additional 2 points to work with. No problems at all there. Part of what I\u2019ll be discussing is how flexible this unit can be, and how it can become very DIY in the right hands, and you\u2019ll be able to fill that 2 points however you like. Second, the synergy is extremely obvious: make sure your deck has Heroes and Equipment (roughly a 1.5-to-1 ratio) and you\u2019re off to the races! A quick word of mourning: prior to July 2018, Trickster was the definitive third character of this team due to his ability to leave an Equipment in your discard pile to use with Red Robin whenever you could utilize your ability. It was quite efficient, not to mention the fact that it would reduce the number of Equipment that your deck needed to function, but sadly, that\u2019s in the past. Trickster was relegated to 3-point status due to the brokenness of Teamwork, so let\u2019s take this quick moment and press F to pay our respects.&nbsp;"},{"image":[{"src":"4-p7109494.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"With that out of the way, I\u2019ll be primarily discussing the third character on the team that was slotted into Trickster\u2019s place once the change went into effect. As it turns out, this MC performed beyond expectations while also adding some synergies of her own that I wasn\u2019t even aware existed. Shoutouts to Crossover 3 for giving us more busted mechanics that start with the letter &#34;T,&#34; because we\u2019re going to Time Travel our brains out thanks to the one and only\u2026 Saturn Girl!"},{"image":[{"src":"sat637683saturn-g.jpeg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Ta-daaaaaaaaaa! This character has added quite a bit to this team in Trickster\u2019s absence, and provided some new tricks (ha-ha) to boot. With this character at the helm, you can obtain the full value of your collective abilities by only having one Hero in your hand to play, along with one Equipment in either your hand or discard pile and a Hero in the lineup. For a good turn, you\u2019ll need to run the sequence as follows: -Play a Hero to start your turn, which triggers Saturn Girl to give Time Travel to a card of 4 or less in the lineup (preferably another Hero or an Equipment). -If you\u2019re able to grant Time Travel to a Hero in the lineup and you have an Equipment in your discard pile, you may discard the worst card in your hand to play the Hero from the lineup, then use Red Robin\u2019s ability to return the Equipment to your hand and get a free +1 Power. You may then play the Equipment to use Robin TTG\u2019s ability to get a free +1 Power and draw a card. -If you\u2019re able to grant Time Travel to a Hero in the lineup and your discard pile is empty and you have an Equipment in your hand, you may discard the Equipment to play the Hero from the lineup, then use Red Robin\u2019s ability to return the Equipment to your hand and get a free +1 Power. You may then play the Equipment to use Robin TTG\u2019s ability to get a free +1 Power and draw a card. -If you\u2019re able to grant Time Travel to a Hero in the lineup and your discard pile is empty and there is an Equipment in the lineup that you would like to purchase, you may discard the worst card in your hand to play the Hero from the lineup, buy the Equipment, then use Red Robin\u2019s ability to return the Equipment to your hand and get a free +1 Power. You may then play the Equipment to use Robin TTG\u2019s ability to get a free +1 Power and draw a card. -If you\u2019re able to grant Time Travel to an Equipment in the lineup, you may discard the worst card in your hand to play the Equipment from the lineup, then use Robin TTG\u2019s ability to get a free +1 Power and draw a card, hoping that it\u2019s a Hero to cause more shenanigans with Red Robin. -If you must grant Time Travel to a non-Equipment non-Hero card in the lineup, that\u2019s fine as well! Just trade out your worst card and play that Super Power or Villain that\u2019s likely better than a Vulnerability or Punch! Easy, right? Nothing to it. Actually\u2026 that\u2019s not entirely true, since there\u2019s quite a bit to it. This team is incredibly effective with the proper building exercises and incredibly fun to boot, but it can be difficult to play prior to becoming adjusted to it. The part that players (myself included) tend to forget the most is that a Hero card must be played as the first card from your hand each turn, so make sure that you\u2019re buying Heroes that you always plan to play as the first card of your turn to get maximum efficiency. "},{"header":"KEY CARDS"},{"text":"I\u2019ll be splitting these into specific sections to demonstrate what synergizes or categorizes best\u2026"},{"double":[{"src":"anc85722ancient-.jpg"},{"src":"aqu394664aqualad-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"bum457251bumblebe.jpeg"},{"src":"det832604detonato.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"gar356819garfield.jpeg"},{"src":"gyp92982gypsy-.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Since 2\/3 of your respective abilities look at cards you control and not cards that you\u2019ve played during a given turn, having Ongoing cards that match those types is going to give the team a rather large boost. Leaving a card like Bumblebee or Aqualad in play is going to ensure that you\u2019re always able to use Red Robin\u2019s ability even if you\u2019ve only played one other Hero during that turn, and it\u2019s especially crazy if you managed to get two copies. Gypsy adds even more spice by giving you another card draw engine that can rotate off cards that your deck should already be playing; and Garfield Logan adds an extra bit of sauce by allowing you to turn any one card you play into a Hero or an Equipment to act as a Swiss Army knife of turning on your abilities, or you can also discard any card as an Equipment to be returned later with Red Robin!&nbsp; In addition, Ancient Map provides an Equipment in play for Robin TTG\u2019s ability with additional discard pile manipulation for Red Robin, and Detonator provides double value by allowing the use of Robin TTG\u2019s ability off of a single Hero play, and it can be an Equipment to return with Red Robin\u2019s ability once you\u2019ve used it; the sequence goes: Detonator in play, play a Hero, use Robin TTG\u2019s ability, pop Detonator to destroy a card, play a second Hero, return Detonator with Red Robin\u2019s ability for tons of destruction! Also, don\u2019t forget that you can Time Travel any of the self-discarding Ongoing cards THEN use them to add them to your discard pile and essentially cheat your way to free Victory Points!"},{"double":[{"src":"cri347399crimson-.jpeg"},{"src":"dar522693dark-kni.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"dr-217604dr-mid-n.jpeg"},{"src":"him675784himon-ng.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"new55938new-gene.jpeg"},{"src":"tim438975tim-drak.jpeg"}]},{"text":"These cards all serve one primary purpose: ensuring that there will be Equipment in your discard pile while also making your deck better. Not much needs to be said about Dark Knight, Himon, or Tim Drake as those are inherently broken cards that allow you to VP farm. Crimson Whirlwind fills your discard pile with exactly what you want every time you play it, and Dr. Mid-nite allows for a reduced version of the same effect while also being a great card that you will be a lot more likely to buy on turn 1 or 2 due to the cost. New Genesis is one of the best locations this team will have access to since it\u2019s either drawing Heroes or putting Equipment in the yard for recursive purposes. Do your best to snag these cards if you see them!"},{"double":[{"src":"air250852air-walk.jpeg"},{"src":"boo238465boom-tub.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"nig59862nightwin.jpeg"},{"src":"nth287407nth-meta.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"pla467464plastic-.jpeg"},{"src":"rob232766robin-3-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"the534823the-bat-.jpeg"},{"src":"won702163wonder-o.jpeg"}]},{"text":"These are going to be your primary combo cards if obtained, and some of them may even appear in multiples. It\u2019s hard to go wrong with the classic Robin\/Bat-Signal synergy, and these cards will only help to push it. I included Nightwing and Nth Metal Mace due to having redundant effects for your deck that play off each other as well as the rest of the cards that you should be buying, but the rest is just more recursion, and Boom Tube is extra useful due to the allowance of returning Super-Villains that you may have already defeated!"},{"double":[{"src":"hol199106hollis-m.jpeg"},{"src":"ind9152indigo-t.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"pan951356pandora-.jpeg"},{"src":"son494549sonic-si.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"the409771the-owls.jpeg"},{"src":"wor946867worlds-m.jpeg"}]},{"text":"The power of lineup manipulation should not be ignored with this team, even if it doesn\u2019t occur very often. A card like Sonic Siren (or the currently banned-in-tournaments Forager) is self-explanatory: destroy a card in the lineup that doesn\u2019t help you (like a big Super Power to grief Roy\/Oliver players, or a Location to do the same to Swamp Thing) and hope to replace it with something you can Time Travel. Hollis Mason and Owlship have the same effect in bigger numbers, though only Hollis helps with the Time Travel aspect immediately. World\u2019s Mightiest Mortal, Pandora, and Starman can provide additional options right away, and Indigo Tribe has a unique effect of turning all Villains into Heroes thereby giving you better Time Travel options, such as allowing a Killer Croc or Deadshot that\u2019s sitting in the lineup to help feed Red Robin\u2019s ability for the turn!"},{"double":[{"src":"blu141829blue-lan.jpeg"},{"src":"cro991541crown-of.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"hig600936high-tec.jpeg"},{"src":"kyl407825kyle-ray.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"t-c11439t-car-tt.jpeg"},{"src":"ya-585105ya-wara-.jpeg"}]},{"text":"These are going to be your big Power generators, whether cheap and efficient (High-Tech Hero and Ya\u2019Wara) or flat-out game-ending (Blue Lantern Power Ring and Kyle Rayner). If you\u2019re going the route of defeating all the Super-Villains, these are the cards that are going to help you get there the most. Honorable mentions also go to Cassie Sandsmark and Speedy, though I didn\u2019t include them due to their inefficiency of being the first cards played and unfortunately being Heroes; Cybernetic Enhancement also deserves a mention, though that one\u2019s not going to help much if Ongoing cards don\u2019t appear."},{"double":[{"src":"dic303851dick-gra.jpeg"},{"src":"gre44794green-ar.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"t-w636379t-wing-6.jpeg"},{"src":"uti244768utility-.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Not much to say here. You\u2019ll never want to turn down cheap VP cards that can be worth as much as a Super-Villain. Dick Grayson is a bit more configuration-specific than most due to Ongoing cards not always being available, but T-Wing is always going to be worth a few points, and you can build around it with ease. Honorable mentions go to Moira Queen, the 5-cost Power Rings, and Phantom Stranger as well."},{"double":[{"src":"ele696645element-.jpeg"},{"src":"sha872187shapeshi.jpeg"}]},{"text":"I\u2019d be remiss if I forgot to specifically include these two cards. Since you\u2019re a committed type-specific team (two types, no less), these cards are going to fuel whatever you need always. What\u2019s even better is that each card counts as all types, so they\u2019ll trigger Robin TTG\u2019s ability without any additional assistance required. Don\u2019t let these slip through your fingers!"},{"header":"POSSIBLE SUBSTITUTIONS"},{"text":"Now, while I did want to put focus on a large portion of this article towards Saturn Girl\u2019s contributions, there are other possible teams if it\u2019s either a better fit for your style, you\u2019re feeling experimental, or in the unlikely event that one of your team members gets cut. Let\u2019s have a look at a few options\u2026"},{"double":[{"src":"bla298191black-ma.jpeg"},{"src":"fel697984felicity.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"kat826569katana-m.jpeg"},{"src":"ora171968oracle-m.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"sil506605silk-spe.jpeg"},{"src":"sta317346star-sap.jpeg"}]},{"text":"If you\u2019re looking to cut Saturn Girl and flesh out the team with a couple of 1-point characters, any of these would be a good place to start. Oracle and Felicity has seen play on some fringe multiple-character teams and it\u2019s hard to go wrong with them as long as you\u2019re able to play blue Hero cards. Silk Spectre and\/or Star Sapphire might also be worth considering since they can flesh out your draws as well as allow you to bin Equipment for Red Robin's ability, which means Spectre is the more likely inclusion if you\u2019re trying to fire off that particular ability to begin with. Black Manta might be worthwhile if you\u2019re trying to speed up your deck a bit, and Katana could be worth considering if you\u2019d rather go an Equipment-heavy route."},{"image":[{"src":"blu987894blue-bee.jpeg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Any turn where you can use both of your Robin abilities is essentially guaranteeing you 7 cards, so Blue Beetle could be worth considering. This build puts more emphasis on obtaining Ongoing cards to help fuel the additional draw engine that Blue Beetle provides, so this is certainly more of a playstyle choice."},{"image":[{"src":"cos162473cosmic-b.jpeg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"The yang to Saturn Girl\u2019s yin. While Cosmic Boy doesn\u2019t provide quite as much flexibility as his Hero-based counterpart, he does provide an additional boost in power by allowing you to Time Travel any 5-cost card in the lineup rather than being limited to 4 and under. This can provide some great turns of playing an Equipment into a 5-cost Hero out of the lineup to trigger Robin TTG\u2019s ability, but Red Robin generally won\u2019t benefit from it unless you have an explosive turn. It might even be considerable to just swap out Red Robin altogether for Cosmic Boy and run that as a team instead, as Saturn Girl truly only excels at helping Red Robin to begin with."},{"image":[{"src":"nig299955nightwin.jpeg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"Personally, if I were planned to end up with a more Equipment-heavy build, this is where I would want to end up. Some games won\u2019t provide the number of Heroes that you need, so Nightwing can make a great insurance policy if excessive blue cards aren\u2019t really your thing and you\u2019d rather have more gear to work with. It\u2019s also a flavor play since your team now consists entirely of Robins!"},{"image":[{"src":"sai430856saint-wa.jpeg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"For those that prefer easy destruction, Saint Walker can also be a good call. You\u2019re already pushing for a high number of blue cards, so you might as well benefit from them. Your turns won\u2019t be as explosive quite as often as they are with Saturn Girl, but trading out that kind of power for better consistency could play to the strengths and desires of some players. Honorable mentions include: Wonder Girl, Nightwing (Crisis 4), The Flash (Crisis 4), Starfire (Teen Titans), Chameleon Boy, Beast Boy (Teen Titans)."},{"image":[{"src":"3-p1693163.png"},{"caption":""}]},{"header":"CLOSING THOUGHTS"},{"text":"That\u2019s going to do it for yours truly today. I honestly didn\u2019t expect to go that in-depth for this team, but I guess I\u2019ve just enjoyed playing them that much. I don\u2019t blame anyone for not wanting to try this team in an upcoming tournament, like This Weekend in Waco, but if you\u2019re playing for fun, this team is worth a spin, though I would advise not trying to draft it unless you\u2019re playing early or first as it can be cut easily, especially at a 4-player table that features minimal teams that are type-committed. You won\u2019t know unless you try, right? Until next time, this has been LRock, and remember\u2026 keep watching the skies! "}]