[{"text":"With the recent unbanning of Zatanna Zatara 12 from Confrontations, players have been testing out the infamous magician on a variety of teams.&nbsp; I've taken a liking to one of the newest tier-3 MCs and wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with her.&nbsp; First off, let's see what we're working with:"},{"image":[{"src":"zat633750zatanna-.jpg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"She has a straight-forward ability that can be used once per turn (at the time of your choice) that lets you rearrange the top two cards of your deck, or place one or both of them into your discard pile.&nbsp; Her ability is online starting on turn one, and can be quite useful over the course of the game, as I hope to show in this article. A typical first turn might consist of nothing more than milling two Starters with her in order to force a shuffle before your second turn.&nbsp; This makes it so there is a chance you end up drawing the card you purchased on turn one in your second hand.&nbsp; When done over the course of a game she let's often you filter through thirty to fifty cards, making your three tier point investment into her worthy of the price of admission."},{"header":"potential partners"},{"text":"As a starting point for who to pair her with, let's find MCs that synergize well with our discard pile and the top of our deck.&nbsp; We'll disregard the full collection of MCs that simply draw a card (because there are so many and they all tend to do the same thing)."},{"double":[{"src":"ala374640alan-sco.jpeg"},{"src":"ars562519arsenal-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"bat926143batgirl-.jpeg"},{"src":"bat887771batman-m.jpg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"bea76305beast-bo.jpeg"},{"src":"biz52746bizarro-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"che832149cheetah-.jpeg"},{"src":"con415540constant.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"jay81787jay-garr.jpeg"},{"src":"mis819489mister-t.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"red530478red-torn.jpeg"},{"src":"rob766195robin-mc.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"vix29783vixen-mc.jpeg"},{"src":"won615847wonder-w.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Without looking too hard for synergy, we've identified at least fifteen MCs that can benefit from her ability.&nbsp; Let's skim through the list..."},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Alan Scott - Can be a cool setup, but she probably doesn't offer enough to compare with Beast Boy here."},{"caption":"Arsenal - She can load up the discard pile with fodder for him, this looks like a great pairing."},{"caption":"Batgirl - We used her as a stand-in for the 'draw a card' MC cycle, but these are likely not worth investigating since there seems to be better options."},{"caption":"Batman - Potentially a better or worse Arsenal depending on the teams around you. If the player before you is Villain committed then stay away; however if the player after you is Villain committed this can be a good way to counter them."},{"caption":"Beast Boy - Using Zatanna to mill over cards he can return helps get them in your hand faster than you could otherwise. This might prove to be too slow, but could be worth testing."},{"caption":"Bizarro - She will dig to any Weaknesses you pick up along the way and facilitate getting rid of them instead of having to wait until they naturally go to your discard pile. Probably not enough benefit here to be worth heavy consideration."},{"caption":"Cheetah - Early on she seems like a worse Arsenal which is enough to make the late game (do-nothing) Arsenal better to have around than a Cheetah that is just starting to come online."},{"caption":"Constantine - A great interaction to have on your radar. At 5-points between the two the investment is maybe too much, but if either drops a point this is worth considering."},{"caption":"Jay Garrick - While he cares about the top of your deck, when combined with Zatanna you're potentially sifting through the same cards. The duo can quickly burn through your deck if you want to fill your discard pile but it seems full of anti-synergy for the most part."},{"caption":"Mister Terrific - If there was ever a way to guarantee you hit with Mister T, Zatanna is probably it. With her help you can look through the top 5 cards every turn if you really want to find that coveted Equipment in your deck. Mark this on down as a team worth testing."},{"caption":"Red Tornado - Zatanna is great at helping fill up your discard pile, and often enough you end up with some situational cards you might be glad are in your deck but that you don't want on top of your deck this turn. This team may also be too slow but can be worth watching in case either ever lowers a point as there could be something here."},{"caption":"Robin - Since he's a tier-1 MC, Robin is one of the best ways to dip into Equipment. Zatanna can help him make sure you have an Equipment to return by milling one over if needed. This team can be worth testing."},{"caption":"Vixen - One of the discussions that arose from the Aquaman\/Vixen article (https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10903) was which to take first in case you suspect someone will cut you off the other MC. Picking Vixen first and having them take Aquaman can leave you teamed up with Zatanna. The team can do surprisingly well and her ability to help Vixen consistently hit the cards you want to see is worth being familiar with in case you find yourself in a similar circumstance."},{"caption":"Crisis Wonder Woman - She is probably comparable to Rebirth Batman from this list, except that being restricted to Vulns likely doesn't take advantage of Zatanna's ability enough. There are probably better options."}]},{"text":"We've identified several good prospective teams, however in this article we'll just concentrate on teaming her up alongside Arsenal as that is the team I have the most experience with amongst those listed."},{"header":"meet the team"},{"double":[{"src":"ars660126arsenal-.jpeg"},{"src":"zat796427zatanna-.jpg"}]},{"text":"As previously mentioned, this team begins functioning on turn one.&nbsp; Zatanna will be spending the early turns milling over every Vuln you see, with the option to flip Punches as well when you deem it correct. This is a great setup for Arsenal, who can often be without a target the first turn and every turn after you've shuffled to make a new deck."},{"header":"play strategies"},{"text":"The general idea of the team is to continually mill away Starters with Zatanna and destroy one per turn with Arsenal.&nbsp; Eventually we'll have a deck with close to zero Starters in it and we'll be primed to take over the game, as our hands will be full of cards that actually do something, not just pesky Punches and Vulns. Unfortunately here's where we'll also begin to see our first problem.&nbsp; Arsenal triggers on buying the cheapest card in the lineup, which means we're usually not buying the best card we can afford, and we're likely passing the turn with wasted power that we didn't spend.&nbsp; This comes up quite frequently, and in nearly all cases I think its correct to go ahead and buy the cheap card so you can destroy a Starter.&nbsp; This will happen repeatedly throughout the game, and as a result you need to be mindful of what's in your deck over the course of the game. Some common turns will involve you having four power, a Starter to destroy in your discard pile, and a cheap card in the lineup, similar to one of the following:"},{"double":[{"src":"r02536702r02-cons.jpg"},{"src":"giz647565gizmo-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"oce171323ocean-ma.jpeg"},{"src":"rav578992ravager-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"r0227980r02-tri-.jpg"},{"src":"vic208859victor-z.jpeg"}]},{"text":"None of these cards are of interest to us, and those that deal with destroying our cards are even worse since Arsenal is capable of handling our destruction needs by himself.&nbsp; When this happens, it's typically correct to buy one of these cards if it means you can destroy with Arsenal. The reason for this quickly becomes evident.&nbsp; Let's say we buy a Kick instead of bad Tri-Eye and pass the turn.&nbsp; Guess what will be in the line-up again next turn?&nbsp; You guessed it.&nbsp; Tri-Eye will be right there waving at you again. Astute opponents will notice that you passed on a bad (but cheap) card (and therefore didn't trigger Arsenal), and they will gladly allow you to continue doing so for the rest of the game by leaving the Tri-Eye in the lineup to haunt you turn after turn.&nbsp;&nbsp;A lesson here is to never assume that a cheap card blocking your use of Arsenal will get bought up by someone else.&nbsp; Even those sneaky Skitter players might leave Tri-eye in the lineup if they have a better option in a three cost card."},{"header":"mid game play"},{"text":"Eventually you'll find yourself blessed with being able to buy good cards and still trigger Arsenal.&nbsp; Maybe the lineup is all 5+ cost cards.&nbsp; This is where you can begin trying to set yourself up for great plays down the line.&nbsp; Since Zatanna works her magic every turn, she pairs great with Ongoings that have top-of-deck synergy.&nbsp; Some excellent ones to pick up include:"},{"double":[{"src":"apo368228apokolip.jpeg"},{"src":"got539472gotham-c.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"met75566metropol.jpeg"},{"src":"new15471new-gene.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"tam64294tamaran-.jpeg"},{"src":"car48687card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"Each of these work well with Zatanna because you can leave the proper card on top and then draw it with one of the Heroes Unite Locations, or mill it over for some power gain with Tamaran.&nbsp; Tamaran works especially well here for discarding those some of the cheap cards you bought to trigger Arsenal while netting you a Power for doing so."},{"header":"Synergistic cards"},{"text":"Let's go over some more great cards for this team as well.&nbsp; In no particular order you should keep an eye out for:"},{"double":[{"src":"cad619778cadmus-l.jpeg"},{"src":"inf612179infinity.jpeg"}]},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Cadmus Labs - This helps you benefit from those cheap Heroes and Villains you'll pick up along the way. Some teams will pass this card up because they only have one or two cards in their deck they can use it on, but we'll typically have four or more such cards so we can expect to activate it every turn."},{"caption":"Infinity Island - A crucial detail here is where it states 'an Ongoing card enters your discard pile'. This wording is means that Zatanna milling over an Ongoing will trigger Infinity Island. This can be helpful if your opponents are making you discard Ongoings (Jinx, etc). Once you shuffle and get them back in your deck you can then mill them over with Zatanna and pick them up again with Infinity Island."}]},{"double":[{"src":"bat826693batmobil.jpeg"},{"src":"whi327336whirlwin.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Not all cheap cards are bad, and the cycle of cards that let you sift through some of the other rubbish you get and draw you into a handful of good cards will be great additions to your deck when you pick them up."},{"double":[{"src":"ato593952atomica-.jpeg"},{"src":"tra750210transmut.jpeg"}]},{"text":"I like exactly one of this style card in this deck.&nbsp; On the off chance you have to buy more than one (because you want to trigger Arsenal again) just destroy one with the other.&nbsp; This helps sort through some of the riff raff you pickup along the way while netting a VP for it (and potentially another card with Transmutation).&nbsp; Since Transmutation both costs more, and is generally perceived as the better card, you often won't end up with Transmutation anyway.&nbsp; Note that in general I think it's incorrect to destroy a card worth VP with Arsenal, no matter how bad it is in your deck."},{"double":[{"src":"r02511741r02-cons.jpg"},{"src":"hol10794hollis-m.jpeg"}]},{"text":"There's enough of these cards floating around that you can reasonably expect to get one of them here and there.&nbsp; When you do, put them to good use by replacing cheap junky cards in the lineup.&nbsp; Games go from average to real good when you replace that bad two cost in the lineup with something more expensive and you can suddenly buy a real card. It's a good idea to take a turn off from triggering Arsenal when it means you can buy a card like Hollis since it'll make your deck significantly better."},{"double":[{"src":"jum32180jump-cit.jpeg"},{"src":"cyb710285cybernet.jpeg"}]},{"text":"These are two cards you will find yourself with quite often."},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Jump City - Because we're buying up all the cheap cards, Jump City will be great for us. Pretty much every turn will feature a two cost card in your hand."},{"caption":"Cybernetic Enhancement - If this card flips out into the lineup there's a good chance it will end up in your deck. Early on it will be an ugly Vuln for us, but hopefully you can pick up some of the great Ongoings mentioned and turn this card into a powerhouse for your team."}]},{"double":[{"src":"air933520air-walk.jpeg"},{"src":"alf113104alfred-p.jpg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"con531608conner-k.jpeg"},{"src":"esc958357escrima-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"the716224the-bat-.jpeg"},{"src":"won127320wonder-o.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Any card from the cycle of 'put in your hand from your discard pile' are great pickups for the team.&nbsp; Other teams will occasionally struggle to maximize their usage of these cards because after they shuffle they have no discard pile and lose out on maximizing the benefits of the card.&nbsp; Zatanna will gladly work her magic for you and make sure you can take advantage of these cards after a reshuffle by letting you discard them off the top and then pick them up!"},{"double":[{"src":"dea54724deadman-.jpeg"},{"src":"mad949106madame-x.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"mir188796mirror-i.jpeg"},{"src":"pow839970power-ri.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"t-s328933t-sphere.jpeg"},{"src":"two756480two-face.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Previously we looked at Ongoings with great top-of-deck synergy, but there are plenty of other cards that Zatanna can put to good use.&nbsp; Each of these will get consecutively better for you as the game goes on, and you clear out your Starters with Arsenal."},{"double":[{"src":"bla798567blackgat.jpeg"},{"src":"dau295877daughter.jpeg"}]},{"text":"These are both fine pickups early and can do things, but late game if you find yourself having to buy them to facilitate destroying a Weakness with Arsenal then hopefully you can cash them out for a VP with Atomica or Transmutation.&nbsp; There's a small silver lining that some of the inefficient Ongoings you will pick up stay in play so that you don't constantly draw them, but Daughter will just be a Punch for you, as its generally not correct to keep Punches in your deck with this team."},{"double":[{"src":"anc172556ancient-.jpeg"},{"src":"boo52832book-of-.jpeg"}]},{"text":"I want to touch on these two cards to mention that, while you won't get as much use out of them as the average team because Zatanna provides us this ability every turn, they can help dig through your deck to find your best cards. Because we have Arsenal and are typically buying and destroying a card each turn, our deck tends to hover around 10 cards for the first half of the game.&nbsp; Any Ongoings you pick up push this number even lower.&nbsp; It's not uncommon for an Arsenal + Zatanna team to end the game with less than twenty cards in their deck and several Ongoings in play, meaning that between drawing five per turn, and milling over two with Zatanna you're going through 30% of your deck each turn. Add in either these cards and we are potentially seeing upwards of 50% of our deck in the middle of the game each turn.&nbsp; This helps us find and play our best cards as often as possible, which will greatly improving our chances of winning."},{"double":[{"src":"com1991computo-.jpeg"},{"src":"new528143new-york.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Arsenal is the most straightforward MC on our team, and there isn't much abusing his ability because, for the most part, we can't control what flips out in the lineup.&nbsp; There are still some great cards for Arsenal though, and in addition to the cards we mentioned before that let us replace cards in the lineup, these two are great enablers for Arsenal."},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Computo will let you trigger Arsenal the turn you buy it, and then each time you play it thereafter you get to buy the best card in the lineup and destroy a card for your troubles. Never fall for the trick of time traveling it unless it means you can buy a Super Villain."},{"caption":"New York City tends to get better as the game goes on and the destroyed pile grows in size. Because the card you buy with it is treated as if it came from the lineup it will trigger Arsenal for you! This enables you to buy a good two cost out of the destroyed pile and still destroy with Arsenal, even though there is a crappy one in the lineup. It should come in handy enough to be worth the investment."}]},{"header":"conclusion"},{"text":"We've looked at a bunch of great interactions for this team, and it's primed to do rack up victories when played optimally.&nbsp; Try it out, but don't get discouraged if the first few games doesn't go your way, the team takes time to learn but can be very rewarding!&nbsp; Maybe it will come out on top in online tournament next weekend?&nbsp; We hope to see you there; details about it can be found here: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/589720625204436\/"},{"double":[{"src":"ars228147arsenal-.jpeg"},{"src":"zat993164zatanna-.jpg"}]}]