In a lot of ways, we probably should have mentioned Tsarina in our first podcast, as she is meta defining in her own right. People talk about Gobby more, but there is nothing more terrifying for me than looking across the table and seeing 4 dice sitting neatly atop a Tsarina card. She is FAST. She is BRUTAL. If all goes wrong she can clean you out for sixteen life on your opponent's third turn. If you are going second and your opponent first, you must be prepared to take a violent hit on that third turn and salvage the rest of the game if you can.

I hesitate to say it, but if I were going to nerf a card, it would probably be her. There are no hard, fast counters for her, but today I hope to address how to weather the storm and hopefully pull out the win. Keep in mind, even if you manage to pull out the first few turns, there is still a great deal of danger as you move into the mid-game.

Considering your Sideboard

Step 0: Have Beast Mutate 666 on your sideboard. This is sort of a joke, but also sort of serious. When your opponent is not using 'Throw Car', he's pretty much one of the best blockers in the game. He costs 2, he has a TFC of 1 and thus is cheap to field, and he can keep you a step ahead of the slaughter if you let him. With 8 cards on the sideboard, I don't think there is a strong reason not to take him, and you'll almost always be glad you did. Against Tsarina, he also has the added bonus that spinning him down to level 1 helps you get through your deck even more quickly. On another note, I do feel that Beast Genetics Expert deserves really honorable mention here. He's less good against non-Tsarina decks, unfortunately, but with a Focus Power on your sideboard you might find him to be pretty useful against other decks.

I also recommend bringing at least 1 of the following already good cards to the table, in keeping with the content of the rest of your deck: Wolverine: Formerly Weapon Ten; Punisher: McRook; Spider-Man: Wall Crawler; Hawkeye: Longbow; Iron Man: Inventor. Why? Each and every one of these fits the following parameters: They all costs 4 or less to buy, they have high attack values, and some of them (like Weapon Ten) can deal up to 9 damage to your opponent if unblocked, even on their level one face. They are, quite simply, your way of saying 'are you sure you want to do that, bub?' You're trying to keep your opponent from attacking with his or her Tsarinas. Beast "Genetic Expert" also serves this purpose, but as I said above, he's less useful against non-Tsarina deck options so might not be your best choice. He takes a bit more to pull off effectively in a general deck.

Getting Through the First Turns

Step 1: When you see Tsarina on your opponent's sideboard, assume you are in for a rush. If you go first, DO NOT WAIT, assume the rush is on, especially since you have a slight advantage. You should also either (a) cry or (b) pray that the dice gods are with you. Your opponent might roll a pesky sidekick (twice!) or not get two fist energy (4 total energy), and the strength of their rush starts to crumble.

Step 2: Buy *characters*. I do not care if you are the Gobby King, you want as many non-sidekick characters in your bag as possible for turn 3. This is so you have options fielded to spin down.

Step 3: Be prepared to potentially soak a chunk of damage on turn 3. It may be best to let some of those Tsarinas through so that they go to the used pile in the sky, never to darken your door for another 3 turns or so. If you have him out, block with Beast when able, draw extra dice, always spin your characters down. Keep fielding, make sure your opponent knows he or she cannot leave their field open, because you will attack, and you will answer those Tsarinas damage with your own.

The Rest of the Game

Step 4: Profit. There are two reasons why Tsarina is as nasty as she is: she can rush incredibly quickly, but she also has the potential to provide your opponent 2 fist energy on two of her faces. This second part is what comes into play the longer the game goes on. By turn three, if your opponent isn't rolling character faces, he or she could be rolling five, or maybe even six energy on that third turn. Check your opponent's options, know the heavy hitters that could be purchased with that energy bump. That is what you have to contend with for the rest of the game.

Just because that initial rush has been foiled, it doesn't mean that you're safe. You're hopefully in a better position to comeback than you might have been, though. You're going to be seeing her less frequently; you will have more and more things out that will threaten the allure of the full court press by the Tsarinas; they are squishy, and every time they die there is a 1/4 chance they will not come back (rolling energy twice). Your opponent is also in for 3 turns where he or she is fielding nothing but Tsarinas, and is sometimes having to pay to field those Tsarinas, so the rest of his or her bag will be comparatively weak. On turn 3, he or she has to start pulling together a defense, because all they have now is offense. Remember, though, that they could easily start to accrue an energy advantage because of those Tsarinas.

Step 5: Have a win condition. Hulk Smash? If Looks Could Kill? Gobby? Canucklehead? Johnny Storm? Go for it!

Closing Thoughts

Are you going to win? Heck if I know. It's not like this is a guarantee. The dice can be with your opponent and against you, but if you survive those first few turns, you can start to put out characters - characters you can spin down, characters who can KO Tsarina or wipe her off the map. Your opponent must start mustering a defense while you get your offensive house in order, and then is your time to strike.

If you can win in those turns, good on you, but more likely you've tipped things so they are a bit more even; hopefully, you've taken a chip off your opponent's life in retaliation if they over-extended, or you've put together a scary enough looking dice bag that they can't risk doing so later.

I will note that the best luck I've had against Tsarina decks is from Genetic Expert (played against The Reserve Pool's own Evan), where he was able to get a few lucky Tsarina attacks in on me early, but I was able to rally handily a bit later in the game. It literally came down to one unlucky re-roll on the last turn to see who would win.

Have you faced down Tsarina yet? Any tips or tricks? She's a nasty little die, but she's not an automatic win for your opponent.