Hi, Katie here, and I'm beyond excited to be joining Dave and Evan here at The Reserve Pool. I've been an avid gamer since I was very young, and my love of CCGs and Boardgames has carried throughout my life. Dicemasters has gotten me back into the card game spirit, however, so I'm going to be coming to you with a few thoughts, perspectives, and features from here on out. I'm also joining Dave on the podcast, with our first episode dropping today! Make sure you check out our first episode: Shaping the Meta!
As any comics enthusiast can tell you, nothing says 'comics' like the Team-Up. It can be the unlikely collaboration between hero and villain, the long-standing heroic rivalry getting another installment, or just two old friends you love seeing side by side teaming up again. In this feature, I'll be bringing you some of the little team-ups that you could build around to make your deck efficient, or just hard-hitting in its nastiness.
Today, we're going to be talking about a solid team-up available to you right out of the Starter Box: Hulk and Human Torch!
Dave has already given his thoughts on the Sultan of Smash here, and as he works through the Starter Box I'm sure he'll have his own thoughts on Torch, but these two characters were just made for each other, and your sideboard.
The Team-up:
Hulk works under the very character-driven perspective that you don't want to make Hulk angry; each version of the character powers up in some way by taking damage, and the more times you damage Hulk (or yourself) the better. Human Torch, in both his "Flame On!" and Johnny Storm varieties let you deal one damage to a character when you field a die. It doesn't take much to see how these two characters fit together.
So, let's talk about which version of Johnny and the Hulk to bring to the table, and their strengths and weaknesses:
The Human Torch:
"Flame On!" has a cost of 4 bolt energy to buy, and is available in the Starter Set. When a character is fielded he does one damage to a target character or player; he also comes with the global ability boost damage dealt with action dice or global abilities, which can add a quick hit to your Power Bolt or other Direct Damage source.
Johnny Storm, by comparison, also costs 4 bolt energy, is an uncommon, and when he is active, he does one damage to a target character and one damage to your opposing player every time a character is fielded. The choice seems like a no-brainer, but you have to weigh this against the risk that your opponent will bring a Hulk and take advantage of that damage dealt. It's a risk, but with the current selection of cards it's a smaller one. You will have to go fishing to find him, though, since he doesn't come in the Starter Set.
Both of these cards give you no choice but to use this damage, so you can't not deal Torch's damage, and there will be times when this might not be what you wanted to do. As more cards come out, it's more than likely we'll start to see more cards that react to a player taking damage, and the potential drawbacks to Johnny Storm will become more real.
But this is a meta for another day, let's take a look at our Hulk options.
The Hulk:
Dave covered a lot of this already, so I'll try to keep it brief. He fell on the side of Green Goliath for his favorite Hulk, and I'd be hard-pressed to disagree; he's definitely the nastiest one with the greatest potential for mass slaughter. There are some other strong options though.
Anger Issues (giving Hulk a +2A/+2D boost, with the potential for an additional +1A/+1D on his burst sides) pairs well with a card like Throw Car that lets his extra damage pass through a defender. Annihilator (who lets you send Hulks from your used pile to your prep area) is probably only a good choice if you are going to be buying a lot of Hulk dice, and I just don't see that happening during a regular game session.
Jade Giant, by comparison, is available out of the Starter Set, and lets you knock out one level 1 dice when he takes damage, with two burst sides that allow you to knock out a character of any level. Green Goliath is our uncommon Hulk and he deals either 2 or 3 damage to each opposing character when he takes damage. Nasty! At 6 fist energy to buy, they are both a little pricey, but their abilities make them quite worth it.
I think your choice of which character to bring really depends on your local meta and what you want to accomplish. Green Goliath is going to clear out many low-cost heroes, or weenie blockers every turn. If you are able to field multiple characters in one turn, however, Green Goliath can start to really turn up the anger: two hits from Torch means four or even six damage, and three characters fielded means a whopping six to nine damage in one turn!! Nothing out there is going to survive that. Jade Giant (especially on his burst sides) gives you that chance to knock out any one character, including that really annoying one with the huge defense that Green Goliath can't touch. This is extra handy if you're not as likely to get those huge fielding turns.
Potential Downfalls:
I know from experience that knocking out a half-dozen characters doesn't necessarily put you in the best position. You're giving your opponent a very dice-rich next turn, which means he or she is probably going to be able to purchase that 7 energy card they had their eye on and still bring one or two heroes back onto the field. A Smash today might get you run over tomorrow. If you're going to scorch the earth with Green Goliath, you better be ready to finish your opponent off ASAP.
This strategy is also very dependent on getting Johnny and Hulk out and keeping them out. It's vulnerable to assassination, to Gem-Keeper, and to Global Actions that force characters to attack. You might also find yourself light on blockers for a round and you have to decide whether to let an attack pass through or put your Hulk or Johnny at risk of just being outright killed. Hulk, at 6, is also pretty expensive to buy, and you're not going to start drawing him out of your dice bag until probably turn 5-6 at the earliest. That's a long time to get setup if your opponent has a faster strategy in play.
Regardless, the strategy needs to be mentioned. It's a nasty one-two punch, and if you see this combo on a sideboard you need to be ready to combat it. Torch is the more flimsy of the pair, maxing out at 4 defense, and he's also the gnat in your side who could be out as early as turn 3. Without a reliable way to direct damage Hulk, those huge combos aren't going to happen for your opponent, either.
As more characters come out that have abilities stemming from taking damage, Torch may find himself thrust further into the spotlight, but for now, it's Hulk and Human Torch all the way.
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