MUN is Vs Au Ju

A few closing comments, a Wrap Up if you will, on Hulk Week.

First, to the Design Team, congratulations. I’m impressed that Design has done such a good job translating the Flavor of the Hulk. He’s powerful, but that power comes at a price. He’s a stand alone, take all comers who is paradoxically defined by those whose friendship he holds so dear. A tragedy in that his power, that which allows his existence, separates him from those he wishes to exist with. Design did an excellent job of taking that flavor, and infusing each card with it like a Basil Infused Olive Oil of Green Hate.

Unfortunately, I think the Hulk’s a crappy character. Say what you will, but I think he’s misused as a literary figure and ends up bottom of the barrel. I view Hulk Comics the same way I view the AVP series. Either they put too much into defining characters at the cost of the action that made me want to see the movie in the first place, or they finally capture the brutality and danger of the encounter at the cost of me giving a damn about anyone in that danger. An equilibrium is never met. So it is with the Hulk.

Let’s look at each card individually. Each card can be found here with a deep thanks to OnyxWeapon for keeping the list fresh, and sexy. If there’s one thing Onyx knows, it’s how to keep it sexy.

Hulk, Green Scar-Flame Trap on a stick. Decent Stats. Combined with Righteous Anger you have a potential early game ending set-up. Violently wonderful. I approve. It’s got the power and versatility that make me giggle with sinister delight.

Hulk, Gladiator-10/10 5 drop with massive stats. A bit too fragile, and costly ability. Still, marginally functional as long as your opponent doesn’t run Grodd, or Pathetic Attempts. The price of power, and ease of interruption are what relegate this card to the ‘maybe’ pile for me. Solid, to be sure. Not a game breaker.

Caiera, The Oldstrong- Mrs Hulk has respectable stats, and an ability that can be combined for 3 massive attacks from a prepared Hulk 5 drop that end the game on 6.

Righteous Anger-If any card made the Hulk Cool, it would be this one. Nothing to say about it. Like Taft in 1912, this card can let its record speak for it.
Hulk, Worldbreaker- This is where I begin really differing with people. Don’t get me wrong, this card can be raw power. It can be. Unfortunately, the Warbound previewed don’t show an ability to make it to 8. There’s no true to form stall, as the only stall card burns you. A stall deck can be used to get to 8, then drop this and Righteous Anger to clear their board and kill Kathy Lee Gifford.

The Strongest There Is-Kinda give and take version of ‘No Match for Darkseid’. Really it’s the potayto of no match’s Potahto. It has its place, but my problem with Strongest will be discussed in the final verdict.

The Great Arena- I can’t give words to the exact amount of crap I think this card is. When ever I see the number is in yellow I can feel it. I can hear the vein in my head that’s going to kill me, and it’s laughing. This card brings its day of triumph years closer every time I look at that terrible, damning yellow font color.
Final Verdict- Week 1 I looked at the previews and saw a world opened to me. The Hulk has earned his name
. He’s broken those dreams of an idealistic deckbuilder. The man who strode proudly into the Monday previews finds himself a bitter, cynical veteran of a week of ‘almost’. The Hulk was almost good. Some of it is, legitimately, awesome. Green Scar has such possibilities… Gladiator is… a 10/10 5 drop. Mrs. Hulk can set the game up for a turn 6 finisher. Righteous Anger is a giant leap towards redemption. Worldbreaker neither excites nor disappoints me. The Strongest there is weakens the grip of those thick green sausages. It’s cool, but it’s nothing new and requires a Stun. Then we get into the ass rare that is The Great Arena.

Allow me to get onto my Bully Pulpit about the wholly misleadingly named ‘Great Arena’. The thing about the hulk, and this is part of the reason I love the flavor and think design did a great job on the Warbound, is that he suffers for his power. No matter how many writers fail to capitalize on the wealth of subtlety that is Bruce Banner and his Radiation infused alter ego, design has taken it and run with it. They ran right into a brick wall, from the small sliver of the map I can see.

This is because let’s see how many effects require a stun, or comparable endurance loss: The Great Arena, Righteous Anger, The Strongest There Is, Worldbreaker, Green Scar, and Mrs. Hulk. The lowest cost hulk previewed thus far is a 4 drop, though I guess a 3 drop is leaping round the bend. Still… let’s say on turn 4 you decide to Great Arena their 4 drop, then Righteous Anger to ready him and clear their 1 and 2. Ok. Cool. You just took 8 damage. That 8 loss incurred and 4 endurance loss to your opponent and prevents you from using any effects on Hulk for his final swing. Guess what that means? If you’re swinging into Wolverine, Logan, you’re a turnabout from screwing the pooch and losing 12 to their 4. If my opponent wants to burn though 24% of his allotted endurance in a single turn and I have to pay 8% of mine for it… awesome. I’m ecstatic if I can cause damage to my opponent on a 1:3 ratio. Ask anyone who’s played Vs against me. Calculated Loss is a concept I use whenever possible.
The issue I have with the Warbound is that using them will kill me faster than my opponent kills me. The price is too high in an environment where negation is about as hard to find as smear ads in October. The cost is too high, the rewards too few. The affiliation can’t make it past 5 to use Mrs. Hulk in the current speedtastic environ.

These cards drip with flavor. Unfortunately that flavor just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Edit: I just saw Hulk, Ultimates and Hulk Smash! Hulk, Ultimates is S.H.I.E.L.D. affiliated and pretty sweet. Haven’t seen enough Shield yet, but considering Captain America, Champion License is Shield, I think you could stall into him for a nasty, nasty game ender. Hulk smash is a 3 threshold plot twist that gives an attacking Hulk +8 ATK. Holy ‘eff’. That’s… that’s horrible. I believe that’s prevented by the Geneva Convention. AWESOME!