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Pojo's VS System Card of the Day

  The Substructure

Heralds of Galactus
Exclusive Preview

Card #MHG-127


Date Reviewed: 08.17.06



Ratings are based on a 1 to 5 scale
1 being the worst. 3 ... average.
5 is the highest rating.

 
Judge
Jason
Bunch
Hello, and welcome to Pojo's exclusive preview for The Substructure, from the upcoming Heralds of Galactus set. This location has a couple of very interesting abilities, and allows for a lot more flexibility in games.

The first thing you'll notice is the new keyword:

Terraform. Terraform's ability is this: "Reveal this card >>> You may return a face-down resource you control to its owner's hand. If you do, put this card face down into your resource row. Use this power only during your recruit step and only if this card is in your hand". Revealing the card is a cost to put the effect on the chain, but you don't return any face-down resources to hand until the effect resolves, giving your opponent the chance to respond. Paul Ross will have an article on Metagame on Friday that will fully explain the rules behind this new keyword.

All too often, non-reservist character cards seem to wind up in the resource row. Maybe you had a bad draw and had to play a character as a resource, or maybe you had to replace a KO'd resource, and the top card of your deck just happened to be your 6 drop. With Terraform, that's no longer a problem. Not only do you get your character back in hand, but you're replacing it with a potentially useful location at the same time. It only works on face-down resources though, so there's no recycling of spent plot twists.
I'd be surprised if there wasn't a card in the set (or later down the line) that gave Terraform to your other locations, which makes teams like Checkmate, Teen Titans, and League of Assassins very happy.

Now on the The Substructure itself. The Substructure allows you to replace any face-down resource you control. In addition, if the card you replaced was an Inhumans character card, you can put it in your hand, then discard a card. From the Inhumans cards I've seen previewed on other sites, they thrive on having face-up resources in play. Since characters in the row are never going to be able to stay in play face-up, The Substructure allows you to manipulate your resource row every turn, turning dead cards into potential locations or plot twists that could be flipped in order to enable other effects. You'll also be going through your deck faster, as every Substructure activation gets you another card. Even if you don't play a single Inhumans character, the potential for this card is pretty high. However, if you're playing Inhumans then you can safely set a higher cost character as a resource, knowing that you have a way to get it back in hand when you want to recruit it.

The Substructure is really going to shine in Sealed pack events, such as the ones at Heralds of Galactus preview events (August 26th and 27th). During Sealed pack play, you almost always wind up having to play a character as a resource. With The Substructure, you can get rid of it and have a decent chance of replacing it with a better option. As a common, you'll have a good shot at pulling one out of your packs, and you'll especially want to play it if you wind up with a lot of effects that key off of face-up resources. It'd also be a great card to draft if an Inhumans/face-up resources archtype emerges from this set.

When a new set comes out, the flashy new rares are the ones that get all of the attenion, but it's the workhorse commons that can make or break a deck, especially in the Limited formats. The Substructure has the potential to be one of these commons, so keep your eyes out for it whenever you're cracking packs next weekend. Also keep your eyes out for another sneak preview from Heralds of Galactus, coming next week only on Pojo.com!


Judge Staff Group Photo (including Jason Bunch ;-)


Nakaiya21
Finally after 2 ˝ years of CODs I finally get to review my first preview card. Of course it is a common, but that just means you guys will be seeing more of this card at the sneak peak. So while other reviewers get to review the prime cards you won’t be seeing at the sneak peak (unless your luck is better than mine – which it probably is), I get to review one card that you definitely will want to know something about. Not bad – if I do say so myself.

This card is all about the Inhuman team affiliation. Well, I guess you could use it for other decks…but why would you want to. (Usually at this point in time a normal reviewer would give everyone a detailed background on the Inhumans and how they crossover to the VS system, but I am just not that kind of reviewer.)

Ok, so let’s break this down…

First of all this location fits in with what seems to be the main theme of the Inhuman team affiliation – FACE-UP RESOURCES. With cards like Attilan and The Great Refuge already making rounds, everyone is on the lookout for ways to make Inhumans the team to beat. This card allows you to replace a face down resource you control and if it is an Inhuman character then you can fish it out of your KO pile and put it in your hand. Not only do you now have a way of insuring face-up resources in your resource row, but now you can get help in your recruiting. Combining this location with other Inhuman locations can essentially allow you to setup your resource row. Wow – now that is power!

Second this card has the mechanic Terraform. Terraform is essentially the reservist form for non-character cards. The mechanic states:

“Reveal this card >>> You may return a face-down resource you control to its owner’s hand. If you do, put this card face down into your resource row. Use this power only during your recruit step and only if this card is in your hand.”

This mechanic is very powerful in the fact that now your can get virtually anything back out of your resource row, so long as it is a face-down resource. This is especially useful for those of you that like equipment based decks. In fact, with Terraform around, I suspect that equipment will start coming into the picture. Perhaps this was UDE’s plan all along (sneaky, sneaky UDE).

Now onto playability….Will we actually see this card being played?

Well the answer to this is probably not. Sure at the sneak peak there is bound to be someone that will have some Inhumans and will decide “What the heck. Let’s give it a try…I have the room anyway.”, but in tournament play I doubt this card will see the light of day. Since the powerful Inhuman locations already have the Terraform mechanic, having this card will probably be just a waste of space. After all it isn’t a search card and most players already build their decks so that they avoid putting unusable cards in their resource row. Of course it is still early yet and no one really knows everything that is in this set so I guess we will have to see…

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