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xphoenix87

Jank

Thursday, June 30, 2005  Ah, the Sweet Smell of Jank in the Morning

Ah, Jank. What a beautiful word. Some of you may be wondering what I’m talking about, but no fear, I’ll explain. Jank is a commonly used VS slang term usually referring to a deck that is not very highly used, and may contain combinations of cards that are totally crazy. Jank decks are almost always combo decks, revolving around team-ups or alternate win conditions. I asked some other VS players how they would define jank, and here were some of the answers I received.

“I think jank is usually an alternate win condition or a path to victory that is not recruiting the biggest character on each turn and beating your opponent down.”

“For me Jank is using cards that are not usually used. Something out of the norm. Most of the time they are situational.”

The key to defining jank is originality. If the deck does things that no other deck does, or uses cards that no other deck does, it may qualify as jank. Some cards have inherent jank value. For example, one might say, “Emperor Joker has got to be the most jankalicious card ever.” Or, you can have a deck that might have some normal cards, but they mix together in such a way as to make a jank deck. For example, a team-up between Teen Titans and Fantastic Four where the express purpose is to abuse Arsenal to a huge extent with Teen Titans Go! and Cosmic Radiation. Jank decks are often the most fun decks to build and to play with, though they might not always be the most competitive.

Sometimes, you get a jank deck that evolves from it’s humble roots into a competitive deck type. For example, the Xavier’s Dream deck that Michael Barnes, Tim Batow, and the rest of The Dream Team showcased at PC New York. Xavier’s Dream has long been considered a jank archetype. It plays off the curve, and has an alternate win condition. On top of that, it never had much success before the PC.

As far as deck building goes, I like to think of myself as a VS System Jank Artist. I don’t like to play the normal decks that everyone else is playing, I’ve got to have something fresh and original. It’s really fascinating to me to sift through cardlists and try and find combos or cards that fit well together.

Alrighty, all of this has just been an extended intro into the real meat of this article, and that is the deck that I’m going to show you. I built this deck a long time ago before Marvel Knights came out, but it’s always been one of my favorite decks to play. The look on the opponent’s face when the deck goes off is just priceless. So, without further ado, I present The Readying Machine.

The Readying Machine

Characters-29

3x Invisible Woman, The Invisible Girl
3x She Thing, Sharon Ventura
1x Lacuna, Media Darling
3x Dawn Granger<>Dove, Agent of Order
3x Hank Hall<>Hawk, Agent of Chaos
4x Roy Harper<>Arsenal, Sharpshooter
2x Thing, Ben Grimm
1x Human Torch, Hotshot
1x Invisible Woman, Sue Storm
3x Terra, Terra Markov
1x Thing, Heavy Hitter
4x Garth<>Tempest, Atlantean Sorceror

Plot Twists-21

4x Cosmic Radiation
4x Teen Titans Go!
4x Signal Flare
2x It’s Clobberin’ Time!
2x Marvel Team-Up
3x Press The Attack
2x Millenium

Locations-10

3x Tamaran
4x USS Argus
3x Metropolis

So there it is. Yes, I run 7 team-ups and Lacuna. Why? Because consistency is critical in any team-up deck, and since almost every plot twist or location in this deck is team-stamped, it’s even more important that I get my forces allied quickly. Also, the deck has loyalty issues, so those team-ups really need to come out fast. This deck originated as a way to try and abuse Hotshot to burn a bunch with TTG! and Cosmic, but I quickly realized that Arsenal is a much more powerful tool than Hotshot is. The general plan with this deck is to go off on turn 6 with a board of Arsenal and preferably Garth and 2 others. It’s not too hard to accomplish because the sheer size of my early drops helps keep them around. Once Roy is out with a sufficient crowd, the idea is to either level their field with his ability, or pump him to huge levels and attack a few times with Press the Attack for lots of damage. When the deck goes off correctly it’s a beautiful site. You can clear the board and deal 30+ endurance loss easily if you’re holding Press the Attack and a TTG! or Cosmic Radiation. You also have the option of searching out Human Torch for those last bits of burn to finish your opponent off if need be. So, what problems does the deck have? Why isn’t it out there dominating the metagame? Well, for a long time, Overload was the big problem. Roy can’t hit you for big breakthrough if he’s getting stunned right and left. However, that has ceased to be a problem, so the deck got that much better. However, the deck also has loyalty problems. I run 19 three-and-under drops for a reason. If you can’t get a TT character on the board after turn 3, then you’re in trouble. Garth and Terra both have the dreaded loyalty stamp on them, as do Hotshot and Heavy Hitter. It usually isn’t too much of an issue, but when you go up against a Doom deck with Reign of Terror, prepare yourself for a bad time.

I hope you all like the deck. Try it out sometime, it’s a real blast to play. The look on your opponent’s face when you smack him straight to the face with a 30 ATK Arsenal will be priceless. After all, that’s what jank is all about.’

-xphoenix87