That’s The Power of 1
by Brian Horton

From the beginning there were very few moves that ever had a chance to stick if they were under seven damage unless they had a hard to reverse effect (such as clutch, or modified clutch onto opponent), but that has changed in the Revolution format. The power of 1 has become very prevalent and has made for an interesting design in the grand scheme of things. First let’s look at the cards.

Slap
Assault: Core / Reversal: printed 1D—7D Hold
head
F:0 D:1

Collar & Elbow Lockup
Hold: Core / Reversal: printed 1D—7D Throw
neck
F:0 D:1

Headlock Takedown
Throw: Core / Reversal: printed 1D—7D Assault
back
F:0 D:1

All of these are the basic core reversals that combined get every non- extreme core. They might not do as much damage as some of the other reversals but they leave no room for error. A ton of decks are running of reversing your maneuvers and building up there fortitude so they can throw larger means and cores quicker. With using these as a move and reversal base you can get fortitude and not take a pummeling back when you try to play your cores. Of course the possibility of 9 F is not enough to rely on so let’s look at the rest of the cards.

Windmill Punch
Assault: Core
You may put 1 Mid-match from your Ringside into your Backlash: your opponent draws up to 1 card.
arm
F:0 D:1

Great you can reuse a Mid-match card and through it card draw to you opponent it also makes them take what equates to an extra point of damage. We will show the use of the Mid-match retrieval later.

Clutch onto Opponent
Hold: Core
Look at the top 5 cards of your Arsenal: put them on the top and/or bottom of your Arsenal.
neck
F:0 D:1

This card has great use. Along with the hard to reverse part it also sets up the net few turns for you or let you put less useful cards off for later. Cards like Masochist at Heart are not good in you hand but on the bottom of the deck where colossal are more likely to happen is a good thing.

Japanese Arm Drag
Throw: Core
Draw up to 1 card.
back
F:0 D:1

Although it looks less menacing than other ones it does have a replacement effect. When you play this card it refills its slot in your hand making it easier to draw a second card to follow it up with.

Caught in the Ropes
Extreme: Core
If reversed: draw up to 1 card.
neck
F:0 D:1

This card falls in line with the others that they are difficult to reverse but if it does it replaces itself in hand.

Now let’s look at cards that interact well with these cards and the fortitude that they provide and fit into the theme of difficult to reverse.

41/130
Flying Topé
Extreme: Mean: Follow-up: Maneuver
If played by an Extremist: -1F.
chest
F:4 D:8

Asia Moonsault
Extreme: Mean: Follow-up: Maneuver
If played by an Extremist: -2F.
head
F:6 D:10

Suicide Plancha
Extreme: Mean: Follow-up: Maneuver
If played by an Extremist: -3F.
chest
F:8 D:12

All of these cards have a similar thing in that they are low fortitude with higher fortitude reward. They also interact great with the fortitude adjustment provide to extremist and with our superstar today they work even better. With are base maneuvers being hard to stop. These all seem like a great fit.

As for that Mid-match card to throw over if it gets reversed.

Spinning Crescent Kick
Mid-match Extreme: Mean
If played by an Extremist: -2F
If reversed from your opponent’s hand or Backlash: discard 1 card and he draws up to 1 card.
chest
F:8 D:10

Difficult to reverse but not impossible it fits great because the ability to reuse this when reversed thanks to our Windmill Punch make this even more powerful.

Ok so after looking at a move base let’s look at the superstar of choice to go with these. This will work best with…

Sandman (Superstar Card)
Starting Hand Size: 8
Superstar Value: 1
Extremist <Superstar Crossed Out> Ability:
Successfully play a Maneuver: put up to 2 cards from your Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal.

His ability seems a bit odd with it but it helps the recurring of cards seeing our move base is difficult to reverse and along with that you get his card.

The Extreme Icon (Sandman logo)
Pre-match: Event
Your Means are -1F times the Superstar Value of your opponent.
Unique

Wow, making all of those Extreme means less fortitude. On average most of the time you will be throwing most of them at F:1. (I see a trend here.)

Now as sometimes happens, even the best laid plans go to waste so with our recursion ability we have a small back up plan if these fall off at the beginning of the game.

It Has Everything to Do with Me
Antic
Requirement: Less Fortitude
Your opponent puts cards of D:1 or greater from his Ring into his Ringside until his Fortitude is less than or equal to yours.
He discards cards equal to the number of cards you have fewer than him.
F:2 D:0

This card allows us to keep our deck’s fortitude and make your opponent come down to our level when need be. This can be a crushing blow.

So with all this added up lets look at the deck……………….

Sandman
Revolution Format

Pre-match

The Extreme Icon (Sandman logo)
Climbing the Ladder
Kelly Kelly’s Exposé

A New Plan
Gone—Not Forgotten
<WWE logo> Intercontinental Title Belt

This is your standard play but in the few match-ups where you are a higher superstar you can go with the title belt first to increase your hand then Icon and Kelly Kelly. Don’t forget that if you do get a poor hand A new plan can easily be more useful than Kelly.

Mid-Match

Talk Is Cheap
Layla: <WWE logo> Diva to the Core
Spinning Crescent Kick x2
Keep Your Eyes Open or It’s Game Over
Before This Gets Out of Hand

This is a pretty standard mix but remember that spinning kick is there to use and abuse. Always try to use it when you can.

Arsenal (60)

Maneuvers

Cores (10)

Caught in the Ropes x 3
Japanese Arm Drag x 3
Clutch onto Opponent x 3
A New Breed Unleashed

Cores/Reversal Core (12)

Slap x 3
Collar & Elbow Lockup x 3
Headlock Takedown x 3
Only One Solution: Revolution x3

Means (9)

Suicide Plancha x3
Asia Moonsault x3
Flying Topé x3

Antics (10)

Settle the Score x 3
It Has Everything to Do with Me x 3
Toys Under the Ring x 2
A Spirited Turn of Events x 2

Reversals (19)

Overexposure x3
Extremely Cr@ppy Wrestling x3
Does This Look Like a Bingo Hall? x 3
Masochist at Heart x 2
Try To Get Away x 3
I Won’t Be Beat Tonight x 2
Why Don’t You Kiss My A%$? x 3

The power of small cards should never be overlooked. I hope you enjoy trying this out and as always it’s a game…..have fun.