The Revolution of…Kevin Thorn
by Eric “Big Easy E” Norris

This will hopefully be an ongoing article showing how to bring some old Superstars out of hibernation so they can join the Revolution, and show how these new Revolution Superstars are ready to be granted All Axxess. I’ll concentrate mostly on decks and deck designs for the All Axxess format, trying to get a firm grasp of where the Revolution has taken us. I don’t promise these decks will be game breaking, but they will have solid builds and solid ideas behind them. If you find a deck that looks good, put it together, play it, tweak it. I’ll lay the foundation; you build the road to victory.

This brings us to Revolution’s own Kevin Thorn. He’s one of my favorite New Breed Extremists, so when I saw that he was due to come out as part of the next prize support kit, I couldn’t wait to see what he did. As with many of the Superstars I saw coming out for Revolution 2, my first thought was, “Wow, he can be killer in All Axxess.” So let’s take a look at him.

Kevin Thorn (Superstar Card)
Starting Hand Size: 6
Superstar Value: 0
Extremist <Superstar Crossed Out> Ability:
Once during each of your turns, you may put 1 Extreme from your Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal: your opponent overturns 2 cards.

Immediately in my mind came two cards: Underestimate the Competition and Hell in a Cell. Take some early damage to hopefully find some Extreme cards to use his ability, and also lock my opponent in Hell in a Cell so they can’t recover the cards I’m overturning with his ability. So I will be recovering more weapons to use later in the game, while they are slowly bleeding to death. Nothing like the idea of being trapped in a cage with a 6’3” vampire.

Ariel’s Augural Affection (Kevin Thorn logo)
Reversal: Antic or Momentum
Overturn 1 card.
If the overturned card is an Extreme: overturn 3 cards and your opponent discards 6 cards.
If the overturned card is not an Extreme: overturn 6 cards and your opponent discards 3 cards.
Unique
F:9 D:6

With Momentum getting more support in Revolution 2, this card will become increasingly important. Also, when you hit 9F, you’ll see your opponent counting your Fortitude muttering to himself, “Does he have it, or doesn’t he?” just be fore he plays an Antic. Even if you don’t overturn an Extreme initially, making your opponent discard 3 is a huge hand size swing considering you’ll be starting your turn shortly. More cards in your Ringside mean more Extremes to fuel your ability. Overall, a solid card for Kevin Thorn.

Blood Bath
Kevin Thorn

Pre-match: 10
Hell in a Cell
(Rev) Underestimate the Competition
Underrated Superstar
ECW Championship Belt
The Champ is Here
Its Time for a Great American BASH x3
WWF Hardcore Title Belt
Hardcore Hell

Hell in the Cell prevents most superstars from healing as I use my ability to force them you overturn two cards as I heal one. Underrated Superstar is there to boost my meager hand size. (Rev) Underestimate the Competition is here so I can get some Extremes in the Ringside right away to fuel my ability. This card will slow down the amount of damage I will receive overall, and this deck would not mind switching gears and making the game into a war of attrition.
At this point, you’re opponent may or may not have played I’m Gonna Break You. Since you have Underrated down, and you have a 0 Superstar Value, you will get any cards back they may get stripped from your hand. It will be up to you if you want to stop there, or play just another Pre-match card or two. If they don’t try to break you, you can just continue on.
ECW Championship is to boost damage of The New Breed Unleashed above Elbow to the Face range that will make The New Breed Unleashed a very difficult card to reverse. The Champ is Here clears the way to play two of the Its Time for a Great American BASH. This will give you some Fortitude, and you will be only an Elbow to the Face away from firing off those Spinning Crescent Kicks from your Backlash deck. The Hardcore Title Belt is there to replace the ECW Championship Belt to if your opponent plays the ECW Championship Belt first. Hardcore Hell is there if you think you will need to sneak some non-0F Extreme: Core moves to get going against your opponent.

Mid-match: 10
(Rev) Spinning Crescent Kick x2
Sustain Damage
You're as Graceful as a Cow on Ice
(Rev) Talk Is Cheap
Backlash
Fortitude Surge
Trevor Murdoch Is Gonna BASH Your Brains In x2
Road to Victory

(Rev) Spinning Crescent Kicks are there to bridge to the Extreme: Colossals quickly. Even if they play Road to Victory against it, you still retain the Fortitude that the Spinning Crescent Kick generates. Sustain Damage is to help fuel Kevin Thorn’s ability as well slow down any damage I receive throughout the game. Since I am using a BASH reversal as one of my core reversals, I'd figure that I can fall back on Trevor Murdoch Is Gonna BASH Your Brains In to get some needed Fortitude if nothing else. Every thing else is pretty standard for my playing area.

Maneuvers: 23
(Rev) A New Breed Unleashed
(Rev) Caught in the Ropes x3
(Rev) Eye Rake x3
(Rev) Microphone Cord x2
(Rev) Into the Barricade x2
(Rev) Flying Topé x3
(Rev) Garbage Can Lid x2
(Rev) Struck by a Kendo Stick x3
(Rev) Electric Chair x2
(Rev) Drive Opponent Through Announcer's Table x2

With 23 Maneuvers, you know this is, by design, an aggressive deck. A drawback to using solely Extremes is that the 0F maneuvers do not deal a lot of damage, so they do not provide a lot of Fortitude. They also can be reversed easily in All Axxess with Elbow to the Face and Clumsy Opponent. Since this would be my first Extreme deck, I figured I’d run with it to see how I fair. If you are able to generate 2F in your Pre-match, like I said before, you are only one Elbow to the Face away from unleashing those Extreme: Mean (Rev) Spinning Crescent Kicks from my Backlash deck. If you can get one of those to stick, you have all the Fortitude you need for your entire deck except the two (Rev) Drive Opponent Through Announcer's Tables. Though it is a Follow-up: Maneuver, if you sneak out an Extreme: Core, (Rev) Flying Topé, an Extreme: Mean, played right after will bridge you right into (Rev) Electric Chair, an Extreme: Colossal. Also, a star of the deck will be (Rev) Struck by a Kendo Stick. With its ability to put itself back in your hand if your opponent reverses it out of Arsenal, this card is ready to dish out punishment every turn if you need it.

Actions: 6
And the Crowd Roars x3
That's Broken x3

And the Crowd Roars, while themselves are multi actions, will make my Extremes multi. At 6F, I can play this card and play the (Rev) Spinning Crescent Kicks waiting in my Backlash deck right after.
That’s Broken, which are more multi actions, serves to find cards for me as I need them. This also has a second benefit as it shuffles my Arsenal for me, lifting those Extremes sitting on the bottom of my Arsenal from my ability closer to the top.

Antics: 6
(Rev) Shock the World x3
(Rev) A Spirited Turn of Events x3

Momentum will be seen in a lot of Revolution 2 era decks, and this one is no exception. (Rev) Shock the Worlds are here for a quick Fortitude burst early in the game, making early Extremes hard to reverse.
(Rev) A Spirited Turn of Events is a bit expensive at 15F for just having your opponent turn over 6 cards, but if you lost the use of Hell in a Cell, this card will give you the ability to put back 9 non-Extreme cards on the bottom of your Arsenal keeping you in the game longer.

Reversals: 25
Revolution of the Mind x3
The Return BASH for Scotty's W-O-R-M x3
Elbow to the Face x3
It's Great to be Back Here In... x3
Hold the Phone x3
The Coach Says, "Today's the Day!" x2
(Rev) Why Don't You Kiss My A%$? x3
(Rev) Overexposure x2
Don't Try This at Home x2
Ariel's Augural Affection

When Revolution was introduces, it brought with it 5 new maneuver types. When looking at reversals, you want them to cover as many cards as possible. The Return BASH for Scotty's W-O-R-M covers a large amount of cards, as does Hold the Phone. Elbow to the Face will block many early game maneuvers, Revolution of the Mind covers Strikes, Grapples and Submissions, and (Rev) Overexposure covers Assault, Throw and Hold mid game. The Coach Says, “Today’s the Day” covers anything coming out of the Backlash, and It’s Great to be Back Here In… covers any card that says “Can only be reversed by.” Lastly we have (Rev) Why Don't You Kiss My A%$? for Antics and Don’t Try This at Home for ACEs. With this batch of cards, I have something for just about everything. Even though they may not always be in my hand, they are in the deck to stop incoming damage. Remember, I also have Sustained Damage in the Backlash if I have nothing else to slow down damage.

Revolution has introduced an era where you will not have every reversal you need in your hand at all times. With only 25 slots for reversals in my Arsenal, each card has to do the work of many. This is why I chose these reversals; each one reverses a large area of cards. The reason I even have BASH cards at all is because I knew I was not going to run anything I couldn’t pack if I have BASH cards. The Return BASH for Scotty's W-O-R-M stops so many cards, and at the low cost of 0F, if I’m not packing Face, Heel, Smackdown, Raw, Chain, Heat or Volley, there’s really no point in not packing it.

So this incarnation of Kevin Thorn is a very aggressive deck with 23 Extremes in the Arsenal that can quickly get you to the Colossal range of Extremes. If necessary, it can slow play while you try to get started maneuver wise using his ability and Hell in a Cell to slowly deprive your opponent’s Arsenal of cards.
If you like this deck, when Revolution 2 comes out put it together and play it. Tweak it until it fits your game play and have fun with it.

‘Til next time,
Eric “BigEasyE” Norris

I am a Raw Deal player for 7 years after buying a HHH deck for myself and Stone Cold Steve Austin Deck for my brother when my old hobby store didn’t have the Undertaker. I have managed my own area of Bridgewater, MA for about 6 years now.

Funk-y idea
If you are still with me after this long article, I might as well add a little Easter Egg. I was thinking about Terry Funk and how his only drawback is that small 5 card starting hand size. So after much thought, about 20 seconds worth, I came up with a Pre-match that will not only net him three cards, but three cards of choice and another added benefit. This set-up will not only help Terry Funk but any Superstar with a Superstar Value higher than 2 to get cards into a small starting hand size. And it’s just crazy enough for Funk to do it. Enjoy.
(Rev) Underestimate the Competition
(Rev) Dressed for Success x3
Restart the Match