[Revolution] Edge
Afterburn
by Cody Lentz

BACKSTAGE (3)

<Raw Deal logo> Fifth Anniversary x1
<WWE logo> Backstage Signature x1
<WWE logo> Backstage Signing Appearance x1

Strategy Notes: What you play out of these comes down to your situation. The deck can be undercut early if you have both the lower superstar value and your opponent manages to play “Backstage Shenanigans” thus it’s probably a good idea to reveal only one of these.

BACKLASH (20)

Pre-match (10)

All Together Now x1
Denville, New Jersey x1
Luck of the Draw x2
Managed by Lita x1
Pyrotechnic Volley x1
Restart the Match x1
Unrelenting Assault x2
<WWE Logo> Championship Belt x1

Strategy Notes: This is where the cool t3ch style idea I had for the deck comes in. I’ve been attempting to work with volley a lot lately because in my area at least it has a reputation for being a notoriously weak build. Simply put I looked at “All Together Now”, I built a variety of volley decks, all of whom failed, but they failed largely due to one problem… they had trouble maintaining a hand size. Then I read over “All Together Now” a bit more carefully and this is the line that stood out the most, “You may also pack Mid-match Superstar-specific and Reversal cards.” I had been playing Edge recently and in respect to him I was mulling over the idea of building a deck capable of playing more pre-match than it was legal to pack thanks to cards such as, “Big Slide Into the Ring”, “Backstage Shenanigans”, and “For the Love of The Game”. That’s when Divine Intervention (I love Raw Deal puns) occurred and I realized that combining my two ideas could create a strong volley build with the capability of generating a fairly enormous starting hand. So ideally the pre-match will work like so:

Denville, New Jersey (It works with All Together and you’ll be playing mostly volley)

Managed by Lita (You’ll be generating a large enough hand to utilize her during the pre-match and she’ll help you maintain that hand in game)

<WWE Logo> Championship Belt (It’ll help you reach in and fetch either an “Ap Chaki Kick” or a “Volley This!”)

Luck of the Draw x2 (Ah yes, the poor mans equivalent of “Vince McMahon, Guest Ring Announcer” this will protect you from early search, and from Andre’s “Giant Head Butt”)

Unrelenting Assault x2(Watch those simple “Ap Chaki Kick” become marvels of volley power with a volley: 11)

Pyrotechnic Volley (If your resolving pre-match second you should choose to utilize your search and this to gain hand knowledge and possibly the advantage, most decks outside of Revo are based off some fortitude jumping start, if your able to pick apart the hand it can ruin your opponents whole opening strategy)

Restart the Match (If your opponent is anyone who does a lot of pre-match searching like RVD or Mr. PPV you’ll more than likely want to utilize this over your own searching)

Big Slide Into the Ring x3 (+6 Hand Size, Enough said)

Mid-match (10)

Big Slide Into the Ring x3
Change in Programming x1
Fortitude Surge x1
Restricted Use in This Area x1
[Revolution] Sex & Violence x1
Sustained Damage x1
You’re as Graceful as a Cow on Ice x1
You Think You Know Me x1

Strategy Notes: Here we go back to the simple approach. The “Big Slide Into the Ring” are using the mid-match merely as a container to be legally packed with “All Together Now”. The rest are pretty standard defensive cards. [Revolution] Sex & Violence can be utilized in a variety of ways but I prefer holding it until I get to about 20 fortitude then using it to search out an “Edge’s Running Spear” that can be easily played during your opponents turn with the help of “[Revolution] Double Your Value — Double Your Fun”.

ARSENAL (60)

Actions (7)

Love-Fury-Passion-Energy x1
Sodas Rule! x1
So Much Larger Than Life x3
That's How I Roll x1
Your Brush with Greatness is Over (TB) x1

Strategy Notes: Pretty straightforward once again. “Your Brush with Greatness is Over” is a great early game recovery card due to the fact that it’s wording allows you to place it into your ringside pile and shuffle it back in with four other cards while allowing you the added benefit of messing with your opponents draw. “So Much Larger Than Life” can be utilized to deliver some truly vicious volley maneuvers. “Sodas Rule!” will be one of your primary recovery cards and definitely a card to consider when choosing what to put in your ringside pile with “Your Brush with Greatness is Over”.

Antics (5)

[Revolution] Double Your Value — Double Your Fun x3
[Revolution] Everything Has Come to Life x1
[Revolution] Leave It All Behind x1

Strategy Notes: Once again very simple. The “[Revolution] Double Your Value — Double Your Fun” are in the deck to help your build up an early fortitude amount that’s reasonable. It’s not entirely uncharacteristic for volley decks to land one maneuver and then be prevented from landing further maneuvers those will help you climb up to a reasonable enough value to begin throwing superstar specific maneuvers… or maybe just playing them as reversals (can’t stress enough how toolbox Edge’s specific maneuvers are, strike reversal for 25 damage, submission reversal for 20 damage, grapple reversal for 15 damage, momentum reversal for 25 damage, and let’s not forget a high fortitude any card reversal for 10 damage).

Maneuvers (18)

Ap Chaki Kick x2
Flurry of Strikes x2
[Revolution] Edge Clipper x1
[Revolution] Edge’s Missile Drop Kick x1
[Revolution] Edge-ucator x1
[Revolution] The Rated R Spear x1
Straight Clothesline x3
Straight Head Butt x3
The Maneuver of Doom x1
The Ol’ Straight-Arm Shot x3

Strategy Notes: It’s ideal to start out with “Ap Chaki Kick” or “Straight Clothesline” but “[Revolution] Edge Clipper” is a strong back up in case those two fail. After you’ve gotten a few cards into your ringside “The Ol’ Straight-Arm Shot” can be incredibly overpowered. “[Revolution] The Rated R Spear” is typically going to be your game ender, presuming you’ve pushed through their arsenal enough to root out any momentum reversals.

Reversals (30)

A Revolution of the Mind x3
Armageddon x1
Don't Try This at Home x2
Downward Spiral x1
Edge-acution x1
Edge-O-Matic x1
Edge's Running Spear x2
Elbow to the Face x2
It's Great To Be Back Here x2
Once is Enough x2
[Revolution] On This Day I See Clearly x1
Scream If You Want It x1
Sidewalk Slam x1
Sloppy ... Very Sloppy x3
The Rated R Superstar x2
Volleyed Beyond the Edge x2
Volley This! x2
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man x2

Strategy Notes: Well here’s the toolbox. Edge’s specifics along with a fairly basic face reversal set should provide optimal conditions for controlling your opponent. The only t3ch to the reversal set is the “You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man”. These cards are excellent for returning either “So Much Larger Than Life” or a fan-favorite volley maneuver to your hand.

Any Final Strategy Notes / Insights: Hmm… not sure what needs to be said here… thought I had something planne… oh yeah. Edge is a perfect fit for volley, after all Edge is unrelenting. Besides I’m one of those people who believes that when they print cards that reference a superstar it’s good ‘ol CI’s way of hinting that there is in fact a powerful build to be had by utilizing said card in said superstar, hence “Volleyed Beyond the Edge”. Of course this has absolutely nothing to do with the WWE conspiracy to break up every tag team to be printed in Raw Deal… who are you calling paranoid?

Well enough of the mind games we’ll leave those to Mick. I hope you all enjoy reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me at fenix_ink@yahoo.com