Underplayed: [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep
by Ryan “The GOAT” O’Donnell

Welcome back to the second edition of Underplayed. Today’s article highlights another card from the inaugural set of Raw Deal Revolution, [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep. Let’s take a look at the text of the card in question:

Russian Leg Sweep
Throw: Core
Put up to 1 Mid-match from your Ringside into your Backlash.
back
F:3 D:4

Not an obvious choice for any deck, regardless of the format you choose to play, but [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep has a fantastic benefit for those who make use of it.

Despite benefits galore in Revolution 1 for playing non-F:0 Cores, [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep and many of its compatriots have seen little play in any format. While Cores offer good effects and reasonable Fortitude costs, the reversals to Cores are the most widely played and deal the most damage.

Why doesn’t it see play?

In Revolution format, getting Fortitude is relatively easy if you have the right assortment of hybrid Cores in your hand and your opponent has little choice aside from blindly throwing F:0 maneuvers until one goes through. That means that [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep at F:3 is easily passed over for maneuvers that deal more damage, despite a higher Fortitude cost.

In All Axxess and Afterburn, playing a maneuver of D:7 or less is still a less than fantastic idea, considering that Elbow to the Face sees play in triplicate in virtually every deck. Add to that the fact that [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep is not an F:0 maneuver and still falls victim to Elbow to the Face and the card is easily dismissed.

Will it ever be more popular?

Like many cards that have come and gone through the past seven years, this card has selective use. I doubt it will ever become a staple in any deck design, but I hope that once players realize the utility of this particular card it will enjoy some increased circulation.

How do I make the most out of this card?

The beauty of [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep is that it has distinct benefits in the Revolution format and some entirely different applications in All Axxess and still some varying utility in Afterburn.

In Revolution format, this is one of only two cards that will allow you to return Mid-match cards to your Backlash (the other being [Revolution] Windmill Punch). While at first this may not seem like a particularly powerful effect, I would say that returning Mid-match cards to your Backlash can easily make the difference between winning and losing a particular match-up.

There are seven different superstars of the sixteen available in Revolution format who have a superstar-specific non-Reversal Mid-match card. All of those cards are powerful and have great benefits for people who play them. The downside, of course, is that if they are reversed, they are usually gone for the game. [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep solves this problem for us. By putting back cards like [Revolution] Feel your Fear or [Revolution] I Do It For My People, we can tip the scales back in our favor.

Aside from those seven superstars and their superstar-specific cards, there are many powerful Mid-match Antics and Mid-match Maneuvers available to all superstars. Returning your Mid-match cards that have been reversed not only allows you to play them again, but forces your opponent to deal with them again.

In Afterburn, there are several Mid-match cards which either resolve to your Ringside Pile or can end up in your Ringside Pile after using an Activated Card Effect. A few cards that specifically come to mind are The Road to Victory and Ready to Fight. While both cards are very useful and worth packing even without [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep, their relative utility increases when they can be used multiple times in a single match.

In All Axxess, [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep can be very helpful if your opponent has decided to play It’s All About the Game. Often, your opponent has planned to play out the match against an opponent who has no access to his Mid-match cards, and [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep can throw a wrench in your opponent’s plans. Conversely, when paired with The Coach Says “Today’s the Day!” this card can be a sneaky way to retrieve your own Mid-match cards if you choose to play It’s All About the Game.

Why should I play it?

In Revolution format, you can pair [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep with [Revolution] Hardcore Hell and play it with no chance of a reversal to easily grab back any number of powerful Mid-match cards. Sitting at F:3 and having a damage value of D:4, it also bridges nicely into our first non-Follow-up Means in the form of [Revolution] Knee Lift and [Revolution] Double Leg Lock Crab.

In Afterburn and All Axxess, the popular trend has been to pack the F:0/D:6 hyrbid Cores from Revolution 1, and no other reversals to Core Assaults, Holds, or Throws. What this means is that while you may have to fight against Elbow to the Face, you avoid the higher damage reversals to your Cores by playing a printed D:4 Core maneuver.

What superstar should I play it in?

The one superstar who can make the most use out of this card is Rey Mysterio, either the original or Revolution version, when he plays [Revolution] From Cruiserweight to Heavyweight Champion. Modifying this maneuver to be F:0 in any format increases its potency ten-fold.

The Right to Censor (yeah, that’s right I said The Right to Censor) can make incredible use out of this card in All Axxess (the only format which they are legal in consequently) by utilizing Censorship Match and naming Elbow to the Face. Since that is largely the most popular and prevalent reversal to [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep outside of Revolution format, it makes this card much harder to reverse. Additionally, The Right to Censor has an amazing Mid-match Reversal which I would really love to put back into my Backlash deck if I was forced to discard it.

What other cards should I play?

Obviously any one of the cards I named above are excellent to combine with [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep, including [Revolution] Hardcore Hell, Ready to Fight, The Road to Victory, and The Coach Says, “Today’s the Day!” There are however, a few more cards which can form a good pairing with [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep such as Lariat Takedown or Sucker Punch. You could even combine it with cards like Stagger, Turn the Tide, Turn Up the Heat, or [Revolution] Shock the World if you feel the need.

I hope this article gave you a little insight into a card which most of you probably dismissed as you were frantically opening packs of Revolution 1 digging for your Ultra Rares. Stay tuned to Comic Images for the next volume of Underplayed coming soon. In the mean time, go build some annoying deck and piss off your best friend by using [Revolution] Russian Leg Sweep to make him lose.