Underplayed: [Revolution] Headed for a Fall
by Ryan “The GOAT” O’Donnell

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages; Comicimages.com proudly brings to you its newest strategy article; the third edition of Underplayed! And if you’re not down with that, we’ve got two words for ya!

Actually, I’ve got more like 5 words for ya’ll: [Revolution] Headed for a Fall. That’s our topic of discussion today. This is the first card I’ve selected from Revolution 2: Extreme and I think it’s been well worth the wait. Sporting one of the coolest effects of all Revolution cards to date, this Uncommon Antic is, well, uncommonly awesome!

So, as they say North of my border, “Welcome to Raw Deal”…err, more like welcome to Raw Deal Revolution or welcome to Underplayed. Meh, whatever, lets just get on with it…

Here’s the card text, just in case anyone is still kickin’ it old school with dial-up and doesn’t want to have to take 45 minutes loading the spoiler page from Revolution 2:

Headed for a Fall
Antic
Requirement: 6 Target “head” in your Ring
Look at your opponent’s hand and choose up to 3 cards: he discards them.
F:16 D:0

Let’s break ‘er down, shall we?

Why doesn’t it see play?

I would hope by now you know what I’m going to address first. So lets take a look at the numbers. At F:16, we’re asked to pay a hefty price for this Antic. And how about that Requirement? Whoa! We need 6 target “head” out to play this card. If you’re anything like me, which I bet you are because you’re a Raw Deal player and you’re reading a strategy article on Comicimages.com, you probably passed over this card when you first read it.

Seriously though, 16 Fortitude is very expensive for an Antic, especially because in Revolution format if you plan to reverse your opponent’s Colossal maneuvers from anywhere other than your arsenal, you are probably continually removing Fortitude from your Ring.

The Requirement gives us exactly the same issue. While trying to dodge huge maneuvers being thrown our way, we have to get out 6 different maneuvers targeting our opponent’s head.

When talking about All Axxess and Afterburn, this becomes a slightly different problem. While keeping Fortitude on the board might not be as troublesome in those formats, we are still presented with the bigger challenge of meeting the Requirement. As opposed to Revolution, not every maneuver even has a target printed on it, requiring us to stick to purely maneuvers from Revolution 1 and 2 to get 6 target “head” maneuvers into our Ring Area.

Will it ever be more popular?

Honestly, this card is one that is just like a fine wine, it will only get better with age.

As more maneuvers are produced with target “head” and more reversals are produced allowing players to have alternatives to nuking their Fortitude, this card will skyrocket in popularity in Revolution.

In Afterburn and All Axxess, as more maneuvers are made with targets, they will make up a larger percentage of the total available pool of maneuvers and thus will give us more options, which I suspect many people will take.

How do I make the most out of this card?

Once you get past the Fortitude cost and the Requirement, this card is straight forward, nasty, and devastating. No matter how you cut it, looking at your opponent’s Hand and plucking 3 cards out can cripple your opponent in a number of ways.

Obviously, the first choice is to take Reversal cards out of his hand, clearing the way for whichever maneuver you were going to play next.

However, you could also take out the maneuvers in his hand that he is able to play, which can be especially detrimental to him in Revolution format, as he’ll probably fall victim to the Aggression rule. Even in All Axxess and Afterburn though, taking your opponent’s Maneuvers away leaves him a sitting duck, unable to do anything offensive and you plow your way through his Arsenal.

Of course, the final strategy would be to take away your opponent’s Antics (or Actions in All Axxess and Afterburn), forcing him to walk into any number of damaging Maneuver Reversals you might be holding onto. In Revolution format, your opponent’s choice becomes either attempting to play a maneuver and allow you to play your damaging Reversals, or sit back and overturn 6 cards every turn. Either way, you’re probably pretty happy.

Why should I play it?

Take it from a veteran Raw Deal player: Discard is king. If you take your opponent’s Hand out of the equation, you’re already halfway to a victory. This particular card is even more potent than mass discard, because it allows you to pick specifically what you don’t want your opponent to have in his Hand.

In Revolution format, there are many less options available to recover from having one’s hand depleted. Once you have left your opponent’s hand a barren wasteland, it is likely to stay that way for some time.

In Afterburn and All Axxess, while cards like That’s Broken, Offer Handshake, and Don’t Hate da Playa, Hate da Game may counteract your strategy, you are still gaining a significant advantage by choosing cards out of your opponent’s hand that he must discard.

What superstar should I play it in?

That’s really a hard question to ask in this case. This card has potential with virtually every superstar in every format.

I suppose the only two superstars who could really abuse this card are [Revolution] Randy Orton and [Revolution] Edge because of their obvious synergy with Antics through their Superstar Abilities.

Conversely, a few superstars may have a harder time getting to play this card than others, particularly in All Axxess and Afterburn. Superstars like Torrie Wilson, Trish Stratus, Nidia, Mae Young, and The Fabulous Moolah may have a harder time getting to F:16 and getting 6 target “head” maneuvers into their Ring due to restrictions on the types of Maneuvers they can play.

What other cards should I play?

[Revolution] Headed for a Fall is a great card to support an overall discard (commonly known as hand control) strategy.

In Revolution format, [Revolution] Forget the History is an excellent choice, and could be very powerful if played right before our card in question.

When talking about Afterburn and All Axxess, cards like Spit at Opponent, A Few Heel Men, Commission-er Rules!, Brave H, and You’re Not in My League compliment [Revolution] Headed for a Fall and when paired together create a very overwhelming amount of discard.

Then, of course, we would be foolish not to include [Revolution] Ring Psychology: Head in any deck looking to make use of [Revolution] Headed for a Fall. The combination should be obvious to anyone who has read the cards. Continuing with the discard theme, [Revolution] Ring Psychology: Head forces your opponent to discard 2 cards for playing a Throw once you have 6 target “head” in your Ring. OUCH!

In Revolution format, that stings even more, as [Revolution] Full Nelson Slam is much easier to retrieve from one’s ringside than its two counterparts [Revolution] Double Leg Lock Crab and [Revolution] Spinning Drop Kick. Unfortunately, it happens to be a Throw, making the player discard 2 cards if [Revolution] Ring Psychology: Head is in play and active.

A powerful card, with great potential, that it not particularly easy to play. Gee, I guess I could have wrote one sentence and been done with it. I hope someone out there was inspired by my musings today. I hope you all find room to squeeze [Revolution] Headed for a Fall into your next deck, and if you do, please don’t play against me…’cause I hate playing against discard decks!