Underplayed: [Revolution] Roll Through
by Ryan “The GOAT” O’Donnell

Ladies and gents, this will be my last Underplayed article during the Revolution 2: Extreme era. I hope to continue writing these articles into the Revolution 3: Judgment Day era and provided all of you with more insight into cards you may easily dismiss. For this final installment, I’ve chosen a card which initially excited me when I first looked at the spoilers for Revolution 2: Extreme, but have yet to have a chance to play in this era: [Revolution] Roll Through. As always, lets take a look at the card:

51/130
Roll Through
Reversal: non-Core non-Follow-up Hold
If the reversed card is Mean: discard 3 cards.
If the reversed card is Colossal: put cards of D:1 or greater from your Ring into your Ringside until you have removed at least D:3.
F:3 D:0

Coming off of the heels of Revolution, [Revolution] Roll Through was a slight deviation from the pattern of Reversals started in the previous set. While most reversals targeted either Means or Colossals, not both, and covered all maneuver types, [Revolution] Roll Through offered players a way to specifically defend against Holds of the Mean and Colossal variety. Paired with its counterparts [Revolution] Clean Break and [Revolution] Instinctive Reflexes, players were given a new way to look at reversals in Revolution format.

Why doesn’t it see play?

While offering some flexibility in Reversals, there are some major drawbacks to [Revolution] Roll Through.

First, it will only reverse Holds, which may not seem terrible to those of us who play All Axxess and Afterburn, but in Revolution format, many reversals exist which reverse all five maneuver types, and packing a reversal which will only reverse one maneuver type seems sub-par.

Second, playing multitudes of Core maneuvers is a popular strategy in Revolution format right now, and [Revolution] Roll Through will not reverse Core maneuvers.

Third, while Follow-up Holds may not be very popular, [Revolution] Roll Through won’t reverse any that you opponent decides to play. While this may not seem like an incredibly large drawback, [Revolution] Indian Death Lock sees a considerable amount of play.

Lastly, there is the issue of dealing with the drawbacks outlined specifically in the card text. Reversing a Mean Hold requires you to discard 3 cards, one more than [Revolution] Try to Get Away for one less Fortitude. Discarding 3 cards can be devastating if your hand becomes depleted and you don’t have a maneuver to play during your turn. Reversing a Colossal Hold requires you to remove F:3 from your Ring. While I Won’t Be Beat Tonight requires the slightly larger task of D:4, it doesn’t reduce your Fortitude to zero if you have just enough to play it.

Will it ever be more popular?

With the release of Revolution 3: Judgment Day, the popularity of Mean maneuvers will undoubtedly increase. As such, the value of a card that will reverse Mean and Colossal maneuvers increases as well. I wouldn’t suspect that [Revolution] Roll Through will show up in every deck, nor do I expect that it will appear in triplicate if people do choose to make use of this card, though it should gain popularity with the release of the new set.

How do I make the most out of this card?

[Revolution] Roll Through is ultimately a card aimed at stopping decks like CM Punk who thrive off of playing many Holds against their opponent until they are completely out of reversals. In many cases, preparing for all maneuver types is the most difficult task in Raw Deal. However, a superstar like CM Punk will have a much harder time if his opponent is packing [Revolution] Roll Through in addition to [Revolution] Try to Get Away, and other reversals aimed at reversing multiple maneuver types.

Similar arguments could be made for including cards like [Revolution] Clean Break to deal with [Revolution] Batista or [Revolution] Instinctive Reflexes to deal with Sabu.

Ultimately the choice rests with you, the player. If you often find yourself on the wrong end of strings of Holds, [Revolution] Roll Through might be a good idea in your Arsenal.

Why should I play it?

Aside from being able to reverse both Mean and Colossal maneuvers, [Revolution] Roll Through has the lowest Fortitude cost of any non-superstar specific Reversal to Colossal maneuvers (along with [Revolution] Clean Break and [Revolution] Instinctive Reflexes), aside from Masochist at Heart, which will only work when overturned while applying damage.

What this means is, that while playing in Revolution format you have a way of stopping your opponent from playing a Colossal against you as early as F:3, as opposed to the F:7 needed for [Revolution] I Won’t Be Beat Tonight and the F:8 needed for [Revolution] I Can Do Anything I Want.

As I’ve mentioned several times throughout the course of this article, this card has the uncommon ability to reverse both Mean and Colossal maneuver, a truly valuable asset in any format.

As a companion to cards like [Revolution] Try to Get Away and [Revolution] I Won’t Be Beat Tonight, you can utilize [Revolution] Roll Through to develop an incredibly solid defense against Mean and Colossal Holds, with the potential of preventing your opponent from successfully playing any against you.

What superstar should I play it in?

In Revolution format, this card is equally useful in anyone looking to stop their opponents’ Holds.

[Revolution] Triple H and any other superstar who may pack his cards in All Axxess and Afterburn may want to consider this card as a supplement to the already powerful [Revolution] Bow Before the Throne.

Like many of the Mean Reversals in Revolution and its subsequent expansions, this card is a great friend to Edge & Christian. Utilizing their ability, reversing Mean Holds becomes one of their favorite things to do.

This card may be useful in any superstar who would want to play large number of Throws against their opponent. Since the hybrid F:0 Throw Cores from Revolution reverse Assaults and not Holds, players may find themselves having a harder time dealing with a deck that plays a large number of Holds. This offers one possible solution to offset that issue.

Thanks for taking the time to read my article. I hope you got something out of it, just as always. The next time I write an Underplayed article, we’ll be playing in the Revolution 3: Judgment Day era and I’ll have 206 new cards to write about!