John Cena
by Guy “Bill” Gamble
Revolution

With the release of Revolution 3: Judgment Day, I thought it was time to take another look at, as good ol’ JR would put it, “the most controversial man in sports entertainment,” John Cena. Instead of packing his Storyline as an afterthought, or meta-option, or not at all, I wanted to come up with a build that centers on it. I also think that he has some of the best card support of all the Revolution superstars, but gets overlooked sometimes because of players’ personal attitudes towards his ring persona.

BACKLASH

Pre-match (6):

Doctor Of Thuganomics x1
Even Good Guys (and/or “Bills”) Do Bad Things x1
Man of 1000 Moves x1
Ring Psychology: Assault x2
Tomorrow’s WWE Legends x1

Strategy Notes: Your typical pre-match would be to play your faction, your psyches, 1000 Moves, Good Guys/Bad Things and your storyline in that order, allowing you to play out your entire pre-match. Playing Tomorrow’s Legends first allows you take full advantage of its drawing ability, as many of the higher superstars will be playing corner cards before playing any titles, and any lower superstar will be playing theirs afterwards anyway. This, coupled with Even Good Guys Do Bad Things and Doctor of Thuganomics, should ensure that you always have plenty of cards in hand. Not only that, but the bonus text on all your faction cards will be active from the start of the match. If someone chooses to Judgment Day you, RP: Assault would still hit the Ring. Search for Scissors Hold if you get Man of 1000 Moves down, as this should give you a maneuver to keep swinging at your opponent until it sticks.

Mid-match (6):

Caution: You’re Entering The O-Zone x1
I Can Do Anything I Want x1
Keep Your Eyes Open Or It’s Game Over x1
Knock Your Shell Off x1
Spinning Kick x1
Talk Is Cheap x1

Strategy Notes: There are mostly reversals in this Backlash, just to keep your opponent from running away with the match. You also have one core and one mean maneuver to throw for your ability, so if they get reversed, it will only add to your hand size. Since the deck is low on antics, Talk is Cheap is an easy inclusion. Everything here is also very economical, with nothing costing more than F: 8, which is one of the themes of the deck.

ARSENAL

Superstar Specifics (7):

Chain Gang Headlock x1
Freestyle Shoulder Block x1
I’m Tougher Than Nails x1
The Marine Slam x1
The STFU x1
The Untouchable F-U x1
You Hear Those Horns? You’re Finished x1

Strategy Notes: I’m Tougher Than Nails is one of the biggest jaw droppers in the entire game. Beyond that, there are a couple of Trademark means to here to fuel your ability. With the exception of the F-U, what all of them lack in reversal power, they make up for in cost effectiveness and hand manipulation abilities.

Antics (4):

Live Fast- Fight Hard x1
Look Under The Ring x3

Strategy Notes: The maneuvers in this deck, coupled with your ability, should give you enough ways to manipulate your ringside and/or cycle through your deck. Look Under the Ring lets your grab anything you otherwise can’t.

Antic-Reversal Hybrids (4):

Hail To The Chairman x3
Settle The Score x1

Strategy Notes: Since you will always be using your Storyline, this card gives you a cheap way to reverse any non-unique antic. It won’t usually get played as an antic, but if you’re facing a deck that doesn’t use non-unique antics or you just need to reset your hand, it can do that too. Settle The Score helps keep you from being overwhelmed by any extreme-heavy build.

Maneuvers (23):

Ankle Torque x2
Bulldog Lariat x2
Chop Block x3
Edge FX x1
Elbow Smash x3
Pretzel Jerk x2
Scissors Hold x3
Short Arm Rib Breaker x2
Standing Dragon Sleeper x2
Strangle Hold x3

Strategy Notes: Finally we get to the heart of the deck. All of the core maneuvers can be recovered from your Ringside, so you can pick one up to throw, or even better, to discard to one of the abilities of your means like Ankle Torque or Short Arm Rib Breaker. Hitting these cards should swing the game heavily in your favor. Combine that
with your ability and RP: Assault, and you should have no problem finding what you need to put away your opponent. Having the Edge FX ever at the ready is nice too, as it fits in perfectly with the overall theme of the deck.

Maneuver-Reversal Hybrids (3):

Only One Solution: Revolution x3

Strategy Notes: As if these weren’t good enough on their own, RP: Assault makes them even sweeter. They can also be discard to your mean maneuvers’ abilities, if the need arises.

Reversals (19):

Inertia x1
I Won’t Be Beat Tonight x2
Masochist At Heart x1
Never Think Twice x2
Not What We Came To See x1
Off Your Mark x2
Outmaneuver x2
The Second Solution x3
Try To Get Away x2
Welcome To My World x2
You Telegraphed That One x1

Strategy Notes: I’m definitely of the thinking that diversifying your reversal base with fewer copies of certain cards gives you a much stronger overall defense. For that reason, I chose to go with The Second Solution over the standard hybrids, even though they quite possibly fit better with Cena’s ability. Also, with the heavy amount of Ringside manipulation in the deck, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get back maneuvers lost to cards like I Won’t Be Beat and Try To Get Away. Off Your Mark is, to me, the sleeper card of the set, as it fills a gap in the other constructed formats as well.

Final Notes: This deck should be pretty solid and straightforward to run. No matter if you’re ahead or behind in the game, you should always have plenty of cards in hand and plenty of maneuvers to swing at your opponent. Who knows? Maybe few a beatdowns later, all those haters out there will take notice, and recognize… The Champ Is Here!