The Great Khali
by Guy “Bill” Gamble
Revolution

In this article, I wanted to take a look at one of the oddest Storyline cards yet released in any of the Revolution sets: The Great Khali’s Tiger Tamer.

183/206 (ULTRA RARE – FOIL – The Great Khali)
Tiger Tamer
Pre-match: Storyline
Draw 2 cards.
New Superstar Ability:
You cannot play non-Unique F:0 Reversals from your hand.
Once during each of your turns, you may discard 1 Reversal: put up to 2 non-Uniques from your Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal.
Unique

Not only is this card somewhat antithetical to many of the other Revolution superstar abilities (mostly maneuver based and aggressive), it is also the complete opposite of The Great Khali’s regular ability, and thus demands an entirely different build than you will see in most Revolution decks. Instead of trying to land big maneuvers faster than your opponent, as well as reverse them with equally painful results, this deck, like many of the classic sponge decks in All Axxess, is going to reverse mostly from the arsenal and grind it’s opponent to death with antics.

BACKLASH (12)

Pre-Match (6):

A New Plan x1
Judgment Day x1
Taunt You All I Want x1
Theodore Long Is In My Corner x1
Tiger Tamer x1
Underestimate The Competition x1

Strategy Notes: Tiger Tamer is the only absolutely necessary pre-match card here. Underestimate The Competition and Taunt You All I Want are probably the next most important cards, since they will keep you from having to overturn any extra cards from the aggression rule or your opponent’s reversals. Since we are running a Storyline deck, Judgment Day can easily, and effectively, be the first card played if you are facing a Man Of 1000 Moves or Hardcore Hell deck. Not being able to play reversals from your hand to start the game means the contents of that hand are not as important as it may be for other superstars, but A New Plan is still available if things look unusually troubling.

Mid-Match (6):

Before This Gets Out Of Hand x1
I Can Do Anything I Want x1
Keep Your Eyes Open Or It’s Game Over x1
Take It And Like It x2
Talk Is Cheap x1

Strategy Notes: There is a heavy compliment of reversals to make up for the limitations placed on reversing from our hand. This deck will often be behind in fortitude, but since it is an antic based deck, you should still exercise caution when using Talk Is Cheap. Two copies of Take It And Like It will help us get enough fortitude on the board to execute our combo, usually with the help of a copy of Scissors Hold or Elbow Smash picked up from our Ringside.

ARSENAL (60)

Superstar Specific (8):

Arms Raised In Triumph x1
The Earth Trembles Before My Gaze x1
Hand Of Fate x1
Indian Choke Drop x1
Khali’s Big Boot x1
Pinned… By One Foot x1
Punjabi Warrior x1
Stare Into The Abyss x1

Strategy Notes: Khali’s two reversals, Arms Raised in Triumph and Punjabi Warrior, are great cards that are very critical to keeping this deck from getting steamrolled. The rest of his specifics aren’t really important to this deck, but are still included in case you may want or need to change gears and try to beat your opponent with your maneuvers.

Antics (10):

Ashley’s An Awesome Asset x3
Look Under The Ring x2
Shock The World x2
You’re Fired, Playa x3

Strategy Notes: Ashley’s An Awesome Asset is going to be the one card that is sure to irritate the bejeezus out of your opponent, and once you get into range to play it, you shouldn’t need to push your fortitude any higher in order to win your matches. You’re Fired, Playa fills the role of reusable recovery that Iron Will would have in a classic All Axxess deck. The other antics here can help you make your opponent overturn once you’ve got Ashley in the Ring, but they are really only support cards in the overall scheme of the deck.

Antic-Maneuver Hybrids (6):

Slam x3
Suplex x3

Strategy Notes: As maneuvers, these cards are only here to get your initial fortitude on the board and avoid the overturning cards from the aggression rule. As antics, they both get discarded to the Ringside when played, which means you could theoretically get unlimited use out of both. Suplex allows you to recover two non-uniques, while Slam let’s you pick up a copy of Suplex from your Ringside.

Antic-Reversal Hybrids (9):

Centered Defense x2
Head To Toe Defense x2
Lateral Flank Defense x2
Hail To The Chairman x3

Strategy Notes: Hail To The Chairman is another key card in this deck that will allow you to play your antics freely each turn without having to overturn cards to the aggression rule. The low fortitude cost and storyline synergy make it perfect for this build. The various Defense cards are easy inclusions as reversals since collectively they cover every maneuver in the format, but as antics they can be just as important as they give you some ability to end your opponent’s turn if you’re stuck at F:0.

Maneuvers (8):

Double Leg Lock Crab x2
Elbow Smash x3
Scissors Hold x3

Strategy Notes: All of these maneuvers can be picked up from the Ringside, which means that, not only can we get away with packing fewer maneuvers altogether, we should be able to have something to throw each turn until we can get our combo down. Double Leg Lock Crab isn’t in here to be used as a maneuver so much as it is simply a “free” card to pick up and discard for our ability each turn.

Maneuver-Reversal Hybrids (0):

Reversals (19):

Masochist At Heart x2
Never Think Twice x2
Outmaneuver x2
Overexposure x3
The Second Solution x3
Try To Get Away x2
Welcome To My World x3
You Telegraphed It x2

Strategy Notes: Reversals that work on the overturn, like Masochist At Heart and Overexposure, the will make it very difficult for most decks to beat us with maneuvers once we get to our desired fortitude rating. In fact, of the reversals listed here, only Welcome To My World should even be played to the Ring in any circumstance. This will allow us to “lock” our opponent’s maneuvers in their Ring, while we continuously play our antics over and over, until they have overturned their entire Arsenal. Even though it can’t be played from our hand, The Second Solution is still in here to protect us against any core based superstars.

Final Notes: Because it requires a player to make critical decisions each turn and is sure to get hit by anything and everything during the first couple of turns, this deck is definitely not recommended for novices. Besides, it would probably be more likely to bore the pants off of anyone that was new to the game and leave them saying, “I don’t get it.” To older players like myself, though, its should be a welcome sign that the so-called “flavor” that had been previously absent in Revolution has arrived, and that it’s a sign there is more of the diversity we had come to enjoy in Afterburn and All Axxess on the way.