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[{"text":"Hello again, friends! This is your pal LRock, back again with another strategy article, this time focusing on an often-overlooked Main Character from Crossover 1: the illustrious Karen Starr, aka Power Girl!<br><br>First, let\u2019s have a look at her character card:"},{"image":[{"src":"pow377539power-gi.jpeg"},{"caption":""}]},{"text":"In all realism, there isn\u2019t a lot to her ability... at first glance. Much like Superman or the Beast Boy\/Alan Scott team, Karen\u2019s going to thrive the most when she can get her blue hands on some Super Powers from the lineup that aren\u2019t named Kick (though you will still want a Kick or two or three).<br><br>Here\u2019s the reason I\u2019m a fan of her ability: discard pile synergy. Being able to interact with my discard pile is one of my favorite things to do in any game involving cardboard, and DCDB is no different. Granted, she has a slight downside in that she\u2019s forced to keep some of her Punches, but that can be used to our advantage."},{"header":"key cards"},{"double":[{"src":"dar173917dark-sha.jpeg"},{"src":"gia533515giant-gr.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"tel21279telepath.jpeg"},{"src":"sha225613shapeshi.jpeg"}]},{"text":"In a lot of ways, this section can be considered a formality. Really, ANY non-Kick Super Powers are what you want to be going for, but I feel that it\u2019s important to showcase some of the better undercosted options that are available. Dark Shadow and Giant Growth are great 3-cost cards that just happen to cost 2, and Telepathy allows you to effectively get a free draw by discarding a Punch, even if you have an empty discard pile!<br><br>Shapeshift, however, is arguably going to be the best card in the entire cube for your Power Girl team. Why? Well, it\u2019s a non-Kick Super Power for one, but the more important reason: due to its unique naming property, it also counts as a Punch! So, if it\u2019s sitting in your discard pile, you can play a Super Power, return Shapeshift to your hand, then play the Shapeshift to return ANOTHER Punch to your hand! Can you taste the synergy yet?<br><br>Over the past couple of weeks, our local gaming group has come up with a few teams that have done an excellent job in exploiting her internal synergy with other characters. Let\u2019s break down some of her more successful offerings, shall we?"},{"header":"AQUAMAN (2) + BATGIRL (2) + POWER GIRL (2) "},{"double":[{"src":"aqu745214aquaman-.jpeg"},{"src":"bat869593batgirl-.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"pow865234power-gi.jpeg"},{"src":"car941402card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"I\u2019ll go ahead and formally apologize for not remembering the name of the user in our DCDB Discord server (https:\/\/discord.gg\/E7ZNeZP) that made mention of this team, but after trying it out, it\u2019s currently one of my favorite teams in the game, so kudos! This team has a similarity to the older (and currently-banned) team of Aquaman + Black Adam + Constantine (https:\/\/www.dcdeckbuilding.com\/article.php?id=10787), whose line was to farm the Kick stack for easy VP. This team takes a slight backseat to that since we will be adding Kicks to our deck, but the upside is that Power Girl will make plenty of use out of those over the long game.<br><br>Here's the line: on your first turn, you always want to buy a Super Power (duh), which is almost always going to be a Kick. If you only have three Punches in your opening hand, then that\u2019s probably all you\u2019ll get to do before you pass the turn; but if you\u2019re even luckier and have four Punches, then the sequence goes something like this:<br>"},{"list":[{"listType":"bullet"},{"caption":"Play three Punches"},{"caption":"Spend 3 Power, buy a Kick, put it on top of your deck (Aquaman)"},{"caption":"Discard your last Punch to draw the Kick (Batgirl)"},{"caption":"Play the Kick and return the discarded Punch to your hand (Power Girl)"},{"caption":"Use the 3 Power to buy another card (sometimes just another Kick)"}]},{"text":"Sounds great, right? Trust me, it is. You can setup for some great 6-7 Power turns in the very early game AND farm VP at the same time. Plus, anytime you have an empty discard pile, if you\u2019re holding a Super Power and a Punch, that\u2019s basically a free draw since you can just discard the Punch to draw a card and then play the Super Power to return it! How wonderful!"},{"header":"ADDITIONAL KEY CARDS"},{"double":[{"src":"bat703432batwoman.jpeg"},{"src":"jay947572jayna-tt.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"leg507100legion-f.jpeg"},{"src":"tar96166tar-pit-.jpeg"}]},{"text":"Another mild formality, as this is just a way of saying "Buy cheap draw spells." These and any of their ilk such as Kid Flash, Johnny Quick, Raven, Solstice\u2026 they\u2019re what you\u2019ll want as they\u2019ll allow you to dig to more cards that you\u2019ll need like Super Villains and additional Super Powers. Oh, and Defense cards that draw, can\u2019t forget those, so snag all the Skeets, Aerie Ones, and Kryptos that you can get your blue mitts on. Treat it like you would the Beast Boy\/Alan Scott team in that regard."},{"header":"ALAN SCOTT (2) + BLACK LIGHTNING (2) + POWER GIRL (2) "},{"double":[{"src":"ala228534alan-sco.jpeg"},{"src":"bla148796black-li.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"pow15143power-gi.jpeg"},{"src":"car731525card-bac.jpg"}]},{"text":"Shoutouts to my friend Cody, aka TheRatmanCometh, for showing me this gem. This team is all about card advantage past turn 2, and boy does it ever deliver! This is also arguably the most important team to obtain 1-cost and 2-cost Super Powers with due to the nature of Black Lightning\u2019s ability, so don\u2019t ever pass up on a Flight or Hummingbird Form since you\u2019re likely going to get to play them EVERY single turn.<br>"},{"double":[{"src":"fli205723flight-.jpeg"},{"src":"hum51371hummingb.jpeg"}]},{"text":"So, let\u2019s assume you don\u2019t get to live the dream and are stuck buying a Kick on your first turn. That\u2019s fine, as it\u2019ll just set you up for the second turn. Discard three cards in your hand (some combination of Punches and Vulnerabilities) to return the Kick, then play it and return a Punch plus draw whatever you reveal for Alan Scott. This happens at a surprisingly consistent rate over the course of the game, and if you can snag a Super Power that costs less than 3 on the first turn, you can start churning and burning right away and you\u2019ll be ramping your way into even bigger Super Powers in no time!"},{"header":"POWER GIRL (2) + WEATHER WIZARD (4)"},{"double":[{"src":"pow289384power-gi.jpeg"},{"src":"wea459567weather-.jpeg"}]},{"text":"In a lot of ways, I think this was the team that started it all for me this season. My good friend Alex showed me this team in a game and I immediately loved the concept: discard and dig your way to Super Powers that will allow you to return Punches you\u2019ve discarded for either more Power or discard fodder! Everybody wins! (Well, hopefully it\u2019s only you who wins.)<br><br>I happen to like this team quite a bit, mainly because you never have any dead hands; even the dreaded 3x Vulnerability hand can turn into something profitable due to being pure discard ammo, and you always have access to Teamwork (albeit only once per turn). Ramping to higher-costed cards is easy to do with this team, and with some proper sequencing, you\u2019ll never be without a good turn. Just be sure to pick up some Defense to fend off those pesky discard spells like Bane and Phobia."},{"double":[{"src":"ban993612bane-4-.jpeg"},{"src":"pho348437phobia-.jpeg"}]},{"header":"BEST LATE GAME CARDS"},{"double":[{"src":"con202155conner-k.jpeg"},{"src":"lig765941lightnin.jpeg"}]},{"double":[{"src":"x0116681x01-citi.jpeg"},{"src":"tac973792tactile-.jpeg"}]},{"text":"With all the thematic choices here, you\u2019d wonder why Superboy isn\u2019t on the team, right? These aren\u2019t necessarily the best cards you\u2019ll acquire, but they are a good start. The one exception is Lightning Strike. For any of these teams, if you\u2019re able to obtain this card, you\u2019re immediately way ahead, particularly in the case of Black Lightning and especially Weather Wizard as even Punches that you discard will generate Power without even having to be played. Any other big Super Powers will be perfect additions to your team like Constructs of Fear and Omega Beams."},{"double":[{"src":"con105636construc.jpeg"},{"src":"oem584347oemga-be.jpeg"}]},{"header":"FINAL THOUGHTS"},{"text":"While I plan on discussing some additional teams that are based around card type synergy, I\u2019d been having so much fun playing Power Girl lately that I figured it would be a great place to start. Super Powers are the easiest card type to get synergy out of thanks to the Kick stack, and the variety of teams she has available to her essentially means you get a premiere choice of configuration, like a Build Your Own Kick Squad! With that, I hope you\u2019re ready to utilize this knowledge well, because remember, knowledge is Power!<br>"}]
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