Marvel Universe Preview: Red Skull, Johann Shmidt – HYDRA

I was quite pleased to find out Monday morning that I would be doing today’s preview for Marvel Universe, so let’s not mince words, and BRING ON THE RED SKULL.

Hmm. Those effects seem a little familiar, don’t they? It’s hard to not notice the similarities between our boy the Red Skull and a certain four cost Captain America we saw previewed a scant few weeks ago. Both characters feature a leader effect (though those aren’t exactly similar), as well as a blanket effect that occurs whenever that character is stunned that lasts for the rest of the turn. From a flavor perspective, it’s good times. Why wouldn’t the Red Skull offer himself up as the twisted mirror to everyone’s favorite American Icon. And why wouldn’t he take advantage of the demise of his cohorts by basically offering them up as a human sacrifice for a little extra burn to your opponent?

We’re also seeing the continuation of the importance of version with this Red Skull, as it’s apparent that the subdivisions of the Crime Lords team (AIM, HYDRA, RAID) will exist in the set as versions, much like the way the Secret Avengers, Young Avengers and Mighty Avengers have been previously delineated under the umbrella of the Avengers team affiliation. It’s not a stretch to assume that we’re going to be getting support cards for these versions through plot twists and locations, and it’s a good move in order to clean up the litany of teams we have in this game while still keeping the spirit of the comics alive in their own flavory way.

But what is there to be said about the card itself? Well, it’s common for one, which is always a good thing given our recent visions of bomb rares with astronomical eBay prices as we inch toward Worlds. He’s standard stats-wise as a 9/9 on five, and he’s a Crime Lord, so of course he’s going to have range. As for the effect, there’s nothing that’s really not to like. He’s got a bit of Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance going on, and while he’s not as far reaching as the fiery scalped one, he’s got the added bonus of pumping up your defense for the turn after he’s stunned. We all know that since the beginning of time (or rather the beginning of the Marvel Knights set) that the Crime Lords love being on defense, and this character is no different. Much like the previously mentioned four cost Captain America, there’s something nice about sending Red Skull up the curve with some pumps for a mutual stun, followed by passing the initiative for some pretty saucy defense on your initiative. To be honest, that’s probably the effect that’s got me more excited for this card, as we all know how devastating a couple of brick walls can be for your opponent, especially if you add in some of the defending with reinforcement shenanigans we know we’re going to be seeing from his Crime Lords brethren.

So what about that leader effect? On first glance, I see it more as an added bonus on top of his stunning effect, but the more I think about it, the more I see its applications. Opponents are really going to have a tough time planning out their attack step with Red Skull standing in the middle of a couple heavy hitters that most likely have some kind of effect while defending. Do you risk attacking one of his cronies and dealing with the extra burn? Or do you take down the Skull first and have to content with some pretty beefy defense for the rest of the turn? Either way, it’s probably not going to be too much fun. It reminds me a bit of some of the Revenge Squad effects from World’s Finest, namely the things you can pull of defensively on an opponent when Atomic Skull is standing next to five cost Lex Luthor (with Ruin mixing it up in there as well).

I think there are also some definite possibilities to throwing this guy in with the aforementioned Marvel Knights in order to take advantage of cards like Penance Stare, Vengeance, Spirit of Vengeance and Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance to get some pretty sick burn out of an opponent having the audacity to actually stun your character (the nerve!). Plus, you’ve got access to Defensive Formation, and with all the characters you could have with range surrounding Mr. Schmidt, things really aren’t going to be fun for your opponent. I mean, when you opponent knows that stunning your four drop is going to cause them at least eight endurance no matter what they’re doing, they’re probably going to think twice about that attack.

And what about Marvel Defenders? We know that they love bringing the Defense thanks to cards like Hellcat, Patsy Walker and Defenders Defend!, as well as having a few characters with pretty beefy defenses printed on the card (1/4 Tania Belinskya and 5/9 Samantha Parrington, I’m looking at you) so why wouldn’t they bring the Red Skull along for the ride? You can easily use their tricks to get a couple of attacks out of the Skull on your initiative, and perhaps throw in a Blinding Rage on his second attack to ensure a mutual stun and give your opponent the pleasure of dealing with a 5/12 Sam Parrington and 1/7 Tania Belinskya to try and control with an already depleted board. Conversely, this could be another opportunity for Johnny Blaze <> Ghost Rider, Damned to see another appearance, perhaps in some way akin to the Venom Burn deck from PC Indy 2007 using the Skull’s effect for some extra burn on top of whatever Johnny Blaze would be adding to the party.

We could also get really sick from a flavor perspective and team this evil, evil man up with the boys from SHIELD and put Captain America, Champion License (yep, I’m bringing him up again) next to the Skull. Two blanket leader effects plus two blanket effects that trigger when said leaders are stunned might win you the game simply by giving your opponent an aneurysm by trying to figure out what the heck to do that won’t lead to getting burned, giving the rest of your characters massive defenses or handing some invulnerability around. Either way, chaos will most likely ensue. And who doesn’t love chaos (especially when it’s spelled KAOS, but that can wait for the Get Smart Essential Collection… Well, a man can dream)?

You know, that last stream of consciousness reference should probably be signaling me that I’ve been prattling on about this card for far too long. So what do you really need to know? It plays well with the Crime Lords theme of strong defensive combat steps. He effects aren’t team stamped, so they go well off team as well as in sealed and draft. He’s a more than worthy card for a common. And he makes me very excited to see the rest of the Red Skull’s arsenal. It’s good stuff all around, and that’s what matters. Stay tuned to read/RANT later in the day, when Billy will be bringing you folks another Origin Story to fill in some of the character history blanks about everybody’s favorite huggable snuggly genocidal Nazi with a skull for a head.

Tags: Marvel Comics, Marvel Universe Preview, Red Skull