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Editor: Webmaster. Wednesday 22nd September 2004.

Feature Article

Card Review - Hank Hall
by Matthew Cline and Scott Smith
Constructed: Looking at this card from a constructed point of view we really have to look at it’s counter part Dawn Granger * Dove, Agent of Order. These two cards epitomise the principal behind Teen Titans as a team affiliation, strength in numbers and team pumps.

This card also displays the new DC mechanic boost. What is boost? Simple, when you recruit a card with boost you may pay the additional boost cost, in this case one, to gain the additional ability. So basically if you recruit Hank Hall for 3 rather than 2 you may search for Dawn Granger and put her into play, immediately giving Hank +2/+2 and Dawn Granger +1/+1. So for a 3 recruit cost you get a 4/4 and a 2/2. Not bad in anyone’s language.

Will this card see tournament play? Well considering it is a common with a great ability I would defiantly play it in a Teen Titan deck. The basis of a good Teen Titans deck is teamwork. There is a synergy here that isn’t seen in any other team affiliation and these two cards display this perfectly.

If we compare this card to a typical 2 drop Marvel card it doesn’t seem that great unless you have already recruited Dawn Granger, in that case a 4/4 for 2 is better than any Marvel card based solely on attack/defence. What should next be considered is the boost cost. Change this card to a 3 recruit cost to play its boost cost and we have something very special happening. We get a 4/4 and a 2/2 for 3 recruit cost. To compare this to a Marvel card like She-Hulk, Jennifer Walters you are getting a great deal. Play this guy for 3 then team attack with the 2 cards that you have got for 3 recruit cost then play a Teen Titans Go! plot twist and there you have it. Take out most 3 recruit cost cards in the game quiet easily. Yeah it’s good!
By Matthew Cline

Limited: Look at him sitting in the corner doing nothing. Snivelling like a little baby whos favourite toy has just been taken away from him. Let’s all point and laugh children at the sad little man who is less than average <insert 7 drop Joker Flavour text> <In walks Dove and bashes Scott over the head> Hank all of a sudden becomes a lot more menacing, gets up and does a Rodney King on Scott’s head.

Ok Ok. So with Dove out you’re the man. A 4/4 for 2 is some good, especially when he comes with a built in 2/2 flyer. But as soon as one of them turns their back we all begin to laugh at the other, over their
own mediocrity.

As Hank is mediocre at best by himself I’ll discuss him with the assumption that you have Dove in your deck as well.

This is most probably the best 3 drop for Teen Titans. The other one that is close is Beast Boy, but as a rare this will hardly come up. On the third turn your next best option is Roy Harper who is good but his
stats are a little weak (he gets much better in the late game but this is about Hawk).

With Hawk and Dove in your deck you have essentially two 3 drops in your deck. With each multiple copy your chances of dropping them on this turn improve. They are obviously best dropped on turn one and turn 2 but barring a good draw this wont happen all too often.

Drafting The Team: If I was playing Teen Titans then I would definitely try to pick up a couple of each. A good build would have up to 4 copies between Hawk and Dove. I prefer having more Hawks as 5/5 attacking is better than 3/3 (power-ups). Take plot twists like Tag Team and Airborne Assault/Fear and Confusion early, as they best compliment the two. All the non-rare Titan locations are gravy so if you see one
of these pick them up as soon as possible (this is a basic Titan rule as their locations make them one of the top teams). By third pack if you have one and not the other you may have to first pick the other over
much more playable cards as having one without the other is pretty much useless. I have been known to run 1 Hank in the deck but that draft went terribly wrong.

Characters like Tim Drake, Pantha and Bart Allen really compliment the two very well (first two for team attacks and Bart Allen for double 6/6 beats)

Playing The Team: Most of the time you are going to want to play these guys on turn 3. There are some exceptions. 1) Your opening hand contains them both in which case you are better off playing them
consecutively 2) You have a better 3 drop in hand (not many in the game, maybe Beast Boy) 3) You may play dove or hawk on turn 1 or two (if you don’t have the other in hand) if you have another copy of the same character in hand in order to boost on turn 3. If for example in your opening hand is dove and no hank and then you draw a hank on your second turn, besides being a bit upset you didn’t take the gamble, just lay Hank down so that on the third turn if you draw another 2 drop you can drop both the new 2 drop and Dove. There are always exceptions, in this case, if you have another dove in your deck, then you may want
to hold off until the next turn. I find that boosting H & D on the 3rd turn to thin your deck is often the best play.

Another common problem is when you have 4 guys out and you don’t want to lose either hawk or dove. The only way they can force you to lose one is if they both get stunned. The hardest way for this to happen is if they are behind the other two characters in the formation. In this situation you are the one who makes the decision on who goes and who stays.

There is no way I can come up with a plan for every conceivable game situation, but common sense should prevail unless you’re a random newbie who doesn’t deserve to sit across the table from me…. Wait did I
think that or say that? Hmm, in any case I would assume you’d want to know when to pick him. I say it depends. Have Dove and no Hawk, take him relatively early. Have a Hank and no Dove… hit the plot twist.
Have neither… If there is nothing else in the pack or your trying to cut titans take him, other wise hes just not worth it. If in the third pack you have neither, a)somethings wrong b) I probably wouldn’t run
the gambit of trying to get them. Just hope you can pick up some Roy Harpers or other 3 drops, cause theres a big gap here for titans if you don’t!

Peace til next time
Scott Smith
Cool Zero on Forums and Modo
Krazy in RL

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