Goin’ Old School

by the aussie assassin

Old School

Move / Agility
Set Information: No Way Out, Rare
Move Type: high risk
This Move Countered By: -none-
This Move Counters: -none-
Required Momentum (Cost): 11
Specific Momentum Required: 2 Strike
Damage: 10
Body Part Damage: -none-
Stun Move: No
Keyword(s): Impact, Takedown

Undertaker Trademark. Play only in the ring and only if you haven't connected with this move this match. Countered by Arm Drag Counter, not by Dodge. Name a Method. Your opponent ditches all moves of that Method and you draw 2 pages.

The first thing we notice as we look at The Undertaker’s trademark Old School is its incredible power. With one move you can inflict 10 damage and ditch a whole lotta’ pages from you opponents hand. Unfortunately, the next thing we notice is that it’s of the High Risk move type. Not something Taker does very well. So we then need to come up with a strategy for hitting this powerful move and putting your opponent in a world of pain. The strategy I’ll be explaining is the good old-fashioned stun chain.

The first thing we’ll need to do is work out a suitable offence with a number of ways to stun your opponent. We already have 2 strike momentum for Old School so an Arm Extended / Leg Extended playbook seems like a good option. The three moves we’ll be relying on to do the job are Thrust Kick, Corner Barrage, and Chair Shot.

Thrust Kick

Move / Strike
Set Information: First Edition, Uncommon
Move Type: leg extended
This Move Countered By: -none-
This Move Counters: -none-
Required Momentum (Cost): 9
Specific Momentum Required: 3 Strike
Damage: 10
Body Part Damage: 0
Stun Move: Yes
Keyword(s): Impact, Takedown

If not already stunned, your opponent is stunned until the end of the next turn.

Corner Barrage

Move / Strike
Set Information: First Edition, Common
Move Type: arm extended
This Move Countered By: -none-
This Move Counters: -none-
Required Momentum (Cost): 6
Specific Momentum Required: 2 Strike
Damage: 7
Body Part Damage: 0
Stun Move: Yes
Keyword(s): Impact

Play this move only if you have hit two moves in a row and only in the ring. If not already stunned, your opponent is stunned until the end of the next turn.

Chair Shot

Move / Strike
Set Information: First Edition, Uncommon
Move Type: arm extended
This Move Countered By: Chair Shot
This Move Counters: -none-
Required Momentum (Cost): 5
Specific Momentum Required: 2 Strike
Damage: 9
Body Part Damage: 5 Head
Stun Move: No
Keyword(s): Impact, Takedown

Play this move only if Steel Folding Chair is in play. You get 4 Warnings from the referee. Your opponent takes 5 Head damage and is Stunned until the end of the next turn.

As you can see, to play Chair Shot we’ll need a Steel Folding Chair in play (Duh!). So our playbook now looks like this:
2 Steel Folding Chair (First Edition) 3 Thrust Kick (First Edition) 2 Corner Barrage (First Edition) 2 Old School (NWO)
Old School, as powerful as it is, won’t be enough to put away some SS’s. To do this we’ll need the other great Undertaker TM, Big Dog in the Yard (BDITY).

Big Dog In The Yard

Special
Set Information: No Way Out, Rare
Required Momentum (Cost): 10
Specific Momentum Required: 1 Strike + 2 Strength + 1 Knowledge
Keywords: Damage

Undertaker Trademark Play only while in control. Choose a Momentum. If your next move connects, it does +3 damage for each point of that Momentum your opponent has (up to +15), then your opponent loses 1 of that Momentum.

Not only can this page do up to +15 damage, but it also make your opponent lost one ability momentum! Pretty sweet huh? We’ll put three of them in.

Now it’s time to set up some defence. It’s best to try and stick with the theme of the deck when adding defence, so there is a better chance they will hit. We’ll put in the following as defensive pages:

2 Clothesline (First Edition) 3 Dodge (First Edition) 2 Double Leg Takedown (First Edition) 5 Elbow (First Edition) 2 Eye Rake (First Edition) 3 Flat of the Foot (TLC) 3 Knee Lift (First Edition) 1 Power Slam (First Edition) 5 Punch (First Edition) 3 Shove (First Edition)

Now as a lot of players would know, our powerful stunning moves won’t connect unless we drain our opponent’s hand of Arm Extended and Leg Extended counters. For this purpose we will use:

2 Chop (First Edition) 2 Clothesline Over the Ropes (First Edition) 1 Thrust Uppercut (First Edition) 3 Mafia Kick (First Edition) 2 Round Kick (First Edition)

Now that we have our moves sorted out, the equally important part of the deck, the specials, are next. We’ll use the standard specials- 4 Once too Often, 3 Boring and 4 Taunt, as well as a few more unusual specials, namely Stephanie McMahon and Working Stiff. Stephanie because she ditches 2 pages from our opponent’s hand as well as draws us the bottom page of our playbook, and Working Stiff to compliment our Strike based attack.
The final aspect that we probably should have focused on at the start is momentum. We need 2 Strength, 1 Knowledge and 3 Strike, which could be a little tricky if it wasn’t for our friend Michael Cole.

Interview With Michael Cole

Special
Set Information: TLC, Rare
Required Momentum (Cost): 0
Specific Momentum Required: -none-
Keywords: Entrance

Draw a page. Name a Momentum type (including Attitude). At the end of turns 15 and 20 both Superstars gain 1 of that type (not exceeding Momentum limits). (Superstars may only play one Entrance, and only on turn one or two.)

If we play Michael Cole and choose Strength, we should have it by the time we need to use it, which is mainly for BDITY. Also in our leadoff we’ll put Ref Mike Chioda, who allows us to receive up to 8 warnings before we risk DQ. This way we can play both eye rakes and a chair shot without seeing that nasty “The Undertaker has been disqualified” message. With the one space left in the opener we’ll put a Collar and Elbow Tie-up to draw a free page. The completed deck txt looks like this:

$$$SUPERSTARS
1 The Undertaker No Way Out
$$$LEADOFFPAGES
1 Strike First Edition
1 Knowledge First Edition
1 Collar And Elbow Tieup No Way Out
1 Interview With Michael Cole TLC
1 Referee Mike Chioda No Way Out
$$$PLAYBOOKPAGES
5 Strike First Edition
3 Strike No Way Out
4 Strike Second Edition
2 Chop First Edition
2 Clothesline First Edition
2 Clothesline Over The Ropes First Edition
2 Corner Barrage First Edition
3 Dodge First Edition
2 Double Leg Takedown First Edition
5 Elbow First Edition
2 Eye Rake First Edition
3 Flat of the Foot TLC
3 Knee Lift First Edition
3 Mafia Kick First Edition
1 Old School No Way Out
1 Old School Second Edition
1 Power Slam First Edition
5 Punch First Edition
2 Round Kick First Edition
3 Shove First Edition
3 Thrust Kick First Edition
1 Thrust Uppercut No Way Out
3 Big Dog In The Yard Second Edition
3 Boring First Edition
4 Once Too Often First Edition
2 Steel Folding Chair First Edition
1 Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley No Way Out
4 Taunt First Edition
2 Working Stiff First Edition

The way to play this deck is fairly simple. Make sure you get Michael Cole out on turn 1 or 2, and then get Ref Mike out straight after. Take the small damaging moves from your opponent and counter the big ones. When you get enough momentum play the chops, clotheslines over the ropes, mafia kicks, etc to draw out counters and hopefully do some damage. Once you have an Old School and a BDITY in hand try for a stunning moves and if it connects, play the combo. Make sure to capture the look on your stunned opponents face when they realize they’ve been beaten with one move and one special J. This deck works in both named and unnamed environments, so good luck and have fun Old Schoolin’.