by Bruce Neiger
This article, presented in two parts, with an “intermission” and an afterword, describes the “Mostly Harmless” and Netherworld Return deck types. I have given the Tim Linden’s Netherworld Return deck, published on Stephan’s Shadowfist site, an “honorary” entry into this category as an “unrelated ancestor”. I hope he doesn’t mind.
The Mostly Harmless deck type has taken on several faces at this point, each inspired by the others. The core concept, however is to combine alternate power generation with large hitters and (almost always) with cheap recursion. All except the Netherworld Return deck also combine Red Bat with a large number of free or low cost events, quickly yielding very large Red Bats.
These decks play no low-fighting hitters, and so take a few turns to get moving. Thus, at first, they appear to be “mostly harmless”. However, they bring their larger hitters to bear in the mid-game, often around turn four or five (sometimes earlier). Moreover, setbacks are usually short-lived; they have strong comeback ability, usually by recursing large hitters quickly and cheaply.
The decks are usually site and resource constrained, and so are built medium small to very small in size to ensure consistency.
The version I have been playing (and doing fairly well with) is a 7 Masters(7M)/Monarchs build that owes its history to two separate decks: the Dragons/7M build and a pure Monarchs Netherworld Return (NR) build.
Part 1: “Mostly Harmless: Ting Ting”
The Dragons/7 Master build is my deck’s direct progenitor, and is a powerful and fun deck to play. Originally entitled simply Mostly Harmless, but now referred to as Mostly Harmless: Ting Ting (MH:TT), it was designed and developed by Jeff Tang. Let’s see a typical build:
Foundations: 12
5 Students of the Dragon
2 Hackers
5 Kunlun Clan Assault
Hitters: 8
2 Ting Ting
1 Stephen Wu
1 Golden Gunman
1 The Nemesis
3 Red Bat
Sites: 10
5 Proving Ground
3 Whirlpool
1 Petroglyphs
1 Sacred Heart Hospital
Non-Foundation Events: 24
Alternate Power Generation: 10
5 Violet Meditation
4 Pocket Demon
1 Secret Pact
Recursion: 5
5 Golden Comeback
Other: 9
5 Final Brawl
1 Never Surrender
1 Back for Seconds
1 Fighting Spirit
1 Dirk Wisely’s Gambit
Total : 54 Cards
The deck generates power through an early (hopefully turn 1) Kunlun Clan Assault to fuel Pocket Demon/Violet Meditation. There are enough power-generating events that the deck can play one of these on most of its turns. The Proving Grounds (PG’s) combo well with those events, although in the initial turns, the goal is simply to use them to get out a Dragon foundation or two. The deck defends itself with Final Brawls, but generally does not mind losing a site or two in the early game – particularly when a Never Surrender is available.
The typical site setup to “go off” is usually a PG and a Whirlpool. Once enough power (usually only 3, with a PG) and resources (two Dragon or one 7M) is available, it plays a large hitter and goes to town. With 5 Golden Comeback and a Fighting Spirit, the deck recovers from setbacks quite well.
All of the hitters (and five of the foundations!) in the deck are Independent, with other abilities like growth and immunity. The principal hitters - Ting Ting and Red Bat - are present in multiples.
In practice, Red Bat fits in so many decks, but a quick count shows that exactly half of the cards (27 of the 54) in this deck are events that end up in your smoked pile, thus it generally produces Red Bats of 10+ Fighting, and 18 is not uncommon. Ting Ting loves Proving Grounds, of course, as having fewer power-generating sites helps her grow.
Twelve events either are, or include, alternate power generation to help get out your first and second big sticks. Both Never Surrender and the Dirk Wisely’s Gambit are strictly optional, however, and the deck has been played many times without either.
The basic synergies are strong. Golden Comeback (off of a Violet Meditation, say) produces a cheap big stick. Proving Grounds help ensure that Ting Ting is often 10+ fighting. Back For Seconds is very strong, as in any deck with big hitters, and while there do not appear to be enough different Dragon Events to allow Fighting Spirit to avoid choosing the same event twice, a quick run through the math shows the odds to be well upwards of 75%. The numerous Whirlpools do double duty as coverage for the PG’s and anti-defensive-site stoppage.
Alternative Cards
There are a lot of other cards that can fit well in the deck, and the choice of which one(s) to include is part of the fun, and a big part of the challenge. Since the deck is proportionally a bit low on sites and really does need to draw into a Kunlun Clan Assault fairly quickly to get the alternate power events working, keeping the deck small is quite critical. Most times that I have played this deck, I keep it trimmed down to 52 cards. However, a lot of cards could reinforce this deck. Using one or more of these, instead of the odd Final Brawl, could work out very well. Hardly an exhaustive list, but consider these:
• Balanced Harmonies (healing big sticks often saves the stick, and almost always ensures that you take a site);
• Unexpected Rescue (whatever you pull, if you get a non-foundation character, will be big enough to stop an attacker, and it’s another event to fuel Red Bat);
• other 7M Hitters: Gold Lion, Sky Dragon, and, in particular, Wu Man Kai all offer big fighting numbers, with truly effective abilities – at the expense of relinquishing Independent. Also, all of them require two 7M resources, making their “effective” costs, both in power and timing, even higher. Two-resource cost 7M hitter might warrant adding in a few beneficent Taos – but we’ll see this theme later;
• Festival Circle: generally only played on the turn where one attacks for the win;
• "Is That All You Got?": can get back Red Bat, and most or all of the big Dragon Hitters can easily be subbed for Big Bruisers at the cost of losing Independent… but getting them back now only costs 1 power;
• 0-cost events: Just a Scratch, Liquored Up, the Golden Gunman’s Gambit (yumm… 4 or more points of damage, and your hitters are Independent), and Tough as Nails all seem worthwhile;
• Lateral Reincarnation: while it costs a power, it is one of my favorites for this deck. It’s both an “almost” Golden Comeback and event defense, since you can grab the biggest stick in an opponent’s smoked pile in response to a nasty Imprison, Blade Palm, or Mentor. Note that Lateral Reincarnation requires three resources, not three faction resources, so three Chi or three Magic resources (say, from a Queen and a Kunlun Clan Assault) will work fine;
The Proving Grounds are really there to synergize with the power-generating events and Ting Ting, and it might be reasonable to substitute other power generating sites for them. Mah-Jongg Parlor can easily sub for a Proving Ground – and might work out better, if you don’t draw enough Pocket Demons/Violet Meditations, or else get “out-whirlpooled”.
Intermezzo: Enter the Monarchs
While Golden Comeback provide much of the juice for MHM:TT, let’s take a look at one of the original Netherworld Return deck, which uses the eponymous card to generate huge comeback swings. This is Tim Linden's finalist deck from the Origins 2004 Faction War tournament.
3 Queen of the Ice Pagoda (Ltd/Std. Ed.)
2 King of the Thunder Pagoda (Ltd/Std. Ed.)
2 King of the Fire Pagoda
1 Queen of the Darkness Pagoda
4 Netherworld Return
4 Brain Fire
1 Discerning Fire
1 Earth Wind and Fire
1 Avenging Fire
2 Fire Sled
1 Contract of the Fox
1 Fortune of the Turtle
1 Ice Totem
1 Legacy
1 Blanket of Darkness
3 Grizzly Pass
1 Disco
1 Gambling House
1 Golden Mile
1 Sacred Heart Hospital
1 Temple of the Angry Spirits
1 Cataract Gorge
1 Secret Headquarters
The deck is rather simple - play a Feng Shui Site (FSS) turn 1 and 2, hopefully a Grizzly Pass or Temple and an extra power generating FSS. Wait for 6 power on turn 3 or 4, play Ice Queen, or Thunder King, attack and burn for power, play a second Monarch next turn, go nuts. The Queen of Darkness is an interesting card. Especially with the threat of Netherworld return, people tend to play a bit scared around her toasting ability.
Secret Headquarters is a fine choice of NFS, since it’s so large, and will help your power generation curve, both early and later in the game. Fire sleds are tailor-made for stopping those annoying Kinoshita House-type sites that prevent your early rush, and Contract of the Fox is a potentially reusable Back for Seconds. Something I also discovered fairly quickly is that healing, in the form of Ice Totem and Sacred Heart, is awfully good with large characters.
Other than Imprison or Blade Palm, following a hitter loss, Netherworld Return brings back a Monarch. Everyone you play is really big, and your opponents will only get back about 1.8 fighting each, on average.
Brain Fire is probably not that good in these numbers, today, although they prevent the deck's two most common anathema, namely Tortured Memories and Imprison/Blade Palm. I am also not sure about the original King of Thunder. It’s another huge hitter you can use as a foundation, but once in a while the opposition steals him, and that’s not a lot of fun.
Still, while it has a fair number of weaknesses, the deck is fast, fun, and there is something to be said about possibly having all four Monarchs in play at the same time.
Recently, on the Shadowfist forum, I saw this entry (or something very like it) for the Ritual of the UnNameable format, where all of you cards must begin with (only) 3 letters of your choice. Forgive me, for I have forgotten the author – but I’ll pay tribute here, in essence, to his creation:
5 Queen of the Ice Pagoda (Promo)
5 Queen of the Darkness Pagoda
5 Netherworld Return
5 Lightning Strike
2 Larcenous Mist
5 Nine Dragon Temple
2 LaGrange Four
Yes, only about 29 cards... and I may be overstating the number of Lightning Strikes.
Nine Dragon Temple becomes an “attack me and lose or don’t attack me and lose” kind of card, especially in this format, as the goal is to accelerate into a Queen. Sadly, it’s the only site-based power generation available in “Q, N, and L”, and L provides the ever-dangerous LaGrange. I suppose Lusignan’s Tower might be a useful NFS, but I am not sure it’s worth the tempo. Essentially, with two Nine Dragon Temples, you can be fairly sure of reaching the needed 6 power on turn 4 pretty much every time – and that is whether or not you lose a site, as long as the Temple's ability trips for you.
As before, it’s just build up, play a Queen, burn for Power, play the other Queen. Play LaGrange, go for the win – play Netherworld Return and maybe Lightning Strike a few times along the way.
I would recommend adding a Lateral Reincarnation to this deck, but you need two Queens out before you can play it.
Part II. : Enter the Seven Masters for Mostly Harmless: Monarchs
MH:TT and the tiny Netherworld Return decks were the inspiration for the deck that I piloted into the finals of the Nationals at Dexcon 8. It combines the best of both decks, in my opinion: the cheap return and healing of the Netherworld Return deck, and the alternate power generation and Red Bat from the Mostly Harmless: TT deck. The original version of this deck was posted on Chimpshack, but it’s been a tweaked a touch. Let’s take a look:
Foundations: 5
5 Kunlun Clan Assault
Feng Shui Sites: 10
3 Grizzly Pass
2 Temple of Angry Spirits
1 Blue Moon Club
1 Gambling House
2 Disco
1 Sacred Heart Hospital
Hitters: 10
3 Queen of the Ice Pagoda (Ltd/Std)
1 Queen of the Darkness Pagoda
2 King of the Fire Pagoda (N2)
2 Red Bat
1 Wu Man Kai
1 Sky Dragon
Events: 17
4 Violet Meditation
1 Pocket Demon
5 Beneficent Tao
2 Discerning Fire
5 Netherworld Return
States: 6
3 Fortune of the Turtle
2 Contract of the Fox
1 Celestial Stance
Edges: 3
1 Blanket of Darkness
2 Balanced Harmonies
Red Bat returns to the design, and although only 22 cards of the deck are events (and only 17 are not “Toast it”), the alternate power generation events and Beneficient Tao’s are cheap easy plays that quickly fill the smoked pile, and lead to double digit fighting Red Bats. Still, you could easily talk me into substituting one for a second Wu Man Kai, who is simply death to so many of the cards that can get in your way.
The site structure is very similar to the Netherworld Return deck. Although I gave up on the Secret Headquarters, it is certainly a very viable option for the deck, especially in the early game.
The 7M support cards, Beneficent Tao’s, Balanced Harmonies, and Kunlun Clan Assault, provide much of the “maturity” of the deck. Front Row Grizzly Passes and Temples, along with the ability to heal them and gain a free 7M resource in the process, are quite powerful. Balanced Harmonies takes the place of Ice Totem, and combined with Beneficient Tao, is roughly just as useful - and it’s a lot easier to get out two 7M resources in this deck than two Monarch resources. Kunlun Clan Assault can do everything from clear out early foundation characters to help take out an opposing Kinoshita House. Celestial Stance tends to be a one-off… but it’s impressive for that turn.
Oh, and have I mentioned that playing Discerning Fires, and then attacking with the Fire King to reshuffle them into your deck is just good?
While the Netherworld Returns provide rapid comeback, the Fortunes of the Turtle are actually also very important, as they prevent Imprisons, and more commonly in my meta-game, Tortured Memories. They also prevent the loss of tempo during your turn – you might not “mind” if your Queen gets smoked, but only Red Bat is independent.
The deck is actually quite large at 51 cards, considering the number of “foundations” at 8. Occasionally, there is some difficulty getting to a Queen, but the deck plays quite well for a while with only the 7 Masters cards. Sky Dragon with a Fortune of the Turtle and a Contract of the Fox poses a lot of problems...
As with its predecessors, there are some significant weaknesses that can be addressed.
Unlike MH:TT (which has Whirlpools) or NR, this deck has no overt means of dealing with sites. That can be a big problem, but Fire Sleds can help out here. Lateral Reincarnation is a fine choice against theft and Imprisons, as generating 3 resources is rarely a problem. Brain Fire is not best here, as you will only ever have enough Monarch resources very late in the game.
However, what to take out? Oddly one of the obvious choices is the fifth Netherworld Return. That’s the card I discard most often when the deck has trouble getting started.
Oh... and with any of these decks, you don’t really like to see the opponents play (or Netherworld Return) Evil Twins...
Afterword
There may be a germ of an idea here for you, even if you don’t want to play one of these decks. Evan Markowitz was inspired by the Mostly Harmless idea and applied it to a Guiding Hand/7M deck, using cheap events and alternate power to grow and play Red Bat, and then Rigorous Discipline his ability onto other characters. In this case the recursion effects for characters are substituted by copying, healing, Wind on the Mountain (which is recursion, actually) and Confucian Stability.
A pure Hand version of the Mostly Harmless deck type can be realized with Positive Chi. To make the deck work, however, you have to either play your hitters a lot faster than the opponents play theirs (possible with a Turbo Ho type engine), or find a way to toast the most offensive cards that the opponent plays (Displaced would work, or perhaps a splash of Lotus...?). - the Ed.