The new Dice Masters keyword mechanics have been coming thick & fast (With more to come in upcoming sets) and the next new bit of bold text on the scene is “Corrupt”. The new keyword features for the first time in the recent ‘Dark X-Men’ Team Pack and is of equal curious value to the other new keyword ‘Energize’ (which I took a closer look at HERE)
Like with any new mechanic that enters Dice Masters I’ve been contemplating how I might give it a try, so here’s a few of my random thoughts on how I might make use of the latest newness.
Let’s start by laying out the cards with the new keyword.
And now onto my thoughts…
“Target Player”? Use it on your opponent…
One element that has immediately stood out to the community is that the keyword is “Target Player”, and so can be used on yourself OR your opponent.
Using it to target your opponent has a couple of implications.
One of which – and possibly one of the most talked about ways to make good use of ‘Corrupt’ – is the lovely win con combo potential it has with the ‘Tabaxi Rogue – Lesser Zhentarim’.
Get one of those bad cats out in the field and spam your ‘Corrupt’ to force your opponent to draw repeatedly and deliver buckets of damage from the ‘Tabaxi Rogue’ game-text.
I’ve got my eye on trying this particular bit of spice out with ‘Sunspot’, who’s ‘Corrupt’ trigger is set for multiple uses in a turn when partnered up with such popular damage globals as on ‘Magic Missile’ or with repeatable pings from something like an ‘Attune’ character.
Otherwise, the simple act of disrupting any possible efforts your opponent has made to manage their bag for desired draws can be devastating at the right moment. Got two desirable dice in that bag right now? Get one of those into Used and out of my face for a turn or two.
Managing Your Own Bag…
Managing my bag and effectively churning through the dice cycle for the good stuff has long been an aspect of the game I’ve struggled with, but this hasn’t stopped me from considering the potential of ‘Corrupt’ as a means of doing this.
Many a time have I found myself in need of a means to clear the chaff from the wheat and I totally plan on testing out ‘Corrupt’ as a way to do this.
I particularly like ‘Sage – Xavier’s Mole’ for this. Not only does she ‘Corrupt’ to the value of 3, but as it’s triggered by her being KO’d it can serve as a nice way to also get a little ramp for next turn. OR, if you want to re-field her she comes in at a grand fielding cost of 0 across all 3 levels.
In a game just yesterday we were streaming live (Check out our YouTube channel HERE for an archive of past streams and subscribe to receive notifications when we start up a new one) I can be heard berating myself because I’ve “buried the dice I need deep in the bag”, so this keyword mechanic is certainly one to experiment with for those who, like me, find themselves in need of a solution to thinking through the dice drafting cycle.
The Different Triggers
When it come to team building with ‘Corrupt’ there is a card that triggers to suit whatever approach you might want to take, so there’s lots of options to consider.
However you want to approach it there’s a ‘Corrupt’ character for you. Want it as a “when fielded” trigger? Then ‘Rogue’ has got your back. Looking to do it with a KO? Give ‘Sage’ a try. Want to trigger it in combat? Take a look at ‘Dark Beast’ or ‘Thunderbird’.
What this means is that it can be a very versatile keyword mechanic that could slot in as a nice bit of added value combo. Let’s say you’re looking for a nice character to KO with ‘Malekith’ global because you’re looking to buy some actions cheaper – maybe a little bit of bag disruption for your opponent be a nice added twist to that.
I’m also considering pairing up ‘Dark Beast – Human Experimentation’ with ‘Black Widow’ taunt global. He’s got just enough fight in him to KO some low level pests, can ‘Corrupt’ for me or against my opponent, AND get a cheeky dice roll to churn even quicker. (And maybe use a Global on my opponent’s turn)
There we go folks – hopefully a few useful thoughts for you on using ‘Corrupt’.
Have you thought about any interesting combos using ‘Corrupt’? Is it something you think you might play with? Let us know in the comments below…
