Alright i have been playtesting the exact build of this deck and havn't been 2 successful with it and am wondering whats up. I normally dont net deck but when this set came out i was raffled checkmate by my team and originally built the army version. With that getting kicked i went 2 metagame and noticed checkmate had recently won a PC i was shocked and curious at the same time. So i built the deck and have had little success with that build also. I was wondering am i missing something on how 2 play the deck will you explain how 2 play this deck "correctly" because i have a loosing record agains most decks i play against including a 90% loss rate 2 fate supreme. Any information would be helpful.

Which build are you using? There were two distinct builds in the Top 8, the winning deck (primarily Checkmate/League of Assassins) and Tim Batow's build (more Checkmate/Villains United.)

i don't think i coudl instruct you on how to play ian's version, but TAWC's version also made the top 8, and my newest article on metagame kinda goes through the thought process of building it, and may give you some insights....

... and some grins. Great stuff big guy. You two are the only reason I get out of bed on Wednesdays.

Summertime for a teacher, ahhh.

Speaking of which, if all goes well there should be a (probably 2-part) article written by yours truly on the League/Checkmate build up on Metagame in the not-too-distant future. Watch this space, etc.

In the meantime, let me know (if that's the build you're having trouble with) what you have issues with - it certainly isn't a trivial deck to just pick up and play.

If your having trouble playing the deck I suggest:

1) Reading some match reports
2) Practicing more

The strength of the deck lies in its ability to adapt to any situation. You need to know what to play and when to play it. The deck is difficult to play well and is 2nd only to killing Joke in that respect imo.

The 'basic' rundown is:

1) Your guys are big (6/6 on 3, 10/10 on 5). Real big. Add in defensive pumps and it's pretty hard to stun your guys.

2) Merlyn is amazing. Turn 3 Ahmad in the concealed area, get Rook control. Turn 4 Merlyn, team up, switch Ahmad with Merlyn and you've got a pretty good character lock.

3) Ahmad is simply amazing for filling your resource row with tech-Locations and search.

4) You have a ton of Green utility. Search, Defensive Pump, Offensive Pump, KO Prevention, Card Draw, Attack Prevention, Hidden Area attack. Add to that the effects that Sarge Steel, Huntress, and the 5-drop Robot have? Pretty good.

The TAWC deck is (in my opinion) the better deck. But both should pretty much play themselves. Are there SPECIFIC questions or issues that arise?

completely jealous of teachers in the summer time!!!

i'll be okay when the fall gets here though

The checkmate decks are way too easy to customize.

From what I've seen around the forums, they're also very easy to mess up by changing things that shouldn't be changed...

And of those things, what cannot be stopped by Huntress? Are you referring to War of Attrition and Transmutation, etc?

Ok i have both versions. From what i have gathered the checkmate villans deck is better in my opinion. I like the stonewall ability since there is alot of fate atrifacts u know what the other guy is he cant come outa nowhere and pump with crazy stuff like old squad. I have yet 2 see its full potential and want 2 become a better player with this deck as it is enjoyable 2 me. Thanks 4 all the info.

By 'changing things' I mean taking out characters, locations, even (god forbid) Knight Armor.

Oh I gotcha. Like Ive heard a lot of people wanting to take out Coast City and Sewer System...

Personally I think Sewer should stay... its means the differenc between winning or losing in the mirror match. Coast City is really rarely actually NEEDED, but it is always at least useful.