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[Hogtrail]

My goal is to spotlight and break down a different superstar every week by going in depth on their cards, referenced cards, and different types of builds for them.

I posted a poll on the TCO discord channel and we had a tie between Damian Sandow and DDP, so this week I'll spotlight is the Original People's Champ DDP, and next week I'll spotlight Damian Sandow

PART ONE
Let's take a look at his specifics:

DDP
Starting Hand Size: 6     Superstar Value: 3
WCW Superstar Ability:  Search your Arsenal for Give & Take or Hide and Seek, put it in your Ring, and shuffle; cards with those titles are Permanent and cannot be blanked.
When you have a Fan Favorite card in your Ring, your 360-Degree Clothesline maneuvers are -8F and can only be reversed by Unique reversals.
Your The Diamond Cutter is -5F for every non-Backlash DDP-specific card in your Ring. You cannot pack BASH cards.
V2

First thing to note, DDP is a WCW superstar. This gives him access to a bunch of very good cards I'll cover a little later in Part Two.

As for his superstar ability, Let me refresh your memories on Give & Take, and Hide & Seek:

Give & Take
Action
All players may put 2 cards from their Ringside pile on the bottom of their Arsenal.
When this card is in your Ring area, whenever your opponent successfully plays a card that allows him to search his Arsenal for any number of cards, you may search your Arsenal for 1 non-unique card, reveal it to him, put it into your hand, and shuffle your Arsenal.
Fan Favorite logo
Throwback
F: 0 D: 0

Hide and Seek
Action
When this card is in your Ring area, once during each of your turns you may put 1 card from your hand under this card. Cards under this card may be played as if they were in your hand. If this card is removed from your Ring area, put any cards under this card in your hand.
During your turn, you may put 1 card from under this card into your Ringside pile and then search your opponent's hand or Arsenal for 1 card with the same title, remove that card from the game, and he shuffles his Arsenal.
¶ ¶ ¶ (Activated Card Effect Symbol)
Cheater logo
F: 0 D: 0

I believe the choice is clear. While Hide & Seek can be a good card, DDP leans heavily toward a Fan Favorite build. He gets so many bonuses for packing Fan Favorite cards, that it really makes no sense to go a Cheater route. So lets focus on Give & Take. Basically, when my opponent's card lets his search, I get to go get a non-unique card. That's pretty good! AND it also works during the pre-match phase. So if opponent plays a card like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, or A No Show, you can go get a card and put it into your hand! Maybe a key reversal like Don't Try this at Home, or if you're going first you could search for a pump kick.

However, one of the biggest bonuses for building him Fan Favorite is the next line of his ability:

When you have a Fan Favorite card in your Ring, your 360-Degree Clothesline maneuvers are -8F and can only be reversed by Unique reversals.

And here's that card's text:

360-Degree Clothesline
Strike / Reversal: Special
As a reversal, reverse any maneuver with the word "kick" in the title and end your opponent's turn.
When successfully played, shuffle up to 3 cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal.
SV: 1
F: 12      D: 10

So you're telling me that if I put Give & Take into my ring that I get a 4F 10D strike that can only be reversed by uniques? Sign me right up for that! And as an added bonus, the reversal restriction is from his superstar ability and not 'From a card', so non-unique reversals that 'Ignore reversal restrictions from a card' cannot be played against his 360's, and that restriction is not effected by your opponent's Restricted Use in this Area. Point being: They're very difficult to reverse, and very easy to get in your hand.

Moving on to the rest of his backstage area Specifics:

Accompanied by Kimberly
Backstage Card
When this card is revealed or in your Ring, non-Unique cards in your Ringside are considered Cheater and Fan Favorite,  and when you successfully play a non-Pre-match card that is Cheater or Fan Favorite, draw up to 1 card.
You may put this card from your Backstage Area into your Ring to reverse any non-maneuver card.
Unique     WCW logo     RMS logo
V2

This card is amazing. Not only is it a free Action reversal, but making non-uniques in your ringside Fan Favorite/Cheater can help you immensely. Just read these two cards:

So Much Larger Than Life
Action
Put up to 4 Fan Favorite cards from your Ringside pile on the bottom of your Arsenal and then your next maneuver played this turn is -2F, +2D, and +2 Stun Value for every card put on the bottom this way.
Fan Favorite logo
F: 0 D: 0

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
Reversal: Special
Reverse any non-unique card if your opponent has 4 or more Cheater cards in his Ring area or reverse any Cheater card and end his turn.
When this card is in your Ringside pile, during your turn your may remove this card from the game and then put 1 Cheater card or 1 Fan Favorite card from your Ringside pile into your hand.
F: 7      D: 0

These cards either make it really easy to play a first turn 360 clothesline, OR let you pick up any non-unique card in your ringside. Maybe something like German Suplex, Revolution of the Mind, or a well timed Precision Sleeper.

The Accountability Crib
Backstage Card
When you are Scott Hall, your DDP Yoga is nWo for your effects. When you are Jake The Snake, it is considered to have "DDT" in the title for your Ability.
When playing DDP Yoga you may discard up to 4 cards; when you discarded 2 cards, DDP Yoga is Fan Favorite and Heel; when you discarded 4 cards, you may ignore the "When you are DDP," text.
During your turn, you may hide this card and put up to 1 card from your Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal.
Unique     RMS logo
V8

This card isn't too great for DDP, it's better for Jake the Snake and Scott Hall. However, it doesn't cost anything to pack, and its a free option to recover a card in your ringside.

The Original People's Champion
Backstage Card
Cannot be packed when packing Cheater cards.
Your printed Fan Favorite cards and cards with 'Fan Favorite' in the text are not affected by your opponent's card effects.
When playing a maneuver without 'reversed' in the text, and do not have a card with that title in your Ring, you may remove 3 cards in your Ringside from the game, and that maneuver is Multi and cannot be reversed from Backlash.
Unique     RMS logo     WCW logo
V8

Now we're talking. Another very good card, and another reason not to go Cheater. This card prevents your opponent from Ignoring text, reducing the damage of, or increasing the F of your printed Fan Favorite cards. I'll get into it a little later, but there are a few pretty good Fan Favorite maneuvers that your opponent cannot Sustain the damage of.

Also, this card gives you another option to try to push your maneuvers through. It comes at a cost, but there are a lot of ways to recover your cards that are removed from the game (including one that is Fan Favorite, but more on that later). Pro-Tip: 360 Clothesline doesn't have 'Reversed' in the text.

Moving on to his Backlash Deck specifics:

Self High-Five!
Pre-match Event
Cannot be blanked. Can be played during any Pre-match phase.
Your first Action played each turn from hand that is Fan Favorite, or is Cheater and 3F-, is Multi and can only be reversed by 2 reversal cards. Your opponent cannot play The Road to Victory in response to your Cheater or Fan Favorite cards.
Your maneuvers can only receive a maximum of +4D and/or +2 Stun Value increase from other cards.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     WCW logo

This card is very helpful. Especially paired with So Much Larger Than Life (listed above). Also prevents opponent from playing RTV to your otherwise easily stoppable fan favorite mid match cards. Precision Personified is the card that comes to mind.

Precision Personified
Mid-match Action
Search your Arsenal for 1 card with the word "precision" in the title, reveal it to your opponent, put it into your hand, and shuffle your Arsenal.
Fan Favorite Logo
F: 0      D: 0

Being able to search for a Precision Sleeper, or a Precision Kick can be quite helpful. Especially if it's played after Wrestlemania resolves...

That's Not a Bad Thing, That's a Good Thing!
Mid-match Reversal: Special
When you have a Fan Favorite card in your Ring, this card is -1F for every Fan Favorite and DDP-specific card in your Ring.
When your opponent successfully plays a card and damage is applied, you may play this card and end his turn.
ACE: When you would discard or overturn cards for his non-damage card effect, you may remove 2 cards in your Ringside from the game; and then draw up to half the number of cards discarded, rounded up, and randomly put up to half the number of cards that you overturned, rounded up, from your Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal.
F: 12     D: 0     Unique     WCW logo
V8

This is a good card, often at a pretty heavily discounted F cost. It assures that you'll have at least SOME cards in hand or arsenal. The ACE of this card is often situational, but this reversal can at least end opponent's turn.

It's Me... It's Me... It's D-D-P
Mid-match Action
Your opponent cannot respond to this card.
Shuffle up to # cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal, and your maneuvers are +#D and -#F for the rest of this turn, where # is equal to the number of Cheater cards in your Ring and cannot be greater than 8; when you have a Fan Favorite card in your Ring, # is equal to double the number of Fan Favorite and DDP-Specific cards in your Ring and cannot be greater than 16.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     WCW logo
V2

This card can be a lifesaver and a game changer. And it has those beautifully frustrating words 'Your opponent cannot respond to this card.' This card, when paired with Wrestlemania, can be stupid good, and can allow you to recover a good portion of your ringside pile. Just make sure you fill your ring area with Fan Favorite cards.

And now on to his Arsenal specifics:

Trapping Shoulder Blocks
Strike + Submission
You may discard up to 3 cards, your opponent discards the same number of cards.
When you have a Fan Favorite card in your Ring, this card can be played from Ringside, and he discards randomly for this card's effect.
F: 8     D: 10     SV: 1     Multi     Unique     WCW logo
V8

Solid maneuver with a good discard effect. And You can keep playing it every turn until it hits. No reason not to pack this card.

The Diamond Cutter
Trademark Finisher / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver, when played after a successfully played card or as a Counter, your opponent discards his hand.
As a reversal, when played from hand, reverse any card (even if it 'cannot be reversed').
F: 50     D: 25     SV: 4     Unique     WCW logo
V2

Move over RKO, the original 'out of nowhere' finisher is here. Now, you may look at the 50F cost and think "How am I going to get there?" Well fret not, just take another look at DDP's superstar ability: 'Your The Diamond Cutter is -5F for every non-Backlash DDP-specific card in your Ring.'

This makes this card at least a little easier to play. The biggest dilemma is whether to play The diamond Cutter as a Maneuver or as a Reversal. I would likely save it as a reversal. Simply for the reason that with the text of the Shenanigans cards, you cannot make your opponent discard their whole hand. It's instead replaced with randomly discarding half of their hand. Still could be good, but not nearly as devastating.

But as a reversal, it hits ANY CARD. So, yeah, save it as a reversal.

BANG!!!
Action / Reversal: Special
As a reversal, reverse any non-Trademark Finisher maneuver.
When successfully played, choose one: put The Diamond Cutter from your Ringside into your hand, or draw up to 5 cards; when played as an action, you may choose both options.
When this card, Out of Nowhere and The Diamond Cutter are in your Ring, you win the game via Pinfall Victory.
F: 12     D: 3     Unique     WCW logo
V2

Another solid card. It reverses most maneuvers, or causes opponent to take action damage. When successfully played you can either draw a bunch of cards or put you TMF into your hand. PLUS it has a very achievable pin victory condition.

The Jersey Triad
Action
This card is considered non-Unique for your card effects.
Put this card, up to 1 card from your Ringside, and up to 1 non-reversal card removed from the game on the bottom of your Arsenal.
Your opponent overturns 1 card.
Your next card played this turn is +1 Stun Value.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     WCW logo
V5

This card is... fine. It's not as good as his other cards, but its also not bad. I wouldn't argue if someone didn't want to pack this card, but I would pack it. DDP can often have a bunch of cards removed from the game – this helps to get them back. And you can search for it with Give & Take.

The Devil's Rejects
Action: Movie
When playing this card, you may remove up to 6 cards in your Ringside from the game, and this card is -2F for each card removed this way; when you remove 2+ cards, this card cannot be reversed from hand.
Shuffle up to 2 cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal, draw up to 2 cards, search your Arsenal for 2 cards, put them in your hand, shuffle, and remove this card from the game.
F: 20     D: 0     Unique     WCW logo

This card is also good. It can allow you to search for any 2 cards in your arsenal, and you can always recover this card later since it gets removed from the game when successful.

That's it for his specific cards. I believe they can be quite powerful and they interact very well together.

PART TWO
Now let's look at a few non-specific cards that can be helpful for DDP. I've already focused on a few above, but you may also want to consider:

Givin' 'em High Fives
Pre-match Event
Reveal the top 5 cards of your Arsenal, put 2 into your hand, and remove the rest from the game.
Fan Favorite Logo
Throwback
F: 0      D: 0

Puts more cards in your hand, and more Fan Favorite cards in your ring. Win/Win.

A Legendary Comeback
Mid-match Action + Action: Face
Cannot be packed by The Home Team.
When you have lower Fortitude and your opponent's Fortitude Rating is 20+, he cannot respond to this card.
Shuffle up to # cards from your Ringside and/or removed from the game into your Arsenal, where # is the number of Fan Favorite cards and cards with 'legend', 'fans', 'crowd', or 'USA' in the title in your Ring; draw cards up to your Superstar Value (to a maximum of 5 cards).
When this card is in your Ring, the number of cards moved to your Arsenal from Ringside or that are removed from the game by your cards and card effects is reduced to 0.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Multi     Permanent     Fan Favorite logo

Kind of a last resort card, but it can be the difference between winning and losing.

Blindside Hook
Strike
When successfully played, your opponent draws 1 card.
You may play this card from your Ringside pile.
When played from your Ringside pile, remove 1 card in your hand from the game.
Fan Favorite logo
F: 0 D: 6

Blindside Drop Toe Hold
Grapple
You may play this card from your Ringside pile.
When played from your Ringside pile, your opponent may put 1 Pre-match or Mid-match card that does not have the word "blindside" in the title from your Ring area into your Ringside pile.
Fan Favorite logo
F: 4 D: 10

Both of these moves are Fan Favorite and can be played from ringside (albeit at a cost).

Straight Clothesline
Strike: Volley: 6
This card is -4F when your Fortitude Rating is less than or equal to your opponent's Fortitude Rating.
Fan Favorite Logo
SV: 1
F: 4      D: 6

Very good Fan Favorite Volley maneuver. A good way to get started on F.

Blindsided by the Dangerous Divas
Action: Run-in
Can only be played when you have at least 2 cards in your Ring area with the word "blindside" in the title.
Remove the top 5 cards of your Arsenal from the game and then shuffle up to 10 of your cards that have been removed from the game into your Arsenal.
You may play this card from your Ringside pile.
When played from your Ringside pile, discard 1 card.
Fan Favorite logo
F: 4 D: 0

If packing the above Blindside cards, this card is a must pack.

Kristal: Broadcast Beauty
Action: Run-in
Shuffle 7 of your cards removed from the game into your Arsenal.
When this card is in your Ring area or hand, your cards titled Kristal: Broadcast Beauty may replace 1 card listed on <WWE logo> Divas: The Next Generation or <WWE logo> Divas Rule!
Fan Favorite Logo
F: 14 D: 0

I would pack no less than two of these in DDP. AND since it's fan favorite, it isn't effected by your opponent's Hell in a Cell or The Finisher.

DDP Yoga
Action + Action
Overturn 2 cards, put up to 1 card from your Ringside into your hand, and put up to 1 of your cards removed from the game on the bottom of your Arsenal.  When you are DDP, you may triple those numbers.
F: 10     D: 0     Unique     Multi

It isn't a stretch (pun intended) to pack this card. Good RFG recovery and it's Multi.

It's Great To Be Back Here In...
Reversal: Special
This card ignores any "can only be reversed" restriction from a card.
Reverse any non-unique card with a "can only be reversed" restriction and end your opponent's turn. The first card you play on your next turn is -10F if you have a Venue card in your Ring area. 
Fan Favorite Logo
F: 0      D: 0

This card is basically already a staple, but given the fact that it's Fan Favorite, DDP loves it that much more.

ALSO, DDP being a WCW superstar, he has access to (or gets bonuses from) the following cards:

Where the Big Boys Play
Pre-match Allegiance: WCW
Can be played regardless of The Boogeyman's Ability.
When you put a WCW card into your Ring, your opponent discards 1 card.
When played by a WCW Superstar, you may search your Arsenal for 2 cards and put them under this card, then shuffle.
Once during each of your turns, you may put the bottom card of your Arsenal under this card.
ACE:  Once during each of your turns, when it is not your first turn of the game and you have lower Fortitude, you may remove 2 cards under this card from the game; then look at his hand, choose 2 reversals, and they cannot be played in response to the next maneuver played this turn.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     RMS logo     WCW logo

Welcome to Monday Nitro!
Pre-match Event
Requirement: Allegiance: WCW
When you are a WCW Superstar, this card does not take up a Pre-match slot in your Ring, and when you Activate Where the Big Boys Play, you may put the cards on the bottom of your Arsenal instead.
When Houston, Texas is not in your Ring, you and your opponent draw 4 cards, and he randomly discards cards until he discards a hybrid card; then, you discard the same number of cards.  When Flanked by Arena Security is not in any player's Ring, all players' Starting Hand Size are -2, and all players draw 3 less cards for The Best Laid Plans.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     RMS logo     WCW logo

One of the Big Boys
Pre-match Event
This card cannot be blanked; cannot be packed when packing Pre-match cards with 'McMahon' in the title.
Overturn 6 cards.  At the end of the Pre-match phase, put up to 1 non-Unique card in your Ringside into your hand.
When this card is in your Ring, your opponent's non-Unique non-Superstar-specific reversals deal no more than 1D, and when you are a WCW Superstar and you have greater Fortitude, once during each of your turns you may put 1 card from under a WCW card on the bottom of your Arsenal.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent

Chaos and Pandemonium at Ringside!
Maneuver: Special
When you are a WCW Superstar, this card is Multi.
When played, choose up to 5 cards in your hand, shuffle them into your Arsenal and draw the same number of cards +1.  Your opponent shuffles # random cards from his hand into his Arsenal and draws up to # cards, where # is the number you chose; for each card he draws, this card is +1D and when successfully played, he removes 1 random card in his Ringside from the game.
F: 13     D: 4     SV: 2     Unique     WCW logo

A Great Deal of Confusion - Throwback
Reversal: Special
Requirement: Allegiance: WCW
When played, you may ignore a 'can only be reversed' or 'cannot be reversed' effect from a card.
Reverse any non-Superstar-specific card that 'cannot be reversed' or with a 'can only be reversed' effect.  Draw up to 1 card, and put up to 1 card under Halloween Havoc and up to 1 of your cards removed from the game under Where the Big Boys Play.
F: 5    D: 0     Unique     WCW logo

Ready to Rumble
Action: Movie
When you are Goldberg or a WCW Superstar, this card is F: 0 and cannot be reversed.
Discard 1 card, shuffle 5 cards from your Ringside into your Arsenal, and your next card played this turn cannot be reversed.
Your The King Interferes! is -15F.
F: 14     D: 0     Unique     WCW logo

PART THREE
Specific Build Types

DDP isn't a superstar that is pigeonholed to a certain build. He can work in a few ways. I found that a mix of Blindside, Volley, Precision and hard to reverse maneuvers like German Suplex or Boot Lace. Is plenty.

In a more competitive environment, one could really focus on reversal restriction maneuvers and combine them with his 360 clotheslines. I imagine that could work quite well with Atomic Lariat, Preciscion Haymaker, and the above mentioned German Suplex.

DDP can also survive for a very long time. I went with Wrestlemania in the pre-match. If you successfully activate it, opponent is left with no hand. You can then play your specific mid match action (which they cannot respond to), then you can play Precision Personified (which they cannot RTV), and search for a Presicion Kick (which can only be reversed from hand), and maybe you follow that up with Victory Roll (Which means you win the game).

PART FOUR
In Conclusion:

DDP can be a fun deck or a competitive deck with relative ease. He can control the game if he's ahead, and he can stay competitive if he's behind. All in all, I would recommend trying him out. And that isn't a bad thing, that's a good thing.

Please comment anything I may have forgotten or overlooked, or if you've built a DDP deck before!

I hope you enjoyed this, and hopefully learned a few things. Check back next week when I cover Damian Sandow!

[Dr_phillanomics]

I like this! Thanks for posting! Not sure what you have planned for the next superstar but I'd be interested to see your thoughts on.... Macho Man Randy Savage! OOOOOOH YEAH!! 😎

[Hogtrail]

Thanks, Doc!

Damian Sandow is next weeks superstar. I'll add Macho Man to the poll for the following week!