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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 this week's superstar this strategy session is the first dedicated to a classic Raw Deal Superstar, Rhyno!

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

Rhyno
Starting Hand Size: 7     Superstar Value: 1
Superstar Ability: Your Foreign Object cards do not have the Raw logo. Once during each of your turns, you may reveal cards from the top of your Arsenal until you reveal a Foreign Object. Put that card into your hand and the rest into your Ringside pile.
INX, SS3

Nothing too special to report here. A 7 Hand Size is pretty good, and easy to boost up with Underrated Superstar and other cards. His superstar ability is akin to Billy Gunn's, only with a lot more downside (for now). A few Foreign Objects have the Raw Logo, so it's nice that he can pack those freely. However, his other cards change a few things about his superstar ability, so lets just keep going.

The Last Original ECW World Champion
Backstage Card
When you use your Ability, shuffle the revealed cards into your Arsenal instead.
Your opponent cannot respond to your Rhyno's Garbage Can and it now reads: "ACE: When you successfully play a maneuver without a printed reversal restriction, you may put this card into your Ringside and then search your Arsenal or Ringside for another Rhyno-specific card, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle."
Unique     ECW logo     RMS logo
V1

There we go, NOW he's ECW Billy Gunn by not losing the revealed cards. This makes his ability MUCH better. Rhyno's Garbage Can also gets a boost (Because the first effect of this card covers it's original text). Now your opponent cannot respond to it, which will help if you want to play a card that "Can only be played after a card."

This card also allows Rhyno to pack The House That Hardcore Built, which is a great card.

The Manbeast of NXT
Backstage Card
When packing this card, you can pack From NXT to WWE, but you cannot pack non-Superstar-specific printed Foreign Objects.
Your F:5- maneuvers without 'can only be reversed' in the text are considered F:0 and Foreign Objects for your other Rhyno-specific cards and effects.
During any turn when you successfully play a maneuver with printed Stun Value, choose one: Promo: 2, put up to 1 non-reversal card from Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal, or remove 1 card in your opponent's Ringside from the game.
Unique     RMS logo     NXT logo
V8

There's a lot to unpack with this card, as it basically gives you a completely new way to play Rhyno. Firstly, being able to pack From NXT to WWE is good because it gives you a free Underrated Superstar, but Rhyno doesn't get to take advantage of that cards other effects.

Secondly, this card prevents you from packing Non-Specific printed FO's. Well that certainly goes against the ECW spirit, BUT...

Thirdly, "Your F:5- maneuvers without 'can only be reversed' in the text are considered F:0 and Foreign Objects for your other Rhyno-specific cards and effects." Alright, Now Rhyno becomes the NXT Billy Gunn.

Fourthly, "During any turn when you successfully play a maneuver with printed Stun Value, choose one: Promo: 2, put up to 1 non-reversal card from Ringside on the bottom of your Arsenal, or remove 1 card in your opponent's Ringside from the game." This part gives Rhyno a lot of options when he successfully plays a maneuver. Help build your hand with a promo, recover a card, or remove an important card in your opponent's ringside.

This card also interacts with a few effects we'll cover in a bit.

My ONLY complaint about this card is that it technically doesn't interact with The House That Hardcore Built. But that might be too greedy.

Extreme Warfare
Pre-match Stipulation
When the first card played during each player's turn is a maneuver, it can only be reversed from their opponent's Arsenal.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     Smackdown logo
INX, SS3

Whoa boy, this card is a game changer. And as good as this card is for Rhyno, it can also backfire VERY easily. Remember, Rhyno cannot play Restricted Use to his opponent's maneuver affected by this card UNLESS his opponent is also modifying that maneuver with a card. We'll discuss this card a little further in Part 3.

Unleash the Beast
Pre-match Event
When this card is in your Ring area, you cannot play non-unique non-F:0 maneuvers unless they are Foreign Objects. During each of your turns, your Foreign Object maneuvers are +#D, where # is equal to the number of cards revealed for your Superstar Ability that turn.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent
VEN, SS3

This is the card that makes an NXT Rhyno build work. With ALL of your F:5- maneuvers being considered F:0 and Foreign Objects, you can add some serious damage to your maneuvers. Of course, this obviously works with a straight forward ECW Foreign Object Rhyno build too. 

The GORE Machine
Pre-match Event
This card and Unleash the Beast cannot be blanked and do not take up Pre-match slots in your Ring.
You may overturn 6 cards; if you do and he starts the game, he skips his first turn.
Your opponent cannot respond to your Taunt the Crowd, and when Unleash the Beast adds 5+D to a maneuver, that maneuver cannot be reversed by non-Superstar-specific reversals from Backlash.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent
V8

I really like this card. Firstly, it allows you the chance to go first by overturning 6 cards. The Taunt The Crowd effect is negligible (we'll see why in a bit). But the best effect is the last one – Adding a backlash reversal restriction to your maneuvers if they meet the criteria. So this card combined with Extreme Warfare can give your opponent very few reversal options for your first two maneuvers (more on this in Part 3).

Rhyno's Extreme Intensity
Pre-match Storyline
Cannot be blanked.
Cannot be played when Extreme Warfare is in your Ring; you cannot put that card into your Ring.
ACE: Once during each of your turns, you may discard # cards, where # is the number of D: 2+ cards in your Ring +2; and then your opponent reveals his hand, choose 1 card, and he discards the chosen card.  This effect cannot be reversed.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent     ECW logo
V3

Yet another card that can completely change your Rhyno build. Losing Extreme Warfare, but gaining an irreversible cousin to Collegiate Champions. This card is obviously easier to activate early in the game, before your ring fills up with maneuvers, but it can be a great way to help push your maneuvers through.

Taunt the Crowd
Mid-match Action
Can only be played as your first card of the turn.
Your next 3 Action cards played this turn cannot be reversed.
During your opponent's next turn, his maneuvers cannot be reversed from your Arsenal and you cannot play the card titled Over Sell Maneuver.
F: 10     D: 0     Unique
ARM

This card probably isn't worth packing in today's Raw Deal meta. The downside is far too great.

GORE! GORE! GORE!
Mid-match Trademark Finisher / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver, can only be played after a successfully played maneuver and cannot be reversed when that maneuver was 10D or greater.
As a reversal, reverse any maneuver and end your opponent's turn.
F: 50     D: 30     SV: 3     Unique     Smackdown logo
INX, SS3

This is a great card. F:50 is very high, but with the cards listed above, it can be very easy to reach that number. I'll say 99% of the time you'll be playing this card as a reversal – it's too good not to. Having said that, an irreversible trademark finisher can win games. Point being, this card is incredible.

That's it for his backlash specifics. A lot of good stuff. Now let's check out the arsenal specifics:

Rhyno's Belly-to-Belly Suplex
Grapple + Grapple / Action + Action
As a maneuver, your opponent discards 1 random card.
As an action, this card is -6F; shuffle this card and up to 1 of your cards removed from the game into your Arsenal and draw up to 1 card.  You cannot play this card as an action for the rest of the turn.
When your next card played this turn is Rhyno-specific, you may ignore the 'Can only be played...' text.
F: 6     D: 8     SV: 1     Unique     Multi
V8

This is a solid card all around. A cheaply priced multi Grapple with a good discard effect, or a Multi F:0 action that can help you recover RFG cards. Nothing bad with this one.

Rhyno Stampede
Strike + Strike
F: 10     D: 10     SV: 1     Unique     Multi     Smackdown logo
INX, SS3

Plain old meat and potatoes multi strike. Not a must pack, but not a bad card either.

Rhyno's Spinebuster
Grapple / Reversal: Special
As a maneuver, this card is -20F, and when you have 10+ lower Fortitude, can be played from Ringside.
As a reversal, reverse any Grapple or Action; when this card reverses from Arsenal, you may put it into your Ring.
F: 20     D: 8     SV: 1     Unique
V8

This is another great card. As a maneuver, this can certainly help you start a comeback if you fall behind early. And as a reversal, it gives you 8F regardless of how it reverses. And action reversals that deal this much damage are ALWAYS fun to throw at your opponent.

Rhyno's Garbage Can
Action: Foreign Object
When this card is in your Ring area, if you reveal cards for your Superstar Ability, you may put this card into your Ringside pile after you reveal a Foreign Object to shuffle all other revealed cards into your Arsenal.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Smackdown logo
INX, SS3

Lets refresh your memory on what this card actually does:
"ACE: When you successfully play a maneuver without a printed reversal restriction, you may put this card into your Ringside and then search your Arsenal or Ringside for another Rhyno-specific card, reveal it, put it in your hand, and shuffle."

I like this card early in the game. It can help you get the spinebuster into your hand, or the belly to belly suplex if an important card is RFG. And if you have Chicago Street Fight in your ring, you can keep picking this card up each time you activate it. And remember that this card say "Printed reversal restriction," so cards effected by Extreme Warefare (or another card) will still let you search.

The Manbeast
Action
When this card is in your Ring area, you may discard 5 cards to reverse any maneuver and end your opponent's turn. Reduce the number of cards discarded by 1 for every 2 Stun Value in your Ring area. The number of cards discarded cannot go below 2.
F: 5     D: 0     Unique     Smackdown logo
INX
   ---OR---
The Manbeast - Throwback
Action
When this card is in your Ring area, you may discard 4 cards to reverse any maneuver and end your opponent's turn. Reduce the number of cards discarded by 1 for every 2 Stun Value in your Ring area. The number of cards discarded cannot go below 2.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Smackdown logo
SS3

Wowwww... First things first, the only reason not to pack the throwback version is if you just don't own it. As far as what the card actually does, holy crap is it good. There are a lot of maneuvers with a lot of stun value, so you can easily assume that you can discard 2 cards to reverse ANY MANEUVER. That's amazing. The hardest part is just getting this action to stick, but once it does you're golden.

Unstoppable
Action / Reversal: Special
As a reversal, reverse any non-unique maneuver and end your opponent's turn.
When this card is in your Ring area, whenever you successfully play a Foreign Object, you may shuffle up to 3 cards from your Ringside pile into your Arsenal.
F: 6     D: 0     Unique     Smackdown logo
DO, SS3

I really like this card as well. And it works brilliantly with any reasonable Rhyno build. Either a regular FO build, or an NXT build can really benefit from this card. Recoverying any 3 cards when you successfully play a maneuver (or foreign object action) is very good – and it's not even once per turn!

Get Up! GET UP!
Action
Can only be played as a Counter, and your opponent cannot respond to this card.
Reveal 1 card with 'spear' or 'gore' in the title in your hand, Backlash, Ringside or your cards removed from the game; you may play that card from that area as your next card this turn, it is -20F, ignore the 'can only be played...' text, and it can only be reversed by Superstar-specific cards or from Arsenal.
During your turn, you may discard this card and draw 1 card.
F: 30     D: 0     Unique     RMS logo
V8

This card is just OKAY for Rhyno. He probably benefits the least of those who can pack this card. Like I said before, Rhyno is typically going to play GORE as a reversal, so even with the bonus reversal restrictions this card gives it, just wait a few more turns and GORE them as a reversal.

That's all of Rhyno's specifics. I think he has a lot of really good cards.

PART TWO
Now let's look at a few non-specific cards that can be helpful for Rhyno.

A few cards mentioned earlier:

The House That Hardcore Built
Backstage Card
This card is considered Superstar-specific.
Can only be packed when you have an ECW card in your Backstage Area.  When packing this card, you cannot pack nWo cards.
Your Foreign Objects are -4F, and your opponent's non-Unique reversals to your Foreign Object and Extreme cards deal no damage.
Your Revolution ECW Originals gains your logo, and cards with "ECW" in the title do not take up a Pre-match slot in your Ring.
Unique     ECW logo     RMS logo

From NXT to WWE
Pre-match Event
Can only be packed by an NXT Superstar.  Cannot be blanked.
This card and Underrated Superstar do not take up a Pre-match slot in your Ring.
When you draw for your Ability, draw up to 1 additional card, and when you move cards into your Arsenal for your Ability, move up to 1 additional card.
F: 0     D: 0     Unique     Permanent

I think I'm going to end part 2 early because I'm going to cover a lot of cards in...

PART THREE
Specific Build Types

Rhyno is an interesting superstar. His specifics give you a lot of options.

First Idea: ECW/Foreign Object

a. Obviously this is the standard Rhyno build. Foreign Objects (with House That Hardcore Built) are still very powerful. I typically go with a face build for my FO decks, primarily for...

Everything and the Kitchen Sink
Strike: Foreign Object: Face
When played, choose up to 2 Foreign Object maneuvers in your Ringside pile not titled Everything and the Kitchen Sink. Those maneuvers are considered played from your hand and are played in the order of your choice after this card. Resolve each card's effects and damage before the next card is considered played. After all of these cards have been played, if any have been reversed, your turn ends.
SV: 1
F: 14       D: 6

This is a great card, and especially for Rhyno with Extreme Warefare. If they can only reverse the Sink from Arsenal, then all of the maneuvers played with it will be successful.

And how about combining this build with these two cards:

SummerSlam
Pre-match Pay-Per-View Event
Can only be played when you have a Feud and a Stipulation card in your Ring area.
You must immediately play a Stipulation card.
Choose 1 Stipulation card in your opponent's Ring area and that card is blank.
Permanent
Unique
F: 0       D: 0

First Blood Match
Pre-match Stipulation
Cannot be packed by a Female Superstar.
Can only be played when there is a Feud card in any Ring area.
Any player that has at least 6 Foreign Object Maneuver cards in his Ring area, or at least 3 Foreign Object Maneuver cards and then successfully plays the card titled Busted Wide Open, wins the game via Pinfall victory.
Active
Permanent
F: 0      D: 0

Rhyno could theoretically win after 6 turns if he has these two and Extreme Warfare in his ring. Possibly sooner is Kitchen Sink hits. Could be very annoying for your opponent. As for what feud to use, Trash Talking Interview could work to clear your opponent's hand of a maneuver they could play, or Tech in a Bottle could fetch you a Kitchen Sink.

Kitchen Sink also will make discarding FO's a viable option for using Sustained Damage when your opponent play an Extreme Warfare protected maneuver.

b. Punch/Brass Nuks

Brass "Nuks" Shot (SS2)
Strike: Foreign Object / Reversal: High Risk: Heel
As a reversal, reverse any High Risk maneuver and end your opponent's turn.
When this card is in your Ring area, your cards titled Haymaker, European Uppercut, and your cards with the word "punch" in the title are +2D and they cannot be reversed from your opponent's Arsenal.
Active
F: 3      D: 5

This card is F:0, and easy to get in your opening hand. If Extreme Warfare pushes this maneuver through, then your opponent has very few reversal options to your punches and euro uppercuts.

Second Idea: NXT

This one is a lot more diverse than the standard Foreign Object Rhyno, so I'll going to break this down into a few sub-ideas. (also, please NOTE that all of these can also work without using the NXT backstage card)

a. Volley

First, There are a lot of good volley maneuvers that are F:5-. Also, most volley maneuvers have printed Stun Value, so they will interact with both The Manbeast, and the last effect of The Manbeast of NXT. It will also help keep your hand replenished if your maneuver is reversed from arsenal. You may want to consider adding a few of these:

Stun the Crowd
Pre-match Event
When this card is in your Ring area, your cards with Stun Value are +1D and +1 Stun Value.
F: 0      D: 0

Adding Stun to your maneuvers adds cards to your hand, adding cards to your hand will give you plenty of cards to Sustain your opponent's maneuvers.

b. Mono-Submission

Picture this, You throw a bunch of good F:5- submissions, you reach F:10 and play this card:

Maintain Hold
Action + Action
Can only be played after a successfully played non-Restricted-Modification-Symbol Submission maneuver.
End your turn. The maintained maneuver is not considered a Multi maneuver. You and your opponent cannot play any cards that do not reverse the maintained maneuver until it is reversed. Once during each of your turns, the maintained maneuver does its damage along with any effects. If the maintained maneuver is reversed, it is no longer considered maintained. 
Multi
Throwback
F: 10      D: 0

Now your opponent cannot play cards until your maneuver is reversed, and if you have Exreme Warfare in your ring, then he has to hope to overturn a submission reversal. A submission like Judo Choke wouldn't be a bad card to consider, knowing it'll likely be successful.

How about this one:

Bear Hug
Submission: Chain
When successfully played, look at the top 5 cards of your opponent's Arsenal and put them back on the top or bottom of his Arsenal in any order.
Throwback
F: 1      D: 5

When this maneuver is maintained, it has potential to be maintained for a long time.

Point Being – Maintain Hold can be deadly in a Rhyno deck with Extreme Warfare.

c. Unorthodox Style of Wrestling

Take all the stuff I said in the last section, and then add some high risks to the mix. If you can all but guarantee that your submission will be successful, then pairing that with this can be very beneficial:

Unorthodox Style of Wrestling
Pre-match Event
When this card is in your Ring area, whenever you play a High Risk maneuver after a Submission maneuver, it cannot be reversed from your opponent's hand.
F: 0      D: 0

Translation: Your first maneuver can only be reversed from arsenal and your second maneuver cannot be reversed from hand. And if you overturn enough cards for your superstar ability, then it also cannot be reversed from backlash. It's a little out there, but that's what these articles are for.

d. BASH

Bash Headlock, Bash Suplex, and Bash Punch are all F:5-, Multi, and have generous F to D ratios. If They're protected by Extreme Warfare, then you can build your F very quickly and hit GORE pretty early. Also, notice that The Manbeast of NXT doesn't restrict you from PACKING F:5- maneuvers, only playing them. So, in theory, if you have 9 BASH maneuvers in your ring, then you can play this:

BASH: Great American Style
Mid-match Trademark Finisher
This card is -5F for every maneuver in your Ring area with "BASH" in the title.
Can only be played after a successfully played maneuver.
SV: 5
F: 50 D: 50

PART FOUR
In Conclusion:

Rhyno has a lot of potential. In the hands of a skilled Raw Deal Player, I could see him being VERY good, as long as you don't get too cute with the build. I haven't built Rhyno in the virtual era, so I may be wrong. But his ability to push maneuvers through is undeniable. He could also be a good deck for a beginning player.

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

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

[ponder505]

First Idea: ECW/Foreign Object

a. Obviously this is the standard Rhyno build. Foreign Objects (with House That Hardcore Built) are still very powerful. I typically go with a face build for my FO decks, primarily for...

Everything and the Kitchen Sink
Strike: Foreign Object: Face
When played, choose up to 2 Foreign Object maneuvers in your Ringside pile not titled Everything and the Kitchen Sink. Those maneuvers are considered played from your hand and are played in the order of your choice after this card. Resolve each card's effects and damage before the next card is considered played. After all of these cards have been played, if any have been reversed, your turn ends.
SV: 1
F: 14       D: 6

This is a great card, and especially for Rhyno with Extreme Warefare. If they can only reverse the Sink from Arsenal, then all of the maneuvers played with it will be successful.

Always great to see another one of these. I did want to point out one thing, though: Kitchen Sink does not make the additional maneuvers successful if it is successful.

Everything and the Kitchen Sink
-The maneuvers taken from the Ringside pile must still meet the requirements for legal play.  EXAMPLE:  If the Dudley Boyz had a Reverse 180-Degree Chair Shot in their Ringside pile, they could not combine it with Kitchen Sink due to the 'Can only be played' clause on 180.
-The maneuvers taken from the Ringside pile must also meet Fortitude requirements.  EXAMPLE:  If Rob Van Dam had 0 Fortitude, he could use his ability to reduce the cost of Kitchen Sink, but he would still have to have the required Fortitude to play the other foreign objects in the Ringside pile - he could not use a Chair Shot with Kitchen Sink because he has no Fortitude.
-It does not matter from what area the cards are reversed, it will still end the turn if one (or more) of the maneuvers is reversed.
-Big Poppa Pump (and the Freakzilla Enforcer) cannot take 2 maneuvers with Kitchen Sink, as the ability limits to two maneuvers played each turn.
-If played by Kurt Angle or The Dudley Boyz, Kitchen Sink could be used with 2 Brass 'Nuks' Shot cards, unless there is already Brass in the Ring area.
-The Rattlesnake or Hell in a Cell Match will not prevent the other Foreign Objects from being played, since they are considered as 'played from hand.'
-If any of the cards are reversed, they will go to the Ringside pile as normal.

Still a great way to drain reversals from your opponent, and hey, 6F is 6F.

[MonkeyLord13]

Is that how Extreme Warfare interacts with Maintain Hold? Per it's text, the played maneuver is just applying damage/card effects, not actually being played again on subsequent turns.

It's still a brutal card to maintain, but I'm not sure if, once maintained, it still can only be reversed from arsenal.

[Hogtrail]

Is that how Extreme Warfare interacts with Maintain Hold? Per it's text, the played maneuver is just applying damage/card effects, not actually being played again on subsequent turns.

It's still a brutal card to maintain, but I'm not sure if, once maintained, it still can only be reversed from arsenal.

I believe (don't quote me) that it does work. Maintain is essentially "playing" the card each turn. That's why it can interact with something like Evening Gown Match or Golddusts SSA.

[MonkeyLord13]

Very cool. I loved the idea of Rhyno when he was released and built a moderately successful Heat deck for him, but didn't really like putting quite so many cards in my ringside for his ability. Haven't really returned to him in Virtual, but this Bear Hug/Maintain combo is exactly the sort of tech that is making me reconsider.

Thanks for the cool write-up!

[Daeva]

The OmniFAQ shoots some holes in that theory:

Maintain Hold (both versions)
<snip>
-If played after a maneuver affected by Brahma Bull or other similar 'blanking' effect, the blanking effect will not take place when the damage is reapplied.  This is because the maneuver is not being played, it is already in play.
-If played after a maneuver that was made irreversible by another card effect such as Turn the Tide or Diversion, the maneuver loses this irreversability bonus when the damage is applied again.

The Brahma Bull entry makes clear that the card isn't considered being played when you apply it again. I'd also like to see some verification on your claim that Maintaining a maneuver triggers Goldust's Ability and Evening Gown Match over and over.

[Hogtrail]

http://teamcanadaonline.net///index.php/topic,17881.msg203617.html#msg203617

[Daeva]

Then I'll cross-post there and here: SRH was mistaken. Maintain's entry in the OmniFAQ makes it clear that the maneuver isn't considered "successfully played" over and over, you just apply the effects and damage from the maneuver itself. Maintain won't trigger Evening Gown Match over and over or allow Goldust to obliterate his opponent's hand.