STARTING HANDSIZE:  2

SUPERSTAR   VALUE:  4

SUPERSTAR ABILITY:  You must always draw 2 cards, if possible, during your draw segment. All damage from opponent is at -1D.

PREMIERE WWF SUPERSTAR
Pre-Match Event
At the end of the Pre-Match phase, the Superstar with the greatest total Superstar Value may force an opponent to take a number of cards equal to the greatest Superstar Value and put them into his respective Ringside pile.
If no Superstar has a greater Superstar Value than the others then nothing occurs.
F: 0  D: 0
(Rare: Backlash)  Unique

HELL IN A CELL MATCH
Pre-Match Stipulation
Cannot be played by The Rock, Booker T, or the Brothers Of Destruction.
This card can be removed from your Ring area by the card titled Duchess of Queensbury Rules.
Run-In cards cannot be played by any player and cards played cannot move cards from any Ringside pile to any other location. However, Superstar Specific Foil cards played by Mankind/Cactus Jack, Undertaker/Dead Man Inc. or Triple H can move cards from any Ringside pile to any other location.
F: 0  D: 0
(Rare: Mania)   Active

SUSTAINED DAMAGE
Mid-Match Reversal: Special
Can only be played if your opponent plays a maneuver and you do not reverse it from your hand; does not end opponent's turn.
When this card is in your Ring area, you may discard any number of cards from your hand whenever you must overturn cards from damage to reduce the damage by 2 for each card discarded. You may not discard any further cards once you have begun to overturn cards from your Arsenal.
F: 0  D: 0
(Rare: Mania)   Unique

CLUMSY OPPONENT
Reversal: Special
May reverse any maneuver of 4D or less and end opponent's turn.
You may draw 1 card.
F: 0  D: 1
(Common: Backlash)

MAINTAIN HOLD
Action
Play after a successful Submission maneuver not reversed and end your turn. You and your opponent may not play maneuvers or actions until your opponent reverses the maintained Submission. On your turn, during the main segment, the Submission does its damage, along with any other abilities on the card. If a reversal is played by your opponent or is revealed while applying damage, both Maintain Hold and the Submission maneuver remain in your Ring area, but you may no longer use the ability of this Maintain Hold card.
F: 10  D: 0
(Rare: Premiere/Survivor Series)

I'M GONNA PUT YOU THROUGH THE RING
Action
Cannot be reversed.
If your next card played this turn is a Grapple maneuver of 10D or greater and it is not reversed from your opponent's hand, it does twice the damage.
F: 15  D: 0
(Rare: Backlash)

Q:  Does the Superstar Ability only reduce damage from maneuvers?
A:  No, any damage done from a reversal is reduced by 1D.  So an Elbow To The Face does only 1D, and a Manager Interferes does 0D, or no damage.

In The Ring:  While Mankind may not start out with a large attack, he can survive a beating with his extremely-high tolerance to pain; but when he attacks, he can often overwhelm an unsuspecting opponent with a major assault!

In The Game:  Mankind's Superstar Ability is two-fold: first, he takes -1D to all damage dealt against him, and second, he draws two cards every turn.

Using All Foils/Uniques:  Mankind's Trademark Finisher, the Mandible Claw, is a less-damaging version of the standard F-and-D, but the ability to use Maintain Hold can often finish off an opponent clinging to life. Double-Arm DDT is a good mid-game maneuver, as is Tree Of Woe; moreso the latter, as it is unreversible! But Mankind's strongest foil is, without a doubt, his reversal Have A Nice Day!; while its reversing ability is somewhat limited, causing your opponent to discard their hand can be a game winner! There are strong actions for this deck, as well: Mr. Socko, while sporting a high-F requirement, can finish off an opponent with the damage bonus and card retrieval; Get Hardcore can change the game completely be adding +3D to *all* maneuvers; and the new Mid-Match card, Three Faces Of Foley is undoubtedly turning Mankind into a powerful monster by reshuffling his discard pile back into his deck!  Lastly, Foley Is Good gives powerful protection from your opponent's maneuvers, preventing damage from any kind of boosting effects - APA's Superstar Ability, Amazing Display Of Power, or even Foley's own Get Hardcore!

Using Some/No Foils/Uniques:  With the new Mid-Match Trademark Finisher Reversal When You Thought You Had All The Answers available, more and more decks are leaving out TMF without serious loss, and Mankind's deck is no exception. If you are playing a low-F control deck, you could also pass on DDT and Tree without too much loss. Likewise, with its high requirement, Mr. Socko could be set aside as needed, and if you are not prepared for its full effects, so can Get Hardcore. However, in all but the lowest-Fortitude decks, Three Faces should be kept, as it is the strongest recovery card in the game! Likewise, no Mankind deck - ever - should be without Have A Nice Day! or Foley Is Good, no matter what the style.

Deck Ideas: Some Mankind players work with the foil maneuvers in a mono-Grapple aggressive style, starting slow but building to a massive attack, especially with Three Faces for recovery, and Half Hour Suplex to base one large single-maneuver strike! Some use a 'turtle' style, with cards like Defensive Posture, Defensive Cover, and Kick Out as protection while building a large hand - possibly using Turn The Tide to launch the final attack. Others use a lot of Submissions, focusing on Maintain Hold to lockdown the opponent while drawing 2 cards a turn, or just finishing them off with a Maintain'ed Mandible Claw! And still others concentrate on building the damage of maneuvers (including booster cards like Pier Six Brawl and Amazing Display Of Power) with Socko and Get Hardcore, especially if your opponent is prevented from playing maneuvers with Defensive Posture, Alcolyte Protection Agency, or just heavy reversals! Now Mania brings more possibilities, as the heavy card drawing can fuel Sustained Damage and further reduce heavy damage effects.

Recommended Stipulations: Hell In A Cell Match, unless you have a different strategy, will work wonders since you can still use Three Faces Of Foley for massive recursion!

Watch Out For: The Big Show - the foil Grapple maneuvers do minimal damage against him; Austin might What??? your Three Faces away; and Edge & Christian get the reverse effect of Have A Nice Day! and add to their hand instead!

How I Play:  My modified Mankind deck (with Cactus Jack-enabled foils!) is a Face mono-Grapple deck that pounds its way to big damage, using Get Hardcore, Amazing Display Of Power, and often Mr. Socko to rain down huge damage Grapples, often leading up to a huge Tree Of Woe, especially when led into with I'm Gonna Put You Thru The Ring.