Q: Can Jennifer Walters remove threat from a side scheme as it enters play?

A: No. Side schemes enter play with threat already on them, meaning threat is not “placed” at this point. -(Official FAQ)

Q: If threat is placed on a scheme during game setup, does Jennifer Walters’s ability trigger?

A: No. Abilities that do not have the ”Setup” timing trigger cannot resolve during game setup. -(Official FAQ)

For a long time, I, like many others, have been very dismissive of She-Hulk on account of her clunky Hero deck. Of the 15 cards in her deck, 3 are very expensive to play in Hero form, 6 are very situational, and 2 are dead almost all of the time. The other 4 cards are quite powerful but are all single copies. It can be tempting to look at this unsightly mess of a Hero deck with all of its awkward pieces and design missteps (cough Legal Practice cough) and label She-Hulk as the "worst" Hero in the game. I know that I did for a long time.

But then I started building and playing around this card. The real reason to play She-Hulk -- her ID. It was then that I realized that her Hero deck doesn't even really need to be super consistent because She-Hulk's ID offers (arguably) the best value of all the Heroes currently in the game -- and you don't even need to pay anything for it.

Free. Value. This is why you play She-Hulk. Let's break it down and then I'll go over, in my opinion, the best way to utilize this Hero.

The Stats - Pros

ATK - The first thing that might stand out to you is that She-Hulk has a 3 printed on her card. That's right, She-Hulk swings for 3 naturally, making her the strongest ATK Hero in the game without any upgrades or buffs. 3 attack is enough to kill many minions with a single swing where other Heroes would need upgrades or another source of damage to finish them off. And as we will see shortly with her Hero ability, She-Hulk is going to do 5 damage every time she flips to Hero to attack, which means she can remove even chunkier minions and most Nemesis in the game with a single action.

HP / REC - 15 hit points without any upgrades is a massive health pool, allowing She-Hulk to take even the hardest swings from some of the hardest hitting villains in the game without dying. She-Hulk is one of two Heroes in the game who can consistently take a fully upgraded Rhino charge to the face without dying. Recovering for roughly 1/3 of your Heroes max HP is normal in this game, but when your HP max is 15 making your REC 5, the value scales up tremendously. Recovering 3, even if that's a 1/3 of your health, is rarely a trade you want to be making for exhausting your Hero, but recovering 5 is actually pretty significant. (Second Wind costs three resources for the same effect, Med Team only just barely out values it.) This means that She-Hulk can take a beating unlike anyone else except Thor, but even Thor doesn't have the same healing potential that She-Hulk does.

The Stats - Cons

THW - Having a 1 THW on your Hero card is bad news bears -- or at least it would be if Jennifer Walters wasn't such a badass. I listed this under "Cons", but we'll get to why I don't actually think this low stat is that big of a deal here in a little bit.

Hero Max Hand Size - Here it is, folks. The #1 reason why so many think She-Hulk is low-tier. Not only that, but I see so many people argue that if She-Hulk's hand size was the normal 5, she would be "fixed". I'm not going to argue that this drawback doesn't significantly hinder She-Hulk. It certainly does. But I think what you'll find the more that you play She-Hulk is that it isn't as big of a deal as many make it out to be.

The Abilities

This is where She-Hulk's ID starts to get out of control. Her stats are pretty strong, but she wouldn't be good if that's all that she offered. Fortunately, She-Hulk offers some of the most free, passive value of any Hero in the game and it's not even close.

"Do You Even Lift?" - 2 free damage every time you flip to Hero is actually insane. It may not seem like much, but when you think about the deeper implications of what this ability affords She-Hulk (and how it compliments the rest of her kit), you'll see that it's actually very strong. Firstly, as mentioned above, She-Hulk can one-shot most minions in the game no matter what, including Nemesis minions. Second, she can split the damage up to take out multiple minions or set up AoEs. 2 damage here, 3 damage here, and suddenly your Ground Stomps are set up to wipe the board.

Lastly, and arguably most important, She-Hulk never, ever has to worry about Tough. This is huge. When you flip to Hero, you know that you're going to be doing damage. Not only that, but you also know that your Superhuman Strength will never whiff on the Villain. You're always going to be getting that stun in. You are always going to be able to land that Gamma Slam.

Combine these points above with the fact that you'll probably be getting 8-10 free damage on average every game just for doing something you were already going to do and it's easy to see why She-Hulk is one of the best Heroes for damage potential in the game.

"I Object!" - This ability is what makes She-Hulk tick. It's the glue that holds her entire Hero, ID and deck, together. Thwarting for 1 every single turn just by being in Alter-Ego is so strong. Why? Because it buys you time to set up some very important cards to make your Hero side that much better.

See, most people see "Do You Even Lift?" and think that She-Hulk is a Hero that wants to be flipping constantly to get max value out of that ability. But that's not the case -- she can't afford to be flipping that often because she needs to be able to set up for bigger turns later. She-Hulk isn't an aggro Hero, she's a slow burner. She ramps up to massive Hero turns and then winds back down to set up again. You need time to get your Focused Rages on the table so that you can have a 6 card hand size in Hero while feeding your Gamma Slam. She needs time to get her Superhuman Strength out so she can make sure she stuns the Villain so they skip an activation against you so you preserve your HP total to feed it to Focused Rage for cards. "I Object!" buys you the time you need.

And while this technically isn't part of her ID, it's impossible not to mention Superhuman Law Division and how it plays into this strategy. You can only use this card in Alter-Ego, but when it is out, you can prevent 3 threat every single turn without even being in Hero mode. That's a Counterintelligence every turn. The amount of tempo this affords you to spend your turn building or paying for Allies is just astonishingly good. That's why Superhuman Law Division is so important to get out as early as possible.

How To Play She-Hulk Well (IMO)

Okay, so I hope by now you've noticed that She-Hulk's ID is quite good. You've got a massive natural ATK stat, the highest natural HP in the game (until Hulk releases), the highest REC in the game, and you get between 8-10 free damage and 6+ free thwart on average every game just by existing.

However...She-Hulk does require some careful piloting. Because that hand size does hurt, and as mentioned before, a lot of her Hero cards are very conditional, sometimes overpriced and sometimes just dead weight in your hand.

You need to...

Play It Slow - Do not be in a rush to get into Hero mode and start swinging. You must take your time to set up your Hero turns or you are going to run out of gas, the villain will immediately start out tempoing you and you will fall behind fast enough that you cannot recover. It is hugely important that you try to stay in Alter-Ego as much as you can until you can get at least 1 but preferably 2 Focused Rage on the table, and perhaps a Helicarrier. You need those cards and resources on your Hero turns or you will absolutely fall behind. Superhuman Law Division is key to staying in Alter-Ego as long as you can, especially since a lot of your more situational Hero cards are also Mental resources.

Make Your Hero Turns Count - If you are going to flip to She-Hulk, make it count. Have big turns planned if possible. Use your One-Two Punchs and Superhuman Strengths. Use your Ground Stomps. Kill minions, damage the villain. Have that Gamma Slam primed and ready to do as much damage as possible. And if you have Split Personality in your hand, PLAY IT EVERY TIME. One of the best things you can do with She-Hulk is start your turn in Jennifer, play a card or two, flip, deal a bunch of damage and then play Split Personality to flip back down to Jennifer and take a whole other turn. It is massively powerful. Never, ever discard Split Personality if you can help it.

Don't Be Afraid To Take Damage and REC - Focused Rage is one of your best cards for many reasons. It makes your Hero turns so much more comfortable and it feeds your Gamma Slams. Don't be afraid to take a big hit. You've got huge REC potential. Remember, if you are staying in Alter-Ego multiple turns, then there's going to be turns for you to REC. Not only are you healing a massive amount, but you're also essentially giving yourself more cards to draw with Focused Rage. Also, try to play Gamma Slam even if it's not max damage. Many times you aren't going to have a better card to play on your Hero side than dealing 8-10 damage (unless you have Split), so just use it while you can. You only really need to worry about maximizing Gamma Slam when you are trying to close out the game.

Summary

Okay, I could literally write thousands more words on She-Hulk. She's absolutely my favorite Hero to play and build now and I think she has sooo much potential with future expansions coming. But this "review" has already gone far too long. She-Hulk is way better than people give her credit for. She's just a tricky Hero to build and pilot, but she's hugely rewarding. Don't take other people's word for it -- try her out. I think you'll be surprised at how strong she can be if you play to her strengths.

Of the seven heroes we've seen so far, she's my favorite in the comics. I really love her original Savage run.

In the card game, this looks like a really fun and different hero to play. She has a recover of 5 so she could do well with protection. She could tank and then Gamma Slam. But I'm also trying to build her around Great Responsibility. When building justice She-Hulk I'm probably not putting Heroic Intuition in there.

BTW, at the time I wrote this card review, she was mistakenly referred to as Jessica Walters on here. It's Jennifer Walters.