Solo Sunday Challenge

So over on Instagram @swordandboardgames started #solosundaychallenge and @brycechristiansen set a challenge of beating Standard Crossbones in as few rounds as possible.

The Blitz Playstlye

In terms of piloting the deck it's incredibly simple: you literally do whatever you can to maximise damage and card draw on every single turn. You don't build, you don't thwart, you don't defend. Ignore the board state. It's pretty stupid and mindless and I'm not a massive fan of this playstyle and it's why I rarely play true solo nowadays.

It depends on the matchup, but often the villain gets so few activations and encounter cards that they get no chance to do anything of note to stop you. This is particularly the case for the earlier scenarios and the Red Skull box, where villain HPs are low and there's little to no front loading of sides schemes and other effects that stop you.

Even if some stuff does come out of the encounter deck you can ignore just about everything apart from Guard and Tough.

Captain Marvel Keeps on Trucking

My immediate thought was Captain Marvel because she has the combo of insane card draw, decent damage and in Photonic Blast she has both in the SAME card!

You might think that Aggression is the obvious way to go for a rush deck, but for Captain Marvel specifically Justice has the advantage of a lot of Energy symbols and yet more card draw in the form of One Way or Another.

Playing the Deck

The main skill based part of playing this deck is to mulligan well and to fight your instincts to play the game 'normally'. You need to recognise that half of the deck is just filler to play and power the cards you actually want to play. The only cards you actually want to play are: Nick Fury, Haymaker, One Way or Another, Photonic Blast, Stealt Strike, Swift Retribution and Alpha Flight Station. There's basically no reason to play anything else. Don't be afraid to mulligan 4-6 cards each game to get to these cards.

Results

For the challenge specifically I played 6 games. Overall record was 5-1. With wins on and HP remaining of:

R2, 8 HP

R3, 8 HP

Loss on Round 1

R2, 1 HP

R2, 8 HP

R2, 7 HP

Gamelogs:

Some notes from the above games. > denotes paid for the following card. (X) denotes damage.

Game 1

Round 1: Commander, Energy Absorption > Photonic Blast (5), Energy Absorption > Stealth Strike (4), Helmet > Deft Focus, Crisis Interdiction > Swift Retribution (4), Basic ATK (2)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, main scheme advances to 2B, 0 damage from Gun, Attacks for 4, Encounter: Legions of Hydra

Round 2: Energy Channel, place 2 energy counters, Rechannel into One Way or Another, draw Energy and Crisis Interdiction. Add 3 more energy counters to Energy Channel. Discard Energy Channel for 10 damage. Basic ATK (2) for the win

Game 2

Round 1:Commander, Power of Justice > Alpha Flight, flip to hero, One Way or Another, Alpha Flight to filter 1 card, Energy + Crisis Interdiction > Photonic Blast (5), Strength + Foiled > Photonic Blast (5), Basic ATK (2), Stealth Strike + Stealth Strike > Haymaker (3)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, Gun for 0, ATK for 3, Encounter: Concussion Grenade

Round 2: Filter For Justice with Alpha Flight, Basic ATK to clear Stun, Cosmic Flight > Swift Retribution, Flip to Alter Ego, Commander, Energy Absorption + Swift Retribution > Nick Fury (Draw 3), One Way or Another + Haymaker + Power of Justice > Jessica Jones, Jessica Jones ATK (2), Nick Fury ATK (2),

Villain Phase: +1 threat, SCH for 4, Main scheme advances to 3B, Encounter: Gang Up, surges into Raid the Armoury

Round 3: Commander, Play Energy Channel, Filter Helmet for 2 with Alpha Flight, Flip to Hero, One Way or Another, Genius + Crisis Interdiction > Photonic Blast (5), (reshuffle player deck), Rechannel Crisis Interdiction, Jessica ATK (2), Energy Absorption + Spider Woman + Quake into energy counters, Stealth Strike + Stealth Strike > Haymaker (3), Discard Energy Channel for 10, Basic ATK (2)

Game 3

Round 1: Commander, Flip to Hero, Jessica Jones + Haymaker + Deft Focus > Photonic Blast (5), Power of Justice > Swift Retribution (4), Haymaker > Swift Retribution (4), Basic ATK (2) Villain Phase: +1 Threat, 2B on 5, Gun: 0, ATK: 5, Encounter: Assault > Gun: 0, ATK: 4 + Hydra Jet Trooper boost, ATK: 4 minus 1 DEF, GAME LOSS

Game 4

Round 1: Commander, flip to hero, One Way or Another, Deft Focus > Alpha Flight, Filter Cosmic Flight with Alpha Flight, Crisis Interdiction + Energy > Photonic Blast (5), Foiled + Power of Justice > Jessica Jones, Swift Retribution (4), Jessica ATK (2), Basic ATK (2)

Villain Phase: +1 Threat, 2B on 2, Gun: 2, ATK: 4, Encounter: Madame Hydra

Round 2: Energy Channel, Rechannel, Energy Absorption > Photonic Blast (5), One Way or Another, Genius + Quasar > Photonic Blast (5), Strength > Haymaker (3), Jessica ATK (2), Basic ATK (2)

Game 5

Round 1: Commander, Strength + For Justice + Stealth Strike > Nick Fury (Draw 3), Flip to Hero, Genius + Cosmic Flight > Photonic Blast (5), One Way or Another, play Energy Channel, Deft Focus + Power of Justice > Haymaker (3), Nick Fury ATK (2), Basic ATK (2), Energy Absorption + Haymaker > 4 energy counters, discard Energy Channel (8)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, Gun: 1 (on Nick Fury), ATK: 4, Defend with Nick Fury, Encounter: Caught Off Guard, surges into Hydra Flame-Soldier

Round 2: One Way or Another, One Way or Another > Swift Retribution (4), Rechannel, Energy Channel, Jessica Jones + Foiled > 2 energy counters, discard for (4), Basic ATK (2)

Game 6

Round 1: Commander, Quasar > Alpha Flight, Filter Spider-Woman for 2, Flip to Hero, One Way or Another, Foiled + Deft Focus + Jessica Jones > Photonic Blast (5), Cosmic Flight + Power of Justice + Quake > Photonic Blast (5), Basic ATK (2) Nick Fury > Swift Retribution (4)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, 2B on 2, Gun:1, ATK: 5, Encounter:

Round 2: Foiled + Genius > Photonic Blast (5), Filter Stealth Strike with Alpha, Cosmic Flight + Haymaker > Haymaker (3), Basic ATK (2)