Cyclops - Perfected

I also really liked the idea of using Mutant Protectors to get allies in as well... seemed like such a good way to sneak some into play. The challenge I had was that it needs to be an ally in hand, and then play a 1 cost card, so it's essentially playing 3 ER to get an ally into play that starts exhausted. Getting a Pinned Down on an enemy is another resource, so then it's 4 ER for the ally, which is just the same cost as just straight up playing any of the 3-cost allies. I've found that it's just easier to play Team-Building Exercises as a simpler way to reduce the cost by 1. (Granted once the enemy is Pinned Down, you can just leave that there for the game)

One thing I was considering is using Cerebro with a Psyonic ally down so you can choose a specific ally to get in hand, and then use Bait and Switch to force the villain to attack you. Only problem there is that now you're paying 2 ER for Bait and Switch and 2 ER for Mutant Protectors which is 4 ER again and not really any savings.

The other issue I found was because this is a Hero action, there's never any chance to trigger Danger Room either.

I guess it's worth it for any ally with a cost of 4 or more, but so far for me, Mutant Protectors feels too much like Sneak Attack in that it isn't a much greater value than just playing the ally out of hand.

As always, thank you very much for your comment @teamcanadahockey2002 and your reflection on the deck. This is a great observation and I like how we agree on a lot of the decks :). However, I would like to consider some nuances that will considerably modify the result of what you tell me from my point of view.

I think the creators have thought about all those weak points that they tell me and have given it a twist so that it is considered one of the best dynamics. First and foremost, and I think I understand you correctly, you don't spend 3 resources to play an ally via Mutant Protection, but only 2. Also, when you spend 3 resources and by choice, it's playing a ally and including +3 health via Pinned Down! 3 resources for playing a high or moderately high cost ally and adding +3 life to him...it seems more than great to me. But it is also that as I described before, the ally will not be defeated thanks to their hard states and/or 3 life, but also many of them will release a response by themselves.

As for Brain I don't see her as a good fit for this superhero. Anyway, why include Bait and Switch on a superhero who doesn't care to be attacked? In that case I would consider it better to wait for the attack of the villain or any minion to play Mutant Protection.

I don't see any downside to Danger Room, since I don't think Cyclops presents a bad alter-ego, since you can add a buff to your hand every turn. tactic if you weren't interested in using it as a resource.

Thank you for your comment and we keep in touch!

@MiguelCantillo3 I have a suspicion you aren't playing Danger Room correctly... from your comments, you make it seem like you're getting the +3 health from Protective Training using Danger Room after you play your ally using Mutant Protection. However, Danger Room can only be triggered if you are in Alter-Ego, while Mutant Protection only can be played in Hero form. There is no way for these two things to happen during the same action unfortunately.

The only way that Danger Room has any value is if you play an ally for the full printed cost while you are in Alter-Ego. My apologies if this is indeed what you are trying to say. To me though, it sounds like you're playing the X-Men ally using Mutant Protection and getting the +3 bonus attached immediately for free which would be an incorrect usage of Danger Room. You could still add Mutant Protection to an ally after the attack is resolved, but you would have to have it in your hand already, and pay its full cost, which doesn't seem to be what you're describing here.

Sorry, if I'm the bearer of bad news here. Cheers!

Edit: In the previous comment, it should read: "You could still add PROTECTIVE TRAINING to an ally after the attack is resolved, but you would have to have it in your hand already, and pay its full cost"

Many thanks @teamcanadahockey2002 for making me understand what you wanted to tell me, indeed regarding the use of Danger Room. What confusion!

I still like it a lot since, as I told you, the allies either have hard states or triggered responses, but if it will already be some allies that I play in alter-ego to add +3 life to some specific allies, I still can't include Team -Building Exercise, since I can't use it as an alter-ego and it would be what interests me the most, since for hero I have the 3 copies of Mutant Protection.

It's a pleasure to discuss with you about decks! :)

@MiguelCantillo3 A pleasure as well :)

I find Mutant Protectors is tricky to pull of consistently. I suggest adding Jocosta as she can hold a Mutant Protectors until you need it.

The fact that you can't cheat allies into play using that new protection event and put protective training on them with danger room hurts the deck.

You either have to 1) pay the resources for those expensive allies and get the free protective training; or 2) cheat those allies into play with mutant protectors and don't get the free protective training.

The deck isnt built for option 1, so option 2 it is then. But option 2 is risky, since it has little use to sneak them into play for a discount and then having them get knocked out by the mandatory defense. (A lot of allies have 3 health, so they are at a serious risk of getting knocked out on an attack from a villain with an attack 2.) That risk can be reduced with minus attack upgrades you can put on enemies and/or triggering the effect on attacks from minions, but doing so requires some setup.

I acknowledge that even if those alles get knocked out, you probably still would've gotten a free "enters play" effect on some of those allies, but those effects won't win the game.

This would have been a beast of a deck if danger room could get triggered when cheating in allies with mutant protectors, but sadly it can't. To me, that that greatly reduces the payoff from what this deck tries to do. I have have to admit i've only played it a couple of times, but those times i'd find the payoff a bit underwhelming.

Exactly @Heyenzz. Thank you for your comment. I can see the wisdom of experience in a deck that I see you've tried.

As @teamcanadahockey2002 previously told me, Danger Room and his alter-ego ability decreases the power of the deck. Personally, I see option 1 as a bit weaker than playing Mutant Protection, however, it can be another good option without playing Mutant Protection. I tried several options and today, from my point of view, the one I described ended up being the most powerful.

Colossus and Polaris do not trigger response but if they stay in play or you take advantage of them with their hard status, the rest trigger response, there are only two allies that you will not take advantage of in more if they are defeated.

Mutant Protection I also play it on other allies that are not the ones I play in alter-ego of course, but of course what you say is true, and probably the creators thought of it so as not to make a invincible superhero.

A hug!

On the other hand, let me tell you about it in case I didn't explain myself well in the description. The idea is to reduce a minion's attack through the five copies that reduce its ATK, playing the allies knowing they will be played without being absolutely damaged @thebrandt. And that is very very easy to do from the moment there is a henchman on the table. There are a thousand ways to get these cards

Thank you very much @thebrandt for your comment :)

I also thought about adding Jocasta, but I ended up considering that what you gain on one side you lose on the other, since the time you steal Jocasta you lose power draw another patrol-x ally and that could not be added to the deck.

I don't think it happens very often since the ratio of 11 allies and 40 cards is good, and I also didn't want to discard any other cards from the deck. I chose to keep Mutant Protection in hand for the next turn, or take advantage of it to give other cards in the deck a chance when this happens.

Also based on what was said, I use Nightcrawler as a kind of "#Jocasta", keeping him in play hoping to have Mutant Protection in hand to return it to my hand thanks to the villain's attack, and play it again with Mutant Protection without taking damage from the ATK reduction of the minion I always keep in play.

But without a doubt Jocasta could be a good option =)

Do minions attack if they have 0 for their attack value?

@Durand yes

I like your creativity here. @MiguelCantillo3

Every time I've built a deck around the allies, it's failed on me; so this is very interesting. Have you found that Cyclops becomes much more secondary? Or that his machine of game play is incomplete because of the resources spent on the Allies perpetuation?

How is this solo?

I usually play solo @PhatRam32, but I recommend as in most cases to know the deck well.

A hug!

Hello @Aggravating-Zebra912! First of all sorry to reply so late. I think I understand what you are saying and it is very interesting.

Regarding Cyclops cards becoming more secondary?

For the ally dynamic to work best you need to reduce a minion's ATK to 0, therefore you need Cyclops's buffs as well as using his alter-ego ability of TACTICAL improvements. Similarly, cards like Priority Target or Ruby Quartz Visor are useful to use even when allies play. For that part, it is true that you need specific cards from this superhero.

On the other hand, if it is true that there is a very strong dynamic around allies as you ask, sometimes cards like Rocket Beam or Tactical Brillance do not usually be the best option to play. However, with no intention of making room for their specific cards, they are usually interesting to play against allies.

Regarding this, I also thought about it, and personally I did not find a deck with a very strong dynamic to enhance its specific cards, since I think that the main factor to enhance them is simply playing in multiplayer mode, beyond adding his 3 TACTICAL upgrades like Pinned Down of each of the aspects, therefore, I don't see the possibility of further boosting his specific cards.

All in all, I invite you if you boost their specific cards to link the deck to us. It would be a pleasure to see another point of view of this superhero.

I dnno about this deck, every time I've played it, I had issues:

1. Drawing multiple Mutant Protectors with mulligan
2. Not getting any minions for 3+ rounds
3. Not drawing Mutant Protectors and an X-man at the same time Yeah, some of these can be solved by holding on to multiple cards at the end of turn, but that seems wasteful to me. Not sure this combo is worth it.

Thank you very much for your comment @Rvd1ofakind.

I agree with you. However, I do consider that it is worth it, and in the same way I think that today it is the best deck for Cyclops, enhancing its particularities, beyond cards that are good by themselves.

Thanks for your contribution!

I’ve been playing an almost identical deck but swapped the danger room stuff for nerves of steel and X-Jet, also going to be some great new allies in the Storm/Wolverine pack and the Hanger Bay card is a key critical must include. I’ve really been enjoying it and find it more valuable then sneak attack since the ally hangs around to help fight/block. I think I like this version more than the leadership Cyclops because you can focus on grabbing your own tactics instead of Sneak Attack/To Me My X-Men

Thank you very much for your comment and above all for taking it into account. Without a doubt, Hangar Bay enhances the dynamics of the deck. Regarding Nerves of Steel, it is possible that you got the wrong card, since there are no DEFENSE events.

I update the deck and a big hug @Christian_Medic!

Thank you for the kind words! And Mutant Protection is a defense event. But yes super excited to get my Storm and Wolverine packs in the mail and get them to the latest allies to the table. Blessings and happy gaming!

Mazo fuerte y versatil donde los haya. Y no te pide tener 100 packs! XD Gracias!!!