Mind Over Matter

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
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journeyman2 · 18659

Vision is a top tier Voltron target, oft-overlooked for more flexible options with less of a ceiling. This deck is all about unleashing his maximum potential! We load up Vision with some matter, unleash him with Phoenix's mind, and whip up some brilliant tactical play!

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They even have the same color scheme


A fully kitted Vision hits 6 ATK, 3 THW, and 8 HP (counting Power Gloves as ATK for simplicity here). Add in his ability and he can hit 8/5, while Psychic Kicker gets him to 10/7 for a single activation. Reboot and Game Time give him a free activation, while Psychic Kicker and Sky Cycle are offset by healing in the form of Innovation, First Aid, and X-Mansion.

The endgame ceiling here is 8 ATK Vision that can activate 8 times, with x3 Psychic Kicker, x3 Game Time/Reboot, and Sky Cycle.

This is 70 damage! Add in attacks from Unleashed Phoenix and Cyclops (or a potentially Mind Control'd minion) and the maximum damage in a single turn is 75+!


Game Flow

  • Early game focus on getting out White Hot Room, The X-Jet, X-Mansion
  • Phoenix will need to tank a lot of hits to the face, so the heal from White Hot Room and X-Mansion are welcome to keep her from exhausting so she can spam her 3 THW wherever possible. She'll be flipping most turns, but Telekinetic Shield can help keep her in hero for two turns if necessary
  • Get out Vision normally or search for him with Call for Aid when ready
  • Start kitting him up, especially prioritizing Honorary X-Men so that he gets +1 hp, access to X-Mansion healing, and Danger Room Training
  • Upgrades can be prioritized on game state: usually health is first if he doesn't have Honorary X-Men yet. Damage is good because Phoenix will be covering a lot of thwart; being able to split a damage off with Power Gloves is great, especially after a thwart, pinging toughs before readying to one-shot the target or pinging the tough off the next villain stage when defeating the first!; Sidearm is great for retaliate matches
  • Use power counters, The X-Jet, and Innovation to trigger his ability every turn
  • Use White Hot Room and basic recoveries to keep enough power counters on Phoenix Force A to be able to keep triggering Vision every turn
  • Set up some 50+ damage turns and win!

Mental Notes

  • Vision is a great counter to Dark Phoenix, most of the times when she comes out, he can 2 or 3-hit her back to where she came from depending on if her tough gets cleared by something else. Dropping Dark Phoenix for 0-1 resource cost is huge!
  • Sometimes Vision will need to be played and used up early, just to stabilize the board state, then get fully Voltron'd on the second deck pass. Cyclops can be a great temporary Voltron with Danger Room Training if Vision doesn't have Honorary X-Men yet
  • Game Time and Psychic Kicker are hero actions, but Reboot and Vision's triggers aren't, which can allow Phoenix to stay a Jean Grey for an extra turn, with Vision handling things from alter-ego!
  • No double resources! Aside from Vision and our four supports, we will pretty much never be playing anything other than 0- or 1-cost upgrades that play to Vision or events that ready Vision. With plenty of alter-ego turns and 2 extra resources per turn from power counters and The X-Jet, we have no problem affording what we need to!
  • Vision does not need to survive the game to win. Health upgrades are important early to keep him out until the endgame, yet if you have three readies available and enough damage to win but Vision spends his last hp in the process, do it! Checkmate ends the game!
  • I did win (and lose) some solo games with this. With careful play and good risk-reward decision making it can overcome that initial solo curve. However, I primarily see this as a multiplayer deck. In my 2-player games, Vision really sings. In solo, he one-shots most side schemes and minions ...but he does that in 2-player as well! In a 2-player Expert Mansion Attack game, Vision took out the last 2 Brotherhood of Mutants villains in a single phase!
  • Managing Vision's matter-state is the key to success here. Knowing when to spend health and when to conserve it is a central decision point, hence "mind over matter!" If the board is clear, but I don't have lethal, I'll refrain from hitting the villain just to save Vision's hp. Sometimes Game Time and Reboot are used just for the heals. This deck will take a few plays to gain familiarity with this kind of tempo. It will test your player skill! The greater the difficulty to mastery, the greater the reward!

Good luck!

15 comments

Feb 09, 2023 journeyman2 · 18659

Another week of turning the lack of announcements into something positive with some new old decks! FFG is really trying to outlast me!

This week's deck sprouted from a discord discussion around the release of this deck using Psychic Kicker to boost up powerful allies:

marvelcdb.com

My take is that Vision ally works great with Phoenix, who can trigger his ability every turn with power counters and use Game Time, Reboot, and Psychic Kicker for big swings. There are some big 50-70 damage turns with Vision alone! This helps defeat Dark Phoenix instantly when she comes out, while one-turning the villain in the end game. Of course, they also share a color scheme!

Mind Over Matter

Feb 09, 2023 BloodVigilante · 26

As a 41st card, would Yondu work here? The no consequential damage seems pretty huge, and the extra health cards can be used for THW/blocking without dying.

Feb 09, 2023 Schmendrix · 4203

Very cool. If I'm packing a 41st card, it's another Honorary X-Men. At worst it's a health for Phoenix; at best it's another chance to get Vision kitted up.

Feb 10, 2023 rstorcdk · 4683

Journey my man, you're on a roll with these X-Men decks. Just returned to the game after a long break :) Glad to see you're still going strong here.

Feb 12, 2023 neothechosen · 9806

@journeyman2 I'd like to thank you for your continued efforts in building nice and fresh decks! With the current drought and the lack of announcements, it's been tough to get excited for the game of late. (I also been playing lots if Arkham horror and Frosthaven in the meantime so I feel a little off). So, thanks for keeping it alive!

Feb 12, 2023 journeyman2 · 18659

@BloodVigilante I don’t think Yondu would work here. He lacks the immediate board impact that Vision brings (when you trigger his ability), since Yondu doesn’t really get good until you get some upgrades on him. Not working with Reboot is another point off, as the 2hp is a big deal early game. 4-cost with no doubles and not being searchable with Call for Aid are other knocks against him. With proper health management, Vision’s ceiling eclipses the lack of consequential that Yondu brings. The 2/1 statline is also marginally worse than Vision’s 1/2 specifically for Phoenix. Her 3 THW means we are in more need of damage, and the -1 damage per ready really hurts the OTK.

I think a better suggestion is @Schmendrix’s Honorary X-Men suggestion. Getting Honorary on Vision as soon as possible is huge, and getting one on Phoenix helps with tanking, while giving her X-Jet access in alter-ego. I might consider -1 Call for Aid +1 Honorary. Or just running a 41st card with one for you to cut…right @Schmendrix? :)

Feb 12, 2023 journeyman2 · 18659

@rstorcdk Thanks!! Yeah still playing practically every night haha

@neothechosen Thank you so much! Honestly I don’t know what to say, you’re too kind. You’re so prolific as well, you’re like the Simpsons of Marvel Champions! “@neothechosen did it first!”

Feb 12, 2023 wedgeex · 38

Any testing with Ronin? It seems like that's more of an all-in option but doesn't it outpace Vision pretty quickly?

Feb 12, 2023 journeyman2 · 18659

@wedgeex You may be misunderstanding Ronin’s ability. He gets +1/+1 for having an upgrade attached, not for each upgrade attached. Vision’s base stats are lower than Ronin+upgrade, but his boosted stats are higher. The inclusion of Reboot is critical for keeping Vision alive, and for the endgame turns, since you can literally draw into a hand of all readies. There are variations to be done with other Voltron targets, but none to this quality in my estimation. Ronin also doesn’t match her color scheme!

Feb 12, 2023 wedgeex · 38

That makes sense - I suppose he would be ultra busted any other way hah! Also, I didn't even read through about the Reboot inclusion that makes the whole thing tick. Great deck!

Feb 12, 2023 journeyman2 · 18659

Thanks @wedgeex! Always happy to have some good discussion generated

Feb 12, 2023 neothechosen · 9806

@journeyman2 Lol! That comment made my day!

Feb 14, 2023 betadjinn · 5

Having all 3 of those ready events looks absolutely terrifying haha. I gotta give this a shot, but I have no doubt that this is very powerful

Feb 21, 2023 journeyman2 · 18659

@betadjinn Yes!! It's bonkers what you can do when your Voltron targets gets so much support. Thanks for checking it out! If you play it, let me know how it goes!

Apr 08, 2023 metroidman63 · 1

This deck is a ton of fun, like your others! Thanks!