50 Cards Justice Spending Spree (Draft, testing, 9 games)

Ongoing testing draft for a 50 cards Justice Panther deck. A note that this particular build is being tested against Expert Mutagen Formula Green Goblin and some cards have been chosen exclusively to help out with his shenanigans, things like Surveillance Team and Running Interference. Stealth Strike is something I use in many encounters but not systematically, but again here against GB and his hordes of higher HP minions it becomes central to the strategy. These may or may not be featured in the final, basic version of this build but should be considered for encounters where maintaining absolute control over the board state is paramount.

This build and its strategy are centered around four pillars; Economy/Drawing, Avengers Tower, Quake (wait, what?!) and Confusion through Sonic Rifles. All four synergize together and often thread from one to another to allow combos that ultimately open the way for Black Panther and his suit upgrades to dominate the encounter. It also capitalizes on T'Challa's insane spending ability to make cards often otherwise deemed "cost ineffective" instead really desirable and functional. With this deck, as long as you're spending and drawing, good things are bound to happen, I eventually decided to go up to 50 cards because I was just drawing too much. I can't say if that made the build superior for sure, but it feels like it. One thing is for though: Black Panther is one of the few heroes that CAN make a 50 cards deck sufficiently consistent for Expert, especially once many upgrades are in play.

Economy and drawing are centered around The Golden City and Avengers Mansion first and foremost, allowing for an insane 9 cards hand at the beginning of every alter-ego turn once in play. This is already a well known strategy and is quite powerful in its own right. But, Justice Panther also can add One Way or Another, Clear the Area and Skilled Investigator which all have the potential to sometimes thread together. Pull a side scheme with OWOA, draw 3 cards. Remove the last 2 threat from it with Clear the Area, draw 1 card. Discard it and exhaust Skilled Investigator to draw a fifth card. Shuri can also draw you an upgrade card, whether one you want to use now or one you don't want and instead will use as yet another ressource. This deck is very drawy, as you can see.

Then, we have Quincarrier and Helicarrier. Why both ? Well, don't feel pressed to put them both into play when they first come to your hand, you only "need" one of them, but sometimes you might end up being able to play them both early (lucky Vibranium draws). Even playing the second one late in the game can be worth it, Black Panther is not about ressource efficiency, he's rich and he's about impactful spending. Having both in the deck increases your odds you'll get one early, and having the other means you do have the option to put it into play as well. Finally, Enhanced Physique is a late game luxury, it helps with discarding vilain attachments or pay for unexpected big spendings (like blasting a few Stealth Strikes late game to burn down the vilain however financially inefficient it should be). When you don't need them, feed them to Blade or use them as a basic ressource.

Then we have Avengers Tower, not such a usual sight for a Justice build, and one with so few allies at that. But we have the ressources for it, and it helps with everyone here, except Shuri. You want to use her aggressively and quickly - if at all late game - so that she doesn't cost you your 4th Avengers ally spot. Because of Tower, Blade can be played for free every time, Spider-Man is still pricey but in solo is the best side scheme blaster in the game (remember that Skilled Investigator synergy), War Machine will bring you a tough status every time he gets cycled back in your hand (don't be afraid to use Ancestral Knowledge to recur him if you feel the need for this toughness at some point in the fight) and my... Quake !

Daisy Johnson is the heart of this team. With Tower in play she costs us 1 dollar, and with Black Panther always flipping to alter ego to visit Golden City, the opportunities to use her abilities are plentiful, this is in part why Interrogation Room is included here, this build is great at destroying minions when you want to. It pays to play the careful puzzle game here sometimes, perhaps kill one of these two minions in play this turn, even if you could kill both. Use the Interrogation Room now, and then if you have the luxury, let the other one scheme, have Quake destroy him, exhaust interrogation Room once again and remove another threat. It can really help to have more options and control like this when multiple schemes are in play and you're trying to thread the needle finely, and this build really is all about control. Quake is also a big part of why we use Earth's Mightiest Heroes here, as on turn where she wasn't used she is a great anchor for this ability. Blade can also be used as such when he's on standby. Of course, in an emergency, she can still deal 2 basic damage or sacrifice herself for the team. We shuffle fast with this deck and she's cheap, not ideal but no big deal. Options.

Finally, Sonic Rifles need no explanation. We can pay for them all day, so always keep them loaded and fire whenever you have the chance, you'll be flipping all the time anyway, this once again synergizes quite well with Quake giving her some breathing room to let minions scheme without the vilain scheming. Some encounters don't reward confusion so much and in those, you'll be replacing the Rifles with Counter Intelligence.

Sorry to everyone who read this draft, it's wordy and lacks concision. I'll improve it as testing progresses, as well as provide some alternative options to replace things like Surveillance Teams and Stealth Strikes against vilains who require them less. Some highlights here depending on the fights would be a Sidearm and some more strength ressource cards to turn Blade into a permanent ally and help damage dealing. Crew Quarters on scenarios where Vibranium Suit doesn't suffice, Team Building Exercice and Under Surveillance.