Nebula's Redemption

TLDR: Nebula is amazing. If you want a jack-of-all trades deck with an atypical "flip every turn" play style, she is the one for you. This deck works well in solo (standard 3 tested) and multiplayer, although in multiplayer, I would choose one of the archetypes in this build and flush it out, removing the other.

Nebula was never a character that I cared to play...until recently. When I first played Nebula, she felt very much like Black Widow. I felt like I had little control over when her cards activated and, due to having no event based attack or thwart, I felt at the mercy of the Villain. This stance has been proven to be completely wrong. I just had to change my play style. Typically, I like to flip to hero form and stay there as long as possible. However, with the introduction of the X-Men, specifically Bishop, Domino, and Magik, I have found many benefits to flipping every turn. I also wanted to try to make good use of cards like Lay Down the Law and Ready to Rumble to maximize her thwart potential while allowing her to recover as much as possible. Sadly, this strategy did not work for me without a dedicated Confuse-Lock package. This style of play really takes away from the style of Nebula. I see her as a Jack-of-all-Trades character. She has good Thwart, good Damage, and can fill whichever role your team needs. She has solid sustain in both departments with a strategic use of Combat Ready to shuffle in key Techniques. Playing into this archetype, I chose to include several events at 2 copies vice the full set of 3. This allowed me to bring in some pieces that allowed for me to take over the scenario in Pivotal Moment (pun intended).

Play Patterns:

Set-up-> Set-up usually happens in one of two ways for me. First, I will stay in Alter-Ego mode for turn one and build out a board of Technique upgrades. Then on turn two, I will flip up and take advantage of any Techniques with passive buffs, or via Lethal Intent or Gamora. This strategy helps me to ensure two turns of burst from Nebula, both the turn she flips up and the following turn when she rains Techniques upon the Villain and his Minions. Alternately, I like to play one to two Techniques and then flip up if I have strong allies, i.e. Groot who can take a hit for me. This is typically a bit safer as it means that I am not using multiple of my precious Techniques up early in the game. However, it is not a priority due to the amount of deck cycling that is involved with Combat Ready. Ultimately, your start is dictated by your hand and I would not try to force either outcome since both are viable.

Play Loop-> Nebula loves flipping! Her passive card draw on the Alter-Ego side is amazing. Since each Techniques is two effective-resources, you draw both resources back with her passive allowing her to have a massive effective hand-size of 8! This allows for some ridiculous Technique into Gamora or Lethal Intent plays. The key to maximizing Nebula's output is to flip every turn. On the hero turns, resolve all the specials and play the turn as normal. Keeping in mind that you will be flipping down and so have an additional two card draw for that turn, you should hold off playing any new Techniques and any allies that you wish to play if possible. These can be played after the flip for maximum value. I highly prioritize "Think Fast!" and Upside the Head plays on this turn to ensure that flipping down is safe. On Alter-Ego turns, the most important thing to do is to play a Technique first. Then draw and re-assess the turn from there. Usually, it will not change the outcome much, but it can make a huge impact in Damage or Thwart output for the round.

*As a note, try not to play Professor X or Nick Fury on turns where you will be flipping down as you will not get the most benefit out of them. However, it is never wrong to play them for the immediate value, especially if you are going to shuffle up in the next couple of turns.

"Combos"-> For Justice! really helps to set up Pivotal Moment plays. Being able to clear 4 thwart and hit the Villain for 5 damage with 6 effective resources is a very versatile and impactful way to spend a turn. With the consistent card draw in this deck, it is very easy to get this done on a flip-up turn! "Think Fast!" into Upside the Head is a great way to get both a stun and confuse on the villain, protecting you for your up turn and Alter-Ego turn! Daughters of Thanos and Combat Ready also synergize nicely allowing you to shuffle in two key Techniques with a low deck count and then flip up to draw into them! This takes a bit of set-up, although Gamora is a highly prioritized ally for this deck.

Changes-> This deck is meant to toe-the-line between several play styles so that you can adapt to many situations. However, the easiest way to modify this deck is to pick a theme and roll with it. You can focus on the stun/confuse aspect of Upside the Head and "Think Fast!" by adding in the final copies of both. if you do this, I would also add Float Like a Butterfly and Sonic Rifle to keep the damage up on the confused Villain. I would drop the For Justice! and Pivotal Moment to make room for this archetype. On the other hand, you can up the For Justice! and Pivotal Moment and remove the other archetype. In doing this I would also add Clear the Area or Beat Cop to keep chipping at threat that builds on the main scheme.