Hulk-Level Mission Training (*with Permanent Upgrade)

Hulk-Level Mission Training

Side Note: This deck was played with the custom permanent upgrade shown above, Don't Make Me Angry, which can be found in printable form here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fhfw0w75dLQ26qJT3UWonH82_BKsyxNDMMWmo7oMMKs/edit?usp=sharing. Note that there are 2 art choices given for the card. I personally printed both and switch sides when the mood suits me (typically when I lose LOL).

Deck Intro: The X-Men wanted to add a variable to their training, so they teamed up with Hulk. Not wanting to endanger his students, Professor X gave Hulk some additional control he calls the "Don't Make Me Angry!" upgrade. Meanwhile, the X-Men benefit from their enhancements from their Mission Training.

If you'd like to see a discussion of this deck, see the following video: Coming soon from http://www.youtube.com/@MCDeckDiscussions

VILLAINS TESTED AGAINST to refine the deck (in both standard and expert: Klaw (with an expert house rule(1)); Black Widow; En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse); and Magneto.

NOTABLE ELEMENTS OF PLAY:

• Thwarting -- Primary Job of the X-Men: No thwart events were added to this deck since the X-Men allies are expected to reign in the villain's scheming regularly, though Hulk might help periodically with large threat removal from Sub-Orbital Leap and Bruce Banner's Disguise.

  • 3 copies of Mission Training enable this consistent thwarting.
    
    

• Assisting with Minions -- Secondary Job of the X-Men: In a pinch, the X-Men allies can help manage minions, including removing tough status cards, which is sometimes necessary with the villain as well.
  
  

• Defending and Final Push Damage -- Tertiary Job of the X-Men: Because of Hulk's high capacity for taking damage and for healing (especially when Banner's Laboratory is in play), the X-Men allies mostly only defend for Hulk when they have one HP remaining. They also contribute damage in the final push to defeat the villain.

Hulk's Strategic Use of his permanent upgrade "Don't Make Me Angry!"

• While Hulk's tucked cards can and should be played and used as resources as needs arise, ultimately, the biggest benefits come from saving these cards for large attacks and emergency needs. Some cards are of particularly high priority to tuck, including the following:
  • Hulk Smash: While necessary for the final push, this card should be used regularly to eliminate minions with overkill damage to the villain.
  • Limitless Strength: The ultimate resource card, especially for Hulk Smash and Sub-Orbital Leap, though it's sometimes necessary to use to play allies.
  • Banner's Laboratory: This provides an extra resource for playing allies, supports, and upgrades in alter-ego form while also substantially increasing Hulk's recovery.

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Conclusion:

The Don't Make Me Angry permanent upgrade continues to impress, allowing Hulk to feel like a viable and fun hero to play in solo. Justice particularly lends itself to fun play since one can go to alter-ego much more regularly due to confusing the villain and locking down the main scheme with Under Surveillance and Counterintelligence, while the X-Men allies are particularly strong at thwarting, especially when enhanced with Mission Training. I highly recommend both the permanent upgrade and at least some variation on this build for Hulk.

(1) Note on expert house rule for Klaw: This modification assures that expert Klaw makes for a consistently challenging villain during playtesting. After discarding cards at the beginning of the game and putting into play the first minion that is discarded from the encounter deck, if that minion is NOT a Masters of Evil minion, I search the encounter deck for a Masters of Evil minion and replace the original discarded minion with it. I then shuffle that original minion back into the deck.