"And now, Your Highness, we will discuss the location of your Hidden (rebel) Base."

I struggled initially with Colossus until I read the wonderful article by Herowannabe with regards to flipping and shuffling Armor Up back in each turn with Aspiring Artist. Justice was ok but for me there was just something about Colossus that really felt like he should thematically be in Protection.

Ready for a Fight acts as insurance for when you don't draw an Armor Up which makes this deck very consistent. And The X-Jet even guarantees that you can pay the requirement for RFAF.

However, thwarting is harder to come by in protection so if I didn't get Shadowcat out early then I struggled with thwarting. White Queen gave me another reliable thwarter that I could keep on the table with X-Mansion if my signature ally was at the bottom of the deck.

But I still found that sometimes I would run out of toughs as I flipped up and got immediately punched - so Made of Rage and Bulletproof Protector would be useless and Steel Fist was underwhelming.

If only there was a card that would give a tough status when you flipped down...

Hidden Base is the hottest new addition to what was an already good deck! Even more toughs and it felt really good. I almost never took damage unless I wanted to use life as a resource. So how does it play?

Mulligan priorities are Iron Will, Moira MacTaggert, Hidden Base, Avengers Mansion, The X-Jet, Nick Fury, and double resource cards.

Colossus is slow to get going but five double resources help a lot and we also run 2 Taunts to speed up development (or to spend extra toughs). Don't be afraid to Taunt early to draw cards and set up even if you would take damage. At the start of the game, your best attribute is your Recover of 4.

"But Colossus only starts with four cards in his hand each turn."

1. Flip down to AE with no toughs and gain a tough from Hidden Base, use Aspiring Artist to shuffle an Armor Up back into your deck, use Piotr's Studio to draw a card, heal Shadowcat with X-Mansion, recover for 4 HP. Draw up to your six card hand size.

2. Flip up to Hero form with Armor Up or Ready for a Fight when the Villain tries to thwart, gain another tough with Steel Skin, draw a card from Moira MacTaggert, take the attack to lose a tough before using Iron Will to draw a card AND replace the tough with Organic Steel, or you could just use Titanium Muscles to pay for Shadow and Steel to save the tough and deal four damage to the Villain.

3. Use Made of Rage to one-shot Juggernaut and knock a tough off the Villain, draw a card from Iron Will, use Bulletproof Protector to draw another card from Iron Will and gain two toughs, use Avengers Mansion to draw, ready Colossus with Bulletproof Protector drawing yet another card from IW, and finally play Taunt and draw one last card from Iron Will after taking no damage from the Villain attack. Oh, and then draw three more cards from the Taunt. Play Ready for a Fight with The X-Jet and flip back down to AE for all the step 1 goodies.

This is by far the BEST Moira MacTaggert deck you can play! Once you have her and Iron Will out the fun begins!

White Queen and Shadowcat are good perpetual thwarters since you flip down to AE every turn and can heal one of them with X-Mansion. Once Shadowcat is out, she stays on the board for the rest of the game so Shadow and Steel is included since 1) it is cheaper than Hard Knocks and 2) it is another way to utilize The Power in All of Us after our supports are down.

Angel, Marrow, Spider-Man Miles, and Polaris are all cost efficient even without using their last HP to defend (since Colossus usually has that covered).

Polaris is a good way to get an extra tough on Colossus as is Establish Perimeter which I just keep on the board until I need it.

This is a deck I have enjoyed for a long time and I couldn't wait for Hidden Base to make it even better. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Let me know what you think!