Stupefy

Stupefy

Featured on Winning Hand Podcast's Episode 86 on 1/6/2026: http://www.youtube.com/@WinningHandPodcast

Build Restrictions: Ban all cards that confuse (as well as allies who draw cards).

Strategy: Stupefy the enemies by stunning them routinely in order to maintain control, as well as regularly gain tough status cards. Use Ready for a Fight and Impersonation to safely go to alter-ego to utilize Hulkling's alter-ego ability. Hit the villain in the face (and minions when needed) throughout the game with the 9 attack events, triggering the Shapeshifter upgrade in play. Supplement with additional attacking and thwarting with the allies, taking advantage of each one's ability that's specifically designed to take advantage of Hulkling's cards and abilities (and the theme of the deck).

Note that every time you have Ready for a Fight in hand, you can go to alter-ego and grab the resource you need with Teddy Altman's alter-ego ability, so you are always guaranteed to be able to play it.

If you'd like to see a video discussion of this deck, check the following video: Releasing on January 7, 2026 Hulkling Protection Deck Discussion | Stupefy

• "Demo" video(s) that shows off some turns with the deck: Releasing on January 9, 2026 Hulking Protection Demo Gameplay Vs. Spider-Woman

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VILLAINS TESTED AGAINST to refine the deck and/or game play strategies (in both standard and expert): Klaw (with an expert house rule(1)); Captain Marvel (Leader); Magneto; Spider-Woman; Iron Man

Notable Results: I purposely chose 4 of 5 villains that had Steady for at least part of each game (Captain Marvel (Leader); Magneto; Spider-Woman; Captain America

• Moved to the end of this description for those who wish to read it.

Deck Refinements: I tried a number of other decks first that just weren't effective prior to trying a Stun/Tough deck. One change was made after the Deck Discussion video, which I mentioned during Episode 86 of the Winning Hand Podcast.

Removal(s):

• One copy of Stun Gun

Addition(s):

• Deft Focus: Though the only legitimate Superpower targets are the 2 copies of Impersonation, 3 copies of Shapeshifter Strike, and Alien Physiology, the latter alone could be worth playing Deft Focus if Alien Physiology not in play. Also, though, if the Altman Residence is in play, it can recycle the aforementioned cards into the deck to possibly be played again (plus, Wiccan could facilitate such as well with his ability).

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  NOTABLE ELEMENTS:
  

Specific Purpose of Each Ally:

• Brother Voodoo: To grab one of the many events from the deck when he's played, either to also play or to use as a resource.
• Iceman: To Stun/delay minions.
• Iron Fist: To Stun the villain, while dealing up to 8 damage altogether.
• Machine Man: A cheap ally with huge potential thwarting or attacking, especially with access to the Shapeshifter upgrades, which can occur at will when going to alter-ego.
• Mockingbird: To Stun the villain.
• Patriot: To provide additional protection for Hulking when needed or to attack extra times due to the Tough statuses.
• Yellowjacket: To gain one of the many upgrades, also giving an additional chance to grab a copy of Ready for a Fight, which can always be played that turn by flipping to alter-ego.

Events:

• Face the Past: A card that makes it easier to deal with the nemesis minion while also helping draw potential setup cards.
• Hard Knocks: To defeat enemies (mostly minions) and gain a Tough status.
• Tackle: To Stun the villain while dealing more consistent damage.

Player Side Scheme:

• Superpower Training: To possibly get Alien Physiology into play earlier in the game.

Supports:

• Quincarrier: A resource generator available in hero or alter-ego form.
• Hidden Base: An efficient source of Tough status cards whenever we get Ready for a Fight in hand.

Upgrades:

• Ready for a Fight: Easily played with Hulkling's alter-ego ability.
• Stun Gun: To Stun the villain or a multiple minions, though mostly used for the villain.

Conclusion:

The cards that made this deck particularly interesting to play were the protection attack cards, Tackle and Hard Knocks, assuring one could more consistently damage the villain and manage minions while protecting Hulkling from villain attacks and triggering whatever Shapeshifter upgrade was in play. Very often playing one of these events was followed by Shapeshifter Strike to trigger the Shapeshifter upgrade a second time. Meanwhile, the plentiful allies helped manage minions and threat, while often dealing extra damage to the villain, and in most games, Iron Fist helped set up the villain for defeat. The interworking, complementary parts of the deck made it very interesting and fun to play if one appreciates that type of gameplay (as I personally do). :-)

(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.

Notable Gameplay Results:

• Versus Standard Captain Marvel: Had complete control the entire battle and dealt 21 points of damage on the final turn.
• Versus Expert Captain Marvel: This was a much more serious challenge because Captain Marvel stayed in Stage IV for quite a while, which has Steady. I was still able to Stun her once but relied much more on Tough statuses. Captain Marvel did have one attack for 9 points of damage with Ranged and Overkill, but outside of that, I finished her off by readying twice with Shapeshift upgrades for the final 8 points of damage.
• Versus Standard Magneto: Cleared the initial side schemes as a matter of course, then dealt gradual damage to the villain throughout the game, while stunning the heck of Magneto despite constantly dealing with minions. Eventually achieved victory with Armored Defense on Magneto's turn (2 of them for 6 damage plus a retaliate for a total of 7).
• Versus Expert Magneto: Dealt damage to Magneto throughout the game, while also maintaining contol of him with stuns and toughs. Handily dealt with each minion as they appeared and accelerated the damage at the end by playing the Hulk Shape upgrade, with Iron Fist dealing the last 6 points of damage on the final two turns.
• Versus Standard Spider-Woman: Despite Hulkling being Stunned, dealt 22 points of damage on the final turn, 7 of which were from Machine Man and Iron Fist, then Hard Knocks and Shapeshifter Strike added 8 more, each one triggering 2 points of damage from the Hulk Shape upgrade.
• Versus Expert Spider-Woman: Maintained control throughout the game per the intended strategy of the deck (stunning the villain and prevented damage with tough status cards. Defeated her with 20 points of damage on the final turn.
• Versus Standard Iron Man: Another highly controlled battle, though we didn't Stun Iron Man at all. He began with Stalwart due to an attachment, and when we defeated his first stage, we used a bunch of resources to remove 3 attachments. After that round, we took the battle to him directly, defeating him with 22 points in the final round, easily dealing with minions and attacks along the way.