snuffs · 46
The Fastest Wall Alive
Quicksilver has always had a bit of a reputation.
For a long time, the joke was "Slow Silver" — a hero with an incredible readying mechanic who often needed several upgrades in play before all of those repeated readies really started to feel worthwhile.
Fear No Evil changed that.
The new Protection cards from that set fit Quicksilver remarkably well. Innate Reflexes and Ronin help push his DEF higher, Army of One and Stand Alone give him additional ways to ready, while In Harm's Way and The Best Offense... turn that investment in DEF into actual output.
The result is a Quicksilver who can spend the villain phase acting as a wall for the table, then immediately turn around and use that same defensive stat to chain together huge attacks.
Hence:
The Fastest Wall Alive
Build the Wall
The first goal is simple:
Make DEF enormous.
Accelerated Reflex, Innate Reflexes, Armored Vest and Defensive Conditioning all contribute towards building Quicksilver's defensive stat, with Ronin providing another way to push it further.
Specialized Training can also bring in Defense Specialist for another DEF increase and additional card draw from the basic defenses you're already making.
Once that foundation is established, Unflappable and Hard to Ignore start turning successful defenses into value.
You defend.
You take little or no damage.
You draw cards.
You remove threat.
And because you're Quicksilver, being exhausted afterwards isn't nearly as inconvenient as it would be for most heroes.
Deft Focus Starts the Train
One of the most important interactions in the deck is also one of the simplest.
Deft Focus reduces the cost of the next Superpower card you play by 1.
Always Be Running is a 1-cost Superpower event.
So if you've spent the villain phase defending and start your turn exhausted, Deft Focus can make that first Always Be Running free.
Quicksilver readies.
And that's usually all the engine needs.
Friction Resistance Keeps It Moving
When Quicksilver readies, Friction Resistance readies with him.
That means your first ready doesn't just stand Quicksilver back up.
It also reloads your resource generator.
Exhaust Friction Resistance to pay for another Always Be Running.
Ready Quicksilver.
Ready Friction Resistance.
Spend it again.
Army of One gives you another way to continue the chain.
This is where Quicksilver's readying mechanic becomes more than simply getting another basic activation.
Every ready can also refresh the resource that helps pay for the next ready.
Deft Focus starts the train.
Friction Resistance keeps it moving.
The Best Offense...
This is the card that changes what the deck is capable of.
The Best Offense... lets Quicksilver use his DEF in place of his ATK or THW.
Suddenly all of the cards you've played to make Quicksilver difficult to hurt are also increasing his damage and thwarting potential.
If you've built yourself up to six or seven DEF, that's potentially:
6-7 damage from a basic attack.
Which would already be good.
Except Quicksilver doesn't have to stop after one.
Leading Blow
Leading Blow fits perfectly into that plan.
You make a basic attack and, assuming the attack still deals damage after resolving the card's effect, Quicksilver readies again.
Normally that's already useful.
With The Best Offense... active, that basic attack is using your heavily boosted DEF instead of your normal ATK.
So Leading Blow can become:
Attack for 6-7 -> ready -> attack again.
And when Quicksilver readies?
So does Friction Resistance.
That means Leading Blow isn't only giving you another activation.
It's also reloading the resource generator that can help pay for whatever comes next.
When the Wall Starts Moving
Once you're built out, a turn can start looking something like this:
Defend during the villain phase.
Finish exhausted.
Use Deft Focus to play Always Be Running for free.
Ready Quicksilver.
Ready Friction Resistance.
With The Best Offense... active, use DEF as ATK.
Attack for six or seven.
Use Leading Blow.
Ready.
Attack again.
Spend Friction Resistance on another Always Be Running or Army of One.
Ready again.
Ready Friction Resistance again.
Keep going.
And if Maximum Velocity joins the party, the numbers can escalate very quickly.
A character who spent the previous phase defending suddenly starts chaining huge basic attacks into the villain.
Still a Protection Deck
The fun part is that you don't have to sacrifice Protection's normal job to do any of this.
Unflappable rewards clean defenses with card draw.
Hard to Ignore keeps threat under control while you're defending.
Electrostatic Armor adds chip damage.
In Harm's Way turns DEF directly into both damage and threat removal.
And Quicksilver's enormous number of readies means you can defend repeatedly — especially in multiplayer — without accepting that you've lost your entire next player phase.
That's really the point of the deck.
You're not building a defensive Quicksilver who occasionally gets to attack.
You're building a defensive Quicksilver whose defense becomes his attack.
Build the wall.
Defend the table.
Ready.
Hit them.
Ready.
Hit them again.
The Fastest Wall Alive.