Queen of the Hill

Introduction

Since the release of Ironheart and Nova, -heavy decks have received a massive boost. Few were more poised to benefit from the new cards as my G.I.R.L. Nadia, who can boast the coveted Genius trait as well the eponymous ability to reshuffle cards in the deck.

I designed this deck with one idea in mind: how many recursions of card-drawing allies is too many? Especially if they make everyone at the table draw? Answer: there is no such thing as too much card draw. Doubly so when a hero's base deck has a shaky economy but powerful damage cards. Do you want to be loved by your teammates as you stack them up with cards, block almost all villain attacks, and unless stinging punishment on anything that stands in your way? Keep on reading them. Hail to the Queen!

Core concepts and general strategy

This deck can be summarised as: recur everything that makes you draw cards. The core loop is simple: play Maria Hill, have everyone draw a card, thwart for 2, kill her off (usually by blocking the villain's attack), and bring her back to the field using your queenly inspirational speeches. Each of them works slightly differently, and mastery of the deck's recursion is critical to its performance (see Critical cards and synergies, blow). If Ms. Hill is nowhere to be found, or cannot be used to good efficiency (usually because you are going last), her boss is the preferred target. Always draw 3 cards unless doing so will result in immediate defeat of the team (which is highly unlikely). Remember that you can use Make the Call as an action to play Maria Hill out of turn for maximum advantage.

Once we engine starts up, try and get the resource supports (royal house, chopper, and boat) on the board. Use the Quincarrier for yourself only: everything else is intended for your teammates. Use the supports and Maria Hill to boost their engine / help them draw critical cards they need to set-up. Since your core engine is so sturdy (card draw + recursion), you can dispense your queenly gift with generosity to your friends in need. Ideally, keep a royal servitor with you at all times to keep Band Together from becoming a dead card. The King of Wakanda is a fine specimen, since he can hold one Make the Call for emergencies (don't worry about court manners, he doesn't mind).

As you set up and start digging, you can patch up any problem your team is having: your high versality, together with fast card draw and many chump blockers, allows you play as the team's wild card. At any point, you can start unleashing your wrath using Pinpoint Strikes and Wasp Stings. Don't worry about timing and just deal with any threat your teammates might require help with, and trust that your engine will draw any cards back when you need them. It almost surely will.

Critical cards and synergies

• Recursion, baby: each recursion card needs to be understood intimately. The main recursion targets are Maria Hill and Nick Fury, with Moon Girl and Mockingbird as situational second picks. Make the Call works on all targets except Moon Girl (using MtC means you haven't played her from hand), and is your emergency trigger: use it to bring back an ally that got discarded by a game effect, or could not be saved by a response earlier. Rapid Response is best with Nick Fury, Mockingbird, and Maria Hill, as it triggers their effect again; do take note that they have to be defeated (usually by damage), so RR won't work after Fury's end of round response. Regroup is the slowest of the three, but it's the only one that works with Moon Girl (remember she has to block an attack to trigger Regroup's effect), Given Moon Girl's amazing effect, it's worth it for her alone, but works pretty well with MH as well. Kinda slow with Nick Fury.
• A note about Moon Girl: you can only play her in alter-ego form (you need the Genius trait for her and Ingenuity). This deck doesn't really mind dropping to alter-ego and has plenty of thwart to support that, but be careful when you plan your recursions, so that you don't accidentally lock yourself out of 3 cards and an ally.
• Your best G.I.R.L.: flip to alter-ego as much as you can and trigger G.I.R.L. as often as possible. Prioritise Genius, Recursion cards, and Pinpoint Strike (in this order). Genius alone is worth flipping down, as you almost always will have at least one more card you want to recur. Be careful to keep one or two relevant allies in the discard if you have Make the Call, otherwise it becomes a dead card (for the purpose of recursion). Don't worry about the villain, you have plenty of thwart and your teammates can cover for you (you'll be providing so much utility, they'll be happy to help).
• Band Together: the ultimate accelerator. Once you have 2 allies on the board, you'll be firing Pinpoint Strikes and Nick Fury's every turn with no effort. Remember to use the as for Moon Girl (3-power BT + Moon Girl is the dream). Keep Black Panther or Ant-man around to help with BT at all times.

Deck vulnerabilities (and how to mitigate them)

• Overkill: the Queen is very sturdy when she has her guards to watch over her, but may end in trouble if the villain is packing Overkill and can run around the chump blockers. The deck strategy isn't impacted, but you'll feel the sting of the enemy's attacks (pun intended). You may consider adding in Endurance and/or Downtime to reduce the need to heal, in this case.
• Support play-style: this is personal preference, but it's there. The deck isn't passive or weak by any means, but works best when it is filling your allies with cards every turn. The core engine is simple and never really changes: you'll be drawing cards and recurring allies every turn of the game. While this makes the deck consistent, reliable, and fun (for me at least), your mileage may vary.
• Collector I: a large, fat NOPE. Collector I will murder your engine and your team in 2 rounds. If you absolutely have to do this (read: you are playing campaign and your friends are stubborn), focus on recurring Maria Hill using Make the Call and playing damaging events, using resources to remove MH from the collection. But really, don't do this. In general, scenarios that remove cards from your deck (like Nebula and Thanos) are dangerous because they disrupt your engine in ways you can't recover from.

Sideboard and other options

There is not a lot to work with, as most pieces of the engine are already present and are required. However, here are some ideas. For all these, you can just add them in without removing anything: you'll draw so many cards that having a slightly bigger deck won't matter in the long run.

• Allies with "enters play" effect: any ally with a strong "enter play" effect is playable in the Ironheart slot. When Mutant Genesis comes out, she's be probably replaced with Professor X. You can, ofcourse, add in anything you see fit. Bonus points for allies with .
• Team training: can't go wrong with extra uses of your proud servitors. I don't main this card because I find that allies tend to come in and get out as fast as possible, making the value of the investment dubious. Nonetheless, this is a staple blue card you can't really go wrong with.
• True solo: this deck is meant to be played with teammates (2 is best), but I found it works quite well in solo. I cleared Expert Klaw and Expert Ultron with little trouble using the same list in true solo. Your main recursion target in true solo becomes Nick Fury, who can shut down the villain, thwart 2, AND draw you 3 cards.

Conclusion

I recommend this deck to anyone who enjoy helping their teammates out, or just is a fan of Magic The Gathering-style blue decks that keep drawing and locking their opponents until they can burn them out. It is simple to understand, interesting to play, wins consistently, and changes the paradigm of "play through your deck as fast as possible" that is typical of Marvel Champions gameplay.

Feel free to comment below any changes or suggestions for the deck. And if you enjoy this list, do check out my other decks below:

Thor, King of Asgard - https://marvelcdb.com/deck/view/275323

Road to Valhalla - https://marvelcdb.com/deck/view/290815

An Eventful Day - https://marvelcdb.com/deck/view/99647

Stef