X-Men Gold Team

Let's just be clear on one thing - Storm is just inherently strong...

This deck sprung from an undying urge to build thematic decks based on comic book lore, and is the first of what I hope will be a series of decks designed from the love of the comics. This being said, thematics are the basis and so you won't find these decks particularly "Spike-y" (though they can be) as they are constrained by thematic choices and the cards that are obligated to be part of it.

X-Men Gold Team Line-up

The X-Men Gold Team was one half of the strike units formed during the amazing era of Chris Claremont, Jim Lee and Scott Williams in the 1990s.

The Gold Team consisted of - Storm, Bishop, Iceman, Jean Grey, Archangel and Colossus

whilst the Blue Team consisted of - Cyclops, Wolverine, Jubilee, Psylocke, Rogue and Gambit

A modernised version of these teams showed up in 2017, and for this deck, I've used members from both Gold Team rosters.

Role Call

Unless you're Cyclops, choosing an aspect immediately constrains you with the allies you are able to choose. Luckily, by choosing Justice, most of the team members for the Gold Team are available!

Bishop from Justice is an auto pick but Marvel Girl (who features in the 2017 version of the Gold Team) is also a pleasant addition to the deck. Angel, although not Archangel, is another classic member as well as Colossus. I've added Shadowcat from the Basic pool as well as Kitty actually led the 2017 Gold Team. The only classic members missing are Iceman and Jean Grey and as much as I would have loved to include them, I can't as they are part of different aspects (Protection and Leadership respectively).

A couple of other allies I've included - Professor X and Forge. Charles Xavier directed both Blue and Gold Teams, so it made sense to also include him in this deck; Forge (one of my favourite X-Men) has, to me, always been a bit of an outsider...neither in the Blue or Gold Team...but always there to help anyone who needs it....so I couldn't resist including him - even though there is only 1 X-Men support card for Forge to fish out for you!

X-Men Supports I've deliberately excluded Utopia from the deck as thematically I don't think it aligns with the Gold Team per se. In contrast, X-Mansion is a necessity as the Mansion was the homebase for both Blue and Gold Teams and featured heavily in their training (X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont & Jim Lee) There is potential to include The X-Jet as well as thematically the X-Jet was widely used for the two strike teams...replacing one copy of Overwatch with The X-Jet is certainly viable.

...And the Rest...?

Due to her hero kit, I've added Deft Focus and X-Gene to help pay for her more expensive events (which you will be wanting to regularly play). Again, if The X-Jet is included then you may drop one of these.

As for the rest of the cards chosen, thematically they won't add to, or increase the theme in any way. I've chosen Multitasking to combo with Operative Skill and Overwatch for heavy threat removal, and as Storm likes to basic attack regularly, including Upside the Head gives her a nice little edge.

Bear in mind, dependent on the scenario you play (I.e if you are against a Stalwart villain or if there are only a few side schemes), these event cards would need to be chopped and changed to suit your situation.

Storm's kit is so well rounded and powerful as it is (she has huge burst damage; can handle multiple enemies; has card draw; has resource generator; can ready; regularly remove threat or damage etc), it's hard to find things that can address her deficiencies (which is hardly anything!)

The bones of this deck lie in the thematic allies and supports..I'd recommend then tweaking the event cards to the scenario you face or adding in combos that you love playing!