Agent of Acquisitions

A Paired Deck, meant to be played two-handed solo, Duo, or multiplayer alongside Magik What If: Noodles Academy (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/47379/what-if-noodles-academy-1.0)

I've used these decks on all the expert villains of the Age of Apocalypse expansion and had a blast, winning most games.

What if Illyana Founded the X-Men?

Illyana has a different approach to defending the planet than Charles Xavier. A more direct approach. And to that end, she's made some interesting and resourceful contacts to source the weapons she and her more aggressive X-men require. Enter the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Guns. Lots of Guns.

Venom is all about weapons. I've felt the pain of discarding half my deck or more with Flash Thompson's setup ability, but 3 copies of Laser Blaster should help to alleviate that pain. Venom can unite with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and even teach Illyana's Uncanny X-Men a thing or two about teamwork (and these cards should be a priority to play as soon as you see them)

Once you have Guardians of the Galaxy down, you can start to supply technology and weapons in earnest. Training Illyana's bruisers (Wolverine, Goldballs, Psylocke, and Colossus) to be Honorary Guardian, and equipping them with Laser Blasters, Inspired, and Reinforced Suit is the name of the game, and Venom can draw a card for each upgrade he plays. What a (weapons) deal!

Guardians of the Main Scheme

Illyana and her Noodle Bruisers can usually deal well with damage and minions, but the Main Scheme is Venom's to manage. As such, I rarely find myself playing Savage Attack, but rarely pass up Behind Enemy Lines. Especially with the kicker, if you can manage it (don't forget that Venom's hero resource ability to turn health into wild can help meet kicker requirements). In a pinch, Iliana might be able to divert her Helicarrier to discount one of your events if your missing the icon in your hand.

Getting the Multi-Gun down and using it as a 2-thwart each turn is very nice. Once you have the Multi-gun and both Venom's Pistols, then suddenly Run and Gun becomes a much more attractive proposition (because of how flexible these weapons are).

Lastly, you can give your own Guardians (Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, or Martinex) a Comms Implant and/or some of the tech that you've requisitioned for Illyana's X-Men to extend/expand their thwarting power (see Inspired, Reinforced Suit, and/or Comms Implant).

But one of the best ways you can mitigate threat on the main scheme is by staying up in hero form as much as possible, which brings us to

Surviveability

Beyond adding confuse to the villain with Behind Enemy Lines, staying up in hero form as long as possible is a great benefit to Illyana in mitigating main-scheme threat. Cancelling enemy attacks and maybe stunning them with Grasping Tendrils is a fantastic swing play. With 2x Venom's Pistols, you can basic defend for 4 (and this becomes more attractive because basic thwart with venom is lower, and attack damage is Illyana's domain). Spider-Sense can help you draw cards when the villain attacks you, and your allies (and Illyana's) can block for you sometimes to take the heat off.

When you do need to flip down to regain health, Project Rebirth 2.0 is an amazing augment to your healing power. Make sure to use it coming and going, because health for Venom equals both less threat on the main scheme and resources to play more cards.

TLDR Wrap Up

Get Guardians of the Galaxy down as soon as possible, and then play all the upgrades you can. Play them on Illyana's allies to amplify their damage and attack power (particularly important to make her allies Honorary Guardians). Then make sure you have your own weapons down, and say up in hero form as much as possible to mitigate threat and draw focus away from Illyana's Noodle Academy. Have fun!