SuperSonic the Hedge Lord

"He's so fast...yet so edgy!"

Overview:

• Play Style: Rush your setup! Curl up to defend! Spike out to retaliate!
• Fun: Very High (find key cards fast, draw a lot, solve the defense puzzle).
• Difficulty: Low to Medium (you need to know the defense rules).
• Power level: Very Strong.
• Recommended Player Count: Any (designed to defend for 1-3 players, but great in solo too: you can always convert into more damage/thwart).
• Number of cards: 40. Don't go higher ;)

This deck won against multiple Expert villains, including Mojo, Red Skull, high-ATK Juggernaut, Loki 1 & 2, and more.

Concept:
Venom's Spider-Sense, Multi-Gun, Venom's Pistols and Project Rebirth 2.0 are so good! Our Protection support/upgrades are incredible too. We want to find and play all of them as FAST as possible!

• Taunt + a LOT of defense/tanking options help us achieve this. Even if we miss an upgrade, we cycle very fast: up to 14 cards on the table, 5 in your hand, 1 from villain's attack, 3xTaunt+Spider-Sense (+4 cards each), [Face the Past] (/card/49022) (which removes itself), Unflappable, 2xDefensive Energy, Avengers Mansion.
• Up to 25 cards seen in a turn (out of 25 in your deck, perfection! :p ).

  (Not even taking Project Rebirth 2.0+Ready for a Fight into account.)

• When we do not Taunt we simply defend most attacks for the table thanks to Venom's once per phase (or play some of our powerful Venom's events in solo!).
• Every time we defend we use our Hedgehog's spikes to inflict great pain.
• Then we take a quick alter ego break and Angel's Aerie back to full HP.
• Pretty soon, we get a thinned, super-strong deck to end the villain.

I can't stress enough how fun this deck was for us, playing Defensive Energy, Flow Like Water, supercharged Taunts and Angel's Aerie especially!

“My past is so dark, you can't see it coming.”

How to play this deck / combos:

1. Early game

• Mulligan for +1s DEF (Armored Vest, Defensive Conditioning, 2xVenom's Pistol), Spider-Sense, Unflappable or immediate draw power (like Taunt, Face the Past or Project Rebirth 2.0).
• Don't forget you'll get either a 1-cost Venom's Pistol or a 3-cost Multi-Gun in hand ;)
• Taunt+Spider-Sense will drastically accelerate your setup. Ideally you play 1 Pistol (or Spider-Sense if you're lucky enough!), Taunt, basic defend, play more cards.
• Try to not skip Flow Like Water if you can. It's expensive but such great value!
• Same with Ready for a Fight (see below why only 1).
• Helicarrier is less of a priority than other Venom's decks. We can't use it for Grasping Tendrils. Still very good to have in order to trigger the extra effect on Savage Attack and Behind Enemy Lines. But again, we want to prioritize our setup, not Venom's events.
• Spider-Byte and Jocasta can thwart for 4 each because you don't need them to defend (even though you can in multi). Spider-Byte quickly becomes free to play with 4 TECHs, while Jocasta is just great value to replay your events.

“Speed is just another way of disappearing.”

2. Defending

• Venom's resources being once per phase, it synergizes pretty well with DEFENSE events :)
• During the villain phase or whenever you use a Taunt, draw with Spider-Sense (it does NOT exhaust). Sometimes this will get you the perfect DEFENSE event to immediately play!
• Then play a DEFENSE event + Defensive Energy. That's another draw before the "defend step" is resolved! You can even draw another DEFENSE event and play it immediately if you feel the need to.
• After every attack you defended with at least 1 event or your basic defense, deal 1 damage with Electrostatic Armor. But after each DEFENSE event you play, immediately deal 1 damage (sometimes before the attack ends, which could kill it and cancel the attack!).
• After the attack resolves, draw 1 card with Unflappable, or +3 with Taunt.  
• You can easily defend 1-2 more attacks for the group (just remember Spider-Sense does not trigger for attacks against others).
• Grasping Tendrils is very good, and Strength, Defensive Energy and Venom's help us paying for it. Be mindful that a stun will prevent you from drawing with Spider-Sense. Sometimes it's ok, but it's clearly better in multiplayer when it prevents the villain from attacking another player instead ;)
• Taunt also helps us reshape our hand when it's full of DEFENSE events!
• Jocasta is another copy of any DEFENSE event.

“Getting close to me always ends with scars.”

3. Alter ego / healing

• Going to alter-ego is very useful to heal and/or benefit from Project Rebirth 2.0 and/or Angel's Aerie.
• However try to only go there if (in order):
  • You played Ready for a Fight earlier.
  • or You kept a Taunt in hand for Unflappable next turn.
  • or You confused the enemy with Behind Enemy Lines.
• Try to play Ready for a Fight every time you see it. Only 1 copy is enough with this deck, and it avoids clogging your hand with extras.
• Careful not to be the first player in alter-ego when the villain is confused or you won't be able to change to hero form ;)
• Considering our 8 DEFENSE events in a thinned deck, Angel's Aerie should fully heal you every time, giving you an extra draw with Project Rebirth 2.0.
• I cut Energy as we prefer having Strength for Grasping Tendrils, Genius for Behind Enemy Lines and 2xDefensive Energy as +1 card.

“The symbiote thought it could fix me. I broke it.”

Other cards to consider:

• You could swap 1-2 "I Can Do This All Day" for 1-2 Preemptive Strike if you prefer. Actually it could be better for solo, depending on the villain. In multiplayer, you could even go above 40 cards if you really want to defend even more. Still don't go above 42 I think.
• Superpower Training to find Multi-Gun is obviously great. But it was removed because Flash's Setup ability can easily discard it and/or give you the Multi-Gun anyway. If one of your teammate can play it, it's very good though!
• Change of Fortune wasn't really worth it in solo. In multi, it is wonderful, as long as no teammate already is a minion-killer of course :) Definitely worth a 41st card, but 1 Defensive Energy would be swapped out.

“Heroes save the day. I survive the night.”

Anyway, enjoy, have fun,
and don't forget to drop a like / fav, it's always appreciated :)