Jessica Jones – Case Closed

This deck started from a simple question:

If Jessica Jones can gain Evidence every time she uses a basic power, why should all of those activations happen during the player phase?

A lot of Jessica Protection builds lean heavily into Army of One and What Doesn't Kill Me, repeatedly readying Jessica to thwart for 3 and add another Evidence to Alias Investigations.

That works, but I wanted a version that gets meaningful value from Jessica in both phases of the round.

The result is a much more balanced Protection build.

Jessica still spends the player phase investigating, clearing side schemes and building Evidence, but she can also defend multiple times during the villain phase without giving up her whole turn.

And eventually, all of that Evidence becomes one very large final answer.

Case closed.

The Core Plan

The main win condition is still Alias Investigations.

Jessica naturally builds Evidence through her basic activations, while defeating Player Side Schemes adds even more counters.

Instead of trying to rush Alias as fast as possible, this deck focuses on making every round productive:

Player Phase

Basic THW Cell Phone activations Army of One Side scheme completion Evidence generation

Villain Phase

Basic DEF Desperate Defense Unflappable Protection for the table More opportunities to use Jessica's basic powers across the round

Then, once Alias Investigations has enough Evidence and the right side scheme is ready to fall, Jessica can simply end the villain stage.

Cell Phone Is the Missing Piece

Cell Phone is one of my favourite cards in this version.

Jessica normally has 3 THW, which is good, but not so high that repeatedly paying for ready effects always feels amazing.

Cell Phone changes the efficiency of those activations.

It gives Jessica another basic thwart and boosts that activation to 4 THW, while still triggering her Evidence generation.

So instead of spending several cards just to ready Jessica for another 3 THW activation, Cell Phone gives the deck a repeatable source of:

4 threat removed + 1 Evidence

It is also flexible enough to help another character when Jessica does not need it.

Three copies help get one into play early.

Army of One Still Earns Its Place

I still like Army of One here.

With very few allies in the deck, it is normally a cheap ready.

That means Jessica can:

THW → gain Evidence Army of One → ready THW again → gain Evidence

The difference is that this deck does not ask Army of One to carry the entire strategy.

It is just one efficient part of the engine.

What Doesn't Kill Me – Only One Copy

I deliberately reduced What Doesn't Kill Me to one copy.

It is still useful because Jessica appreciates the healing and the ready can create another basic activation.

But purely as a ready effect, it is expensive.

Paying two resources plus the event itself just to get another 3 THW and one Evidence is fine, but it is not something I want to draw constantly.

One copy gives the deck access to the effect without clogging the hand.

Jessica Actually Plays Protection

The biggest change from the usual ready-spam approach is Desperate Defense.

Jessica is already using basic powers to build Evidence, so defending is not wasted activity.

She can defend an attack, protect another player, and then use Desperate Defense to ready if she takes no damage.

That means one card can turn Jessica from:

one defense per villain phase

into:

defend → ready → defend again

With two copies available, Jessica can sometimes protect multiple players in the same villain phase while still being ready for the next player phase.

Unflappable rewards the same perfect-defense plan with card draw.

This is why I prefer this version to simply stacking more player-phase ready effects.

A villain-phase ready is not only another basic activation.

It is also another attack that somebody else did not have to take.

Toughen Up and Defensive Conditioning

Jessica is not Luke Cage, so she cannot casually absorb attacks forever.

Defensive Conditioning gives her a much healthier defensive profile, while Toughen Up gives the deck an emergency layer of protection.

The Tough can also make a Desperate Defense turn much safer when the villain has a large attack coming.

The Night Nurse helps deal with status cards and keeps Jessica functioning when the encounter deck tries to shut down her basic activations.

The Side Scheme Package

The Player Side Schemes are not just utility.

They are part of the win condition.

The deck runs seven of them, giving Jessica plenty of opportunities to progress Alias Investigations while also building out the board.

Build Support helps establish key supports.

Superpower Training finds important identity upgrades.

Establish Perimeter, Lay Low, Render Medical Aid, Second Chance, and Piecing It All Together all contribute useful effects while giving Jessica more cases to close.

The important part is not necessarily clearing every side scheme immediately.

Sometimes you want to leave one almost completed so that when Alias Investigations reaches the required Evidence count, Jessica can finish the scheme and immediately finish the villain.

Luke Cage

Luke is the only ally in the deck.

He is expensive, but he provides a large amount of defensive value and gives Jessica another way to stabilize the board.

Calling in Favors gives some flexibility around him and helps avoid being completely stuck with his cost.

Keeping the ally count extremely low also keeps Army of One efficient.

How I Play It

Early game, I prioritise getting the engine established:

Alias Investigations Cell Phone Unflappable Defensive Conditioning

Then I start developing Player Side Schemes while Jessica handles threat herself.

During the player phase, Jessica uses her basic THW, Cell Phone and selective ready effects to keep threat under control while building Evidence.

During the villain phase, she becomes a real Protection hero.

Basic defend when necessary, use Desperate Defense to stay ready, draw from Unflappable, and protect the table.

The deck does not need to rush.

It is very stable because Jessica is contributing during almost every part of the round.

Eventually, Alias Investigations reaches the magic number.

At that point, leave the villain at whatever health total the Evidence can cover, defeat the prepared side scheme and close the case instantly.

Final Thoughts

I originally looked at the popular approach of repeatedly readying Jessica during the player phase.

It definitely works.

But Jessica only starts at 3 THW, and Protection does not naturally push that stat much higher.

Spending multiple cards every round just to repeat a 3 THW activation can feel inefficient.

This version spreads that value across the whole round instead.

Player phase: thwart, investigate and build Evidence.

Villain phase: defend, ready and protect the table.

End game: Alias Investigations turns all of those small advantages into one enormous finish.

Jessica does not need to solve the case quickly.

She just needs enough Evidence.

Then the villain finds out the investigation was already over.

Case closed.