Black Widow The Winter Sidekick

You think I’m just a spy hiding in the shadows? A fatal mistake. They underestimate me, just like the villain will. I control this battlefield from the very first breath. While they hunt me in my Alter-Ego form, I am already pulling the strings in the background for the perfect assassination. I am Natasha Romanoff, and this is my absolute classified operation.

I leave nothing to chance. Starting undercover as NATASHA ROMANOFF, I utilize my MISSION PREPARATION capability. Every time I set up a trap, I immediately draw a new card. With my hand size of 6, I immediately discard everything that doesn’t bring an immediate strategic advantage. My sole objective is to activate my contacts, meaning I unconditionally search for PREPARE FOR BATTLE as well as THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP or another double resource, while finishers like DANCE OF DEATH and COVERT OPS go straight to the discard pile since I won't need them until much later.

I immediately trigger PREPARE FOR BATTLE from my hand, scour my deck, and bring my most loyal bodyguard, WINTER SOLDIER, along with his marching orders, SIDEKICK, straight into my command center. At the same time, I use my permanent S.H.I.E.L.D. clearance to call in • JEMMA SIMMONS for just a single resource, who from now on works around the clock in the lab to generate reliable mental resources every round—resources I pump exactly into my TECH gear like WIDOW'S BITE, GRAPPLING HOOK, and the • SYNTH-SUIT.

The more of these spy traps I place on the battlefield, the more unyielding my control matrix becomes—and the best part is that each card in play drastically lowers the cost of my bodyguard, until I drop the WINTER SOLDIER onto the field for absolutely 0 RESOURCES. Now he gets fully upgraded: SIDEKICK grants him his first insurance policy, REINFORCED SUIT straps on his heavy armor, and TEAM TRAINING welds us together for good, leaving Bucky standing before me with an incredible 9 HP. Thanks to INSPIRED and MIGHTY AVENGERS, his permanent stats rise to a brutal 4 ATTACK and 4 THWART, as long as we don't tolerate any amateurs like Squirrel Girl in play, who would block our Avenger bonus.

Now I step out of the shadows and flip to BLACK WIDOW. Every time the villain trips into my laid traps, I activate my WIDOWMAKER ability and immediately burn them for an automatic damage point right to the face as a response. I open up the machine-gun fire: Bucky attacks, I activate COMMAND TEAM, ready him, and he strikes again instantly. Then I play SIDE BY SIDE, which readies us both, making our stats explode as Bucky strikes a third time, while I use LEADERSHIP SKILL to drive his damage for a single action up to 6 ATTACK, hammering over 17 DAMAGE into the villain's face in a single phase.

Should Bucky take any damage after this inferno, I flip back to NATASHA ROMANOFF, use my basic recovery, and thanks to SIDEKICK, I simultaneously heal him for 2 HP for free, while recycling spent traps via • SAFE HOUSE #29. And if the villain ever catches him with a massive attack in Expert mode, I simply play MAKE THE CALL and bring Bucky back READY DIRECTLY FROM THE DISCARD PILE FOR 0 RESOURCES, while my LEADERSHIP TRAINING shuffles spent copies of SIDE BY SIDE back into my deck so this infinite loop of destruction never breaks. The encounter deck is completely frozen, the villain has no chance to fight back, and there isn't a boss in the entire universe that can withstand this strategy.