Go Down Swinging

Captain America – Leadership Card pool: Core Set through Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

I have finally done it.

I have built a deck that isn't centered around making one completely unplayable card slightly less unplayable.

Apparently this game also has an Expert Mode.

Anyway.

The Plan

The basic idea is to cheat expensive allies into play with Sneak Attack, get as much work out of them as humanly possible, and then throw them at the villain with Go Down Swinging before they disappear.

Very dignified.

The deck is packed with expensive allies that make excellent Sneak Attack targets: Giant-Man, Power Man, Captain Marvel, Dum Dum Dugan, Falcon, Nick Fury Sr., Vision and the regular, considerably less senior Nick Fury.

A typical sequence looks something like:

Sneak Attack → Ally does something useful → Get Ready → Ally does something useful again → Go Down Swinging

Congratulations. Your temporary employee has now completed three shifts in approximately six seconds.

Command Team provides even more opportunities to squeeze value out of an ally before launching them directly into the villain's face.

The Slightly Clever Bit

There is one small problem with Sneak Attack.

It requires an Avenger ally while you're in Hero form, or a S.H.I.E.L.D. ally while you're in Alter-Ego.

So naturally, we're playing both.

Sneak Attack and Get Ready are regular Actions, so Steve can use them on either side of his identity. Go Down Swinging, however, is a Hero Action, which means Steve needs to be Captain America when it's time for the grand finale.

This gives us some useful sequencing options.

Want to Sneak Attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. ally? Do it as Steve Rogers.

Activate them. Ready them. Activate them again.

Then flip to Captain America and Go Down Swinging.

Want an Avenger instead? Just do the whole thing in Hero form and save yourself the costume change.

Apparently changing clothes is now an important part of Leadership strategy.

Early Game: Financial Irresponsibility

Early on, we're mostly interested in using Sneak Attack to get expensive allies into play without actually paying expensive-ally prices.

Use their enters-play abilities where applicable, activate them, ready them with Get Ready or Command Team, and eventually cash them in with Go Down Swinging.

Just remember that if you Sneak Attack a S.H.I.E.L.D. ally while in Alter-Ego, you'll need to flip before you can throw them at somebody.

At the same time, start building Steve's extremely patriotic economy:

• Super-Soldier Serum
• Quincarrier
• Helicarrier

Steve's Apartment is also there because even Captain America occasionally needs to go home, draw a card and contemplate what he's been doing to his allies.

Call for Backup helps find whichever large human projectile is most appropriate for the current situation.

Late Game: Apparently We Pay For Things Now

Eventually, something strange happens.

We become rich.

With two Super-Soldier Serums, Quincarrier, Helicarrier, and Steve's Living Legend ability reducing the cost of the first ally played each round, those ridiculous high-cost allies stop looking quite so ridiculous.

At this point you don't necessarily need Sneak Attack anymore.

You can just...

play the allies.

From your hand.

By paying their printed cost.

I was surprised too.

This gives the deck a nice transition. Early game, you're cheating giant allies into play and extracting every possible point of value before they leave. Late game, your economy is strong enough to simply hardcast them and keep them around.

Of course, Go Down Swinging remains available if keeping them around starts to feel dangerously sensible.

Meanwhile, Captain America

While Leadership is busy committing various workplace violations, Captain America's own kit is still Captain America's own kit.

Heroic Strike punches things.

Shield Toss clears boards.

Shield Block makes damage somebody else's problem.

Fearless Determination helps with thwarting and gives us another card.

And Captain America himself can ready, because apparently allies weren't the only characters in this deck allowed to activate more than once.

So although the deck is built around the Sneak Attack / ready / Go Down Swinging package, Steve is perfectly capable of handling whatever the allies aren't currently being thrown at.

Final Thoughts

The deck starts as a mildly irresponsible Sneak Attack deck and gradually turns into a legitimate big-allies Leadership deck once Steve's economy comes online.

The Avenger/S.H.I.E.L.D. split looks awkward at first, but Steve can use Sneak Attack from whichever identity provides the trait he needs. S.H.I.E.L.D. allies can come in while he's Steve Rogers, Avengers while he's Captain America — and if Steve started the turn in Alter-Ego, he can always flip before using Go Down Swinging.

Cheat them in.

Use them.

Ready them.

Use them again.

Put on the Captain America suit if necessary.

Then Go Down Swinging.

And if the game lasts long enough, develop a stable economy and start paying your employees properly.

Character development.