X-23: Badger the Enemy (Con of Heroes 2026)

The main idea of this deck is to turn Honey Badger into an absolute powerhouse so that she can keep readying X-23. This is a Voltron deck, meaning we are going to pile upgrades onto one ally and make her as strong as possible. In this case, Honey Badger is the star of the show. Every time she activates, she can ready X-23, allowing you to bounce back and forth between their activations and get an incredible amount of value out of both characters. The deck is also very flexible, since you can use those activations for either attacking or thwarting depending on what the game needs.

Honey Badger: She is the whole reason this deck exists. The goal is to find her early, get her into play, and start stacking upgrades on her. With enough investment, you can easily get her to 4 ATK and 3 THW, making her a serious threat in her own right. More importantly, every time she activates, she readies X-23, so you can alternate between the two of them to keep attacking or thwarting. This gives you a lot of flexibility, since you can switch between dealing damage and controlling threat without sacrificing much efficiency. We have several ways to ready Honey Badger, including Game Time, Side-by-Side, and Get Ready, so you can keep the cycle going and get even more activations out of her.

Building the Voltron: We have a lot of upgrades dedicated to making Honey Badger stronger and keeping her in play. Danger Room Training is essential because it boosts her stats and helps with ally readies. Sidearm and Inspired give her even more power. Sidekick is arguably the most important upgrade in the deck because it helps Honey Badger survive longer and gives us another way to ready her with Side-by-Side. Reinforced Suit, Advanced Suit, and Team Training all help with her longevity, giving her more hit points and keeping her around for as long as possible. The more upgrades we get onto her, the more value we get from every activation.

Keeping Honey Badger online: Since the entire deck revolves around Honey Badger, losing her can be a serious setback. Suit Up helps us find her more consistently, especially early in the game when we need to get the engine running. Regenerative Longevity gives us another way to keep her healthy, while the extra hit points from her upgrades provide a buffer for healing and help her survive longer. The idea is to invest in her early and then protect that investment so she can keep readying X-23 turn after turn.

Backup Voltron targets: Sometimes you won't find Honey Badger early enough, and we don't want to sit around waiting for the perfect draw. This is where Iron Man and Ronin come in. They give us alternative targets for our upgrades, allowing us to get the deck moving while we dig for Honey Badger. They aren't the primary plan, but they help smooth out those games where the main engine is slow to come together.

Rest of the deck: X-23 has her own upgrades and events to help her deal damage and stay in the fight. X-23's Claws, Adamantium Lacing, Grim Resolve, and Pain Tolerance support her own game plan, while Animal Instinct and Sisterly Bond provide additional options. X-Gene is an optional inclusion that can make some of X-23's events cheaper to play. Sisterhood gives us another piece of support, and The Power of Leadership helps pay for the Leadership cards that keep the engine running.

The biggest weakness of this deck is X-23's obligation. It can remove Honey Badger and all the upgrades we have invested in her, which can be devastating after spending several turns building her up. This is one reason why I would strongly recommend having a Protection teammate who can bring along Black Widow as an ally. Her ability to help prevent obligations from being drawn can protect the deck from its biggest weakness.

When the deck is fully built, it is very strong. Honey Badger becomes a powerful attacker and thwarter, while constantly readying X-23 to do the same. The two of them can bounce between activations, dealing damage, removing threat, and making the most of every turn. The main challenge is getting Honey Badger online early and keeping her there, but once the upgrades are in place, this deck can be an absolute monster.