Spider-Man - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

With great power comes great responsibility. With a Symbiote Suit comes great power... and a few extra problems.

Welcome to my upgraded solo and multiplayer Protection Spider-Man deck.

This version preserves the original philosophy: make enemies attack Spider-Man, exploit those attacks, and turn every dangerous situation into an advantage.

But now, Peter Parker has a few new tricks up his sleeve.

And one of them makes the Symbiote Suit absolutely ridiculous.

The Symbiote Without the Headache

Let's start with the biggest upgrade: Symbiote Suit.

For 4 resources, Spider-Man gains:

• +10 hit points.
• +1 to all his basic powers.
• +1 hand size.

The drawback? An additional encounter card every round.

Normally, that's a pretty significant price to pay.

Enter Mitigated Threat.

This zero-cost Protection upgrade can attach directly to Symbiote Suit and remove its hazard icon, effectively eliminating that additional encounter card!

The only requirement is paying one resource per player at the end of each round to keep Mitigated Threat in play.

In solo, that's just one resource per round.

And Peter Parker is particularly well equipped to handle that expense thanks to his alter-ego resource generation, Web-Shooters, and excellent card economy.

Even if you occasionally decide not to pay, the Symbiote Suit remains incredibly powerful.

All the benefits of the Symbiote, with a manageable drawback.

Not bad for a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

Mitigated Threat – More Than a Symbiote Solution

The deck includes 3 copies of Mitigated Threat, and there's a very good reason for that.

While neutralizing Symbiote Suit's hazard icon is fantastic, this card offers much more versatility.

It can also neutralize problematic icons on other cards:

• Crisis icons that prevent you from removing threat from the main scheme.
• Acceleration icons that make the villain's schemes increasingly dangerous.
• Hazard icons that generate additional encounter cards.
• Amplify icons that make enemy attacks more dangerous.

This is particularly valuable in solo, where a single problematic side scheme can quickly spiral out of control.

Sometimes you want to maintain Mitigated Threat for several rounds. Other times, you just need to disable an icon temporarily to regain control.

For zero resources, the flexibility is incredible.

Please, Punch Me!

Spider-Man has one of the most entertaining defensive abilities in Marvel Champions.

Whenever the villain initiates an attack against him, he draws a card.

So why wait for the villain to attack naturally?

Taunt, Bait and Switch, Return the Favor, and In Harm's Way are all part of a strategy built around manipulating enemy attacks.

Instead of simply reacting to the encounter phase, Spider-Man actively creates opportunities to exploit his defensive abilities.

Meanwhile, his upgrades make those attacks increasingly manageable:

• Armored Vest improves his DEF.
• Defensive Conditioning further reinforces his defensive capabilities.
• Innate Reflexes supports his defensive strategy.
• Ready for a Fight helps keep Peter prepared for incoming attacks.

And with Symbiote Suit adding another point to his basic powers, Spider-Man becomes even more effective at handling whatever the villain throws at him.

The villain thinks he's attacking Spider-Man. Spider-Man thinks he's drawing another card.

In Harm's Way – The Ultimate Payback

This is where the deck becomes truly frightening.

With Spider-Man fully equipped, In Harm's Way can become an absolutely devastating play.

We're talking about the potential to:

Remove 7 threat and deal 7 damage to an enemy.

That's an enormous swing in a solo game.

And it perfectly illustrates the philosophy behind this deck.

Spider-Man doesn't simply survive attacks. He turns them into opportunities to regain control of the board and punish his enemies.

Combined with Swinging Web Kick, Peter has more than enough offensive potential to finish a villain once the situation is under control.

A Friendly Neighborhood Control Freak

Despite its aggressive approach to provoking attacks, this is still a Protection deck.

And Peter has plenty of tools to keep things under control.

Backflip provides outstanding damage prevention, while Enhanced Spider-Sense helps deal with dangerous treacheries.

Webbed Up can completely disrupt the villain's plans when an attack would be particularly inconvenient.

Spider-Tracer provides additional threat removal, and Aunt May remains one of the best reasons to visit alter ego.

With Symbiote Suit increasing Peter's hit points and hand size, switching forms becomes even more rewarding.

And let's not forget Black Cat, who provides a little extra offensive support without demanding much attention.

Every card has a purpose: survive, control, retaliate, or prepare for the next ridiculous turn.

Built for Solo, Ready for Trouble

This deck was designed primarily for solo play.

Spider-Man can generate resources, draw cards, defend himself, control dangerous encounter icons, remove threat, and deliver serious damage.

The important part is that these abilities don't operate independently.

They reinforce one another.

Provoking attacks generates opportunities. Defensive upgrades make those attacks safer. Powerful events turn those situations into damage and threat removal. And Mitigated Threat keeps the encounter deck's nastiest icons under control.

The result is a Spider-Man who can handle an impressive variety of situations without sacrificing his personality.

Final Thoughts

This upgraded version represents what I wanted from Spider-Man all along.

A hero who actively attracts trouble, survives impossible situations, and somehow comes out ahead.

The Symbiote Suit makes him stronger.

Mitigated Threat makes the Symbiote manageable.

His defensive events turn enemy aggression into opportunities.

And In Harm's Way gives him the potential to deliver spectacular turns when everything comes together.

It's still the same friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

He's just a little harder to kill.

And considerably more annoying to the villain.

Go ahead. Attack Spider-Man.

That's exactly what he wants.