Cap Flips

I've been on this site for a while now, trying to improve both my deck creation skills, and the way I present my decks. I've decided that I can't write brilliant and amusing deck descriptions, so for this deck I'm going to try for clear and structured. We'll see if it works.

Concept

Since Venom came out, I've been exploring a range of decks with Sonic Rifle. It is a fantastic card for solo players with heroes that like to flip regularly. Coupled with that old standby Under Surveillance it can give complete assurance that the scheme won't advance whilst you are in alter-ego, and it has the huge benefit that the second charge will be ready exactly when you need it. I've published a deck with She-Hulk (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/11680/she-hulk-confusing-legalese-1.0), but which other heroes could use this approach?

Steve Rogers has a great alter-ego ability in Living Legend, and Steve's Apartment is even better. Every time Cap flips to alter-ego he gains one card in hand size, two opportunities to use Living Legend, two uses of Steve's Apartment (and two uses of Crew Quarters - we'll get to that later). That's five resources and 4 heals. Sonic Rifle lets us do that twice: ten resources and 8 heals for a cost of four, provided we have an ally to hand every turn. So the concept of the deck is to maximise the benefit we get from flipping Cap as often as possible.

Card choices

First, the allies. Living Legend pushes the deck in an ally-heavy direction, but with so many great allies to choose from that isn't a hardship; I choose allies who are either cheap (Wiccan, Quake) or have useful enter-play abilities. A number of them also have good thwarting. Captain America himself thwarts pretty well between I Can Do This All Day and Fearless Determination. If any card in your hand can remove 2 (or more) threat with ICDTAD, then there's no real need to waste deck slots on thwart events.

Three of the allies are also spies, which opens up scope for Spycraft. Coupled with Target Acquired that gives scope to avoid particularly unpleasant cards in the encounter deck.

So with stun, confuse, Under Surveillance, Spycraft and Target Acquired we are as well set up as we can be to deny the villain tempo and win time to set up strongly.

Second, the events. I've already explained why I don't think any thwart events are needed in this deck. Attack events are a different matter. Cap's three Heroic Strike are great cards, but he is a little underwhelming in terms of damage output. Stealth Strike and Turn the Tide can both help here. Against many scenarios, it isn't that big a deal to take an extra turn to finish the game: there is enough stun and confuse in the deck that the villain won't get much done in that turn. Villains like Collector who have another way to win the game are more of a challenge.

Third, the supports and upgrades. I aim to use Sonic Rifle every turn that I start in hero form. Two copies are enough for that provided that you play them every time you see them, but sometimes they come out of the deck close together. Side Holster allows me to have both in pay along with Captain America's Shield. Spycraft, Target Acquired and Under Surveillance all work together to deny the villain tempo, which is one of the key themes of the deck. Crew Quarters is great because it allows me to heal without exhausting, and works well alongside Steve's Apartment.

You may feel that Avengers Mansion and Helicarrier are overkill in a deck that has plenty of resources. My take is that expensive resource generators like these are particularly valuable in a deck where you have a good chance of getting them into play. The extra draw from Avengers Mansion is particularly valuable when you don't have an ally in your hand and need one to get the best out of Living Legend.

Alternative cards

• I tested Heroic Intuition but I found it rarely got played. There are too many higher-priority upgrades.
• Pivotal Moment might be better than Stealth Strike. It can do more damage at lower cost, but I felt that the limitation to the villain was too much. Stealth Strike can also help to set up Turn the Tide by reducing threat on a scheme, although it can't trigger it directly because it isn't a thwart event.
• Side Holster might seem like a luxury. I want to be able to play my second Sonic Rifle whenever I see it and not be forced to wait until the first one has left play. With only two of them they might come in successive hands. Skilled Investigator is actually the card I'd cut first. It's cheap, but not particularly reliable as a source of card draw.

Playing the deck

Playing this deck is pretty simple.

• the first priority is to play Sonic Rifle every time you see it, and use it whenever you are in hero form;
• the next priority is to get an ally down every turn to make the most of Living Legend;
• the third priority is to play Steve's Apartment and, if possible, Crew Quarters;
• once those two are down, you can start to take hits on Captain America rather than chump blocking with an ally every turn. He's only in hero form every other turn and can shed a lot of damage without needing to exhaust. That also means you shouldn't normally need to exhaust in order to defend;
• put down your other supports and upgrades as quickly as you can; and finally
• start using Heroic Strike so that the villain is stunned on turns he isn't confused.

I would mulligan for a rifle and Steve's Apartment. I usually play Captain America's Shield on my first turn but not always: I won't aim to take a villain hit on Cap until later in the game, and I will rarely be using his DEF, so the shield isn't such a high priority unless the scenario is one with lots of minions.

How to lose with this deck

So I'm not one of those players who can advertise their decks as 'undefeated on expert' or anything like that. I find I can lose with any deck. What are the main ways I've lost with this one?

Unquestionably the main way I've lost has been to take risks. Often playing true solo you have to accept a little risk; having built this deck to avoid the need to take calculated risks when I flip to alter ego, I sometimes found myself still doing it anyway out of habit, and sometimes those risks crystallise.

The second way I've lost has been to get greedy and prioritise damage to the villain before I've got properly set up.

Both of those come back to the same issue. The deck is designed to pin the villain back and build up a strong tempo advantage over him. It works best when I prioritise getting down my allies and resources.

Conclusion

You might well say that the last thing we need is another powerful Captain America deck but I say we should enjoy it while we can. With so many Stalwart and Steady enemies coming our way, stun- and confuse-lock decks may not have much life in them.