Solo Sunday Challenge

So over on Instagram @swordandboardgames started #solosundaychallenge and @brycechristiansen set a challenge of beating Standard Crossbones in as few rounds as possible.

The Blitz Playstlye

In terms of piloting the deck it's incredibly simple: you literally do whatever you can to maximise damage and card draw on every single turn. You don't build, you don't thwart, you don't defend. Ignore the board state. It's pretty stupid and mindless and I'm not a massive fan of this playstyle and it's why I rarely play true solo nowadays.

It depends on the matchup, but often the villain gets so few activations and encounter cards that they get no chance to do anything of note to stop you. This is particularly the case for the earlier scenarios and the Red Skull box, where villain HPs are low and there's little to no front loading of sides schemes and other effects that stop you.

Even if some stuff does come out of the encounter deck you can ignore just about everything apart from Guard and Tough.

Hulk SMASH!

Hulk seemed an obvious candidate for an attempted blitz. His combination of high attack, huge HP to tank villain hits (i.e ignore the villain) and of course Hulk Smash makes him a perfect fit. Aggression has extra damage and physical symbols galore so is the obvious pairing. I played zero allies, because they're slow, you don't need their chump blocks - you'll either win or lose by round 3 or 4 anyhow - and you're just looking for event based damage as much as possible. Because of Hulk's 4 hand size I tried to keep to as many 3 or 1 cost cards as possible.

Playing the Deck

The main skill based part of playing this deck is to mulligan well and to fight your instincts to play the game 'normally'. You need to recognise that half of the deck is just filler to play and power the cards you actually want to play. You don't really want to play Banner's Lab, or any of the Upgrades, other than Counterattack when you've got nothing better to do. Don't be afraid to mulligan 4-5 cards each game to avoid these cards.

Results

For the challenge specifically I played 6 games. Overall record was 6-0 - getting the elusive round 2 win on the final attempt! With wins on and Hulk HP remaining of:

R3, 2 HP

R4, 6 HP

R4, 7 HP

R4, 3 HP

R3, 12 HP

R2, 4 HP

Gamelogs

Some notes from the above games. > denotes paid for the following card. (X) denotes damage.

Game 1

Round 1: Experimental Research: filter Unstoppable Force, for Assess the Situation. Flip to hero. Assess the Situation + Genius > Drop Kick (4), Basic ATK + x2 Skilled Strike (7)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, ATK: 3. Encounter: Hydra Soldier

Round 2: Basic ATK vs Hydra Soldier + Hulk Smash (paid for with Counterattack + Power of Aggression + Audacity) (13 minus 4 on Hydra Solider)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, Gun: 3, ATK: 3. Encounter: Hydra Flame-Soldier. Encounter: Assault. Gun: 3. ATK: 4

Round 3: Basic ATK + Hulk Smash (paid for with Strength + Power of Aggression) (13 minus 4 on Hydra Flame-Soldier)

Game 2

Round 1: (Experimental Weapon is Power Gauntlets). Experimental Research to filter Genius for Counterattack. Flip to hero. Counterattack > Counterattack, Strength > Crushing Blow (3). Basic ATK (3)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, ATK: 3. Discard Thunderclap to Power Gauntlets. Respond with Counterattack (3). Encounter: Hydra Soldier

Round 2: Crushing Blow > Toe to Toe on Hydra Soldier. Assess the Situation. Basic ATK (3)

Villain Phase: +1 threat, Gun: 1. ATK: 5. Discard Toe to Toe to Power Gauntlets. Encounter: Caught Off Guard, surges into Hard as Nails. Encounter: Full Auto (1)

Round 3: Basic ATK (3 to remove Tough), Drop Kick + Immovable Object > Unstoppable Force, ready and draw Toe to Toe. Basic ATK (3). Flip to Alter Ego. Experimental Research to filter Toe to Toe for Boundless Rage.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. Advance to 2B. SCH: 4. 2B on 5. Encounter: Hydra Flame Soldier

Round 4: Filter Thunderclap for Quick Strike. Flip to Hero. Basic ATK (+Hulk Smash and Skilled Strike, paid for with Power of Aggression, Quick Strike and Audacity (1) (15)

Game 3:

Round 1: Filter Genius for Power of Aggression. Flip to Hero. Limitless Strength > Drop Kick (4 + stun), Audacity (1) > Toe to Toe (5), Basic ATK (3), Assess the Situation.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. Gun: 1. ATK: 3. Encounter: Inner Demons (flip to Banner, discard 2)

Round 2: Flip to Hero, Limitless Strength > Drop Kick (4 + Stun), draw. Hulk Smash > Toe to Toe (5). Basic ATK (3).

Villain Phase: +1 threat. Gun: 3. ATK: 4. Encounter: Hard as Nails

Round 3: Basic ATK (3 to clear Tough). Assess the Situation. Flip to Alter Ego. Filter Energy for Thunderclap.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. Advance to 2B. Scheme for 5. Advance to 3B. Encounter: Legions of Hydra.

Round 4: Filter. Flip to Hulk. Drop Kick (4)

Game 4:

Round 1: Filter. Flip to Hero. Basic ATK + x2 Skilled Strike (7), Counterattack > Crushing Blow (3). Assess the Situation.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. ATK: 3. Encounter: Hydra Soldier.

Round 2: Genius > Martial Prowess. MP + Sub Orbital Leap + Drop Kick > Thunder Clap (3). Basic ATK (3) vs Hydra Soldier.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. Gun: 0. ATK: 3. Boost: Hydra Jet Soldier. Gun: 1. ATK: 3. Encounter: Legions of Hydra. Encounter: Hydra Bomber.

Round 3: Basic ATK (3). Thunderclap + Martial Prowess > Unstoppable Force. Basic ATK + Skilled Strike (5), Limitless Strength > Quick Strike (3). Flip to Alter Ego.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. Advance to 2B. SCH: 4. Madame Hydra SCH: 2. Advance to 3B. Hydra Bomber SCH: 1. Encounter: Crossbone’s Armor. Encounter: Hydra Sidearm.

Round 4: Filter Combat Training for Hulk Smash. Flip to Hero. Martial Prowess > Toe to Toe (5), discard Armor. Basic ATK (3), Strength > Unstoppable Force, ready and draw. Limitless Strength > Hulk Smash (13).

Game 5:

Round 1: Filter Thunderclap for Drop Kick. Flip to Hero. Basic ATK (3), Drop Kick + Quick Strike > Unstoppable Force, ready and draw. Energy > Martial Prowess. Martial Prowess > Toe to Toe (5), Basic ATK (3).

Villain Phase: +1 threat. ATK: 4. Encounter: Hard as Nails.

Round 2: Martial Prowess + Power of Aggression + Banner’s Lab > Thunderclap (3 to remove Tough), Basic ATK (3), Flip to Alter Ego.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. SCH: 2. Advance to 2B. Encounter: Crossbone’s Assault.

Round 3: Filter Assess the Situation into Skilled Strike. Flip to Hero. Basic ATK + Hulk Smash + Skilled Strike (15)

Game 6:

Round 1: Filter Quick Strike into Limitless Strength. Flip to Hero. Basic ATK + Limitless Strength > Hulk Smash (13). Counterattack > Toe to Toe (5). Gun: 0, ATK: 3.

Villain Phase: +1 threat. Gun: 1. ATK: 4. Encounter: Hydra Flame Soldier.

Round 2: Basic ATK (3), Unstoppable Force + Boundless Rage > Unstoppable Force, ready + draw. Basic ATK (3). Drop Kick > Toe to Toe (5)