“Tempo Tantrum” - Quicksilver - Protection - Solo

Introduction

There is something very satisfying about playing with a new hero and starter deck and having everything just "click." This is exactly how I felt when I played with Quicksilver for the first time. I immediately began scheming on a solo build that features his trademark Super Speed ability and the protection aspect. This deck is all about speed, consistency, theme, and tempo. Quicksilver's Super Speed ability lends itself extremely well to solo play and every single turn, you can potentially attack, thwart, defend AND be ready for the next turn. "Super Speed. Look it up."

One of the most powerful aspects of Super Speed is that it may be used once per phase. Pairing this ability with protection upgrades such as Armored Vest, Electrostatic Armor, and Unflappable along with events such as Never Back Down, Preemptive Strike, and Expert Defense the concept is to build an extremely consistent protector that can defend (and ready) once a round with base 3 defense taking advantage of nine hero interrupt event cards, while taking little to no damage, and ready before the start of next round.

Let's talk basic strategy.

Strategy

Opening Hand:

The idea is to get as many upgrades and resources as possible. This is first done with a mulligan and by taking advantage of Quicksilver's alter ego ability Superpowered Siblings. After you mulligan, you have yet another opportunity to draw into upgrades and resources with Superpowered Siblings. Don't worry about parting with Quicksilver cards as they can be recursed with Serval Industries. Selling out for an early Friction Resistance is never a bad play.

Gameplay:

By the beginning of the villain phase in round one, I want to have at least two upgrades on the table and be in hero form. I usually have at least one of nine defense events to help bolster defenses every villain phase. Because all of the event cards are one cost or less hero interrupt cards, once Friction Resistance is on the table, you will always have a resource at the ready. Usually having escaped with nary a scratch (Expert Defense,) a card drawn (Unflappable,) and a damage thrown at the villain (Electrostatic Armor,) it's back to the player phase after the pesky encounter card (or as my FLGS refers to them "fun cards!") When it comes back around to the player phase, I am back to building and throwing all of the upgrades on the table. The desired table state (upgrades an support) is as follows:

• Armored Vest
• Electrostatic Armor
• Unflappable
• Accelerated Reflex
• Hyper Perception
• Reinforced Sinew
• Friction Resistance
• Serval Industries

During the build up, this deck also has a fantastic economy friendly tempo in which Quicksilver's events Double Time, Maximum Velocity, and Always Be Running can be used to great effect during the build up to the desired game state. Not uncommon and often essential for the fastest man on the planet to have to drop a Double Time to address mounting threat or a pesky minion. Many decks that require a few rounds to build a favorable table state often suffer from economy and temp0 issues in which a bad round can mean game over. The tempo and economy of this deck allow you to build and still have resources for at least one or two events each turn. It just keeps getting better, and faster, and faster is better!

The allies in this deck are somewhat novel. Admittedly, the energy consuming Nova is a bit novel but when you are able to drop Enhanced Reflexes and Nova on the table, look out. Clea is a fantastic 2 cost ally that serves an affordable utility role. Need an extra thwart, attack, or that all so important chump block? Call on your friendly superhero from the dark dimension Clea and when she's finished, back in the deck she goes. Scarlet Witch can be a challenge to get on the table and is the only reason why Order and Chaos makes the cut. It's included more for theme as opposed to practicality and rarely sees play.

Once an optimal table state is achieved, the stars of the show are Maximum Velocity used in conjunction with Always Be Running. There are of course other builds that can maximize the potential for this combo but in this protection focused build, they can be used with great effect for burst attack and thwart. An optimal net damage or thwart utilizing a single Always Be Running is 12. Add a second for 16 or a Double Time for essentially the same effect.

There are lots of options to explore with Quicksilver protection builds and I am excited to continue to explore the potential for this thematic, tempo friendly solo protection deck. I think the deck has a fantastic theme and it plays quick and up tempo in the spirit of the fastest man on the planet.

This is my first write-up and public deck. Thank You for reading!