Spider-Ham vs. Venom (Heroic Roulette)

Welcome to the Spider-Ham entry of my Heroic Roulette game project where I tune decks for individual scenarios and try to win on Heroic difficulty. I also require that within an expansion pack (like Sinister Motives), I use each aspect at least once. This is the second matchup I've posted, you can check out the Miles vs. Sandman entry here: https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/21987/miles-vs-sandman-heroic-roulette-1.0

This matchup pits Spider-Ham against Venom, who I view as the second hardest villain in the Sinister Motives expansion. Spider-Ham has a busted hero ability that gives him a fighting chance against any villain, but what really excites me about this matchup is Cartoon Physics. This card allows you to pump a bunch of damage into Venom and survive the heavily boosted counterattack with barely a scratch. The leadership pairing is due to Ham's insanely powerful combo with Clarity of Purpose.

The Big Picture:

• The first turns of the game are dictated by how you want to answer Tooth and Nail. I recommend thwarting it instead of damaging Venom because you probably can't deal 8 to Venom and protect yourself from the counterattack easily.
• Managing the Bell Tower is also key to your success. You should basically always flip it before dealing actual damage to Venom because you simply deal more damage if you use the +1 buff at least 3 times, and you prevent damage back to you.
• Finally, finishing the final Villain phase should be done in one huge burst so Venom never gets to attack back with a billion boost cards. Plan to set this up rather than chip away throughout the game.

Modular Set: Down to Earth

• After 5 games of challenging myself with the Inheritors mod set, I eased up by including Down to Earth. This is a very easy encounter set, but I don't feel bad using it since it is the recommended set for the scenario after all.

Significant Encounter Cards:

• 2x Advance, 2x Biting Retort. With four ways to scheme, going into the Villain phase in AE in heroic mode is a huge gamble. The main scheme threshold is only 10, and going from 0 to 10 in one Villain phase is a real possibility.
• 2x "Now We're Angry!", Unstable Sentience. The threat of these cards getting drawn as a boost card makes the scenario so much more interesting. Chump blocking Venom's big attacks with an ally is a good strategy, but these cards can show up and ruin your day. I played one Target Acquired for this reason, and I wouldn't be surprised if the correct number is 2 or 3. But ultimately, chump blocking is still a fine strategy though you might get burned once in the game.

Card Selection:

• 3x Clarity of Purpose. A card virtually made for Spider-Ham. Although you can only attach 1, I played 3 copies to guarantee drawing it turn 1 or 2.
• Team-Building Exercise. No surprise by now for Spider-Ham players, but it is almost impossible not to get use out of this every turn.
• Down Time, Endurance. Ham's health is a resource, and flipping to AE is so risky in this scenario so I want to leave AE with as much health as possible. I feel more sure about Endurance than I do Down Time.
• Allies. I'm realizing I just play the Web-warrior ally suite in every WW deck. Peter Parker is just so strong and Web of Life and Destiny is busted.

Game Review: (5 attempts with The Inheritors, 2nd attempt win with Down to Earth)

• I had basically a perfect turn 1 with Petulant Pig into Clarity of Purpose, Organic Webbing, and Spider-Man. This let me answer Tooth and Nail turn 1. I managed a turn with double Swinging Web Pig, the first flipping Bell Tower, so I could flip to AE with Venom confused. I lucked out in a few ways with one 5-boost-card attack that I ally blocked and did not draw any of the overkill boost effects (had Bell Tower on 6 so would have lived but been set back significantly), and I never drew Shadow of the Past, a brutal card for Ham. The winning turn took Venom down from 19 with flurry of attacks from Ham and Spider-Man, who got Rapid Response-ed back into play, and a Web Kick to finish it off.

A little bit of luck never hurt anyone. As a reminder my goal is just to beat the scenario once, not consistently, so I'm taking my win and running! Next up is Sp//dr vs Mysterio.