Agent of Annihilation

Venom isn't a new face to the world of Champions. He's been heavily documented as a monster in Justice, and I've even seen a crazy Guardians focused Leadership build with him. However, many people completely forget about him in Aggression. Sure, thanks to Psylocke he has a sick new confusion build because of Float Like a Butterfly that his kit can abuse....but Aggression offers him some flavorful and powerful options as well. So, let's rediscover why they call Venom the LETHAL protector.

Venom's base kit revolves around his weapons. Venom's Pistol and Multi-Gun allow Venom to basically solve any problem in solo or Multiplayer. Most Justice Venom players will tell you that Sonic Rifle is his other "secret fourth weapon" because blah blah blah free ego flip blah blah blah. This is propaganda, because the REAL secret fourth weapon Venom wants is Jarnbjorn that he stole from that blonde himbo, Thor. This weapon is perfect for us! By simply slapping yourself on the ass for 1 damage, you get a free 2 damage!! This, combined with our guns allows us to turn into a living symbiotic blender and eviscerate big minions like Mister Hyde or Dragon that you might have totally insisted on adding to the encounter for NO REASON IN PARTICULAR. However, the brain eating fun doesn't stop with just waving around guns and a funny looking stick...

Aggression also gives us access to two incredibly underused cards.... the savage Mean Swing and Fusillade which Venom is literally begging for. For the simple cost of exhausting a weapon, you get even more damage. 5 from the bang bang and a fat +3 ATK from going swing dancing. The best part about these is that with the Thor Stick, we don't exhaust as part of it's own cost. So....we can still get the full benefit from it even when it's exhausted. And it also untaps when we Run and Gun so we can OTK with it! Not convinced? Here's how: Mean Swing tapping Jarnbjorn as cost, use Venom's resource ability to get 2 free damage. Swing for 7 with both pistols. Multi-Gun for 2 damage. Run and Gun to untap it all, then use a second Mean Swing as well as a Pistol swing and another Multi-Gun bang....that's 20 damage in a single round. That's enough to win on the spot against the majority of Villains. Who needs confusion to win games?

Speaking of confusion, let's address the elephant in the deck. The random looking singletons in the deck make me look like I'm as insane as the symbiote. However, these are here for the other half of Venom's kit. He has 6 events that do a bonus thing if you have a certain cost. So, to fill space and try to spread resources, I crammed in niche cards that are useful as well as help us meet our quota. Chase Them Down is great for threat removal, Warrior Skill is great for more DPS, Relentless Assault helps with problem minions, Energy Spear pairs great with Star-Lord and Cosmo for more DPS, and Brawn is a tank that helps with threat. Outside of these, we add in Plasma Pistol and Pulse Grenade for more weapons to feed to Swing and the bang bang, as well as fodder for when those pesky Caught Off Guard cards come to ruin our day. Overall, this deck has weird utility, loads of damage, and some funny status things it can do. It's been very good in Solo and Multiplayer, and I highly recommend you try it so you can become an Aggression believer too!!