Bishop Snipes From 100 Years Away

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Bishop Snipes Resource Heavy Age of Apocalypse Campaign 0 0 0 1.0
Bishop lead (allies) 0 0 0 1.0
Bishop lead (allies) 0 0 0 2.0
bishop commandement 0 0 0 1.0
Bishop apocalipsis V2 0 0 0 1.0

dr00 · 44234

sniper no snipin

Got You in my Scope


Age of Apocalypse is here. Beeshop is finally here. Wait, not that one. Wait, not that one either. Ok, so there's this new Bishop. He's here, deal with it, let's move on. Wai-aaaagggh!

Ok, let's start over. Lucas Bishop likes to time travel and just be one of the most 90s heroes to ever exist. In addition to superhuman strength, superhuman stamina, superhuman healing, superhuman speed, and just seriously, there's way too many to name, but the big one is energy conversion. He makes even the most powerful villains blush by saying 'hit me harder daddy apoc' and then shoots a massive energy blast in response. This ability is represented in the game with Bishop's Energy Absorption ability:

  • After Bishop takes any amount of damage from an attack, discard an equal number of cards from the top of your deck. Add each resource card discarded this way to your hand.

So this deck has lots of resources: 15 in fact. There's also a lot of self-milling, and eventually you get a point where your whole deck is just resource cards thanks to Energy Conversion.

Digging for Gold


Bishop's hero ability is constantly milling himself, but this deck doubles, triples, even quadruples down on that strategy.

The first focus hinges on the latest and greatest from NeXt: Digging Deep and White Fox. With so many self-discard effects, you'll often get free resources and a free ally. You'll often has so many resources you won't know what to do with it all. Just spend like you're Jubilee at the mall though. You got that bag, so spend it anything you want.

The next major focus of the deck is the synergy between Call for Aid and White Tiger. With White Tiger being the only AVENGER in the deck, you'll always either find her or completely reset your deck. You'll also know the odds of how many Digging Deeps, White Fox, etc. are left at all times because if they're not in your discard, in play, or in your hand, they're in the deck. Keep track of White Tiger specifically to know when you can easily play Call for Aid and what effect it will have. One great time to use it is when White Tiger is in play, but all or most Digging Deeps and White Fox aren't. A single Call for Aid will reset your deck, net you some resources, and a free ally all for the cost of a single encounter card (trust me, it's worth it; especially if you just win before the game ends).

Another part of the strategy is Weapon X. Since you'll be flipping to alter-ego a lot (more on that later), you'll get to dig for more cards. It'll discard past White Tiger, but that's ok. You'll still get your Digging Deeps and your White Fox, and hopefully dump some other things into your discard (more on that... now!).

Exiles


There's a many off-aspect allies that work really well here thanks to (totally fair and balanced card) Make the Call.

  • Gamora: mills a ton of cards thanks to her response ability, filling your discard with more options, earning you more money, or even White Fox from time to time.
  • Ghost-Spider lets you easily grab out one of your events. Keep in mind that it's deck-only, so it won't save you from things you'd milled away. In a vacuum, Energy Conversion is the best choice (more on that later), but keep an eye on your board state to see what's most helpful.
  • Lockjaw: although you don't need Make the Call to play him, he works very similarly. The biggest part is just remembering he's there. He won't always make an appearance in every game, but he's super clutch when you just need something to spend your resources on and need an extra body on the board to make some progress.

Energy, ENERGY, ENERGY!

There are so many resources to help fuel this deck. 15 may seem like a lot more most decks, and it may seem like not enough for Bishop, but many other options simply aren't as good. If you are wanting to include more resources, I would recommend looking first at Band Together and potentially adding Beast.

  • Band Together: worth up to 3 resources if you have enough allies, but keep in mind that it doesn't actually have any printed icons for things like Super-Charged.
  • Digging Deep: think we've covered this one already. Card's just crazy good. It's a bit superfluous with its own ability and Bishop's hero ability, but there's a lot of ways to get extra bites at that apple.
  • Effective Leadership: Not an insane amount of value as there aren't a lot of readying effects, but it's one of the best ways to get a lot of extra value from Malcolm or Randall on the turn you play them. Also keep in mind that it doesn't work with Make the Call. Although you are still 'paying for' the chosen ally, you aren't paying to play' the chosen ally. Still, it's a decent card that will get you more mileage that The Power of Leadership since there's only one target for it.
  • Energy, Genius, Strength, Stored Energy: always just double resources. They're good. Stored Energy can also always pay for the ability on either Malcolm or Randall cos they're super versatile like that.
  • Innovation: sometimes you gotta heal something. Really fun with Lockjaw since it gives him an extra activation, and you feel like you're getting away with something. Best option though is Gamora since you also get another card out of the deal.
  • The Power in All of Us: helps pay for most of your allies (even with Make the Call), also helps pay for Lockjaw whether he's in your hand or in the bin. You'll get a lot of value from this.

Just Drawin' Cards


With all these resources, you need some fuel to pump it into. This write-up has already mentioned Gamora, White Tiger, and Weapon X. There are a few that haven't been mentioned yet:

  • Nick Fury. White Tiger can't be played from your discard pile to draw cards, sadly, but thankfully Nick Fury can, and drawing cards usually is the best option, but it's especially good here since you're often not struggling to thwart or do damage, and your cards will often convert to way more thwarting than 2 and way more damage than 4.

  • Command Authority. Try to play this as early in the round as you can, depending on the board state. See what needs to be thwarted, draw your card, then see where the turn takes you. Don't be afraid to save it for some important (like the main scheme after a crisis goes away, or one of many schemes that cannot be cleared while a particular enemy is in play). But in general, try to do this first so you can get all of your options right away.

  • Temporally Displaced (Bishop's Alter-Ego ability): Since it triggers immediately after swapping to Alter-Ego, get into the habit of checking your hand and board before swapping if there's a TEMPORAL card you could maybe spend/use up and bring back to your hand after you flip. All things being equal, you'll want his Rifle and Uniform if they aren't out already, but it does allow you to grab Malcolm, Randall, and Stored Energy as well, so spend/use them up if you can before flipping down. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks grizzlie for the reminder! knew I was forgetting something)

Fire Everything!


There will be times where you have a glut of resources in hand. Thankfully there are many resource dumps available. A few have already been mentioned, like Lockjaw, who's always available if nothing else. There are a few others:

  • Machine Man: a decent card in its own right, and just allows you to convert resource directly into a lot of value onto the board.
  • Malcolm and Randall: Malcolm needs and has 2 ATK, while Randall needs and has 2 THW. Randall is usually the best option, but either are fine if you just need to dump resources. Keep in mind that you can ready them with any kind of resource, they just need a particular printed resource to heal, so none of the wild resources will heal them, but you can still get those extra activations.
  • Super-Charged: keep in mind that it charges up based on the number of resource icons on the card, and the value caps out at 4 total icons. If you have 3 already but only have a double to discard, that's still probably fine. Do keep in mind, however, that you can never get any counters with Band Together even if you have many allies out. It will only ever have 0 icons on it. Also keep in mind that it says 'max +8' so you can only ever get +8 ATK on a single attack, even if you have two of them out. This has been ruled that you can do it.

Stayin' Alive


Bishop loves getting hit with all the attacks imaginable and even Weapon X hurts you, so self-healing is pretty important.

  • Energy Conversion: its primary function is refilling your deck with resource cards, but don't overlook the fact that it caps out damage from a single attack at 3. This can be crucial for surviving 'just one more turn' without worry.
  • Bishop's Uniform is the premier healing for this deck, but thankfully he can still survive with out it. If you're having trouble finding it:
  • Down Time is also available to get more value out of your REC. If your playgroup is cool with it, definitely consider a Symbiote Suit here instead, and don't forget that it also increases your REC value as well. If you're worried about not getting enough of them, try to use some Mutant Education (but I've found that it was unnecessary).

Sniper no Sniping


This deck wins by just getting a lot of value onto the board as quickly as possible and overwhelming the encounter deck with that value. The last, and certainly not least, value piece is: Concussive Blast. The ready isn't super helpful most of the time, as it's just 2 extra thwarting or attack, and you aren't defending most of the time. But it does you with Super-Charged, allowing you to use it after recovering or hitting twice with both in a single round.

32 comments

Mar 30, 2024 journeyman2 · 24811

Lockjaw is the best boy, and with Effective Leadership you’ve got him at a 3/3 anytime you want! This kinda reminds me of that chess meme with the long range sniper bishop lol

Mar 30, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@journeyman2 now i feel the need to add even more memes to this lmao. yeah, Lockjaw doesn't come up every game, but he feels really great when he does

Mar 30, 2024 Krummey · 1

I must admit that I wasn’t that excited about Bishop at first blush but you’ve sold me for sure.

Mar 30, 2024 deckgirl · 1

you could have published this deck without the incredibly racist blackface meme. jesus christ.

knowyourmeme.com

Mar 30, 2024 andyr · 7267

I was really curious how resource management shifts with Bishop. This is an awesome way to utilize more resources and do awesome things. This is an awesome deck!

Mar 30, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@Krummey i think Magik is indeed very fun too, but people seem to be sleeping on Bishop. he's crazy strong

@deckgirl you're right, and i admit i hadn't really thought about this meme in a long time. i just thought of it and how it fit with the other meme and slapped it on. i have changed it to reflect that.

@andyr thanks! yeah, sometimes you get kinda flooded, but thankfully there are so many resource dumps available for you that it's never really an issue.

Mar 30, 2024 Krummey · 1

@dr00 we just beat the snot out of Unus and can confirm: Bishop is good

Mar 31, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@Krummey that's great to hear! did you try the campaign, and are you using standard III?

Mar 31, 2024 Corroyeur · 1

How do you get the Web-warrior trait to play Ghost-Spider?

Mar 31, 2024 grizzlie12 · 1

Excited to give this deck a try. Not sure if you knew but with Bishops alter-ego ability, his stored energy resource card also has the "temporal" tag as well.

Mar 31, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@Corroyeur use Make the Call for Ghost-Spider and Gamora :)

@grizzlie12 i knew i forgot something! thanks for reminding me

Mar 31, 2024 Krummey · 1

@dr00 we are doing the campaign but haven’t tried Standard III yet. I’d forgotten about it altogether until I started sleeving and then went on autopilot setting up the first scenario with regular Standard lol

Apr 01, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@Krummey i do the same thing actually! i haven't warmed up to standard III, but maybe i'll give it some more time

Apr 01, 2024 Man-is-Obsolete · 5439

I like the double/triple take on Digging Deep! Oh that will be good for him, wait no, well actually yes!

Apr 01, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@Man-is-Obsolete i love how his hero ability is just the same as Digging Deep, so you would often think 'i mean i could choose a different resource instead' but what if instead we just discarded EVERYTHING??

Apr 04, 2024 MOSER319 · 82

Hey just wanted to let you know, because I did read through the entire mock up for the deck, that you have the wrong concussive blast linked at the end of it. You have the treachery card from Under Attack instead of bishop's card.

Apr 06, 2024 LutherBob · 1

I love Bishop and this! I'll have to give it a whirl!

Apr 06, 2024 saintmatthew · 39

I just played a variation of this deck (all x-men allies, added uncanny x-men, got rid of digging deep, added sharpshooter) against Project Wideawake. Granted the sentinels aren't a the most challenging scenario, but this deck is insane good. I had the worst draws (never drew Bishops Uniform, Super-Charged, or Sharpshooter the entire game) and still dominated. Wow. Thanks dr00!

Apr 07, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@MOSER319 haha thanks for letting me know. i'll fix it!

@LutherBob good luck!

@saintmatthew: yeah, i actually had a lot of games where i never got the uniform, and he was still able to perform really well. glad you had fun! i like the inclusion of Sharpshooter!

Apr 08, 2024 sedlak87 · 1

what is the one worst card in this deck? I think you know why I am asking :)

Apr 09, 2024 capecodLCGguy · 2

A fantabulous play experience three times over the weekend. Small personal tweaks: Added a Sharpshooter to power up the ridiculous Rifle and a Professor X (for the "if-needed" Ready or Thwarting 3) in exchange for two Call for Aids. THANK YOU @dr00 for yet another terrific deck!!!

Apr 10, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@sedlak87 lol yeah, i understand why of course. i do agree that 40-card decks are better, but the difference between 40 and 41 is actually infinitesimally small, especially with the card draw and milling you'll do. that said, if you put a rifle to my head and made me choose, i'd definitely say Malcolm lol. but in terms of cards to remove, maybe Down Time? it's mainly just to make sure you can get enough healing, and he can actually function without it.

@capecodLCGguy yeah, i've seen a few people use Sharpshooter. i think it's a great option! glad you enjoyed it and thank you so much for your kind words :D

Apr 10, 2024 Billyboki · 63

Bishop is so strong. Loved this Deck maximising his resource dependence !

Apr 12, 2024 w4rp3nguin · 1

When you say dropping Down Time, do you think it would also make sense to switch it for a Avengers Mansion? One more card to draw each round, with that many resource cards should be possible to play comfortably

May 01, 2024 Oradow · 10

Doesn't The Power in All of Us not pay double for Make the Call? You're using that card to pay for a cost on Make the Call - a Leadership Card - as opposed to any of the Basic Allies in the discard pile. All Make the Call does is determine the number of the cost by referencing a Basic Ally

May 09, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@Billyboki glad you enjoyed it!

@w4rp3nguin do you mean instead of Symbiote Suit? yes, that's a possibility as well, and he definitely has enough resources to pay for it. i think that's certainly a possibility. i prefer Symbiote Suit because he really benefits from all the extra health that also gives him an extra card every turn and even more cards from staying alive. whatever works for you though!

@Oradow it has been ruled that the resource is 'paying for' the ally you choose. since Make the Call has a 0 resource cost, you can't actually pay for it at all. You are paying into the effect on the card, which is selecting an ally in the discard, which does care about matching aspect/basic for 'power of [aspect]' and power in all of us. therefore, Power in All of Us works better in this deck as it helps pay for all of the basic allies in it

here's the exact text:

When playing Make the Call, do “The Power of [Aspect]” resource cards (such as The Power of Leadership) generate 1 resource or 2 resources?


Make the Call’s text states “Action: Pay the printed cost of an ally in any player’s discard pile…”, meaning the player is paying the cost of the ally itself.

If that ally’s aspect matches that of The Power of [Aspect] card, then The Power of [Aspect] card will generate 2 resources. However, if that ally’s aspect does not match, The Power of [Aspect] card will only generate 1 resource.

May 26, 2024 Tmmcdo01 · 1

I love this deck. I replaced Ghost Spider with Caliban for more milling and another ally that doesn't require Make the Call.

May 29, 2024 9452smith · 1

Have you considered playing Black Panther over White Tiger as the Avenger Ally? He guarantees you a Make the Call or Call for Aid.

May 29, 2024 9452smith · 1

Sorry I tagged the wrong White Tiger.

It should be: White Tiger

May 31, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@Tmmcdo01 sounds like a great option! tbh, i considered it and thought it was maybe too much, so i never ended up testing it haha. glad it's working out for you! maybe i'll give it another look then :D

@9452smith that's definitely a good option! normally i don't really consider that cos he's so expensive, but Bishop is usually super rich, so that sounds like a great option. really good call!

Jun 13, 2024 BoardGameKid · 108

With Digging Deep and his ability wouldn't it go in his hand anyway.

Jun 21, 2024 dr00 · 44234

@BoardGameKid yep, that's correct! if you discard Digging Deep due to his ability, it would go to his hand anyway. i think perhaps you're missing a few other card effects in the deck though?