The Power of Thy Sword (Illyana Rasputin cover)

I love Magik. She is powerful and a lot of fun to play. However, I sometimes feel she lacks a little bit of punch. This deck is my proposal to increase Magik's damage and make her even more fun to play!

NOTE: This is an evolution of Only Happy When It Rains, a deck I designed for Magik using only basic card. For that reason, part of the description of this deck will greatly overlap with that of Only Happy When It Rains.

DECK NAME: Magik's Soulsword is central to the strategy of this deck, so it was impossible to me not to think of Manowar when naming it!

MAIN STRATEGY: The strategy of the deck is quite straightforward. Use your X-Men allies to chumpblock while you put into play all your upgrades and supports, especially Limbo, Utopia and Soulsword. With Magik's easy access to stun and confuse via her Soul Strike and Exorcism spells, and with the help of your allies, it is quite easy to control the board and set up everything in place. Use Magik's once-per-turn discount on the top card of the deck to set up even more quickly and Team-Building Exercise to get your (already cheap) allies for even less resources.

Superpower Training and Lock and Load can help you get Limbo and Soulsword even if you do not draw them early in the game. A second (less important) objective for Lock and Load is Hand Cannon.

LATE GAME: Your goal is to get to 5 attack with Soulsword, Combat Training and Combat Specialist (obtained from Specialized Training) and to exhaust Soulsword and play Mean Swing to get 8-damage basic attacks with piercing. If you also have Hand Cannon down, this can get up to 10 damage with piercing and overkill!

With access to multiple ways to ready (Utopia and Stepping Disc), this strategy can get you a significant amount of damage, plus what you can get from your allies and Soul Strike. Fusillade is also a good source of damage if you do not have Mean Swing in hand, so you can safely exhaust Soulsword (or even Hand Cannon) to get the 5 damage.

IMPORTANT CARDS: Obviously, Soulsword, Combat Training and Combat Specialist are central to the strategy. But Utopia is also very important (to get another basic attack every turn) and Limbo is really helpful in getting a physical resource on top of your deck when you're basic attacking.

44 CARDS: Using so many card can be anathema to some (and with good reason), but Spiritual Meditation and Scrying do not really count towards your deck size (they replace themselves) and can help you filter your hand when you draw some cards that are not useful at the moment (for instance, Mean Swing before you have any weapon down).

REPLACEMENTS: I have also played this deck with Skilled Strike instead of Fusillade, to further beef up your basic attack.