Swing In (4 Player Justice)

A Multiplayer Focused Deck

I don't see many multiplayer focused decks on the site, so I'm hoping this deck can fill that void and also begin a discussion of the differences between solo and multiplayer, and how to build your deck to handle the unique challenges of multiplayer. This deck is built to be the only player focused on thwarting in a 4 player game.

What's Harder About Multiplayer?

The answer may vary depending on who you ask, but in my opinion side schemes tend to be much more difficult in multiplayer. In a solo game, an ally and basic thwart finish most side schemes, so using allies solves the problem. But in 4 player, side schemes will come in with 12 or more threat. Everyone could unite their basic activations and allies together to solve one side scheme, but that isn't practical because there will also be minions, attachments, and often multiple side schemes to deal with. A solo focused Justice deck is not up to the challenge of being responsible for thwarting in a 4 player game.

Multiplayer Tools

Luckily for us, the designers understood the challenge of being the thwarter for the whole table, and provided some tools that become extremely powerful! I will go over each of them here.

• Even the Odds: In solo, this card is awful, but in multiplayer it's one of the best cards in the game! It is 2 printed cost, and removes 1 per player threat from EACH side scheme! Even if there are only 2 side schemes out, you're removing 8 threat for 2 cost, and if you defeat those side schemes, you get to damage the villain! The damage isn't huge, but it is nice to chip away at the Villain's health, or knock off tough status cards. The worse the board state, the better this card gets. It isn't uncommon to have 3, 4 or even more side schemes out. This card can get the team out of some tough situations and really evens the odds!

• Overwatch: In solo, this card is often overkill. Ideally you'll be able to control the board state and not have a bunch of side schemes around. But in multiplayer, there will almost always be a side scheme to deal with (and if there isn't then you're probably winning anyways). A 0 printed cost card that essentially doubles your output on thwart events is incredible. It triggers when any amount of threat is removed from the attached scheme by a thwart. Meaning it doesn't trigger off Spider-Man's ability, or off of threat removal by a different copy of overwatch. Since the threat removal by Even the Odds is a thwart it combos extremely well. If you have an overwatch on multiple side schemes, you can trigger each of them and finish off the other side schemes or remove threat from the main scheme. Without Overwatch it can be very difficult as the Justice player to handle the side schemes and the main scheme. Overwatch makes it significantly easier.

• Spider-Man: This ally is 5 cost! But in my opinion is one of the best cards in the game at 3 and 4 players. After playing Spider-Man from your hand you get to remove 3 per player threat from a side scheme! Many side schemes come into play with 3 per player threat, so he essentially just automatically defeats a side scheme, and then can stick around with 2 THW 2ATK and 4 Health. Spider-Man is one of my favorite cards in the game.

• Skilled Investigator: Because there are so many side schemes, this card will trigger all the time. Having 3 copies of it allows you to get it down for yourself early in the game and utilize the card draw, and any extra copies you can just give to a teammate!

• Quasar: Having an ally that removes 1 threat from each scheme in play after playing him is incredibly useful and powerful. And also really fun!

• Jessica Jones: She has always been one of my favorite cards. The worse off your team is, the better she gets, which I believe is super powerful. It isn't uncommon for her to have 4 or 5 THW!

Avoiding Unique Conflicts

When I play multiplayer, I don't always know what the other players are bringing. In the game I played with this deck, everyone was a Web-Warrior. It can be frustrating if you and your teammates both bring the same unique cards to the table and only one of you gets to use them! So for this deck I purposefully avoided using cards that might be contested. So to buff up my economy, I used Avengers Mansion and Helicarrier because they aren't unique. And I didn't include the Web-Warrior ally and support suite (I assumed the leadership player would do that). The deck could likely be improved by adding some of those cards, but I think it is valuable having a deck that you can bring to any table and be confident with.

Flipping The Switch

At some point in the game, your team will need to deal damage. As the Justice player, you can often feel lacking in the damage department. Luckily, there is a card that fixes that. Lay the Trap can convert your thwarting into 20 damage! Which is your fair share of damage on the final push. Also, Miles is incredible at doing damage with just his identity specific cards. Which we can go over now!

How To Play Miles In Multiplayer

Early/Mid-Game:

Miles has some incredibly powerful tools at his disposal to make this strategy consistent. His alter-ego response allows you to shuffle one of your identity specific cards from your discard pile into your deck when you change to alter-ego. I like to choose Swing In. This 2 printed cost card allows you to thwart for 4, confuse the villain, and get a tough status card! The confuse allows you to safely go to alter-ego, and you can keep doing this over and over in the early and mid-game.

The Final Push:

My favorite thing about Miles in Justice is that you can dish out crazy amounts of damage. The first time I played this deck I was able to do 53 damage in one turn! Here's how:

• 1) Make sure that Defense Mechanism and Power Within are in play a couple turns before you are looking for the final push. This will allow you to reliably stun and confuse the villain to get max value out of Arachnobatics.

• 2) When you see the final push is coming, start shuffling Arachnobatics and Web-Shot into your deck instead of Swing In.

• 3) Finish Lay the Trap and play as many attack events as you can! In the game I played, I was able to trigger Power Within and Defense Mechanism, finish Lay the Trap, play 2 copies of Web-Shot, 2 copies of Arachnobatics, and use an ally! This sounds crazy, but it's actually consistent if you utilize your alter-ego ability.

Card Choice

There are many different choices you can make than the ones I did. Generally I like to add core box cards when possible because I know that everyone will have them. But in this section, I will offer a few suggestions that you could change if it fits your playstyle better.

• Crisis Averted: This card is very useful for thwarting even when there is a crisis icon out, and it combos very well with Overwatch. If you would rather use this card instead of For Justice! I think that's a fantastic idea.

• Nick Fury: He is incredibly strong, and would certainly improve the power of the deck. But I just don't want to use him every time. I highly recommend him though!

• Web-Warrior Support: If you have communicated with your group, and you know that you won't run into uniqueness conflicts, there are a bunch of good cards you could add! Ghost-Spider is the one I would prioritize the most. The ability to search your identity specific events is amazing, especially with Miles because his are so powerful.

Adjusting For Solo

If you don't have a group to play with, you can easily adjust this deck to function in solo. Remove all the cards I mentioned in the multiplayer section, and substitute them in for powerful allies and Web-Warrior support. There isn't nearly as much threat in solo, so switching For Justice! for something like Clear the Area could also be a good idea.

Gameplay

Here is a link to the live stream where I played a 4 player game using this deck and did over 50 damage on the final push! Our group did a combined 153 damage on the final push! It was a lot of fun. Mutagen Formula puts a lot of pressure in the beginning of the game with those extra encounters, and the Sinister Assault and Goblin Gear modular we were using was especially difficult. This deck functioned really well though even with all that pressure, and was able to deal with all the thwarting tasks!

https://youtube.com/live/si2982UsW80?feature=share

Also a special thanks to andyr who mentioned at the end of the game that I should post this deck. My initial reaction was to not post it because it was built for multiplayer and most of the decks on here are for solo, but then I realized that is actually a strong reason to post it! So here it is! I hope you enjoy it, and mess around with different variants. Let me know what you think in the comments! :)