X-Twentyfree

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This wacky-waving-inflatable-promoted deck was actually born out of a challenge I put on myself. Not a big one, not a community driven one, just one I felt I personally needed to grow as a deck builder. Every. Single. X-23 Deck I've built has auto-included at minimum 1 copy of a Training upgrade and 3 copies of Game Time. "Yeah," you say, "that's a really good way to play X-23." And I agree with you! But in exploring and discovering this hero I love so much, it was starting to feel a bit like a crutch, and was also making every color of deck feel homogenous. The aspect cards were just a little spice sprinkled on top of the "Get Training Get Game Time Go Brrrrrr" main course. So I set out to build a deck without the staple combo.

I'd been tinkering around with Red Scott, but it wasn't really singing to me. However, a lot of the cards in those decks were cards I haven't played with yet but thought sounded really cool. And with most of them costing 0, a couple at 1, I immediately went back to my girl to try things on for size.

X-23 has the lowest cost kit in the game, a feature I really dig, so I thought, "what if we keep the ENTIRE DECK in line with her kit's cost curve?" The two cards that sent me down this path were Marked and Suppressing Fire. Laura is already great at killing minions, even outside of Aggression, so getting additional benefit and value felt like a natural fit. I hate "wasting" damage on a Claw Mastery turn, and I absolutely chew through my own health. Moment of Triumph joins the club. Thwarting can be a bit of a trick, so Looking for Trouble pulls double duty removing threat and fishing up minions for us to play with all these new toys. Shark-Girl helps soften up bigger minions for overkilling, same goes for Marrow.

Speaking of overkill, Directed Force is such a cool card. 1ER for 2 damage is right on curve, and Laura has perpetual in-house piercing! Even if Adamantium Lacing is running from you, as it is wont to do, we still have overkill around to trip it.

Readying is always the name of the game for X-23, so what are we doing there out of kit? Well, Surprise Move is a neat card that synergizes well with what we're already doing, and contributes to MoT and overkill. You probably noticed that Battle Fury is suspiciously missing in the readying toolbox. Maybe this is a playstyle thing, but when I've got a "pop off" hand, I like to trigger claws immediately, not using the damage I take for the ready, and instead using Grim Resolve or other pings to trigger the ready in order to maximize damage. Blood Rage is just... better Battle Fury here. Kill a minion, draw a card, ready from the ping. I love it so much. Face the Past is also a real star here. Lady Deathstrike is a very manageable nemesis, especially amidst some of the other X-Nemeses. Call her out, one shot her, stand up from the side scheme's retaliate, Animal Instinct the side scheme away.

Now it's time to address the (first) honkin' elephant in the room. Nary a resource card in sight! With the exception of allies and three in-kit cards (and the OTHER elephant, we'll get there) everything in the deck costs one or less. E-G-S just... isn't needed here! Could you slot them in? Yes, absolutely. Would you be "wasting" the extra resource most turns? Also yes, there are only eight targets in the deck that require two resources, and four of them stay on the board. (barring scary encounter cards) With 20 cards being "free," (she did it! She made the title joke!) playing out your entire hand every turn is very easy, even if you don't immediately capitalize on things. Sometimes it's worth it to just stash an upgrade on a minion to deal with in the next turn.

Oh hey look, another elephant! Godslayer breaks the general rule of the deck, but it feels so good when you bring your nemesis out, not to mention all the extra damage it can pour into the villain. My partner has been playing a lot of Magik, Domino, Cable, and Nightcrawler, all characters that really like Lock and Load, but clearing it when I'm on X-23 always felt like less of a good deal comparatively, because I don't get anything. I stuffed the sword in here just kind of as a joke at first, then as a "I might as well get SOMEthing when that thing clears," and over time have come to really like it. A little disclaimer here: This deck was played as a 42 card deck. Lock and Load was never riding around in this deck during play, but rather provided by another deck. If you don't have someone providing it, you can bring it yourself OR cut Godslayer, but the sword does help keep your damage-per-turn up and makes Face the Past a better value.

Wow, this got long. TL;DR - Dump your whole hand on the table every turn, applying little Cynthia Rothrock tippy-taps as needed to optimize output and minimize wasted damage.

While the big turns are less explosive than my previously published X-23 deck, https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/45841/the-summers-family-adopts-the-kinneys-1.0, it is more consistent damage on a turn by turn basis. It also handles threat a little better too.