Valkyrie and Scorpion - Spear and Sting

Being the strong silent type is cool, but everyone knows that team work makes the dream work.

Valkyrie and Scorpion team up to fight the villains.

This deck focuses on getting the Scorpion encounter card minion in play, and using Headpool's powers of persuasion to have him fight for you.

The great thing about Scorpion, is that his attacks Forced Response targets character's. This means that we can use him to stun and potentially deal extra damage to the villain.

What You Need

You will need to include a specific modular set in the games that you play.

1. Add the Sinister Assult modular encounter set to your game. This is where you fill find Scorpion.
2. [Optional] For a smoother build-up, I'd recommend including Hydra Patrol modular encounter set. This includes 2 copies of Hydra Regular that can be killed using Valkyrie's starting ATK of 2.

Gameplan

1. Get Headpool in play.
2. Play Honorary Avenger on Headpool.
3. Get Blade in play.
4. Summon Scorpion by using Chooser of the Slain.
5. Use Headpool to attack Scorpion.
6. Attack the villain with Scorpion for 3 + boost card (+1) + stun.
7. Ready Headpool with Get Rage-y.
8. Use Headpool to attack Scorpion.
9. Attack the villain with Scorpion for 3 + boost card (+1) + 2.
10. Ready Headpool with Earth's Mightiest Heroes using Blade or yourself.
11. Use Headpool to attack Scorpion.
12. Attack the villain with Scorpion for 3 + boost card (+1) + 2.
13. Ready Headpool with Earth's Mightiest Heroes using Blade or yourself.
14. Use Headpool to attack Scorpion.
15. Attack the villain with Scorpion for 3 + boost card (+1) + 2.

The guide above shows the full output of the combo. Boosting Headpool's attack with Get Rage-y early on might lead you to kill him before the last attack.

If you get lucky enough to hit the full combo, you may need to play Earth's Mightiest Heroes before Get Rage-y or have another Chooser of the Slain ready to re-summon Scorpion.

Staying Alive

Effectively having 2 villains on the board can be tough. Here are a few tips and tricks to manage.

1. Scorpion can be used on other dangerous minions, however keeping him focused on the villain will net you 1 stun per round.
2. Chump blockers are very useful, so don't be afraid to block Scorpion with Vivian and/or Ironheart.
3. Mockingbird is very versatile.
   • She can pre-stun the villain, which will net you the +2 damage bonus from Scorpion.
   • You can activate Scorpion first and then play Mockingbird, stunning Scorpion for the villain phase.
   • Early game a stun and chump block gives you 2 build rounds.
4. Taking a hit from Scorpion is not a catastrophe, the 3 copies of Godlike Stamina along with Healing Factor should take care of the damage and the stun.

Build-Up

Getting to the point where you can bring on the needed allies and minions, requires you to stay ahead of the game.

1. Get resource generators on the table early. Supports like Helicarrier, Quincarrier, and Avengers Mansion will allow you to play multiple cards per turn.
2. Hard mulligan for the aforementioned resource generators alongside with big resource cards (Self Confidence/Self Control/Self Preservation), lesser can also work (Energy/Genius/Strength).
3. Blackout is a great card to help out with Valkyrie's thwarting inefficiency.

FAQ

1. Notice that Headpool's response ability not only affects non-elite minions, but can be used on any minion..
2. Don't forget to add the amplify damage to Scorpion's villainous attack.

Other Heroes

Valkyrie plays nice with this combo because she can summon Scorpion when you are ready, and keep bringing him back with Chooser of the Slain.

Although I haven't looked at all other hero abilities, there does seem to be some potential with heroes allow multi aspect builds.

• Spider-Woman.
• Adam Warlock.

Most of the interesting interplay comes between Headpool and the Leadership aspect.

• Command Team for controlled Headpool activations.
• Get Ready/Inspiring Presence for incidental Headpool activations.
• Make the Call/Suit Up can be useful for playing Headpool.
• Sky Cycle readies Headpool for free once per round.

Other Minions

Scorpion was chosen for this combo, for a few reasons:

• His attack is really high (3).
• He is villainous, meaning he gets a boost card on attack.
• His response ability targets characters, rather than heroes or friendlies.
• His response ability stuns or deals 2 extra damage.

This was the best benefit from any minion I could find in the current state of the game, however here is a list of other minions that are still viable.

Sinister Assult

The other minions in the Sinister Assault set are generally ok targets as they are all villainous.

Be vary of the following minions.

• Electro as he mills your deck on engage.
• Hobgoblin has patrol.
• Vulture has quickstrike.

Brotherhood

The Blob minion also has an ability to stun the character he attacked. However he deals non-variable 2 damage and the guard keyword might get in your way.

Crossfire's Crew

Controller minion has an interesting interrupt ability where his damage is 1 + attacked character ATK. Might be an interesting match for a very high ATK villain.

Black Tom Cassidy

Has quite a few copies of Creeping Willow. They also have the ability to stun characters after an attack, however they deal 1 damage and also have quickstrike and guard keywords.

Beasty Boys

Masters of Evil Brute Griffin also has the ability to stun attacked character. He deals a decent 3 damage, but has the quickstrike keyword.

Frost Giants

Laufey packs a solid static punch of 4 damage and stuns after damaging attacked character.

Black Order

Supergiant joins the club of minions that stun after damaging a character. However she only deals static 2 damage and has quickstrike.

A Mess of Things

Rounding off the list is another Scorpion minion. He hits a static 3 damage and also has a stun after attack and damage. He also has quickstrike.

Honorable Mentions

I pruned the deck to 40 cards, however I also had good results with the following cards added:

1. Ironheart
2. Avengers Mansion