Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., reporting for duty.

Maria Hill, as Nick Fury 's Sidekick, makes use of her interrupt when thwarting to place removed threat on Nick's Assault upgrade. This will turbo charge his attack, making the two of them an incredibly potent combo, covering both attacking and thwarting. Maria thwarting for 2 (and eventually 3 with Inspired), means Nick will be attacking consistently for his base 2+2 or 3 from Assault (fueled by Maria) each round, leading to some very consistent turns, even before you start using Sidekick to supercharge the combo. Reinforced Suit is a bit of a luxury upgrade to provide a HP buffer, but doesn't Maria deserve the best?

So we have the super combo of Nick Fury and Maria Hill, but thankfully they have Grant Ward also stepping up to protect the world! But how can Nick and Maria trust this potential traitor to not turn on them?

Last Stand turns Grant Ward into 5 damage for 2 cards, letting you discard him before he has the chance to betray you. And heck, once in a while you'll be able to pull off a super turn where you play Grant Ward, activate for 2, ready him with Command Team, play Last Stand, attack for 5, discard, bounce him back with Make the Call, activate for 2, ready him with another Command Team, and then play a second Last Stand to attack for 5 and discard him again! Thank you for your service (and 14 damage), Grant.

Rounding out the deck, Slingshot takes the place as an cheap alternative for Last Stand if Grant hasn't made an appearance yet.

Victoria Hand can ready up Command Team to squeeze more activations out of Maria Hill, Grant Ward, or Slingshot.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will protect again an inopportune encounter card messing up your plans.

Mission Leader is just a fun upgrade that you can feel free to drop, but 1 cost for an upgrade that will draw you at least couple of cards during a typical game seems a decent trade-off, but it's definitely just a luxury that you can drop to get down to 40 cards.

And there you have it! Working together, Nick and Maria (with a little help from their friends) look to bring safety to the world ... no matter what the cost to themselves!