Hercules - Clear the Pathos

"Do mortals enjoy this life? Are they mad -- or are they accursed? Children cry for their mothers ... Men weep for dreams lost or abandoned... there is poverty, dire poverty. Poverty-- in a world filled with wealth" ~ Hercules

Player Count/Type : 1-2p / Johnny
Power Level: Med
Complexity: Med
Key Cards: Clear the Area

"This deck can quickly clear most labors while controlling threat and setting you up for victory"~D.M.Tip

Make Way for the Prince of Power

Hey y'all! This is the first Hercules deck I've played and boy it felt pretty awesome. I played dozens of games with folks using Hercules at the Assemble Con last month, and the one thing I consistently heard about him was that he was not very good in solo. Well, I think this deck might be the solution.

I typically don't play on expert, but for this I had something to prove. I threw down with Expert Klaw for testing and it proved very successful. I plan some more difficult scenarios in solo down the road.

Clear Objectives

The overall idea here is to have enough tools to quickly deal with each of the labors. With most aspects besides Protection, Protect Humanity is the slowest labor to clear because you lack ways to draw enemy attacks. But we can easily speed up the other labors to reduce the overall time laboring to nab all three gifts. Below is a list of what non-hero cards help with which labors.

Infiltration + Clear the Area -> Embody Pathos

Stealth Strike -> Defeat the Hydra

EMH + Limitless Stamina -> Embody Pathos + Defeat the Hydra

Face the Past + One Way or Another -> Everything

The Path of Humanity

The order you get your labors is random and varies from game to game. With this deck, you have several sources of readies to help you deal with everything except Protect Humanity. So, when you see this labor, you shift strategies until it is cleared. Since you can't clear this quickly, use it as an opportunity to build up your board state with supports, upgrades, and allies. Try to avoid flipping down so you can clear it in 3 turns instead of 4 or 5.

Allies are key for this labor because of treacheries like Assault or Gang-Up. If you are already exhausted from the villain's first attack, you won't be able to protect Cho from a second attack without having an ally to redirect it to.

Embody Pathos and Defeat the Hydra

These labors are what you're made for because Justice has cards that help with both.

1. Your labor side scheme will usually have 9 or so threat, which puts it in range of an Infiltration, a single basic activation, and a Clear the Area. Three activations can also clear it, so you have plenty of options with various readies.

2. Stealth Strike is a solid addition to your toolkit to take out the Hydra and can keep the main scheme down if used as a finisher. At a minium, you need 4 activations to take out the 'Hydra', assuming 12 HP, so try and boost your stats with Lion of Olympus to get this from 4 to 3. It's even less if you use an attack event.

The Other Stuff

• Hercules is no stranger to card draw, so we keep that momentum going with Face the Past and One Way or Another. Clear the Area also helps replace itself when triggered, trying to keep as much momentum as possible.

• Overwatch on the main scheme helps prepare us for for an untimely side scheme or, if the timing is right, you can put it on the Embody Pathos scheme to remove threat on another scheme as you clear this one.

• I initially tested this deck with Upside the Head but quickly replaced it with Battlefield Benevolence. The former was too difficult to trigger while the latter can be used more easily, mainly when otherwise exhausted from clearing labors. The damage required to heal can easily be dealt with allies.

I've had a ton of fun with this deck and can't wait to get him on the battlefield again. If you haven't given the Prince of Power a go in Justice yet, I highly recommend it! If you like it or give it a try, let me know in the comments below.

~Peace!