MARVEL CLEARS EXPERT GMW CAMPAIGN! (SMALL EDIT)

Great job! Makes sense that thwarting is key due to all the nasty side schemes that start in play, hence Justice. Hope you didn't accidentally use Power Unleashed on Kree Supremacy though :)

My first turn was so damn amazing, I managed to play 3 of the free cards (Power Unleashed, Grapple, Brainstorm with a successful 3 THW), which let you draw, Spider-Woman, For Justice! and Multitasking, thanks to Energy Absorption and Genius. Plus I had the power stone in hand. So, no, Power Unleashed wasn't even need for that. Besides, it only targets the main scheme.

The deck has so many thwart events I usually got the best of those starting side schemes, turn 1. I often mulliganed just for that. Afterwards the scenarios seem so much easier!

The result was incredible: an ally in play to block "you're accused" (forgot the name lol), a stunned Ronan, no more Kree Supremacy, no more "cut the power" and a main scheme with 0... Couldn't ask for more!

@Stretch22

Lol I just re-read my description... I see what you meant, it makes it sound like a mistake, even though I was well aware of the card's limitation. If it explains anything english isn't my firt language, I sometimes express myself in a weird way or make strange mistakes. Sorry Lol!

@Stretch22 edited lol

Congratulations! Finishing the Collector with 2 Energy Channels is an achievement in itself.

@lupercal30

Thanks! Just to be clear, just don't actually 'finish' with Energy channel... it will go into the collection and out of the game! Finish with an attack after you've got it out of the collection, as well as all your own cards. You'd hate having to go through the next scenarios without it!

@neothechosenStill you have to do some careful planning if your final turn involves using 2 Energy Channels. Especially considering the amount of resources / cards it would take to drop the second and charge it, and play Nick Fury, and manage the collection, and manage the threat added by collector 3 and the energy channels going to the collection. But Carol can pull off stuff like that.

Just a couple of rules pointers. The cards in the collection are only removed from your deck for Escape the Museum. You get them back for Nebula and Ronan. And you cannot prevent the damage from Badoon Ship with Cosmic Flight as it is not an attack.

@lupercal30

Really? It thought it was the whole campaign! Well that makes it easier... scenario 3 is all about thwart anyway!

And indeed, capt. Marvel has incredible turns thanks to Energy Absorption.

Didn't know about the badoon ship... thx!

Well you are playing justice but what about other aspects? Do you think Captain Marvel will still have a chance of winning?

@gustave154

A good question. Since Expert GMW features so many side schemes right off the bat, with a lot of threaths (just think of expert Ronan for instance), I'd say Justice is by far the most suitable aspect, at least if you want to win the entire campaign. I just don't see how you can win with cards like kree supremacy in play (expert mode of course... these side schemes are far less impressive in standard).

Protection only has Bait and Switch and Hard to Ignore to help with that; they only target the main scheme, and the later needs a proper setup (Cosmic Flight and Captain Marvel's Helmet for no dmg blocks). So I'd rule that option out, too slow.

Aggression has Looking for Trouble, Into the Fray, "You'll Pay for That!". A bit better, but still 2 out of 3 target only the main scheme. And "You'll Pay for That!", even though it can relieve you of 5 threaths for a cost of 1, asks of you to take serious hits. I'd rule that out too, as sometimes you just can't afford to get hit.

Leadership is better positionned. Lots of allies have 2 thw, you can buff them to 3 with Inspired AND keep them in play using Inspiring Presence, First Aid, Team Training or Reinforced Suit. By keeping them in play this way, you can avoid giving them up to the Collection in the second scenario or have perpetual thwart options. You can also benefit from Ready for Action if you need blocks or increase up to 6 allies in play, so you can chomp block with some (except the collection scenario), while keeping the others in play to thwart or attack, all the while building an Energy Channel. And Captain Marvel has the resources to make this all work out. I think this can work out. TBH I usually don't play a lot of Leadership because it often feels like your hero becomes secondary, but GMW 's villains sure feel like you need a whole team to win so I might try that yet.

Hope that helps a little!

Excellent response Neo and thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I agree with you that Leadership will clear Expert and I will try to clear it soon. Awesome deck and keep up the good work!

@gustave154 Thanks for the kind words! Let me know if you try Leadership. Good luck!

@gustave154 Hi! Tried leadership a little, I wanted to see if it could do the job against Ronan. Came close to stabilizing the scheme front, but it's really hard to thwart all of the schemes! Buffing allies is too slow and comes with dead hands, I resorted to a deck full of allies , from leadership and basic. As I said, it was close to a breakthrough. I wonder if Cap could do it better (double thw with the stone thx to 'Ican do this all day') with the right allies... Hope you've done better than me!

@neothechosen Great list, I'm using it in the standard GMW campaign alone. I easily got through the first 4 scenarios. I'd like to ask you why you didn't use Wiccan, which in addition to doing damage can also remove a card from the encounter deck. However, I see that I have hardly ever used "under sorveliance" and "counterintelligence". I'll probably try to replace them with other cards. Jessica Jones still too strong for this campaign!

Hi! Nothing wrong with Wiccan, he could really take the spot from Counterintelligence, which I'll admit I played less. That would also make Agent Coulson obsolete unless you run Spycraft or Target Acquired. Fact is, I originally wanted more Thw and threath prevention, which is a huge deal in expert.

Under Surveillance is almost an absolute necessity in expert, it saved my life countless times.

And indeed, Jessica Jones has finally proven to be just the most incredible thwart force! At last!

I can't even beat standard Ronan with this deck!

I don't know what to respond to you... Bad luck? Bad Karma? See your witch doctor? I'm not saying it beats Ronan easily. I don't think any solo hero does. But standard? definitly do-able. I did with lesser decks.

Owned Drang Expert and now I am 0-14 against the collector 1, I try to get the challenge out as quickly as possible, those encounter cards are nasty! Trying to control the collection but I don’t know, the deck seems to lack a bit of firepower against those minions and is probably the reason why I lose in the long run… have you some other tips beside what is in the write up?

@Heimwarts Hi! I haven't played in a long while ( work, work...) so forgive me if I sound disconnected. From memory, here's what I can suggest.

• My priority with this deck has always been to clear the "challenge" and side schemes as well as maintain other variables in check (Nebula's escape counters, the Collection, etc) in every scenario. However, the games can end up being long and yes, minions are annoying because you have few options here ( Photonic Blast end even Energy Channel sometimes, allies, basic atk).

• The longer the game goes, however, the more you should see those cards often, because you put permanents in play to thin out your deck, cycling it faster. This is an essential part, you need to thin out your deck.

• Draw power, here, is essential: 'commander', 'rechannel', Nick Fury, Clear the Area, Avengers Mansion, Alpha Flight Station, Photonic Blast all help a lot.

• Use Spider-Woman, Concussive Blow and 'wing it' from the market to confuse the villain and revert to AE (6 cards hands + Alpha Flight Station + commander + whatever else you got...) . Those turns are going to be your best ones, allowing you to play 2, 3, 4 cards a turn. And because the villain is confused, there is no drawback.

• Allies to block is essential. They should be one of your priorities to play. If you can play one a turn, you don't have to worry much about the damage done by the Collector, so minions doing damage isn't as urgent to deal with.

• IMO, Crisis Averted was the most underplayed card in this deck. You may consider alternatives to include more DMG (Turn the Tide, Stealth Strike at the same cost and may help THW). Also, a few packs have been released since GMW. Sonic Rifle could be a good idea instead of Concussive Blow, allowing you even more turns in AE so, having bigger hands more often.

• Last: with 14 and 18 hp, the Collector II and III can fall quickly to a Photonic Blast + Energy Channel combo. If you can manage to block the minions with an ally, are high on hp or can mitigate enough of the damage done to you (rechannel), you may consider ignoring the minion(s) if just hitting the villain is going to end the game 2 or 3 turns later (commiting your Photonic Blasts Energy Channels and basic atks to defeating the Collector).

I hope some of it will help!

Good luck!

Thx! Yeah it sure helps, globally I think I was playing that way. Replacing concussive blow with sonic rifle might be a good idea. Stealth strike seems like a good idea but maybe agile flight could work, it is certainly more flexible than crisis averted with the caveat that you have to be aerial…

Neo. Excellent deck. Just tried Zola with Under Attack and defeated it in 2 rounds. Crushed the 12 HPs of Villain Stage 1 in round 1, and then crushed the 14 HPs of Villain Stage 2 in round 2. Felt powerful! Thanks.

@Daredevil011098

Wow, incredible! Thanks a lot!