VS Player

I've finally decided to start updating this blog since the newest set, Marvel Team-Up is about to be released. I'm going to do a set overview for each team. I'm not going to do a card by card analysis as I generally find those to be pretty bland and boring. I'm going to talk about what I think the team's strengths and weaknesses are and how I think they will be played in Modern and Silver Age. I didn't start playing until X-Men so I don't know all the cards very well from the early sets so for Golden Age, I usually defer to more knowledgeable friends. Without further ado, let's take a look at the Spider-Friends.

The Spider-Friends obvious first theme is stalling. With cards like Gift Wrapped, the 4-drop Spideys and then Stark's Protege at 7, the Spider-Friends can do an amazing job of making the game last until around turn 9 or so. They have a lot of tools at their disposal and the obvious team-up is going to be with the Heralds to stall until 9 with the big G will show up. Another team-up that's less obvious in Silver and may be worth some exploration is with X-Mental. i think the problem with this team-up though is the 4 drop. Professor X is really your only option here since without him, you won't be able to recruit Emma Frost on 5. The SF/HoG has a more seamless curve with optimal drops at almost every spot up to 9. The other problem is the better endgame of HoG. Stalling to 8 to win with Rachel Summers isn't bad, but it's not Sentry on 8, Galactus on 9. I think that Spider Friends/Heralds will be the premiere stall deck of Modern Age and it will probably give curve decks fits. In Silver, it will still be a good team-up but the X-Mental/HoG team will also be a good choice. I think the decision will be do you want to completely avoid combat by exhausting your opponent's characters every turn, or do you just want to play defensively in combat but gain the extra card draw and utility the X-Mental package offers.

Another somewhat interesting sub-theme is the big concealed short curve of Zabu, Shanna the She-Devil, and Ka-Zar. They are all concealed and have bigger stats than normal for their spot on the curve. They could make an interesting part of a Hellfire Club short curve or maybe even an Underworld short curve. Using Hellfire Club would give you access to their powerful location suite while Underworld would give you their recovery effects and another bigger than average character with the Dual Loyalty Morbius. If you want to go true short curve and try to win on 5 I think Hellfire Club will be the better team-up because they'll give you more broad pumps in Hellfire Club and Inner Circle. But in Modern , I could definitely see a Spider-Friends/Underworld short curve being pretty good.

I'll leave you with a decklist for the obvious SF/HoG team up.

4 Aunt May
3 Silver Surfer
1 Blade
2 Night Thrasher
4 Air Walker
2 Spider Man, The Sensational Spider Man
2 Spider Man, Parasitic Host
1 Spider Man, Spider Hulk
2 Silver Surfer (5)
2 Red Shift
3 Wolverine, Canucklehead
2 Spider Man, Stark's Protege
2 The Sentry
3 Galactus

4 The Herald Ordeal
2 Elemental Converters
4 Gift Wrapped
2 I Must Obey
2 Absorba Shield
4 Creation of a Herald
4 Mobilize
3 Feminine Wiles
2 Empire State University

This is a very rough build, but the idea is pretty simple. Don't die. Your characters are designed to stall the game long enough for Galactus to eat your opponent.