The Purple Man

When the spy known as Killgrave became exposed to chemicals, his skin turned purple and his body began to release chemicals that sap the willpower of those around him. Anyone in the vicinity of The Purple Man is helpless, completely subject to his verbal commands. Only those with exceptional willpower can overcome this, which has made him a dangerous threat despite his lack of fighting skill. The Purple Man went from a sort of joke character in the 20th Century to one of Marvel’s most despicable villains in the pages of <i>Alias</i>, where he used his powers in ways one would expect a depraved, power driven man to use them. If you want to have a punchable villain to beat up, you can’t do much better.

Zebediah Killgrave PDF

Zebediah Killgrave: 15 Hit Points, Melee, Green Deck

4x THE PURPLE MAN: Move any character on the board up to six spaces. If they end their movement adjacent to Killgrave, they take 3 damage.

3x DO WHAT I TELL YOU: Choose a character. That character attacks a character of your choice with a card of your choice. If there are no other characters on the board besides Killgrave, the chosen character takes 3 damage.

3x DON’T TOUCH ME: D0 Choose the target of the card this defends against. It must be either the attacker or a character the attacking character could attack. The new target may defend.

2x ABSOLUTE CONTROL: Until the start of Killgrave’s next turn, all players can only take one type of action, of your choice: Play Special Cards, Draw Cards, or Play Attack Cards. Any character who cannot do this action loses the action and takes 1 damage.

2x VIOLET PUPPETEER: Play on any character’s Life Card. As long as it is on a character’s Life Card, they may not attack Killgrave until they attack one of their allied characters. If they have no allies, they may attack themselves but cannot defend. Discard this card when one of these conditions are met.

1x I’LL DO IT MYSELF: A8 If the defending character has VIOLET PUPPETEER on their Life Card, the attack cannot be defended.

Theme: Mind controlling his allies and his enemies

Strengths: Excellent board control, high direct damage potential, redirects attacks, difficult to actually attack

Weaknesses: Very low hit points, no movement, no draw power, limited attack and defend options

Complexity – High: I would recommend all players feel comfortable at the game before using Purple Man

Path to Victory: Direct damage early, VIOLET PUPPETEER + I’LL DO IT MYSELF late

Playing as Zebediah Killgrave: The Purple Man is a character that loves to be in control, and stay out of the fight as much as possible. THE PURPLE MAN and DO WHAT I TELL YOU is obviously effective for manipulating opponents, but it can also mobilize your allies and give them extra attacks, making him a good friend for a high damage melee character with little movement. ABSOLOUTE CONTROL is a truly menacing card, as you can force an opponent to draw cards when they’d rather attack, or make them play Special cards when they don’t have any. You’ll want to know your ally and your opponents inside and out.

Playing Against Zebediah Killgrave: Killgrave is one of the most disruptive decks in the game, and he’s surprisingly durable with his Green Deck and three copies of DON’T TOUCH ME. The flip side of this is that he isn’t the most offensively gifted deck in the world – if you focus on taking out his allies, he won’t usually have enough to win a 2v1. Beware I’LL DO IT MYSELF – it’s often worth taking a smaller hit to get rid of VIOLET PUPPETEER instead of eating the unblockable A8.

Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones was introduced to Marvel in the 2000s as part of their line of books for adults, where she was retroactively added to the Marvel Universe as Jewel, a superhero that nobody remembered. Then she had some truly traumatic experiences with the mind-controlling Purple Man and decided to hang up the tights and become a Private Investigator. Super strong and super durable, the head of Alias Investigations has certainly carved her own niche in the crowded superhero genre, and has become a key player in the street level crime world.

Jessica Jones PDF

Jessica Jones: 19 Hit Points, Melee, Blue Deck

3x STRENGTH OF WILL: A6 You may play this card even if a card on your Life Card would otherwise prevent it. You may discard any card from Jessica Jones’ Life Card.

3x JEWEL STRIKE: A4 If your opponent’s defense card has an attack value, add that value to this card’s attack value.

2x “POWER WOMAN?”: D5 If the attack card this defends against has a defend value, add that defend value to this card’s defend value.

2x UNPRACTICED FLIGHT: Move Jessica Jones up to five spaces. She may move over enemies and obstacles but must land in an empty space.

2x BOTTLE OF WHISKEY: Play when a Special Card is played. Cancel the effects of the Special Card that was just played. Discard 2 cards.

2x PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Look at the top five cards of any character’s draw pile. You may discard one, then place the rest on top of that draw pile in any order.

1x ALIAS INVESTIGATIONS: Play on Jessica’s Life Card. Once per turn, you may look at a card before you draw it. You may choose to place this card on the bottom of your draw pile and draw the next card instead. When this card is removed from your Life Card, search your draw pile for any card and put it in your hand.

Theme: A brawling P.I. who can’t be controlled

Strengths: Shrugs off or deters negative Life Card effects, big attacks and defends, solid negation game, solid movement, can scry through her deck and opponents

Weaknesses: Very limited drawing power, vulnerable to Power Combat cards

Complexity – Moderate: She’s pretty straightforward

Path to Victory: STRENGTH OF WILL or JEWEL STRIKE

Playing as Jessica Jones: Jessica has impressive staying power with her high hit points and blue deck, but she’s not a deck you’ll want to use all the time. She’s very good against specific decks; decks that have Power Combat cards that both attack and defense, and decks that rely on Special cards and especially negative Life Card effects. She doesn’t have a ton of high impact offense, but she’ll be around a long time to support her teammate.

Playing Against Jessica Jones: With Jessica, you’ll know which cards to avoid playing against her, as she’s very good at countering certain types of them. JEWEL STRIKE can really take advantage of your 3/3s and 2/3s, but she’s got a tough time dealing with Power Attacks or Power Defends. If you know she’s a threat to your game, try to take her out quickly or coordinate with your teammate to do so.

The Wrecking Crew

We’re heading into uncharted territory here folks. The Wrecking Crew is definitely an iconic part of the Marvel Universe – everyday schmoes who acquired incredible power when Asgardian magic enchanted a crowbar. I could have done separate decks for The Wrecker and Thunderball, probably, but Piledriver and Bulldozer just don’t have enough going for them to be their own decks. And yeah, I wouldn’t want two without the other. So… here we are. A deck that had one main character and three lackeys that tag in and out. They’ve got a lot of unique rules, but I think it’ll be clean enough.

The Wrecker & Piledriver PDF

Thunderball & Bulldozer PDF

The Wrecker: 15 Hit Points, Ranged, Orange Deck

Piledriver, Thunderball & Bulldozer: 7 Hit Points Each, Melee

Special Rules Cards

ONE FOR ALL: If the Wrecker is destroyed, the Crew is defeated. Start the game with Piledriver adjacent to Wrecker. When a Crew Member is destroyed or swaps out, place the next Crew Member into play in their space. When a Crew Member is put into play, The Wrecker heals 2 damage.

ALL FOR ONE: Trigger Effects – Piledriver: Draw 2 cards. – Thunderball: Deal 2 damage to enemies adjacent to Crew Members. – Bulldozer: Move Crew Members up to 3 spaces.

Wrecking Crew Cards

3x TAG TEAM TACTICS: A6 Trigger the effect of your active Crew Member, then swap out to the next Crew Member. Trigger the effect of your new active Crew Member.

2x PLAYING DIRTY: In order, activate the effects of your non-active Crew Members that have not been defeated.

2x SPECIALISTS: Search your draw pile and discard pile for a card specific to your active Crew Member, then shuffle your draw pile.

The Wrecker Cards

3x WRECK IT!: A4 Trigger the effect of your active Crew Member, then swap out to the next Crew Member.

2x MAGIC CROWBAR: A5 Add 2 to the attack value of this card for each Crew Member that has been in play this game.

Piledriver Card

1x GIANT HANDS: A8 Draw 3 cards.

Thunderball Card

1x SWINGING CHAIN: A5 Deal 4 damage to all enemies adjacent to Thunderball.

Bulldozer Card

1x FLATTEN: Move Bulldozer up to six spaces. He may move through enemies. Any enemies he moves through takes 3 damage.

Theme: Teamwork makes the Dream Work

Strengths: Tons of direct damage, draw power, potential for big moves and draw power, ability to gang up on enemies

Weaknesses: Low staying power, gets much weaker when the Crew Members are destroyed

Complexity – Very High: Totally new mechanisms make this a deck for people very accustomed to the game.

Path to Victory: PLAYING DIRTY & TAG TEAM TACTICS early, MAGIC CROWBAR late, the specific cards for Crew Member.

Playing as The Wrecking Crew: The Wrecking Crew is always a two man team, but the second man alternates whenever one is destroyed, or when the effects of WRECK IT! and TAG TEAM TACTICS take place. You’ll want to quickly cycle through each of them to power up MAGIC CROWBAR, but you also want to make your switch ins strategic since they heal The Wrecker. This deck has some incredible direct damage potential between Thunderball’s trigger effect, FLATTEN and SWINGING CHAIN, which helps to compensate for their low hit points.

Playing Against The Wrecking Crew: The Wrecking Crew does what the name says – they gang up and deal damage. Dealing with them before they can dish out copious amounts of direct damage is a must, but you can go about it in two ways. The direct path is tackling the Wrecker, who is “the King” of sorts and is all you need to kill to win. But you can also severely hurt this deck by taking out the Crew Members – at 7 HP they aren’t tough to beat and taking them out really hurts the deck’s potential.

Ironheart

When Riri Williams was introduced as a new Iron Man, I was somewhat indifferent. When they called her Ironheart, I joked that she sounded like a My Little Pony character. Then my love of board and card games has lead to me using her a lot in Marvel Champions and Marvel Snap!, so I’ve grown pretty attached to the teenage genius. So here we are. As usual with these characters that are on the young side, I try to make them simple enough for kids to want to use, though Riri is appropriately more on the mathematical side of that equation. Riri is constantly trying to improve her armor, and this deck reflects that by letting her Level Up.

Ironheart PDF

Ironheart: 16 Hit Points, Ranged, Yellow Deck

3x PHOTON BEAM: A4 Draw a card. If this attack deals damage, draw another card.

3x LEVEL UP: Play on Ironheart’s Life Card. While this is on Ironheart’s Life Card, increase the attack and defend values of her cards by 1.

3x THE STARK LEGACY: Choose one effect for each LEVEL UP on your Life Card. You may not repeat.

– Recover 3 damage. – Move to any space on the board. – Increase the attack and defend values of your next card by 1.

2x MISSILE BARRAGE: All enemy characters Ironheart can attack take 1 damage, and 1 additional damage for each LEVEL UP on her Life Card.

2x TEENAGE GENIUS: Draw 5 cards. Keep 2 in your hand and place the rest on top of your draw pile in any order, or on the bottom of your draw pile in any order.

2x CUTTING EDGE TECH: A2/D2 After this card is revealed and all modifiers are applied, double its attack and defend values.

Theme: Armor that levels up

Strengths: Gets exponentially stronger as the game goes along, solid drawing power, late game ability to move, heal and do direct damage

Weaknesses: Very fragile in the early game, lacks dependable movement

Complexity – Moderate: I think Ironheart is pretty straightforward, but there’s a fair bit of math

Path to Victory: LEVEL UP + THE STARK LEGACY + CUTTING EDGE TECH

Playing as Ironheart: Ironheart starts the game off pretty weak, with 16 HP and a yellow deck. Your goal is to draw cards with PHOTON BEAM and TEENAGE GENIUS until you get some LEVEL UP cards. Even one of these increases her attack and staying power, and if she gets all three she can become a ridiculously potent deck with a ton of A7s, the direct damage of MISSILE BARRAGE, the crazy versatility of THE STARK LEGACY, and the potent CUTTING EDGE TECH which can easily be an A10 or even 12 under the right circumstances.

Playing Against Ironheart: Riri is most vulnerable early, as she doesn’t have much in the way of power defense or even movement to keep her safe. Squasher then, because once she plays LEVEL UP enough times she’s a very dangerous opponent with a ton of big attacks and direct damage. She’ll still always be vulnerable to direct damage.

Mojo

The media mogul and actual ruler of Mojo World has made his way to Epic Duels because I have a sickness and can’t stop myself from unleashing hell on the world. Grotesque in every sense of the word, Mojo is a character who plays by his own rules and those rules are always changing. As such, we have a character who breaks conventions, changing the genre of the fight that he’s in. I’m sure the chaos he can unleash will appeal to longtime fans looking to spice up the game.

Mojo PDF

Mojo: 21 Hit Points, Melee, Green Deck

GENRE SAVVY [Special Rules Card]: Only one GENRE card can be in play at a time. When a new GENRE card is played, activate the RAMP UP effect of the previous GENRE card and then discard it.

GENRE CARDS: All Genre cards have the effect “Stays in play until removed.”

1x WESTERN GENRE: All combat cards are played face-up

RAMP UP: All characters except Mojo take 1 damage.

1x ROMANCE GENRE: Increase the defense values of all cards by 1.

RAMP UP: All characters heal 4 damage.

1x SCI-FI GENRE: All characters except Mojo add 2 spaces to their movement rolls.

RAMP UP: Move all characters up to 3 spaces.

1x CRIME GENRE: All characters draw a card at the start of their turn.

RAMP UP: All characters draw 2 cards.

1x FANTASY GENRE: Increase all attack values by 2.

RAMP UP: All players gain 1 action.

NORMAL CARDS

4x ACTION! DRAMA!: Activate the RAMP-UP effect of the GENRE card in play. Draw 2 cards.

3x CHANNEL SURFING: Deal 2 damage to all characters in play other than Mojo. Search your draw pile for a GENRE card and put it in play, removing any other GENRE card in play. Shuffle your draw pile.

2x …AND CUT!: A3/D3 Multiply the values of this card by the number of GENRE cards in your discard pile. Active the RAMP UP effect of the GENRE card in play.

1x PLOT TWIST!: Only Mojo and his allies are affected rom the effects of GENRE cards, including RAMP UP effects.

Theme: The mastermind of the media who changes genres and rules on a dime

Strengths: Provides powerful passive effects to himself and allies, direct damage, draw power, gets a powerful attack & defense card as the game goes along, lots of hit points

Weaknesses: Provides powerful passive effects to enemies, mediocre attacking, poor movement

Complexity – Advanced: Only bring Mojo to a game with experienced players

Path to Victory: CHANNEL SURFING early, …AND CUT! late

Playing as Mojo: The Mojo player is someone who’s probably going to appeal to the Dungeon Master in your group, as he changes the rules of play in big ways. WESTERN GENRE and CRIME DRAMA are perhaps the most radical shifts in the game state I’ve ever made. Mojo is a character who relies on his partners to clean up for him, as he doesn’t really move or attack in the traditional sense. He can clean up well once …AND CUT! is an A9 or 12, but he might also need to play it as a crucial defense.

Playing Against Mojo: The best way to defeat a Mojo player is to take advantage of the bonuses he grants you before he can find PLOT TWIST! and play it. With 21 hit points and a Green Deck, he’s a damage sponge, which can be really annoying to take out. It should be noted that the GENRE cards are only removed from play by other GENRE cards: if you take out Mojo, you can benefit from the last GENRE card he put in play!

M’Baku

I’ve had a deck for M’Baku made almost since the movie came out. it’s hard not to love a boisterous bruiser. But to be honest, the comic book interpretation of the character always made me feel a little bit uncomfortable, so I wanted to wait until a more modern take on “The Man-Ape” had made its way to the comics. Looking at the cards, I can tell this had some loose inspiration from Mike Maloney’s Agen Kolar deck as it uses the Basic Deck quite a bit to pay for big attacks.

M’Baku PDF

M’Baku: 18 Hit Points, Melee, Blue Deck

4x THE MAN-APE: A6 Return a Basic Combat card from your discard pile to your hand.

2x THE GREAT GORILLA: D6 Return a Basic Combat card from your discard pile to your hand.

2x READY FOR WAR: Move M’Baku up to six spaces. Return a Basic Combat card from your discard pile to your hand.

2x HANUMAN’S BLESSING: Discard up to 3 Basic Combat cards from your hand. Heal 2 for each discarded card.

2x ANCIENT TRADITION: Draw a card, then draw 1 more for each Basic Combat card you discarded from your hand this turn.

2x TAKE THE THRONE: A8 Discard a Basic Combat card to play this card.

1x JABARI CHAMPION: A10 Discard two Basic Combat cards to play this card.

Theme: A big bruiser with the strength and ferocity of a gorilla

Strengths: Balanced offense and defense, recycles his Blue Deck over, good movement, healing and draw power

Weaknesses: Sacrifices his cards to fuel his big plays

Complexity – Simple: M’Baku is straightforward as it gets

Path to Victory: TAKE THE THRONE/JABARI CHAMPION + ANCIENT TRADITION

Playing as M’Baku: M’Baku really isn’t much of a strategist. He’s just big, tough, and surprisingly fast with READY FOR WAR. He wants to stay on offense and doesn’t mind using those A5s and A4s from his Blue Deck since he has an easy time getting them back with most of his talents. THE MAN APE is a really strong card, and following it up with ANCIENT TRADITION will usually keep you going after playing it.

Playing Against M’Baku: M’Baku is a dangerous melee opponent, but he’s also very tough with a couple of D6s, two impressive healing cards and the ability to reuse his Blue Deck. You’re usually in for a long match with him, but you can shorten it substantially with direct damage and ranged attacks. The more he has to use his Basic Deck for defense, the less likely he is to use it to power his biggest attacks.

Maximus the Mad

Every family has its black sheep, and the Inhuman Royal one has a real nasty one. Black Bolt’s brother has ambitions for the throne (go figure), and with his psychic powers and technological brilliance, he certainly knows how to make a go of it. Unfortunately, he’s also certifiably crazy, and that leads to his best planned plans falling apart at crucial moments. But that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed where he fails, as he brings a unique Deck Building style to Marvel Duels that should be fun to implement.

Maximus PDF

Maximus: 17 Hit Points, Melee, Orange Deck

Device Chamber (Special Rules Card): Leave all cards that are put in your Device Chamber displayed. They cannot be discarded or reshuffled into your draw pile,

3x ECHOPACITER: A4 Add this card to your Device Chamber.

3x SLIPPING SANITY: A0/D0 Add 1 to the values of this card for each copy of MAXIMUS THE MAD in your Device Chamber.

2x MIND READING: D6 Add this card to your Device Chamber.

2x EFFICIENCY ENGINE: A5 Add this card to your Device Chamber. When a card is added to your Device Chamber, including this one, draw a card.

2x ALWAYS SCHEMING: A2/D2 Add 1 to the value of this card for each differently named card in your Device Chamber. Add this card to your Device Chamber.

2x MAXIMUS THE MAD: A7 Add this card to your Device Chamber.

1x THE QUINTESSENCE: Play on Maximus’ Life Card. All cards in your Device Chamber are renamed MAXIMUS THE MAD.

Theme: Carrying out a mad scheme while losing his mind

Strengths: Potential for crazy card draw, gets stronger as the game goes along, potentially great offense and defense.

Weaknesses: Moderate hit points, weak and vulnerable early, most great defense cards are also key offense cards

Complexity – Moderate: Maximus runs on an engine and you have to get it going

Path to Victory: Fill DEVICE CHAMBER, then QUINTESSENCE + SLIPPING SANITY

Playing as Maximus: Anyone familiar with Ascension will probably understand how Maximus works. He’s playing a long game and he wants to get through it as quick as he can. EFFICIENCY ENGINE will give you draw power on most of your special cards, helping you get to QUINTESSENCE faster. Once you have that, SLIPPING SANITY will mop up the competition with big attacks.

Playing Against Maximus: Maximus gets stronger as the game goes, so the best thing to do is take him out early. Another good strategy is to force discards – his cards won’t go in his DEVICE CHAMBER unless he plays them. If he does get QUINTESSENCE going, try to force him to play SLIPPING SANITY as a defense instead of an attack.

Polaris

Lorna Dane is the emerald haired daughter of Magneto, and possesses almost the exact same powers. Luckily, she doesn’t usually possess her father’s ambition or hatred of humanity, and would rather be living a normal life with her main squeeze Alex Summers. But being a mutant means she’s usually fighting alongside evil in one way or another, either as part of X-Men or X-Factor. This gave me a chance to use some other cards I’d considered for Magneto.

Polaris PDF

Polaris: 17 Hit Points, Melee, Orange Deck

4x METAL ARMOR: D4 Play on Polaris’ Life Card. While this is on Polaris’ Life Card, add the Defend Value of this card to every Power Defense card you play.

3x FATAL ATTRACTION: A4 Search your draw pile for a copy of METAL ARMOR and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your draw pile.

3x MAGNETIC SHOCK: Play after moving an enemy. The enemy character you just moved takes 3 damage. Playing this card does not count as an action and this card can be played if you have no actions.

2x MAGNETIC PULL: A5 Move the defending character adjacent to Polaris. Draw a card.

2x OPPOSITES DETRACT: A3 If Polaris is adjacent to the defending character, double the attack value of this card. Otherwise, gain 1 action.

1x POLARITY STRIKE: A0 Discard all copies of METAL ARMOR from Polaris’ Life Card. The Attack Value of this card is equal to the combined Defend Values of those cards.

Theme: Build up metal armor, then throw it at an opponent

Strengths: Reliable offense, defense that grows, board control, direct damage

Weaknesses: Low hit points, defense takes a while to get strong

Complexity – Simple: Polaris nearly plays herself.

Path to Victory: MAGNETIC PULL/OPPOSITES DETRACT + MAGNETIC SHOCK, METAL ARMOR + POLARITY STRIKE

Playing as Polaris: Lorna Dane’s deck is based around two complimentary strategies. She has cards that move opponents and let her play MAGNETIC SHOCK for direct damage, and cards that set up for POLARITY STRIKE at the end of the game while building her defensive prowess with METAL ARMOR. She’s extremely intuitive with clear combos, and is good mid game and late game.

Playing Against Polaris: Lorna’s a very effective ranged fighter with strong attacks, and some insane defensive and offensive prowess late in the game. The best way to go after her is to take her out early with big attacks and especially direct damage. The Orange deck is strong, but METAL ARMOR takes its time to get good, and she doesn’t have a ton of hit points either.

Medusa

The first Inhuman introduced in the comics, Medusa was originally part of the Frightful Four (a team of super baddies opposing their Fantastic counterparts) before her relatives were introduced. Possessing a unique and wickedly cool superpower that allows her to control her nearly indestructible hair to create whips, ropes and even sharp weapons. She also possesses a telepathic bond with her husband Black Bolt, and serves as his voice. This makes her one of the most powerful women in Marvel.

Medusa PDF

Medusa: 17 Hit Points, Melee, Blue Deck

3x TRICHOKINESIS: Play on Medusa’s Life Card. Increase Medusa’s attacking range by 1 space. You may discard this card whenever you deal damage to deal 3 more damage.

3x BULLWHIP STRIKE: A7 Draw a card. If Medusa is not adjacent to the defending character, that character loses an action on their next turn.

3x INHUMAN QUEEN: D8 Draw a card, then draw one card for each copy of TRICHOKINESIS on Medusa’s Life Card.

2x TANGLED MESS: A3 Place this card on the defending character’s Life Card. That character cannot move, attack, or defend until they discard one card from their hand for each TRICHOKINESIS card on Medusa’s Life Card.

2x SHARP HAIRCUT: All enemy characters that Medusa can attack take 2 damage for each copy of TRICHOKINESIS on her Life Card.

2x GRASP AND THROW: A5 Move the defending character a number of spaces equal to the number of TRICHOKINESIS cards on Medusa’s Life Card.

Theme: Manipulating her hair for a strong midrange game

Strengths: Action and resource denial, can increase her range, direct damage, good card draw, good defense and offense

Weaknesses: Needs her TRICHOKINESIS cards to real get going, offense can be middling in the late game

Complexity – Moderate: It’s a mild resource deck, but those are always a little tricky

Path to Victory: Multiple TRICHOKINESIS + SHARP HAIRCUT, TANGLED MESS & BULLWHIP STRIKE

Playing as Medusa: Medusa is a deck that wants to sit back and draw cards until she has at least one copy of TRICHOKINESIS, and preferably two. Her Blue Deck, solid HP and INHUMAN QUEEN cards will help her stay alive long enough to pull this off. Once you have them, you want to get the most out of them; take advantage of the extra range they afford you, and how they passively boost her other cards. Once you’re ready to take someone out, discard TRICHOKINESIS to make BULLWHIP STRIKE a killing blow.

Playing Against Medusa: Medusa will have an inherent advantage against other melee characters once she can get some range with TRICHOKINESIS. These also make her particularly efficient at dealing damage with SHARP HAIRCUT, as it’s hard to escape that when she has all 3. In the late game, it’s best to save your big defends: you can block BULLWHIP STRIKE from doing damage and block her from discarding TRICHOKINESIS for those kicker effects.

Black Bolt

Part of me just wants to say nothing, since the King of the Inhumans usually doesn’t. That’s because his voice is one of the most destructive forces in the Marvel Universe. Finding a way to replicate that power without breaking the balance of the game was tough, but I think I managed it. Blackagar Boltigan is also plenty strong without that ability, and this deck is a solid bruiser regardless.

Black Bolt PDF

Black Bolt: 19 Hit Points, Melee, Blue Deck

3x THE MIDNIGHT KING: A5 Draw 2 cards, then discard one card from your hand.

3x INHUMAN PHYSIOLOGY: D4 Draw 2 cards, then discard one card from your hand.

2x CHANNEL ELECTRONS: Discard up to 3 cards from your draw pile. Increase the attack OR defend value of Black Bolt’s next card by 1 for each discarded card.

2x ANTI-GRAVITY FLIGHT: Move Black Bolt up to six spaces. You may move over obstacles and enemies but must land in an unoccupied space. Draw 2 cards, then discard one from your hand.

2x ELECTRON BOLT: A7 Play face-up when attacking. Choose a character Black Bolt could attack at range. They become the target of this attack. Draw 2 cards, then discard one card from your hand.

2x THE MASTER BLOW: A0 Increase the attack value of this card by 1 for every card in Black Bolt’s hand.

1x DESTRUCTIVE VOICE: You may only play this card when you have no more cards in your hand or draw pile. Deal 10 damage to all other characters.

Theme: Channel energy for big attacks, use Bolt’s voice as a last resort

Strengths: Quickly mills through his deck, potential for big attacks and defends, solid movement, ranged attacks

Weaknesses: Usually just has moderate attack and defense, potential to discard important cards

Complexity – Moderate: Black Bolt’s toolset requires combos and set up to do big damage

Path to Victory: CHANNEL ELECTRONS + ELECTRON BOLT/THE MIDNIGHT KING/THE MASTER BLOW, finish with DESTRUCTIVE VOICE

Playing as Black Bolt: Like most Blue Decks I design, Black Bolt has steady and reliable offense and defense, but won’t usually deal big damage unless you’re playing him smart. Most of his unique cards have a milling effect to keep your hand from running low, but you’ll still want to spend a turn drawing cards for THE MASTER BLOW. Even if you can’t quite manage that, you’ll still be milling your deck quickly. You’ll want to be careful of CHANNEL ELECTRONS – unless you have DESTRUCTIVE VOICE in your hand, you may end up discarding it.

Playing Against Black Bolt: The King of the Inhumans has one of the most powerful cards in the game, but he has to be in a very specific situation to use it. Keeping that from happening should be your big goal, and constant pressure will usually do the job. He doesn’t have any big defense unless he boosts it with CHANNEL ELECTRONS, and doing so limits his attack power. Still, don’t underestimate him; if the Black Bolt player is hoarding cards or going through their deck quickly, try to force some discarding to get rid of his big tricks.