Introduction
Daredevil fits into a number of control oriented decks due to his ability to view where the opponent's committing cards on turn 5 synergizing well with cards like Professor X or Hobgoblin which become even more powerful by removing the uncertainty factor.
Game plan
The way to pilot this deck is the same as the old Pool 1 Ongoing deck, while making use of the Daredevil + Professor X combo to lock down a location, and finally win on the last turn by either playing Spectrum, Iron Man or Hulk.
Card suggestions
You can run Colossus instead of Lizard, substitute Iron Man with Klaw or swap out Warpath for Shang-Chi (his effect can be ruined by a number of locations, e.g. Central Park or one of the Goblins played by the opponent).
You can also upgrade the deck by adding Mojo and/or Destroyer, the latter of those will transform the deck into the archetype which's been plaguing the meta in November.
Decklist
Besides Daredevil, all other cards are from Pool 1 and 2.
- Ant-Man, can be played on curve in this deck archetype, will sometimes provide extra stats on turn 6 if saved for later and played along Iron Man.
- Daredevil, the man of the hour, play him on turn 4 at latest if you wish to make use of his effect.
- Armor is good for both disrupting the opponent and keeping your Ant-Man, Warpath alive.
- Lizard, good stats for the cost as long as he's played into a less contested lane You can also play Professor X blindly on top of him as long as you're ahead on the location and the two will secure it most of the time.
- Mister Fantastic and Captain America are very similar with one providing power across the board and the other in a single lane.
- Cosmo, another great disruption tool which will also keep your Ongoing cards safe.
- Warpath rewards you for focusing on the basic objective of the game - winning 2 locations out of 3. Can also be used as bait and then just slam Hulk into a third location at the end.
- Iron Man, perfectly balanced as all things should be, can be played on turn 5 instead of Professor X or on the final turn as an alternative win condition.
- Professor X, sneaky victory in a single lane with minimal investment. If you've played him without Daredevil and you're behind by 1 power in that location, it's still possible to win with either Mr. Fantastic or Spectrum on the final turn.
- Spectrum, your first finisher. Besides Daredevil and Hulk, the deck is built out of only Ongoing cards which make use of her effect.
- Hulk, a big guy with no particular upsides or downsides, for when you just need that raw power on the final turn.
Final thoughts
The deck is easy to get used to as we're all forced to play a few games with Spectrum in the Recruit season and chances are a lot of us have used an Ongoing deck for a while in Pool 1.
Instead of when to snap, let's cover when not to do so first instead: on turn 5 after seeing your opponent's play and you're locking a lane with Professor X while being ahead, experienced players will just retreat. Therefore you ought to do so a turn earlier instead, depending on matchup. Of course if Daredevil's on the board, but you're missing Professor X and are unsure of the outcome of the game, you can try and make use of that same mentality and attempt to bluff your way into that 1 cube.
Counters to watch out for:
- The most obvious would be Enchantress with all these juicy Ongoing effects.
- However Aero can be much more dangerous as she'll just mess up your whole game if she pulls Professor X into a location where you're behind instead.
- She can be equally annoying on the final turn with the addition of Magneto. Do try to always keep the two in mind and do the math first before pressing the End turn button.
Have fun!