The Game Plan
The Advanced Patriot archetype seems to have found itself back in the meta, but how about we make the deck ⊹˙⋆ sparkle ⋆˙⊹ with some added Dazzler and Sentry shenanigans?
The key here is Invisible Woman, as she allows our two quirky 4-costs and our Patriot to stay under the radar and surprise our opponent with their power at the end. The trick with this deck is to make them think you want some kind of on-reveal combo on that lane, when in reality you just set up your ongoing cards for an easy Ultron to fill up the rest of your board.
This is surprisingly effective, and as a backup plan we have Iron Man and Mystique to win lanes if we don't draw Ultron. Yay plan B!
The Decklist
- Invisible Woman is the crutch to this deck. Without her, the Ultron lineup becomes way too obvious and easy to counter. She synergizes well with Patriot and Dazzler, since they're protected from Enchantress / Rogue and are hidden from our opponent. She also works really well with Sentry, since we have until turn 6 to prevent The Void from spawning in the right lane with Ultron.
- Zabu is a good card to have in order to get our 4-costs out early, or to play two of them on turn 6 if need-be.
- Mystique has a plethora of ways to get value in this deck, and acts as a great synergy with Patriot, Ka-Zar, or even Iron Man.
- Patriot is our best combo-piece with Ultron, as he gives the largest bonus to the Drones. There's an added bonus with Brood, which can help out our Iron Man if we don't draw Ultron.
- Brood, as stated above, is a good Plan B for our Iron Man but also acts as a really clean way to enable our Dazzler. One of the most satisfying plays is putting Ultron into the Brood lane, as then the rest of the locations are guaranteed to be filled for our Dazzler.
- Dazzler really does work in this deck and provides a ton of power. It was tough to find a list that suited her, but I think this list does it best.
- Ka-Zar is very simply a backup power boost for the Drones. He also synergizes with Zabu so we can put him on the board as early as Patriot.
- Sentry is honestly just as synergistic with this list as Dazzler. Both of them benefit from Invisible woman, and both work best when Ultron is drawn, since the Drones will fill the right lane, blocking The Void.
- Iron Man is an incredible backup in case Plan A doesn't work. With Sentry, he can swing a lane to 20 power, and with Brood + Patriot he can get it to the same number!
- Blue Marvel acts as yet another way to boost the Drones and is a plug-n-play to any Ultron list.
- Ultron is the coup de grâce to this list, and is killer at getting a full board. It requires some pre-planning to know where to put him, but typically by turn 3 you need to know where he slots in. Always nice to have that Brood lane!
Deck Replacements and Improvements
Let's be honest, Advanced Patriot is nothing new, and there are tried and true lists such as these that can give you a good idea of replacements. I'll list a few: Squirrel Girl, Misty Knight, Doctor Doom, Debrii, Onslaught, and much more.
The Wrap-Up
No matter what happens, this is a ride or die deck for me, and I believe it works because of its surprise. Who knows? Maybe I'm raising Dazzler's stats :)