The Game Plan
With U.S. Agent being added to the game, I wanted to revisit the Spectrum deck I've been playing and really hone in on the negative affliction of cards like Man-Thing while buffing them at the same time with Spectrum.
This list has a lot of options, but what I like about it most is its matchup spread. We have cards like Iron Man and Wong to help us go taller than mid-range decks, we have Man-Thing to help us win against bounce lists, and we have game against big combo decks thanks to Armor, Luke-Cage, and U.S. Agent. That being said, this list often loses against Hela decks because we only have one U.S. Agent. We'd need at least 5 (lol), so for that reason, be cautious and smart with your cubes in that matchup.
Obviously, drawing Luke Cage and Spectrum in this deck is most important, as Luke Cage mitigates the downsides of 3 cards in our deck while Spectrum buffs them all further. When those cards aren't in play, this list plays like a lot of other Spectrum lists: fill out the board with other useful ongoing cards, and finish it off with Spectrum for board-wide power. Other playlines include Iron Man + Mystique, Iron Man + Omega Red, and Wong > Mystique > Spectrum.
The Decklist
- Ant Man is a solid pick in this list because he only costs 1 energy, with the ability to scale if we have a lot of our smaller cards. If you don't fill his lane, that's okay. We're more concerned with lining up our other combos than getting the +4 power he provides alone, especially if we can line up our Wong > Mystique > Spectrum.
- Howard the Duck is valuable for similar reasons to Ant Man, but in my experience, he can also save us a LOT of cubes by letting us know if we get our combo pieces or not.
- Armor is a great tech card against Destroy decks, benefits from Spectrum's buff, protects our 1-drops, and allows us to get into locations we usually couldn't. A really heavy lifter!
- U.S. Agent is a powerhouse of his own, but is better if played on turn 5, since by then we can determine where he'd have the most impact. If you need to tempo him out, he still gets the Spectrum buff, which makes him valuable.
- Lizard is an easy 5 or more power thanks to Luke Cage and Spectrum, but also helps us gain priority for other cards like Armor or Spectrum.
- Mystique can boost our Wong play, become a second Omega Red or Iron Man, and gets buffed by Spectrum.
- Luke Cage mitigates the downsides of Man-Thing, Lizard, and U.S. Agent, helps us win locations like Necrosha easily, helps us in High-Evo and Junk matchups, AND gets buffed by Spectrum. Extremely vital in this list, and has won me countless games.
- Wong is important in this list, but tough to play. Often times, unless you know you have Spectrum (either in hand or thanks to Howard the Duck), you're going to find yourself in situations where playing Wong instead of other cards could lose you the game. On the flipside, he makes this deck able to reach numbers in the 30s and 40s on multiple lanes when played with Spectrum and Mystique, which cannot be understated.
- Man-Thing is a large value play that can easily win lanes depending on the matchup. You can imagine him as a pretty reliable 4/9, with the ability to reach even higher thanks to Spectrum.
- Omega Red has a similar value to Man-Thing, but specializes in helping us spread more power on the board and into locations we can't reach. This is especially helpful when paired with Mystique or Iron Man.
- Iron Man is an incredible card, period. Obviously, Spectrum boosts him to much higher levels, but just having the ability to secure a lane we wouldn't win otherwise is extremely valuable on its own, and offers a lot of other options for us to win with this deck.
- Spectrum is, however, the best finisher for this deck. On her own, you can expect her to add around 17 power to the board including herself. Combined with Wong, she can easily add 30 power onto the board, and with Mystique, that number suddenly skyrockets to near 50 power. You'll need to be aware that the more you invest into the combo, the more your opponent can play around it, so be smart and analyze what counters your opponent might have before fully committing. 50 power sounds great until Shadow King or Shang-Chi decimates a lane.
The Wrap-Up
This list is increasingly impressing me with its ability to put up points and surprise my opponents. I hope you have success and enjoy this spin on the archetype as much as I do!