The Strategy
This deck utilizes Storm’s lockout to take fast control of a lane, easily securing the game with high value cards. A blend of traditional lockout strategies and ‘Good Stuff’ cards, this deck is a blast to play and also viable! The goal is to flood with Storm, not feeling pressured to contest that location the turn immediately after. This list allows you to work with the flooded location at your own pace.
The List
- Araña is a newer card that packs a major punch! An early game drop, her effect is far from weak. Buffing a card is already quite useful, but moving it into your flooded location adds for lots of variety! Be careful of Elektra and Killmonger, as they pose a big threat to our new web-slinger’s plans.
- Nebula is a necessity in any lockout deck. If you can flood Nebula’s location, she’ll grow without worry and provide lots of power! A plenty strong card in any deck, her synergy with this list is second to none!
- Jeff! is everyone favorite little guy. Arguably one of the strongest cards in the game, Jeff! can surprise your opponent at the flooded location while also contesting some other tricky locations like Sanctum Sanctorum and Crimson Cosmos.
- Quake is a tragically underplayed tech card, especially alongside Storm. The flooded location doesn’t go your way, but you’re way ahead at another location? Play Quake to shift it up! Even without Storm, Quake does lots of work. Imagine the joy you’ll feel when your opponent’s turn one America Chavez or Howard the Duck is suddenly at the Space Throne! Quake is a worthwhile include for sure.
- Silk is a strong card, if played correctly. 5 power for 2 energy is nothing to sneeze at, but her downside of inconsistency can certainly get in the way. But how much of a downside is it really? She can move into your flooded location with ease, surprising your opponent and helping secure the flood. She also ignores Jessica’s downside when she moves, which is a small yet helpful piece of synergy!
- Negasonic Teenage Warhead is an interesting tech piece that can prove quite useful when the flood is looking dicey. If you have reason to believe your opponent is playing a card that will cause you to lose flood, Negasonic can pick it off for you. Outside of flood, she can surprise your opponent and cause them to lose a key strategy piece. Overall a strong piece for a relatively cheap 3 energy.
- Storm is the backbone of the deck’s plan. However, if you don’t draw her, there’s no reason to retreat; the deck can still perform well without her! However, if you can manage to secure a strong flood, you can confidently win one lane, allowing you to focus on a second one and secure the game! While she doesn’t boast a large amount of power herself, her effect is game winning.
- Spider-Man is a strong Storm follow-up, allowing you to pull a card that threatens your flood win away from the flooded location. This works especially well if you’ve lined up a Nebula or other card to provide power outside of Storm’s weak 2 power.
- Jessica Jones is the ideal follow-up to a turn 3 Storm. Providing you a hearty 9 power after resolving her trigger, Jessica can single-handedly contest a flooded location with ease. In instances outside of the flooded location, Jessica can provide a strong amount of power as well, just be cautious of her effect!
- War Machine is a phenomenal card for lockout, especially after his change to Ongoing. A 4/7 is a respectable body, and his effect can get around lots of different effects beyond the flooding caused by Storm. These include locations like Sanctum Sanctorum and the Big House, cards like Goose and Professor X, and even card abilities like Ebony Maw and Crossbones! Overall, strong include if you’ve got him!
- Aero is a strange include, but other than Storm she’s my favorite card in this list! She’s actually essential to the kit; here’s why. Let’s set a scene: You pull off a turn 3 Storm, but you didn’t draw Jessica so you follow up with a War Machine played on the flooded location (strong play!) However, to your surprise, your opponent whips out a Cull Obsidian, causing you to lose the flooded location. Insert Aero! Play her on a location that isn’t flooded following the turn after the flood completely resolves, and she’ll move your opponent’s big play off of flood! Plus, she’s a 5/10, a very strong body for a beneficial effect!
- Doctor Doom gives you that final turn push, contesting the flooded location while providing value to the others. A plenty strong standalone card, his Doombots don’t care one bit about the flood, and they can provide some last-second power when needed.
Substitutions
Sometimes, based off changing metas and new cards, you might need to shift around your deck, and that’s alright!! While I believe this deck doesn’t allow for a lot of changes, the strongest suggestions I can give are…
- Echo (another strong lockout piece, can be impactful when placed outside of our flood lane)
- Captain Marvel (strong card overall, can help secure a flood lane)
- Nightcrawler (strong mover for cheap cost; good at helping with flood lane)
- Medusa (Silk is always better, but if you’re missing her, Medusa is a strong include)
Final Thoughts
This deck takes advantage of high value cards and linear strategies for easy wins. The only downside to this deck is that shifting metas can cause it to occasionally underperform. It’s a blast to play, though, and it’s my personal favorite deck! I hope you enjoy!