https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelsnapcomp/comments/1e13p24/infinite_with_patriot_and_gwenpool_cl11662/
The current meta is absolutely insufferable with Arishem + Loki + Blob + tech decks having a stranglehold on the meta, making it so the majority of what people are playing are Arishem decks and it’s counters. So instead of engaging in the meta with the most competitive decks at the moment, I’ve decided to give good ole’ Patriot a go with the newest season pass card Gwenpool, in big part because as a member of the “I only buy a season pass here and there and must save keys” gang I don’t own most of the Series 5 card that enable the current meta (no Arishem, no Blob, no Thena, no Sage, etc.)
The reasoning for it is that I think it’s effectively impossible to truly tech against Arishem, because that deck effectively runs 5 extremelly strong gameplans at once:
Bruteforce out-tempo with +1 extra energy and cheating cost reductions
Impossible to predict point allocation and interactions because of randomly generated cards.
The strongest version of Loki’s bullshit after his nerf.
The strongest version of Blob printer to date.
2-3 Tech cards to counter the most common decks in the current meta (including the mirror match).
So, to deal with all of that, I think the answer isn’t to try and hope you draw the perfect tech card at the right time when you happen to queue into Arishem, which is often, but other decks exist too. The answer IMO is to build a reliable solitarie-style gameplan that isn’t necessarily reliant on a single disruptable piece to work (think Wong or Tribunal decks) or that would be disastrous to get copied by Loki (think Destroy decks).
I think Patriot fits that description pretty well even if it seems counter intuitive, and frankly it’s due to how much Gwenpool ends up diversifying the usual Patriot gameplan. After a few revisions across the ranks, this is the deck I ended up hitting infinite with:
Wasp: Patriot synergy. 0 cost means you can get her out of your hand at any moment to increase your odds of Gwen hiting the cards you want. Excellent target for Gwenpool herself. Nobody plays around her last turn.
Ant-Man: We are going for a “fill the board” strategy so he fits right in. 1 cost means he’s a decent target for Gwenpool.
Squirrel Girl: 1-drop with Patriot + Blue Marvel + Mockingbird synergy, yes please. 1 cost means she’s a decent target for Gwenpool. Board filler.
Dazzler: Again, “fill the board” strat, an easy conditional 2/8 is hard to replace.
Mister Sinister: This guy (or these guys?) effectively doubling every hit by Gwenpool as a 2-drop is just too good to pass up. Mandatory Patriot + Blue Marvel + Mockingbird synergy. Board filler.
Mysterio: Ok, now try effectively tripling every Gwenpool hit because for some reason buffing Mysterio from hand also buffs the fake 2/0s he generates. You know the drill by now: Patriot + Blue Marvel + Mockingbird synergy and board filler.
Shadow King: Yes he’s anti-synergy with Gwenpool, but it’s not horribly difficult to play around it and all your other buffs are on-going. Right now, I’m using Shadow King to deal with the most problematic “go tall” cards against the deck (Blob, printed Blob, Venom, Namora etc.). But I’m gonna be honest, he’s the flex slot of the deck, feel free to replace him with basically anything you think would fit your personal plasytle. I’ve tried Jeff, Nico, Forge, Scarlet Witch, White Widow and Quake and they all did fine in his place. Playing a good 3 drop or a 4-drop in this slot (Nocturne, Rogue, Shang Chi, Red Guardian, Skrull etc.) always felt like they scuffed the curve of the deck so it always felt better to do something else on turns 3-4 (like placing Dazzler/Patriot or setting up discounts for Mockingbird) and turn 6 (Ultron, Blue Marvel + 1 drop, x3 2-drops, Patriot + 2 drop + 1 drop). So I suggest you stick to 1-drops or 2-drops if you want a replacement.
Patriot: We have Wasp, squirrels, sinister clone, mysterio illusions and drones to buff with him, he represents so yeah he’s obviously the key card of the deck and it does suck if you don’t draw him or if he gets disabled by a tech card, however, not all hope is lost if that were to happen because we have alternatives.
Gwenpool: She’s said alternative. If Patriot fails, Gwenpool easily allows you to still run the “go wide” gameplan by having excellent synergy with 3 out of 5 Patriot buff targets. Our fairly cheap deck composition also allows us to play the randomly buffed cards pretty reliably even on instances where we have a lot of cards in hand. Playing her either on turn 4 or 5 is fine, but always plan those turns in advance according to your handstate to increase the odds she hits the card(s) you want.
Blue Marvel: Did I mention we are going for a “fill the board” gameplan? +1 power to everything else on the board seems kinda nice with that strat huh.
Mockingbird: We are running 3 cards that can easily discount her (4 if you wanna be pedantic and count Ultron, but c’mon), so mandatory inclusion.
Ultron: In this deck he’s basically Dr. Doom on steriods as a very effective finisher if you have Patriot/Blue Marvel on the board. Do not obssess over leaving space for his drones, this is not an all-in Ultron deck, this is a deck that uses Ultron well.
Now, card choice questions I already expect:
”Why no Mystique?”
Playing Gwenpool means we might have to re-consider the cards we have to play on turns 5-6 a lot, Mystique does not like this at all. Also, Gwenpool already accomplishes what Mystique does in a Patriot deck (more buffs across the bord) in an infinitely more powerful and flexible way. In my experience another 3-drop just fucks with the curve and your general gameplan. So basically, I think she’s a massive bait in this version of Patriot.
”Why no Brood?”
You already know what I think of adding another 3-drop to the list. We also already have ways fill the whole board pretty easily with our current set of cards at a cheaper price. Not to mention Brood generates serious board space problems by almost filling a whole lane instantly instead of spreading over all 3 lanes lanes, in this deck he’s nowhere near as playable on curve (which is key to discounting Mockingbird) as the other choices we already drafted. If you wanna play Brood just play a Silver Surfer deck.
”Why no Absorbing Man?”
No Brood means no Absorbing Man. And wasting turn 5 to play Gwenpools effect again is just less efficient and reliable than setting up Blue Marvel or any combination of our cheaper cards. Again, he belongs in other decks.
”Why no Iron Lad?”
Because he has multiple underwhelming or downright match-losing targets in this deck. Another 4-drop screws the purposefully fairly cheap curve of the deck. Realistically him duplicating a good effect in our deck isn’t better than drawing a card that synergizes with that effect instead.
And that’s it for now, worst match-ups are probably Clog (kills our board space and might pull our Ultron with Doc Oct), Destroy (cannot play 1-drops proactively or deal with Knull), and greedy combo decks (we don’t go taller than Mr. Negative/Wong/Tribunal/etc. highrolls). In which case, make liberal use of the Shadow King slot to fit a decent but cheap counter card depending on whatever you are facing (Jeff to avoid clogging, Armor, Scarlet Witch to kill limbo etc.).
Or you know just add whatever 3-4 cost tech card you fell comfortable with, against my warning that it’ll screw the deck's curve, I can’t stop you.
Anyhow, happy climbing, and remember that getting to infinite is about good snap/retreat fundamentals, oh and that Arishem decks are busted right now and will sometimes just accidentally win by high tempo and random bullshit. Good luck.