Today we have a Deck Showcase created by GunnyT. He is in the top 500 on the leaderboard and has been piloting his deck title, “Big Dumb Idiots,” to great success throughout this season.
Big Dumb Idiots
What essentially is Big Dumb Idiots?
Big Dumb Idiots is all about maximizing raw stat output. These are the best pound-for-pound stats in the game. The only omissions are Doctor Doom, Ms. Marvel, and The Infinaut. These three functionally do not work with the deck. Big Dumb Idiots wants to focus on two lanes to win. Occasionally we will play into a third lane on turn 6 to throw off your opponent. This deck has a high floor, as when it is playing poorly, it will still be dropping huge stats. This outpaces any other deck when they are not playing at peak performance. While our opponents are playing 4/3 and 5/3 tech cards, this deck continues to develop an overbearing board presence.
What was your original inspiration for the deck?
The first time I saw big stat cards with drawbacks being used was when Snap Judgments featured an Ikas list running cards like Red Skull and Doctor Octopus with Zero. I enjoyed playing that list. Unfortunately, it was missing something and was just barely underpowered. Also, when Gladiator got buffed to 8 power, I remember Lamby discussing how it was a good card simply because it was the best stats. When Skaar was released, I got the idea to couple these ideas together. Thinking to myself, could I make a deck that focused on pure stat output and overwhelming power by filling the deck with the best stats along the curve.
Card Breakdown
What is the purpose of each card? How do you use them effectively?
He enables plays with Gladiator and Maximus early if we need to fight for early lanes. It also turns off the downside of Attuma and Destroyer
She protects our cards from Shang Chi. It puts a roadblock in front of Destroy decks. She can stop Attuma from destroying itself. It can protect a lane from a Destroyer.
This is the flex spot. I’ve chosen Quake as a great turn 6 play alongside a reduced-cost Skaar. It can be played early on turn 2/3 if an opportunity arises to make a detrimental play against our opponent. It can be played mid-game to swap a flooded location to one where we have already committed a lot of stats. It can be played late to steal cubes from our opponents. Sometimes it is a vanilla 2/3, but such is life with tech cards.
Stat for stat, the best non-scaling 2 energy card in the game. If we see an early location that needs stats, it can be played there to secure that location. However, hold onto it until turn 6 to play alongside a reduced-cost Skaar. This card will also help buff Ronin by 4 points. We rarely play this on-curve and allow our opponent to draw 2 cards. That is typically a bad play, corner cases aside.
He helps protect our big cards from Shang Chi and turns off the downside from Maximus, Gladiator, and Destroyer. He is good against decks with big On Reveal abilities like Destroy or Hela.
Stat for stat, the best non-scaling 3 energy card in the game. This card can destroy a large percentage of the cards played in the game. If we pull something terrible, we can always retreat for 1 cube. Use the ability proactively to try and “snipe” key cards out of our opponent’s deck. Something I have noticed is that players will tend to leave a lane alone if I’ve pulled a large threat out of their deck, thinking they have won that lane. We can easily play into that lane on turn 6 and flip it in our favor.
Warpath is a conditional 4/10. It’s played to reduce the cost of Skaar. It also has the added benefit of baiting out early Shang Chi saving our biggest cards from annihilation. Depending on the match, I will actively turn off Warpath if I believe my opponent is going to Shang Chi that lane or if I believe they will give up on that lane. This normally happens on turn 6 after my Skaar has been reduced.
Attuma is a conditional 4/10. It’s played to reduce the cost of Skaar. It also has the benefit of baiting out early Shang Chi, saving your biggest cards from annihilation. The benefit of Attuma is that it can be nullified with Zero and Armor. We have to watch out for Magneto pulling this out of our armor lane and Enchantress turning off our Armor. If that happens, fear not! It’s already done its job reducing the cost of Skaar. One cool trick with this card is that if played on Dark Dimension, which doesn’t reveal cards until the end of the game, Attuma will not destroy itself, no matter how many cards there are. It obviously will not reduce the cost of Skaar this way but it is sometimes useful.
Ronin, as the only 5-cost card in the deck, has earned its spot with reliably high stats. This card is rarely below 10 power and is frequently 13+
Have you ever considered Devil Dinosaur? Why or why not?
I have never tested Devil Dino. With a way to add cards to our hand, it would be easier to take advantage of that card. Ronan has been performing brilliantly for me as the sole 5 drop. I did have 2 cards that cost 5 in the deck at one point. I eventually landed on just one, as Skaar can usually be played as a 4/11, and playing either Attuma or Warpath is still an acceptable backup plan on turn 5.
Blob with only one card in the deck over 16 has a high chance of being between 18-20+ power. This is the type of deck I believe Blob was designed for! High stats like this make it very difficult for our opponent to know our maximum power output in a lane on the final turn of the game.
I know you played the deck before the recent OTA. Has Blob's change affected his performance in the deck?
It has, and I would be lying if I said it didn’t. At a minimum, Blob lost 4 points of power. Blob is still an above-rate 6 energy card. There are very few card combinations that prevent Blob from eating all of the remaining cards in the deck and outgrowing most other stand-alone cards. Oddly enough, this deck has never been a Blob deck. We prefer splitting our power over multiple lanes on the final turn.
Skaar is reliably a 4/11 and often a 2/11, which is bonkers stats. This played on turn 6 alongside other high-stated cards, creates situations in which our opponent cannot account for where we will dump stats on the final turn. I will play this on turn 5 if I have a strong turn 6 follow-up play.
Destroyer, besides Blob, is the highest-stated 6-cost card we can play. The Infinaut does not fit into this deck, so we are relegated to this conditional 6/16. The drawback from Destroyer can be eliminated with a Cosmo, Armor on another lane, or Zero.
What other cards with high stat-to-cost ratios did you consider when making the deck?
Throughout the process of making this deck I tried pretty much every card you could imagine that would fit in this style deck. At one point, I tried to combine 5 power 2 energy cards like Lizard with Hulk Buster and Forge with Crossbones to make them 10 power. I was on Sentry over Warpath in one of the 4 cost slots. I tried Doctor Octopus and Red Skull in the 5-cost slot for a while. Most recently I was testing Magneto over Destroyer.
Turn by Turn
What would be a typical turn-by-turn play of the deck?
Early turns are dedicated to preparing the board for our big dumb idiots. Armor and Cosmo are our best early plays. We have a ton of stats if we need to fight for early lanes.
Turn 1 - Zero into Turn 2 Maximus is not an ideal play pattern but is acceptable for early aggression.
Do you normally skip this turn?
This deck will almost always skip turn 1 because I will only play Maximus on turn two if I need priority.
Turn 2 - I will play armor over Quake here. I do not like playing Quake out early, but I would rather begin putting points on the board than skip the turn. Quake finds its way into the curve whenever it is very disadvantageous for our opponent.
Turn 3 - is a great time to play Armor or Quake alongside Zero into a Turn 4 Attuma or a Gladiator.
Turn 4 - is when we want to be playing our 10 power cards. Zero and Gladiator are acceptable, with Zero canceling out Gladiator or playing afterward into turn 5 Attuma. This is a backup plan. If I have Ronin in hand, I would rather play an exposed Attuma in a lane alone than take up that turn on less optimal plays.
Turn 5 - we want to be playing another 10+ power cards. Ronin is the best in this slot. If you can find an opportunity to play Cosmo alongside an Armor or Quake, this can also be a solid play if it is extremely detrimental to your opponent. A 4-energy Skaar, Attuma, or Warpath can be played alongside Zero into a turn 6 Destroyer or Attuma plus a 2-energy card.
Turn 6 - we are either playing Blob, Destroyer, or a reduced-cost Skaar and as many stats as possible. If we have not played Armor by now, now is a fantastic opportunity if we expect a Shang Chi. A 2-energy Skaar, Maximus and a 2/3 are 20 points alone. Add in Ronin, and we’ve added 24 points to the board on the final turn!
Locations
Are there any locations that cause an instant snap or retreat when you see them?
The Nexus is the number one best location. Very few decks can match our consistent stats. That, coupled with the protection from Cosmo and Armor, makes it a reliable source of high stats. Castle Blackstone is easy for us to stay ahead in. Kyln provides us with an easy lane to take early with our high stats. Monster Island will add another card to the board that our deck can take particular advantage of. Sinister London allows us to double our ridiculous stats all over the board. Deep space is a free Zero we are well suited to play into.
Mojoworld is easier to reliably fill when we are playing more than one card a turn. Luke’s bar, Morag, Sanctum Santorum, and locations that limit our ability to play into them are tough because we have no way to move. Quake is our only option in those locations. Tarnax IV is awful because our cards generally have downsides for being the highest power in the slot. We do not want these to change into a different card.
Snapping
When do you snap? What’s a typical hand that’s an instant snap turn 1?
I love seeing a great curve! As a rule, I generally do not snap on turn 1 as I see little advantage over waiting until turn 2. The best early hands normally include Armor, two cards with 10 or more power, and Skaar. Magical Christmas land would be T2 Armor, T3 Cosmo or Gladiator, T4 Warpath or Attuma, T5 Ronan, T6 Skaar + Maximus + Quake or Zero. Early snaps can also come from Quake plays. There are too many to count, but Quake steals cubes.
Metagame
How do you approach the various matchups in the current metagame?
Thanos Blob
The key cards are Cosmo, Armor, and Ronin. This matchup can go either way. Big Dumb Idiots shines when they flounder through early turns. If they draw well, it can be a difficult game. Try to play Cosmo into an empty lane on turn 3. We are hoping that they will play Lockjaw there. Cosmo gives us an easy lane to win because it stops their Blob, and we can out-stat their other cards here. It will also stop their stones from having the added benefit of activating while pulling a card out of their deck. Shang Chi into Lockjaw destroying one of your cards is awful! All of this is where Cosmo Shines. Armor will prevent them from using their Shang Chi to destroy our stats. Ronin is a key card here because they tend to have a lot of cards in hand throughout the game, and it will always be 2 points stronger than their Devil Dino. Our number one goal in this game is to be winning 2 lanes on turn 5 and have the ability to flip a lane on turn 6. This makes their Blob useless in winning the game. Thanos Blob tries to play one big threat on Turns 4, 5, and 6.
- Things to watch out for in this match are Shang Chi, Magneto, and Lockjaw. Shang is pretty obvious. Play into protection when able. Magneto can pull Attuma away from Armor and into a location with other cards that will destroy it. It can also turn off Warpath by filling all of your lanes. Watch out for Magneto without prioritizing pulling your Cosmo. If you play either Destroyer or Blob into the wrong lane after Magneto does its thing, the results will be detrimental. Lockjaw is the ultimate gamble. Without Cosmo, avoid this lane if possible. I often finish a game by playing into a filled lockjaw lane with only one large threat. Take advantage of this if the opponent needs to fill that lane better.
High Evo
This should be an easy matchup. We can out-stat them over and over again. When they skip a turn to put 30 power onto the board, we can keep playing big stats. The key here is winning 2 lanes by 10 on the final turn. That forces them into a situation where She-Hulk cannot help them win. With that in place, feel free to win the third lane, which can be easy. This deck plays particularly well into Leech. They play a 5/3 on turn 5 while you are dropping huge stats. This can also free up your Destroyer or Attuma to be played freely.
- Things to watch out for in this match are the Leech mentioned above. It can kill your Blob in hand and the cost reduction on Skaar. Play Skaar early to prevent that by not playing Ronin. You’d rather have a 6/11 than a 5/5. These decks will occasionally play Shang Chi.
Black Knight
The key cards are Gladiator, Cosmo, and Armor. This match can be easy if they do not draw the nuts. You have to respect early snaps coming from your opponent. It probably means they have a good plan. Gladiator can be good at disrupting their game plan by pulling one of their discard enablers out of sequence, their Zabu/Sera, Black Knight, or their Shang Chi. If you pull their Infinaut, it’s okay because you can either abandon that lane or go over the top of it. They only have 3 big stats, Infinaut, Magnito, and Ms. Marvel, in the deck and an Ebony Blade to account for. Try to play Gladiator in the middle, not to help them enable Ms. Marvel if we pull a big card. Black Knight has a very high stat output, but it does have a cap that you can out-stat. Remember, they cannot use Ghost Rider in a lane with 3 cards. If we can win that lane and have Cosmo protecting another, they will have difficulty beating our stats.
- Things to watch out for in this matchup are Magneto pulling your Attuma and the perfect curve coming from their deck. If they have a 20-power Ebony Blade, we have got to be very mindful of Ghost Rider pulling the Infinaut back out.
Loki
The key cards are Blob, Armor, and Cosmo. This is a hard match-up. The best way to win this is to focus our stats on two lanes. Play into the lanes they have already committed cards, limiting the number of cards they can play there. Stacking stats into a lane where they can only play one card is a great way to win it. Our early cards out stat theirs. Blob can take another lane as well because ours is bigger than theirs. Sometimes these will come down to a 50/50 on where they will play your cards. Armor does its usual thing, and a key Cosmo play can stop their On reveals. Luckily, they like to fill up the board quickly, so take advantage of the lack of available space.
- Things to watch out for in this match include their ability to flood the board with your cards. They will be getting all of our great stats at a discount. On top of that, they can use our already-played Armor and Cosmo for their cards that benefit from their inclusion.
The Living Tribunal
The key cards are Gladiator, Blob, and Quake. This is a bad matchup. We have very little ways to interact with them. On the upside, they also have very little way to interact with us. Use Gladiator proactively. It destroys almost every card in their deck. Go as tall as possible in two lanes and hope it’s bigger than they are doing. Quake is key here because many locations can hinder this style of deck. Find an opportune moment to use Quake to our advantage.
- There is little to look out for in this matchup. If they are going off, particularly with Iron Man, retreat. We can out-stat multiple Ms. Marvels. Do not play an on-curve Maximus into a combo deck. We will just be handing them the cards they need.
Lockdown
The key cards are Big Stats, Quake, and Armor. This is a fairly easy matchup. Lockdown wants to have priority so it can play Alioth on turn 6. Spread out your power in anticipation of a Storm. This is a great match to play out early, Maximus. The pure stats you get on board outweigh their card draw. When they drop Storm, play a big card into that lane. Quake is great at opening up a Flooded lane and swapping it to where we are ahead on stats. If they already have quite a bit of stats in their flooded lane (Nebula), ignore it and focus on being ahead in the other two. Their deck has a really tough time dealing with our high stats. They are generally not running Shang Chi, but it is always nice to protect our cards in case they are.
- Things to watch out for in this match include Doctor Doom. Make sure you account for 5 points going into each location. Alioth, if we are behind on board and need to win a location.
Darkhawk Leech
The key cards are Armor, Cosmo, and Blob. This can be an easy matchup. Leech hurts when it hits our Blob because it keeps their Darkhawk active. That being said, it can free up other plays for us. We can easily out-stat a Darkhawk even if we have 3 extra rocks in our deck. If this deck gets cooking and we draw too many rocks, it can be hard to pull together a win. Big Dumb Idiots aims to play one card a turn on turns 3, 4, and 5, so a rock or two can still keep us in the game.
- Things to watch out for in this matchup are Shadow King on our Blob. Luckily this deck is not “meta,” so they may not expect it and know they need to play it. This deck plays Shang Chi, so protect our dudes. This deck is good at spreading out power. With Zabu out, expect two 4 energy cards on turn 6. If we’ve gone tall in two locations and have Armor and/or Cosmo in hand, play them on turn 6 to stop their counters.
Destroy
The key cards are Armor and Cosmo. This can be an easy match if we can close off their destroy cards with Armor and Cosmo. Many Destroy players get greedy with their early plays and like to stack one lane in preparation for one of their destroy cards. Play Armor on top of their turn-one play. They will likely play another card there on turn 2, like Deadpool or Wolverine. Without Armor, if I have Maximus and Cosmo in hand, I like to play Max gaining priority and Cosmo onto the lane they want to destroy. If we can disrupt even one early destroy trigger, they will have difficulty recovering. If we cannot stop them early, fight for priority and guess where they will play cards like Deadpool and Venom together. Allowing us to play Armor or Cosmo where we expect them. If there is an X-23 or Wolverine on the board, then play into that lane with Armor or Cosmo. Early Gladiator can be risky by pulling X-23, Wolverine, Deadpool, or Death, but it can help us “snipe” an early Knull or one of their destroy enabling cards. Play Gladiator into an uncontested lane. This will also help us gain priority. If we are playing against the Arnim Zola version, watch out for them playing a big Venom or Knull into a lane by itself. If we have priority, we can use Armor or Cosmo to stop their big Zola play.
- Things to watch out for in this matchup are if they get their engine up and running. If they have triggered their destroy enablers many times, we need to retreat because, at that point, they can put more stats on the board.
Galactus
The key cards are Big Stats, Cosmo, and Destroyer. This match is easy. They play terrible cards that cannot outpace us. If they have played both goblins into a single lane, expect a Galactus there. Surprise Destroyer in that lane is Awesome! In this match, you want to play in lanes where they have no cards. This will stop their Galactus play because Galactus has to be in a lane alone. Their other big stats come from Sentry and Annihilous. If given the opportunity, play into the rightmost lane and fill it up by turn 5. Otherwise, we can still play too many stats therefore, it doesn't matter. Try to have priority going into turn 6 because they run Alioth.
- Things to watch out for in this matchup are Alioth without priority, filling up your lane with Hood, goblins and Void, and Galactus. If we are not in a domineering position on turn 6, then retreat.
What about other Off Meta Decks?
Just play big stats. Most decks cannot compete with our stat output. Feel free to play Gladiator. It destroys almost every card in the game.
Do you run into the mirror? How do you approach that?
I have run into the mirror only a couple of times. The best way to handle it would be to try and curve out as best as possible. The deck cannot counter itself therefore, it will come down to who gets the most stats out. If they have tech pieces like Cosmo or Armor, use those against them by playing Armor or Destroyer. By not having to invest in those cards, we may be able to gain the upper hand. Also, we can try to force the game into a one-lane battle. If each player has one lane fairly developed without opposition, those lanes will be hard to flip. In this case, both players will be forced to focus on one shared lane in the final turns of the game. At this point, ensure you are being as efficient as possible and throw everything you’ve got into that location. Like all mirror matches, it will all come down to who drew better. If you do not have a good curve or ideal plays and your opponent does, then it’s time to retreat.
Card Changes
This is always the question, but what cards are possibly replaceable and what do you get asked for a possible card swap the most?
The number one card replacement I get asked about is Gladiator. The best swap would be Polaris over Spider-Man to avoid messing up Warpath.
There is only one flex spot in the deck which is Quake. Feel free to replace it with Shadow King as needed. Any 2-cost tech card is good. I prefer Quake because it feels better to play on-curve and still can provide benefits if played early.
Future proof
What are your thoughts on the future of this deck?
I believe this deck or some iteration of this deck will come in and out of the Meta forever. This will remain relevant if the game requires us to put the most points in two lanes. Big Dumb Idiots will fade whenever decks that require interaction, such as combo decks, rise in popularity but will resurface whenever “fair” decks are battling for dominance. Each new card released that has a high energy-to-power ratio will be a consideration for this deck. The next best thing can replace any high-stat card here. The key cards in this deck are Zero, Armor, and Cosmo. Everything else is replaceable. I have confidence that I’ve come up with something with lasting power.
Conclusion
Big Dumb Idiots is a fresh deck idea that has some solid theory behind it. I am looking forward to trying it out as this season continues. GunnyT has provided very in-depth responses to give anyone all the information they need to pilot this deck to success. Seriously, this article is all GunnyT, I don’t take any credit for all the information provided here. Check him out here on Twitter (GunnyT), and leave comments down below on what you think of the deck.
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