Pixie - Card Release Aftermath

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Cards/Decks
Scosco23

It's been almost a week since Pixie was released, and she is causing quite a stir. Some people think she is too weak, and her randomness is holding her back. There has also been disappointment about the way she shuffles costs. Initially, she had pretty good stats, and her play rate was exceptionally high for a newly released series 5 card. In particular, she has become a darling of content creators looking to farm clips. Let's dive into Pixie's first week in the game and see how she's doing and being used. Is she a meme, or is she powerful? Are lists using her optimally? How does our real, played experience differ from what we thought before her release?

How does Pixie's shuffle work?

Some frustration has been expressed about Pixie's shuffling mechanic. The fact that a card can get its original cost shuffled back onto it has been counterintuitive for some players.

Here's what Glenn Jones had to say about it:

"It's possible for a single card to get its own cost back, but it's improbable. It wouldn't be a truly random shuffle if it were fixed to avoid that.

It is Intentional. There's a lot of potential for unusual exploits in undesirable and nonintuitive ways using any method other than a truly random shuffle.

It's essentially a list that's randomized and reassigned."

It would be possible to exploit a method where a card couldn't get its own cost back by essentially forcing a low cost onto a particular high-cost card, but I'm not sure that would be so powerful that it would be problematic.

What is the best way to use Pixie?

A few key concepts have become clear now that we've had a week to experiment with Pixie.

  1. She generally works best in lists with just a few high-cost cards. This seemed like one good strategy right away, but I also wanted to explore what a deck with a lot of really low costs and high costs felt like with Pixie. Those decks have disappointed and have felt very dependent on variance.
  2. She doesn't necessarily need Mobius M Mobius to be successful. While Mobius is strong with Pixie, having to waste a turn on a 3-3 is a pretty low-tempo play. Mobius is like a second layer of protection against a low roll, which is often overkill. Moreover, the way many decks with Pixie are constructed, she is meant to allow you to swap the costs from your early game cards that you didn't draw onto game-winning high-cost cards. Pixie has worked best in shells, including several early-game cards that become less valuable when played later. Cards like Iceman, Spider-Ham, Nebula, Korg, Demon, Sunspot, and Bast are a few examples. The general strategy follows this line: play whichever early-game cards you happen to draw, then play Pixie as soon as possible to try to convert some of those you didn't draw into something better by swapping their costs onto the 1 to 4 late game finishing cards you've included in your deck.
  3. Pixie works best in lists that are functional without her or already want to include the cards she works best with. For example, Pixie works well with Wasp. Shoving Wasp and Pixie into a list that otherwise gets no benefit from Wasp hasn't worked. Instead, using Pixie and Wasp in lists that already include her has been much more successful. Examples include Valkyrie decks, High Evolutionary, and Lockjaw decks. This is probably why Yellowjacket hasn't gotten much traction in Pixie decks. Another card with some synergy with Pixie is Nico Minoru. That has led Pixie to find some success in Destroy, Bounce, and Move decks.
  4. Pixie provides massive amounts of cube equity. You can take advantage of the Snap mechanic because you know whether or not you've rolled Pixie into something unbeatable, but your opponent doesn't. Pixie is an excellent way to win 4 and 8 cube games instead of grinding for 1 and 2 as often. The Snap mechanic is likely what makes Pixie a viable card. It also makes her a more complex card to play optimally, leading some players to write her off too early.

Content Creator's Reception

Regis Killbin played Pixie in a destroy shell. This deck highlights why Mobius is often unnecessary. The goal is to occasionally high-roll into something unbeatable with Pixie while playing a functional destroy list around her. I recommend swapping out the Negasonic Teenage Warhead for Nico or Gladiator.

Jeff Hoogland's Bast Pixie deck is a perfect example of how to build around Pixie. It includes strong early game cards like Bast and Spider-Ham that can be played out early or have their costs swapped onto something more powerful like Valkyrie or Iron Man in the games they hide at the bottom of your deck. The deck is playing Wasp in a way that she is already powerful, alongside Valkyrie and Hit-Monkey, rather than just stuffing her into a deck hoping for a high-roll with Pixie. Jeff also has a solid Pixie She-Hulk list. She-Hulk has been shockingly good with Pixie in my testing and is a card I overlooked when theory-crafting.

Revis played a very powerful Pixie Dracula list. Because this list plays Dracula, we are protected by some of Pixie's low-rolls. If she gives us a low-cost Infinaut or Destroyer early enough, that's great. If not, they fulfill their usual role of Dracula discard fodder.

Valkyrie has proven strong with Pixie, and Paper has paired them up again but opts for a stronger high-end with Doctor Doom. Dazzler is here in addition to Ant-Man to help create asymmetric lanes with Valk.

D Money shared these two Pixie lists. I said above that Pixie generally doesn't want to be in a deck with too many high-cost cards, but the exception has been Lockjaw lists. This list resembles the one I rode from 93-100 this season.

These Lockjaw Pixie lists are reasonably inconsistent. However, they have an amazing ability to have an unbeatable late-game burst. These are not the best Pixie decks, but they are still viable and are a good way to win 8 cubes more often than a typical deck. These decks are similar to Mr. Negative, but I think they are better than Negative decks.

Bynx shows off another high-roll Pixie deck with Spectrum.

Tucrr shows off a High Evolutionary build. High Evo pairs well with Pixie since it's a deck that already wants to play Wasp and She-Hulk. This deck can make some seriously unfair turn 6 plays.

The synergy between Black Swan and Pixie is under-explored. Rat has a few other experimental builds with Pixie on his Twitter, so check that out, too. I'm hoping the community continues to experiment with her. Her potential has not been fully explored yet.

Here are a few more Pixie decks with which I have personally succeeded, especially the Ravonna list.

Pixie Ravonna

StormPix

HawkPix

Final Verdict

Pixie is sitting at around a top-third play rate of 15% and a bottom-third 55% drawn win rate. Pixie was the most played Series 5 card at one point, which is impressive, considering she is a new card. Her win rate is not good, but it's important to remember a few things about these statistics. First, cards played in several very different decklists will have lower stats than a card in one deck. A primary example of this is Sauron. He is consistently very high on win rate because he is in a single, solid deck. A card like Jeff will have lower stats because he can be played in multiple lists, including bad lists. Pixie is being played in some lists that are pulling her stats down. Her win rate will improve as she slowly finds her most effective place. But will the community stick with her long enough for that to happen? As her spotlight week ends, many players will move on from Pixie. Hopefully, the community will continue to explore Pixie. She is best used differently than many players initially thought, and she is a powerful and flexible card with a ton of untapped potential.

Who is Scosco23?

Scott is a former editor and teacher who is now a stay-at-home Dad. He has played TCGs for a long time, including Pokemon TCG and MTG and has been Snapping since global launch. He likes to walk the line between competitive meta decks and wacky Rogue decks.

You can find him on Twitter @scodenim

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