Defenders, Last two decks

When last I was here with you guys I was discussing how varied and consistent certain builds can be, and wouldn’t you know it I got a couple of suggestions for a few other characters on the 5th turn slot that could also be used with the Defenders to create some very interesting interactions. To put it quite simply I don’t think that there are any 5 drop characters that can’t be used in unison with Samantha Parrington for some rather cool and creative combinations. The real challenge will be to create these decks in formats different than the ones I have used already. Another thing I also want to keep different are the affiliations I will use when teaming up the Defenders. I started the last article trying to show how versatile some teams are while keeping the same goal in the decks, so that’s what I will keep on doing.

Speaking of last time the formats and decks I presented (in case you forgot) where: Defenders with Spider-Friends for Bring Your Own Set (BYOS), Defenders with Warbound for Silver Age Legend, Straight Defenders for Bring Your Own Team Golden (BYOTG), and since there was no way I could create a Modern Deck with the team since it has been in the Silver Age rotation for quite some time I brought back a deck that was created when Marvel Team-Up was still Modern Age legal and it featured the Defenders with Marvel Knights.

So what formats are left? Well there are still quite a few but there are two I want to work with. One of the two formats I want to build a deck for is Bring Your Own Two Teams (BYOTT). Last time I worked with this format I made a League of Assassins deck that teamed up with Crime Lords to try and abuse Stilt-Man. I really liked working with the League of Assassins so I will work with them again. The second format I want to work with is the less known format of Equipment Legends where decks require a minimum of 12 equipments. In this format fun is the main goal so equipment hate cards are highly discouraged. For this deck I will go with the much hated Ahmed Samsarra and the Checkmate guys while using Fate Artifacts to reach the 12 equipment requirement.


If we learned anything from the last time I presented Defender decks is that there are some very specific characters and cards that are constantly seeing play from the Defenders side. These cards are really the key of getting the win on the 5th turn. First up is Samantha Parrington whose ability to ready an attacker the first time it attacks is basically the core of each and every one of the decks. The second card is the walking Mega-Blast Tania the Red Guardian. Her extra 4ATK for the turn is to good not to be valued or used. The last is Hellcat who as a hidden character can help us preserve our numbers. Her stat boost is another reason why we should play her. Last character is the best alternate drop the Defenders have, and that’s Hawkeye. Like I said last time his DEF stats leave something to be desired but the control element that he can provide against certain decks is simply amazing. Other than those Defender characters any ATK pump plot twist that has the words “this turn” like: Flying Kick, Crackshot, and Mega-Blast are pure gold.

So the first deck in the agenda is going to be the League of Assassins BYOTT deck. The 5th turn drop we are going to be using is Cassandra Cain – Daughter of Shiva. The reason we are using her over the other 5 drops the League of Assassins have to offer is because of her ability. After she has stunned a character Cassandra gains +3/+3 for the turn. This is great for two simple reasons. First is the fact that this trigger goes of more than once per turn, so she gets +3/+3 on the first stun and then another +3/+3 on a second stun. This is very good for a deck that plans on attacking with her more than once. So lets take a look at the deck list:

Characters (27):
4 Tania Belinskya <> Red Guardian, Cold Warrior
1 Talia, Daughter of the Demon’s Head
3 Shadow Assassin, Army
3 Hellcat, Patsy Walker
2 The Mad Dog, Rabid Killer
1 Hawkeye, Loud Mouth
3 Merlyn, Direct Hitman
3 Samantha Parrington <>
Valkyrie, Chooser of the Slain
3 Cassandra Cain, Daughter of Shiva
1 Talia, Daughter of Madness
1 David Cain, World Class Assassin
1 Nyssa Raatko, Daughter of the Demon
1 Lady Shiva, Master Assassin

Plot Twists (22):
3 The “B” Team
4 Banished to the Abyss
3 The Order
3 Demon Fang
2 The Demon’s Head
3 Tower of Babel
4 Defenders Defend

Locations (11):
4 Flying Fortress
4 Mountain Stronghold
1 Plague Zone, Non-Unique
2 Lazarus Pit, Non-Unique – Death’s Door

One of the biggest problems we encounter with this deck is the lack of for the turn pumps. This really hurts the goal of the 5th turn victory, but I believe it can still be done even though it’s less likely than on previous decks. Because of this the deck runs a curve up to the 7th turn, which also has a few interesting interactions with Samantha.

Now in addition to Tania and all the well known ways the Defenders can get for the turn pumps we have the bonus Cassandra Cain gets when she stuns a character as I discussed earlier. The other for the turn pump the deck gets is Flying Fortress. This location is +1ATK short of being a reusable Flying Kick, but it works quite nicely. Keep in mind that if you are pretty sure you can get the win on the current turn you are attacking you can flip more copies of Flying Fortress for the extra pump. I rather you play Demon Fang if available on the used Flying Fortress and then flip a second copy of Flying Fortress, but if the “combo” isn’t available it might be worth to take the risk. Also I don’t know if you have noticed, but not all of the decks created thus far have run The Order. In this case it’s necessary to run them so we can get the best out of Tania and Hellcat thus making up for the lack of for the turn pumps.

One of the cool things about the deck is that Cassandra is not the only 5 drop that this deck has to play. Sure she does make winning easier but what if you lack your Red Guardian? Well that’s when Talia comes in. Her ability to put a character with cost 2 or less is amazing, but you have to be sure to set it up so that she is the first discard otherwise it will not work. The other cool thing is the 7th turn play. With Nyssa Raatko in play you can easily recruit Lady Shiva. It’s pretty much a sure thing that you will be able to recruit Lady Shiva as Nyssa Raatko’s concealed status will make it harder for your opponents to get rid of her. After you have recruited Lady Shiva you can easily substitute in a Samantha in you don’t have her in play already. Use Samantha’s ability on Lady Shiva and on the combat phase send her into the opposing 7 drop (or highest drop). Once Lady Shiva readies use her ability to KO the opposing character she is attacking. By consequence of this interaction the opposing 7 drop gets KO’d while Lady Shiva readies for either another attack or to use her ability. The look on your opponent’s faces is simply going to make your day.

Next deck on the agenda is the artifact legend deck. As far as I know this isn’t an official format and I actually learned about it online. It’s a very weird format cause you know equipments are a big part of each deck but equipment hate isn’t allowed, well not in my playgroup anyway. I’ll post the deck list first, and discuss the card choices afterward.

Characters (27):
2 Jaime Reyes <> Blue Beetle, High-Tech Hero
4 Black Thorn, Elizabeth Thorne
4 Tania Belinskya <> Red Guardian, Cold Warrior
4 Ahmed Samsarra, White King
1 Hawkeye, Loud Mouth
4 Samantha Parrington <>
Valkyrie, Chooser of the Slain
2 Dr. Strange, Founding Father
2 Maxwell Lord, Black King
3 Huntress, Reluctant Queen
1 Hulk, Strongest One There Is

Plot Twists (9):
3 Fate has Spoken
3 The “B” Team
3 Swift Escape

Locations (12):
2 New Baxter Building
2 Dr. Fate’s Tower
4 Brother I Satellite
2 Brother Eye
2 Checkmate Safe House

Equipment (12):
3 Amulet of Nabu, Unique – Fate Artifact
3 Cloak of Nabu, Unique – Fate Artifact
4 Helm of Nabu, Unique – Fate Artifact
2 Laser Watch


So the first thing you might have noticed that is very different in this build from all the others is the fact that there are no for the turn attack pumps like: Flying Kick, Mega-Blast and so forth. The reason for this is that Fate Has Spoken will not allow us to play them. Well saying that it doesn’t allow us is not entirely true but in order to play Fate Has Spoken we mustn’t have played plot twist during the turn. Since we want to be attacking 3 times plot twists are out of the question. It is this same reason why almost everything is done without the use of plot twists. Extra ATK pump come from either Tania, the Fate Artifacts, or Brother Eye. Equipment search is also provided by non-plot twist cards: Jaime Reyes and Dr. Fate’s Tower. Same thing happens with our Team-up, and more than half of our character search cards. Negation also jumps in the non-plot twist fashion with Huntress.

Now as finishers we have two very different characters. The first option is Dr. Strange because he allows for another activation from our characters, be it for their abilities or as part of an effect. The second option is Maxwell Lord. I really like him because he can really wreak an opponent’s choice to reinforce thus making it possible for a greater amount of breakthrough. His ability can only be used once per turn and only during the attack step so use it wisely.

As I mentioned before, to reach the twelve equipment requirement for the deck we use Fate Artifacts, funny thing is if anyone ever comes up with a location legend format this deck will also work so I guess we did decks for three different formats. Anyway back to the topic at hand, some people consider the Artifacts a cheater’s tools as they are really good cards specially when working in combination to one another. Now when fully equipped a character gains +4/+4, which is a great advantage as it makes a character jump the curve not once but quite possibly two times. They also provide the equipped character with not only flying and range but with the bonus of not being able to be targeted by opposing effects. The Main reason we want to use the equipment though is the ATK and DEF bonus. In a deck like this that intends to cause as much damage as possible on the kill turn that’s a very valuable commodity. Finishing the twelve equipments is Laser Watch. Now I wanted to use either Ego Gems or Mind Gems for this but the fact of the matter is that with my turn two and three characters being quite possible concealed I needed to play a Concealed-Optional equipment. There were a lot of choices but with the added bonus of the card draw that could turn up being two or three extra cards in total thanks to Black Thorn and New Baxter Building it was just to good to pass.

Last card that deserves some mention is Swift Escape. The downside of working with Checkmate characters such as Ahmed and Maxwell is the “King Kill”. At first I wanted to work with Threat Neutralized but since I want to maximize the number of locations in my resource row so that Brother Eye gives me an extra +5 ATK I chose to play Swift Escape.

I wanted to do three decks for this piece but honestly I need a break from the Defenders. I will suggest two characters that to me are the best choices to create a 5th turn Defenders deck. The First one is Wolverine either Bub or Secret Avenger. Bub for his ability to gain an ATK bonus for the turn, and Secret Avenger because he can ready if his requirements are met. Fun part about working with Wolverine is the addition of Berserker Rage, and Sneak Attack. Second character to be considered could vey well be Deadpool as we can abuse Chatty Cathy, or even try to do a 5th turn Party Pooper. With Merc with a Mouth in our corner opponents might have problems deciding if they want to give us extra attacks or extra for the turn pumps. Either way it’s a win win situation.

I’ll be back in about two weeks with another project which I don’t even have a clue as to what it is going to be. Seems like a recurring theme to me not knowing what I'm going to be doing.