The Claw that Broke the Camel's Back

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Wolverine - One Tough Canucklehead 0 0 4 1.0
The Best Defense is a Good Offense 2 1 0 1.0
Claw and Heal 3 2 2 1.0
ULTIMATE WOLVERINE! 0 0 0 1.0
Roughneck Regenerator 0 0 0 2.0
Wolverine Inmortal 0 0 0 1.0
Wolverine Inmortal 2 1 0 2.0
NOT WOLVERINE 0 0 0 1.0
NOT WOLVERINE 0 0 0 2.0
NOT WOLVERINE 0 0 0 3.0
The Claw that Broke the Camel's Back reupload edit 0 0 0 1.0
Heal then slash then heal again 1 1 0 1.0

NocturnalAnimal · 16164

So...it's been a while! I havn't properly played Champs for sometime, had a bit of a hiatus from the game due to over saturation of games but decided to keep collecting everything. What was enough though to bring me back? My beloved X-Men. They were the reason I got into comic books as a kid, so to finally get them in MC, well, it was enough to get me back!

I've played the 4 heroes that came out initially with Mutant Genesis but was really excited when Wolverine and Storm came out (I don't know how I'll contain myself when my all-time fave hero, Gambit) is released). That said, Wolverine intrigued me immensely; he's obviously crazy good with Aggression but I'm a big fan of the Protection aspect and wanted to see what he could do. It's probably my favourite of the 4 aspects currently, especially now that it's not just the obvious and original 'defend, ready, defend again'. There's allsorts of cool tricks these days.

Deck basis and Hero cards:

Having played Iron Man Protection for a good while beforehand, I thought it would be cool to utilise Wolverine's natural attacking abilities and add to them. The idea of the deck is for Logan to either deflect villain damage via Tough status cards or take the hits and lean into his naturally high Recovery stat (as well as various healing cards such as Regenerative Healing). Wolverine's Claws are a fantastic tool that can use his HP to pay for some of the pricier cards in the deck. Between Endurance and Adamantium Skeleton he shouldn't be wanting for health at all.

Protection:

I decided to forgo any sort of Defence card. Though the allies can be used to chump block for other players if needs be, this deck is more about using the Aspect cards to boost what Wolverine does best; hit things, and hit them hard. The allies are there mainly to chump for Wolvie, be it havingmultiple chumps on the board via Multiple Man, or helping to dodge the damage full stop via the effects of Polaris or Nightcrawler's cards (though the later I've found occasionally I'm struggling for resources so I'll keep testing him out) . Brother Voodoo is there to help us find some of the events which fuel the deck.

There are then plenty of events in the deck to take the fight to the enemy; Tackle can give us a reprieve from Villain attacks, whilst letting us stay in Hero mode a turn longer. Powerful Punch can potentially take out an enemy before they are able to harm Wolverine. Hard Knocks might not be able to be used particularly well against certain minion-light Villains and it's pretty expensive to play but it works beautifully in this deck when it can go off, and if all else fails can at least provide resources for What Doesn't Kill Me. That card is particularly good in Solo, as it can heal Logan up but also give him a chance to a double basic Thwart action (this alongside Track by Scent means he isn't too shabby at keeping threat down, especially as the deck gives him more opportunity to stay in Hero mode longer).

Basic:

The deck is pretty light on Basic cards; however both used are really helpful for Wolverine. Endurance boosts his HP to a respectable 13 (or 14 with Adamantium Skeleton out), which will help him stay in hero mode longer but also fuel his deck via his Claws. Professor X is a great ally, with his 3 Thwart helping deal with any pesky schemes but also Stun/Confuse the Villain to give Logan a chance to flip one turn to Heal up without adding further Threat to the main scheme.

Wolverine has only added to the strong core of X-Men heroes so far (the only one I havn't been quite so enthused with is Phoenix, sadly) and he's pretty impressive with any of the 4 aspects. I've only played him against the Core Set and Mutant Genesis Villains but this deck has been very strong against them all. This deck can work well in Solo, and I've played it in both 1P and 2P paired with a Storm Justice deck. It might rush as quickly as Aggression builds but it also has longevity should things not go accordingly to plan.

Great to be back, and look forward to trying out some of the heroes from the last couple of Waves I havn't had chance to use yet! Got me some catching up to do.

28 comments

Nov 16, 2022 Fss · 1

Nice write up! Good to see some non-Aggression decks for Wolverine and Hard Knocks just seems money with him.

Nov 16, 2022 NocturnalAnimal · 16164

@Fss thanks! Played this tonight alongside Justice Storm, Leadership Cyclops and Aggression Colossus and it worked really well. Focussing the Protection deck to attacking instead of just defending meant we could hit twice as hard. Sabretooth woes will be a thing of the past, ha! Hard Knocks was pretty ace against all the minions Expert II Drang threw out.

Nov 17, 2022 pheips · 45

@NocturnalAnimal Great to have you back. I am huge fan of your decks and very looking forward to trying this one out. Looking forward to you catching up and publishing more.

Nov 20, 2022 Heyenzzz · 1

Cool deck! Using wolverine's claws with attack events like hard knocks, powerful punch and tackle, makes those events pure value.

One question though, do you get to trigger the abilty on Nightcrawler often? Deck seems a bit light on energy resources

If he's in there for the damage mitigation, you could consider neutral Colossus. Same cost, tough status, and a fist icon (which some other cards in the deck really like.)

Nov 20, 2022 pheips · 45

I tried the deck only once yet, but that pkay against Mansion Attack felt a bit anti-synergetic with Wolverines hero kit.

You can't play Powerful Punch with the Claws unfortunately, because the Claws are an action.

Using the claws for tackle doesn't give you the extra 3 damage.

Hard Knocks giving you tough may interfere with paying for the claws. But that can typically be circumvented with good timing. Still Berserker Frenzy wants us to take just a bit damage.

Maybe I haven't figured out this deck and Wolverine in general. I have similar concerns with other Wolverine decks. He still doesn't click for me unfortunately.

Nov 20, 2022 NocturnalAnimal · 16164

@pheips aww cheers! Nice to be back, I’ve certainly got some catching up to do. So//dr currently has my eye from the previous cycle at present.

I get that though. Sometimes it just takes a bit of time to settle into a hero. This deck definitely isn’t set in stone, but it’s working nicely so far. I don’t use the claws every single turn, mainly as sometimes I don’t have the events due to bad luck, sometimes I don’t want to bleed through Wolverine’s health either. The deck has certainly worked well for me far but always happy to look at and hear any alterations that could work!

@Heyenzzz thanks! Tbf Nightcrawler is in there mainly as I wanted Mutants in the deck; I’ll likely replace him if anything cool comes out in Rogue’s protection allies. I havnt always put him on the board when in hand and I’d switch Colossus in there but one of my gaming buddies also likes playing Colossus Aggression so not always feasible!

Nov 20, 2022 OTamarindo · 1

@Heyenzzz I don't think you can use the Claws wth Powerful Punch since the Claws are an action and you can't use actions during the Villain Phase. Or am I wrong ???

Nov 21, 2022 NocturnalAnimal · 16164

@OTamarindono you can’t! That said I love Powerful Punch when you draw a minion as part of the Villain’s boost ability, then you potentially don’t have to take any extra unexpected damage (it seems to happen a lot to me!).

Nov 21, 2022 Heyenzzz · 1

@OTamarindo woops, you're right. Can't trigger the claws during the villain phase. It works though if you can trigger a villain attack during the hero phase.

Nov 25, 2022 dr00 · 38773

Protection is my favourite aspect for ol' wolvie, and i love what you've done here. with so much health and so much healing, you can just sit pretty in value town :D

Nov 26, 2022 pheips · 45

I am so frustrated with Wolverine. So many say he is op, yet I can't figure him out neither with protection nor aggression. Lost against Mansion Attack 6 times in a row. Any more advice on how to best play this deck?

My problem is that I don't know on what to focus. You kind of need to deal lots of damage, keep the threat down and heal or defend.

Also with aggression I don't know if I should focus on events or boost his basic attack? His kind seems so antisynergetic to me and since so many people love him, I hope it's just me and I'll eventually figure him out.

Nov 27, 2022 Drake · 1

Really enjoyed this deck, managed to solo some villains pretty easy with it! Gonna 2hand it with Storm Leadership now

Nov 27, 2022 NocturnalAnimal · 16164

@dr00 thank you ever so much; coming from a purveyor of such excellent decklists, it’s very much appreciated! I’ve certainly been having fun with this deck.

@pheips do you play purely solo, or have you tried two handed? I do both, and I’ve done well in both scenarios with this deck. Perhaps try out a second deck to play with this? I’ve had it paired with Cyclops Leadership to take care of threat and they work beautifully together.

Nov 28, 2022 pheips · 45

@NocturnalAnimal I do only play purely solo. I should have mentioned that. It's not that I would mind playing two handed in general, but I typically don't have much time to play and that's why I actually love playing Marvel Champions. True Solo I can play one game in 20 to 60 minutes.

I will try the deck again against some other villains. Maybe this scenario is just simply a bad matchup for me, but I think I am just piloting Wolverine/this deck wrong. So I would love to see the deck in action in a youtube video.

Anyhow, that doesn't dimish my love for your decks in general. I am still amazaed on how smoothly all you guardian decks work for me ;)

Nov 28, 2022 pheips · 45

^^dimish = diminish

Nov 28, 2022 NocturnalAnimal · 16164

@pheips well, I'm glad the Guardians decks are working for you! Maybe if I get chance I'll try and film a game, or at least write down some pointers for how to pilot the deck. Generally though, stay in Hero mode as long as possible so you're not piling up the threat. Take a bit of damage, heal up with What Doesn't Kill Me and you can ready with it as well to do a basic Thwart twice in a turn if you're struggling with threat. Otherwise your claws can keep piling on the damage each turn as well with the various events, use your basics and you can outlast the Villain.

Aggression works well in Solo if you try to rush, but I find having the added help from protection can give you some longevity if the scenario starts to go wrong for you.

Nov 29, 2022 IAmTheBatman · 1

I was going to try Wolverine out in Aggression but it’s cool to see him in a different aspect than what you’d expect, this deck has been great in the few games I’ve tried it. Used a couple of different allies but it’s mostly the same.

Thanks for a strong and super fun deck :-)

Dec 06, 2022 rbuggelli · 1

I really like using Perseverance with Wolverine. Jump to AE, heal 6, jump back next turn with a Tough status. Much easier to take damage by activating your claws when you are able to shake off the villain attack from the previous round. I went a few rounds with tough status between that card and Hard Knocks.

Dec 08, 2022 Schnautza · 46

Wow. Wolverine demolishes Mojo in only 2.5 turns with this deck. I'm impressed.

Dec 08, 2022 huronpeludo · 1

Nice !!!

Dec 09, 2022 Schnautza · 46

Woah. 3 turns to beat Ronan with this deck!

Dec 09, 2022 Schnautza · 46

First turn included Night Nurse, Multiple Man (men), and Lunging Strike. Managed to remove Universal Weapon and beat his entire phase 1 on turn 1 with 6hp and 3 multiple men with 1hp left at the end of turn 1.

Dec 11, 2022 NocturnalAnimal · 16164

@rbuggelli tbh I’ve tried Perseverance and it works well if you’re flipping often. You could probably lose some of the Tackles, or if it’s a minion-lite scenario you could trade out Hard Knocks for it. That said I’ve found I don’t always use Night Nurse and Nightcrawler as often so you could always lose those two for a couple of copies of Perseverance. There’s a few flex cards depending on who you’re facing. Be good to see your decklist and how it differs!

@Schnautza no way! That’s awesome. Havnt had chance to play Mojo yet as we don’t get him in the UK till next week but really glad the deck is working out for you :)

Dec 16, 2022 rbuggelli · 1

@NocturnalAnimal- my first attempt at a write up. marvelcdb.com

Feb 13, 2023 Arczi · 1

Insane strong deck for insane strong hero. Love the whole 40 cards in this deck. The balanse here with cards, attack events, but also with allies, and healing cards is just perfect. Great job!!!

Mar 14, 2023 Delipha · 1

I've been running this deck for a couple of boss runs and now am enjoying it in Red Skull's campign. It's an absolute beast. I've been reliably able to kill "Crossbones" and "Absorbing man" almost on my own + most of the minion threats. His healing is monstrous, his piercing ability with Claws is incredible. All I can say is - "They see me divin', they hatin'."

Jul 27, 2023 wojciech · 7

Wolverine is OP. Very good deck. I finish GMW. On true solo with IT.

Aug 13, 2023 SMDoles · 1

I know this is really old but shouldn't it say: "Endurance boosts his HP to a respectable 13 (or 17 with Adamantium Skeleton out)" instead of "(or 14 with Adamantium Skeleton out)" since one adds +3 and the other adds +4 or do I have something wrong?