Ready Spectrum One

A Major change

Rather than publishing a "version 2.0" of this deck with a single change to it, note that Avengers Mansion in the deck list should be replaced by Knowhere. Build Support can't grab the Mansion (Thank you DaleCooper for pointing that out!) but it CAN grab Knowhere, which is what I originally tested in the slot.

Ready Spectrum One

Spectrum wants to ready often, primarily while in Gamma Energy Form to take advantage of additional 3-ATK attacks. With that in mind I've included several ways to ready her, and a few ways to (hopefully) draw into the ready cards you need.

Want to see how it plays instead of reading?

Taskmaster: This video shows how powerful Spectrum can be, EXCEPT I really messed it up by never using Taskmaster's Response (oops!)

NeXt Evolution:

The only change I made to this deck to take it through NeXt Evolution was swapping Knowhere out for The Sorcerer Supreme (which "Mission Prepped" can put into play).

• Morlock Siege: This one shows off Starhawk's powerful ability!
• On the Run: A longer game! This one showcases how well Spectrum can manage the board and build while chipping away at the villain.
• Juggernaut: This one has a tiny damage error which actually caused a loss, but it's still a good video to showcase the Spectrum and Hope tandem!
• Mister Sinister: This video shows how to "pivot" from your normal play style without changing your deck. It also taught me to slow down a little and study the board, because I could have won a turn earlier!
• Stryfe: This is another video that shows the raw power of Sprectrum and how overpowered Hope Summers is, AND is a reminder to hit all of your "When Revealed" text LOL

Or you can just read it :)

• Brother Voodoo lets you dig through your top 5 cards looking for an event, and has 2 THW which is always nice in Protection.
• Ironheart is your classic "Draw a card, activate for 1, then block" ally.
  • Ideally you play these allies first in the turn to see what comes up on the draw. A great "non-ready-card" draw is Speed of Light!
• Ever Vigilant!! This is my first time playing an Aerial hero (at least one I didn't have to add Aerial to), and my first time experiencing Ever Vigilant! This card is is fantastic in Spectrum, and will be even better in Angel! I've gotten in situations though in which a Crisis Icon popped up at he wrong time, but aside from that this car is VERY good!
• Pulsar Shield is interesting because playing it either changes you to Pulsar form, or you were already there. The important thing though is that it lets you defend at 3 AND ready even if you take damage. I will use this in a pinch, but I much prefer also having a Speed of Light in hand when I do, so that I'm able to change back to Gamma on the following turn.
• What Doesn't Kill Me is another great ready but there are two requirements:
  • You must pay for it with a resource. This isn't a problem once you have Quincarrier out, OR Energy Duplication because while you're in Gamma form, the resource it generates is !
  • You need to at least 2 sustained damage to play it, because "Heal 2 damage" is a cost. This, IMO, is why Pulsar Shield is so good! It lets you ready even if you take damage, and you want to take (at least some) damage to be able to play What Doesn't Kill Me!
• Knowhere can be put into play with Build Support, and provides some ally synergies.
• Ready to Rumble lets you ready when you change form. This allows you to basic Thwart in Photon form or defend in Pulsar form (if you didn't have Pulsar Shield), and then ready when you change to another form.

Additional notes about readying

Sometimes you want to ready just so you can flip down to alter and Recover. The number of times I've flipped down exhausted planning to Recover next turn only to draw my Obligation is frustratingly high! So I like to ready before the flip and Recover now, and then possibly again before I flip back up (especially if I can ready with Ready to Rumble).

The first version of this deck ran 2 copies each of Ever Vigilant, What Doesn't Kill Me and Momentum Shift. I ended up swapping the Momentum Shifts out for third copies of the other two because I want to prioritize readying. If you find that you're taking more damage than you expected, it's easy to swap two back in for the extra healing.

The "getting stuck" problem

It's true that you can "get stuck" in an unwanted Energy Form longer than you want. An easy solution is to hold onto a Speed of Light to get you back to Gamma when you want to BUT I hate holding onto cards! It's less of an issue once (or if) you have all three resource generators out (Quincarrier and both Energy Duplication). I still don't want to hold onto a card though (although I find myself holding onto Gamma Blast more often than I want to).

Another way to get "unstuck" is to flip down to alter-ego, and this makes Professor X really powerful. You can play him to Confuse the villain, and just let the Confuse sit there until you're ready to flip down. I often play him as early as I can, not just when I need to flip down. This way if I need to flip down just to get "unstuck" I'll clear as much threat from the main as I can and flip down to an already-confused villain.

This is also the reason for the inclusion of Black Widow! She can say "no" to an encounter card even while you're in alter-ego to protect you from an Advance. Of course, I've "cancelled" an Advance before just to draw Shadow of the Past, but Spectrum can usually deal with her nemesis fairly easily, so I'm not overly bothered by it. What bothers me more is needing to get unstuck in less-than-ideal circumstances and flipping down to a confused villain, only to lose to an Advance!

Player Side Schemes

Spectrum will clear either of these side schemes with ease in Photon form!

• Build Support will grab Knowhere. NOTE that in my NeXt Evolution run I'm using this to grab Quincarrier instead, because Knowhere is replaced by The Sorcerer Supreme!
• Superpower Training is here for Energy Duplication.

Some Campaign Notes

When playing the Mutant Genesis campaign I like the Peacekeeper role, which gives you access to Justice and Leadership. When role-building I always select Skilled Investigator as my upgrade because there are generally always going to be side schemes to thwart (including Player Side Schemes). There are several options for the event I take with Justice or Leadership, but I go with One Way or Another because it synergizes with Skilled Investigator so well. All these extra draws help you to draw into your "get me unstuck" events.

The campaign rewards are earned in NeXt Evolution by defeating Campaign Player Side Schemes, each of which come into play with 4 (per person) threat. In a solo game, Spectrum can defeat these with ease as well by changing to Photon form. After changing to Photon form, remove 1 threat from a scheme, then thwart the remaining 3 away with your 3 THW. This allows you to let them sit while you take control of the board, then defeat them more-or-less "on demand".

The remaining allies

There are three allies I haven't covered yet:

• Blue Marvel: His ability is a Hero Response, so you don't have to use it, but I strongly dislike playing him and not getting a form change out of it!
• Mockingbird: She gets you a Stun, a 1 THW or ATK activation, and a block. I tested Polaris in this slot too, because she does basically the same thing. She blocks twice (once with Tough and once without) and can attack for two. Unless you're playing a Steady or Stalwart villain (in which case I'll swap her for Polaris), Mockingbird is better for two reasons:
  • She has slightly better tempo. She stuns on entry and gives you a 1 THW or ATK on the same turn. When Polaris comes in you don't want to attack because she'll knock off her own tough (which is why she's better in an X-Men deck), and she can't attack the turn after she takes an attack on her Tough because she's exhausted.
  • A Stun is better than an additional block (imo) because it eliminates the threat of a bad Boost effect.
• Starhawk: I've used him in almost every Protection deck I've ever built. He's a fantastic indirect damage soak and is in my opinion under-costed for his ability to come back to hand. Combined with Knowhere, it actually has some synergies with the rest of the deck, in that it gives you an extra ally slot. This allows me to just "park" Black Widow on the board without taking up one of my 3 ally slots, and draws me a card every time I replay Starhawk, which refunds some of his cost.

Another NeXt Evolution note

Another ally, which I'd add as a #41 when playing the NeXt Evolution campaign rather than replacing an ally, is Ghost-Spider.

The "Team Assembled" Environment reward lets you find and put into play an ally with cost 3 or less, and Ghost-Spider's "leaves play" ability lets you search your deck for an identity-specific event and add it to your hand. This provides another way to get "unstuck", either with Speed of Light or the event that gets you to the form you want to be in, making her defeat a tactical decision: "Okay, even though she has two activations left, I'll block with Ghost-Spider now because I'm stuck in Photon and didn't draw the Speed of Light I need", or similar.

Mulligans

The mulligan situation can vary widely depending on the villain / scenario, but here is my general practice:

• If there's threat on the main I want Ever Vigilant
• If there's also a Crisis Icon I want to be able to clear that scheme too so I can use Ever Vigilant.
• There's not a lot of building to with Spectrum, but I'll always keep Energy Duplication (sometimes both) because it makes future turns so much easier.
• I'll always mulligan Knowhere because I can't play it, and must get it into play with Build Support. If I have both in hand, I'll keep both and Knowhere to play Build Support, then thwart it off to put Knowhere into play.
• I'm more inclined with Spectrum than other heroes to keep my big attack event, Gamma Blast, especially if I have a minion in play. Flip to Hero and go to Gamma form which deals 1 damage, attack for 3, then blast for 7. If that all goes on the villain that's 11 damage on the first turn, which takes a lot of pressure off you during the first stage of the villain.
• If you can play Gamma Blast AND Ever Vigilant on the first turn, you can attack for 3 more.
• If there's a side scheme with a LOT of threat on it, I'll prioritize Photon Speed. With a certain villain in NeXt Evolution (no spoilers), Spectrum and her "+1" can clear almost all of the threat from the big side scheme that comes into play during setup.