Ruby Quartz is Only Slightly Magnetic

Magnus Can't Control Ruby Quartz

Use attacks and damage dealing that doesn't require Cyclops to exhaust or one-time events. This frees your hand and Cyclops to manage the board and be tactical while everyone else takes Magneto down.

Be Tac-tical

Tac Team is an underrated card. I get it; it's not efficient damage. But it is very versatile, useful damage. That can go a long way in a race or marathon encounter like Magneto. This means, you can do damage to Magnetic Bubble or Delgado and not have to worry about Retaliate, especially if you haven't found your glasses Ruby Quartz Visor yet.

Use your tactic upgrades wisely. At the start of the game, priortize Practiced Defense because you'll be defending until you get your stream of allies ready to defend you. It's a great first target for your Constant Training ability on turn 1. It's also a great target for Tactical Brilliance.

Win the Race

You need to finish the side schemes before Magneto gets to The Rule of Magnus. At the start of the game, prioritize allies and Tactical Brilliance to speed thwart the side schemes. Ignore removing attachments, except Wrapped in Metal because you need to be defending and thwarting. Don't worry about doing damage, don't worry about feeling inefficient by thwarting with a 1 THW/2 ATK ally. Once you win the race, you can pivot to building for damage and dealing with attachments.

This means Utopia is a nice asset to help Cyclops defend, ready, then thwart because you played an ally.

Build for Damage

Once you finish the race, get your supports in. Help your economy with The X-Jet. Use Professor X to confuse Magneto. Let him defend the next attack. Then flip down to take advantage of the confusion. Meanwhile, get Wolverine and Colossus in with Attack Training. Once you have them and your visor down, you're ready to blast through Magneto...Full Blast.

When you're ready, find a way to get Exploit Weakness whether flipping down to use Constant Training, Phoenix, or Tactical Brilliance. Each Tac Team can do 6 dmg a round, trained Wolverine and Colossus can do 10 damage, and Full Blast can do 12 damage. Use Game Time to ready an ally and do more. Either way, Magneto will take enough damage to lose in 2 rounds.

Tactical Defenses and Flip Downs

For Defending, you'll start by defending yourself. Then as allies only have 1 HP left, use them to defend. The exception is Hulk. He's meant to defend only. Only attack with him if you either KNOW the next card in your deck somehow or in an emergency. Otherwise, he's just meant to defend. Defend with Colossus's tough, and give yourself Polaris's tough. This should give you enough space to execute the plan.

Monitor your magnet counters on Asteroid M. When it gets to two (and if you are winning the race), flip down and let Magneto scheme out. It'll reset you an extra magnet counter, and you get access to the larger hand size and supports. You don't get this same benefit from Factory Online though, so use this one flip wisely. Then, you'll flip down after Professor X confuses Magneto and defended for you. Otherwise, do your best to stay in hero.

You got this. Expert Magneto takes some tactical brilliance, but you can do it. If you have access to more cards, Directed Force is a nice add-on to your Optic Blast ability. It'll make it a 5 damage which can defend most minions. Have fun taking down Magneto!

Minimalist Matchups

The goal is to create a series of decks meant to be accessible to players who don't have access to all of the content. It can be tough to find decks that feel strong and work in a limited collection. So this series will be heroes built to take on the toughest villains using only the Core Set, Villain's Campaign Box (if applicable), and Hero Pack (if applicable). This means each deck will only require 2 or 3 packs.

Recommend a Match-up? I'd love recommendations if anyone is struggling or curious about a match up. Fill out this form to send me suggestions.

Minimalist Matchup Decks:

• Spider-Man (Peter) Justice Against Ronan the Accuser
• Captain Marvel Leadership Against Red Skull
• Cyclops Aggression Against Magneto
• Black Panther Leadership Against Loki