Brains over Brawn

Deck concept

I've been doing a little series of Brains Over Brawn decks, trying to make the case that it is a niche card, rather than the really bad card you'd think from the reviews so far. Previous entries have looked at Spider-Woman (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/38341/brains-over-brawn-1.0) and Phoenix (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/39137/brains-over-brawn-1.0). My theory is that once you get to THW 5, then Brains Over Brawn does 5 damage for the cost of 3ER and a fairly straightforward timing requirement, so it's really not that different to cards like Fusillade which see use even in aggression.

Spectrum is powerful but can sometimes be frustrating in solo when you need to get rid of a minion or side scheme, but find yourself stuck in the wrong energy form. With Brains Over Brawn she becomes more consistent because you can basically play the whole game in Photon form and won't get caught waiting for the Speed of Light.

Card choices

To make Brains Over Brawn you need a high native THW and access to readying effects. Spectrum excels in both requirements since she has THW 3 in Photon form right from the moment of setup, and her frequent energy form changes give her exceptionally easy access to Ready to Rumble.

To reach THW 5 we need Surveillance Specialist and Heroic Intuition, so that's pretty simple.

As we will be leaning in to our basic THW there are no thwart events, and One Way or Another helps to ensure there is always a scheme worth thwarting. Blue Marvel can change our energy form to get Spectrum Ready, so he's far and away the best ally for this build. For that reason I preferred a small ally pool and three Chance Encounter.

Playing the deck

You can play this deck entirely in Photon form, but that's not usually what I do. Instead my approach is to aim to end each player phase in Photon, but I'm happy to use Pulsar Shield or Gamma Blast if I have a way to get back into Photon before the player phase ends.

Quake, Wiccan, and Blade are cheap allies who can definitely block for you as well as the occasional bit of extra thwarting or attacking. That said, I also take a good few hits on Spectrum herself. With Down Time in play you can heal it off, and I like the reassurance of having an ally on the board ready to block Assault. It's a matter of play style because with three Chance Encounters on every deck pass, you shouldn't be short of allies to play. Blue Marvel is treated differently because his enter play ability is a valuable one so he should be recycled as rapidly as possible and brought back in with Chance Encounter.

Remember that both Spectrum and Blue Marvel can benefit from Soaring Acrobatics, but as Soaring Acrobatics doesn't help with Brains Over Brawn, Blue Marvel will often be the better choice.

How to lose with this deck

Spectrum struggles to lose when she can get into the right energy form or find the right one of her events. The way to lose with her is to have a hand full of double-resource cards and Pulsar Shield. Be aggressive with the sources of card draw - One Way or Another, Skilled Investigator, Surveillance Specialist.

Conclusion

So another Brains Over Brawn deck which is thoroughly viable in true solo expert. I think it will be Psylocke next.