Spider-Ham is an absolute blast to play. He is still one of my all-time favorites in Marvel Champions, with a style that really matches the John Mulaney voiced representation from "Into the Spider-Verse." As a tribute I wanted to make a deck that really brought this version to life, and ended up creating something that really knocks the difficulty curve off any multiplayer scenario. Long story short, this version of Spider-Ham would give a villain PTSD.

PLAY STYLE

This deck is all about keeping the villain occupied and frustrated. Your job is to be as annoying as Oink-ingly possible through handing out stuns and confusions at discretion, mitigating the encounter deck, constantly throwing out allies at a discount, and sadistically befitting from the villain being forced to attack Spider-Ham.

• STUN & CONFUSE: In all there are 7 cards that can stun or confuse enemies, giving you and your friends a bit of breathing room. Thwip Thwip! can tie down one enemy that has steady, or stun two different enemies. Meanwhile, Swinging Web Pig does solid damage and confuses an enemy to buy time in alter-ego. Our buddy Miles Morales Spider-Man can even do both!

• MITIGATING THE ENCOUNTER DECK: Having a built in card like #"I Don't Think So!" that can get rid of any card from the encounter deck at will is insane. Even better, thanks to the protection aspect, we have four more cards that provide similar results! Get Behind Me! basically turns any encounter card into an Assault. Meanwhile, Silk helps eliminate future headaches like Shadow of the Past. These cards are even more valuable with Symbiote Suit already adding an extra encounter card to the villain phase.

• ALLIES: These poor guys are basically canon fodder, with each ally having a specific benefit to them getting on (and off!) the board. Thanks to Web of Life and Destiny, allies acting as human shields is actually to our benefit, as we get to draw a card each and every time! We also get an awesome discount on these allies through Team-Building Exercise thanks to each ally having the "Web-Warrior" or "Cartoon" Traits, not to mention Across the Spider-Verse giving us our pick from the discard.

• FORCED ATTACKS: We are going to be drawing out forced attacks from the villain a lot. Get Behind Me!, Bait and Switch, Petulant Pig, and Taunt makes for 8 times where we are asking the villain to punch us in the face. Fortunately, our friendly neighborhood Spider-Ham has an insane 25 hit points (thanks to Symbiote Suit and Endurance), our discounted allies, and a ridiculous superpower in Cartoon Physics.

In each instance we are reaping rewards through solid damage, potentially insane thwart, game-changing draw power, and the ever important Toon Counters.

• DRAW: We will be drawing a Nick Fury's worth of cards on the cheap thats to Petulant Pig and Taunt. If that weren't enough, Web of Life and Destiny gives us a card each time our allies jump in front of an attack, with the added bonus that we can pick who receives it. Last but not least, Ghost-Spider's "leave's play" effect can grab us any identity specific card from the deck, which means we get a free "draw 2" when Web of Life and Destiny is in play!

RESOURCE STRATEGY

-TOON COUNTERS: These are our most valued asset, and should be protected unless we need to get something on the board without any other option, or want to spend them for an identity specific card. Unless absolutely necessary, I tend to avoid spending them on Huge Wooden Hammer and Organic Webbing as we get far more value from other events and effects.

• Team-Building Exercise: Thanks to both the "Web-Warrior" and his unique "Cartoon" trait, Spider-Ham benefits massively from Team-Building Exercise. There are two in this deck for good reason, as Spider-Ham can use these on multiple cards per turn, and they do not stack based on the text.

• Deft Focus: Thwip Thwip! and Cartoon Physics are insanely valuable cards that allows us the freedom to constantly antagonizing the villain into attack on our turn. They just also happen to be "Superpowers" and I've personally found them to eat up Toon Tokens or uses of Team-Building Exercise that should be going elsewhere. It's a luxury we can (and should) afford ourselves, especially at such a low cost! ALTERNATIVE: There's a sincere debate as to why no just use Helicarrier as it's far more versatile. Truth is, I like the fact that Deft Focus is situational and super cheap. Getting it on the board doesn't feel like I am sacrificing other opportunities during the turn, and the 2 Team-Building Exercises already do the same work.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

• SP//der has value as a cheap ally, but its not a make or break card. Other great options can be Down Time for more impactful recovery if needed, or Warrior of the Great Web. Honestly, Warrior of the Great Web is my favorite of these options and is a card I have honestly debated throwing and accepting the 41 card count. Anyone relying on basic attacks will thank when a Web-Warrior goes done shielding an attack, netting them a nice +1/+2 ATK each turn.

• Helicarrier for Deft Focus is a debate I still have with my friends. I'll let you be the judge there.

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CONCLUSION

My best advice is to play this deck like the villain owes you money. Seriously, the more you get in character, the more authentic the decks going to feel, and the more fun you'll have. HAM IT UP!

My dream is to pair this with the "Look At Me, I'm Tom Cruise!" Deadpool deck by MegiDolaDyne. Both decks really get into character, and would be an entertaining experience for sure!