Card draw simulator
| Derived from |
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| None. Self-made deck here. |
| Inspiration for |
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| None yet |
Idirian · 120
1. Who I am in this team
“Cable, Domino – you two worry about the plan and the probabilities. I’ll make sure nothing on the ground survives long enough to matter.”
Mechanically:
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Angel side – 2 THW / 1 ATK / 2 DEF.
- Angel of Life: after you play an Aerial event, draw 1 card (once per phase).
- This is your thwart / setup form.
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Archangel side – 0 THW / 2 ATK / 3 DEF, acceleration icon.
- Angel of Death: after you play an Aerial event, deal damage to an enemy equal to that event’s printed cost (once per phase).
- This is your damage form (but it speeds up the main scheme).
The deck is built to:
- Keep 3–4 Aerial allies in play (Flight Squadron, Team Training, Triskelion).
- Sling Aerial hero events every turn (Natural Flight, Razor Dive, Adaptive Plumage, Metamorphosis, Aerial Agility).
- Use X-Gene, Band Together, Avian Anatomy as your economy.
- Finish games with Mass Attack once the board is thick.
2. Mulligan priorities & opening turns
Mulligan priorities (rough order)
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Techno-Organic Wings
- Aerial trait baked in and extra HP → core part of your game.
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X-Gene
- 1-cost support that exhausts to pay for your identity-specific events (all your hero events).
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Economy / board pieces
- Team Training, Team-Building Exercise, Worthington Industries, Flight Squadron, Triskelion.
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A cheap Aerial ally
- Cloud 9, Vivian, Aero, etc. (you want an ally down early for Band Together and Strength In Numbers later).
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Any strong Aerial event
- Natural Flight, Razor Dive, Adaptive Plumage, Metamorphosis. If you kept X-Gene or have enough money, keeping one is fine.
Things I happily throw back:
- Band Together in an opening hand with no allies.
- Mass Attack (you’re nowhere near ready).
- Psylocke, unless you’re sure you need the body.
Turn 1–2 game plan
“Turn one, we get altitude. Turn two, we bring friends.”
Typical pattern:
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Start in Angel (hero) not Warren, unless you absolutely need to heal.
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Play a cheap ally + any one of:
- X-Gene
- Team Training
- TBE / Worthington
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If you see Flight Squadron, you can already play it—your hero is Aerial, so it’s online, and as long as all allies you control are Aerial it:
- Gives you +1 ally limit, and
- Lets you ready one ally each time you play an Aerial card (once per phase).
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Try to play one Aerial event each player phase:
- In Angel form, that’s +1 card (hero response).
- If it’s an attack / thwart (Razor Dive / Natural Flight), it also pushes the board in your favor.
Don’t stress about flipping to Archangel yet; early game is about getting supports/allies down and not letting the main scheme blow up.
3. Mid-game loop – how a typical “good” turn looks
Once you have:
- 3–4 Aerial allies in play
- Flight Squadron, Team Training, maybe Triskelion
- X-Gene and one of Band Together / Avian Anatomy
Your “baseline” Angel turn:
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Decide your form for the round
- If threat is high or Cable needs help → start in Angel (thwart mode).
- If threat is handled and damage is needed → start in Archangel.
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Play at least one Aerial event in the player phase
- Use X-Gene + regular resources to fund it.
- If Angel: draw 1 from the hero ability.
- If Archangel: ping extra damage equal to the event’s cost.
- Exhaust Flight Squadron to ready an Aerial ally.
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Use allies for the opposite role
- If you’re Angel, Natural Flight / Adaptive Plumage etc handle thwart, let allies attack.
- If you’re Archangel, Razor Dive / Adaptive Plumage handle attack, allies do the thwarting.
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Strength In Numbers once your board is big
- Exhaust 2–4 allies you don’t need this round to draw that many cards.
- Then spend those cards on another Aerial event, more allies, or setting up supports.
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Manage Archangel’s acceleration
- Ideally spend about half your turns in Angel to offset the extra threat from Archangel.
- Natural Flight ignoring crisis and patrol in Angel form lets you clean up bad board states quickly.
4. Big turns – Mass Attack & Metamorphosis tricks
Mass Attack turns
“Everyone in the air. Focus fire.”
Mass Attack: cost 3, Exhaust 3 allies that share a trait with your hero → deal damage equal to the total ATK of those allies + your hero.
In your deck:
- Angel and all your non-Psylocke allies share Aerial.
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So once you have 3 Aerial allies + Archangel:
- Example: three 2-ATK allies + Archangel at 2 ATK
- Mass Attack = 8 damage, with zero consequential damage because the event deals the damage, not the allies.
- They’ll be exhausted, but still at full HP (kept alive by Team Training and careful use).
Ideal Mass Attack turn:
- Start as Archangel.
- Maybe attack once with Archangel or an ally if you don’t mind them exhausting.
- Play Mass Attack for a big hit.
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If you still have an Aerial event + resources:
- Play it to trigger Angel of Death for even more damage and a Flight Squadron ready.
This is how you close out stages or punish a villain who just flipped.
Metamorphosis – form flipping value
Metamorphosis: Aerial, cost 2. Change form, then:
- Warren – draw 1
- Angel – remove 2 threat
- Archangel – deal 3 damage to an enemy.
Because it’s Aerial, it also triggers:
- Angel’s card draw or Archangel’s damage (once per phase) depending on when you play it.
So a nice flow looks like:
- Start in Angel, play some Aerial event → draw 1.
- Later that phase, play Metamorphosis → flip to Archangel + remove 2 threat.
- Next player phase (or villain phase with Aerial Agility) you can trigger Archangel’s response.
Lean on Metamorphosis when:
- You need to shift from “save the main scheme” to “kill the villain” mid-turn.
- You want to set up Archangel’s ability for the next phase.
5. Defense & “meta-control” – Aerial Agility and Soaring Acrobatics
You do have some real control tools; they’re just baked into your hero kit.
Aerial Agility – your anti-boost tech
Aerial Agility (cost 1, Aerial, Defense event):
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Hero Interrupt – when an enemy attacks:
- If Angel: ignore all boost icons and all “Boost:” abilities on that attack.
- If Archangel: give your hero tough and retaliate 1 for that attack.
Timing-wise you play it before boost cards are flipped, so in Angel form this literally blanks the entire boost step.
So:
- Against swingy villains, Aerial Agility is a big piece of “meta-control”.
- In Archangel form, it’s more about turning a bad attack into no damage (tough) while still pinging back 1.
It’s also an Aerial event, so it will:
- Trigger Angel or Archangel’s hero response (card draw / damage), and
- Ready an ally via Flight Squadron if you’re in the right board state.
Soaring Acrobatics – stat buff for whoever needs it
Soaring Acrobatics: 2-cost basic upgrade.
- Play under any player’s control, max 1 per player.
- When an Aerial character you control uses a basic power, exhaust it → +1 to that power for that use.
Uses:
- Buff Angel’s THW when you’re in threat-control mode.
- Buff Archangel’s DEF when you want to defend and still keep your HP safe.
- Buff an ally’s ATK/THW as needed—everyone relevant is Aerial.
It’s just quiet efficiency every turn.
6. Allies & Psylocke – how aggressive to be
Your allies break down loosely as:
- Control / utility – Cloud 9, Vivian, Hugin & Munin.
- Beatsticks – Cannonball, Sunspot, Captain Marvel, Spectrum.
- Glue – Aero (push damage), Vivian (blank bad attachments / side schemes).
Team Training makes all of them +1 HP, meaning you should:
- Use their basic activations freely (thwart or attack each round).
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Avoid chump-blocking with them unless:
- The incoming attack is huge, or
- You need one to die to clear board space for a better ally.
Psylocke
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She’s X-Force Psionic, not Aerial, so while she’s out:
- She does not get Flight Squadron’s “all allies are Aerial” bonus,
- And she doesn’t count for Mass Attack’s “3 allies that share a trait with your hero” (Aerial).
So in this deck:
- 80% of the time she’s a wild-ish resource (pitch her to pay for big Aerial events).
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You only play her when:
- Flight Squadron isn’t down yet, or
- You’re in a bind and desperately need another body/thwart.
Once she’s done her job, let her block an attack or die to consequential so your board goes back to “all Aerial.”
7. Role at the table with Cable + ??? Domino
Even without knowing Domino’s aspect, your role is clear:
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You: board bully.
- Clear side schemes and minions with Aerial events + ally actions.
- Use Aerial Agility to shut down spiky villain attacks when needed.
- Provide big finish turns via Mass Attack.
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Cable: plot doctor.
- Keeps the main scheme under control, manipulates the victory display, and hands out powerful side-scheme rewards.
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Domino: whatever she brings, she loves you having:
- Flight Squadron’d allies to share the work,
- Team Training so any ally of hers that’s Aerial/X-Force sticks around longer.
If you keep roughly 3–4 allies out and fire at least one Aerial event every player phase, Angel will absolutely feel like he’s doing “too much” – which is exactly where you want him.