Bishop | Charged and Dangerous

BISHOP'S CORE IDENTITY Bishop is an energy-banking burst damage dealer. His entire game plan revolves around a beautiful loop: absorb damage from the villain, convert that damage into energy counters, bank those counters through Stored Energy and Super-Charged, then unleash devastating burst turns that can chunk through villain stages faster than almost any other hero.

The key mindset shift with Bishop is this: taking hits is not always bad. Unlike most heroes who try to avoid damage at all costs, Bishop is designed to absorb punishment and weaponize it. Getting hit early seeds your engine. Once it's running, you become one of the most explosive damage dealers in the game.

THE ENGINE — HOW IT WORKS Step 1: Absorb: Let the villain hit you. Bishop's hero ability converts damage taken into energy counters on his hero card.

Step 2: Bank: Stored Energy (3x) and Super-Charged (2x) let you hold and accumulate those counters rather than spending them immediately. Patience here is rewarded.

Step 3: Convert: Energy Conversion (2x) turns banked counters into damage or resources at a favorable rate.

Step 4: Detonate: When your counter pool is fat, unleash a burst turn — Energy Conversion + Mean Swing + Relentless Assault in the same round can be absolutely devastating.

Step 5: Repeat.

GAME PLAN BY PHASE Early Game (Rounds 1–3) Build the Foundation Your sole priority is getting the engine online. Do not try to be a hero yet. Priority install order:

• Bishop's Uniform — always first
• Attack Training — get your ATK up immediately
• Stored Energy — the engine needs fuel storage
• Avengers Mansion — card flow for the rest of the game

Key early decisions:

• Deploy Hope Summers early to accelerate upgrade installation
• Let the villain hit you once to seed your first energy counters — don't over-defend
• When playing Nick Fury, draw three cards unless in dire straits
• Use Command Authority or Into the Fray if schemes spike early, but don't panic-spend resources

Ideal opening hand: Bishop's Uniform + Attack Training + Stored Energy + any resource card

Mid Game (Rounds 4–7) — Engine Running, Pressure Building Your engine is online. Now you shift from builder to predator.

• Stack energy counters aggressively — resist the urge to spend them too early
• Super-Charged should be in play by now, holding your counter pool
• Use Colossus defensively — let him absorb hits while Bishop banks the energy
• Professor X comes off the bench when schemes spike — hold him for emergencies
• The X-Jet and Utopia should be generating consistent resource and ready-up value by now

Late Game (Rounds 8+) — Detonate This is what the whole deck is built for. Bishop with Combat Training, Aggressive Conditioning, and Bishop's Rifle online is hitting for massive numbers before you even spend a single energy counter.

SOLO GAME PLAN Solo is where this deck is most demanding because you handle both damage AND threat management alone. Here's how to navigate it:

• Open with thwart in mind — Command Authority and Into the Fray should be played proactively, not reactively
• Avengers Mansion is non-negotiable early, without card draw in solo you will run out of answers
• Professor X is your emergency brake — save him for when schemes are about to complete, not for general thwarting
• Flip to alter-ego when you need to — Bishop's alter-ego ability can help recharge and his alter-ego stat line is fine for threat management

Solo Threat Priority: Schemes first, villain damage second — you can burst the villain down fast when your engine fires, but a completed main scheme ends the game immediately.

MULTIPLAYER GAME PLAN In multiplayer Bishop becomes a pure damage specialist — one of the best in the game. Let your teammates handle threat management while you focus exclusively on villain damage.

• Communicate your role early — tell your team you're the damage dealer, they need to cover schemes
• If a teammate is getting hammered, Colossus can help absorb for them
• Detonate in sync — coordinate your burst turns with teammates' setup turns for maximum villain punishment
• Utopia benefits your whole X-Men ally suite. In multiplayer this support card generates even more value
• Don't waste energy counters on small damage. In multiplayer you can afford to bank longer because teammates are keeping schemes in check