Defend The Nest | Wasp/Protection v1.0

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Wasp/Protection v2.0 1 0 0 1.0
Wasp/Protection v1.0 0 0 0 2.0
Wasp - Unswattable 0 0 0 1.0
Defense with Wasp 0 0 0 1.0
Avispa Protección #GuatequeDeThanos 0 0 0 1.0
Defend The Nest | Wasp/Protection v1.0 1 1 0 1.0
Defend The Nest | Wasp/Protection v1.0 0 0 0 2.0
WASP try(Defend The Nest | Wasp/Protection) 0 0 0 1.0
Wasp/Protection (SCL S10 R1) 0 0 0 1.0
Wasp Protection 1 1 0 1.0

ImpossibleGerman · 13933

A VICIOUS STING

(Note- at the time of publication, Multiple Man was available for testing, but not for publishing decklists. This deck runs all 3 copies of him, and NOT Black Widow, Brother Voodoo, or Luke Cage)

If the fear was that Nadia Van Dyne would just be a watered down version of Scott Lang, I think it’s safe to put those fears to rest.

I don’t envy the designers who had to tackle her. Ant-Man’s gimmick, the constant flipping between three forms with incremental benefits, feels like a natural direction for the iconic size-changing Avengers. Making Wasp and her own three forms operate in a distinct way while maintaining the feel was surely no small task. Make no mistake, it is different. So different, in fact, that it can be a bit of a bear to pilot, and I hope this decklist can help you get a head start!

You may have heard by now that Wasp has excellent damage output, and you’ve heard correctly. Ant-Man did too, really, but the primary difference is that Nadia’s damage output is far more straightforward. Giant Strength and a commanding the Army of Ants were crucial parts of getting damage out of Scott, but here the damage comes fast and furious in the form of two exceptional damage events.

Those cards are well-priced and versatile, and in isolation, those words apply to most of Wasp’s cards. What can be challenging is gelling all the pieces together into something resembling a gameplan, and to start we have to ask a basic question;

What makes Wasp special?

FLAPPIN' STATS

How’s this for special- in terms of raw numbers, Nadia starts out solid and is only one card away from having the best inherent stats of any Hero in Champions.

With Wasp's Helmet, she flies in swinging at 1/2/3 in Tiny and (holy crap) 3/2/3 in Giant. And 5 hand size on both sides to boot! 3 THW and 3 DEF on one Hero hasn’t been seen so far out of someone’s base Hero cards, probably because those numbers directly combat the two ways a player can lose in Champions.

With her basic powers alone, Wasp is good at staying alive, and she is good at removing threat. Those are two pretty awesome things to be good at, and this statline is enough reason by itself to take a hard look at Wasp, especially as the cardpool expands and more cards trigger off of basic powers.

The other very solid fundamental she brings to the table is G.I.R.L. on the Alter-Ego side, which gives us easy recursion of any card with a .

Listen- getting a few more uses out of just Genius, a card it’s safe to assume you were gonna run anyway, is already knocking on the door of best Alter-Ego ability in the game. Throw in an entire cardpool’s worth of potential mental cards that she can reshuffle, and the fact that her best Hero cards are as well, and we have an ability worth building around and being over the moon for.

These two things are our thesis for Wasping, the defining elements of what make her awesome. Handily, they give us an excellent excuse to win games with Wasp using that oft-neglected aspect- Protection.

OKAY BUT ARE YOU REALLY MAKING ME PLAY STUPID PROTECTION WITH MY SHINY NEW WASP

I really am.

This is partially because when playing against harder scenarios, especially solo, very few characters can even consistently win out of green, and I don’t want to miss the opportunity to highlight what I believe to be a really strong Protection character. Wasp has definitely joined that pantheon, and here’s why:

  • Protection’s very nature slows the game down, so if you can’t do enough damage, you often just stall out and lose. But Wasp does great damage.
  • Protection is not proactive about threat, which means it’s a non-starter for characters without ways to deal with it natively. But Wasp has really solid threat management tools.
  • Lastly, you have to have good reasons to defend, and many characters don’t. But Wasp is packing a 3 DEF with extra damage reduction and Retaliate 1 in her 15.

This isn’t the aspect she’s necessarily easiest to play in. She can really do just about anything well, so if you want to just get right to waltzing past Zola and Ultron with no fuss, hit up Leadership or Justice and watch the fireworks. She’ll reward you.

But if you want to see all that she can be, if you want to maximize the coolest elements of what she uniquely brings to the table, I think this is the build for you. Let’s talk strategy:

  • We’re in Protection. We cannot miss an opportunity to be proactive about threat management, because half of our deck is green cards that won’t help much with that. This means we have to draw lines in the sand that can’t often be crossed. Every Giant Help must be played. Every Rapid Growth must be played and used to THW. Allies should be THWing unless there’s an emergency minion to clear. Adopting this philosophy is necessary for many Protection and Aggression builds, but even then it’s often not enough. Luckily, Wasp brings enough to the table that it usually is.
  • This applies to using her basic powers too. You should almost always be exhausting to THW, even when it’s not immediately apparent that we need to.
  • Luckily we don’t have to worry too much about missing out on damage- Pinpoint Strike and Wasp Sting, plus the occasional pings from Small but Mighty, do a great job keeping Wasp ahead on damage. These cards can both be shuffled back in with G.I.R.L., and that's how you close the game out. Also, don’t forget that Wasp Sting is an incredible drone-killer and very solid AOE tech overall.
  • This solid event-based damage means we get to treat our Tiny ability, Small but Mighty, as a happy opportunity and not a play-around mechanic. It’s a good thing to have, but it’s far from our most potent effect, and most of the time we’re stronger in Giant form. Don’t sell the farm for multiple triggers of Small but Mighty. Optimize in other ways.
  • Wasp has three upgrades that are all very impactful and should take priority. Bio-Synthetic Wings is usually the extra edge we need to feel really confident that we’ll score an Unflappable trigger, but is lower on our list of high priority plays. Wasp's Helmet is NOT low on that list- much like Ant-Man's Helmet, it’s so good that unless you are certain you will lose the game by spending the 2 resources, you must drop everything to play Helmet the moment you see it. Red Room Training is a singular tech card with two great effects that can make big difference.

Speaking of upgrades, the green upgrades are critical- Protection has always gotten a lot of mileage out of these 1 drops, and they’re great as always here.

  • Electrostatic Armor combines with the above-mentioned Red Room Training to give us top-tier passive minion control and game acceleration. Let ‘em smack you, finish ‘em for Small but Mighty triggers, profit.
  • Unflappable helps us refuel after spending cards in the Villain phase.
  • Armored Vest makes every DEF exhaust more potent (and there’s gonna be a lot of them.)
  • The Night Nurse helps us not lose tempo in crucial moments.

When you can, make sure these get played- you’re only carrying one of each, although G.I.R.L. does give you a second chance on several of them if you need to use it as a resource in a pinch.

INDOMITA BULL GIVES YOU WINGS

This deck’s gameplan is to be unbreakable in Hero mode and utilize Wasp’s strong stats to keep tempo. The keys to accomplishing that are found in the cards we’re running at 3x- Perseverance, Indomitable, Counter-Punch, and our unlikely centerpiece, Multiple Man.

Both Wasp and Ant-Man can always trigger Perseverance, which means that like Lay Down the Law and Surprise Attack it just completely loses it’s conditional nature and becomes straight value. It’s awesome. In multiplayer, use that toughness to absorb your own attack without breaking a sweat, and then follow up and defend for someone else. If a Villain turn passes in multiplayer and you didn’t trigger Unflappable, you might not be Wasping hard enough.

Counter-Punch and Indomitable help us get the most out of our crazy statline. I’m still really into Counter-Punch, but my high praise of it is not necessarily authoritative. If you feel inclined to be a bit more meta-appropriate (and you feel comfortable with a higher resource curve) you could swap it out with Desperate Defense for a similar effect that gives you more opportunities to THW.

And then we have Multiple Man, which is the closest thing we have to a build-around card. The guy is just exceptional in solo, but he does have a significant caveat- if you don’t want to play him on the same turn you see the first copy of him, he’s made actively worse by being in the discard pile, as that’s the one place he can’t pop out of. Luckily for us, big-brain Multiple Man has a . This means Nadia says no to all that downside, using her influence over at G.I.R.L. to make sure Jamie is always on call.

This was the initial theorycraft behind this build and, unlike most of my hair-brained deckbuilding schemes, I was ELATED to discover that it actually worked great. Being able to time your Multiple Man drop to ensure he gets his full value gives you so much security and time to stay in Hero mode. Combined with Perseverance and the ability to swap from one Hero form to another, you’ll be routinely shocked by how comfortably Wasp can stay in the line of fire turn after turn. And when all of your tricks have been used up and the villain finally does get an attack off on you? Well, you’re probably at 4 DEF with an Indomitable on the board.

Have fun.

BRING A BUCKET AND A MOP, THAT’S SOME WASP

In the middle of my testing, I got an opportunity to play as Ant-Man while my buddy played Wasp for the first time, and it was the first time I got to experience them as a team. We both laughed a lot during that game, making tons of stupid bug jokes and snatching victory from the jaws of defeat against Mutagen Formula.

I realized in that game that the Champions designers pretty much nailed the cool factor of two iconically connected characters fighting together. It was a ton of fun, but frankly I've been pretty confident that they’d manage that part ever since this pair was announced. I was less sure that both Wasp and Ant-Man would hold up mechanically as individual characters in such a way that players would want to return to them over the years. When Ant-Man dropped and hit that mark, I became even more nervous for Wasp. I was almost positive they couldn’t go 2 for 2.

I was wrong. Wasp has the flexibility and the damage ceiling to hang with any scenario, and an Alter-Ego ability that can only keep increasing in potency. It’s been awesome to see the community rally around her release and I don’t think we’ve seen the last of what she can do.

Fly forth and conquer.

(ps these are absolutely atrocious section titles and im very sorry)

30 comments

Feb 02, 2021 lyerelian · 1

This is one of the best explained decks I have read. I truly appreciate all the work you do and and very excite to try this out!

Feb 03, 2021 RevDRob · 7

Do Bio-Synthetic Wings get that much use for you? I figured you'd want to end the turn in Giant as much as possible for increase def and retaliate. The helmet is the only signature upgrade of hers that I consider a must play from my experience.

Feb 03, 2021 ImpossibleGerman · 13933

@lyerelian Thanks buddy.

@RevDRob For sure- as I say in the write-up, it’s a less urgent, less potent use of resources than most of her kit. I do like that it kind of gives her 3 DEF in both Hero forms in a roundabout way, and in side-scheme or minion heavy scenarios you will probably find yourself in Tiny form often enough to make it worth it. Unflappable really likes the extra help and Energy Barrier ended up cut .

Feb 03, 2021 Saan · 3518

Dude, I am with you on Genius being incredible. If I get an early Genius (or, lord willing, in my opening hand) there's games I get to play it 3 times in the first shuffle.

Feb 03, 2021 Novawyrm · 156

I'm so excited to get Quicksilver so I can use Multiple Man in my protection decks. Three allies for the cost of 4? Sign me up! Each one only has two health so you can use their ability once each and then chump block 3 attacks? That is better cost effectiveness then Spider-Man's Webbed Up.

Yes, he fills up all your ally spots but in a multiplayer game you shouldn't have more then one left when it is your turn again. So you will be able to play your other allies when they come up. He is going to have a fixture in most of my Protection Decks.

Wasp gets even better use out of Multiple Man with her alter-ego power. When she flexes down, over the course of two player phases in alter-ego (after flex-down/ before flex-up) She can return 4 cards with a mental resource to her deck. That just SCREAMS 3 x Multiple Man and Genius. You could easily play this cycle at least twice per deck shuffle, three if he shows up turn one.

Thank you for making this deck and showing the amazing potential of Multiple Man.

Feb 03, 2021 ImpossibleGerman · 13933

@Novawyrm Thanks bud. It’s kind of hard to imagine a deck where Multiple Man will shine more than Wasp’s. Nadia is just so uniquely suited to get full value out of him.

Feb 04, 2021 josseroo · 470

Thanks for taking the time for such a thorough write-up! Multiple man using the resource really makes him shine.

Feb 04, 2021 Aphexia · 8

Fantastic write up! I cant wait to try this build out.

Feb 04, 2021 gustave154 · 21

Thanks for showing how strong Wasp actually is. I feel the pre-con deck was the absolute worst.

Feb 04, 2021 NocturnalAnimal · 16164

Brilliant stuff! I've been spending a fair bit of time in justice with Nadia, but feel protection is crazy good with her and she may actually be the best hero to showcase the aspect outside of Cap's Stunlock deck. Also like that it's a bit different to my own Wasp Protection deck which went for more of a death by a thousand stings approach.

Feb 04, 2021 neothechosen · 9806

Cool approach!

I went for the more obvious Justice - combo, but protection now seems like a must-try.

thx for the share!

Feb 04, 2021 Pickles · 26

Protection; the aspect that needs a powerful hero to carry it. Thwart is as you say the key. I feel there are plenty of shape changing ideas they can use. Antman obviously benefits from flipping while Wasp seems to have a really strong side and incentives to swapping into the other side in that the cards are broadly more powerful. It feels like her natural state is Giant while Antman's is Tiny.

GIRL is nowhere hear as good for resources as Commander - maybe half a resource per use but I think less. The reuse part is hard to quantify It looks very good with Multiple Man but otherwise is OK. Needs texting ;)

A great write up as ever! Thanks for doing it.

Feb 04, 2021 ImpossibleGerman · 13933

@Pickles I definitely would say that evaluating G.I.R.L. in terms of resources is a bit too narrow in my opinion. It tends to make rough turns sting a bit less in the long game.

How many times in Champions have you been in this scenario?-

You've just drawn a critical upgrade that's important to your deck, but there's a fire on the board that needs to be put out immediately, or worse, you've drawn MULTIPLE critical upgrades at the same time.

For most characters, this siutation means you're going to have to make a tough call, and usually the important card goes in the discard. Then you've gotta wait until you deck out to reshuffle and try to get that card on the table on the next pass.

Nadia's going to have multiple opportunities to get another shot at any critical mental card that came out of the deck at an awkward time. It's less about resources and more about ensuring your plans come to fruition.

Feb 04, 2021 neothechosen · 9806

@ImpossibleGerman

right there with you on GIRL. I play a - Justice where I re-shuffled Pinpoint Strike, Nick Fury, Genius constantly... seriously you can have Pinpoint Strike in your hand like 6-7 times as you go through your deck! So using it to pay for some important upgrade doesn't hurt as much, indeed.

Feb 08, 2021 Superbosher · 145

Please could you like my decks because I liked yours.

Feb 08, 2021 Superbosher · 145

You should get rid of night nurse and add in one med team.

Feb 18, 2021 Blaze · 1

Awesome deck, thanks for posting! Question. Is Swarm Tactics worth a deck slot for only one ally? Its great in two player but it seems it would be hard to have ally Ant-Man on the table and this card in hand with any regularity.

Feb 18, 2021 Blaze · 1

DOH! I just noticed it was . Never mind ;)

Mar 01, 2021 BeatDGameMC · 2307

Great write up. Don’t know if you had a chance to catch my channel BeatDGame. I explore wasp to the fullest one card I would suggest is that asses the situation more than counterpunch. If you want to see how good it is with her I invite y’a to check out my wasp videos. I put my wasp protection build vs crossbones with the control strategy but being tough is my main game laughing at his natural piercing abilities. Anyway keep up these write ups. And hit me up for deck build discussion. I always try and do these super awesome combos that people just don’t see until you show them in live play.

Mar 07, 2021 Dietrich · 1

What about Bait and Switch, would you consider adding this when for example paired with someone playing aggression? Is there any card that you would consider to be swapped for this?

Mar 19, 2021 Brusc · 8

I'm liking this deck's synergies, but I'm finding myself unable to clear Klaw with Modok even on solo normal mode. 2 of my started games began with discarding roughly half of the encounter deck before finding a minion and ended up playing most of the game in hero mode since switch to alter ego would have meant meeting the threat threshold in one villain phase; between the acceleration tokens, Modok and his scheme when they, unavoidable, came out of the encounter deck. Most of the time I felt there was nothing I could do to keep up, having to defend most of the time and very rarely being able to ready up so i could use wasps good stats. Getting the upgrades out was also difficult since there was always some threat needed to be cleared. Multiple man is awesome but most of the time I had to use him to chump block just so I could do something in the hero phase. I'm probably doing something wrong, but I'm wondering if there were some tweaks that could help me turn the tide. I was thinking Desperate Defense in place of Counter-Punch.

Mar 30, 2021 SP_Rocks · 12

Just did a test run against Expert Rhino in solo and won rather comfortably. I definitely believe in the sturdiness of the deck; the lowest my health ever got was 3, I never had to use my basic REC action, and I only flipped to AE form once. After getting fully setup, I was basically impregnable and it was only a matter of time until I won. The only thing I'm unsure of about this deck is Unflappable. I only used it once and every time after that Rhino managed to boost his ATK by 1 or 2 extra. I feel like the allies and tough cards did more work to keep me in the game than that card did. I might swap it and the Counter-Punches out for some more healing effects or tough effects, or maybe even Expert Defense for more synergy with G.I.R.L.

Mar 31, 2021 Edufarre · 1

I have just tested this with Iron Man Justice against Rhino Expert. I found Indomitable a bit useless compared to Desperate Defense, but maybe that's because of the high Attack of Rhino. The rest of the deck is lovable without doubt.

Apr 07, 2021 josseroo · 470

I tried this out and found the stun/toughness aspects of the deck at odds with the defending package. Has anybody tried a version of this deck that doesn't try to split the difference and instead leans harder into one of those strategies?

Apr 07, 2021 ImpossibleGerman · 13933

@josseroo In terms of piloting, the idea in solo is that when not needing to DEF because your blockers, stuns, or toughs are doing the work, you get to use Wasp’s other awesome attacks and stats. In my experience good green decks often have a problem with staying proactive in solo once they’ve built a bit. You want a wealth of defensive tools, but it definitely can go above critical mass once out of the rougher early turns.

The reason I chose to split the difference is that Wasp has synergies with so many varied elements (high defense, Perseverence, mental resources) of Protection that it felt negligent to only work with one.

If you were to modify this deck now that green has some more cards, I’d take out the cards you’re not gelling with in favor of Hard To Ignore or maybe even a couple of Fighting Fit, given that this deck can get very hard to damage.

Apr 07, 2021 Pickles · 26

Having played her a bit now I must agree recycling Genius feels good. I also like her ability to split thwart/attack. Other than that I found her really dull ah well. I have a racoon to play with.

May 05, 2021 rstorcdk · 4683

I switched The Night Nurse with Nerves of Steel This allowed me to also switch Counter-Punch out for Preemptive Strike and fuel those punces with Nerves of Steel. Like someone above me said, often you take ping damage after a defend and unflappable often goes unused because of that. Preemptive Strike not only stops that, but it can also save a teammates life.

But the deck certainly gives a lot of inspiration. Can't wait to see what future cards can do for this deck.

May 24, 2021 MisterDwarf · 8

@ImpossibleGerman I would love to know if you've played with this deck with any of the new cards like True Grit or Ever Vigilant! The latter being more situational but the former seeming to fit best in Wasp with her high thwart stat.

Aug 03, 2022 wojciech · 7

Not so bad, but I think Wasp is quite difficult to play for me

Aug 06, 2022 Flyjughead · 1

Really enjoyed playing the deck and your detailed write-up on how you envisioned it being played. Thanks for sharing! :)

I played it solo so I swapped out Swarm Tactics and Iron Fist for two copies of “Hard to Ignore.”

It’s so much fun when her board gets fully setup with upgrades and you take no damage while dishing two back, removing two threat and drawing a card, haha!