Telepathic Education

The idea of this deck is to go unleashed as quickly as possible, then start spamming Telepathic Trickery, Telekinetic Attack, and Psychic Blast; recurring them as often as possible using Mutant Education whilst in alter-ego.

How I went about building the deck:

1. It seemed that many phoenix cards are quite underwhelming on their restrained side, but borderline busted on their unleashed side (namely, Telepathic Trickery). The unleashed version of this card in particular plays several important roles for Phoenix: it covers thwarting during the pushing part of the game, when Phoenix goes unleashed and the player should be focusing on using her 3 ATK where possible; a stun to protect the rather squishy Phoenix from a villain attack; a confuse to allow for a relatively safe flip to alter-ego. I wanted to play this card as often as possible and as quickly as possible in unleashed form.

2. I wanted to exploit Mutant Education, which allows recurring Phoenix's best cards but requires a flip to alter-ego. A particularly satisfying use of this card is curating the last few cards in your draw pile just before decking out, by selecting exactly the Phoenix cards you wish to shuffle back from your discard pile. I have ended many games by ensuring I draw two to three copies of Telekinetic Attack for the final push. The card requires X-Mansion already out to be playable in my opinion however.

3. A ridiculous number of Phoenix's cards (10/15) can be used with Team-Building Exercise (TBE) so I wanted to lean into this heavily and to be utilising multiple copies every turn cycle where possible. Additionally, the chosen supports and allies synergise nicely with TBE, for the most part.

4. The justice aspect was chosen as the best accelerant - One Way or Another synergises well during the restrained early game as a way to draw through the deck and find important pieces, whilst exploiting Phoenix's 3 THW before she goes unleashed. I have started many games off with a One Way or Another. The justice aspect also provides access to the powerful Blindfold and Dazzler. Blindfold in particular, in conjunction with status cards can make scenarios feel like a total breeze. The additional draw from One Way or Another often leads to turns where you can use Phoenix Firebird to finish off these extra side schemes whilst simultaneously accelerating the consumption of your power counters. Aim to use at least one power counter every turn for the first few turns.

5. Given the high number of 2+ cost basic cards, The Power in All of Us is a no-brainer. This then allowed for an easy inclusion of Mr Ubiquitous (Nick Fury), Avengers Mansion for additional draw, and Vivian (flavour fail, I know) to help suppress any nasty "When defeated" effects from side schemes.

6. Phoenix is squishy! Telekinetic Shield has saved me more times than I care to relate. Play cautiously. Angel and Colossus are on blocking duty. Endurance felt like an obvious include to boost her hit points. White Hot Room and X-Mansion provide healing in alter-ego, although the latter is usually best aimed at keeping Cyclops in play.

Anyway, I'll stop babbling. Hope someone likes playing this deck as much as I have.