Deck Tech: Black Panther Protection

Hello fellow Champions! It is I, Tommy of Titan here to talk about my favorite deck to play in this game to this point, Black Panther Protection. This is my favorite deck not because of how amazing and unbeatable it is, but because of how it plays. I love what it brings to the table in a multiplayer game especially. Allowing my teammates to do what they need to do while I tank attacks round after round all the while dealing damage in return to the attackers.

Now that we’ve talked about the general premise of the deck let’s talk about the initial decision to pair Black Panther with the Protection aspect. For me it was simple, retaliate and the ability to guarantee that I start the game with Vibranium suit. These two things would ensure that I am able to deal damage while taking damage and heal with greater frequency than your average Hero. Typically I like to soak the first attack the Villain makes against Black Panther to accumulate some damage to move with the suit later. Often in that same Villain phase I will try to block for a teammate to make sure there is less pressure on them to start the game. Ideally I’ve found I’m able to remain in Hero form for all but 2 or sometimes 3 rounds of the game depending on the length of the game. This limits threat placed by scheming but also devalues Alter-ego actions.

So let’s take a look at the list itself. As you can see, there are a lot of single copies in the deck. I like this because cycling your deck in this game is fairly easy and you often get to see each card in the deck multiple times. I also try and include lots of cards that can stick on the table so that when my deck does cycle, I will have even less cards between me and my Wakanda Forevers. So many cards in this deck are dedicated to survivability but also can be flexible and help in other areas while keeping you and your team alive. Let’s take a look at how we can use these cards in a team setting.

While Med Team is great for keeping the team alive it’s also extremely useful for healing allies. Allies offer huge value in this game and keeping a beefy Vision on the table is often a Leadership player’s dream come true. Healing the Hulk is another great way to increase the damage output of the team with a card like this that is defensive in nature. You also have cards like Energy Barrier and Preemptive Strike that are great for turning damage that you would’ve taken into damage dealt to an enemy.

Now, while I know there can be some really rough draws for a Black Panther deck where you get all your Wakanda Forevers before you get all of your upgrades on the table, I would encourage anyone playing this deck to still play them even if you only have the Vibranium Suit. A 1 cost event that heals you for 2 and deals 2 to an enemy is still a great value. You’ll have the opportunity to have monster combo plays later in the game on your second or third time through the deck.

Another aspect of every deck is the allies you include. I for one think that allies in general are extremely powerful for the resource investment made more often than not. That’s why I included 5 in my deck. The only allies I could’ve included but didn’t in this version of the deck are Lockjaw and Mockingbird. Both of them could easily be swapped in for any of the allies to appease your own play style and preference. I have had Mockingbird in more often than not honestly but am currently testing Black Widow in that 5th slot. As a Protection player there will be turns that you need to alleviate the pressure on you or a teammate and an ally is just what the doctor ordered.

The last thing I’d like to go over is the very noticeable fact that I have included a ton of resource generating cards. I have talked through this at length with a few of the players in my play group and they generally think I include too many resource cards in this deck specifically. I think that the resource cards offer me the opportunity for some big turns where I can drop a 4 cost ally and still play a card like Tackle with limited card draw (which is something this deck doesn’t have a ton of). My argument would be that every turn you only really play 2-3 cards on average, so why not have an increased chance of the cards that you won’t be playing being able to generate twice as many resources. If you have to discard a Vibranium to play Wakanda Forever once in a while so be it. The chances of you drawing a hand with nothing but resources is so low that it doesn’t even factor into the equation for me. I would recommend you try playing this deck with max resources and see how it feels before dismissing it.

Well, that about does it for this deck tech article. Thanks for stopping by and I really hope you give this deck a shot! If you do please don’t be shy, I’d love to hear your thoughts and how it worked for you. Until next time, I’m Tommmy of Titan from the Side Scheme podcast signing off. Be sure to check out the podcast where ever podcasts can be heard as well as checking us out on social media, YouTube, and Twitch.