Interfacing with the Triforce

The crux of this deck is using the Triforce of Power to overcome obstacles, choosing how to spend a plethora of resources wisely with the Triforce of Wisdom, and tanking damage using the Triforce of Courage. Once mastery of these principles is demonstrated, the Master Sword will reward its wielder with victory!

Take note of SP//dr in other colors:

Aggression by dr00

Justice by mikepelf

Leadership by Schmendrix

Triforce of Power

• Ven#m turns every medical counter into 10 power! Don't be afraid to drop her early at "only" 3/3 or 4/4 stats though. She can help smooth things over until a future turn where she can drop for 5/5 and stay out all game. Three straight turns of instant minion/side scheme defeat or clearing an entire villain stage on her own is empowering.

• Spider-Man is the next best use of a medical counter, turning each one into 8 power! (He swings for 2 and readies Sp//dr Suit to swing for 2 for each hp). The main way to get him into play is with Across the Spider-Verse, but Sp//dr's interface is another great way to afford him.

• Spider-Man Noir rounds out the Triforce of Power, converting a medical counter into 6 power! An oft overlooked ally, until you're healing him up with 3/3 stats every other turn! It isn't uncommon for me to get him to 3/3 in two turns, but you can also start using him at 2/2 where he is still very good. By the time he reaches 3, you can heal him with a medical counter. If I'm already resolving the treacheries anyways, I may as well get some mitigation for them. Just don't play him before Web of Life and Destiny is out and while still flipping often; Peni does not have the Web-Warrior trait, so his response will not work in alter-ego without another WW card out. Some tricks to fill him up quickly:

  • Don't wait for the "perfect" treachery, put literally anything under him.
  • Play him right before you deck out and/or in conjunction with Symbiote Suit to increase the odds of pulling treacheries.
  • Play on expert where treacheries and surge are rampant (if Exhaustion/Under Fire/Master Plan or scenario specific threats are still coming up, I'm definitely playing him since odds are that he can reach 2/2 on the first turn or he'll hit 1/1 and pull a side scheme/minion that Ven#m or Sp//dr can clear in a single hit)

Med Team is a key card here in the mid-game. But we only need one copy. Each of the power allies only needs healing every other turn. With all three out, you can spend a counter on each, for a total of 24 power. Most common is to have 2/3 out, alternating healing between the 2 (e.g. Ven#m-Peter-Ven#m is 28 value out of just 4ER from Med Team). However, Med Team isn't something we want to see early game (before it's even worth playing Ven#m) and by the time it's playable in the mid-game the deck is thin enough that we can cycle the single copy quickly. The ideal is spend the three counters->shuffle->get it back in 1-2 turns while the allies still have 1-2 hp remaining. They do not need to survive longer than the villain, so we don't need to overdo it on the healing. If you don't want to play around a single copy and aren't a Symbiote Suit fan, you can easily swap in another.

Triforce of Wisdom

Pre-release I was a huge Sp//dr doubter....but now she is one of my favorite heroes! What has set her apart is the amount of choice she presents to the player: use interfaces as resources or abilities, what to do with SP//dr Command, exhaust Suit/Peni in hero form or use them for alter-ego abilities/heal, use Sync Ratio on events/Ven#m or not, trigger Aunt May & Uncle Ben in hero or alter-ego. Everything is a choice and the decision tree (Great Deku Tree?) of her turns is rich. She is the chosen one. The amount of card draw she has is really sneaky for 3 hand size...On top of the 5 interfaces (remember that Peni herself is an interface) Sp//dr can have some bonkers 20+ resource turns! For example:

• Start in hero with Symbiote Suit for 4 cards
• In the villain phase, perfect defend once for Unflappable to go to 5
• Chump Ghost-Spider with Web of Life and Destiny out to get to 7
• Avengers Mansion for 8
• SP//dr Command for 9 (ish, converts a resource into a card)
• Play Spider-Man with an interface and Team-Building Exercise, readying the same interface for 12 resources total so far (counting TBE, readying an interface as the same as getting a resource, and the draw as +3)
• Attack with Spider-Man for another draw off Web of Life and Destiny for 13 total
• Spend the remaining 4 interfaces for 17 (one was used on SP//dr Command)
• Use All Systems Go! to ready all 5 interfaces, getting us to 22 resources on the turn, spend all 5
• Flip and exhaust with Maintenance to go up to 24 (having readied with Peter or Host Spider prior to flipping)
• Use Aunt May & Uncle Ben to draw 1-3 more cards to potentially hit 27 resources this turn
• If the prior turn had any Assess the Situation plays, this could be up to a 30 resource turn! If she manages to play every copy of All Systems Go!, that is a 40 resource turn!

Sp//dr Suit is low-key a money hero in the same vein as Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and Nova! Money Rupee heroes love card draw to turn their resources into cards, so we are chock full of card draw and plenty of cards like allies/upgrades/supports that are good resource sinks in alter-ego or hero.

Ok, so why include the Basic Double Resources?

On the surface, it seems the doubles can be foregone, only three cards in her kit are really good with them and they're all upgrades, albeit important ones.

• As you've now seen, this deck has absurd card draw, meaning we can always find an outlet for our doubles by just digging a little with SP//dr Command or Maintenance
• The doubles really shine in conjunction with Across the Spider-Verse, repeating its ability by spending a double and an interface to get out 2 WW allies (just remember to exhaust two WW cards, Spider-Man Noir makes a great exhaust while he's still building and Web of Life and Destiny is the standard freebie). Theoretically it can keep repeating this ability until out of resources or ally spots (and in the latter case could keep going, overriding allies for Web of Life and Destiny, though there is not much point in that)
• At worst a double can be discarded for SP//dr Command to ready Host Spider, to play an early Ven#m at 3/3 stats, or play Rapid Deployment as a 2 for 3 or Web-Trap as a 2 for 5

Wisdom is her wealth of resources and the knowledge to choose how to wield them best

Triforce of Courage

Sp//dr is pretty tanky with 14 hp and 2 DEF. On top of this, no other hero can get to 5 DEF with just Armored Vest and a single upgrade from their kit. (Spider-Woman can get close on some turns and Venom can do it with both of his pistols, but only SP//dr reaches 5 DEF this easily). Using Speed-Metal Alloy + Armored Vest, SP//dr hits this breakpoint, meaning any 2 ATK villains cannot break through her under normal circumstances. Even just hitting 4 with Speed-Metal Alloy alone gets her on par with every 3 DEF w/Vest which is pretty incredible when you think about it. Add in Symbiote Suit and she starts defending for 6!

This SP//dr will be doing an above average amount of defending to avoid chumping to preserve the Triforce of Power, triggering Unflappable to mitigate her hand size in the process.

Energy Barrier is here to help hit Unflappable, to face tank hits when not defending, and to ping off toughs since most of the damage here is in giant chunks. With a couple Energy Barriers out, she can even trigger Unflappable without exhausting Speed-Metal Alloy.

Aside from all of this, we want to cover one of SP//dr's only weaknesses, the rare slow start. In 90% of games, we will have a turn 1 interface play, but in the other 10%, we won't. The fortunate thing is that for these "rough" starts, SP//dr is incredibly durable. She's able to stay up and eat villain attacks for 2-3 straight turns with no worry, even with a minion(s) in play. Getting an Energy Barrier or Unflappable down really extends that. Then, by the time she has a couple interfaces out, she can unleash an absolutely explosive turn either with All Systems Go!, Ven#m, or Host Spider, taking back control of the board state, flipping down, and recovering all in the same turn.

The durability here is aided by her unique ability to perform a basic action in hero form, while still being able to basic REC in alter-ego in the same turn, due to her split identity card. Web-Trap, Spider-Man, and Ejection Protocol provide her with a status buffer. Ejection Protocol is perfect to pop when she is low on health, gaining a tough and a free flip (insane value for a 0-cost). It discards, so you can potentially play it again! The tough is useful either to gain tempo or to guarantee Unflappable. Just make sure to spend all interfaces before popping it and potentially don't use it while exhausted, to take advantage of Maintenance while in alter-ego. Unfortunately, she won't be able to REC that turn, but 6 hp + tough + 5 DEF w/Energy Barrier is more than enough of a cushion. A follow-up Symbiote Suit after ejecting is often better than a recovery, though Ejection Protocol is just Caught off Guard fodder for the rest of the game since the additional hp cushion takes her out of ideal ejection range.

Ok, let's address the symbiote in the room. Is it a risk? Does general consensus consider it a trap? Let's take a look:

• In conjunction with her interfaces, turns her into a 5/5/5 hero with 24 hp, 4/5 hand size, and 5 REC (yes, REC is a basic power boosted by suit!)
• Access to 3 reliable basic actions each turn with Peter and Host Spider means she will be taking advantage of the boosted stats regularly; potentially more when accounting for SP//dr Command and All Systems Go! being able to ready Host Spider
• Extra hand size means extra options for her copious resources
• Instant heart container! Extra hp helps her face tank the villain better, gaining tempo
• SP//dr literally "dgaf" about anything the encounter deck could dish her from the hazard icon. She eats villain attacks with ease, minions and side schemes crumble to a 5 value action from Ven#m or SP//dr, her nemesis and obligation are no threat, and the dreaded Advance just gives her a use for Psychic Link that turn

Do you have the courage to play with Symbiote Suit??

NPCs of Hyrule

Getting all 3 of the Triforce of Power out at once isn't very common, so there is typically a rotating third ally, often with Across the Spider-Verse "boomerang-ing" them in and out. With the number of allies, resources, readies, and boosted stats, this deck plays much more like a Leadership deck!

• Silk is a play from hand that let's you discard Under Fire or Advance, just be careful playing around Spider-Man Noir
• Spider-Man is another play from hand, but dishes out a stun and a confuse if you have a Triforce of Web-Warriors out. I'll often chump or override him before his hp is up, just to get him back in the shuffle
• Spider-Man has great thwart and discards a Triforce of encounter cards for free damage
• Spider-UK can get up to 5 damage from his interrupt, making him a great minion answer. Just be careful if he is the rotating third with Ven#m, since she is not a Web-Warrior for his ability

Wielding the Master Sword

I see a lot of players confused about SP//dr, and I was among them when we were just analyzing her cards by sight, pre-release. I hope I've shared enough above to enlighten anyone to her strengths, but this section is going to be a catch-all for SP//dr tips and strategies:

• With a max 4 card mulligan, be ruthless in the pursuit of interfaces or All Systems Go!. Early game, ASG is basically a copy of any interface. So with that in mind, we have a 90% chance of starting with an additional turn 1 interface, and a 70% chance that its Host Spider. Drax and Quicksilver would love those odds!
• With Maintenance and her Peni interface , SP//dr starts the game with 7 resources, meaning she can drop two big cards turn 1. In the 90% of games she opens with a second interface, that's an 8 resource starting turn, something that not many heroes have
• Aunt May & Uncle Ben, Ghost-Spider, and SP//dr Command are early drops that accelerate her setup
• SP//dr Command is a key card. The sequencing might seem complicated at first between all of the readies and draws, but try to identify which interface is least useful for the current board state, like Web-Fluid Compressor with no minions out, and convert it into a card. Use dead cards to ready Host Spider or ready SP//dr Pilot so she can REC after a flip
• SP//dr's power floor once Host Spider is out is 4 THW, 4 ATK, or 2 THW+2 ATK, in addition to and independent of any card plays. With all her interfaces, the floor becomes 6 THW, 6 ATK, or 4 THW+4 ATK before cards are taken into account. This is actually an incredible floor, being able to answer most threats with just basic actions alone
• Unfortunately, Spider-Man cannot ready Host Spider (he can, just doesn’t get the draw for it!), but readying Psychic Link or Web-Fluid Compressor can lead to some powerful double attacks/thwarts
• All Systems Go! with 3-5 interfaces out basically reads "take another turn". Ideally, spend the last interface to play it before readying all of them. At worst, she can have a second round of the "floor" turn above, and at best means she's dropping a full-strength Ven#m or Avengers Mansion or a fleet of allies. If she pulls off a double or triple All Systems Go! things can get crazy and I hope your multiplayer group doesn't mind that you're taking a 15 minute turn. Since this deck thins very well and Ghost-Spider can pull a copy, double ASG turns are not uncommon!
• With Across the Spider-Verse in hand, apply Aunt May & Uncle Ben liberally, hopefully dumping some WWs while drawing some cards
• Don't be afraid to keep playing on from a seemingly losing position, SP//dr is durable and has some really spiky turns
• Take advantage of the ability to clear immediate threats with a basic power, ready, flip, REC, and draw 2
• Be sure to spend the 4 interface upgrades with no alter-ego utility before flipping down. Conversely, not being able to spend them in alter-ego makes for some awkward turns when hit by alter-ego attachments/obligations such as from Enchantress or Kang
• We are not running Limitless Stamina because SP//dr has diminishing returns on readies once her interfaces are used up. Peter and Host Spider provider her all the readies she wants without needing to draw them. 2 ER for 2 is not as good as our Triforce of Power swinging for 3/4/5. Unshakable is in a similar boat, where SP//dr doesn't mind status very much, since she can use a ready to clear it and spend her interfaces elsewhere instead

I was worried about her before release for a number of reasons. Ironheart had just come out, and while she was fun to play, was so kit-focused that building for her was pretty boring. SP//dr looked the same, but with more shortcomings. However, I'm happy to say that she is a worthy Wielder of the Triforce! She has solo'd the likes of Venom Goblin for me and I hope this belated write-up gives her her due!

She is from an alternate timeline after all