Shadowcat

Deck concept

I published a Shadowcat deck with no defense cards in it (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/28207/exhausted-shadowcat-1.0) because I was really impressed but the power of Shadowcat's hero cards - especially Shadowcat Surprise and Quick Shift. The idea was to thin out my deck as much as possible so that I can be confident of getting an ally or Shadowcat Surprise in hand to ready after I exhaust by defending. This deck applies a similar concept in Aggression, where there are fewer ways to ready Shadowcat, but on the other hand great allies like Wolverine and Psylocke.

Card choices

The key theme of the deck is to minimise the events and maximise the supports and upgrades, so that with a thin deck I can get the most out of those key hero cards. I also need ways to ready after exhausting to defend.

Utopia is my main way to ready Shadowcat. Once it is down all 8 of my allies will do that. They also provide thwarting and damage options which I can use when Shadowcat's own choices are limited by the need to end the phase in the right mass form. I also have two Ready to Rumble, although only one of them can be in play at once.

Shadowcat Surprise is just a fantastic card. Because the response on Solid isn't forced, Shadowcat Surprise lets you either attack or thwart as required and still end the turn in phased mass form. This is kind of the build-around card in this deck.

As this is intended as a solo deck, card draw is critical. Hall of Heroes can give a lot of extra cards, and with both Professor X and Psylocke in the deck I can get to alter ego fairly reliably. The thinner the deck gets, the more often I see Quick Shift too.

The obvious card which is missing is Surprise Attack, used by far better deck-builders than me like Brian-V (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/23022/kitty-surprise-attack-1.0). Surprise Attack can put out a lot of damage cheaply, and is good for clearing minions so it pairs well with Hall of Heroes, but if you have just exhausted to defend it leaves you exhausted, and of course it stays in the deck meaning you see fewer allies and less Shadowcat Surprise. Overall I think that including Surprise Attack gives you more damage output at the risk of lower thwarting. My approach has a lower ceiling but a higher floor.

Playing the deck

The focus with this deck is to play down as many upgrades and supports as possible, so as to thin the deck. Once Utopia is in play and the deck is thinned you can pretty much guarantee an ally in hand each turn, which means at least one ready effect. Professor X and Psylocke give you access to alter ego so you can trigger Hall of Heroes for a real burst at the right time. The rest is all pretty obvious stuff.

How to lose with this deck

If you want to lose with this deck then the best thing is to do it quickly, before the deck is thinned. That's when Shadowcat has the highest likelihood of being stuck with no way to ready or attack in her own turn. That can obviously make it hard to deal with multiple minions or side schemes. Shadowcat is so powerful, though, that I think it is genuinely hard to lose with her whatever deck you choose.

Conclusion

In the protection version of this deck the choice to focus on Utopia rather than defense cards seemed an interesting one. In Aggression it seems almost obligatory to me. But clearly it isn't, because people like dr00 build Shadowcat Aggression decks without it (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/23159/float-like-a-butterfly-sting-like-a-bee-1.0), and in fact the great majority of Shadowcat Aggression decks on the site don't include it. I think it's an effective approach, though, which makes this deck worth publishing even though it isn't a huge change from my green one.