Hulk (Justice) - Call the cops!!

[Background]:

Since receiving the Hulk pack, I've been trying to make him work. I've tried straight Aggression, the Leadership deck that's hot on here, but nothing really impressed me. Then I started thinking about Hulk's weakness (with the help of my friend's joking about Hulk having "confuse immunity", being at 0 THW).

That set me on the road to Justice, and seeing a similar pattern to how She-Hulk works. A good amount of her kit is made for fighting, but she also has a decent amount of Alter-ego thwart as well. After review, she doesn't have the raw power that Hulk can put out though.

After looking at what thwart is available in Alter-ego for Hulk, there seems to be a good amount to sustain him until you want to SMASH. On the other side, you really don't want to stay Hulk for long (that hand size...oof). You want to setup your hand for a monster turn, then flip, accomplish the best you can, then hope for a good draw with the 4 cards on the next turn, then flip back to take advantage of your Lab and cycling ability.

Another thing I got tunnel vision on were a few key cards (Boundless Rage, Immovable Object, and Hulk Smash). Boundless made me think I had to stay Hulk, when in reality, I hardly ever need to play this card. Immovable is very situational and doesn't pull it's weight in many ways since we want to be Banner most of the time. Hulk Smash, most of the time, doesn't need all "fist" resources. You can just straight up swing 13 at the Villain, and that's okay.

The big "Hulk turn" cards are Unstoppable Force, Crushing Blow, & Thunderclap. They are why we pack so much "fist" (not Thunderclap but...they give us the damage potential we want). Combined with Hulk Smash, these give you many options when Hulk needs to clear out minions or hit the Villain as hard as he can.

(Changes: -3 Enhanced Physique / +3 Resourceful)

After further plays, Enhanced Physique is too expensive but Resourceful makes it better to play around. I found you will end up with 1 extra resource most of the time, and having a 1 drop save over turn to turn works wonders.

[Strategy]:

Getting out Beat Cop(s) is a priority, along with cost reduction staples (Helicarrier, Banner's Lab, Enhanced Physique - in that order). You will most likely cycle through your Hulk abilities early, while playing Counterintelligence and/or thwarting allies as well.

If you have to switch to Hulk to play Limitless Strength, do so. The best use I've found for them is to get Avenger's Mansion out to counteract the hand size discrepancy. Switching to Hulk and soaking an attack is certainly a good trade-off to have more options on your board.

The purpose of all the Alter-ego threat mitigation is to cover your own weight while setting up using his card cycle ability. You are trying to help the team as Banner, while getting ready for well planned Hulk turns. This doesn't mean you'll be Banner all the time, just that you may be jumping back and forth based on the best hand for the job at hand.

[Non-Hulk Breakdown]:

Beat Cop - The bread to Counterintelligence's butter. This card is incredibly good. The initial cost is steep, but you get a lot of mileage out of them. Persistent threat removal with the ability to kill a troublesome minion cannot be overstated.

Counterintelligence - This card really makes me like Justice nowadays. It gives you the option of when to apply its help. About to lose, pop it. Advance comes up, stop that. The control you gain is the benefit, not the amount you stop.

Allies - Agent Coulson effectively cost 2 w/ 2 THW & also gets you more thwart through Counterintelligence (which can always be pulled) if needed. Daredevil is another workhorse if you can play him through Limitless Strength, and knocking off Tough is also a huge benefit. Jessica has to be here too but she is either the weakest or the stronger ally (haha). Mockingbird is here because stuns are always welcome, she is a "fist" resource, and she can thwart or pluck Toughs off with the best of them.

Concussive Blow - This is the oddball. The strength resource it supplies is always a plus, but I started thinking about dead turns as the Hulk. The worst thing you can happen as Hulk is not drawing your awesome smashes or things that hurt people. This card, and Sub-Orbital Leap can become great boons if you draw them in a subpar hand. This card allows a bit of damage, plus it covers your threat when you switch to Banner.

Avenger's Mansion, Helicarrier, Banner's Lab, & Resourceful - all of these are key to getting the most out of any deck really, but the more we have, the better we can layout cards that help mitigate threat or setup bigger smashes. I would tell you that you have to play the Mansion when you get it, but it's always a hard choice with hand setup. Always filter with Bruce before playing anything, because drawing double/triple resources is definitely a thing that happens.

Downtime & Endurance - Just really good cards. Downtime is probably not needed, but again, "fist", and you can throw it on others. The same goes with Endurance except for the resource, but it's 1 for 3 health, which is better than a First Aid in some respects.

[Hulk Breakdown]:

Limitless Strength - Early game, you may want to switch to Hulk just to play this to setup, it's that good. Mansion, Beat Cop, Helicarrier all warrant it.

Unstoppable Force - Never play this without the kicker. That extra card in Hulk mode enables so much, and an extra 3 damage will never be wasted.

Crushing Blow - The same applies here. 3 damage for 1, or free with Helicarrier or Physique, is always appreciated.

Hulk Smash - The ultimate draw when you are in Hulk mode. If you have this in your Banner hands, you should really think about switching to Hulk, unless it's really early game. 13 damage for 3 is insane right? Killing a minion with the overkill is a trap most of the time, but if you have a good hand to abuse it, go for it.

Thunderclap - Situational at best, but if the team is struggling, or you're getting swarmed, do what you gotta do.

Sub-Orbital Leap - This is the last resort card in Hulk mode, in my opinion. This and Concussive Blow should be weighed heavy for when to play them. Bad hands happen, and these cards should help you do something beneficial, even if it's not smashing things very hard.

Boundless Rage & Immovable Object - As said earlier, dont worry about these too much. Play them if you can, but don't give up better cards for these situational cards. +1 ATK for a turn or two isn't worth the restriction. Retaliate 1 for a couple hits is in the same boat.

[Final Thoughts]:

I just made this deck and I am taking it through the paces. Started with Rhino w/ Scorpion (due to the Tough), and it did really well. Tough and Stun were plentiful, and I was able to get out of those jams fairly well. Threat was never an issue, but it hardly ever is with Rhino.

I plan to update the deck with decks I run against soon, so I hope it works out.

Any thoughts, comments, etc. are very welcome, and thanks for reading!

Stats:

[Solo]

(Expert) Rhino w/ A Mess of Things = Clear

(Expert) Klaw w/ Running Interference = Clear

[Co-op]

(Expert) Klaw w/ Kree Fanatic = Clear

(Expert) Klaw w/ Legions of Hydra = Clear

(Expert) Klaw w/ Under Attack = Clear

*Co-op is really interesting because if your team feeds you cards, you are a monster at times. Setting up enough treat mitigation, or just splitting it with the team, you can really have amazing turns.