Walk Softly and Carry a Big Stick

Card draw simulator

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Idirian · 120

Scott. Listen up.

The timeline’s a mess, Angel, Domino and I are running point. Here’s how it works.

1. Mission Brief – What I’m Doing While You’re Not Here

I’m Justice Cable, built around player side schemes. Every time we clear one and it hits the victory display, my kit gets nastier – bigger thwarts, bigger blasts, thinner deck.

In this op:

  • Domino (??) does things.
  • Angel (Leadership) floods the sky with allies and aerial strike teams.

  • I handle the plans:

    • I put extra missions (player side schemes) into play,
    • we clear them for global upgrades, free allies, and supports,
    • and I turn the growing victory display into huge threat removal and damage.

There’s a global cap on how many player side schemes can be in play:

  • 1–2 players → max 1 PSS in play
  • 3–4 players → max 2 PSS in play total.

We’re three heroes, so: only two player side schemes at a time. That limit is everything. We respect it or we die.

2. Opening Turns – “Here’s how we start the fight”

Mulligan priorities

If I’m talking you through my opening hand, here’s what I’m digging for:

  1. Technovirus Purge – free from setup, but I want the tools to clear it.

    • Once it’s in the victory display, I get +1 ATK/THW/REC and Psionic, powering my events for the rest of the campaign.

  2. One early player side scheme

    • Build Support or Call for Backup or Specialized Training, in that order of priority for most scenarios.

  3. A way to actually clear that first PSS

    • Mind Scan, Mutant Peacekeepers, Gunboat Diplomacy, Jessica Jones, or just basic THW with Heroic Intuition / Technovirus buffs.

  4. Engine pieces

    • Graymalkin, X-Bunker, Skilled Investigator, Children of the Atom – anything that rewards me for doing what I was going to do anyway: beating side schemes.

If a card doesn’t help me set a PSS, clear a PSS, or build my engine, it’s probably going back into the deck on turn one.

3. How I Use My Player Side Schemes

You’d approve of this part. It’s all about sequencing.

Step 1 – Technovirus Purge

Turn 1, it’s already in play. I treat it as priority target #1:

  • 5 threat is a lot, but clearing it early:

    • permanently boosts all my basic stats,
    • turns on my Psionic tag for future events.
  • Once it’s in the victory display, Mind Scan and Telekinetic Blast go from “good” to “stupid” very quickly.

If the board is on fire, sure, we stabilize first. But the sooner that Purge is gone, the closer I am to being the Thwart Cannon you always wanted me to be.

Step 2 – First “real” PSS: Build Support or Call for Backup

Remember the limit: two PSS max in play. One of those slots is Technovirus Purge until we clear it, so there’s only one free slot early. Choose carefully.

Option A: Build Support

“Logistics first.” That’s you talking in my head.

  • Build Support (1 cost, 3 threat).
  • When defeated, each player searches deck/discard for a support (cost ≤ 3) and puts it into play.

What that means in our squad:

  • I grab Graymalkin or X-Bunker – my side-scheme engine.
  • Angel pulls his key supports (like extra economy or X-Men engines).
  • Domino can grab defense utility if she’s got it, or card draw.

If the scenario looks like it’s going long (Juggernaut, Mister Sinister, Stryfe), Build Support is usually my first choice.

Option B: Call for Backup

When we need bodies right now, we go loud.

  • Call for Backup (1 cost, 3 threat).
  • When defeated, each player cheats any ally from deck/discard directly into play.

Early in Morlock Siege / On the Run, this is huge:

  • Angel yoinks his best aerial workhorse.
  • Domino grabs a key defender or Hulk-style beatstick.
  • I get Professor X, Gambit, Blindfold, or Jessica Jones depending on what we need.

If we’re staring down too many Marauders or Hope is in danger, Call for Backup goes first.

Step 3 – Specialized Training

This one’s our campaign-long steroid.

  • Specialized Training (1 cost, 5 threat).
  • When defeated, each player who doesn’t already have a Specialization gets one of the set-aside Specialization upgrades for free.

Result:

  • Permanent stat boost (ATK / THW / DEF / REC, depending on pick).
  • Ongoing card draw when we use that stat.

We don’t rush it on turn 1, but somewhere between midgame of Scenario 1 and midgame of Scenario 3, we must make time to clear this. The later villains hit too hard and scheme too fast if we don’t.

You’d like this one, Scott. It’s literally a training montage baked into the rules.

Step 4 – Lay the Trap (when it’s time to kill things)

Once our board is solid and threat is under control:

  • Lay the Trap (1 cost, 3 threat).
  • When defeated, the player who cleared it deals 5 damage to the villain.

It’s just turning extra thwart into damage:

  • Great when Angel and I can spare a basic THW or two to finish it.
  • Even better when we’ve got Skilled Investigator / Turn the Tide / Gunboat Diplomacy to profit off clearing it.

I don’t play this if we’re still desperately trying to keep the main scheme from popping. When I do play it, the intent is clear:

“We’re closing this out soon.”

4. My Turn Pattern – What I Actually Do Each Round

Early Game

What I’m saying in comms:

“Angel, get your engines up. Domino, stabilize the villain phase. I’ll bring the missions online and clear them.”

On the board, that means:

  1. Play exactly one extra PSS (Build Support or Call for Backup) unless I’m sure we can clear two in quick succession. Remember the PSS limit.

  2. Use basic THW + allies + Mind Scan / Mutant Peacekeepers / Gunboat Diplomacy to clear:

    • Technovirus Purge,
    • then that early PSS,
    • while keeping the main scheme low enough that it isn’t a problem.
  3. Prioritize getting Graymalkin, X-Bunker, and Skilled Investigator down – they let me go from “keeping up” to “way ahead.”

Midgame Loop

Once we’ve got 2–3 side schemes in the victory display and some supports online:

  • I’m the main thwarter.

    • Mind Scan routinely clears huge chunks of threat for 2 cost once the victory display is loaded. ([Cardboard Champions][5])
    • Mutant Peacekeepers leverages the entire X-team on the table for giant multi-hero THW.

  • Gunboat Diplomacy becomes our tempo reset button.

    • You’d like this card: 1 cost, exhaust an X-Force and an X-Men character, remove X threat and deal X damage, where X is their combined THW.
    • With Technovirus and Heroic Intuition up, Angel and I are often sitting at 3–4 THW each, turning this into 6–8 threat and 6–8 damage.

  • New PSS plan in midgame:

    • If we need more board, Build Support / Call for Backup.
    • If we want long-term power, Specialized Training.
    • If villain HP is the bottleneck, Lay the Trap.

All the while, Domino is taking most of the hits and peeling threat off with Hard to Ignore and similar tricks, giving me freedom to stay in hero form and spam THW. Angel’s allies keep the minions off our backs.

Late Game

Once the victory display is stacked and our Specializations are online:

  • Telekinetic Blast becomes the finisher – 3-cost event doing big damage plus more for each side scheme in the victory display.

  • I hold it until a key breakpoint:

    • To skip the nastiest villain phase (flip them and kill them in the same turn), or
    • To delete a final stage that’s about to drown us in encounter cards.

If we’ve got Lay the Trap ready to pop, I’ll line it up so someone (often me) clears it, deals 5, then I follow with a Telekinetic Blast or Gunboat Diplomacy to finish the job.

5. Things I Keep Repeating Over Comms

If you were in my ear, these are the rules you’d be barking, so I pre-bark them myself:

  1. Don’t overfill the table with PSS.

    • Two max in 3-player. Only play a new one if we can clear something this turn or next.

  2. Clear Technovirus Purge early.

    • Every turn without that stat boost is wasted power.

  3. Use One Way or Another sparingly.

    • I only play it when I’m sure I can handle the extra side scheme and the board state in the same turn or the next.

  4. Gunboat Diplomacy is not just “more damage.”

    • It’s precision. We use it to cleanly finish side schemes and spread damage where Domino and Angel need relief.

  5. If we’re ahead, invest.

    • Build Support, Specialized Training, Call for Backup – these are all “we’re going to win later” buttons.
    • If we’re behind, I stop adding PSS and just use my events and basics to stabilize.

That’s the plan, Scott.

Angel fills the sky. Domino keeps everyone alive. I jam missions into the timeline until the deck is nothing but answers, then I erase whatever’s left.

You’d tell me if I missed something obvious. Until then, I’ll consider your silence approval.

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