Turn the Tide, Vol 5: Mutagen Formula

Turn the Tide, Volume 5: Mutagen Formula

I. Welcome to Volume 5 of Turn the Tide!

Greetings all and welcome to Volume 5 of Turn the Tide! This is a series where I build decks designed to face off against a specific villain set. The format for each volume will begin with an overview of the villain’s deck before transitioning to the hero deck I designed to defeat it. This series is a hobby and I don’t know how regularly I’ll be able to upload (as the gap between this and volume 4 demonstrates). However, I plan to upload this series on weeknight evenings , US Eastern Standard Time. I’ll be aiming for Wednesday/Thursday, real life permitting. Unless stated otherwise, I am facing all villains on the Expert I difficulty, with their recommended mod sets.

In this volume we’ll be looking at Green Goblin in Mutagen Formula. Expert Mutagen Formula reminds me a lot of Klaw's deck in that both villains force the heroes to put out a wide variety of fires. The main difference is in the timing. Klaw politely saves all of his nonsense on the villain turns, and largely leaves the players free to clean them up on their turns. Goblin starts many of his fires as forced responses or "when defeated" actions, which introduce new problems to the board as soon as the players clear out the old ones. The result is a challenging scenario which asks the players to have the tools to deal with villain shenanigans, whenever they appear on the table.

As always, I welcome reader strategies on you've dealt with these encounter decks. I always enjoy reading the solutions others have developed. That said, let's get to the villain deck.

II. Villain: Expert 1 Mutagen Formula

Mod Sets: Goblin Gimmicks, Standard 1, Expert 1

Stats: 18/20 HP, 2/2 SCH, 2/3 ATK

Villain Card Effects:

Green Goblin II: When Revealed: Deal 2 encounter cards to each player.

Forced Response: After Green Goblin attacks and damages you, place 1 threat on the main scheme.

Green Goblin III: When Revealed: Deal 3 encounter cards to each player.

Forced Response: After Green Goblin attacks and damages you, place 2 threat on the main scheme.

Traits: Goblin

Villain Schemes: 2 schemes, 7/11 threat, 1/X escalation per player, 2/4 starting threat per player

Main Scheme Effects:

1A: Setup: Put a Goblin Thrall minion into play engaged with each player. Shuffle the encounter deck. Advance to stage 1B.

1B: When Completed: In player order, each player not engaged with a Goblin minion must discard 3 cards from the encounter deck and put the first Goblin minion they discarded this way into play engaged with them.

2A: When Revealed: Advance to stage 2B.

2B: X is equal to the number of Goblin enemies (including Green Goblin) in play. If this stage is completed, the players lose the game.

Deck Stats (including mod sets and Standard1/Expert 1): 44 card deck

Boost icon distribution (0/1/2/3): 17/13/10/4

Avg Boost Icons/card: 1.02

Number of Boost Star Effect icons: 18, ~ 40% of villain cards (compare to ~24% of cards in Klaw's and Ultron's decks!)

Deck Breakdown (Minions/Side Schemes/Treacheries/Attachments): 12/5/20/7

Minions: 1xGoblin Knight, 4xGoblin Soldier, 6xGoblin Thrall, 1xMonster

Side Schemes: 2xGoblin Reinforcements, 1xGoblin Nation, 2xOverrun

Treacheries: 2xDeath from Above, 1xI See You, 1x Overconfidence, 2x Wicked Ambitions, 2xIntimidation, 2xRegenerative Healing

Attachments: 3x Goblin Glider, 3x Pumpkin Bombs, 1xHysteria

Cards of Note: 1xHysteria, 1xMonster, 1xGoblin Knight, 1xGoblin Nation, 2xOverrun, 2xIntimidation

III. Villain Threat Overview

What Can Go Wrong? Green Goblin specializes in "treadmill turns" where the player is able to barely keep up with the villain's board state, but is unable to progress the game. Keeping up requires a flexible and balanced deck (or decks, in multiplayer), but it also requires good player judgement on when it's best to build up, manage the board state, or push the villain. Many of Mutagen Formula's cards are annoying, but not especially threatening. 10 of the deck's 12 minions are 1 ATK/1 THW. That's not inherently dangerous, but Goblin's deck can flood the table with them AND make his attacks and schemes more dangerous based on the number in play. Some of these minions and side schemes have effects which take effect when you defeat them, adding an extra layer of complication. Overrun has to be a contender for easiest side scheme to defeat in the game, but sometimes you clear it and have suddenly two goblin minions in front of you and it can feel like you've made absolutely zero board progress.

General Strategy: The good news about about the "when defeated" effects is you get to see what they are before you defeat them. Examine the board state and carefully consider what your "lose conditions" are, and address those first. To avoid "treadmill turns," look for cards and strategies that allow you efficiently accelerate your deck strategies. Player side schemes can convert your thwarting into opportunities to tutor a key support or hero upgrade. Having a good mulligan strategy can also increase the odds of you having a strong and smooth turn 1, which can set you up for success the rest of the game.

Keeping track of the villain's discard deck will also be very helpful. Monster and Intimidation are spooky cards, but he only has a few copies of them. Knowing which of his most dangerous cards are already out of the current deck pass will better inform your decisions on which risks you can take.

IV. Hero Deck: Rocket Raccoon (Justice)

Numerous minions and frustrating side schemes? Get yourself a hero who can deal with both. Rocket can reach a base 3 THW with his Thruster Boots, can re-ready after he thwarts, and he gets card draw from overkilling minions. Rocket is great at putting out Mutagen Formula's many fires, he just needs help dealing with villain attacks. For this, we'll give him a bunch of allies that can block for him, draw him cards, or set up minions for overkill damage.

Rocket's goal is get a high base THW, so he can thwart down anything in a single hero action, and then pour damage on the villain and minions with Turn the Tide and Waylay. Build Support and Heroic Intuition give Rocket three different cards that can get him to 3 THW, which in solo, should be enough to clear most side schemes in a single turn. 4 THW will help to consistently zero out the main scheme, so Rocket can trigger the deck's attack events. Chance Encounter lets you search your deck and discard pile for ally and add it to you hand. You can then pay for the ally and play them or use the newly acquired card to pay for something else. This will ensure Rocket has a steady stream of valiant chump blockers : ).

Between Goblin Soldiers and Pumpkin Bombs, Mutagen Formula features a lot of indirect damage aimed at the hero. Rocket can tank these as long as he has allies to block for the villain hits. Schadenfreude and 2x Making an Entrance will keep Rocket healthy as Osbourne tries to grind him down. Cybernetic Skeleton will also increase his survivability.

A special shout out to The Raft. Most of this scenario's minions aren't especially threatening, but Monster and Goblin Knight can be board-changing cards. Dealing with them once is rough enough, so The Raft ensures you don't have to deal with them a second time.

This deck's loop of zeroing schemes --> enabling allies and attacks allows it to more than keep up with the "treadmill" Osbourne wants the heroes to trip on.

V. Side Decks and Alternate Strategies

Alternate Hero Ideas: Honestly, I think Mutagen Formula has a tough, but very balanced villain deck and it's actually become my go-to deck tester, even above Klaw. I find it less swingy and more dynamic, compared to Klaw, and I find that I have to spend more time/turns concerned about the Goblin has on the board before I can just exhaust everything and swing for damage. This is a long way of saying I think just about any hero and deck is suitable for Mutagen Formula, but you may need to tune it up for those extra complications. That said, Mutagen Formula has a way of turning slightly unfavorable board states into disasters, so it can be especially punishing for heroes and decks which build up slowly. Heroes, like Nebula or Iron Man, will absolutely want to include fast and cheap cards to deal with immediate threats. Similarly, heroes with 1 ATK or 1 THW will want cards (usually allies) which can shore up an underwhelming hero activation.

Other Deck Strategies: As above, I think there's a version of just about every main deck archetype which can work here, it's just a matter of tuning. Pinned Down is great for neutralizing minions. Into the Fray, while expensive, pulls double duty work as a minion slayer and thwarter. Noble Sacrifice and "You Got This!" can convert allies into re-readies or health, letting you address multiple parts of the board at once. I haven't tried it, but I am sure a deck running Gunboat Diplomacy would do fantastic work here. All of the indirect damage makes Tough status cards on the heroes slightly worse, but they're still valuable

VI. Conclusion

Mutagen Formula puts a lot on the table -- quite literally! Just when you think you've got a handle on the board state, Osbourne releases even more for you to deal with. It's very easy to either fall behind Goblin's tempo or merely keep up. Turning villain nonsense into resources for the hero is always a very strong way to deck build, and Goblin gives you a lot of nonsense to work with. Have efficient answers for the different fires, prioritize your key deck enablers, and keep close track of the board state and you'll be more than a match for Mutagen Formula.

Moving forward, I may going a bit out of order as I come up with decks to pair up against different villains. I'm back from a break from the game (and this series) and I have some fresh ideas. Hopefully you'll be seeing these a bit more often moving forward.

Until next time and thanks for reading!