Three Steps Above Olympus (Heroic)

Fun and Powerful Heroic Demigod

Hercules is a super fun hero and much more consistent than people think.

The Main Thing

Your No. 1 priority is completing your labours.

You should only care about what the villain is doing if you are going to 100% lose. Hercules has great ways to come back, and once he is fully set up (read: once he has completed his labours), he is unstoppable.

Maybe in your experience, Hercules had trouble with too much threat on the main scheme and annoying side schemes that, for example, add a hazard icon. Well, now you have a tool for that.

Three Steps Ahead + Olympus = 6 threat removed.

That's it.

Key Cards

• Three Steps Ahead. You'll love it.
• Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Hercules loves readying, and this card is a must, along with some Avengers heroes. Cheap ones, like Blade, are the best.
• Face the Past is another card that should be a staple in any Hercules deck.
• Avengers Mansion. You'll soon become rich, so drawing an extra card can make a huge difference!
• Under Surveillance. This upgrade can save you from sudden defeats.

Besides those "key cards", customize it however you'd like. Maybe you want Nick Fury, maybe you want to swap Yellowjacket for Gambit, or maybe you'd rather remove the Quincarrier to make room for The Power of Justice.

From the hero kit, you definitely want to play:

• Herc's Helm. It's wonderful, especially when you need to protect Amadeus Cho from the villain.
• Golden Mace for big damage and overkill, in combo with
• Prince of Power, so you can heal without switching to Alter-Ego.
• Olympus, obviously.
• Son of Zeus. Once you have at least 2 gifts, it's awesome.

Battle Record

Here are the games I played with Hercules:

• Ultron s3 EXP2 + Blizzard (1/1)
• Collector s3 EXP + Infinity Gauntlet and Ship Command (1/1)
• Nebula s3 EXP + Defenders and Hell's Kitchen (1/2)
• Ronan s3 EXP + Scarlet Twins and Moon Knight (1/2)
• Ronan s3 EXP + Kree Militants (1/1)
• Loki s3 EXP + Taskmaster and Thunderbolts (1/1)
• Venom Goblin s3 EXP + Taskmaster and Thunderbolts (1/2)
• Magneto s3 EXP + Reavers (1/2)
• Stryfe s3 EXP + The Doomsday Chair and Future Past (1/1)
• Apocalypse s3 EXP + Tombstone and Owl (1/1)
• En Sabah Nur s3 EXP + Owl and Tracksuit Mafia (1/1)
• MODOK s3 EXP HEROIC + Blizzard (1/1)
• Zemo s3 EXP + Owl and Tracksuit Mafia (DUO) (1/1)
• Cap America s3 EXP + Owl, Tracksuit Mafia and Namor (given as the first minion) (1/1)
• Iron Man s3 EXP HEROIC + Owl, Tracksuit Mafia, Tombstone, Disasters (1/1)
• Cap Marvel s3 EXP HALF HEROIC (1/1)
• Loki 2 + Enchantress and Frost Giants (1/1)
• Bullseye (Raft) s3 EXP HEROIC + Owl and Tombstone (1/2)
• Hammerhead (Daily Bugle) s3 EXP HEROIC + Tracksuit Mafia and Tombstone (1/1)
• Kingpin EXP (1/1)

Tot: 20 wins, 5 defeats = 80% win rate.

Strategy

You want to get some of your key hero cards in your opening hand, especially Herc's Helm. Anyway, get your first Labour out. Complete it as soon as you can, but don't do it on turn one, or your future turns may get awkward.

On turn 2 or 3 (or even 4, depending on the scenario and the Labour), you'll complete the first Labour. At that point, you can flip to Alter-Ego, probably exhaust to heal, get your second Labour out, flip back to Hero, and start working on it.

Again, don't complete it right away, even if you can. On the next turn, you'll likely complete the second Labour, meaning you can flip to AE again and heal (only if necessary; remember that you have a ton of HP and can heal by killing minions).

You can immediately start the last Labour, or even complete it right away!

Now you're an unstoppable Demigod, and the enemies will quickly succumb to your might. Drink wine from a golden cup and laugh as you defeat the villain.

Conclusion

I had a blast playing Hercules. The early pressure might feel overwhelming, but if you trust your tools and focus on the Labours, you'll quickly catch up, even when it doesn't feel like you are. Some scenarios are more challenging than others, but the odds are in your favour.

After all, you'll have all those divine upgrades... so what can a puny villain possibly do about that?