New Deck... for me anyways

[Demacus]

I built a new deck I want to try out, but I was kind of wondering if there are "tricks" to building a good deck.  For example, what would you say is the cap on Specials for Front Line Characters?  Special cap for reserve?  Would you play more then 2 allys?  More then 6? Is 15 Powercards a good target to shoot for?  Would 18-20 Powercards be too many, and could possibly act as a hindrance in a similar way that too much basic land in your magic deck can be a hindrance?  Reserve characters with the ability to act from reserve are great, but would you call that a necessity?  Obvioulsy, negates are great if you can get them. Would you dedicate 10 or more cards in your deck to pure defense?  Would you use less then 9 cards throughout for defense?  I'm looking for these specific thoughts to help refine my deck building skills.  I like to have targets in mind when I'm looking at a character, cause I'm one of those nutty guys who'll throw Anyheroes in a deck and run the "No One-Per-Deck Cards may be played" event.  I will post my current deck breakdown soon, as I don't have it in front of me.

[mattkoz]

I have never been a tournament player, but I generally do max 2 specials from reserve unless they are cards that can be played from reserve. I like 2 allys (the 5 or less to make a 3 attack) on my off-skills.

I generally do 4 power cards for each number, and maybe 3 for numbers under 3. Seems to do well on the duplicates. I'm sure there are more experienced players that will have better analysis here.

[Demacus]

Thank's Matt.  Appreciate the feedback.  Anyone else? 

[breadmaster]

i'm not experienced, but i've had success recently with only going with 2 of each power card

lately i've found i'm still duping 3, 4, and sometimes 5 of these cards throughout the deck, and i'm not conceding very often

this leaves you with alot less defense, but should cut down on your dupes.  also leaves you with less chances of duping in power pack

most people go with 3 of each, adding more to the high end, and subtracting from the lower.   only thing i can suggest is experimenting, and finding what's right for you

when it comes to specials, it depends on the character.  you know someone like mr fantastic is going to be targeted, so you'll probably only want to include the essentials.  someone like xbabies though, has a great chance of not being attacked, so you can go heavier, including 1 of each of their usable specials, and possibly more if you like the card (lil colossus/longshot)

any defensive cards (negates, tm avoids) i put in 3, and you'll probably find that's a common number.  i can't back it up with math, but you seem to get them often enough to balance the duplication risk

[Demacus]

Ok...  Here's the deck breakdown

Marvel Universe Homebase, Annihilation Affair
Mr. Fantastic - FY, AR, HQ, AD, AV, AF
Professor X - BG, AG, AH, AV, AQ, OF
The Shi'Ar - AA, AF, CC, JWx2
Dr. Strange (r) - ADx2, DG

Power cards: 2M, 3M, 4M, 5E, 5I, 5M, 6E, 6I, 6I, 7E, 7I, 7A, 8E, 8I, 8A
Teamwork : 8I+FE, 7I+FE, 8E+IF
Ally: <=5F*3F, <=5S*3S
Events: Heroic Standoff!
Aspect: A-Next
Battlesite: Outback
NJ(Daz), AD(Daz), AG(Jub), DB(Jub), DO(Long), AO(Reav), EE(Sent), EA(Sent), AL(Wolv), OB(Long), AR(Reav), AC(Wolv), BJ(Reav-OPD) + Beyonder

Exactly 56 card deck.  Aside from my choices for line-up/locales, would you say these numbers should help keeps dupes from being an issue?  Looking at 20 specials, 15 Power Cards, 3 TW, 2 Ally, 1 Aspect, 1 Event, and 14 Activators.

[mattkoz]

I've built a similar deck that my wife uses, but instead of Dr. Strange it currently has Original Armor Iron Man. when I get the chance, I will share what's in it!

[Demacus]

I kind of like having a back-up 8E for Prof, just in case.  I DID consider Iron Man:OA, but as a replacement for Shi'Ar, but THAT was only because I was trying to make the deck Illuminati themed, since I already have 3 of the Illuminati present.

[steve2275]

id say no more than 4 ally cards
or in dems case add an 8 e 3 and 8 i 3 

[gameplan.exe]

Ok...  Here's the deck breakdown

Marvel Universe Homebase, Annihilation Affair
Mr. Fantastic - FY, AR, HQ, AD, AV, AF
Professor X - BG, AG, AH, AV, AQ, OF
The Shi'Ar - AA, AF, CC, JWx2
Dr. Strange (r) - ADx2, DG

Power cards: 2M, 3M, 4M, 5E, 5I, 5M, 6E, 6I, 6I, 7E, 7I, 7A, 8E, 8I, 8A
Teamwork : 8I+FE, 7I+FE, 8E+IF
Ally: <=5F*3F, <=5S*3S
Events: Heroic Standoff!
Aspect: A-Next
Battlesite: Outback
NJ(Daz), AD(Daz), AG(Jub), DB(Jub), DO(Long), AO(Reav), EE(Sent), EA(Sent), AL(Wolv), OB(Long), AR(Reav), AC(Wolv), BJ(Reav-OPD) + Beyonder

Exactly 56 card deck.  Aside from my choices for line-up/locales, would you say these numbers should help keeps dupes from being an issue?  Looking at 20 specials, 15 Power Cards, 3 TW, 2 Ally, 1 Aspect, 1 Event, and 14 Activators.

I'd say your overall balance is good here. Every deck has it's own synergy; Overpower is great because there is tremendous flexibility that can still be very successful. For this particular deck, I have a few notes that may be worth considering:

I'd drop both of the AF cards in favor of a second AR for Mr.F and a second AA for Shi'Ar
I'd drop the lv.5 E PC for a lv.1 PC of some kind.
I'd drop on of the lv.6 I PC for a lv.6 A PC.
I'd change the Event. The one you chose is good for a small Power Pack, because you can fill in blank spots in your 1-8 (which is beneficial here, because you're not using and duplicates in 1-4; however, I think there can be other, more significant Events for you to use. Take a look at both the Infinity Gauntlet and Separation Anxiety - they both have several Events that would be very useful to this deck.

PS - I fully support swapping Iron-Man back in for Shi'Ar! I love themed decks and, while not an 8I, he probably brings better Specials to the table (his AC will pair well with Mr.F's AD, also his LO is a good cross-coverage with the AD).

[Demacus]

I actually DID make an Illuminati version of the deck, swapping out Shi'Ar for Inhumans, as Black Bolt is also an Illuminati,  That gives me 3 solid 8 E characters, and Mr. F, now being the only Int is kinda being hung out to dry, but I also get the major impression that he's going to be the primary target as well.  Again, I don't have the exact specs in front of me...

[Nate Grey]

I have never been a tournament player, but I generally do max 2 specials from reserve unless they are cards that can be played from reserve. I like 2 allys (the 5 or less to make a 3 attack) on my off-skills.

I generally do 4 power cards for each number, and maybe 3 for numbers under 3. Seems to do well on the duplicates. I'm sure there are more experienced players that will have better analysis here.

That is similar to my approach. I used to have 4 power cards for each, but found that only having 3 for power cards 4 and under minimized my duplicates. I also do 2 max specials for reserve, but because I've seen how useful allys are, I've gone up to 3 or 4 per deck.

[steve2275]

i can testify to that