Doctor Strange - Pass Into The Iris [Protection]

RolandWright · 2458

See the Updates section for my current decklist at the very bottom.

Welcome

Doctor Strange is about as overpowered as I figured he'd be. But he's also the absolute most fun. His play style is very fluid and engaging and each turn you really FEEL like you're playing a magical super hero.

By using the Protection aspect, we're able to retain Hero form for 100% of the game time (a little dependent on your opening draw). There's a lot of cards that are responsible for this, but it makes Strange an absolute monster in solo play.

Resources

Here's a list of all the cards that act as resource generator's in Strange's deck:

  • The Eye of Agamotto: Straightforward wild resource generator.
  • The Sorcerer Supreme: +1 to Hero hand size for only 3 total cost. Great card for Strange and future Mystics.
  • Avengers Mansion: Straightforward, draw 1 card. It is costly to play, and played earlier in the game. More useful in multiplayer than solo.
  • Quincarrier: Great resource generator. Slightly worse than Agamotto because it's a 4 cost instead of 3. Upside is, we're always in our Hero "Avenger" form, so it's easy to play.
  • Sanctum Sanctorum: Draw 1 card, alter-ego only. Because we're almost always in Hero form, this card is barely used.
  • Winds of Watoomb: Invocation card that draws us 3 free cards. Incredible card that we'll touch on more later.

Priorities

In order:

  • Cloak of Levitation: Immensely powerful card for Strange as it allows him to cast 2 Invocations per turn. Invocations are the best events in Marvel Champions, and using 2 per turn supersedes anything your main deck can do. This also helps you ready-up after an encounter card may have exhausted you. VERY WORST CASE SCENARIO, you can use this after defending or to thwart/attack twice. Sometimes, an enemy I want to use Crimson Bands of Cyttorak or Magic Blast on will have Tough and the only choice I have to deal with it is to have Strange attack, then use cloak to ready him again.
  • Wong: By far one of the best allies in the game. I think Wong really showcases the possible directions FFG may take card design in the future. He exists to serve as some potential damage, powerful healing, or helping you cycle your invocation deck. I'd love to see this kind of utility with all allies going forward and he's a must-have as early as possible.
  • The Eye of Agamotto / The Sorcerer Supreme: Pretty standard resource cards. Cheap to put down and will help you for the rest of the game. Get them down as soon as you draw them usually.
  • Avengers Mansion / Quincarrier: Pretty standard extra resource cards. It's not uncommon for me to have to pitch these early game for something better (the above cards), but if you manage to get them out - they'll help carry you.
  • Master of the Mystic Arts: Super strong card. MotMA and Cloak essentially allow Strange to cast 3 invocations in a turn. MotMA is also GREAT with Winds of Watoomb and in some cases, Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. You can use this card even if Strange is exhausted.
  • Defensive Stance: I prioritize having one of these out at all times over having Energy Barrier out. The reason I only have 2 copies in deck is because you can only have 1 out at a time. It's a great card and keeps Strange alive long enough to get Seven Rings of Raggadorr off again.

General Strategies

There's a lot here. They will be in no particular order.

  • Seven Rings of Raggadorr is a GREAT Invocation. The value from this card is insane. Use it to make Strange and all of your allies Tough. Fun fact; you can use Tough to mitigate the consequential damage your allies might take - thus allowing them to theoretically stay in play forever, or at the very least buy you THREE TURNS of safety from the Villain's attack. Which by then you'll have Seven Rings back to use again. Useful with cards like Heimdall and Brother Voodoo to prevent their double-consequential. You can also give an enemy Tough to then use Vapors of Valtorr and turn it into a Stunned/Confused.
  • Vapors of Valtorr: If a villain or minion have Tough, turn it into Stunned or Confused (as needed). If you know the last two cards of your invocation deck are Seven Rings of Raggadorr followed by Vapors; you can use Seven Rings to give an enemy Tough and then turn it into Stunned.
  • Crimson Bands of Cyttorak: This isn't considered an Attack and therefore is able to target the Villain, even if a minion has Guard. Super useful against ALL Villains and is your primary win-condition. Most Villain's will effectively be beaten in solo play by using this card on them 4-5 times.
  • Magic Enhancements: This card is odd in solo play (or even in multiplayer tbh). The best time to use this card is when you somehow have access to both copies of it (you can increase those odds by using Mystical Studies). The play is to use both copies of Enhancements, have Doctor Strange attack or thwart, and then use Cloak of Levitation to ready him and do it again. These can be used to buff defense too, so there is a world where a build focused on defending with Strange and using cards like Indomitable or Desperate Defense combined with something like Counter-Punch Armored Vest, Unflappable, or Get Behind Me! exists. It's just not consistent enough for me to really go that extra mile. Maybe if there are some cards that help yank them back into play more often.
  • Momentum Shift is a great card. Using this and Wong; you can repeatedly heal yourself for 3 each turn while also doing poke damage to minions; softening them up for either Wong himself or something else (they pop Tough too) to finish them off.
  • Protective Ward: I will usually keep 1 copy of Protective Ward in my hand until an annoying Treachery comes out. It's one of few cards in the game that I believe are worth it.
  • Images of Ikonn: Pretty self-explanatory card. Can deal with a lot of side-schemes easily. The best thing about it, is that you can confuse an enemy. Keeping the Villain confused means you won't have to worry about Advance or similar scheme-triggers.

Scenario Specific Strategies

Will continue to add on to this as I have time to.

Achievements

Will continue to add on to this as I have time to.

First Try Clears

Replacement Options

A lot of these cards are literally in here because I couldn't think of anything else I wanted. You're free to experiment with these slots (or improve it when new packs release).

  • Nova: This ally doesn't really hit board that often. We have A LOT of Energy resources and Quincarrier/The Power of Protection generate wilds. That's nice, but it's not SUPER necessary.
  • Tackle
  • Preemptive Strike - I was really hot on this card when it first came out, but for solo play, it's certainly less valuable. Maybe 90% of the time I draw this card, I don't get to fully utilize it.
  • Heimdall: Similar to Nova, Heimdall doesn't hit table that often. Using Seven Rings of Raggadorr to mitigate his consequential damage is nice though.
  • Energy Barrier: 3 copies is a little excessive, but it's a really good card. As new Protection cards come out - this will be a good card to cut to 2 or 0 depending on what you may need the slot for. It's just a "generic good card" and doesn't specifically synergize with anything we're doing.
  • Quincarrier and Avengers Mansion: These cards are mostly in here to speed up the game. Extra resources / cards allow for bigger or more cohesive turns; but, they aren't necessary. Quincarrier is certainly nice for removing Villain upgrades or other strange encounter cards that might need it. If you want more defenses, remove 1 of these for an additional Defensive Stance.

Updates

  • Removed Heimdall, Nova, Preemptive Strike, and Target Aquired.
  • Added 3x Ever Vigilant (very good card) and 3x Spiritual Meditation (speeds up early game, use as needed late game)
4 comments

Aug 08, 2020 Soapy · 1

Thank you for this great deck post! Won against Ultron multiple times no problem.

Aug 19, 2020 dr00 · 38765

Great write-up. I don't particularly like Dr Strange Protection, but you're making me want to give him another look

Oct 26, 2021 Smoothjedi · 1

@RolandWright Ever Vigilant is a good card, but how do you reliably get Aerial?

Oct 26, 2021 Smoothjedi · 1

@RolandWright Ugh, ignore that. Totally missed Cloak of Levitation