Old Pros

Scene: Midnight at a mothballed SHIELD facility in the Ozarks. Moonlight filters through an unseen window and glints off the surface of a metal table. Steve Rogers, dressed in black, leans over splayed maps and schematics. He hears footsteps and looks up.

"Nathan. Thanks for coming."

"You're Steve Rogers. You get one."

"One?"

"Favor."

"Ah. Peachy. Laura - thank you, too. I know it was out of your way."

"He's Nathan Summers. He gets one."

"Favor," Steve smiles.

Snikt. She winks. "So no more boy scouts?"

Steve adjusts his tactical suit. "Just the one. I have something ... Off books."

"And they are?" She points her chin at two shadowy figures as the air around them begins to glow.

Ava says, "Logistics."

Kaluu nods. "Logistics." A portal opens

Sharon Carter steps into the light. "Hundreds of years* of cumulative combat experience and you old pros waste time on cinematic dialogue. Gotta keep it interesting I guess."

Steve: "Suit Up."

*Ed.'s note: You know about Cable and Cap. See X-Men #19 (2021) for more about X-23's lifetimes of combat.

Core team

Steve Rogers is calling in favors and kicking a. Cable and X-23 deliver tremendous value independently and when paired. We're going to Voltron both of them with Reinforced Suit and Inspired. Honorary Avenger and Mighty Avengers will further boost the dynamic duo's stats and health.

Why it works

Steve Rogers' living legend status gives him access to significant alter-ego resources. We use Suit Up to fetch Cable and X-23 (order determined by scenario) and play them in AE with Cap's discount. Super-Soldier Serum (not hero locked) and Steve's Apartment help out. We generally want Inspired first, Reinforced Suit second, and Honorary third, though an early game Build Support for Mighty Avengers can boost the importance of Honorary.

Once the black ops team is set up, we can Suit Up for White Tiger and Kaluu for value later - each are nice ways to convert AE resources into key cards (for readies or Heroic Strike). The attachments we fetch with them get stacked on Cable and X-23.

Other considerations

1. In a multiplayer game or because you love them, Nick Fury and Maria can be swapped in for White Tiger and Kaluu. Just need to be alert to timing relative to Mighty Avengers.

2. The most important complement to this deck is confuse. We want to flip a lot, though can stay up if necessary. Ask your buddy to pack Sonic Rifle.