Serving Justice, One Slice At A Time

X-23 is incredibly powerful and one of my favorite characters to play. Her ability to ready repeatedly is one of my favorite aspects of the game and this deck is going to make the most of it. X-23 has 2 main ways of readying, taking damage and Honey Badger taking damage. We are going to utilize both...a lot. We are also going to be utilizing X-23's upgrades to help with our strategy.

Shoutout to tjjj in the discord for some suggestions on improving the deck.

Allies:

Honey Badger is her signature ally and the most important in the deck. When she takes damage, she readies X-23 and this is not limited to once per phase. We have Mission Training to attach to her which gives her +2 hit points and +1 thwart. The extra HP allows us to use her multiple times per turn with Game Time which in turn allows us to ready X-23 repeatedly. We can also use Regenerative Healing to heal X-23 and Honey Badger.

Blindfold has a really nice when enter play ability that allows you to look at the top 5 cards of the encounter deck and discard 1. This allows you to not only get rid of a potentially dangerous card but also gameplan the next couple phases. She is also a target for mission training and can provide 3 thwart with that attached.

Marrow is the lone ally in the deck that is not here to thwart. Her when enter ability deals 2 damage to an enemy which really helps against beefy minions or can wipe out a weak minion without wasting an activation from X-23.

Bishop is someone who is not utilized much but he works really well in this deck. When you are attacked he gains an energy counter that provides +2 attack and when you attack you can remove up to 3 counters. More on how this works into the strategy later. He is also a target for Mission Training which can get his thwart up to 3.

Strategy:

The main goal is to control threat, ready X-23 as often as possible and deal damage in some different ways. The cards in this deck work together well to create some pretty solid combos. The early game is a lot of thwarting until we are set up. Use turn the tide when you thwart to chip away at the villain or clear minions then: Once set up with Honey Badger and cards like Claw Mastery, Specialized Training and Adrenaline Rush you can end the game very quickly.

A common turn late game can look like:

+1 Attack from combat specialist

+1 Attack from adrenaline rush

Play Claw mastery to get the Attack up to 5. Attack then use claws to go up to 7 and attack. Have honey badger thwart (or Attack if you have sisterly bond) which readies x-23. Attack for 7 more. The sisterly bond late game can be a game ender, I've had honey badger hit for 8 several times. With a game time in hand you'll get another attack of 7 from x-23. Note that sisterly bond is only for one use.

Her 3 upgrades Pain Tolerance, Grim Resolve and Adamantium Lacing are very important.

Lacing gives you retaliate, piercing and +2 HP.

Pain Tolerance gives you 1 health every time you play an X-23 identity specific card which we do a lot of.

Grim Resolve allows you to take 1 damage to generate a wild resource. Note that this damage can trigger you to ready also. We have Superpower Training in here to get those online quicker. Order of importance is:

Pain Tolerance

Adamantium Lacing

Grim Resolve

This deck does not have very many allies and the goal is not to chump with them. X-23 is unique in that she can ready after she takes damage once per phase. This is important as she is going to defend for us most of the time, with her 2 defense you will take damage but it should not be substantial. Getting her Adamantium Lacing out also provides retaliate dealing one damage back to the attacking enemy. This is where having Bishop out becomes important, he will gain an energy counter each time you are attacked. Let this build up for a couple turns and then an attack for 6 damage. If you put Mission Training on him, you can get 3 thwarts out of him and then also be able to land that big attack.

Honey Badger is the most important as mentioned above due to her ability to ready X-23. Between Mission Training, Game Time and Regenerative Healing she can stay on the board for quite a while. We also have a couple of ways to find her with Chance Encounter or Sisterhood. Chance Encounter is a 0 cost that attaches to a scheme and when that scheme is defeated you can search your deck or discard for an ally. Sisterhood requires you to exhaust it and discard an identity specific card to search for her.

A great combo is using One Way or Another to search for a side scheme, draw 3 cards, attach chance encounter, thwart it away and then bring in Honey Badger. If X-23 thwarted it away, you can also combine Turn the Tide to deal 3 damage to an enemy.

Justice Served is the other way of readying in this deck and it lets you once you thwart and clear the last of the threat of a scheme.

Specialized Training is another side scheme that allows you to choose an upgrade that will give you an increase in a specific stat plus a card draw when you use that ability. In testing I've usually opted for either the combat specialist which gives X-23 +1 attack and a card draw when she attacks by exhausting it or Front Line Specialist which gives her +4 hit points and a card draw when she takes damage from an enemy attack by exhausting it.

Adrenaline Rush gives her +1 attack for the entire phase which is important due to the readies. Between this, combat specialist, Claw Mastery and using her claws she can hit for 7. If you get lucky enough to have sisterly bond then you can have honey badger combine that attack power with hers.

X-Gene has to be played while in AE but this a great card that gives you a wild resource for an identity specific event. All of x-23's events are 0 or 1 cost so this will pay for Claw Mastery or Regenerative healing.

The rest of the deck:

Lay the Trap is just another side scheme to have in here and it has a solid when defeated of dealing 5 damage to the villain. Having Skilled Investigator out nets you a card draw along with it.

One Way or Another lets you search for a side scheme to put in play and draw 3 cards.

Puncture Wound is a nice 0 cost card to play when you have Pain Tolerance out to get the 1 health back and then it will deal 3 damage.

Animal Instinct allows X-23 to add her attack to her thwart and once again activates Pain Tolerance. Combine this with her claws or Claw Mastery for big burst thwart.

Making an Entrance is another great card for X-23. It gives +2 for your next thwart and if you clear the scheme then you heal 2.

Skilled Investigator lets you draw a card when you defeat a side scheme. This is a great card for early game as your clearing your pss to accelerate your setup.

Cards that were considered:

Upside the Head was in here initially but i was not playing it much and it isnt going to help much against steady/stalwart. For other villains it is not a bad choice but it has felt better without it.

Triage just to heal Honey Badger but I really ended up not playing him a whole lot.

Swift Retribution was in here to deal some damage but didn't get played much and tjjj made the suggestion to swap in making an Entrance for it which worked great.

The normal double resources were dropped since most cards in here are relatively cheap.

This deck has been a lot of fun to play and I hope enjoy it as much as I have. Any feedback would be appreciated!