The Psionic Spider Insider Inside Her

The Psionic Spider Insider Inside Her

Note that Touched is being counted towards the deck size, but I don't personally really count it that way myself, so for me I think of this deck as having one fewer card in it.

If you would like to see a video description and analysis of the deck, you can find that here: Rogue Leadership Deck Discussion | The Psionic Spider Insider Inside Her

House Rule for Solo Rogue Play (to more fully play her as she usually only can in multiplayer): The Miles Morales Spider-Man hero is kept out at all times as a "proxy" for having another hero available as a target for Rogue's Skin Contact ability to attach Touched to, allowing Rogue to gain Stalwart, as well as the Web Warrior and Champion traits. If playing multiplayer, then, one would partner with the Miles Morales Spider-Man or modify the deck as needed.

Deck Name Explanation: Rogue is able to take on the Psionic trait through her Touched card due to having a number of Psionic allies in her deck, and she can frequently become Web-Warrior traited due to the house rule, which makes her an "insider" in the Spider multiverse, while also embodying her inner psionic spider. Plus, I just like the way it sounds like "insider" is being repeated while rhyming with "spider." :-)

VILLAINS TESTED AGAINST (once in standard and expert for each villain): Klaw, Taskmaster, and Magneto. Undefeated against all. This was a very fun control deck. Even against Magneto, I have never felt so relaxed playing, feeling like I had an answer to every problem presented by the villain.

NOTABLE ELEMENTS OF PLAY:

Overarching strategies:

1) Always Have Targets Available for Superpower Adaptation: While this has the makings of an "ally swarm" deck, the design is just purposefully created to take full advantage of Superpower Adaptation, which requires that an ally be in play; hence, the need for a multitude of allies.

2) Use Touched on the Miles Morales Spider-Man to play Moon Girl, Web of Life and Destiny for free, or one of the Web-Warrior allies from hand, though the Web-Warriors will often be put into play by either Make the Call or Across the Spider-Verse.

The "Adaptive" Purpose of Leadership Allies: Leadership allies primarily allow Superpower Adaptation to bring Make the Call back to hand, and, typically once per game, Psychic Kicker (when a Psionic Leadership ally is available and, of course, Psychic Kicker is in the discard pile).

The "Adaptive" Purpose of Basic Allies: Use Superpower Adaptation and Touched on a basic ally to typically grab Across the Spider-Verse. This, in turn, might put Ghost-Spider into play, which can get another Superpower Adaptation when she leaves play or another one of Rogue's effective event cards. A more likely target is the Peter Parker Spider-Man ally when he's available. If Across the Spider-Verse isn't available, First Aid is often an excellent back up that can be used to heal Rogue, Peter Parker Spider-Man, or Gambit.

The "Adaptive" Purpose of Gambit: While I waited to list Gambit last, he is ultimately the ally one would want to remain in play the rest of the game so that Superpower Adaptation can be used to gain any of Rogue's event cards, notably her attack card Southern Cross when pushing for victory and/or stun the villain, but other event cards also have their place, depending partly on the resources available to play a card, and the given circumstances. It is periodically convenient to grab Bulletproof Belle to prepare for the villain's next attack, but sometimes Rogue needs some healing from Energy Transfer that simultaneously allows her to attack a minion or the villain or remove some threat.

Conclusion: Overall, playing Rogue with this house rule that allows her to be played closer to the potential she has in multiplayer makes her a lot more fun for me to play her personally. This build is also highly controlled and takes advantage of the Web-Warrior and Champion traits the Miles Morales Spider-Man has, while playing completely differently because of the focus on her use of Superpower Adaptation. She doesn't feel like a watered down version of Miles Morales but instead is a powerful hero in her own right with highly effective and fun cards that allow for a variety of strategic recursive strategies. :-)