Keepin' it Frosty While Bringin' the Heat

Keepin' it Frosty While Bringin' the Heat

Iceman finds it easy to keep his cool with this Aggression deck, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks that escalate in both damage and frequency as the game progresses, leaving his foes frozen in fear and feeling the heat.

Deck refinements: I removed X-Mansion and Hope Summers from the initial build. This was due to not playing either a single time in the first 3 battles. I thought Hope might be valuable to grab Cryokinetic Perception or some other card, but she was too expensive to make it worth it. X-Mansion was meant to either prevent Iceman from needing to heal himself or to keep a 2-thwart ally out in play permanently, but other supports and upgrades were always a higher priority.

If you'd like to see a discussion of this deck, see the following video: Iceman Deck Discussion and Refinement | Aggression| Keepin' it Frosty While Bringin' the Heat

VILLAINS TESTED AGAINST to refine the deck (in both standard and expert): Klaw; Unus; Red Skull, Magneto.

Playtesting Results: For the most part, this deck kept each villain at bay, with the exception of the first battle against Expert Red Skull, whose constant barrage of side schemes was too much to keep up with. With a great deal of focus in the second Expert battle, however, Iceman was able to maintain full control over Red Skull.

Iceman completely mastered the Master of Magnetism in both standard and expert, and even more so in expert, with Magneto never making it past the first main scheme. Unlike many heroes, Iceman was able to do that by constantly attacking Magneto with his basic attacks to continuously place Frostbite cards on him, as well as shut him down with Frozen Solid. This allowed Iceman to take his time with the side schemes, and, once those were eliminated, he also added confusion into the mix to completely nullify Magneto’s attempts at scheming.

NOTABLE ELEMENTS OF PLAY:

The initial goal is to get the following Supports/Upgrades into play: Cryokinetic Perception, The X-Jet, and Utopia, while simultaneously achieving the task below.

Constantly Icing the Villain: From the get-go, Iceman wants to utilize his basic attacks to place Frostbite on his enemies, which is facilitated by the many instances of readying available from the 2 copies of Surprise Move, 1 of Battle Fury, and Iceman’s own Cryokinetic Perception.

Readying consistency was enhanced further with the 12 X-Men allies included to trigger Utopia, allowing Iceman to frequently attack three times a turn. These attacks often did 3 or 4 damage with Combat Training and/or Ice Slide in play, the latter of which, by the way, shuffles back into Iceman’s deck when he switches to his Alter-Ego side (rather than being discarded).

Conclusion: This deck provides Iceman with a consistent and controlled approach to aggression. The early application of Frostbite, coupled with reliable readying options and the synergy with X-Men allies for Utopia, allows for a steady stream of impactful attacks. The strategic reuse of Ice Slide and/or Combat Training further enhances this consistency, ensuring that Iceman can maintain a high level of offensive output throughout the encounter, keeping the villains constantly on the defensive, while minimizing their offensive impact.