Anti-bully Magik

Credit: This deck was greatly inspired by @Footballcoach's Ready for a Spell deck.

Congratulations! Illyana has CHOSEN you as her new best friend.
Magik is fiercely loyal to her friends and she will fight to protect you... literally!

Is the Villain and his minions bullying you? Fret not, for the Demon Queen of Limbo will not only shield you from their attacks, but her righteous fury will slay them in the end.

This is a Perfect Defense deck, which means that it strives to block attacks without taking any damage.

The Perfect Defense upgrade package is comprised of these 10 cards:

• x1 Armored Vest
• x1 Change of Fortune
• x1 Dauntless
• x1 Electrostatic Armor
• x1 Endurance
• x3 Hard to Ignore
• x1 Mystical Armor
• x1 Unflappable

If you get all of them into play, then every round you'll be able to ...

• deal at least 3 damage (sometimes an additional 3-6 more)

  • 2 damage from Retaliate upgrades: Mystical Armor, Dauntless.
  • 1 damage from Electrostatic Armor.
  • Magic Barrier can deal an additional 3 damage (if you have a icon on top of your deck).
  • Riposte can deal an additional damage

• remove 3 threat

  • 3 threat removed from the main scheme from Hard to Ignore.

• draw at least 1 card

  • 1 card from Unflappable.
  • Change of Fortune can draw 2 additional cards if you defeat the villain or minion during the Villain phase.

• prevent a minimum of 3 health (upwards of 10 or more)

  • 2 from Magik's base defense.
  • 1 from Armored Vest
  • 1 from Mystical Armor (if you have a icon on top of your deck).
  • 2 from Desperate Defense or Riposte. If you play two of these cards in the same defense window, then you're boosting your defense by 4 instead.
  • 3 from Magic Barrier
  • Shield Spell can also be used to prevent damage.

BONUS

• If the scenario is throwing out Stuns and Confuses, it's ok. Magik can still "do her thing" because she spends her time defending and recovering.

As mentioned in the credit at the start of this write-up, @Footballcoach shared his Ready for a Spell deck. Check out his guide for most of the details.

@journeyman2 also wrote a detailed guide on how play Magik. Check out his Devil May Scry! deck.

A note about threat removal... Ready for a Fight

• Ready for a Fight is AMAZING in this deck. Why play cards to remove threat when you can just prevent the Villain and their minions from scheming instead?

  The benefit of ending the round in alter ego (AE) and triggering Ready for a Fight on the Villain's turn, instead of just staying in hero form, are the following:

  • your hand size is 6 instead of 5.
  • you can recur Spells out of the discard pile and place them on top of your discard pile, potentially playing them for a discount too. You can decide whether you want a particular Spell for its ability, or for its resource icon. If you have Moira MacTaggert in play, you can draw that Spell into your hand instead, effectively giving you 7 cards in hand during the Villain phase.
  • you can recover without worrying about the Villain scheming.
  • you can Perfect Defend an attack and trigger all the benefits listed in the Main Strategy section above.

Here are the changes I made, including the rationale

Desperate Defense

• I want to be able to ready so that I can block 2 enemies in the same Villain phase. I prefer Desperate Defense because you can play it for free off the top of your draw deck.
  Remember: Magik's discount ability is once per phase.

  What Doesn't Kill Me is a great card, but it is likely going to cost you at least 1 resource, which may be a setup card in your hand. I prefer being able to play as many cards for free as possible, so as to minimize the amount of cards that I use (i.e. discard) as a resource.

Resourceful

• I'm greedy; I want to play as many cards as possible for free without needing to spend setup cards for resource costs. Resourceful allows you to store a resource for future use, which can help to pay the icon requirement of Ready for a Fight. And it can be a FREE resource! If you have one in hand, you can Limbo Resourceful onto the top of the draw deck, then use Magik's hero ability to play it for free.

  A bonus perk is that it adds three more icons into the deck to try to combo with Magik's kit cards that get an additional benefit depending on the icon atop of the draw deck: Exorcism, Magic Barrier, Soul Strike, Magik's Crown, Mystical Armor, Soulsword.

Bloodgem

• It's a permanent resource generator that costs 0 resources, which means that you're not discarding setup cards to pay for cards. It's appreciated in the early game when you're starting to set up. Once you've started to build your economy engine, you likely won't use it again and that's perfectly fine.

  Perfect Defense builds usually have inevitability on their side, if they survive the early game. Therefore, I want to get setup as soon as possible, even if that means taking some damage along the way.

X-Gene

• Resource generators are important because they minimize the amount of cards that you discard to pay for things. I find myself playing Exorcism and Stepping Disc often (and Soul Strike when necessary), which X-gene discounts. If these events are played off the top of the draw deck with an X-gene in play, then the event is free!

Basic Spell

• I like having at least one Spell card that can heal Magik in case of an emergency. Her alter-ego (AE) ability allows her to tutor a Spell card from the discard pile and add it on top of the draw deck. If you have Moira MacTaggert in play, then you draw that Spell card into your hand, instead of placing it on top of your draw pile.

  The versatility of Basic Spell (heal, deal damage, remove thwart) is appreciated, even if it's rarely ever used. Since the card is not an Attack or a Thwart card, you can still play it and get the benefit if you're Stunned or Confused.

Build Support

• Magik's thwarting capabilities are limited. In solo, Exorcism can clear Build Support (and possibly Confuse the villain). In multiplayer, you'll need to rely on team mates to clear the side scheme... or maybe even ask them to put it in their deckles instead.

  Still though, Build Support is a useful tutor. My priorities tend to be

  1. The X-Jet: A permanent resource generator to accelerate setting up.
  2. Stepford Cuckoos: Three instances of avoiding devastating Treacheries. Since we are vulnerable in the early game before we're all set up, I try to play it as soon as I can so as to have some protection from Standard 3 and Expert Treacheries.
  3. Moira MacTaggert: She combos with Illyana's AE ability. The Spell card that she tutors from the discard pile is drawn into your hand, rather than remain atop of your draw pile. You can then choose to either play the Spell from your hand, Limbo it atop of your draw deck to get the 1 resource discount (whilst gaining the card that was atop of your draw deck into your hand), or you can use it as a resource to pay for something.

Allies:

• Armor - can chump block twice; useful in early game while Magik isn't a good defender.
• Daredevil - take a hit from a 1 ATK minion, and redirect it back at them. He can stay on the table for the entire game, if needed.
• Ironheart - chump block + 1 ATK/THW at a discount. If played off the top of the draw deck, then she's essentially free.

Additional "ready" effects:

• Indomitable, What Doesn't Kill Me - I appreciate being able to play it and wait until it's necessary to trigger (unlike an event). However, it cannot be played during the Villain phase off the top at a discount, which is why I chose Desperate Defense instead.
• What Doesn't Kill Me - cannot be played during the Villain phase off the top at a discount, and the 2-cost is unappealing.

Healing:

• Basic Spell - add more copies. It is versatile due to its modal nature, and it can be recurred with Illyana's AE ability.
• "Come Get Me, Bub!" - counters one enemy attack (usually the villain's) by providing a Tough. And healing can be appreciated. However, summoning a minion may be too steep of a price, especially in the early game when you're setting up.
• Dr. Sinclair - she removes status effects and provides healing. I haven't tried her in this deck, so I can't speak to the potential difficulty to generate a or resource whilst in AE form. Fortunately, some cards in Magik's kit have the icon.
• What Doesn't Kill Me - cannot be played during the Villain phase off the top at a discount, and the 2-cost is unappealing.

Events that deal damage:

• Counter-Punch - costs 0 and can deal some damage
• Preemptive Strike - improves your odds of taking no damage, and also deals damage. However, it only works against the villain, meaning it doesn't help us to kill a minion and trigger Change of Fortune. And it doesn't cancel ★ effects.

Events that remove threat:

• Not Today! - helps enable taking no damage when defending and also shoring up Magik's weakness to thwart, especially in the early game. I haven't yet found myself needing this card, and the deck is already maxed at 50.

  If improving your thwarting capability is of interest, then maybe adding more copies of Basic Spell may be a better approach because they are versatile due to their modal nature, and they can be recurred with Illyana's AE ability.

Misc:

• Defiance - improves your odds of taking no damage, and also discards ★ effects. However, it doesn't deal damage, meaning it doesn't help us to kill a minion and trigger Change of Fortune.
• Symbiote Suit - I'm risk adverse, so I took it out of the list. It's very helpful for the retaliation package (Dauntless, Endurance, Honorary Avenger). In multiplayer, it's less threatening.

Again, thank you @Footballcoach and @journeyman2 for sharing your decks and guides.

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