Friends in High Places

Social Climber

We're no longer associating with the masses. It's time to move up in the world.

Art Credit: Roberto De La Torre - Iron Man (2004) #26, #28

Opening Doors

Maria Hill discourse normally goes like this:

• "The Pericles trivializes the game"
• "I've permanently banned The Pericles from Maria Hill"
• "The Pericles is overpowered"

Yes, The Pericles is strong. Put a bunch of other really strong cards in your deck and it might get boring.

That's not the only way to look at a strong card though. Instead, we can use The Pericles to combo with an underpowered card long since forgotten...

Friends in High Places (Deck Strategy)

Using Maria Hill's connections, we'll be getting out some of the highest cost aggression/basic allies in the game, all for free via The Circe. We'll be able to let them ready over and over with Command Team to chip at the villain.

But that's not all.

Instead of just using the first half of The Pericles' effects to stun/confuse the villain, we'll be using the second half as part of our main strategy. By handing out tough status cards to Enraged allies, they can swing for massive attacks while completely removing the risk of additional consequential damage.

High Society

Yes, that's correct - you're only invited if you cost 4 or more. Peasants need not apply.

Our allies here are all costly, providing larger health pools, entering with tough status cards, and working well with the S.H.I.E.L.D. set of cards.

• Colossus, Captain America and War Machine all come with a tough, letting you get them Enraged and avoid consequential damage on their first activation - no Pericles needed.
• Captain America can ready any ally on the board thanks to Maria Hill's ability , perfect for if a Command Team isn't in play
• Nick Fury, Sr. can give out another tough status card to an ally and here, that's far more useful than card draw or threat removal
• Deathlok can get Enraged when entering play, swinging for 4 instantly
• Venom and Sentry are cards with big drawbacks, but high health pools. Hercules and Wolverine offer a lot of health to play with too
• Dum Dum Dugan and She-Hulk are our highest hitters and best targets, getting big ATK buffs before any upgrade is even in play

And if you're looking to hit even higher? Lock and Load to give Bambino to gods and monsters alike, adding an additional buff in a way only Maria Hill can.

A Cut Above

The upper class isn't known for their hospitality. Not everyone makes the cut.

I was really trying to make this a 50 card deck for a long time, but cards like On the Double and Reinforcements are key here for consistency.

• Allies I selected were for power and theme, but you can make some swaps if you'd like.
  • Least impactful allies are War Machine and Colossus, though the tough status cards are helpful
  • Thor, Heimdall and Shatterstar aren't bad to sub in
• Boot Camp is a win more card here and is pretty costly. It doesn't really move the needle and didn't make a spot
• Build Support wasn't having as much impact as I had hoped and couldn't target my best supports. Didn't miss it when it was gone!
• Field Agent was my original idea to combo with Enraged, but The Pericles is just so much stronger and offers more deck space
• Front Organization makes sense to keep helicarriers out, but Enraged offers a nice alternative for being Caught Off Guard

Kicked to the Curb

Absolute blast of a deck!

Realistically probably the only time I'm ever playing Enraged. Highly encourage people to use more overpowered cards to let underpowered cards shine.