L3w15 7 · 288
This deck has cleared every scenario on expert with 0 losses.
I don't usually upload decks I build on here - but I found building a Hulk solo deck such a challenge that I thought I would share my experience.
Pre-amble - why justice? Initially I wanted to play Hulk with aggression. I deliberately wanted to avoid leadership hulk because I don't believe there's any real synergy there. It works, but only because leadership is so strong that you can win without ever using the Hulk cards. Aggression is a natural fit because it complements Hulk's strengths. The inital plan was to go for a hyper aggressive rush deck with near 0 thwart. Unfortunately, I found against Klaw this fell short. I then tweaked this to add a few good aggression/neutral allies along with cards like "You'll Pay for That!" to give the deck some thwart. This still wasn't enough and so I kept tweaking until I realised that the only aggression cards I was keeping were thwart cards/allies. At this point, it was clear I might as well just be playing justice.
Utilising Hulk's Strengths Hulk has two main strengths, and building a Hulk deck that doesn't actively benefit from them is going to make it feel like you should just play a different hero.
1) Hulk's Attack power. This means Hulk doesn't need any extra attack cards at all (Concussive Blast is only really played for the confusion).
2) Hulk's health/recovery. Hulk has huge Hit points and a decent recovery. Not only that, but he also has built in ways to boost both (Banner's Laboratory and Immovable Object.
The high hit points means he can afford to be a bit slow at dealing with the board. Staying in hero form a bit longer than other heroes might means less threat will mount up on the main scheme and you will have time to set up.
However, I don't believe Hulk is actually a stay in hero form all game hero. He doesn't have enough ways to block damage. You are fighting a losing fight whenever you have to actually block with hulk and he simply doesn't have the resources to chump block with allies repeatedly. So eventually, even with 22 health you will need to flip down.
The 8 recovery that he can build up to really helps reward this. Adding in cards like Under Surveillance, Counterintelligence and Concussive Blow means you have far more opportunities to flip down to alter ego form. This also lets you make use of banner's ability and his laboratory.
Beat Cop One of the strongest justice cards is easily Beat Cop. Being able to thwart 1 every turn gives Hulk just enough control that even finding one makes a huge difference in your ability to slow down the game and set up.
It's also really nice to use Beat Cop to clear off a guard minion to let you attack the villain directly.
2+1=3 With so many key side schemes having 3 threat on them, it makes a lot of sense to pair beat cop with some 2thw cards. Agent Coulson and Clear the Area are both very cheap ways to do this. Daredevil can be expensive, but he does have the benefit of the physical resource. Mockingbird is just a generically strong ally that can be played in place of Beat Cop to thwart for 1 for a few turns whilst blocking 2 attacks.
Avengers Mansion & Co This deck can afford to take the time to build up. Hulk needs the extra resources/cards that that mansion and the carriers provide.
Conclusion Overall this Hulk deck feels really satisfying to play. Building up Hulk's tableau is very rewarding and by the end game you have lots of different options and tools to answer whatever is on the board.
Most importantly though, is that Hulk is still the one that wins the game. You have very little ways to deal damage outside of his signature cards.
With a full tableu built up you'll have plenty of resources/card draw AND a small deck which means you can comfortably chain together Hulk's naturally powerful signature events to pile on the damage and win.
| 12 comments |
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Jan 08, 2021 |
Jan 08, 2021For justice would be an obvious replacement - I think it would still work fine. |
Jan 11, 2021Trying to get better with Hulk. This seems like a great deck to try. Thanks! |
Jan 11, 2021This Hulk deck is a little slow but it does get the job done. |
Jan 11, 2021
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Jan 12, 2021Didn't go undefeated but I played RotRS on standard & had a lot of fun. You can catch the games here if anyone is interested. www.twitch.tv Thanks again for the fun build! |
Jan 12, 2021
I play the deck much more cautiously than you were. It's very much designed as a slow grind (which I admit isn't very thematic with hulk). So for example, I would prioritise getting out all 6 of the support cards (mansion, carriers and beat cops) because they all allow you to make you much stronger over time. I would also heavily prioritise thwart. Even though it's a justice deck, the thwart is still a little light. An example of where I would play different is with daredevil - I almost never use him to attack, I would rather not exhaust him at all than use him to attack the villain directly. The thwart 2 is just incredibly valuable. I think there were a few games where I felt like you switched from controlling to attacking a bit too soon. I would genuinely avoid playing hulk smash unless it was my only way to clear a minion or I win the game that turn. Another example is when there is 0 threat, 0 sideschemes and 0 minions in play - I saw that you took this as a chance to attack the villain with hulk - I would instead take this as a chance to flip to banner and recover. As mulligan advice I would be a bit more aggressive digging through to find extra resource cards. For example - if you know you're going to play avengers mansion anyway I would discard all 4 of the other cards in my hand and then also dig with bruce's ability so I get to see 5 more cards into my deck. You never know when you might have an even stronger first turn - for example: a 5 card hand including avengers mansion, limitless strength, beat cop and power of justice can let you get out both mansion and beat cop on your first turn. |
Jan 12, 2021
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Jan 12, 2021Link to YT for convenience. |
Jan 12, 2021Cool list! I had a deck working pretty much like yours (https://marvelcdb.com/decklist/view/4850/hulk-solo-justice-draw-and-smash-1.0). I had reservations about Beat Cop; does it feel like 3 copies is too much given its price? Also, do you often get rid of side schemes on first turn without For Justice!? Glad to see some solo interest for Hulk! Have fun! |
Jan 12, 2021
Most side schemes that come out on the first turn have 3 threat which I admit you won't always hit turn 1. It is possible though. Suborbital leap obviously does it. The other method is to use one card to thw for 1 and another to thw for 2. An example would be beat cop + clear the area. This does require you to have a double resource card, but the deck is packing 7 of those so if you mulligan for those in relevant scenarios you have a decent enough chance of hitting. If not, you should at the very least remove the side scheme on turn 2. |
Jan 12, 2021Thanks a lot! This looks like a very solid plan! I'll have to try this! |
Thanks. This is an interesting deck that I'd like to try. Unfortunately I don't own RoRS, and I can't see what would replace Clear the Area. Would it work with For Justice!, or is the cost too high?