snuffs · 13
Here’s the complete revised description, updated to match the new solo-focused build and ready to paste into MarvelCDB.
Why choose between attacking, thwarting and defending when DEF can do all three?
DEFinitely Offensive is built around turning Colossus into an immovable wall—and then hitting the villain with that wall. The deck builds a naturally high DEF, uses The Best Offense… to substitute that DEF for ATK and THW, and exploits it through repeated defenses, enormous basic activations and several different ways to ready.
This version is specifically tuned for true solo. Rather than spending several turns completing player side schemes and constructing the highest possible DEF, it aims to reach a slightly lower ceiling much more quickly while improving Colossus’s threat control and ensuring that defending does not cost him his entire next turn.
Building the wall
Innate Reflexes begins in your opening hand, immediately raising Colossus’s DEF from 2 to 3. The remaining permanent pieces are Armored Vest and Defensive Conditioning.
Once all three upgrades are installed, Colossus has a permanent 5 DEF:
- 2 base DEF.
- +1 from Innate Reflexes.
- +1 from Armored Vest.
- +1 from Defensive Conditioning.
Defensive Conditioning also provides 3 additional hit points, giving Colossus some insurance against piercing, indirect damage and unusually large attacks.
The deck deliberately stops at 5 permanent DEF. Specialized Training and its linked Defense Specialist can raise the theoretical ceiling further, but clearing a five-threat player side scheme is a significant investment in true solo. Five permanent DEF is already enough to neutralise most attacks and becomes much more powerful once The Best Offense… enters play.
The alter-ego engine
Despite his considerable DEF, Colossus does not want to remain permanently in hero form. Piotr’s larger hand size, Piotr’s Studio and Moira MacTaggert make regular form changes extremely valuable.
Whenever possible, finish the player phase in alter-ego with either Armor Up in hand or Ready for a Fight already installed. Colossus can then draw up to his larger alter-ego hand size before returning to hero form during the villain phase, preventing the villain from completing its normal scheme activation.
Changing from alter-ego to hero form activates Steel Skin and gives Colossus a Tough status card. Moira MacTaggert then draws an additional card.
This villain-phase draw is particularly useful because it occurs before the resulting attack resolves. Moira can potentially draw Desperate Defense, True Grit or another card that can immediately influence the attack.
Ready for a Fight provides a reliable third route back into hero form alongside the two copies of Armor Up, making the alter-ego engine considerably more consistent.
Weaponising DEF
Each copy of The Best Offense… supplies another +1 DEF and allows Colossus to use DEF in place of both ATK and THW.
With the permanent setup completed:
- One copy produces 6 DEF.
- Two copies produce 7 DEF.
- All three copies produce 8 DEF.
That value can be used for either a basic attack or a basic thwart, allowing Colossus to respond to whichever problem is most urgent. A single activation can remove six or more threat from a scheme, while the same stat can deliver an equally powerful attack when threat is under control.
Because The Best Offense… is Temporary, it remains in play until the end of the round. It can be played during the player phase, carried through a change to alter-ego, and still be active when Armor Up or Ready for a Fight returns Colossus to hero form during the villain phase.
Defend without losing the next turn
One of the fundamental problems with using Colossus’s enormous DEF is that a normal basic defense exhausts him. Without a ready, the deck can begin its next player phase with a powerful hero who is unable to attack or thwart.
Desperate Defense solves that problem.
When Colossus defends, Desperate Defense gives him +2 DEF for that attack. If he takes no damage, it readies him. The additional DEF makes the condition extremely reliable while also helping Colossus preserve his Tough status card.
A successful defense can therefore:
- Prevent all damage.
- Preserve a Tough status card.
- Ready Colossus for the player phase.
- Draw a card through Unflappable.
- Remove threat through Hard to Ignore.
- Enable True Grit.
Jocasta provides additional consistency by retrieving a used Defense event from the discard pile. She can place Desperate Defense beneath herself for a later attack while also contributing 2 THW toward the immediate threat problem.
Leading with DEF
Leading Blow provides the deck’s most explosive player-phase ready.
Normally, Leading Blow discards the top card of the encounter deck and reduces the hero’s ATK by the number of printed boost icons on that card. However, The Best Offense… tells Colossus to use DEF instead of ATK and to ignore modifiers to ATK and THW.
The ATK reduction from Leading Blow is therefore ignored. Colossus makes the basic attack using his full DEF value and, provided the attack deals at least 1 damage, readies.
With two copies of Leading Blow in hand, Colossus can:
- Make a basic attack using DEF, play Leading Blow and ready.
- Make another basic attack, play the second Leading Blow and ready again.
- Use his final activation to attack or thwart using DEF.
Each Leading Blow should be played on a separate basic attack. The ready will fail if the attack deals no damage, so Tough status cards, stun and damage-prevention effects must be handled before beginning the chain.
Limitless Stamina provides a more flexible ready because it does not require an attack. It can be used after a large basic thwart, allowing Colossus to remove threat twice, or after a Leading Blow chain to create yet another activation.
Bulletproof Protector remains an emergency identity-specific ready when another activation is worth spending a Tough status card.
Controlling threat in true solo
Threat is the principal weakness of most Protection decks, so this version uses several overlapping answers.
Bait and Switch removes 4 threat from the main scheme while causing the villain to attack Colossus. That attack is not merely a drawback—it creates another opportunity to defend, ready with Desperate Defense, draw through Unflappable, remove additional threat through Hard to Ignore and trigger True Grit.
True Grit can target any scheme. While The Best Offense… is active, it uses Colossus’s DEF in place of THW, potentially removing a large amount of threat after a single defense.
Hard to Ignore provides steady main-scheme control whenever Colossus defends without taking damage. It may only remove one threat at a time, but over several rounds it helps prevent the main scheme from gradually escaping while Colossus constructs his board.
The allies also contribute directly:
- Shadowcat provides 2 THW and ignores patrol, crisis and guard.
- Jocasta provides 2 THW while recovering a Defense event.
- Professor X provides 3 THW and can ready Colossus when he enters play.
- Polaris supplies another Tough status card and provides an additional activation on the table.
Professor X is particularly valuable after an awkward villain phase. He can remove 3 threat and ready Colossus, immediately restoring the basic activation that would otherwise have been lost. Alternatively, he can confuse the villain and create a safe opportunity to return to alter-ego.
A complete offensive-defense turn
A particularly strong round can look like this:
- Play The Best Offense….
- Play Bait and Switch, causing the villain to attack and removing 4 threat from the main scheme.
- Exhaust Colossus to defend and play Desperate Defense.
- Take no damage and ready Colossus.
- Trigger Unflappable, Hard to Ignore and/or True Grit.
- Make a basic attack using DEF and play Leading Blow to ready.
- Make a basic thwart using DEF.
- Play Limitless Stamina if another activation is required.
One copy of The Best Offense can therefore contribute to a defense, a substantial threat-removal sequence, a large attack and several additional activations during the same round.
Tough is still a resource
The high DEF means many attacks will deal no damage at all, allowing Colossus to preserve Tough rather than consuming it defensively. Those Tough cards can then be spent deliberately through his identity-specific abilities.
Steel Fist converts a Tough into stun and confuse. Bulletproof Protector can turn one Tough into two or spend it to ready Colossus, while Iron Will draws a card whenever that Tough is discarded. Organic Steel can then immediately replace it.
Polaris, Organic Steel, Bulletproof Protector and regular changes into hero form provide several ways to replenish the supply.
One important interaction to remember is that The Best Offense… ignores modifiers to ATK and THW. The +6 ATK from Made of Rage therefore does not increase an attack while The Best Offense is active. Save Made of Rage for rounds without The Best Offense, when it can provide its full damage and overkill.
Cards and resources
The deck has several overlapping sources of cards and consistency:
- Iron Will draws whenever Colossus deliberately discards a Tough.
- Moira MacTaggert draws after Colossus changes from alter-ego to hero form.
- Unflappable draws after Colossus defends without taking damage.
- Piotr’s Studio searches through the deck for a Colossus card.
- Jocasta recovers a Defense event from the discard pile.
- Piotr’s larger alter-ego hand size rewards the regular form changes the deck already wants to make.
Rather than investing in expensive economy supports, Genius and Strength provide immediate resources during the important first pass through the deck. Once installed, Titanium Muscles provides Colossus’s long-term resource generation.
The objective is not simply to survive attacks. Build the wall, invite the villain to hit it, stand back up—and convert every point of DEF into damage, threat removal, card draw and additional activations.
The best defense is definitely offensive.