Spider-Man as Ronin

No Ally Spider-Man vs Expert Ronan Playthrough

Just like with other no ally decks, our goal is to build out our DEF stat. We have a base of 3 DEF and can get up to 8 DEF with Innate Reflexes (make sure to play this starting card on turn 1), Armored Vest, Ronin, Defensive Conditioning, and Defense Specialist (clearing Specialized Training). Any extra DEF from The Best Offense... is gravy. After building out our DEF we can prevent all attack damage from defending, and use our DEF to thwart and attack with In Harm's Way and The Best Offense...

One of the biggest issues with this archetype is its slow start and need to prioritize playing protection upgrades, but that's what makes Spidey the perfect hero to run this build. He's very low to the ground, being able to use Scientist on turn 1 for the extra resource, drawing a card from Spider-Sense at least once every round, and the Web-Shooters give us the perfect amount of tempo and economy that we want. In my game against Expert Ronan, I was able to defeat him in 30 minutes while building out my DEF stat to 8 and the Web-Shooters were able to last us and stay in play until the last round - so no need for expensive permanent resource generators like Quincarrier/Helicarrier!

No Double Resources

Economy has always been one of Spider-Man's biggest strengths--he's a resourceful genius! We don't need the double resources because the majority of our cards are 1 cost, and we really want to play as much DEF buffs as soon as possible so we don't want to dilute the deck. On any given turn, Spider-Man will have a minimum of 6 cards in hand because of the extra card draw from Spider-Sense, but once you get Defense Specialist and Unflappable on the table, Spider-Man will normally have 8 cards in hand every round (even more if the villain attacks again).

Backflip is still good?

Backflip doesn't use our DEF stat and doesn't count as a basic defense, so it doesn't synergize with In Harm's Way or Defense Specialist, but it does count as Spidey defending so it will proc the perfect defense engine (Unflappable and Hard to Ignore). Backflip is the best defense event in the game and it's actually perfect for this type of heavy buildout deck because it allows Spider-Man to stay readied up early game while still preventing all damage before he reaches 8 DEF. This relief in damage cannot be understated and is extremely valuable to buy us time.

In Harm's Way

Not all heroes who want to play no ally protection want to include In Harm's Way, especially for a readying hero like Quicksilver who does much better just using The Best Offense... but Spider-Man is arguably the best hero to play in Harm's Way. Even without double resources, Spider-Man can easily afford this event while simultaneously doing other things in the same turn. It also helps him manage threat thwarting for at least 4 (because we will be playing Innate Reflexes on turn 1).

Symbiote Suit & Mitigated Threat

One of my favorite new thematic combos with Spidey. With the minimum 8 cards in hand and potential double Web-Shooters on the table, Spider-Man affords his Symbiote Suit without double resources. Contingency Planning can hold a Mitigated Threat for when you play your suit. We have 3 copies of Mitigated Threat in the deck to deal with nasty hazard icons from side schemes if we aren't able to defeat them right away. We have plenty of threat removal with In Harm's Way, The Best Offense..., and Spider-Tracers, but if we don't draw into any of those cards when a big side scheme comes out, Mitigated Threat allows us to hold it off for a turn or two.

Protection is the Strongest Aspect in 2026

From community polls to livestream discussions, its really not a hot take anymore that protection is the strongest aspect in 2026. It's the aspect to take on the highest difficulties, and is even able to make expert Ronan become one of the easiest games I've ever played. This no ally deck is more dominant against Ronan the Accuser than leadership ally spam decks.