Colossus - The Night Guard: Reinforced

This deck is my updated—and maybe a nastier—version of Herowannabe's excellent “The Night Guard (We've all been playing Colossus wrong)." ”.

The original deck was built around a brilliant realization: Colossus doesn't need you to fix his 4-card Hero hand. He needs you to stop ending your turn in hero form.

This version keeps that core strategy intact but updates the supporting engine with Gunboat Diplomacy, Children of the Atom, Digging Deep, and a tighter X-Men package.

The Golden Rule Always end your turn in Alter-Ego whenever possible.

Piotr draws 6 cards in Alter-Ego instead of 4 in Hero form. Normally, spending that much time in Alter-Ego would allow the villain to scheme freely.

That's where Armour Up changes everything.

End your turn in Alter-Ego with Armour Up in hand. When the villain activates against you, play Armour Up to flip into Hero form and gain a Tough status card. The villain now attacks Colossus instead of scheming—and Piotr is exactly where he wants to be.

On your next turn, flip back to Alter-Ego and use Aspiring Artist to shuffle Armour Up back into your deck.

The basic loop is simple: End in Alter-Ego. Draw 6. Find Armour Up. Let the villain discover that Piotr was home after all.

And if you draw both copies of Armour Up? Keep them. You're already prepared for the next two villain phases.

Dig for Armour Up The original Night Guard wanted to thin the deck and draw as aggressively as possible. This version takes the same idea and adds another layer.

Piotr's Studio and Weapon X discard cards from the top of your deck while searching for identity-specific cards. That makes Digging Deep a perfect resource for this build.

If one gets discarded during the search, it simply jumps into your hand.

Sometimes Studio finds the Colossus card you wanted while simultaneously handing you one or more wild resources to help pay for it.

Unlike meditation, digging deep also has no bad form. If the scenario forces you to remain in Hero form for a turn, it's still a wild resource instead of a dead card.

Moira MacTaggert provides additional value from your constant form changing, while your growing collection of supports and upgrades gradually thins the deck and makes finding Armour Up increasingly reliable.

Man the Gunboat Here's where this version becomes significantly more aggressive.

Gunboat Diplomacy exhausts an X-Force character and an X-Men character, then uses their combined THW to remove that much threat and deal that much damage.

Enter Children of the Atom. Once it's in play, your X-Men and X-Force characters gain both traits. Suddenly almost any pair of suitable characters can crew the Gunboat.

Your allies are no longer merely keeping the threat under control while waiting for Colossus to finish the job. They're simultaneously your threat control and your artillery.

Mission Training and Danger Room improve those allies, while X-Mansion keeps them healthy and useful longer. That's particularly valuable when a strong THW ally can survive long enough to power another Gunboat Diplomacy.

Cerebro finds the Mutant you need, Utopia expands the team and rewards you for playing X-Men, and Command Centre adds even more damage whenever one of your allies finishes a side scheme.

The Team Holds the Line. Colossus Ends the Fight.

The seven allies form a compact toolbox rather than an army: Bishop, Blindfold, Forge, Gambit, Hope Summers, Marvel Girl, and Shadowcat.

Let them manage the board while Piotr concentrates on maintaining his engine.

Meanwhile, Organic Steel, Bulletproof Protector, and the rest of Colossus's kit keep the Tough cards flowing. Once you begin carrying Tough cards from the villain phase into your own turn, defence becomes offence.

Steel Fist provides damage and control. Made of Rage turns those Tough cards into huge attacks. Iron Will and Titanium Muscles make an established Colossus increasingly efficient.

Eventually the Gunboat has controlled the board, the deck has thinned, Armour Up keeps coming back, and Piotr has tough cards to spare.

That's when you stop managing the villain.

You start pounding him.

The original Night Guard discovered the secret to Colossus:

Don't fix his 4-card Hero hand. Just don't end your turn in Hero form.

This version keeps that brilliant foundation and gives Piotr's team some heavier artillery.

Armour Up. Man the Gunboat. Smash, comrade.