Muramasa Blade

My latest deck is based loosely on the old MKKO paradigm, but instead of relying on plot twists like Judge, Jury and Executioner or Finishing Move or Quick Kill to obtain the KO effects, this one relies on a pair of equipment cards that, for very different reasons, never got much play. Here's the list:

Characters - 27

[2 - 7]
4x Punisher, Suicide Run
3x Daredevil, Fearless Survivor
[3 - 6]
4x Black Panther, King of Wakanda
2x Blade, Independent Contractor
[4 - 5]
4x Wolverine, Covert Predator
1x Luke Cage, Street Enforcer
[5 - 4]
4x Captain America, Loyal Patriot
[6 - 3]
2x Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance
1x Natasha Romanoff <> Black Widow, KGB Killer
[7 - 2]
1x Punisher, Angel of Death
1x The Sentry, Forgotten Hero 

Plot Twists - 26

[1 - 8]
4x Flying Kick
4x Wild Ride
[3 - 18]
4x Crime and Punishment
4x Mobilize
4x Big Leagues
3x Cannibal Tech
3x Carrying the Torch 

Equipment - 7

[0 - 5]
4x Muramasa Blade
1x Captain America's Shield
[1 - 2]
2x Steel Girder

This deck is built to win on 6 when you are on evens and on 7 when on odds. Given a choice, take evens. It is easier to lose on 6 with it than on 5, and it normally spends turns 3-5 developing board advantage. It will rarely do 50 in damage by the end of turn 5.

There are no 1 drops in the deck. Most MKKO builds included them because they needed someone to exhaust as a cost for the plot twist effects that KO'ed opposing characters. This deck has no use for them.

The main 2 drop is Punisher. When the deck is working as designed, you don't need his effect, but it's always good to have a plan B. The alternate play is Daredevil. He's good for team-attacking with your 3 drop. A good play on 4, regardless of initiative, is to team with Panther into the opposing 4, then go down the curve with Wolverine to take out their 3. You keep your entire board, while they lose theirs. The fat lady won't be singing, but she'll be warming up...

Note that all the characters through turn 4 are hidden, because you want to attack on every turn from 2 onward. In keeping with that theme, you could play Hounds of Ahab here, like the old MKKO builds did, but doing so would negate Mobilize, and you don't want to have to mess with team-ups.

The most important turns for the deck are 3 and 4. On 3, you almost always want Black Panther. He can get himself a Steel Girder, which allows him to kill anything he can stun. You would want Blade only if you are playing against an all-hidden deck, like Skrulls. In that case, you want to play Blade, and hopefully use Punisher to take out whoever he stuns.

Turn 4 should always be Wolverine with, if at all possible, a copy of Muramasa Blade. The key combo in the deck is Wolverine + the Blade, which allows him, too, to kill everything he can stun, and with his ability to attack the hidden area, he can kill virtually anything. Between Punisher, Panther+Girder, and Wolverine+Blade, your opponent should generally be going into turn 5 with at most 1 character, to your 2 or 3.

Turn 5 should usually be Captain America, preferably with a Shield. If you are defending on 5, your opponent will likely have only 1 or 2 characters to attack with. One can be exhausted by the Shield, and the other will not be able to stun Cap. One or both of them will get taken out on your swing by Wolverine and friends. Alternatively, if you are on odds, you could play Luke Cage with a Steel Girder, which would be good against all-hidden decks, or you can let Cap carry the Torch for Wolverine, and equip him with a Blade. One lineup change I am seriously considering is playing a single copy of Vengeance, Spirit of Vengeance instead of one of the Caps, for use when on odds. He is also really nasty if he gets stunned while Ghost Rider is upright.

Turn 6 should be Ghost Rider, except against all-hidden decks, where you would want Natasha. If you are attacking, you ideally want whoever you play to carry the torch for Wolverine so you can give them a Blade. If you are defending, you would want Ghost Rider, who I suppose could carry the torch for Cap and wear the Shield, if Cap got a Blade on 5 or you played a Vengeance on 5.

Ideally you will never get to 7, but if you do, you have several choices. Punisher is probably the best choice, especially if you are defending and you played the other Punisher on 2. Sentry is good if you are attacking. Or you could play the 6 drop you didn't play on 6 with a Girder, although you are going to be in trouble if it goes to turn 8 .

Besides Carrying the Torch, there are only two kinds of plot twists in this deck, tutors and pumps. Wild Ride and Mobilize are there to ensure you hit your curve, which is terribly important in this deck. The deck really only works if you hit your optimal 3 for the match-up, followed by Wolverine and Cap, so you should mulligan for your desired 3 or a way to get him (Wild Ride or 2 drop+Mobilize). You can afford to miss your 2. You can't afford to miss any of the next 3.

The other tutor is Cannibal Tech. It is really important to suit Wolverine up with a Blade on 4, and this card gives you 7 chances to get one for him by then. It also gives you another good way besides Mobilize to dump a Cap or a Wolverine in the KO pile for use with the Torch. Do not replace this card with Tech Upgrade. You don't want to exhaust anyone for a cost in this deck, other than Cap for the Shield.

All the pumps are either a +3 or a +4, and none of them costs more than 3. This is by design. You want to start killing on 3 with Panther, and he doesn't have much of an ATK, so it is important that all your pumps are usable on turn 3. Save your Savages for other decks. As explained earlier, Carrying the Torch is in here to allow your other characters to wear the Shield or the Blade. This is a bit of a luxury, so if you think it is critical to play some other plot twist (Pathetic Attempt, Omnipotence, or maybe another pump), then this is where I would cut to make room.

Muramasa Blade is really the key to the deck, so it's important to have 4 copies of it, as well as a way to search for it. Wolverine wearing a Muramasa Blade is a killing machine; without it, he's just a guy. Steel Girder is useful mainly with Panther, who can search it out for himself. There are two copies here mainly because there is a chance you can draw one, and Panther can't equip himself with one in your hand. If you happen to draw both of them, you will have to equip him with a Blade and hope you can later use Carrying the Torch to give him the name Wolverine. Cap's Shield is not a critical piece, especially if you are on odds, but if you are defending on 5 it's an absolute dream crusher for your opponent. One copy is plenty, with three copies of Cannibal Tech in the deck.

I haven't gotten to play with this deck much yet, but I am looking forward to doing some serious damage with it. It had its debut the other night against a very strong Rock of Eternity deck, and when Wolverine went after Ahmed with the Muramasa Blade and 10 ATK on turn 4, the game was over. Muramasa Blade trumps Cloak of Nabu.

One quick note about Muramasa Blade and Steel Girder. Unlike effects such as a Finishing Move, they do not KO the stunned character immediately, and they don't target, so they are hard to negate. Once the effect resolves, they simply prevent the character from recovering for the remainder of the turn. If your opponent can respond with a recovery effect like Code White or Children of the Atom to save their character, that effect will resolve first, and the character will temporarily be spared. However, the can't-recover-this-turn modifier will still apply, so if they get stunned a second time in the same turn, nothing can save them.

I only wish they had reprinted Black Panther in MVL or MUN, because this is not really a top tier Golden Age deck--control decks like Crisis Doom and X-Mental have answers for it, while rush decks like New Brotherhood and Voltage are too fast for it--and it is not nearly as good without the Panther+Girder combo. But since we are all just playing for fun now, I guess that doesn't matter much, does it?