Bombshells! Part 2

As I indicated in Part 1, my Bombshells deck is based on X-Mental, and with a few key exceptions works exactly the same way. The first and most obvious exception is that this is a mono-team deck, whereas X-Mental is not. That deck uses a mixture of teams. Neither of the 2 drops is X-Men, nor is the 3 drop or either of the 7 drops. The only tutor is Enemy of My Enemy. The deck works because neither 2 drop really plays in the visible area after turn 2, and the 4 drop Professor X gives the 3 drop Dr. Doom the X-Men affiliation. By the time turn 7 comes around, you often still have the Professor to give your 7 drop the affiliation as well, if it is needed. Anyway, since Bombshells is mono-team, it can use a Mobilize-like card as a tutor.

One of the occasional problems with X-Mental is that you have to discard or exhaust a character with the Mental trait as a cost for a certain effect, and not all the characters have it. In my deck, you just have to use a Bombshells character, so those requirements are more easily met.

Another difference is that I put more emphasis on Leader characters in mine. In X-Mental, only the 4 and main 7 drops are Leaders. In my deck, 4-7 are all Leaders, and the 4-6 give adjacent characters some kind of small boost (+1 ATK, +1 DEF, reinforcement). As a result, I was able to model my recovery plot twist on Code White rather than Phoenix Rising or Children of the Atom, which are the ones normally played in X-Mental.

Among a host of other minor differences, the last big one, I think, is that the 4 drop is modeled more on Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius, than Professor X,Headmaster. X's draw effect is useful, but often hard to pull off. So I decided to have my 4 drop copy Doom's effect of turning down a face-up plot twist when she enters play. This adds to the deck's consistency, because if you have your 3 drop, you can get a tutor to get your 4 drop, and if you use it to get your 4 drop you can turn it back down and use it to get your 5 drop. In this respect, the deck works more like Crisis Doom than X-Mental.

That's enough background, I think. Here's the list I am using right now.

Characters - 29 

[1 - 2]
2x Lois Lane, Punchy Prose Style
[2 - 8]
4x Catwoman, Selina Digatti
4x Stargirl, Courtney Whitmore
[3 - 4]
4x Harley Quinn, Fly Girl
[4 - 4]
4x Batwoman, Katherine Kane
[5 - 4]
4x Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira
[6 - 3]
3x Supergirl, Kara Zor-El
[7 - 2]
1x Aquawoman, Mera
1x Black Canary, Dinah Lance
[8 - 2]
2x Zatanna, Zatanna Zatara 

Plot Twists - 32 

[1 - 5]
4x Swing and a Miss
1x Arms Control
0x Thanagar Tree-Top Tours
[2 - 3]
2x Teamwork Wins!
1x Sucoh Sucop
0x My Crossbow... Your Heart
[3 - 14]
4x DC Bombshells
4x Lazarus Rejuvenating Cream
2x Bombs Away!
2x Join the Waves!
2x Goodnight Kiss
0x A Justice League of Our Own
0x A New Story
0x Batgirls!
0x Limited Engagement
0x Read All About It!
[4 - 8]
4x Unite and Fight
2x Blitzkrieg!
2x She Can Do It!
0x Join the Team
0x Not So Fast!
[5 - 2]
2x No Means No!

One other difference with X-Mental is the presence of the Connie Webb-like 1 drop, Lois Lane. She gives the deck some added consistency, as you can use her to get your 3 drop, which makes all things possible. The mulligan condition for the deck is the 3 drop or a way to get her, and two copies of Lois Lane gives you two more ways to do that. If you are puzzled by her version, Punchy Prose Style, check out this clip from Superman, The Movie. Yeah, I'm old.

The two 2 drops are more straightforward copies of their X-Mental equivalents. Stargirl is the optimal choice, usually. She bounces herself and the opposing 2 drop back to their owner's hands, à la Captain Boomerang. Catwoman is based on Sage, Tessa. She's easier to use, though, since you can discard any Bombshells character card for the effect. Use her to thin your deck and improve your hand. On a side note, Stargirl's art is my favorite in the entire deck.

The 3 and 4 drops are both based on Dr. Doom cards. Harley Quinn is like Richard's Rival, while Batwoman, as I said before, is closer to Diabolic Genius than Professor X. Harley is the key to the deck's consistency. Batwoman, because she is a Leader, is one of the keys to the deck's most fundamental strategy, which is maintaining strong board presence until you can overwhelm the opponent's field. 

The 5 and 6 drops take us back closer to X-Mental. Wonder Woman is the Emma Frost, Friend or Foe of the deck. You can discard a Bombshells character card to flip a face-up plot twist back down. This ability causes problems for your opponent whenever you have a card in hand, because they have to assume that you have an Acrobatic Dodge-like card in your row and a way to use it twice, for +6 DEF. Or, the Code White-like card, meaning that they might have to go through her three times in a single turn. The 6 drop Supergirl is based on Jean Grey, Red, and she is like a box of chocolates whenever you use her effect. The last time I tested this deck, I replaced five face-up cards in my row and got four useless characters. The next time around, I might have gotten four pumps and a recovery card. Again, though, the mere threat of what you might get poses problems for your opponent.

The 7 drop Aquawoman is basically the same as the 7 drop Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas. She's the one you want in most match-ups that go to turn 7. You normally get 2-3 cards back from your pile with her effect. Black Canary is based on Starfire, and is really only useful against stall decks like Spidey Stall. She gives you a way to beat those decks that you probably wouldn't otherwise have. If you go to turn 8, Zatanna severely limits your opponent's options, just as Rachel Summers, Phoenix of the Future does in X-Mental. You'll note that all these higher drops have Reservist, in case they get replaced into your row by Supergirl.

X-Mental, and hence Bombshells, is first and foremost a defensive-minded toolbox deck. It wants to keep its field intact on almost every turn, and it wants to counter your plans, whatever they are. It has several one-of or two-of plot twists for doing the latter, and Harley can fetch the one you need for a given match-up. It all starts with defense, though. Swing and a Miss (Acrobatic Dodge) is the main defensive pump, and always gives you +3. Teamwork Wins! is based on Cover Fire, but doesn't require the other characters to have range, since most Bombshells don't. It is always a +2 (any time you would actually play it), sometimes a +4, and rarely a +6. It gets better as the game goes on.

Board advantage is the key to victory with this deck, which means maintaining your board while pruning theirs. The two key cards in that respect are Lazarus Rejuvenating Cream and Goodnight Kiss. Lazarus (Code White) lets you recover any Leader character for free, basically. Goodnight Kiss is based on Removed From Continuity and takes the place of Mutant Massacre. On a turn 4 off-init against a curve deck, for example, these two cards might allow you to keep both your 3 and your 4, while they lose their 4 drop. Join the Waves! (Bamf!) helps you maintain your field during your initiatives by insuring that no one stuns back, and it also helps limit damage.

Countering your opponent's strengths is equally important. No Means No! (Omnipotence) is a key card against most curve decks, in particular. It allows you to stop the one plot twist or activated power they need most. Bombs Away! (Have a Blast!) lets you take out a face-up resource that they desperately need for their deck to work, such as Crisis on Infinite Earths or Rock of Eternity.

Other tech cards are really good against only certain decks. Arms Control (Meltdown) is needed against decks that rely on one or more key equipment cards. Sucoh Sucop (Only Human) negates the powers of an opposing character during the combat phase. You'd want Harley to search for this one if you were facing Mr. Sinister, for example.

When this deck wins, it does so by maintaining its field until it can finally overwhelm the opponent with bodies and firepower, so for the kill turn it needs pumps. The main attack pump is Unite and Fight (Savage Beatdown), since it's always a +5. Blitzkrieg! (Trouble with Dinosaurs) is sometimes a +6, but just as often a +4 by the time you need it. It's always nice to get three of these back with Aquawoman on a turn 7 initiative.

DC Bombshells (Mobilize) is the main tutor. I originally had it team-stamped, but made it more generic so it could be used by the villains deck. She Can Do It! is based on Splintering Consciousness. One of the main weaknesses of X-Mental is that it tends to deplete its hand with all the discard effects. Even though you can't use it until turn 5, it's a strong addition to the deck, because there are few things better than replacing into a pair of these with Supergirl and then drawing four cards.

The remaining plot twists are ones I don't currently play in the deck. Batgirls!  is a Clobberin' Time-like pump, while Thanagar Tree Top Tours is based on Flying Kick. Join the Team is akin to Family of Four. I would probably play it if Harley Quinn were a Leader, but I didn't want to give her a Leader ability when she is already so good. As it is, the card isn't all that useful until turn 6.

My Crossbow... Your Heart (Mutant Massacre) was the removal card I originally made for this deck, until I decided that Goodnight Kiss was better. Limited Engagement (Reset) would be a good defensive card against certain decks, but I'd need to take something out to make room for it.

A New Story (Death of the Dream) is worth considering over Bombs Away! especially since it can take out two opposing resources. I'll probably try that at some point. A Justice League of Our Own is a tutor based on Signal Flare. You could play it instead of Lois Lane if you wanted,

Not So Fast!, which is obviously based on Pathetic Attempt, would be good against certain decks, but I generally play that card only in decks like Crisis Doom where I have a key resource I need to protect. Read All About It! is another card inspired by the Doom deck, in this case Time Thief. It's really good against stall decks that need to win on turn 8 with a specific card, but is worthless against rush decks.

That's it for the Bombshells deck. You can download all the original cards here, while ready-to print (by MakePlayingCards.com) versions of them are here. In Part 3, I will tell you about the companion villains deck.