Department H deck

[Palatinus]

I just put together but haven't played yet, a deck using Department H.

Heroes:  Maverick - NZ MA LO BG, Sabretooth - EJ 2xAR AL AD, Alpha Flight - HF MA HR 3xAG, Reserve:  Wolverine - AS

Battlesite:  Mojoworld with Dazzler NJ, JH, AD Psylocke BM, HF, AE Longshot DO, AC X-Babies AG, KL, AO, Mojo HO, CC

Mission:  Eye of the Storm with +1 universe, move completed missions to reserve, no avoids, reserve may defend front line with power cards, no duplicate discard

Power Cards:  3 x Level 1-4 Multipower, 5E,5I,5S, 6F,6S,6I,7f,7f,7f,8f,8f,8f

Teamworks:  6I-FS, 6S-FI, 6F-ES, 6F-SI, 7F-ES, 7F-SI, 8F-ES, 8F-SI

Aspect:  Secretive Directive

I know it's too many cards, but I will cut it down after I play it a bit.

[rucker73]

I would consider switching Wolverine and Sabretooth so that you can have Sabretooth play his teammate avoids from reserve, I would cut your events down to 3 maximum because they count as duplicates when drawn together and 5 of one card seems like a lot.

You should change your level 6 power cards to 2 fighting and 1 anypower (your level 5's as well) and diversify your level 1-4 power cards (4's:Multi, 3's:1strength 1 intellect 1 multi 2's:Energy 1's: 1 strength 1 intellect 1 energy)  That will give you better chances at spectrum KO's. 

Just some small tweaks.

[Palatinus]

Changing up my low level power cards is on my list of things to do.  Making them all multi-power at first is easier, but I will definitely diversify them.  The reason I have a diverse set of 5's and 6's is to go with my teamworks.  I am hoping to slam my opponent with teamworks for a KO victory, thus the event to return missions to the reserve and the event to boost universe cards.  Also, I thought about putting Sabretooth in reserve to play his avoids, the problem is that Wolverine sucks.  I mean, he is surprisingly bad.  Whereas Sabretooth has several usable specials and a 6 strength.  I will give thought to what you have said though and I will have a clearer picture when I actually play test it this weekend.  Thanks for the ideas!

[LRoq617]

I actually have a similar build that uses Deadpool over Maverick, and I believe it also runs Any Heroes, though I may consider swapping out for a Battlesite (Mojoworld DOES seem good when you can get Longshot's new Marvels card that allows you to search for Aspects to compliment Wolverine's Tracking Senses).

And I agree with rucker: Sabretooth was pretty much made for reserve, so consider swapping him with Wolverine. If you use Marvels, you'll get another awesome special in Standoff.

[BigBadHarve]

Dept H is a fun one. The strength in that team is obviously the teamworks, so making use the the characters who offer an offsuit TW can be advantageous. Sabretooth, Omega Red and Alpha Flight. I try to use at least two of those.

Sabre is good in back with the teammate avoids, but there's something to be said for having him up front. One build I found effective was to put Maverick in back with his Freelance spy, then play the Dark Phoenix Saga with the Hellfire Club Attacked event. More often than not I'd get Freelance spy before or with the event, and be able shift the attacks back to Maverick and activate the Freelance spy, for a beefy round of attacks.

With Omega Red on board, you can add an image inducer for some timely shifts, especially with Alpha Flight often being a target.

I currently have a Dept H. build for a friend who wanted to try it, and we've used the Danger Room as the site. Gambit's much maligned Charge Object is a great one for this team. Charge up the 8 to use TW and the follow ups are suddenly +6 and +8.  (Or  in the very least +5 and +7 depending on how you decide to apply the math)

Plenty of options with this team. Let us know how your games go!

-BBH

[gameplan.exe]

The most recent build I used for Dept.H was

Alpha Flight, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick (R).

Like BBH, i too used the Dark Phoenix Saga with the shift & Maverick's 'BG' (and also the EVENT to remove hits with Energy Icons).

BBH - great call on using Gambit's 'AK' off Danger Room to really boost those Teamworks! although, i'd have to go with the +5 +7 math 

Wolverine has 3 very, very useful specials. 2 more (in this team) that are helpful. One of them is in THE MARVELS, but I know you (Palatinus) use them, right?

* CANUCKLEHEAD (HG) <IQ> {VR} [OPD]
        Wolverine may use Fighting Power cards level 6 through 8 to avoid any
            attack made against Wolverine or teammate for remainder of battle.

played defensively can be a hugely helpful card. being able to block down (e.g. using a 6F to block a 10 attack) is a huge help.

* TRACKING SENSES (OB) <MP> {X}
        Acts as a level 5 Intellect attack. If successful, Wolverine may sort
            through Draw Pile, select any Aspect card and play it immediately.
            Reshuffle Draw Pile.

Very, very helpful to getting that great, great Aspect into play early! I play with 2 of these in this deck.

* STANDOFF (FD) <MARVELS> [OPD]
Only Wolverine and Target Character may attack, be attacked or defend this battle. Neither player may concede this battle.

When timed correctly, this card is an absolute game winner! based on the fact that you can't concede, and you can pick on a weak target. It's a non-numerical attack, making it a little better at penetrating the ever-annoying 9 or less defensive nets. I love this card. It completely redeems Wolverine.

* WOUNDED ANIMAL (AS) <OP> {R} [OPD]
        Acts as a level 8 Fighting attack +1 for each hit on Wolverine's
            permanent record

Not the best 'AS' but it's still an 8+ to attack.

* SNIKT (AC) <OP> {U}
        Attack made on teammate is now made on Wolverine, who may defend it

In a Front Line where both of the other Heroes have teammate avoids, it's helpful to force Wolverine to be the Target.

You might also argue to use his 'AG' (I have, just to help with Standoff), but I know personal avoids are pretty unpopular (and for good reason, really).

Anyway, that's my case for keeping Sabretooth and Wolverine up front 
Post Merge: July 11, 2011, 08:31:58 PM
So, over lunch tried to remember how I built my DEPARTMENT H deck and I think this is pretty close to what I had (except the Gambit AK, that's new, per BBH's comment; as per usual, * denotes THE MARVELS):

ROSTER:
Alpha Flight - 10a*, 9si, AD, AD
Wolverine - 8f, 5i, 5i, HG, FD*, AC
Sabretooth - 7s, 7s, AD, AD, BE (we play it as game-lasting)
Maverick (R) - BG
BATTLESITE: Beast (AO, CD), Biship (AY, AG), Gambit (AD, AK, BJ), Rogue (AC), Beyonder (  )
TEAMWORKS: 8f+si, 7f+si, 6s+fi, 6s+fi, 6i+fs, 6i+fs
POWER CARDS: 8fff, 7fff, 6fff, 5ffa, 4mmm, 3si, 2si, 1si
ASPECT CARDS: Secret Directive, A-Next
EVENT CARDS: Hellfire Club Attacked!, Phoenix Rises From the Ashes

I know of a few different flaws in it, but they weren't a big deal. Removing Energy Icons with the 4Multies. the plethora of Fighting Power cards (but it really benefits Cannucklehead). All in all, it has some really great tricks and it's definitely a Venture Deck (as opposed to a KO, or Card Advantage - type). I like it 

[Palatinus]

I haven't had a chance to play yet this weekend, but I will keep everyone's ideas in mind as I play the deck.  I don't have the Marvels cards yet.  I only just completed my cards yesterday and printed them up but I haven't cut the cards yet.  I am really curious how they will affect my playing.

[BigBadHarve]

BATTLESITE: Beast (AO, CD), Biship (AY, AG), Gambit (AD, AK, BJ), Rogue (AC), Beyonder (  )

Just out of curiosity, why do you only use 4 of the characters in your site?

-BBH

[Palatinus]

So I played my Department H deck against my wife (Hot Dog Cart on here).  She was playing her Cape Citadel deck and I got excellent teamwork hits in early in both games.  She gave up the games after losing Xaos both times so I don't know how the deck would have played out in a longer game.  I am trying to cut the deck down and I have already taken out two events, the do not discard dupes and reserve can defend front line.  I am also toying with the idea of putting either Omega Red or Deadpool in the deck.  I am struggling though because I don't like reducing my 8F characters.  I was thinking of moving Sabretooth to reserve and putting Omega Red in the front line.  I'm still not clear on why Sabretooth was "made for reserve" though.  Yes, he has one poor teammate avoid that can play from reserve but I see no other clear reason for him there.

[gameplan.exe]

BATTLESITE: Beast (AO, CD), Biship (AY, AG), Gambit (AD, AK, BJ), Rogue (AC), Beyonder (  )

Just out of curiosity, why do you only use 4 of the characters in your site?

-BBH

Well, I didn't really want to bog my battlesite down with lots of cards.

While I could have used Angel's AG and Iceman's AD, I decided I'd rather have choice with Bishop (since his AY avoid is suited) and the Iceman AD is a teammate avoid, so it would be useless if STANDOFF goes into play.

Previously, I didn't have Gambit's AK, I had Rogue's AE (for the 12!)... although as I type this I realize all this time I could have used Iceman's AE for a spectrum 12!   D'oh!

[HotDogCart]

So I played my Department H deck against my wife (Hot Dog Cart on here).  She was playing her Cape Citadel deck and I got excellent teamwork hits in early in both games.  She gave up the games after losing Xaos both times so I don't know how the deck would have played out in a longer game.  I am trying to cut the deck down and I have already taken out two events, the do not discard dupes and reserve can defend front line.  I am also toying with the idea of putting either Omega Red or Deadpool in the deck.  I am struggling though because I don't like reducing my 8F characters.  I was thinking of moving Sabretooth to reserve and putting Omega Red in the front line.  I'm still not clear on why Sabretooth was "made for reserve" though.  Yes, he has one poor teammate avoid that can play from reserve but I see no other clear reason for him there.

I think I can help you out on this one; maybe you would be able to play a whole game IF you would stop mercilessly slaughtering my favorite character. 

[Palatinus]

My deck did manage to win against my wife's Cape Citadel deck, but only just barely.  I KO'd Grey King with my last character who had three hits on him.  I am going to switch my battlesite to the Outback and replace Wolverine with either Deadpool or Omega Red.  Not sure who I will put in the reserve yet, but it may wind up being Sabretooth.

[gameplan.exe]

My deck did manage to win against my wife's Cape Citadel deck, but only just barely.  I KO'd Grey King with my last character who had three hits on him.  I am going to switch my battlesite to the Outback and replace Wolverine with either Deadpool or Omega Red.  Not sure who I will put in the reserve yet, but it may wind up being Sabretooth.

My brother always made his Dept H deck with Omega Red, Alpha Flight, and Sabretooth on the Front Line for the rainbow of teamworks. Really a great tactic with this particular Home Base; it worked well.

[Nostalgic]

I think I can help you out on this one; maybe you would be able to play a whole game IF you would stop mercilessly slaughtering my favorite character. 

You might try putting said character in reserve.  That may preserve him a while longer... 

[HotDogCart]

I think I can help you out on this one; maybe you would be able to play a whole game IF you would stop mercilessly slaughtering my favorite character.  

You might try putting said character in reserve.  That may preserve him a while longer...  

Yeah, I am going to. I just wanted Xaos to be in front, but "someone" keeps killing him