Deck Doctor 2: Sleepy Stall

Another weekend looms before us! It's time for another Deck Doctor!

This week it was Joey Tufo that caught my attention. "Make a deck abusing Sleepwalker!"

I actually had to look him up.

Yes... of course... this guy.

Sleepwalker is one of those cards where you desperately wish it read target character instead of adding a combat phase limitation whichdoesn't exactly add more options either. So we know it's going to be a combat-centric build.

Only 4 unique teams have access to the obvious ATK and DEF paying mechanics that this guy seems designed to bolster, Syndicate, Spider-friends, Wild Pack, and Avengers. Since the avengers are almost all spider-friend dual affiliates, we don't need much focus on them. My first build focused on sleepwalker abusing The potency of Dr. Octopus, master of evil, allowing him to attack, pay all his ATK for free stuns, reverse his stats and still stun his attack target. Problem is... it is a crazy amount of discarding to do that. discarding for sleepy's effect AND Doc Ock's (multiple times!) wasn't going to work well. If only there was an alternate 6 drop that could ... Ooooh.

Well then... mono-team it is.

So just with Sleepwalker and Torch, we can stun a standard 7 defense 4 drop, reverse the stats and either attack a 5 for a mutual stun with 10 ATK. (I previously derped and wrote about using Sleepy to then use torch's effect again... forgetting sleepy is during combat only, while torch can't use his effect if he sees combat.)

To optimize our Utility with Sleepy and Torch We are going to main four Punisher, Frank Castle as well as four M60s. The potential -8 DEF easily will allow Torch to stun on or even above the curve when he comes out, but earlier will also allow some pretty substantial mutual punisher stuns with the opposing 4 and 5 drops if needed. (paying 8, Sleepy reversing and swinging with 3) To ensure Punisher sticks around, we'll add a set of Underground Movements to relegate our needed components to the hidden area to keep them in play while allowing us room to splash off-team if needed.

With that aside the rest of the build sort-of builds itself. I used a spider-stall engine to cover off initiatives, and in a pinch a substituted spider-man/gift-wrapped off initiative can really dictate the pace of the game. It is an interesting mind-game when you feint a control-stall to your opponent, and then become increasingly offensive as the game progresses to great success. The best part is the engine is so small it leaves quite a bit of flexibility in your final build vs this one. I opted for Koriand'r at 7 and run two Tania's as late game substitutes to really get those attack values up there. Intestingly, I often found myself choosing to underdrop Tania and Spider-Girl on turn 5 initiatives, because Punisher seriously can do that much work.

Without further ado, here's this week's Deck!

Sleepy Stall

Locations:
    4 [MTU] Empire State University {MTU}

Characters:
    4 [MTU] Aunt May, Golden Oldie {MTU}

    4 [MTU] Black Cat, Nine Lives {MTU}
    2 [MTU] Tania Belinskya <> Red Guardian, Cold Warrior {MTU}

    4 [MTU] Punisher, Frank Castle {MTU}
    2 [MTU] Mattie Franklin, Reserve Webhead {MTU}

    4 [MTU] Sleepwalker, Rick Sheridan {MTU}
     4 [MTU] Spider-Man, The Sensational Spider-Man {MTU}

    1 [MUN] Spider-Man, Secret Avenger {MUN}
    1 [MTU] Michael Collins <> Deathlok, Schizophrenic Cyborg {MTU}
    1 [MTU] Phil Urich <> Green Goblin, Lunatic Laugh {MTU}

    4 [MSM] Scarlet Spider-Ben Reilly {MSM}
    2 [MEX] Human Torch, Fiery Friend {MEX}

    1 [MTU] Spider-Man, Stark's Protege {MTU}
    1 [DCL] Koriand'r <> Starfire, X'Hal's Fury {DCL}

Plot Twists:
    4 [MUN] Underground Movement {MUN}
    4 [DLS] Mobilize {DLS}
    3 [MTU] Trial by Jury {MTU}
    3 [MTU] Gift Wrapped {MTU}
    2 [MCG] Pathetic Attempt {MCG}
    2 [MCG] Omnipotence {MCG}

Equipment:
    4 [MVL] M60s {MVL}


Now feel free to adjust this list as there are some pretty interesting ways to twist it to a style you may prefer, however it is worth noting how little needs to be added to make this, say, a human torch legend build as well for some absurdly early out of combat stun potential between Human Torch, Novablast and an M60'd punisher. But I find myself pleasantly surprised with the Fiery Friend + Sleepwalker interaction, and I think you will be too!

Keep those deck ideas coming guys!