This week, I decided to highlight an amazing affiliation that is only featured on one character. Sure, R Typhoid Mary is am amazing control card that already had its time in the sun, but there is a…different Typhoid Mary I haven’t really focused on. I think it’s time I changed that. And if you disagree, well…
Talk To The Hand
The Team: Sidekick rush? Me? Say it ain’t so.
Format: 2021 Modern
Ok, this team’s fundamental strategy is simple: use Typhoid Mary and Black Widow to pump my sidekicks (Widow also buffs my other characters), and charge. Since Mary gives my sidekicks Overcrush, with 3-4A per sidekick, I should be able to get past blockers easily. Now, to field sidekicks, I went with R Sinister. He also has the benefit of thinning my bag, which is essential if I’m relying on an Energize ability to win.
With that said, I do need to buy a 5-cost, so how do I get there? Enter our old friend Asuka. Typhoid Mary’s a mask, Asuka discounts masks. Simple. I also put in Dark Phoenix for early discounts, and also to KO Typhoid Mary if, by some misfortune, she ends up on the field.
I noticed I needed removal though, to take out control cards and remove the beefier blockers that could stop my sidekicks. I went for a couple more big mask characters: SR Psylocke and Brainiac 5. They’re both much easier to get with Asuka and Dark Phoenix together on the team, and Psylocke is quite helpful against non-sidekicks, with Brainiac being good overall removal. For fun, I also threw in Bolter Drill, as a good removal option that takes advantage of having a lot of characters on my field. And let’s not forget that the Black Widow from earlier has a force attack global (once per turn only). With all of those tools, I was quite set for removal.
The last two cards are utility: Hawkman is there to counter Static Field if it shows up, and Anger Issues’ global should give me the last few points of damage I need to win.
And with all of that said, on to the games!
Game 1:
I first played against SR Wally West. This was a case of bad rolls and worse timing for my opponent. First he goes for his R Drax, but by the time he hit the field, I had already fielded Asuka and purchased Typhoid. So my engine was well on its way. And then my opponent just couldn’t buy his win condition at all while I was setting up a big swing. He simply couldn’t establish a board presence, and I eventually just swung into an empty field for the win. Unfortunate for my opponent.
1-0
Game 2:
Next up, I played against Brotherhood. I was very, very glad to have Mister Sinister in this matchup. I got Asuka and Widow early, then started purchasing my big guys. My opponent spun Asuka and other non-sidekicks to energy, but then I just used Sinister to get sidekicks out of my Used and keep my bag under control. And then I started getting Typhoid on Energize and doing a bit of damage with 2-3 sidekicks, then a bit more, then a bit more. It battered my opponent down. He was buying his big characters himself, but his bag was more unwieldy. I took advantage, and kept the pressure up (using Psylocke for removal) until a big swing gave me the win.
2-0
Game 3:
I finished my evening against an Anti-Monitor team with KO’s galore (and U Harley to leverage those KO’s into more removal). In this game, my priority was to keep my opponent’s field as small as possible. A horrible roll meant I couldn’t do anything on Turn 1, but then I got Asuka and my big guys. Brainiac was huge in this game. I used Range each turn to KO most of her characters. Anti-Monitor never got to really shine – I forced him to attack with Black Widow’s global when he hit the field. Eventually, I had 5 sidekicks, Typhoid Mary on Energize, Psylocke to remove some characters, plus Range…yeah, I won. Decisively.
3-0
Post-Mortem:
-That Typhoid Mary is surprisingly useful. Tacking Overcrush on top of that attack boost makes a huge difference. I’m used to Sidekick-based builds having to go wide, but this one just overruns sidekicks and other low-D characters, especially when paired with other attack boosts. This is part of why I was comfortable putting Sinister on this team. Sure, put some blockers on the board, I’ll just Overcrush past them.
-Because she can’t target sidekicks, that SR Psylocke is a pain in the neck to rely on; you really need your opponent to be unlucky. Outside of some testing, I hadn’t really used her much in live games, and yeah, definitely not my favorite to use.
-Without Asuka, this team would’ve been horrible. I can’t believe I genuinely relied on purchasing up to 3 different 5-cost characters and actually won with it.
And there you have it. That Typhoid was quite fun to use. She’s a smidge too slow for competitive play, but quite fun in casual settings. Did you ever try her in 2022 Modern? How did you make her work?
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