We've rebranded! After the first two articles in this series, I decided that keeping it locked to five cards was a little more restrictive than what I wanted to do, so I'm moving away from Fabulous Five and to Card Highlight. And what do you know? This is the first time I've actually hit five cards.
In this Card Highlight series, I highlight cards that I am currently enjoying. These are by no means the most powerful cards. They aren't even necessarily my all-time favorite cards. They are simply cards that I am really enjoying right now. At the end of the article you'll find a deck list that I've enjoyed using them in and a slideshow that displays all the cards.
Render Medical Aid
Another fresh off the presses card from Wave 7, Render Medical Aid is a new card from the Psylocke hero pack, and it is amazing. You can toss this onto the board, and you and your friends can all get some heals. This card alone is what has really solidified the healing package for me, and I think it is a fantastic use of player side schemes.
The Night Nurse
A classic Protection card hailing from the Doctor Strange hero pack, The Night Nurse is a staple for any Protection deck. In addition to healing 1, you remove a status effect from the hero you're targeting. There are three important things to note here:
You can only target a hero. This isn't usually a big deal, because you can call for this action off turn. However, there has been the occasion where this has mattered for me.
You must remove a status card if you can. Don't throw this heal around, because if a hero only has a Tough status on them, it will be removed.
Don't leave home without it. Your friends will thank you for it.
Second Wind
Tucked away in the back of Thor's hero pack, Second Wind is often overlooked. I really love that this is an Action, as it can be played in alter-ego. In fact, the deck that I am sharing at the end is an alter-ego focused Protection deck. I have had plenty of times when a hero was low on health, but they can't afford to use their basic activation to recover. Second Wind is a nice bulk heal that can push heroes into another round. It's particularly nice during NeXt Evolution with all the retaliate and overkill floating around.
Med Team
A classic from the Core Set, Med Team has been one of the most helpful cards since the game began. Use it to heal allies or heroes, and trigger it in whatever form you are in.
Meditation
Another back-of-pack card, this event comes from Vision's hero pack. This card isn't specific to healing builds, but it is to the one that I've been enjoying for some time. Notice that both Med Team and Second Wind are 3 cost cards. If you have an alter-ego focused build or have little use for your basic activation and will be in alter-ego a decent bit, this is a great way to get a discount on another card. Keep in mind that it is only a two resource discount, because you could have just used Meditation as part of the payment playing it normally. This is also an action, so you can use it to sneak out allies, supports, and upgrades off turn.
Try It Out
Below you'll find two decks. One is an updated version of a deck I ran at Con of Heroes this year that leans heavily on Basic cards, and the other is more Protection card focused. The first published deck that I remember running a variation of this was created by Schmendrix. You can find their deck here!
G.I.R.L. 'n Heals
If you're a big fan of working from home, you may find this support deck a lot of fun. The focus of the deck is to use Wasp's G.I.R.L. ability to recur powerful cards and support the team by healing, providing blockers, and sharing Avenger's Mansion and Helicarrier. There will certainly be times that you flip up to hero form in order to play Pinpoint Strike or other hero actions, but otherwise you can use your basic activation in alter-ego with Meditation or to heal overkill damage from blocking with your allies. Just ensure that you are providing enough benefit to make up for the scheming threat you're generating!
G.I.R.L. 'n Grey Heals
G.I.R.L. 'n Green Heals
Really this G.I.R.L. 'n Heals framework is easily customizable. Just toss in the package from the article, pick out which allies you want to run, then grab the Power Of cards that best suit your ally choice. There are a lot of fun combinations.
By far the most Astrodar deck of the card highlight ones :)