Storm was the only aggressive deck in the top 8 at Gencon 2015 10K. She has a lot of potential to be a top contender if the meta is friendly to aggressive decks. We are going to take a look at what makes this character unique and help with key fundamental ideas for building a deck around Storm MC.

As in most aggressive strategies, we want to level up her as soon as possible. It is possible to level Storm up as early as turn 2 which is why she is such a strong main character. Depending on the deck composition, if she doesn't level up super early she can still hold her ground and level up a couple turns later and often still be fine depending on the matchup and the current Meta.

Leveling

Level up (3) Children of the Atom: When you activate a Super Power, Storm gains an XP.

Storm has a very straight forward level up ability that doesn't depend on your opponents actions or your opponents defensive capabilities at all. Activating a super power happens when you pay one of the resources to activate a super power. It doesn't have to be her own super power even. As soon as the requirement is met she will level up unless otherwise allowed, even in mid combat. Leveling up early helps protect your back row as storm has flying in addition to allowing you to take out your opponents back row fairly easy.

Starting out as a 2/5 with Flying is pretty good and her level 2 which can be reached very quickly with the right deck and draw goes up to a 5/6 with Flying which isn't that large compared to many other level 2 main characters but due to the speed at which she levels it is pretty big though the stats can get outclassed fast. Her 5 wounds used to be pretty on par with other heroes though that has changed as expansions have released.

Super Powers

Level 1 Power: Lightning Storm - Main : Put two -1/-1 counters divided as you choose on up to two enemy characters.

Her level 1 ability is as versatile and stronger than some quite a few aggressive plot twists such as Open Fire or Chest Burst. Not only does it effectively lower your enemies defense, but it also lowers their attack for the strike back. Also it is fairly hard to remove -1/-1 counters other than being stunned or by playing Dagger. Spreading them out can help 2 separate attacks both be able to stun your opponent's characters.

Level 2 Power: Wind Storm - Main: Characters on your side gain flight this turn.

Flying is a big deal in this game and if your whole team gets flying your opponent is in a world of hurt if they can't defend your aerial squad. Practically a "Flying V" maneuver from the Mighty Ducks movies, this allows you to keep up the pressure and swoop in for the final wounds on your opponent's MC.

Deck Construction

We want to level her up quickly, it is easy to see that we want a lot of low cost supporting characters with Super Powers that can be activated and a lot of locations so that we can activate them. For locations I would run at least 16 if not 20 or more depending on how your deck is configured.

Storm is a quick potent deck that has a lot of gas coming out of the gate and typically has kept the top end of her supporting character curve around 4 recruit points. However you may need to round out the curve a little higher to make sure you have enough "Umph!" to push you over the finish line depending on the Meta.