Hercules and Skaar Decks: Bonus Challenge (Weekend Mission) Guide

During the weekend, there is now one more set of Missions for players to complete: The Bonus Challenge! These involve additional rewards for winning games related to the week’s new card and the Season Pass card. These missions provide extra Collector’s Tokens and Gold!

You need to win games with the card starting in your deck, and it does not count if the card was generated by cards such as Cable, Loki, and Maria Hill. Each of these reward amounts will vary depending on the difficulty of the mission.

There will be Bonus Challenge Missions available for each new card release to allow players to earn back Collector’s Tokens and subsidize their cost. Players can also expect the rewards to be stabilized at 200 Tokens to help them plan their token budget for the month.

Bonus Challenge: January 13, 2024

This week’s Bonus Challenge Missions are:

Variants

Hercules

The first time another card moves here each turn, move it to another location.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Hercules

Variants

Skaar

Costs 2 less for each of your cards that has 10 or more Power.

Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Skaar

Most players will want to be efficient with these missions, so today we will give you three different decks that incorporate Skaar and Hercules.

We’ll also give you a short guide on how to get the most out of the deck and finish the missions quickly, but first let’s take a quick look at the new card’s performance this week.

For more inspiration, make sure to check out our latest strategy guide on Hercules as well:

Performance

Hercules entered the arena this week coming in as our latest Series 5 card. He represents another tool for Movement decks and it can potentially be offensive and defensive. However, does it do enough for your 4 Energy or is it just too expensive to be a serious consideration in Movement decks?

Variants

Human Torch

When this moves, double its Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Human Torch

Variants

Vulture

When this card moves, +6 Power.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Vulture

Hercules can have a huge impact when everything aligns, but that is where the positives for the card seem to end. The card at 4 Energy fully occupies one of the most important turns for decks looking to combine lots of individual effects to build power. Basic Movement decks are looking to do exactly this, making Hercules often counter to what your trying to do with the builds to be effective.

Hercules often takes up space and a key turn for your bigger setup plays, making it an awkward piece to include which only feels powerful when it high rolls. This, combined with the randomness of the effect make him difficult to say he is a core requirement for move decks at 4 Energy. Things unfortunately change fast if he becomes cheaper and therefore easier to combine with these cards.

Variants

Multiple Man

When this moves, add a copy to the old location.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Multiple Man

In practice, the direction which was most successful during games this week was The Phoenix Force. This deck requires discipline with Snapping to be successful as when it draws poorly you are always at a disadvantage but Hercules allows the deck to move from Shuri and Nimrod back up plans and rely on more move cards. It can also represent an out for late draws on The Phoenix Force as it can help you duplicate the power even drawn on the last turn with Ghost-Spider or Iron Fist.

As you are relying on Multiple Man with these decks often, the randomness of the effect is not as important and your set up turns all happen before you play Hercules. However the marks against Hercules continue even here. We could conceivably replace Hercules in these decks without losing much from the ceiling of the deck on top of the back up plan around Hercules not being as strong as Nimrod anyway at times.

Variants

Kingpin

When an enemy card moves here, afflict it with -2 Power.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Kingpin

Variants

Kraven

When a card moves here, this gains +2 Power.

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Kraven

The most interesting direction was combining the card with the new Kingpin and Kraven as part of more lockdown or control decks. If you enjoy these styles, this may be the way to attack the missions and the area where the most exploration could be still be found Hercules. However once again, the issues arise for Hercules. It often just doesn’t do enough to either generate or deny power for these decks compared to other options. When you make it work, your opponent has no idea what is going on though which can result in big wins.

So Hercules is interesting, but it is hard to put into decks, doesn’t seem to work with the cards it synergizes with at 4 cost and is also held back by it’s own randomness. It is also complicated to play and requires planning and forethought from turn 1 often to maximize. When you make it work it can carry games, but the amount of work required to make it work is on the high end, making Hercules in his current state hard to recommend.

In short, it can be difficult to play, often hurts you rather than helping you – and when it does work out, is only marginally better than the alternatives. Warning: The ceiling is high though, small balance changes to this card could result in major changes in this assessment.

So, how do you use Skaar and Hercules to rack up wins and complete the Bonus Challenge Missions?

Move

Movement Hercules

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 4 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

1x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

1x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This is the all-in Movement direction of choice from the games this week. Including Beast and Falcon is key as you get to re-trigger the effects to build up enough power on lanes and to try and place the cards where you need to.

This version includes Heimdall as a type of finisher card which can also swing the game, but you can also try Werewolf By Night in the Heimdall slot and lean more into the bounce side of the deck.

The Phoenix Force

Hercules Force One

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 4 months ago

1

4x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

3x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

2x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

3x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.7

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This The Phoenix Force deck aims to go all in on the combinations around Movement. The goal remains the same, destroy a movement card and resurrect it, however Hercules allows us to do this later and still generate enough power to win. Caiera can protect Human Torch from Shang-Chi also, making it more consistent a play and The Living Tribunal then spreads the power from whatever Movement card you hit. This allows for 3 Movement targets and 3 Destroy targets, resulting in combinations by turn 4 more often and aiming to ensure The Phoenix Force always revives something.

The difficult part is planning when and where to play Hercules to send the resurrected card to where you want it too. As a general rule with your destroy target it is Multiple Man > Human Torch > Dagger. Dagger with 2 to 3 moves can solo games with The Living Tribunal with how full boards are with Infinity Stones at the moment so don’t underestimate her as an out.

Kingpin

Kingpin

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 4 months ago

2

1x Collection Level 1-14

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

4x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

2.9

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

4.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Want to try the Kingpin direction? This deck looks to put Kingpin and Kraven on to the board and then start moving your opponents cards around. If Hercules is on the board it will send cards flying back towards Kraven and Kingpin for buffs or debuffs whilst continuing to send Silk swinging around the board to build power also. Lots of fun and effective but Hercules could easily be replaced for similar effect.

Skaar

Blobby Lashley

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 4 months ago

1

3x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

5x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

4.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

6.2

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

For Skaar, you can look literally everywhere and find some version of Thanos Lockjaw with Skaar and Caiera. All these decks work and the complexity levels are growing over time right now as players adjust the deck to personal preferences.

For this week, we have this baseline build for you which will achieve the missions and remains effective into all decks across the field. The added advantage here is this remains simpler to play and will compete against all the other versions floating around consistently. Just play big things and profit.

Closing Thoughts

Wins with the new card may seem a tall order some weeks depending what quality of card is released. Hopefully this guide helps you decide first if you want the card prior to the missions coming out, and what you can potentially play to complete the missions quickly!

Good Luck, Have Fun, and Stay Safe!