White Widow and Baron Zemo 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.

Thunderbolts: Bonus Challenge – April 26, 2024

This week’s Bonus Challenge Missions are:

Second Dinner has changed the formula for the Bonus Challenge Missions in the Thunderbolts season. Below is a message from Stephen Jarrett that explains the changes.

Week 4 and 5 of the season will have a Baron Zemo weekend mission with 375 Gold each for 750 Gold total to represent the 5 week season.

Zemo will still get season pass missions with the same total Gold other season pass cards have received from weekend missions.

The final two weekend of the season will both include a Zemo mission. That mission will have double the amount of gold as usual to ensure the same total amount of gold from weekend missions.

Think of the other few weeks as extra credits that previously wouldn’t have been available plus you aren’t forced into playing a Zemo deck every weekend if you would prefer not.

We could have communicated it better but our intent was to add value not add stress like it has so far. Hopefully everyone can enjoy a few weekends of broader missions and extra credits before pulling out Zemo decks to finish the season with big gold missions.

Stephen Jarrett – Second Dinner

Variants

White Widow

On Reveal: Add a Widow’s Kiss to your opponent’s side of this location.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with White Widow

Variants

Baron Zemo

On Reveal: Recruit the lowest-Cost card from your opponent’s deck to your side of this location.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Baron Zemo

Most players will want to be efficient with these missions, so today we will give you three different decks that incorporate White Widow and Baron Zemo.

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 White Widow as well:

Performance

The Thunderbolts season continues on with the release of White Widow. She is a 2 energy, 2 power card that puts a Widow's Kiss onto your opponent’s side of the board. The Widow's Kiss has an Ongoing ability that gives it -4 power while the opponent’s side of the location is not full. It can be brought back to zero power if your opponent fills the lane, but they often can’t do much else once the lane is full. The risk for this card is that the floor is only two power, so here’s what I want to know: Is this a risk worth taking, and just how good is a card where your opponent is in control of the effect?

Variants

Widow’s Kiss

Ongoing: This has -4 Power. Disable this ability if your side of this location is full.

None

view card details Start a deck Decks with Widow’s Kiss

The token card is the most important part to understand for this card. It’s not just a potential -4 power card that your opponent can turn off; it has so much more utility. Honestly, I think it’s the reason this card may be a contender for the best 2-drop outside of Angela and Jeff the Baby Land Shark.

First, it creates a situation where most decks have to fill the lane to win it. This isn’t difficult for some decks, but it also means that resources are being spent at this location rather than elsewhere. Some decks will find it impossible to fill the location and thus will be forced to play a big card there to win it. Both of these scenarios can be used to your advantage if you’re willing to think through the outcomes. In practice, however, the problem comes when you’re not paying much attention and forget that the Widow's Kiss can be beaten.

Second, she can lock lanes with the Kiss. This second use case has been one of the most valuable ways to use White Widow in my games. She can limit plays on Angela‘s lane, lock out lanes earlier than your opponent expected, and just be a general pain. Unlike playing other cards with stats, this interaction makes her much more flexible. As the days progressed, the new card started finding its way into more and more decks. She isn’t universal, and she can be slightly more difficult to play than other cards, but once you start playing her and gaining experience you will find value in almost any deck.

Variants

Sentry

You can’t play this at the right location. On Reveal: Add a -10 Power Void to the right location.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Sentry

Variants

Annihilus

On Reveal: Your cards with Power below 0 switch sides. Destroy those that can’t.

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

view card details Start a deck Decks with Annihilus

Variants

Storm

On Reveal: Flood this location. Next turn is the last turn cards can be played here.

Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Storm

Variants

Professor X

Ongoing: Lock down this location. (Cards can’t be added, removed, etc.)

Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Professor X

If you’re looking for the hyper synergy, the cards she combines best with are already starting to take over the top of the meta (even before her release). Sentry and Annihilus decks make great use of her, as predicted. They like disruption and can easily accommodate her in the early turns. However, her synergy here is more due to just being a good card that has good stats. Yes, she provides extra ways to lock lanes with efficient stats, but the reality is that she can actually get in the way of sending cards like The Hood and The Void over if you’re not playing carefully. Even with this caveat, she should be included in the deck because she can provide up to 6 power, potentially lock out lanes, and be generally annoying to the opponent. This highlights why this card feels like it could really go into most decks that want to win games.

The real synergies start to appear when you look at cards like Storm and Professor X. Both of these cards like priority when played to successfully lock the lane. White Widow helps accomplish that while being game winning if you successfully lock the lane without it being filled. White Widow on Turn 2 into Storm on Turn 3 is a powerful combination. Professor X on Turn 5 is also really strong on the location with the Widow's Kiss since few opponents will want to fill the location on Turn 5. In both of these situations, White Widow is extremely strong, and so far we have seen more of the “good card” uses than the synergy uses.

Variants

Beast

On Reveal: Return your other cards here to your hand. They cost 1 less next turn.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Beast

Variants

Luke Cage

Ongoing: Your cards can’t have their Power reduced.

Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

view card details Start a deck Decks with Luke Cage

Beast worked well as a way to replay the card, so that is a synergy to keep an eye on. For most decks, the bounce and replay plan just wasn’t worthwhile because the rest of the deck couldn’t keep up. A small Bounce package with her has potential, though, and it could easily rise in the rankings with some meta changes. Luke Cage does help mitigate the risk of this card since he makes it just zero power. Given the amount of affliction around, I would consider playing Luke Cage in more decks right now. He could have extra value by making playing around these effects much easier.

So, how do you use Baron Zemo and White Widow to rack up wins and complete the Bonus Challenge Missions?

Baron Zemo

Mid Range Professor

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 days ago

0

3x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

1x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

7x Series 5 Ultra Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 5)

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.9

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This deck looks to use Baron Zemo and White Widow primarily for stats before locking a lane on Turn 5 the ol’ fashioned way (without any ramp or discounts). Then you have Shang-Chi, Cannonball, and Red Hulk waiting to finish off the game.

Mantis is here to try and help you maintain valuable cards in your hand, but it can easily be replaced with your favorite 1-drop of choice. I just wanted to feature her since she got her latest adjustment in this week’s OTA.

Professor X

SlayerBlade

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 1-14

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

1x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

3x Series 4 Rare – Collection Level 486+ (Pool 4)

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

2.7

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.3

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

This deck has been evolving rapidly since U.S. Agent and White Widow were added to the deck over Green Goblin. The one slot left open for flexibility is where I’m running Shang-Chi for the weekend, which is the set up Raven had some success with this week. Shang-Chi is currently getting some extra value due to Sentry being played consistently on Turn 4, so this gives you two ways to counter a second lane on Turn 6 after your lock out turn. Remember to play Havok on Turn 5 or Turn 6, and always consider what you can do with your reduced energy on the following turn.

The Sentry

Junk Wars

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 days ago

0

2x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

5x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

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

3

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

2.8

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

The Junk Wars will likely be on this weekend, so this Sentry deck suggestion is running Carnage to help you turn the tide more consistently. This is a Daredevil build, but if you’re confident you can play Mockingbird in that slot and try to get extra value from the extra cards being sent over to your board. Try to set up your best early game, then play Sentry on Turn 4 and Annihilus on Turn 5. Professor X is included because I mentioned it is one of the best cards with White Widow, and with the information from Daredevil it can lead to plenty of easy wins.

Storm

Invisible Annihilation

Created by SafetyBlade

, updated 11 days ago

0

1x Collection Level 18-214 (Pool 1)

2x Collection Level 222-474 (Pool 2)

4x Collection Level 486+ (Pool 3)

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

2.8

Cost

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

3.4

Power

0-
1
2
3
4
5+

Last but not least, this deck looks to use Invisible Woman to flip the equation in the mirror. Some have been using Supergiant for this, but it has the significant downside of potentially helping your opponent do the same. Here you have Invisible Woman to hide your Annihilus until the end of the game. This will help you send junk back to your opponent while also providing excellent synergy with Storm, White Widow, and Sentry.

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!