So, at the behest of one of my readers I decided to not take the Obligation card from last time; I entered this fight with 4 hit points. Other reviews about Absorbing Man on expert have since come out, with most opining that Absorbing Man is the easiest of the villains in the box. It's not hard to see why this is: Absorbing Man intentionally takes time to get rolling, and if you're quick you can shut him down pretty quickly.
Oh wait that means I don't need to modify my deck at all, right?
Spider-Blitz
Allies
Brawn
Valkyrie
Black Cat
Spider-Girl
Support
Aunt May
Helicarrier
Hall of Heroes
Avenger's Mansion
Upgrades
Spider-Tracer x2
Web-Shooter x2
Webbed Up x2
Downtime
Martial Prowess
Events
Press the Advantage x2
Drop Kick x2
Enhanced Spider-Sense x2
Backflip x2
You'll Pay For That! x3
Toe to Toe x3
Relentless Assault x2
Swinging Web Kick x3
Resources
The Power of Aggression x2
Energy
Strength
Genius
Campaign
Laser Cannon
So the idea around this deck is to go out on an all-out offensive, almost all the time, with some backups in case that is denied. Webbed Up gives you freedom from two attacks and also plays into Press the Advantage (get a card for hitting a stunned foe). You just keep drawing and drawing, looking for Spinning Web Kicks to eat through hit points. If somehow you don't murder the opponent within three or four turns the fact that so many of the cards are permanents will help you cycle through the deck faster the second time around, hopefully landing you on those big power shots.
Absorbing Man
So this didn't quite go as well as I'd hoped. I had a Swinging Web Kick right out the gate and decided to hell with healing, I was going in! And then I somehow managed to get my Backflips and it was looking great! Within two turns I'd gotten Absorbing Man to his next stage. But then the stuns started coming in, along with indirect damage that almost wiped me out in a turn. I knew I'd overextended and flipped to heal... only to have two Advances draw out and almost end the game immediately. I had to flip back and use two You'll Pay For That! to take the frickin' threat back down to something manageable.
And that's when what I consider to be Spider-Blitz's main issue (minions) started showing up. That went a lot better than I thought, thanks to a lucky Relentless Assault. But I looked at my remaining Swinging Web Kick for a long minute, wondering if I needed to spend it on the jerk with Guard or not. That's an issue that I'm going to have figure out, come Zola. I didn't have to do it this time, but I'm pretty worried about trying the deck as it is. Ultimately I took Absorbing Man out in six turns, but I may have been able to do it sooner. I ended with 4 hp and picked Basic Attack Upgrade to see if I could curtail the incoming minion explosion.
Conclusion
Absorbing Man on Expert still isn't the toughest thing I've ever faced, nor do I find him the most entertaining. He's a villain who needs you to wait around to be able to do some of his more terrifying things. I don't want to take that long and I can make decks that circumvent that. I get his campaign function, but that doesn't change that this particular villain just doesn't seem to work very well. That being said, I don't think Absorbing Man isn't the worst scenario in the game. He most certainly isn't my favorite. If I were to do the campaign again I would swap Absorbing Man out for someone else, while keeping the delay counters for fighting The Red Skull. Others may disagree with that opinion and I welcome their disagreement, as well as their comments, because your opinions in particular interest me. I may not like the character but it would be good to hear from people that do, because maybe I'm missing something. And even if I'm not it's always good to hear from those who disagree with you.
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