More often than not Proteus is the only guy they have before recruit. If things like Ultimate Nullifier comes down, they'll bring in a Blink to Warp Shards the guy holding it out (if that's available).

Clan Operations / Elektra for Sage and Blink is a real shutdown for the deck; Illuminati could quite possibly be built to be advantaged. I think TDBs version might be; I'm not certain how it holds up vs the field in general, but I was certainly kept "at bay" with a pretty good draw. I'd say he drew well too, but he was drawing enough cards where that can be expected. Only problem is that deck also seemed shut down by a suspended Calliban....

As to X-factor, this beats every other deck in the format, but loses to Exiles:

// Creatures
4 [MEV] Iceman - Jack Frost {MEV}
1 [MEV] Jean Grey - Jean Grey-Summers {MEV}
4 [MEV] Forge - The Maker {MEV}
1 [MUN] The Beyonder, Inhuman {MUN}
1 [MEV] Siryn - Sonic Scream {MEV}
1 [MEV] Sabretooth - Reformed Killer {MEV}
4 [MEV] Caliban - Pestilence {MEV}
1 [MEV] Cyclops - Man of Action {MEV}
4 [MEV] Rogue - Earth-1009 {MEV}
2 [MUN] Iron Man, Mighty Avenger {MUN}
3 [DCL] Lex Luthor, Metropolis Mogul {DCL}
1 [MEV] Polaris - Back in the Fold {MEV}
1 [MVL] Magneto, Master of Magnetism {MVL}
1 [DCL] Deathstroke the Terminator, Killing Machine {DCL}
1 [MEV] Cyclops - Mutant Messiah {MEV}

// Spells
4 [MVL] Mobilize {MVL}
4 [MEV] Government Sponsored {MEV}
3 [MCG] Omnipotence {MCG}
3 [MEV] Cracking the Case {MEV}
4 [MEV] First Class {MEV}
4 [MVL] Savage Beatdown {MVL}
3 [MEV] The 'X' Factor {MEV}
3 [MVL] Reset {MVL}
2 [MEV] Divided We Stand - Team-Up {MEV}


The version that did much better vs Exiles, but not as well in general, was this:
// Deck file for Magic Workstation (http://www.magicworkstation.com)
// LINKED WITH: MEV;MUN;MVL;DCL;MUL;MCG

// Creatures
4 [MEV] Iceman - Jack Frost {MEV}
1 [MEV] Jean Grey - Jean Grey-Summers {MEV}
4 [MEV] Caliban - Pestilence {MEV}
1 [MEV] Cyclops - Man of Action {MEV}
1 [MEV] Polaris - Back in the Fold {MEV}
1 [MEV] Cyclops - Mutant Messiah {MEV}
1 [MUN] Invisible Woman, Secret Avenger {MUN}
1 [MVL] Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd {MVL}
1 [DCL] Lex Luthor, Metropolis Mogul {DCL}
3 [MVL] Franklin Richards, Child of the Cosmos {MVL}
1 [MVL] Dr. Strange, Ally of The Four {MVL}
4 [MVL] Valeria Richards, Child of Light and Darkness {MVL}
4 [MUL] Invisible Woman - Ultimates {MUL}
1 [MVL] Thing, The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing {MVL}
4 [MVL] Mr. Fantastic, Critical Thinker {MVL}

// Spells
3 [MVL] Mobilize {MVL}
4 [MEV] Government Sponsored {MEV}
3 [MCG] Omnipotence {MCG}
4 [MEV] First Class {MEV}
3 [MVL] The Greater Threat, Team-Up {MVL}
3 [MVL] Med Kit {MVL}
4 [MVL] Signal Flare {MVL}
4 [MCG] Pathetic Attempt {MCG}



This version can lose out to other late game decks, where its late game just doesn't do as well as the "shutdown" available in the other deck. Also, the removal of the higher beatdown aspect doesn't give it the clock of the first version.

With that said, it does pull out games vs Exiles.... which is what this thread is about. There may be some mix of these that could force things to an earlier game and give a better anti-control matchup, dunno.

As one of the organizers, this is pretty much what I'm hoping for, yes. (Though another member of Team Suck has pretty much got all the pieces together from pack-cracking luck.)

None taken. Every Exiles build that I have seen runs Miguel as a one of just in case it encounters rush. Exiles run between 4 to 8 tutors so it really isn't a problem getting him into play. No offense her D-B but decks that don't play Miguel lack options and answers to certain matches, as such maybe you aren't playing a decent build. Just because Exiles can burn you to death doesn't mean every single card in the deck must be dedicated to burn.

Has anyone tested their matchup against X-Babies or Shield burn, don't those decks beat Exiles. We don't have an Exiles deck we can test againsft but my wife's X-Babies deck has actually been able take down FF lifegain on both turns five and six (consistantly on six). The time it won on five was because no FFP. That said to say this, if they can do that against Mr. Fan's 9D then they should be able to do worse against an open field, right?

for the record this is her build:
Characters 29
Multiple Man x14
Sage x4
Cable x4, Mariko Yashida x3, Beast x2
Jamie Madrox x2
Plot Twist 22
Bodyslide x4
X-Babies Attack x4, Battle Tactics x4, Savage Beatdown x3
Re-Absorption x3
Moblize x4
Locations 9
Providence x3
Birthing Chamber x3
The Retaliator x3

I've tested vs both, and Secret Avengers (at the beginning, when Exiles first came out, I played it a lot, hoping to make it unbeatable. Turns out it wasn't so hard :)). If you put up no real defense the deck kills you on 4 with far more damage overput than the two named decks. And that was before we really had it "tweaked to a "T". It's the best (most damaging) of the rush-on-rush matchups. Basically you're comparing damage outputs in rush on rush, and Exiles simply wins that matchup. They burn you for 20-30 (or more) by turn 4, and can remove key pieces to prevent reinforcement from being an issue with Warp Shards. Trying to "out aggro" Exiles is not the way to go; they have a field full of guys too, but most of theirs are 3 drops, and they do way more damage with their "come into play" effects than Cable and S.H.I.E.L.D. could hope for.

Turn four decks all look the same to me. (no racist)

Thanks, just wanted to know...we will test against Exiles eventually but we haven't had time to play against other people the last few weeks because of schedule and decided we rather build a few decls over one Exiles.
As far as a life gain route to attempt to take down Exiles which do you think is better: FFlife or Society Complex

yeah thats interesting. how can someone claim there is an optimum build or the best build when we havent had a major tournement to cement this new set into the format? and miguel was pretty much made for the deck anyway. maybe for the mirror match perhaps???? DUHHH.

And fflifegain is by far a better choice. simply because you have more ways to gain life instead of hoping you draw the messiah complex. hey what would be your build for the deck anyway if you went fflifegain?

There are a lot of effective builds of Exiles.

Our HL has 3 and each is good but no one is better than the other.

However you build the deck there is always a weakness. If it's rushy, it'll have a tough late game. If it's curvy, it can be beaten to the punch against a rush deck. If it's burn Omni/PA ends that. The team seems balanced because there doesn't seem to be a way to build them without at least one bad match up.

I know my FFlife build needs to be fine tuned because it really doesn't get played much but this is what I run:

Characters: 30
2 cost: Luke Cage x4, Namorita x4
3 cost: Invisible Woman x4, Thing x2
4 cost: Mr. Fantastic x4, The Captain x2
5 cost: Franklin Richards x2, Thing x1, Invisible Woman x1
6 cost: Dr. Strange x2, Invisible Woman x1
7 cost: Thing x1, Invisible Woman x1
8 cost: Silver Surfer x1
Plot Twist:26
Family of Four x4
Force Field Projection x4
Clash of Worlds x3
Pathetic Attempt x3
Omnipotence x3
Signal Flare x4
Mobilize x2
Siphon Energy x3
Equipment:4
Med Kit x4

Morpheus: who plays Exiles besides you and Tej?

Burn and rush kinda go together with Exiles; and Pathetic Attempt/Omni do nothing to stop the burn (it doesn't target; and Omni is a turn 5 card that really only turns off Panc and potentially Warp Shards for the attack turn).

There are a few builds. For mirrors, the card "Blink" is actually pretty good. Curve is strictly bad, but playing 1 Heather Hudson and some rogues is not; you can keep it as a backup plan for later turns (may even be a good call). In general, the best Exiles should generally stay towards burn/aggro, but there are a few card slots you can move around to determine how dedicated you are to burning out your opponent early as opposed to having a late game potential.

For F4, you should certainly move IW to the 2-drop slot... Ultimates invisible woman is AMAZING. I think it's possible that a life gain family of 4 with Torch as a "side theme" could be the deck we're looking for... I may try to tweak that up.

Correct!!! Pathetic does nothing to Exiles. Mariko doesn't target so good luck with that. Omni on the other hand only works if Exiles go off on 5 which most builds don't do because of Omni saying Beak Saves the Day an Warp Shards. Not to worry much about it saying Panoptichron as Exiles can do wonders without it, they just get a little better with it.

Anyway what about about Hulk? Anybody tried him? He can also gain Life with Hiroim and Imperial Dreadnaught and can really put a hurt on Exiles before you get to do anything to him. Pathetic and Righteous Anger to avoid Warp Shards. Green Scar cleans the field since most of the Exiles in play are going to be 2 drops anyway and then Bloodsport and Hulk Red take care of the rest.

I also think that For Great Justice! will be a great addition to any deck that plans on beating Exiles and it also helps against SHIELD decks out there, plus all Multiple Man variations.