The 1.7%'s
The 1.7%'s are cards which only make up 1.7% of your total deck. These cards are One of a Kind. The mechanic was introduced in Defenders with Mary Walker, and despite the flavor being great the cards were...lackluster. Monsters Unleashed introduced many more One of a Kind cards,which were exclusive to the Leviathans. It was something that many people thought would lead to useless cards, and shattered dreams. They had seen it before, and it didn't work. They were wrong. Despite the one of a kind restriction on Leviathans they have become a prominent part of many decks, and have made a large impact on the game as a whole. Comet Fall alone could have created a shift within the Thor-centric meta, but the added restriction allowed the developers to push the boundaries of these cards even further. The end result was cards that dazed an opponents character, put a wound on the enemy MC, made them discard cards, removed their KO pile, and more while also placing negative counters on their entire board. While only being able to have a single copy of a card in a deck reduced the probability of drawing that card lack of consistency didn't detract from their power. In some cases it even turned out to be a benefit. Players were now allowed to have 4 copies of Punisher or Jessica Jones, and still pack in tech cards without hurting overall deck effectiveness. They could stack an additional high drop card without worrying about it having reduced value as the game went on. Most importantly it helped open to door for combo to become king. As a game mechanic "one of a kind" was a rousing success, and one that we would likely see more of in the future.
Enter Shield VS Hydra.
Marvel stamped equipment, a new breed of loyalty, and of course more one of kind. Shield is going to shape the meta in new and unpredictable ways, and a big part of that will be thanks to two things. One of a Kind, and Agent. Leviathans have already shown that One of a Kind cards can be potent within a deck, but so far we have only seen this keyword on characters. In shield we see these cards expand to also include equipment. This however, makes it more important that you have these cards in you hand exactly when you want them, and nothing is as perfect an example of this as Red Skull. Delaying your ability to level and staying a 2/5 with 5 life is not a winning game strategy. Similarly while Mental Calculations will help you sift through your deck to find the cards that you want it will only trigger if Red Skull is face up. Better pack that deck with a lot of defense. Or, you could go a different direction and team up with the Agents at Shield. An uncomfortable alliance to take our your mutual enemy. Agent as a keyword is so powerful it has the potential to be game breaking. Singularity, VS's most beloved 3 drop, has already been impacted. The ability to scry for a card is something well known in other games, but had been lacking in VS. Shields strong cast of functional low drop characters with Agent rectifies that instantly. With only the first 2 drops of Shield you have that ability to look at the top 8 cards of your deck, pick any number of them to keep on top (with the rest going to the bottom of your deck), and draw a card. Assuming you can keep all your character alive Slingshot allows you to do that EVERY turn. With that kind of search power, you're going to find the card you need.
Enter Shield VS Hydra.
Marvel stamped equipment, a new breed of loyalty, and of course more one of kind. Shield is going to shape the meta in new and unpredictable ways, and a big part of that will be thanks to two things. One of a Kind, and Agent. Leviathans have already shown that One of a Kind cards can be potent within a deck, but so far we have only seen this keyword on characters. In shield we see these cards expand to also include equipment. This however, makes it more important that you have these cards in you hand exactly when you want them, and nothing is as perfect an example of this as Red Skull. Delaying your ability to level and staying a 2/5 with 5 life is not a winning game strategy. Similarly while Mental Calculations will help you sift through your deck to find the cards that you want it will only trigger if Red Skull is face up. Better pack that deck with a lot of defense. Or, you could go a different direction and team up with the Agents at Shield. An uncomfortable alliance to take our your mutual enemy. Agent as a keyword is so powerful it has the potential to be game breaking. Singularity, VS's most beloved 3 drop, has already been impacted. The ability to scry for a card is something well known in other games, but had been lacking in VS. Shields strong cast of functional low drop characters with Agent rectifies that instantly. With only the first 2 drops of Shield you have that ability to look at the top 8 cards of your deck, pick any number of them to keep on top (with the rest going to the bottom of your deck), and draw a card. Assuming you can keep all your character alive Slingshot allows you to do that EVERY turn. With that kind of search power, you're going to find the card you need.
So, exactly what kind of cards are so worth searching for? The Cosmic Cube. A vessel for one of the infinity gems (Put down the pitchforks nerds, I know it’s only that way in the MCU), the cube more closely resembles Mary Walker than the Leviathans. With 4 cards at 4 different costs the cube can remove a card from an enemy players hand, deck, a character on their side, or a location in their resource row and all other cards with that same name from the game. The cube is also the single way to level Red Skull into a 10/10. The Nullifier. The only weapon capable of frightening Galactus, the Nullifiers effect is so powerful it got Cosmo nerfed. Name a keyword or Super Power, and the Nullifier will turn off that power for ALL
enemy characters. The Serpent Crown. A vessel created for the Elder God Set's power, the serpent crown can only by equipped to an enemy character and moves that character to your side. Darkhold, a collection of all the evil works of Elder God Chthon bound into a single book, the Darkhold has another restriction besides being one of a kind. It may only be equipped to an evil character, and you to put the first plot twist you play each turn directly back into your hand. The Book of Vishanti. A polar opposite of the Darkhold, the Book of Vishanti contains the most powerful white magic spells known and can only be equipped to a good character and will cancel the first plot twist by enemy players each turn.
Finally, Kobik. The sentient being created from the cosmic cube, and responsible for Captain America's position as Supreme Leader of Hydra. Kobik is the only one of a kind character we got in Shield VS Hydra, but her power is just as strong as anything else we've seen. Kobik alters reality to remove the team affiliation from ALL your opponents characters.
These 9 cards have increased the number of One of a Kind cards we have from 24 to 33 (that's 37.5%!). Plus we've gotten more, and better ways to pull them out of our deck. In any card game consistency is key, and at first glance cards that only make up 1.7% of your deck don't seem like they would work, but as VS continues to grow and develop you can rest assured the 1.7%ers will have a place, and make an impact.
These 9 cards have increased the number of One of a Kind cards we have from 24 to 33 (that's 37.5%!). Plus we've gotten more, and better ways to pull them out of our deck. In any card game consistency is key, and at first glance cards that only make up 1.7% of your deck don't seem like they would work, but as VS continues to grow and develop you can rest assured the 1.7%ers will have a place, and make an impact.