Kimmy Schmidt - Unblockable.

I've been using this strategy in unlimited tournaments since I discovered the core mechanic (and improved it with the help of my opponents) last summer. Since I've seen other folks playing variations on this a few weeks ago, I've decided to write about it. I call this team "Kimmy Schmidt", because the Stirge is unblockable. Here are the important cards:

• Kobold - Greater Humanoid: This is here for the Swarm effect; [fist] energy is a bonus. Buy all 4 dice as soon as you can. During play, you'll want to field one (maybe two, tops) and keep the rest cycling through your bag as energy.
• Stirge - Epic Beast: Buy these after your Kobolds. Keep one or two in the field, and the rest cycling through your bag courtesy of Swarm. Attack with just one Stirge when you can increase its attack using the Anger Issues global. If your opponent hasn't seen this strategy, considering saving up for a really big hit to start. But don't worry, with the Swarm-fueled economy, Stirge will come back through your dice bag in no time.
• Anger Issues: Bring this for its global action: "Pay [fist]. Target character gets +1A until the end of turn." You can do it as many times as you have [fist] to pay for it. Once you've got a Stirge fielded and lots of [fist] energy to spend, use this global to pump up the Stirge's attack.
• Human Paladin - Lesser Emerald Enclave: Get one on the field when you can. The Paladin's active effect - "your characters in the field cannot be affected by global abilities used by your opponent" - will protect your Kobold and Stirge from cheap deaths from something like Magic Missile's global, or field removal from Distraction's global.

You can fill out the rest of your team however you like. You'll want something with some blocking strength for when your opponent's characters start coming at you. Power Transfer is nice if you've got it, but your opponent can use it to swap Stirge's attack to something lower. Try to avoid lots of characters cycling through your dice bag so that Swarm will remain effective. Bringing another unblockable character is a good plan; or something with a strong attack that can take advantage of the Anger Issues action.

In tournament play, I found that this setup took a little too long to get up and running to be truly deadly. There are also a few specific threats be aware of:

• Adventurers: The Kobold must attack if your opponent has any Adventurers fielded, which will probably break your swarm. You can avoid this by bringing the Kobold - Paragon Humanoid, but at it's really difficult to want to play it at twice the cost.
• Wasp - Founding Avenger: You'll use the Anger Issues global several times per game, so it's deadly to lose 1 life to Wasp's ability each time.

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