This Fountain Pen is a Deadly Missile
Oh hey look, it’s Bullseye.
I mean, he’s classic, if not a bit dated, right? Look, comics is full of evil gimmicked weirdos. You know who I mean; guys in skintight costumes, themed around an animal or an object or whatever, taking way past the point of reason, looking goofy as all get out. Bullseye is just your next comics-classic, run of the mill— OH MY GOD
Bullseye (2017) #1, writer Ed Brisson, lineart Guillermo Sanna, colors Miroslav Mrva
Okay, maybe not.
Bullseye (whose actual name we literally don’t know but ostensibly might Benjamin Poindexter or Lester something-else) is an actual sadistic murderous psychopath with an uncanny aim. Like Hawkeye, he’s ‘human’— his feats are, ostensibly, a product of some innate talent and not some superhuman gene. Of course, this Marvel Comics, which means peak human is a deeply flexible qualification: he can kill somebody with something as pedestrian as a throwing knife, or with something as improbably as a pen, a paperclip, or his trademark razor playing cards. And really, as simple as he is, that’s all he needs to be: a mercenary for hire whose danger-to-dumb-costume ratio is off the charts. He murders all around the Marvel universe. He killed Elektra once, famously. He was Hawkeye in the Dark Avengers, and killed people doing that too. It’s possible he kills because he’s just that good at it, and he’s smart enough to make it a business.
Thunderbolts (2006) #121, writer Warren Ellis, lineart Mike Deodato Jr., colors Rain Beredo
He’s coming to SNAP. God help us all.
But What’s He Do?
Weren’t you paying attention? He throws stuff. He throws anything, and he throws it improbably well. And in SNAP that’s exactly what he does— taking a handful of your weakest cards (no more than 1-Cost!) and using them to afflict a whole swath of your opponent’s cards with -2 Power. It’s an appropriately sadistic effect, and it sells the flavor of Bullseye’s perfect aim, hitting a different target with each card like it’s a hat trick. And like a professional, he whacks ‘em when you say so— on command with Activate, ensuring you discard your hand at the most opportune moment.
This makes him a shoo-in for Discard synergies like Scorn or Swarm, who not only qualify for Bullseye’s effect but also have effects that ensure your hand contains eligible discards for when you Activate him. Fellow Dark Avenger Daken only gives Bullseye one target, but another way to target the Shard in hand shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. And, of course, Bullseye becomes yet another controlled Discard outlet that can help fuel scalers like Morbius or Miek— not only does Bullseye help filter out what he’s discarding via his condition, he also discards multiple cards, possibly doubling the effectiveness of a MODOK/Swarm play on turn 5 and supercharging everyone’s favorite living vampire.
Bullseye: Perfect Game (2010) #2, writer Charlie Huston, pencils Shawn Martinbrough, colors Lee Loughridge
While discarding will almost certainly be the primary synergy a Bullseye deck relies on, Bullseye also comes with Afflict synergy, which might be relevant for folks looking to cook up different ways to utilize him. Fellow sadist Ajax directly scales with how many cards are afflicted, while a High Evolutionary-augmented Abomination does the same via his cost. Bullseye’s effect notably distributes -2s in a way that synergizes extra well with that ‘wide’ scaling, making him similar to Hazmat, but on an Activate trigger. While his biggest limiter will be his reliance on 0 and 1-Cost cards to fuel that affliction, it’s possible a list down the line can take advantage.
Finally, Bullseye enjoyers might want to be aware of the primary weaknesses that’ll ruin their day. Classic pesky do-gooder Luke Cage is the biggest threat, (perhaps appropriately) rendering Bullseye’s entire threat completely meaningless. Red Guardian will be able to attack Bullseye on a different axis, punishing players for losing priority and ruining your Discard pop-off turn that you’ve oh-so-meticulously planned.
So let’s plan meticulously-er. And figure out just the best way we can utilize this nutjob marksman-mercenary for hire.
Bullseye: Perfect Game (2010) #1, writer Charlie Huston, pencils Shawn Martinbrough, colors Lee Loughridge
Quiksilvur’s Day One Bullseye Decks
Card Sharp
There’s no avoiding the fact that Bullseye’s clearest synergy will be the classic Discard deck— like mentioned above, his ability directly synergizes with both Scorn and Swarm, adding even more payoff and redundancy to an already effective Discard engine. Seeing as we’re extra focused on Swarm anyway, I’ve opted here to lean into the Swarm side of things, including Collector, Victoria Hand, and Moonstone to capitalize on that synergy and further benefit from Bullseye’s potentially massive Discard turns. I’ve also opted here to include Gambit, partly because he’s a potent effect that can swing unfavored games but mostly because he also throws playing cards.
Oh, c’mon, like that wasn’t the main reason you were gonna run them both, too.
Bullseye: Perfect Game (2010) #1, writer Charlie Huston, pencils Shawn Martinbrough, colors Lee Loughridge
Dump the Bodies
I’m phoning a friend for some creative deckbuilding help this week, and it’s none other than my fellow Snap.Fan writer JFsnap— he concocted a deck with a possible slot for Bullseye via the classic Moon Girl Hand-Dump strategy! To quote him— “I’ve constantly found with these types of decks I’m left with a couple one drops in hand in the last turn (especially without Swan) that being able to dump them for some -2 on the opposite side has felt intriguing.”
It’s a fascinating premise, and one I definitely wouldn’t have stumbled across on my own, so I’m grateful JFsnap had some ideas rattling around already; I’ve toyed with this archetype before, and using Bullseye as a sort of ‘value plan B’ for cards you couldn’t have used is sick. I’m also curious about slotting in Hit-Monkey over Galacta, trying for a bigger swing with Black Swan over the more generalist value Galacta provides. But only time and experimentation will tell the best way this deck premise might work.
Punisher vs. Bullseye (2005) #5, writer Daniel Way, lineart Steve Dillon, colors Dan Kemp
It’s A Long Shot
In contrast, I’m… reasonably sure this deck premise won’t. Daken is consistently one of the most stubbornly bad cards of the Discard payoffs— a clunky card for a 3/8 payoff, unless you put in significant investment. So welcome to significant investment: the deck— a list all about trying to leverage Daken’s doubling effect to combo out a win. There’s a couple of things Bullseye adds here: redundancy, adding to the effects that can bin the Muramasa Shard, as well as control, letting you Activate him at the end of your final turn to discard multiple copies of the Shard and buff (possibly) multiple copies of your Daken. With Bullseye, you can preemptively set him on the board and then go about your convoluted business duplicating Daken on board; you don’t need Supergiant shenanigans with MODOK to get the controlled discard at the end of your turn now, which might add some actual consistency to the combo. Really, it is a long shot. But if you’re interested in an alternative path to leveraging Bullseye and taking out your opponent in the most over-the-top, ridiculous way possible? Well, maybe you’ve got Bullseye spirit in you, after all.
Bullseye (2017) #1, writer Marv Wolfman, pencils Alec Morgan, colors Frank Morgan
Variants
In a fun inversion of the usual, Bullseye is a brand-new Spotlight Cache card who will be positively swimming in variants. Part of this is because he’s been around in datamines for much longer than many other cards (since beta, actually); it’s quite likely he’s been in development for much longer than this Dark Avengers season has been, and now has just finally become the opportune time to release him. But whatever the reason, variant fans will eat good if they end up pursuing Bullseye— my personal favorites are both Marco Checchetto variants, which are existing covers from recent Bullseye appearances, as well as Dan Hipp’s, which is just delightfully nefarious and manages to capture just how malicious Bullseye is within Hipp’s cute, friendly style. Sorry, is anyone else getting déjà vu?
Verdict
Bullseye, I suspect, is going to be an effect that is trickier to work around than initially expected; SNAP players tend to need a refresher on just how awkward it can be playing around Activate, and his effect is narrow enough in application that you’ll need to be very thoughtful in your deckbuilding to make the most out of him. However, he’s a flashy, big effect on a flashy, big character, and there’s decent signs that his effect will be a meaningful addition to the discard package focused specifically on Swarm and Scorn. Personally? I’m sold. But I’ve been talking too much already, and I want to hear from you. What do you think of the card? What are your dastardly plans to put this killer to use in your deck? Let me know below!
