Ironheart

Deck concept

Ironheart is all about progress counters. When she reaches Version 3 she is essentially unstoppable, whereas the hand size of Version 1 can be crippling. Progress counters come only from her hero cards, so the ideal Ironheart deck would just have hero cards and nothing else.

Unfortunately that isn't legal.

This is an attempt to be the next best thing. Everything in the deck is here to help Ironheart draw and play her hero cards so that she can make progress.

Card choices

A Strength In Numbers deck is a pretty well-worn archetype now, but this one lacks access to some of the Avengers-traited cards which you usually see. The allies are chosen either because they are cheap, or because they are Aerial. Air Supremacy combines well with Strength In Numbers because it doesn't require the Aerial characters to exhaust.

Assess the Situation is so it can feed Child Prodigy as well as buffing your hand size.

Everyone knows how strong Tony Stark A.I. is, but in this deck Champions Mobile Bunker is just as strong. It helps to filter the deck for Fly Over and Photon Beam which are the main two cards we actually want to play.

Alternative cards

Command Team and Team Training aren't that critical to the strategy of this deck so they could easily be switched out. Helicarrier never does any harm. Team-Building Exercise would help with the Aerial and Champion allies, but I find that allies used for Strength In Numbers don't leave play very much so I'm not sure about the value.

I don't think there is enough to get the best out of Moon Girl, but she could certainly replace one of the non-Aerial allies. You could try Ingenuity to go with her, but this is not a deck that aims to spend a lot of time in Alter Ego, so I think it would be hard to play reliably.

Playing the deck

In a regular Strength In Numbers deck, it is all about getting those allies down to get the acceleration they can deliver. This deck is a little different, because Progress counters are more valuable, so those are always the first priority. With a good mulligan, you can place 4 in your first turn and have a good chance of getting to Version 2 in your second. The extra THW and hand size that comes with Version 2 is worth far more than getting down an ally, or even Tony Stark A.I..

Where you don't have anything to generate Progress with, then allies and card draw are the next priorities. Brawn is great in a SiN deck, because he rarely takes consequential damage and can generate for you forever. I don't worry too much about getting the Aerial allies or Brawn down early though. The main thing is to maximise the power of Strength In Numbers. I have often knocked a less useful ally off the bench to make room for a better one later.

Don't play Photon Blasters or Propulsion Jets too early. Like New and Improved, these scale in effectiveness with your version number, so playing them early you lose tempo for little benefit. By the time you get to Version 3 you can get them down easily and then they are awesome cards.

I'm not usually one for wild final turns, but once you get to Version 3 it can be fun to let the Progress counters pile up until you can advance the villain to Stage 3 and bury them in all the damage straight away. The only limit to the damage you can do is how many counters you own.

How to lose with this deck

I don't think it is possible to lose with Ironheart Version 3. She is just too powerful. The way to lose with this deck is to get stuck in Version 1 with that tiny hand size and weak thwart as the villain gets away from you. Progress counters! concentrate on those and nothing else.

Conclusion

This isn't the most finely-tuned deck, and to be honest it doesn't need to be. Ironheart is just so powerful when she gets to Version 3 that all her aspect cards need to do is stand out of the way.