Star-Lord's Big Score

Peter Quill is planning a big hit. Classic 20 minute, in-and-out heist. But, of course, there will be complications; he's the Legendary Star-Lord, after all, and he can't help getting into trouble wherever he goes.

Thus, he's going to need a team...

Hey everyone! This is my first published deck here on Marvel CDB. I've been really enjoying playing Starlord this past couple of weeks, and I've developed what I believe to be a very fun and efficient deck for him. It has been tested against the entirety of the Rise of the Red Skull and Sinister Motives campaigns and succeeded on the first or second try on every scenario. Same can be said for Galaxy's Most Wanted, except for Ronan because... well, because he's Ronan.

Let's jump into it, shall we?

THE TEAM

Star-Lord is prone to getting in trouble, so he needs a large assortment of assholes to keep his problems at bay. The deck includes 9 allies that have been specifically chosen to either help Star-Lord hit his late-game powerspike or to deal with the problems he's constantly creating for himself.

He can choose to do a suicidal manoeuvre, let them take a rest while he prepares for what's coming, and even heal them or toughen them up. Best of all: he can also call them whenever he needs them..

Some of these characters can be swapped for others depending on encounter and player preference.

• Groot is here to protect Star-Lord from big bursts of damage coming from the villain and some beefed-up minions. Remember: his job here is to protect you, not to thwart or attack. Oh, and he also loves becoming tough thanks to Ready for Action, which just heals him for 2 every time the villain attacks him.

• Rocket Raccoon is our weapons expert, and is always ready for a brawl. Keep him in play to deal with strong minions and occasionally thwarting a dangerous side scheme, but never use him to deal with the villain unless you really need the extra 1 damage.

• Falcon (Sam Wilson) is our scout. He helps the team learn what's ahead of them, and can deliver thwart in powerful bursts of 2-5 every time he gets put into play. Of course, he's not always lucky in that regard, but he's still an excellent addition to the team nonetheless.

• Goliath is a powerful brawler with a built-in self-destruction switch. He can thwart very effectively and then leave combat in a flare of glory to make room for any other ally you may need. He can be swapped for Beta Ray Bill, who is naturally stronger, but more situational in terms of dealing with threat. He's also more costly to put him in play on-demand with Make the Call.

• Hawkeye (Clint Barton) is our sniper. Not only is he great at dealing with weaker minions and removing tough status cards from them, he also has amazing synergy with Rocket and enables him to deal overkill damages to the villain much easily. He can be swapped for Yondu if you want a more durable ally who does essentially the same job, but slightly worse. If you're up against a villain with tons of ways to give themselves and their minions toughness, I highly suggest you pick Yondu instead.

• Vivian is our crisis manager. Thanks to her amazing ability, she can completely disable a threat for a turn to give you enough time to deal with it, flip to alter ego form, or keep building your board. Remember, though: she's here for emergencies. Only summon her if you really have no other way of dealing with an annoying card.

• Nick Fury acts as the team's ground control. He usually doesn't stay for long, but every time he shows up he can help out the team in a myriad of different ways. He's an extremely flexible ally who should be summoned every time you have the chance (if you can afford him, of course).

• Nova Prime is an extremely powerful ally if you have him at hand, but he cannot activate his response if he's summoned through Make the Call.

• U.S. Agent is our final member, and he's here to distract minions and eat their attacks while you think of a way to deal with them. He's a very underrated ally, but he can become a very effective meat shield to defend you from minions, remove tough statuses and chipping away at an enemy's health, letting Groot eat the big damage from the villain. Once you're all set up, he's a bit redundant, so you should choose to keep Groot in play over him.

THE HIDEOUTS

Every good heist needs a few places to hide if something goes wrong, right? And, since know something will, we've prepared a few places where the team can hide, and some things to do while they get ready to strike again.

Knowhere and The Triskelion are obvious choices for this deck: increasing your ally limit allows you to get more characters in play and eventually draw more cards thanks to Strength in Numbers. The Helicarrier helps you pay for some of the more expensive allies and has great synergy with Star-Lord's hero ability.

Finally, Team Training is a great support to beef up the more important members of your team (Namely, Rocket and Groot) but can make it a bit tricky to get rid of some of the allies that will inevitably clutter your play space.

If you're willing to sacrifice a different card, you may also ask the Avengers to hide on their Mansion, so you can draw more cards and slowly ramp up your power. I consider it overkill with this deck, though, since you'll already be drawing a lot of cards thanks to Nick, your helmet, Knowhere and Strength in Numbers.

THE PLAN

Alright, here's the plan. Or 12% of it, at least.

The idea is to keep a few key allies in play for as long as possible (Groot, Rocket, Hawkeye, sometimes U.S. Agent) while making sure the rest stay in a permanent rotation to trigger their abilities, draw cards with Knowhere and Strength In Numbers, and deal with all and any threats the villain throws at you.

Blaze of Glory can help you remove some of them from play or deal a big, finishing blow to the villain, while Ready for Actionand #First Aid are there to keep them healthy. Consider which allies you want to keep in play, and which ones you wish to summon constantly, and make your choices based on what's happening on the board.

And that should be it! Good luck in your heist, Guardians!