Ironheart’s Aggressive Champions

I noticed there weren’t a lot of Ironheart aggression decks and figured I’d make one since it’s my favorite aspect to play.

Claim to fame: This deck completed the Sinister Motives Campaign on expert solo(minus the autofail on loss to Venom goblin. Took me three tries)

Obviously the main objective in any Ironheart deck is to get her to Version 3.

This deck has two secondary focuses:

Use Champion Allies for use with “Go For Champions”

Utilize the abundance of wild and mental resources to fuel Honed Technique

As mentioned your primary focus should still be to get Ironheart to version 3. This means using Stroke of Genius, Fly Over and Photon Beam whenever possible and being ok with flipping down to use Child Prodigy and Ronnie Williams.

Once you are in Version 3 this is still the primary goal as she can deal massive amounts of damage using progress counters without having to exhaust or “attack”. This is especially useful against Venom Goblin where I recommend building enough progress to make sure you can kill his 3rd form in the exact same turn as his second to avoid 3 additional encounter cards.

Let’s look at the different cards in a bit more detail:

Brawn: Such an excellent ally. 2 THW and 3ATK is already great but the fact that he can generate an additional mental resource while exhausted means he’s almost always worth putting out.

Moon Girl: She should pretty much always be in your Ironheart deck. This deck is abundant in mental resources. Use stroke of genius too and not only will you always get her down for free, you can end up with more cards in hand than you started!

Snowguard: a great versatile ally. The 3 ATK is especially helpful against Sandman when you can exhaust her to clear sand counters. If you’re behind on threat she can also really come to the rescue. She may seem expensive but with two copies of Power in All of Us you’ll find yourself playing her often.

Vivian: At first glance I wasn’t sure about her. Now that I’ve played her I absolutely love her! How many times have you had a simple scheme or enemy with a troubling side effect for being in play or for completing it. Vivian is perfect for these situations. Pop her in, get around the problem! She’s saved me often from a loss by bypassing a patrol or guard.

The Locust: being able to pull an event from discard is great even if you pull it just to use as a resource.

Spider-Man Miles: A burst of 3 THW or 4ATK can sometimes be the difference between a win and a loss

Events:

Melee: 3 damage twice is great for taking down minions. It’s also a mental resource so you’ll often use it for that. Combined with Honed Technique you have incredible damage potential. The 3 cost is also important because you can chuck it to get rid of the advanced glider

Pitch back: mainly in the deck because it’s cheap. I don’t love it. Can’t be used until Version 2. However it can be great to get rid of pesky minions and a good added target for Locust to pull back.

Dive Bomb: Its up to you if you want to add more pitch back or more dive bomb. It can be good for a great big punch able to do 11 damage with Honed Technique. It can also ping low health minions at the same time.

Go all out: this card isn’t in the deck but it’s the card I selected during the campaign to add from a different aspect.

Go For Champions: This card is absolutely wild. Attack with all your allies without consequence and then sit tight the following villain phase as nothing is able to touch you. All of your allies are champions too. This also works in multiplayer and you can use your allies to defend for your friends.

Resources:

Genius is obviously the star of the show but strength and energy can pull their weight as usual. Power in all of us is going to help constantly getting out your basic allies supports and upgrades and the wild resource also helps when you need specific resource types

Support:

Team Building Exercise: Great for getting down your champion allies at a discount.

Avengers Mansion: Power in all of us can help you pay for this. Some may prefer helicarrier but in this case I prefer the mansion since it helps find more Ironheart cards and you can’t combine helicarrier and team building exercise. You also get a helicarrier during the Sinister Motives Campaign

Champions Mobile Bunker: just a great way to find the cards you need when you need them

Boot Camp: I don’t always have to to play this but it’s a nice boost for your allies and it’s a mental resource so you’ll be happy to have it

Upgrades:

Ingenuity: A no brainer

Enhances Awareness: Cheap, effective mental resource generators. Another great pairing for Power In All of Us

Honed Technique: not required to put out for the deck to run but certainly a great win more card and it’s a mental resource so you’ll always be happy to see it in hand

So that’s pretty much it. Focus on getting to Version 3 while getting out Allies and supports. I would say it’s sometimes better to get an ally or support out than get more counters and in certain fights you might even be able to stay down in alter ego the first two turns and still recover from it. Venom Goblin is obviously still really tough. It certainly takes some luck of the draw and my advice is not to try and burst him down but instead get the board under control. Then stack progress until you can wipe him out in one turn. I had Wave Bracers for my campaign which helped with defense and protected against confuse/stun. Dive Bomb and Melee should help you get rid of his awful glider. I honestly would not recommend Symbiote Suit in the final fight as I think the extra encounter card can really hurt so you may want to keep your reputation below 25 to avoid that extra encounter card against the Goblin since the first 2-3 turn are always the diciest. Please like the deck and comment if you enjoy it. Have fun!