Zero Flaps

Card draw simulator

Odds: 0% – 0% – 0% more
Derived from
None. Self-made deck here.
Inspiration for
Flap You. 5 3 0 2.0
Zero Flaps edit 1 1 0 1.0
Captain America - Ultimate Defender (1.0) 1 1 0 1.0

Tycho · 356

I have always felt like the defense stat was by far the most meaningless in Marvel Champions. Disappointingly so as it features so prominently on Spider-Man, my favorite Marvel character in the game so far. The protection aspect was also in a kind of weird place too, and I wasn't really sure where it was supposed to shine. The other aspects seemed to have better options, plus defending, even if you don't take damage, simply prolongs the game and doesn't really move you any closer to victory. Exhausting to defend also usually means forfeiting an attack or thwart action the subsequent turn. So defending always felt to me like a last ditch effort to not die, it wasn't something you wanted to be doing if you could help it.

But then, like a flavorful comic book moment, just before the Rise of the Red Skull campaign expansion dropped, the stars aligned and all the pieces came together for the protection aspect in the the Dr. Strange and Hulk hero expansion packs. Suddenly, hero characters with Retaliate got the three protection cards they needed to push an entire defense oriented archetype over the finish line and into serious viability. Captain America finally got what he needed to protect the world from Hydra, and just in time too.

The three protection cards I'm talking about are of course Unflappable, Desperate Defense, and Electrostatic armor.

There are other great protection cards, mostly from Strange, like Momentum Shift and Clea, but the three above are going to be a staple for Retaliate characters for the life of the game. Captain America in particular. Captain is a very well rounded and solid choice in pretty much every aspect but this lean and well tuned protection build is simply amazing to play. I have described the style as "you attack me but I don't take damage, you take damage instead then I ready and draw a card". Once you have the Cap's shield in play, which you do immediately every game, you gain +1 defense and Retaliate. This in conjunction with Desperate Defense gives you a defense stat of 5 which the vast majority of the time is sufficient to prevent all damage from an attack. Taking no damage readies your hero from Desperate Defense, and triggers a card draw from Unflappable. Retaliate and Electrostatic Armor deal return damage. Armored vest, Preemptive Strike, Shield Block and Energy Barrier do the job of making sure Unflappable triggers every turn that you don't draw into Desperate Defense. Feel free to defend against multiple attacks each villain phase after readying from Desperate Defense or Indomitable because Cap can simply discard to ready on his turn as well. His hero ability basically removes the main drawback to defending in the first place. Retaliate and Electrostatic do the rest. I honestly take so little damage playing this build that I can stay in hero form all but a couple turns a game, which in and of itself keeps threat manageable. I have yet to play his helmet because once Endurance is down I never have to worry about being knocked out. That and Momentum Shift are why I omit Down Time. The low cost curve makes Power of Protection inefficient.

Play tips:

  1. Mull: Pitch everything that costs more than 1 (except Serum).
  2. Get Shield, Unflappable, and Electrostatic Armor online ASAP.
  3. Get your stuff out. Play all your cards. Draw as much as you can each turn.
  4. Only hold Desperate Defense. Everything else is either kit or resources to play them. Use your last card to ready Cap.
  5. The dream is all the kit plus Nova being steady fed energy. Make it happen.
12 comments

Sep 08, 2020 artyzipp · 1

This is solid. Thank you!

Sep 08, 2020 ImpossibleGerman · 13933

Cap Protection is my baby, and the most important part of any decklist- the name- is 10/10 here.

Sep 09, 2020 artyzipp · 1

Rhinio heroic with running interference took me down with this. Dealing with that small threat is tough

Sep 09, 2020 Pots · 7

Is this deck flappable?

Sep 09, 2020 Lerysh · 17

@Pots Cap cannot be flapped.

Sep 10, 2020 onibeowulf · 1

I really like running Tackle with Cap, between Tackle and Heroic Strike especially solo I can keep the villain locked down and it helps me and my allies live much longer.

Sep 13, 2020 Chiznad · 28

Yup! This will be my Cap deck of choice going forward Thanks for sharing!

Sep 14, 2020 dr00 · 38773

this is a no flap zone

Sep 14, 2020 Drazatis · 21

Just wanted to say I love how this deck plays; being a far more reactive and lean experience to a typical Protection deck. I modelled my own list after yours and am loving how smooth it plays out: marvelcdb.com

Sep 15, 2020 The_Wall · 127

Worth pointing out that Iron Man's likely best build is protection thanks to the extra tech cards and abundance of resources, but yes he doesn't use his defence stat either!

Jan 31, 2021 juiceman · 1

Worked great against Rhino and Klaw. Doesn’t seem to provide enough solutions for all the minions against Ultron. Any one make alterations for Ultron? Seems like you just need a few more cheap allies.

Jan 31, 2021 juiceman · 1

Update: I made it work against standard Ultron. It was a little easier when I remembered my retaliate wipes out the 1HP drone minions.