Director Stark

(Mark IV is most-current version)

This is a new build with Iron Man that I'm going to now that I've beaten all the regular schemes in the core box with Justice Iron Man.

This deck has defeated all standard Core set schemes solo, as well as Expert Rhino and Expert Klaw.

Game v. Expert Rhino.

Opening hand, I still want to get some Tech upgrades, but also seeing allies is helpful. Iron Man still deals a ton of damage, but the Tech and allies are about getting the maximum number of actions per turn.

Upgrades

I don't feel like I need to go over the armor Upgrades, as they're just Iron Man's basic kit. However, I've included 3 copies of Tenacity solely because of the icons. You could instead use Haymaker, if you wanted, but, I like having the choice to play Tenacity, if I wish, on my hero, and gain actions from it, instead of 3 damage. There's plenty of ways to deal damage in the deck, but the action advantage with playing Tenacity makes it a better option than Haymaker when trying to find 3 copies of something for the icons alone.

In this newest version, I've added two copies of Enhanced Awareness for the ability to go Aerial without discarding a card.

Allies

With the exception of Hawkeye, the primary focus is not to have lots of allies in play, but to drop the allies with "when entering play" abilities at the right time. Then, use them until they die, and get them back with Make the Call. Therefore, War Machine and Vision are secondary, and much more situational than the others.

• Falcon: One of the best, if not the best ally in Leadership. Being able to scry the Encounter Deck can be crucial, and I love to get him into play, THW or ATK with his solid values, then let him chump block, if needed, or die by his consequential damage. Then, as soon as I get Make the Call, I get him from the discard pile to scry again, and then, use his THW or ATK again. This also helps to determine what form to be in, Hero or Alter-Ego, and can set up a game-ending turn, or knowing when to push the last damage through on the villain's first (or 2nd) level.
• Hawkeye: This card is invaluable against Klaw and Ultron due to the Arrow tokens. With a lot of minions in the Klaw deck, he's great to either immediately kill a Weapons Runner, or take the Tough status card off a Armored Guard. It's also helpful to get a Masters of Evil minion damaged immediately. Otherwise, he doesn't do anything, really, unless I need a final ATK or THW to clear an enemy or scheme.
• Mockingbird: I'm putting her here, even though the deck shows Squirrel Girl as really, Mockingbird is the more advantageous against Klaw, but Squirrel Girl would likely be more effective against Ultron, since she can kill multiple Drones. I love the allies that have "when entering play" abilities, thanks to Make the Call.
• Maria Hill: Honestly, she's here solely for the card draw, chump blocking, and THW. Since she's nice and cheap, she's a great Make the Call target from the discard pile, and she replaces one of the cards (or, with The Power of Leadership), the one card you use to pay for her.
• Vision: A great ally to have, but with his cost, not one I focus on getting into play. Since I have so many icons, it's easy to trigger his ability, which can come in handy for a pinch. But, when considering 4-cost allies in the deck, Vision falls below Falcon in the pecking order.
• War Machine: I don't use him that often, since he's the hardest ally to pay for, simply by the fact that he isn't a Leadership character. However, he's great to have against Ultron, as his ability can wipe Drones off the table.

Support

• Stark Tower: Of course, Stark Tower is high on my priority list. I freely use Tech upgrades to pay for other cards, and get them back with the Tower. Almost every support offers resource acceleration in some way.
• Avengers Tower: This card is no longer in the latest version of the deck, so that the deck meets the minimum of 40 cards. This card just was simply not needed.
• Pepper Potts: She's invaluable and creates good decision points, where you can maximize a 2-icon card on the top of your discard pile. I love to see her enter play, using a 1-icon and a 2-icon card, then use her to generate that 2-icon card on top to play something else.
• Quinjet: Solely for the icons, but it also isn't terrible to get one early, so you can eventually pay for an ally, but it does take a while to build up. I don't play too quickly with Iron Man, anyway, so I will usually wind up playing 1 ally in an entire game using the card. But, as I said, the icons are really what matters here, which is why I have 3 copies.
• The Triskelion: Last, but not least, is just the unique Triskelion, which is nice to have, but also just adds another icon. I'm more likely to get 4 allies in play thanks to this card, than Avengers Tower.

Event

• Lead from the Front: More fuel for Repulsor Blast. Again, I rarely use it for its effect, but if I had a board of allies that I happened to build up, it may be most useful to have those stat boosts. Also, a more valuable card in multiplayer, which shows off the deck's ability to go solo or as part of a team.
• Make the Call: I absolutely love this card. I run through my deck as Iron Man at least once per game, with Futurist, and Repulsor Blasts. With this card, I am almost always guaranteed to find a useful ally in my discard pile. Those with "when entering play" abilities are primary targets. It's also helpful for Iron Man to gain the Aerial trait.
• Repulsor Blast: The tried-and-true damage dealer in the deck. I have 21 icons, so it will usually hit for 5 damage at minimum. The most I've hit is 11 damage. I love this card, and I don't necessarily hang onto it, since I recycle my deck fairly easily. It's also great to play for free with Pepper.
• Supersonic Punch: Secondary damage-dealing, which I have used to eliminate Masters of Evil minions against Klaw, but of course, is great to have when Aerial to swing heavily against the villain. Having the icon is icing on the cake.