The Justice Protocol: Mark V

“You can't out-scheme me. I'm Tony Stark.”

While the villains of the world enact their master plans, Tony Stark is down in his lab, blasting AC/DC and tinkering with the Mark V armor. The world outside might be burning, but Tony knows S.H.I.E.L.D. and his Avenger allies can hold the line. Using his vast wealth, Stark Tower, and Pepper Potts to fund a global surveillance network, he keeps the villains' schemes exactly where he wants them. And then, once the suit is perfectly calibrated... he blasts through the roof, hovering over the battlefield to deliver a devastating payload of repulsor blasts and airborne justice.

Iron Man is a "late bloomer" hero. If you flip to Hero form too early, your hand size will be tiny and you will lose. This deck uses the Justice aspect to completely stall the game while you sit comfortably in Alter-Ego building your engine.

Phase 1: The Lab (Alter-Ego)

Your goal in the first few turns is to stay Tony Stark. Use his Futurist ability every single turn to dig for Tech upgrades (Powered Gauntlets, Rocket Boots, Mark V Helmet). While you are sitting in the lab, the villain will be scheming. Use your allies like Jessica Jones, Wiccan, and Speed to thwart. Drop a Surveillance Team to shave off threat from the main scheme without ever leaving your house.

Phase 2: Firing up the Grid

This deck has an incredible resource economy. Get Pepper Potts on the board early. If you have an or double-resource card in your discard pile, she can generate it for you every single turn! Use Team-Building Exercise to play your Avenger allies (War Machine, Mockingbird, Speed, Wiccan) at a discount.

Phase 3: "I Am Iron Man" (Hero Form)

Once you have 4 or 5 Tech upgrades on the table, it’s time to flip. Your hand size will be massive (up to 7 cards!).

The Justice Bomb: Because you just changed forms, immediately play Lay Down the Law to remove 4 threat for only 1 cost!

The Thwarting Machine: Attach Heroic Intuition to Iron Man, bumping his base THW to 2. Exhaust him to thwart for 2, then use your Arc Reactor to ready him, and thwart for 2 again! That's 4 threat removed natively every round.

The Finisher: Use Multitasking to keep side schemes completely wiped out. Then, with the villain's board completely locked down, unleash a barrage of Supersonic Punch and fueled Repulsor Blast events to end the game!

Mulligan Priority 1: TECH (Keep immediately) If you draw these, keep them. If you don't draw them, discard almost your entire hand to find them.

Arc Reactor Mark V Helmet Mark V Armor Powered Gauntlets Rocket Boots

Priority 2: The Economy Setup (Keep if you can afford them) If you already have a piece of Tech in your opening hand, you can keep these incredible setup cards to build your engine.

The "Double" Resources: Energy, Genius, and Strength. Keep these to pay for your Tech.

Stark Tower: This is a fantastic Turn 1 play. When you use Tony Stark's Futurist ability, you look at the top 3 cards, keep 1, and discard 2. If you accidentally discard a Tech upgrade, Stark Tower lets you pull it right back out of the trash!

Pepper Potts: She is the best resource generator in your deck. Getting her down on Turn 1 will pay for your entire suit over the next few rounds.

What to Immediately Throw Away All Attack & Thwart Events: Throw away Repulsor Blast, Supersonic Punch, For Justice!, and Turn the Tide. You are going to spend your first few turns as Tony Stark anyway. You don't need to attack yet.

Expensive Allies: Nick Fury and War Machine are amazing, but they cost 4 resources. If you spend your whole first turn playing Nick Fury, you aren't building your suit, which means you are falling behind.